THW Golf Headlines

Monday, July 04, 2011

Man, It Sure Is Windy Out Here

by MacTHW

Exciting and busy weekend at THW Golf. Eleven more games are in the can. B-Dub continues his march up the leaderboard. Seartu returns to the THW Golf links and begins his own climb up the ranks. Strange and extremely localized wind gusts follow the enderdog group wherever they go. It was a weekend of Course Pro defenses, which resulted in someone setting a new season record-low round. These are your headlines for the weekend beatdowns at THW Golf.

B-Dub fires the first salvo of the battle for course records. Hitting the links at Harbour Town against Ash, binkdog and MacTHW, B-Dub opens a lead so wide Evel Knievel couldn’t have jumped it. B-Dub strolls to an easy victory with his new course record setting 65.

Fresh off a stunning victory, an emboldened B-Dub offers to put his TPC Sawgrass record up for grabs. As if his ears were ringing, enderdog jumps in to answer the call. B-Dub gets chewed up early by the gnarly greens at Sawgrass. MacTHW is eager to avenge the beatdown from the last round and leads the group at the turn. MacTHW manages to carefully navigate the ggreens along the back and wins the round with a 67, just one shot shy of reclaiming the course record. A humble B-Dub gets to go for a ride in the caboose. Choooo, Chooo!

Everyone wants a chance at binkdog’s Celtic Manor record, making this possibly the most defended course at THW Golf. Seartu joins the action and tees off with binkdog, MacTHW, B-Dub and enderdog. enderdog hits the turn at 33, making him the only one to be on pace for the record. A few errant shanks to the left put him out of the running as B-Dub and MacTHW battle to gain the lead. enderdog clings on and all three players share first place as they head to the clubhouse with a 70 on their scorecards. Seventy just doesn’t cut the mustard and binkdog retains his record at Celtic Manor.

MacTHW offers up his St Andrews record as binkdog, B-Dub, MacTHW and Seartu head to Scotland. Not looking to lose another course record, MacTHW fires off a 30 for the front nine, putting him in the lead. B-Dub and Seartu fall back with only binkdog staying close. MacTHW sprints across the finish line with a 65, successfully defending his record and setting a new low round score along the way.

Seartu picks Liberty National as the last round for Friday night. B-Dub and MacTHW take the lead with B-Dub leading by two strokes at the turn. B-Dub and MacTHW are neck and neck along the back nine. Unfortunately, MacTHW can only get back one stroke along the back as B-Dub ekes out a one stroke victory with his score of 67.

Saturday night starts off with Ash (still beta testing the PS3 TW12), binkdog, B-Dub and MacTHW teeing off at East Lake. Scores are high, but close, at the turn. B-Dub starts a charge while binkdog falls back. B-Dub wins the round with a 72, enough for a win but a tad short of a course record.

enderdog joins the group as they tee off at Pebble Beach, an enderdog favorite. MacTHW likes Pebble Beach as well, and aggressively defends his record by turning in a 31 at the turn. No one else in on pace to steal the record but MacTHW marches on, shooting a 32 on the back. MacTHW retains his record, and sets a new course record of 63. Defense successful!

enderdog calls for his official re-match at Harbour Town, a record taken from him a day earlier by B-Dub. An Eagle by MacTHW on the 2nd sets up a furious pace for the group to match. At the turn, MacTHW’s nearest competitor, B-Dub and his 33, is down by four strokes. MacTHW somehow manages to tame the wild greens at Harbour Town and stay on pace. B-Dub mounts a valiant charge but can’t seem to lasso in MacTHW. MacTHW finishes the round with a 62, which just so happens to be good enoough for a new course record AND a new overall season low-round score. Viva la ViaBanana Buzzsaw!!!

Seartu requests The Greenbrier next, so off to West Virginia the golfers go. binkdog and B-Dub take the early lead, both shooting 32 at the turn, while enderdog and Seartu are battling strange gale-force winds that only seem to be following them around on the course. binkdog and B-Dub fall off pace along the back as the rest of the group tries to catch up. After eighteen, the scores for everyone is close, but B-Dub takes it by one stroke over MacTHW, finishing with a 70. MacTHW retains his Greenbrier course record.

The group tees off at TPC Scottsdale next. Determined to get a course pro record, B-Dub goes low, firing an amazing, and possibly record setting, 28 on the front nine. B-Dub does not let up along the back, with only Seartu coming close to matching the charge. After the dust settles, B-Dub emerges the victor with a new course record of 62! If it weren’t “first come, first serve” at THW Golf, B-Dub would also have the seasonal overall record, but MacTHW beats B-Dub to the punch by two games.

The golfers attempt one final round, this time Torrey Pines, where B-Dub needs to defend his record. Defense takes a back seat, as B-Dub is in search of another overall record setting round. He starts out strong but falters slightly on the back. His 65 is good enough for a successful defense and new course record.

Great rounds this weekend. Competiton is tight, as everyone successfully defending their courses, with the exception of MacTHW who loses TPC Scottsdale to B-Dub. Thanks to Seartu for joining us again this weekend. His scores are now official and can be seen on the leaderboard. B-Dub moves up another spot and is now stalking enderdog. Ash continues to try and tame the PS3 version while his Wii is on the injured list.

Hope to see everyone on Friday night. Catch ya’ll (that’s Texas-speak for “you all”) in Golfsmack!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Visitors

by MacTHW

There’s an invasion at Team Hosuewares, as three new golfers join us for some games on the virtual links this weekend. Plenty of records fall and change hands. binkdog’s newfound confidence results in a few more Ws. Time to buy stock in banana futures, as I forsee many, many ViaBanana Buzzsaws being made in the future. Rest your eyes, these are your super-sized weekend THW Golf headlines.

For the tl;dr crowd, here’s your headlines:
———————————————————————————————————-
LOTS of games played. Three guests joined. MacTHW is two course records lighter and enderdog one. FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN
————————————————————————————————————
</end tl;dr headlines>

Golfer BWP found his way back to THW Golf again this weekend. To kick off the evening, MacTHW and BWP agree to play an official round of golf for the IWGC Open Combine at Turnberry. MacTHW comes out fighting and manages a two stroke lead at the turn with a 32. Both golfers lose momentum on the back nine as they get tangled up in some bogies. BWP is not able to gain any ground as MacTHW edges out BWP 68 to 72.

binkdog awakes from a power nap and joins MacTHW and BWP on the links. BWP suggests Liberty National as he was fresh off of a TPT, PTP, PPTP, POP3, NTP or something like that. Whatever the case, BWP gains two strokes on binkdog and MacTHW at the turn. He turns up the pressure on the back. binkdog buckles and falls back to the caboose position. BWP takes the round with a 68, which happens to be good enough for a new course record. enderdog would be proud.

Not happy with just one new course record, BWP makes a challenge for MacTHW’s Torrey Pines record so off to San Diego, CA the golfers virtually go. Not wanting to see his record fall, MacTHW offers up a vigorous defense, tieing BWP at the turn. The valient defense continues along the back, unfortunately MacTHW suffers an unfortunate bogey on the 14th, handing BWP a one stroke victory…and another course record. enderdog would be proud. Expect a re-match to be called.

Course-record fever is in full effect, drawing in Seartu, another new guest, who joins the late night frakas. BWP suggest Celtic Manor, a binkdog owned course record. BWP and Seartu lead the pack as they hit the turn, due to binkdog and MacTHW plutting army-style on the greens. Left, right, left, right, left. binkdog and MacTHW get their game back on track along the back nine while Seartu begins to fall apart. After the dust settles, BWP wins the round with a 69, leading second-place MacTHW by seven strokes. binkdog enjoys another ride in the caboose.

BWP exits at this point but his spot is filled by yet another record-seeker, HolyHutton. Seartu suggests TPC Scottsdale, yet another MacTHW held entity. An extra helping of ViaBanana Buzzsaw is in order. Competition is fierce, but MacTHW is intent on keeping his record, thankyouverymuch. HolyHutton struggles slightly with the Chicken Stick and falls three strokes back. MacTHW manages a one stroke lead at the turn. binkdog, Seartu and HolyHutton keep the pressure on along the back. MacTHW steps in something icky along the back, falls back one stroke, creating a three-way tie amongst binkdog, MacTHW and Seartu—each scoring a 72. HolyHutton finishes the round with a 74. MacTHW keeps his course record…for now.

binkdog and Seartu tee off at The Greenbrier for the final round of Friday evening. binkdog leads by one stroke at the turn but can’t keep pace along the back as Seartu shouts out “tweet” after “tweet”. Seartu takes the round with a 68, two strokes shy of a new course record.

Saturday starts off with MacTHW calling in his re-match for a chance to get Torrey Pines back from BWP. Things do not start off good along the front and don’t get much better along the back nine. Without a ViaBanana Buzzsaw nearby, the best MacTHW could muster was a tie with BWP at 72. BWP becomes the new course record holder at Torrey Pines.

AshTHW joins gameplay in an experimental PS3/Move and Chicken Stick-less playalong. BWP is gunning not only for enderdog’s Costa Navarino record, but the overall THW low record as well. BWP turns in a 34 at the turn, slightly off pace for the record.  To fix that, feathers fly as BWP fires off 5 birdies along the back. The rest of the golfers do not keep pace and BWP trundles to the clubhouse with a 65 on the scorecard, which unfortunately is not low enough to snag enderdog’s record of 63.

AshTHW plays another round on the PS3, looking to dial in the controls. This time the golfers head to Whistling Straits. BWP immediately breaks from the pack and puts five strokes between him and the nearest competitor at the turn. Things slow down slightly along the back but no one can mount a charge. BWP finishes off the round with a 67, good enough to wrangle yet another course record from MacTHW’s hands.

Ash calls off the PS3 experiment in order to sift through the results, leaving binkdog, BWP and MacTHW to tee off at Bethpage Black. MacTHW starts off strong, whose 33 bests the other two by four strokes at the turn. MacTHW stumbles along the back, but picks himself up in time to eke out a one stroke victory over BWP with a 70, which just so happens to be good enough to take the course record from enderdog.

Sensing something was wrong, enderdog shows up on the links looking for a game. binkdog suggests Banff Springs, where our golfers happen to tee off in a torrential downpour, with winds ranging from 12 to 31MPH. Despite the bad weather, everyone turns in decent scores at the turn, with MacTHW leading the pack at 34. While enderdog is busy fending off bad swings and MacTHW fending off BWP, binkdog sneaks in for a victory, whose 68 bests BWP and MacTHW by one stroke. enderdog’s turn to ride in the caboose.

MacTHW calls in an ill-fated re-match at Whistling Straits, attempting get his record back from BWP. Unfortunately, the ViaBanana Buzzsaw was on the downward curve and results are not pretty at the turn where BWP leads by 5. Not content to just defend his newly-gained record, BWP bests his previous attempt and shoots one stroke better than last time. His 66 is enough to keep the course record at Whistling Straits.

BWP calls it a night and enderdog calls for a re-match of his own in an attempt to get back his Liberty National. enderdog makes a valiant effort but falls three strokes shy of regaining his record. His 70, though, is good enough to beat binkdog and MacTHW, who spent too much time playing in the sand to ever get a charge going.

That’s it for the weekend. We would like to thank BWP, Seartu and HolyHutton for stopping by, chatting on TeamSpeak and handing out some beatdowns. Hope to see you again next weekend

Sunday, June 12, 2011

We Have Company

by MacTHW

Hey, has anyone seen enderdog’s playbook? Everyone but him seems to be reading it. A guest shows up at THW Golf looking to challenge the golfers. More course records are broken, taken and then…re-taken. MacTHW in the caboose? What’s going on here? CHOOOOO-CHOOOOOO, these are your headlines for the THW Golf weekend.

Ash and binkdog start the evening off with a round at The Greenbrier. binkdog’s front nine starts out promising, but neither he nor Ash can tame those wild greens on the back. binkdog finishes with a 79 while Ash trails with a 93.

BWP, a guest player from the IWGC, makes his first appearance at THW Golf and joins the crew for a round at Augusta National. B-Dub tells stories of going -11 at Augusta, an impressive feat…if only it could be demonstrated. Bracing for a severe beating, the THW Golfers make their way onto the links. Fortunately, there is no ranaway train, as enderdog and MacTHW stay within one stroke of the guest at the turn. The -11 never materializes and enderdog makes a break for it on the back, besting MacTHW by one stroke, turning in a 70 at the end of the round, which just so happens to be good enough for a new course record. Enjoy it enderdog, MacTHW is sure to call a re-match.

News alert…MacTHW calls for a re-match!

BWP says he can stay for one more round and throws out a challenge at Pinehurst. binkdog, enderdog and MacTHW accept the challenge. The scores do not look pretty along the front nine with bogies galore from everyone, although BWP enjoys a one stroke lead at the turn. With first game and Teamspeak jitters out of the way, BWP takes a play out of the enderdog playbook, puts the engine in overdrive and leaves the rest of the field in the rear-view mirror. After 18, BWP’s 73 is good enough for a 5 stroke victory over the closest competitor…the enderdog and two strokes shy of taking the course record. Nice shooting, BWP! We hope to see you again. Meanwhile, binkdog and MacTHW slug it out for the caboose. An abysmal front coupled with a nearly abysmal back land MacTHW in the last railcar with an 88, the worst score for the No.1 ranked player in quite some time.

It’s rematch time at Augusta as MacTHW attempts to prevent the hostile takover of his course record from enderdog. binkdog takes the early lead, leading by 2 at the turn. However, this time MacTHW takes a play out of the enderdog’s playbook and blazes a five-birdie trail down the back nine, besting the rookie by 8 strokes on the back nine and 9 strokes overall to retain and set a new course record of 69 at Augusta National. Rematch successful!

The enderdog calls for a rematch of his own, wanting another chance at course record at Pebble Beach. All three players have their eye on the prize, with everyone tied at 34 heading into the 10th. MacTHW makes a beeline for the clubhouse as both ‘dogs crumble under the pressure on the back nine. MacTHW’s 67 is good enough to best his own previous effort of 68, lowering the course record by yet another stroke.

Saturday finds only two golfers on the links. And one of them didn’t get his required nap.

binkdog and MacTHW decide to play a few rounds at Turnberry in preparation of their entry in an IWGC event. MacTHW plays like it’s the real deal, turning in a new course record of 64. Hopefully he can match this while submitting the official entry. binkdog trails with an 80.

Round 2, Turnberry again. binkdog is determined to improve upon his previous score. 74 is less than 80…so mission accomplished. Meanwhile, MacTHW falls off the pace slightly, shooting a 68.

Round 3 of the evening takes the duo to Bethpage Black, an enderdog marked course. It’s raining with 24MPH winds, usually right in the grill. It doesn’t appear to hamper gamplay as both golfers are shooting at near course record scores. A missed birdie opportunity sets MacTHW up for a tie at 71, but alas, not a new course record. binkdog is close behind with a 73.

The golfers take yet another crack at Bethpage Black. The rainy conditions may actually be helping out by slowing down the unruly greens. The 24MPH winds however, no so helpful. Unfortunately, the duo get off to a bad start, each one having swings that result in red arrows…and a non-impressive 40 at the turn. MacTHW regains a bit of his composure and ekes out a four stroke victory over binkdog. The course record is not in an sort of jeopardy.

binkdog decides he has not had enough and calls out for one more game. At this point, the lack of pre-game napitude has caught up with MacTHW…a problem not even a ViaBanana Buzzsaw can fix. The boys attempt to snag themselves a course record but signs are not pointing their way, as they are slightly off the mark at the turn. MacTHW’s vision must be blurry as he fails to detect the normal signs of low battery (hint: dotted line) and finds himself hitting out of the buckwheat nearly every shot. binkdog takes advantage of the situation, besting the dazed MacTHW by two strokes and putting another notch in the “W” column. Word has it that MacTHW curled up in a sand bunker on the 18th and slept until 3PM the next day.

That’s a wrap. More golfing next weekend. Hope to see you there.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

The ‘Dogs Stay On the Porch This Weekend

by MacTHW

Some course records change hands this weekend. Friday sees intense competition and perhaps the return of binkdog’s dominance on the green. You may not be able to teach old ‘dogs new tricks, but you can help them remember tricks they once knew. Saturday, though, we just let the sleeping ‘dog lie. These are your headlines for the THW Golf weekend.

To start the weekend off, binkdog plays a round with enderdog at Celtic Manor. binkdog leads by six strokes at the turn. Although enderdog turns it up on the back nine, binkdog edges out enderdog for a two stroke victory, coming in with a 69, which just happens to also be good enough to take Course Pro status from MacTHW.

Not having any of that nonsense, MacTHW calls for an immediate re-match. All three players keep it close along the front nine but are not able to match MacTHW on the back as he carefully picks his way through the gnarly greens. Unfortunately, even with his MacThaWesome-ness, the best he could do was match binkdog’s score of 69…conceding his Course Pro status to the elder ‘dog.

Next, our trio head to Royal Melbourne where all three players are firing on all cylinders. MacTHW looks to make up for his previous loss by taking a Course Pro status from enderdog, but once again, the best he could do was tie the previous record of 69 held by the rookie. binkdog sneaks by the enderdog for a one stroke advantage for second place.

For the final Friday round, MacTHW walks the dogs over to Augusta National. The ViaBanana Buzzsaw is in overdrive as MacTHW fires off a 34 on the front nine, giving him a nice five stroke advantage. The dogs attempt to close the gap on the back nine but the Buzzsaw is too strong. MacTHW runs to the clubhouse with a 71 on the scorecard, which not only wins the round but is also good enough for Course Pro status at Augusta National…which nicely compliments the THW Masters Green Jacket.

The only golfer willing to challenge the Buzzsaw on Saturday was the rookie enderdog. The caboose is unfamiliar territory to the enderdog and it may have affected his play this evening.

The two firece competitors take on the equally fierce Wolf Creek, with MacTHW’s record up for grabs. The rookie stumbles early and often while MacTHW takes advantage and shoots a Course Pro defending 70, which breaks the previous record of 73.

Looking to get his confidence back, enderdog agrees to play at Pebble Beach where he happens to own the record (and a tournament win). MacTHW plays it safe and consistent, allowing him to best the rookie by five strokes for a score of 68—which happens to be good enough to seize the course record from enderdog’s grasp.

After a short break, enderdog suggests one more round to be played at Whistling Straits. The break appears to have done him some good as he heads into the turn with a three stroke advantage. However, the quintuple-bogey on the 14th appears to be his undoing. MacTHW carefully avoids disaster and heads to the clubhouse with a new course record scoring 73 on the card, besting binkdog’s previous 75.

A dejected enderdog has had enough and vows revenge next weekend at the Greenbrier tourney. CHOOOOOOOO CHOOOOOOOOO!

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

2011 THW Players Championship Shirt Presentation

by MacTHW

Enderdog, who happened to be wearing his THW Battle Royale shirt,  has been officially presented with his championship shirt for winning the 2011 THW Players Championship played at TPC Sawgrass.

MacTHW proudly presents the shirt

Congratulating the winner

Two strokes. TWO STROKES. And that could be MacTHW receiving a shirt

This shirt is a first of it’s kind at THW Golf. It was embroidered using glow in the dark thread. We’ll just have to let enderdog tell us how cool and awesome it is. This is the rookie’s third shirt.