THW Golf Headlines

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Just When You Thought That Was It For The Year

by MacTHW

It was not on the schedule when the THW Calendar went to print but the pros are playing at Royal Melbourne this weekend. Therefore, THW shall create an impromptu new tournament series, the THW Royal Invitational and we will play it as a minor this weekend.

With numerous absences and mandatory Book Club in effect, it is unknown whether the enderdog will be able to participate. However, word on the street has it that binkdog will be inviting a new player this weekend, and what better weekend than a tournament weekend.

See everyone on the links at Royal Melbourne this weekend.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Records At Crooked Stick And Scottsdale Refuse To Yield

by MacTHW

Our golfers take a crack at a few course records but they just won’t budge. We finally get back to some team games and hey, speaking of the THW Triple Crown…these are your headlines for the THW golfing weekend.

Binkdog, MacTHW and the ‘Marlin warm up at the Augusta Par 3 while waiting for AshTHW to emerge from his basement. In the first outing, binkdog makes a run for the record but trips up and falls flat. The other contenders don’t fare much better and let binkdog take the first win of the evening. Binkdog 33, MacTHW 34 and the ‘Marlin 35.

The golfing trio make a second attempt on the record and this time MacTHW has the record in his sights but a bogey on the 6th and 8th dash his hopes. MacTHW 28, binkdog 36 and the ‘Marlin 37.

Ash arrives and a team game between Team Awesome and Team PBJ is on like…Pokemon? In the singles match, the course record is not even remotely threatened. The best the contenders can do is six over par at the turn. Things don’t improve along the back and MacTHW manages to eke out a one stroke advantage over the ‘Marlin after the 18th. MacTHW 86, the ‘Marlin 87, binkdog 88 and Ash 112. Enderdog’s record of 77 at Crooked Stick remains intact.

The team game is much more exciting as Team Awesome takes an early lead, going 1UP after the first. Team PBJ is 2UP after the 4th but Team Awesome brings it back to All Square by the turn. Team Awesome takes the lead again after the 10th, going 2UP after the 11th. By the 16th, the game is All Square once again. Team PBJ tries to take the lead as time for victory is running out. Team Awesome refuses to give up and continues to half the holes. Time does run out and neither team gains an upper hand as the round ends in a tie.

The course to beat at the moment is Scottsdale, with Enderdog and the ‘Marlin sharing the current course record of 81. Our golfers once again engage in a dual singles/team matchup. The only golfer on pace to beat the record is binkdog, who hits the turn at 40. The other golfers continue to fall further off pace along the back and now are battling for second. Binkdog runs into his own troubles and also falls off pace. Binkdog wins the round but leaves the record on the table for another day. Binkdog 84, MacTHW 89, the ‘Marlin 90 and Ash 116.

The team effort does not go as smooth for Team Awesome this time around. Team PBJ strikes early and only cedes one hole on the front nine. Team PBJ is 5UP after the 9th and goes 7UP after the 12th to win the team match.

Our golfers call it a night and rest up for the next evening.

Only MacTHW and binkdog arrive on the links Saturday evening.

They warm up at Mission Hills where the record is a notoriously low 79 set by none other the Enderdog. binkdog and MacTHW find trouble early and often. MacTHW holds a three stroke advantage at the turn. Trouble still lurks along the back and neither golfer gains an upper hand. MacTHW bests binkdog by three strokes for the win at Mission Hills. MacTHW 87 and binkdog 90.

With the warm-up out of the way and enderdog off reading at Book Club, binkdog and MacTHW take it upon themselves to knock down the record at Scottsdale. Bad news sinks in early as both players are off pace as they hit the turn. There are no valiant efforts at a comeback and both players finish out of contention for the record. MacTHW 88 and binkdog 91.

They take another crack at Scottsdale but the results are looking very similar to the first game. Both players off pace for the record, except binkdog arrives ahead of MacTHW at the turn. A massive binkdog choke takes hold along the back, sending binkdog into Bogeyville numerous times. To make matters worse, MacTHW takes the lead and ends up winning the round, besting binkdog by one stroke. MacTHW 91 and binkdog 92.

There was talk in an earlier headline about how binkdog won the Triple Crown, as he out-shot, out-played and all around out-golfed MacTHW in the previous weekend, winning all three rounds and shutting out MacTHW. The tables have turned this Saturday, as MacTHW wins all three rounds, shutting out the binkdog from any wins.

TRIPLE CROWN! THREE-IN-A-ROW! TIC-TAC-TOE!

Until next weekend, this is your Intrepid Reporter signing off.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Playstation App

by MacTHW

Back when we were on the Xbox platform, I utilized an iOS app from Microsoft called Smartglass. It would allow you to log into your Xbox Live account and check your messages and send messages. It also turned the iPhone into a controller, so you could use it’s keyboard to type instead of having to use the awkward Xbox controller. Handy when typing out a missive in chat.

Now that we are on the Playstation platform, this is one app I had been missing. I could no longer check or send messages from my PSN account while out and about. To go along with the introduction of the PS4 console, Sony has launched the Playstation App. It is designed to interface with the PS4 but even non-PS4 using folks such as myself can use it to log into PSN and chat with friends.

It is quite handy. It’s free and available on the iTunes App Store now.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

PointedMarlin Plays All Four Rounds of THW World Championship, Results Are Good

by MacTHW

It’s time for the THW World Championship at Sheshan, the last major tournament of the 2013 calendar year. Will enderdog defend his 2011 championship or will binkdog’s newfound confidence propel the Texan hound to victory? The ‘Marlin throws his name into fray but will he return to play all four rounds? CrankyPants makes an appearance but not from whom you’d expect. And Team Housewares unveils their newest creation, a semi-live leaderboard that allows anyone to see scores as the game progresses. These are your headlines for the 2013 THW World Championship…

It’s very windy on the fairways of the Sheshan GC Friday evening, as MacTHW would find out on his very first tee shot, which goes hard left, landing on the other side of the stream and under a tree. MacTHW starts off with a double-bogey but that’s not all bad. Everyone is in the same neighborhood, sans one player…the ‘Marlin who pars out the first. This trend continues throughout the rest of the round, hearing a lot of “Normal” out of the ‘Marlin. After 18 holes, the ‘Marlin leads by seven strokes, while MacTHW and nemesis binkdog share second place at +17. Defender enderdog is +25 and Ash rounds it out at +44. The ‘Marlin ties the course record of 82.

MacTHW corrects for the wind while teeing off for round two and manages to find the fairway on his first drive. Not helpful when one is unable to putt, as MacTHW cards another double-bogey to start. MacTHW’s arch-nemesis binkdog also finds the fairway and many more after that, as he leads the crowd heading into the turn, shooting a 38, three better than MacTHW. Ash sneaks in ahead of enderdog, who finishes out the front nine with two consecutive quad-bogies. MacTHW pulls ahead of both the ‘Marlin and binkdog, who both get tangled up in Quadville on the 14th. It’s full steam ahead and MacTHW finishes the round at 81, good enough for a win and new course record.

As the team breaks on Friday evening, the scores amongst the top three are very close, +25, +26 and +27 for the ‘Marlin, MacTHW and binkdog, respectively.

Saturday brings the sad news that enderdog can’t see fit to continue his defense of his 2011 championship title, voluntarily vacating himself from competition, leaving just four players to compete for glory and fame. This would be the first ever abandonment of a title defense.

Round three is typically Moving Day, where enderdog impresses the players by either going super-low or engaging in a meltdown of epic proportions. Neither of those will happen, since enderdog has bowed out. Who now will take his place?

The first player to make a move is binkdog, who quickly regains second place, forcing MacTHW to third. While the ‘Marlin struggles along the front, for a moment in time, binkdog rises to the top of the leaderboard. The Hund is back! Alas, time at the top is short-lived, as the ‘Marlin goes on a charge along the back nine. binkdog falls back to second place, while things get even worse for MacTHW who carves out a cavernous five over par on the 18th. MacTHW is only outdone by Ash, who exceeds his shot limit on the 18th and secures his spot in the caboose.

The final round sees the ‘Marlin with a fair lead over his opponents but those shots can all be given back in one disastrous hole. For whom then, does the bell toll? Well, to answer that, it’s not the ‘Marlin, who manages to hit the turn at even par. binkdog’s march is stopped on the 9th, where he runs into a major disagreement with a willow tree. The resulting quad-bogey puts binkdog in a funk he won’t be able to shake for the rest of the round. MacTHW needs to gain some strokes on the ‘Marlin but the pin-seeking amphibian refuses to cede any ground. MacTHW calls out two tweets along the back, sending binkdog into a steeper downward spiral which finally culminates in a shot limit exceeding eleven for the binkdog on the 18th. MacTHW moves into second place, unable to catch up with the ‘Marlin. The ‘Marlin turns in a record shattering 76, setting a new course record and securing his third THW Major for the season.

Congrats to our new 2013 THW World Champion, the ‘Marlin, and to all those who participated in the last major of the calendar year before we set our sights on the next major tournament, the Golfsmack Open at Torrey Pines in January.

THW Gold also unveiled their newest feature, a semi-live leaderboard which features up-to-date scoring information. This allows anyone, whether playing or not, to keep up with live action as it happens. More on the leaderboard in a future post. For now, here’s the final leaderboard after all four rounds:

Thursday, November 07, 2013

2013 THW World Championship

by MacTHW

This weekend is the 2013 THW World Champion at Sheshan. It’s the last tournament of the 2013 calendar year before we turn our attention to the Golfsmack Open in January. Enderdog gets set to defend his 2011 championship, where he eked out a two stroke lead over MacTHW. binkdog has been on the comeback trail as of late. Can enderdog keep binkdog in check or will we see another epic ender-melt happen in the third round? JoeCool has been invited to play and hopefully will be able to play all for rounds.

Here is your official invitation to the 2013 THW World Championship at Sheshan