THW Golf Headlines

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Watching the Rough Grow

by MacTHW

Turnout was light this weekend. And so shall be your headlines for the past weekend at THW Golf.

dude and MacTHW decide to tee off at Waialae while the elder binkdog slumbers. MacTHW start out on fire, going to three under at one point but gives it all back on the 8th. dude heats up along the back and wins the round.

Waialae

A sleepy binkdog joins the group for a round at TPC San Antonio. binkdog and dude play it fairly even down the front nine but dude manages to break away from the pack along the second nine. dude takes his second win of the evening.

TPC San Antonio

Next up, Blackwolf Run. dude leads at the turn but manages to disconnect along the back, leaving binkdog and MacTHW to battle it out for first. binkdog stays one ahead of The People’s Champ and cruises home with an 80 on the scorecard.

Blackwolf Run

No one shows up at the clubhouse on Saturday night, forcing MacTHW to practice at The Greenbrier all by himself. Whoever said “practice makes perfect” never played Tiger Woods 2013. Practice is futile.

Unfortunately, the bad news to come out of this weekend was the lack of an enderdog. Completely. This puts him at odds with THW Golf’s requirement that anyone who wishes to participate in a tournament must play the two previous weeks prior to the tournament. Perhaps THW senior officials can find a way to allow the enderdog entrance to the THW Greenbrier Classic.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Binkdog Puts the Par in Partner, Team Awesome Debuts for the Season

by MacTHW

The team played quite a few rounds this weekend, like in the times of yore. All Help Wanted signs have been removed from the Pro Shops, as each course has found itself a worthy Pro. Team Awesome makes it’s seasonal debut while the Green Grid bids our players adieu. Say ‘hallo’ to this weekend’s headlines…

Enderdog petitions to remove the Green Grid from our standard gameplay. Once the team sees how it works wonders on bringing the young dudesquared’s score back in line, all vote ‘aye!

Ash, bink and dude start the weekend of at the Highland, the one fantasy course that is eligible for ranking at THW Golf. dude runs away with the round and leaves bink in the dust and Ash in even more dustier dust. dude bests his own record at the Highlands and continues to be the Course Pro.

The Highlands

Mac joins the fray at Torrey Pines and immediately Team Yeehaw challenges Team Awesome to a team game, which Team Awesome gladly accepts and thus, embark upon their first team game of the season.

dude’s gameplay is solid along the front nine, going under PAR by the turn and he doesn’t let up along the back nine. He takes the Course Pro at Torrey Pines with a low 65.

dude’s low scores also allow Team Yeehaw to make easy work of Team Awesome, ending the game on the 14th and delivering Team Awesome’s first defeat of the season.

Torrey Pines

Ash calls it a night and the remainders head off to Pinehurst, where off-again, on-again powerhouse Team binkerton throws down a challenge to Team All-Dude.

dude’s hot streak continues as he finishes both nines under PAR. You would think this would translate into a win for Team All-Dude, but you’d be wrong…super wrong. binkdog and enderdog complement each other perfectly, like ebony and ivory, allowing them to match dude’s low scores and eventually overtake Team All-Dude on the 16th, as Team binkerton goes 2UP.

Pinehurst No.2

The players find themselves at Costa Navarino and Team All-Dude wants another shot at Team binkerton. dude goes low while MacTHW goes high. Despite this, dude manages to outplay both bink and ender dogs, winning the round and single-handedly defeating Team binkerton by going 2UP on the 16th.

Costa Navarino

Last game of the night is at Wold Creek and binkdog wants no part of that pain and takes off. dude falls back to second place by the turn but picks it up along the back, sneaking by enderdog by one stroke for the win.

Wolf Creek

Saturday starts off with Ash, binkdog and MacTHW heading to Augusta National in search of a Course Pro title. binkdog easily outshoots both Mac and Ash and adds his name to another Course Pro record. Will a 71 be good enough to hold off the contenders. Without Green Grids, perhaps.

Augusta National

Next up, Bethpage Black, another course looking to hire a Pro. MacTHW tries to take the lead but binkdog’s chi is strong today. binkdog out-flanks MacTHW and trundles in with another Course Record under his belt.

Bethpage Black

ender joins the group and everyone heads on over to Whistling Straits. Team binkerton issues a challenge to Team Awesome and its GAME ON! Ash and Mac lead at the turn as binkdog and enderdog find themselves working more like a rusty machine than a well-oiled one. Fortunately, they get their act together while Team Awesome falls apart on the back nine and sneak in for a win on the 16th, winning the team match at 2UP.

Whistling Straits

Ash takes off for the evening, leaving binkdog, enderdog and MacTHW behind, where they partake in a preview match of the upcoming tournament at The Greenbrier. Somehow MacTHW leads at the turn…just by one and enderdog is nipping at his heels. binkdog gets back into the game along the back and it’s a three-way race to the finish. At the 16th, binkdog only needs to PAR out to take the win. enderdog can’t let that happen and throws down an Eagle. MacTHW tries to match but only comes up with birdie. Suddenly, PAR is no longer good enough. Out of steam, binkdog falls behind as enderdog and MacTHW duke it out on the 18th. No one gains the upper hand and both have to settle for a tie as binkdog, only one stroke behind takes third.

The Greenbrier

Many great games played this weekend. binkdog proves to be the most valuable player this weekend, helping to lead both of his teams to winning records and, much to the dismay of the writer of this article,...two defeats of Team Awesome.

The Griinbrier Classic is fast approaching. enderdog will need to defend his course from four hungry competitors looking to snag major points for winning a tourney.

See you on the links next weekend.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dude Goes On A Course Pro Spree, MacTHW Remains Winless

by MacTHW

Team binkerton shows their team unity by challenging Team All-Dude to a few team games this weekend. dude shows that he is the man to beat by winning over half the games played during the Friday and Saturday outing. Vacant Course Pro positions are vanishing quickly but you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who is taking them. You can find out for yourself by reading the headlines for the second weekend in July.

Ash bows out of the Friday night competition, leaving binkdog, dude, enderdog and MacTHW to compete for Course Pro titles. enderdog is also bit late, causing binkdog to wonder out loud, “...perhaps there’s something to these persistent rumors.” Enderdog finally arrives and off to the tee box they head.

First up is Banff Springs. Everyone finds birdies galore down the first stretch, with the exception of MacTHW, who keeps coming up with bogies. binkdog leads dude by one stroke at the turn, with enderdog just two strokes behind dude. It looks like dude may have hit a rough patch on the 12th, getting a rare double-bogie (rare for dude, that is). He rebounds quickly by getting birdie on five of the last six holes. bink and ender try to keep pace but the young rookie charges to the clubhouse with 64 on the scorecard, good enough for the Course Pro record at Banff.

Team binkerton calls out Team All-Dude for a team game. As the name implies, MacTHW is of no help and Team All-Dude is finshed on the 16th, Team binkerton winning at 3UP.

Banff Springs

Dude notices the “Course Pro Wanted” sign at Valhalla and convinces the group to head there next. enderdog, not content with letting dude run away with another record, matches dude along the front nine, with both players turning in a 36. binkdog is five strokes back but attempts a rally on the back nine. Meanwhile, MacTHW completely self-implodes and goes for a record high back nine instead. enderdog runs into a bogie-buzzsaw of his own and loses track of dude who manages to finish the round at one under PAR, good enough for dude’s second Course Pro record of the evening.

In the team effort, both teams battle back and forth until MacTHW sinks his putt on the 15th for PAR, allowing the team go 1UP, a score they would keep as Team binkerton can not pull even after 18. Score one for Team All-Dude.

Valhalla

It’s past curfew at the Senior Citizen’s Home, so bink takes a leave for the evening. enderdog, dude and MacTHW continue on at Costa Navarino where dude absolutely runs away with it. enderdog scrambles to catch up but is three strokes behind at the turn. Sensing enderdog was in hot pursuit, dude floors it and leaves everyone in the dust. He arrives at the clubhouse with four strokes less than enderdog’s 68. This is dude’s third Course Pro record of the evening and he wasn’t quite finished yet.

Costa Navarino

For the last round of the evening, the golfing trio heads to Pinehurst, where the course instantly devours enderdog and MacTHW, pretty much leaving dude unchallenged along the front nine. Things don’t get much better for enderdog and MacTHW along the back but dude has no problems navigating the slippery slopes of the Pinehurst back nine, turning in an amazing record low of 28 for the last nine and an overall 61…a course record to most likely go unchallenged for quite some time.

Pinehurst No.2

Activity is slow on Saturday night. With no one else at the tee box come game-time Saturday night, Ash and MacTHW tee off at Blackwolf Run. MacTHW is on a quest for his first victory of the season and leads by one at the turn. Things go awry on the back as he falls back by two to Ash and trundles in behind Ash at the end of the round, trailing by one stroke.

Blackwolf Run

Ash calls it an early evening and heads off. A bit later, enderdog wanders up to the tee box, where MacTHW is waiting to tee off at Liberty National. He should have spent more time at the driving range because he falls back 15 strokes to enderdog, just on the front nine. MacTHW attempts a charge on the back but the damage is done. He can not catch up to enderdog and finshes 12 strokes behind enderdog’s 74.

Liberty National

MacTHW convinces enderdog to play another round, this one at East Lake. MacTHW plays horribly, but enderdog plays even worse…at least along the front nine. MacTHW leads by two at the turn but gives them all back and then some down the home strech. He is unable to stop enderdog’s charge and remains winless after the weekend outing. enderdog’s 76 is good enough for Course Pro at East Lake, although at four over PAR, it is sure to catch the attention of dude or binkdog.

East Lake

In Country Club News

ze5 played in the Daily tournament on Monday at East Lake. By the time dude and enderdog turned in their scores, ze5 was pushed back to third place.

After this weekend, one thing is clear. dude is on a mission to become the team leader. Will his hot streak cool off? Can binkdog or enderdog slow his ascent? Time will tell. See everyone next weekend.

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Binkdog Sees Pattern As Coming In Second

by MacTHW

Our golfers are rushing to fill the many Course Pro vacancies currently available. And when vacant positions aren’t enough to satisfy, some Course Pro positions just have to be taken. enderdog gets a severe case of the “Jareds” and stays home this weekend, leading to speculation that Team binkerton may finally be finished for good. The young texan rookie is on a tear while over at the Country Club, Daily tournaments see more participation this week. You want something to whine about? How about the headlines for the first weekend in June?

Ash is out for Friday night, having previously requested the day off through proper channels. enderdog phones in sick at the last moment, most likely due to friction on the Team binkerton front, leaving a golfing trio of binkdog, dude and MacTHW to hit the links at Celtic Manor. Course Pro is up for grabs and all three golfers are hungry to add another course under their belts. dude and binkdog battle down the front nine but come up tied at 34 after nine. dude goes on a birdie spree along the back, binkdog attempts to match but puts his charge into reverse, with dude extending his lead along the back. dude finishes with a eight under 63, good enough to fill yet another Course Pro vacancy. ze5’s score is added from an earlier round.

Celtic Manor

Next, our golfers head to the latest course to open up for play…TPC Blue Monster at Doral. The fairways are tight and sometimes difficult to find. The round is still anyone’s game after the first nine, but dude and binkdog leave MacTHW in the rear-view mirror as they both race to claim TPC Blue Monster as theirs. binkdog never recovers from being one down at the turn and dude puts his stake on yet another claim.

TPC Blue Monster

binkdog has enough and retires the virtual clubs for the evening. Not having handed out enough beatdowns, dude challenges MacTHW to one more round. He wants the Course Pro title at Kiawah Ocean so off to the Carolinas they go. MacTHW attempts to put up a valiant effort but falls back by three at the turn. Putting proves to be MacTHW’s nemesis, as he falls back even further long the back nine, allowing the rookie to run away with the round un-challenged. dude’s seven under 65 is good enough for his third Course Pro title of the evening.

Kiawah Ocean

Ash returns to the links on Saturday evening but enderdog is still suspiciously absent. When quizzed about how deep the troubles at Team binkerton are, a defiant binkdog simply replied with “No comment”. He then later admitted he had nothing to add because he feared that someone may be recording the conversation. Someone such as the intrepid reporter, perhaps.

The ender-less quartet head to Spyglass Hill in order to attack the Course Pro record which just so happens to be held by enderdog. binkdog shoots out of the gate on fire, going five under at the turn, dusting the rest of the pack by seven strokes. The flame quickly burns out along the back, with binkdog found muttering “I can’t believe I was five under at one point. Talk about the binkdog choke…” on the 13th. MacTHW makes a rare appearance on the top of the leaderboard at the 14th, but his lead quickly falls to the wayside as he gets into a disagreement with his Kinect on how a swing should work. dude seizes the opportunity and leads a charge onto the 18th, where birdie could win the game and snag Course Pro from enderdog. binkdog also needs birdie to win. dude can only muster PAR while an Auto-Putt foils binkdog’s chance at Course Pro, resulting in a tie for first place for the round and Course Pro. enderdog’s record stands…for now.

Spyglass Hill

Still no sign of enderdog, the golfers head to TPC Sawgrass, another course held by the absent former rookie. Eyes are on the prize, with everyone but MacTHW coming in at under PAR at the turn. binkdog and dude are locked in battle for first place with Ash not too far behind. dude starts out hot on the front nine and, unlike the aged Texan, he refuses to cool down along the back nine. Already at six under by the turn, dude rockets to the clubhouse finishing the back nine at five under PAR, his 61 besting binkdog by six strokes and the remaining two golfers by many, many more. enderdog’s undefended Course Pro record goes down in flames, as dude adds yet another course to his record, and knocking enderdog’s rank down just a wee bit.

TPC Sawgrass

A search party would have been sent to go look for enderdog, but the crew gets distracted as dude offers up a shot at his own course at Atlanta Athletic. A game freeze takes Ash out of the action early. He packs it in for the evening, leaving binkdog, dude and MacTHW to battle it out. binkdog and dude are tied at 32 as they head into the turn, with MacTHW only three strokes behind. MacTHW’s putter cools down substantially on the back, sub-zero temperatures actually, and falls off pace. binkdog keeps pace with the rookie up until the 17th when dude goes birdie and then Eagle to slam the door shut on binkdog’s chance at Course Pro. dude successfully defends, retains and lowers his Course Pro record at Atlanta Athletic from a 78 to a 62.

Atlanta Athletic Club

“My goal is to make my records untouchable”, quipped the glowing rookie, much to the dismay of the Texas patriarch who was hoping that this would be his comeback season, stating “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I taught him everything he knows, so it’s like I am playing a younger version of myself”. Offering up low scores and grabbing 5 out of 6 possible records this weekend, binkdog’s newest recruit is well on his way to locking up records and setting them out of reach.

In other news, the Daily tournaments are seeing more action as of late. Here is a run-down of games played.

binkdog, enderdog and MacTHW played in the Daily at Augusta National. Scores were above PAR, with binkdog edging out MacTHW by one stroke for victory with a 77. enderdog follows in third place at 82.

Next day, enderdog plays an unchallenged round at Banff Springs and leaves the course with a 64 on the scorecard.

enderdog and MacTHW go head-to-head at Bethpage Black. enderdog squeaks by with a one stroke advantage over MacTHW. ender takes the round with an 83.

Everyone but ze5 enters the fray at Blackwolf Run where dude writes down a 68 on the scorecard at the end of the round, two strokes ahead of enderdog. binkdog takes third with a 76, Ash fourth with an 84 and MacTHW rides in the caboose with an 89.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Ash Becomes Course Pro, dude Continues On His Winning Ways

by MacTHW

It was a short weekend at THW Golf as the weather gets nicer and our players trade the virtual world for the real one. Taking Friday evening off, gameplay resumes for three rounds on Saturday night. Ash and Mac start the weekend off at St. Andrews. What follows are your headlines for the May 25-26th weekend.

Ash and MacTHW peruse the course leaderboard to check which courses have an opening for a Course Pro. St. Andrews is on the list so the golfing duo head to the first tee, figuring they could get in a game while the rest of the supposed “Early Crew” make their way to the links. Ash starts out strong, besting his Team Awesome teammate by one stroke, coming in at one under at the turn. MacTHW attempts a charge but is rebuffed by Ash, who keeps the nerves steady and gains another two on the struggling MacTHW. Final result, Ash finishes with a one under 71 while MacTHW trails behind with a two over 74. Ash assumes the role of Course Pro at St. Andrews and removes the Help Wanted sign from the Pro Shop.

St. Andrews

The rest of the gang trundles onto the links in time for round two at Royal Melbourne. This course is also hiring a Course Pro and the golfing quintet race to the first tee. In a surprise to everyone, MacTHW somehow leads the pack at the turn but dude is right on his heels. The Kinect reverses MacTHW’s fortunes and he falls back along the back nine. Ash, binkdog and enderdog attempt a charge in the run-up to 18 but dude outplays them all. His one under 35 on the back surpasses MacTHW for the lead and gives him a win with a two under 70. Another Course Pro vacancy is filled as dude saunters into his office at Royal Melbourne.

Royal Melbourne

Last round of the evening is at The Els Club. Everyone’s Kinect now turns against them, with the exception of the dude, who appears to be immune Kinect-itis. dude takes a commanding six stroke lead at the turn. Despite the grunting, cursing (on mute), whinnying and whining, dude stays the course and only loses two strokes to the senior Texan, who manages to take second place… four strokes behind dude’s winning score of 68. dude fills another Course Pro vacancy at The Els Club.

The Els Club

dude now leads the league in Course Pro titles. Can the senior Texan stop the young rookie from grabbing any further titles?

Next week we will find out.