THW Golf Headlines

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Who let the ‘Dog out - woof , woof, woof !!

by binkdog

Bink and Virg lock in a battle royal, Ash on mute, and Mac tries to leave the banana slice in the smoothie blender - it’s Saturday, July 24th and THIS is the team housewares golf write-up !!

It was perhaps our most crazy Saturday night of golf yet, as we had lots of golf happening on two fronts, and a cameo appearance on TS and the course by Jared’s buddy Rob.  We started out the night with an exhibition match at Whistling straights, selected by Ze5 while searching for an easy startup course   The trio of Bink, Virg and Ze5 were met by 400+ bunkers on the front 9.  Ze5 started with a par, but hit bogeytown fast and quickly fell off the top of the board.  He got the ship back under control in the middle of the front 9 to hang close.  Virg started wth a triple and then bounced back with 3 birdies to take the lead into the 9th.  Binkdog was birdieless, but managed enough pars to stay 1 back, and weaseled a par on the 9th hole to tie virg at 42, with ze5 finishing at 45.

Exhibition scores at Whistling straits front 9

Virg-42
Bink-42
Ze5-45

The rest of our duffers were ready for action at the Harbour Town course.  We had 6 golfers step up in the pairings of bink, virg, and ash in group one, and ze5, mac, and jared in group two.  Jared appeared to have hit the 19th hole for quite a while before he showed up at the 1st tee, which would result in a score not close to his record setting 66 of last week.  Bink and Mac came out firing, posting 5 birdies between them on the front with binkdog leading group one with a 37 and mac leading group 2 with a 40.  Ash and Virg chased bink to the turn with 42 and 43 in group one, while jared recovered from a starting triple to card a 41, right on mac’s heels. ze5 posted 2 birdies, but his 4 quads were too much to stay close to par, coming in with a 44 on the front.  After the turn binkdog was steady with two pars while virg started to charge.  The back 9 proved to be very tough, as virg was the only golfer in both groups to birdie on the back.  jared carded 4 pars in the first 6 holes to close within one shot of mac heading into 17 in group two.  Ze5 ran into trouble at 15 and was unable to rally.  Back in group one, Binkdog took a 4 hole trip to bogey-town while virg had a few pars and a birdie.  The 16th hole turned the tide and bink got it back with a par and virg doubled.  Ash had kept pace, but a triple on 16 dashed his hopes.  Binkdog played virg even on 17 and 18 to finish with the only sub-80 round of 78.  Virg’s charge on the back was a little short, for an 82.  Ash’s late collapse dropped him to 86.  Back in group 2, Mac took his one shot lead into 17, but the dreaded double bogey cost him 2 shots to Jared and ze5.  Another double on 18 sealed his fate, as his 85 dropped him 3 shots back to Jared (82), while a triple on 18 cost ze5 2nd place (88).

Final scores - Harbour Town

Binkdog-78
Virg-82
Jared-82
Mac-85
Ash-86
Ze5-88

Liberty National was the scene of our next challenge.  The previous top 3 of bink, virg, and jared formed group one, while mac, ash, and ze5 were in group two.  The front 9 of Libery National proved to be a very tough challenge for all of our golfers as the bogeys flowed freely , birdies were few, and pars were also scarce.  Virg managed to grab the early lead by going even par thru 4 holes.  Jared’s frequent trips to the 19th hole were taking their toll, as he had a +6 on the par 3 2nd.  At the end of the front 9, virg took a 5 shot lead to the turn with a 42, binkdog 47, jared 49.  Over in group two, things weren’t much better score-wise, but it was hotly contested.  Ze5 and Ash started shaking giving mac the lead, but his +5 9 on the 7th dropped him from his lead, while ze5 took a par and birdie to the into the 8th and the lead.  The lead was short-lived, as mac birdied, and ze5 bogeyed while ash surged forward with a par.  Ze5 and ash picked up another shot on mac on the 9th.  Scores into the turn were ze5 47, mac 48, ash 49.  Over in group one, binkdog surged with 2 birdies in the first 3 holes, but virg countered with a bird of his one and bink barely gained any ground.  Bink and virg carded nearly identical cards on the back from the 12th in, minus one double by bink.  Virg’s torrid shooting netted him a 37 to bink’s 39 and a sub-80 round of 79 - well done Virg!  Binkdog finished with an 86, unable to chase down the virg.  Jared managed to finish the round, and his 42 wasn’t bad considering his condition - for a score of 91.  Unfortunately, his headset battery went out and we had the pleasure (??) of chatting with his bud Rob, who was throwing down some serious smack as a “commentator”.  In group two, the incredibly competitive game continued all the way up the back. Mac fell off the pace immediately with a triple on 10 but rebounded with a birdie on 12.  Meanwhile, Ash parred 2 of the first 3 to grab the lead, only to give it back to ze5 on 13 after ash and mac tripled to ze5’s par.  The ping pong match continued as Ash birdied the par 3 14th to take a shot back and in hot pursuit of ze5.  Nobody wanted it on 15 and 16, as Mac’s snowman dropped 2 to the doubles of ze5 and ash on 15, only to see him take it right back with a par on 16 to ze5’s double and ash’s triple. Heading to the all important 17th, ze5 had a 2 shot lead over mac, and a 1 shot lead over Ash.  Ze5 and Ash were cool under pressure, with pars on 17 while Mac lost another shot with a bogey.  Mac charged back with a par on 18, while Ash had a bogey.  Ze5, unable to close out the win on 18 fell apart with a triple, giving Ash the win with a 93, and mac / ze5 ending with a tie at 94.  Ash missed out a LOT of smack on the back 9 on teamspeak  

Final scores - Liberty National

Virg-79
Binkdog-86
Jared-91
Ash-93
Ze5-94
Mac-94

Our next round took place at Wentworth, land of many rolling hills and sloped greens.  Jared was unable to continue in his state, and Rob took over for him in the leader group of virg, bink and jared from Liberty National.  Mac and Ze5 looked for revenge in group 2 against the Ashmeister.  In our first group, Bink and Virg continued their battle royal up the front 9 with a single birdie by bink giving him a single shot lead (38-39) over virg at the turn.  Rob was talking a good game for Jared, but his execution was a wee bit off on the first holes as he worked on getting his groove going.  An 11 and 2 snowmen took him out of the running early but he came back nicely on the last few holes, hitting the turn in 54.  In our 2nd group, the competition was good again.  All 3 golfers carded pars on the front, and it was ash with 4 pars taking a 41-42 lead into the turn on mac. Ze5 had 3 pars, but 4 doubles (or higher) pushed him to 46 and in chase mode.  Back in group one, virg threw the gauntlet down early with quick birdie on 10, but bink was undaunted and parred 6 of the 1st 8 holes.  Virg had another birdie and several pars of his own,  but a triple at the part 5 12th would be his undoing.  Binkdog capped a personal best with a birdie on 18 to finish 37 on the back and a total of 75 vs virg’s 79 - well done guys!! Rob settled in to a bogey-double bogey score and managed a 50 on the back - not bad Rob for a guy who doesn’t play much or at these settings   In the 2nd group, Ze5 started a climb back toward the lead with 2 pars and birdie, picking up most of his deficit from the front.  Unfortunately, he ran into a freak snowstorm on the 13th and snowman which stopped his mojo.  Ash struggled himself, with his birdie on 11 negated by peering into the snow globe and just stopping short of a winter wonderland with a triple on the 13th.  Mac escaped 13 with a bogey, but struggled in bogeytown over the next few holes.  Ze5 climbed back up and dusted himself off, shooting 3 pars in a row on 14,15, and 16 to close in on Mac and Ash.  The mojo would again be stopped cold as a dreaded quadruple bogey cost him the round on the par 5 17th.  Ash appeared to be in the driver’s seat as he birdied 17 and took a 4 shot lead over mac into 18. Unfortunately for Ash, as ze5 found out in Liberty National, no lead is safe until the card is signed.  Mac, the self-proclaimed “people’s champion” felt the energy of the crowd and came home strong with a birdie to close out with an 85.  Ash ran into trouble and ended with a dreaded triple bogey, giving up 4 shots to the people’s champ for a tie of 85.  Ze5, still smarting from the quad on 17 limped in with a triple and final score of 92.

Final Scores for Wentworth

Binkdog-75
Virg-79
Mac-85
Ash-85
Ze5-92
Rob / jared-104

The battle royal between Bink and Virg raged for one more match, as our final game of the night was at Cog Hill.  Virg, Ze5 and Ash teamed up in one group, while the ‘dog and the people’s champ Mac squared off in a mono y mono match in the other group.  Cog Hill proved to be a tough course, but binkdog got some fresh batteries in the puttinator 3000 and started out -1 after 4 holes.  He cooled off and gave Mac a couple of shots back before getting it back on track for 3 straight pars to finish the front in 37. Mac was overhead whining about “some cheating going on in here” , but still managed a 42 and was playing well at the turn.  In our first group, Ze5 carded 8 bogeys and a double to fill up his card with squares and a 45.  Ash mixed in some pars, but a double and triple pushed him to a 44.  Virg was mr. course management, mixing in a couple of birdies to fire a 38.  Back in our other group, the people’s champ apparently ran out of smoothie magic as he went +7 on the first two holes, ending his run at the binkdog, who was +1 after 5 on the back before running into trouble.  Bink couldn’t beat his previous record of 75 earlier in the night, as he found the bogey bug in the last 4 holes but still finished sub-80 with a 78.  Mac managed a lone par on 14, but it was a lot of unlove on the back and a final score of 94.  In our other group, ze5 stopped his square streak with a birdie on 10, but went right back to bogeys over the next several holes.  Ash also struggled, finding snow on the 13th, but closing with birdies on two of the last 4 holes, and a 2 shot lead over ze5 (89-91).  Virg tried to make a trip to birdland, but found bogeyville instead, landing there 5 times against his 4 pars and finishing just outside the ‘dog with an 80.

Final Scores for Cog Hill.

Binkdog-78
Virg-80
Ash-89
Ze5-91
Mac-94

Total Scores for all 4 rounds:

Binkdog-317
Virg-320
Ash-353
Mac-358
Ze5-365

In the battle royal for 1st place, bink (317) barely edged out virg (320), while Ash edged out the people’s champ for 3rd place. 

Good rounds all - see you next week on the links !!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Virg talks the talk, and walks the walk ... Jared who ???

by binkdog

It was blustery and rainy in much of the nation as our golfers took a whirlwind tour across the globe last night.  Virg got the action started VERY early with a nice round of smack talk (“I can’t hit the ball straight, I can’t putt, I can’t make an approach shot, I can barely get signed on to TS but I will kick all of the poultry’s a$$ this weekend”).  Apparently the virg has been to the range and the pro shop, as he showed up on the 1st tee with a brand spankin new 1 wood bazooka !!  Ze5 and Binkdog challenged virg on his smack and the trio trotted across the globe to visit the Sheshan golf club.  Binkdog came out strong on a tough course to card 3 straight pars and grabbed the lead.  His lead quickly faded as virg went 1 under on a 5 hole stretch and grabbed the lead.  Ze5 was steady with a mix of pars and bogeys to stay close.  Virg ran into disaster on the 8th and carded an 11.  Binkdog wasn’t far behind with a 9 on 9 and just like that, ze5 clawed his way to the lead at the turn with a 42 to virg’s 45 and bink’s 48.  Ze5 dropped a birdie at the par 4 11th , took advantage of a double by virg at 12, and held the lead over virg through the 16th.  Binkdog fell off the leaderboard pace with 3 bogeys on the 1st 6 holes.  With 2 holes remaining ze5 gave a shot back to virg and bink on the par 3 17th to take a 2 shot lead into the par 5 18th.  Ze5 had an “oh no” moment as he found the water and limped in with a double bogey.  Meanwhile, virg hit a gutsy 2nd shot to put him right next to the green and carded a birdie.  This resulted in a 3 shot turnaround and gave Virg (83) the win over ze5 (84) by a shot.  Bink matched virg’s -1 over the last 3 holes to finish 3 off the pace with an 86.

Sheshan scores:

Virg-83
Ze5-84
Binkdog-86

Our fearless trio played a 9 hole match to sync up with Mac and Zeke, who were playing their own 9 hole shootout.  Our venue was a rainy, windy bay hill on the back 9.  Binkdog started out strong again with another 3 par outing , which gave him a 2 shot lead over Virg.  Ze5 ran into trouble right away with a quad & quintuple bogey on #1 and #2.  Pars were very hard to come by, and bink took a 1 shot lead into the par 3 17th hole.  While claiming there was a bug in the game, he apparently misread the wind and put 2 shots in the water, losing four shots to the Virg, who got a par.  Pars on the 18th gave Virg (41) a 3 shot victory over bink (44).  Ze5 got a stroke back on #3 with a nice birdie, but it was bogey town the rest of the way for a 51.

Final Bay Hill back 9 scores:

Virg-41
Binkdog-44
Ze5-51

Mac joined bink, virg and ze5 next for a round at the greenbrier.  Binkdog, the “par machine” - gets off the front again with 3 pars in a row to grab the early lead.  Ze5 had the only other par on the first 3 holes on #1.  Virg kicked in the awesomeness and went one under for his next 4 holes to grab a 1 one shot lead over binkdog heading to 9.  Mac started to catch fire with 3 pars in the final 4 holes to hit the turn in 41.  Ze5 , who had a flat tire and got stuck in bogeytown for 7 straight holes, came up huge with a birdie on #9 to hit the turn in 43.  Bink picked up a shot on virg with a par on 9 to match the low score of 38 heading to the back 9.  The Mac of old showed up to card two birdies in the first 3 holes and grab a shared of the lead after 12 holes.  Binkdog slipped with a double and bogey while virg held serve with a couple of pars. Ze5 made a return trip to bogeytown to take himself out of the running, especially with a 10 on the 14th.  Bink clawed back briefly with a par on 13 and picked up a shot on mac and virg, but mac and bink gave it right back to virg on 14, 15, and 16 as they couldn’t match his -1 run of 2 pars and a birdie.  Virg and Bink hit disaster on the par5 17th, as bink had a triple and virg a quad.  Mac carded a par and found himself only a shot out of the lead heading to 18.  Virg got it back with a par on the final hole for a game winning 80, while bink snuck in to tie mac at 83.  Ze5 bounced back after his 10 on 14 to go only +1 over the last 4 holes to finish with a 92.

Final scores - GreenBrier

Virg-80
Bink-83
Mac-83
Ze5-92

Tired of getting beat by Virg in solo mode, our golfers suggested a little team action.  Virg and Mac teamed up to form team “Im a mac” , while ze5 and bink joined to form team “5Dogs” (or zeDog - take your pick ).  Bethpage Black proved to be a tough course on the front side for team “Im a mac”, but not for team 5Dogs, who may have set a record for front 9 domination as they won # 10 and went 4UP.  While team 5dogs were enjoying their “awesomeness” and already counting their chickens, team “Im a Mac” may have mounted the best comeback in team play so far!  They won the 11th and 12th holes and suddenly it was only a 2UP lead for bink and ze5.  After several halved holes, Mac birdied one of the toughest par 3s on the tour to make it a 1Up match going into 18.  Ze5 had seen all he could take and put together an incredible 18th hole and sealed the win with a great Birdie !!  Final Score - Team 5Dogs for the win - 2UP.

Team “Im a Mac”, stung by their early beatdown and subsequent heroic comeback that fell short immediately issued a challenge to team 5Dogs who accepted.  Our heroes moved to TPC Boston and once again, team 5Dogs jumped out early.  The lead would not hold, as Virg and Mac battled back to make the turn only down 1 hole to team 5Dogs.  Ze5 and Binkdog fired up the puttinator 3000 and went on a tear, winning holes 11 and 12 and then holding off the charge of team “Im a Mac” for the next 5 holes, swatting away every attempt “I’m a Mac” made to pick up a shot.  The match was over by the 16th hole, with team 5Dogs for the win - 3UP.

Ze5 needed to get some sleep, so Virg, Bink and Mac headed on over to Hazeltine for the final round of the evening.  In gail force winds and rain, our golfers would play impressively given the conditions.  Binkdog, not content to start yet another round with 3 straight pars, started out par, par, birdie, par to grab the early lead.  But like a Kentucky Derby horse shot out of a cannon, he would slowly come back to the pack.  A birdie on the 8th was enough to make up for his 2 doubles on 5 and 7 to take a 39 into the turn, 1 shot ahead of the Virg, who was “mr course management”, gobbling up pars at an alarming rate   Mac spent too much time admiring the long grass in the rough and ended up with a 47 at the turn.  Par once again eluded the binkdog on the back 9, as he buffered doubles and bogeys with a birdie.  Virg collected enough pars to even up the match after 15.  Binkdog immediately felt the pressure and choked on 16 and 17 with a double and bogey to give Virg a buffer.  Bink parred 18th to pick up a shot and finish at 82, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Virg (80).  Mac spent more time on the back 9 admiring the daisies and various flora that could be found on the outer edges of the rough and finished with a 95. 

Final scores for Hazeltine

Virg-80
Binkdog-82
Mac-95

In the battle of former champions, Virg emerged victorious and is now ready to reclaim his crown from Jared.  Virg and Binkdog also threw down a team gauntlet, saying they were UNBEATABLE as a team and could crush any combination of competitors.  Will all this smack be backed up on Saturday?  We shall see ............   See you on the links !!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Jared Sets New Record Low, Mac and zeke Shoot For Record Highs

by Mac

It was another busy Saturday night for THW Golf. zeke answers the call of duty and joins us for a few rounds of stroke-action golf. Mac spirals out of control. binkdog may have himself-ed one too many as the competition heats up. Welcome all, these are the headlines for Saturday night.

The action would kick off at Celtic Manor Resort, where six players were ready and eager to tee off. Vying for victory would be Ash, binkdog, Mac, Virg, ze5 and zeke. Ash and bink would get an early lead as they each grab themselves a par on the 1st. Mac, Virg and zeke would each go “well over” par on the first scoring a 9, 11 and an 11, respectively. ze5 throws down a birdie on the 5th and an Eagle on the 9th! Virg manages to match the Eagle on the 9th and the scores are tight as the players head into the turn. ze5 leads by 3 strokes with Ash, binkdog and Virg closely following behind. All players participate in BogeyGolf on the back nine. Ash slowly starts fading and delivers an 11 on hole 18. Thirsty for victory, ze5 puts up a birdie on the 18th while everyone else gets a bogey. This would give the win to ze5 with an 83. Virg follows with an 86 and binkdog with an 89. Thirsty for something else, Mac drunkenly waddles across the finish line with a 96 and zeke follows with a 124.

Next, the same group of players would head to TPC Sawgrass. Had Mac sobered up by then? Nope. He was still ordering drinks.

Both Mac and zeke start the match off in style, each putting up an 11. Virg and ze5 would get par and Ash and binkdog gets bogey. Ash bags three birdies on the front nine…binkdog, Virg and ze5 also snag birds of their own. The competition is tight as Ash and bink are locked in a tie, one over par, a 37 on the front nine. Virg and ze5 are trailing close behind, both tied at 41 at the turn. There’s still yet another tie, but it’s a 58, and it’s between Mac and zeke. Ash and binkdog continue battling on the back nine. The scores are tight. Virg stops to build a few snowmen on the back nine and falls behind. ze5, struggling to fend off the bogey bugs, also trails. AND THEN, yes, a bug bites the binkdog. The dreaded “inches-from-the-cup” putting bug rears it’s devastating and ugly head. This was extremely bad timing, as he was in heated battle with Ash for victory. Scoring an 11 on a par 3 put a damper on the event, squashing what could have been victory and perhaps a record low scoring game for the binkdog. Fear not, ‘dog, for you are still well ahead of Mac and zeke, which bring up the rear with a 103 (zeke) and a 104 (Mac). Ash takes the victory with a hard fought 79, binkdog an 81, ze5 an 86 and Virg an 89.

zeke bids farewell to golfing for the evening, but Jared is there to step in and take his place. Smoothies are refilled and it’s a thumbs up for more golfing action. Next stop…Kiawah Ocean, everyone’s favorite water hazard. ze5 hits a snag on the 2nd, not sinking his putt until the 10th stroke. Jared jumps out front early, hotly pursued by Virg, who would card two birdies on the front nine. Going into the turn, scores were close, with Jared having a 38, Virg a 40, binkdog and ze5 each having a 42 and Ash and Mac tied with a 45. For Mac, the wheels on the rental car come off early and fast on the back nine, surpassing a snowman and giving up a 9 on the 11th. Jared wastes no time ditching his pursuers on the back nine. Putting up only one bogey, he completes the back nine in 35 strokes, which happens to be one under par. binkdog, Virg and ze5 attempt to reel him in, but he would manage to get away. He finsihes with a record low 73. binkdog, bug-free this time, follows closely behind with an 82, then Virg with an 85, ze5 an 86, Ash a 94 and crowd-favorite Mac is the caboose with a 97.

For the last match of the evening, our golfers headed back to the course at St Andrews. Mac gets distracted early and decided to play in the creek instead of the fairway. The other golfers are not so easily distracted and play a competitive game of golf. Everyone but Mac would have a score in the thirties at the turn. Distraction fever must be catchin’, because during the back nine, binkdog stops to assemble a few snowmen, while Mac completely self-destructs. Ash puts up three birdies on the back nine , but it would not be enough to stop the blistering pace of Jared, who, apparently not satisifed with having a 73 as a record low, throws up a 66, a record that may be around for some time to come. In the end, it would be Jared 66, Ash 73, Virg 79, ze5 83, binkdog 87 and Mac, if his score were to be binary, would equal 6 (110).

Looks like the leaderboard, well,...once we get a leaderboard, got shaken up this weekend. Thanks again for the turnout. It was an enjoyable outing on the links.

Until next time, this is MacTHW signing off while getting drunk at a bar. Please don’t steal my iPhone.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Mac Plays In An Exhibition Game And Doesn’t Know It, Team imadog Racks Up Another Victory

by Mac

Old champs are tossed aside as new blood goes hunting for the title. binkdog battles to stay a championship contender. MacTHW contemplates alcoholic beverages. It’s Friday night at THW Golf and these are your headlines.

Friday night started off with a non-scoring exhibition game at Liberty National. We were testing course difficulty settings to see what they do to green speed, wind conditions, etc. Mac took the lead early, with three consecutive birdies on the front nine. Not content to play second fiddle to the ex-champ, both Ash and binkdog make a run on the back nine, but it would not be enough to stop the wanna-be-again-champ MacTHW, who turns in a 75 against binkdog’s 81 and Ash’s 90.

Enough of this kid’s play, it was time to get back to our regular course settings.

Emboldened by his 75 on the previous outing, MacTHW accepts a challenge from Team imadog, so Team Awesome heads to St. Andrews.

Team imadog wastes no time applying pressure to Team Awesome. With what would normally be a hole winner, both teams score a birdie and halve the first hole. Team Awesome comes up big with a win on hole three to go 1UP. Par be damned, it would be birdie that either wins or halves a hole for the remainder of the front nine. Team imadog turns on the afterburners and lays waste to Team Awesome with a decisive win at hole 16 with a score of 4UP, the largest margin of victory to date. binkdog can now claim membership in two teams with a positive win record.

A trip back to Liberty National was warranted under THW Golf standard settings (meaning a setting of “Hard” under Course Conditions) to see if MacTHW could repeat his 75 from the earlier exhibition game. Tears of sadness would soon be setting in. MacTHW’s wickedly horrible tee shots cause him to stumble early, and stumble often. He would immediately rack up three consecutive bogeys and finishing off the front nine with a score of 10 on hole nine. Meanwhile, there’s actually competition happening amongst the other three players—Ash, binkdog and Virg. Each player claims their very own bird of flight on the front nine, with Ash bagging the mightiest of them all, an Eagle, on hole 6. binkdog would go into the turn tied with Virg at 42. All players get a reality check on hole 10, with everyone scoring a bogey. Ash capitalizes on everyone’s misfortune on hole thirteen, nabbing a bird and gaining five strokes on the leaders. The battle continues but a birdie by binkdog on hole 16 seals the deal. binkdog would take the match with an 83 while Ash and Virg tie for second with an 87. The wheels having fallen off of MacTHW’s bus, he hitches a ride in with a 107.

Virg and Ash would retire for the evening but Jared shows up to get in a round. The last match of the evening would be at Whistling Straits, the home of 900+ sand traps. Jared hits the ground running, with two birdies right out of the gate. binkdog tries to match but falls behind by four strokes at the turn. The battle stays evenly matched on the back nine, but binkdog spots an opening on hole 15, as he gets two pars to Jared’s two bogeys. binkdog loses his steam and falters on the last two holes, handing Jared a win. Jared scores a 79 to binkdog’s 84. MacTHW can’t even be seen in the rear-view mirror, but finally limps across the finish line with a century, the big one-ohh-ohh.

Action will most definitely heat up tomorrow, as it is usually the biggest event of the week.

Meanwhile, MacTHW was most likely drowning his sorrows in a bar, with Tiger Woods, disussing what has happened to their “game”.

Stay tuned, more action to follow tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

We Are the Champion, My Friend…And Other Records

by binkdog

It was a crowded clubhouse on Saturday night, as we hit our high total of 6 duffers seeking to dethrone the binkdog, who still had the title of champion (at least in his own mind!!).  Could the ‘dawwwg’ hold off the challengers aplenty?  Read on to find out !! 

After technical difficulties plagued his golfing awesomeness, the ASHmeister made a trip to the store and picked up a new WII Motion Plus.  It would immediately pay dividends as Ash, Binkdog, JAC5150 and ze5 took on the beast also known as Bethpage Black.  Ash and binkdog traded the lead early but Ash took the lead into the turn with a 42 vs binkdog’s 44.  Ze5 was close behind with a 47, and Jared (aka JAC5150) hit a “bug” in the game on the par 3 8th for a disaster 11, making the turn in 54.  Ash jumped out to birdie 2 of the first 4 holes on the back while the others struggled.  Ze5 made a run of his own with 2 pars and 2 birds in a 6 hole stretch, but it was not enough to catch ASH who finished strong with 3 pars in a row and a 39 on the back for an impressive 81.  Ze5 finished with a 40 on the back and a total of 87 to take down binkdog who ran into problems on #15 with a 5 over 9 to take himself out of the running with a final tally of 91.  Jared managed to eclipse the century mark with a disappointing 103,

Bethpage Black Final Scores:

Ash-81
Ze5-87
Binkdog-91
Jared-103

In a flurry of former champions joining the action, Mac and Virg joined the fun at TPC Scottsdale.  2 groups of 3 golfers hit the links with bink, jared and ze5 in one group and mac, virg, and ash in the first group to go off the tee.  Virg re-defined “champion” right from the start, going 1 under for his first 5 holes.  Ash continued his hot play, but Virg was, as they say in mexico, “en fuego !!” (On Fire !!), shooting a record setting blistering score of 35 on the front! Ash had a very nice 40, and Mac trailed with a 47 into the turn after making a short trip to the north pole after carding 2 snowmen on the front.  In our other group, Jared was not content to hear about Virg’s awesomeness on the chat server,  he set about trying to replicate it and came very close with an awesome front of 38.  Binkdog and ze5 were right there with him at the turn, both matching Ash’s 40.  As they turned for home and the pressure mounted, Virg cooled off a bit for a 41, holding off Ash and Mac’s 45.  This RECORD SETTING round for the virg was a 76, eclipsing last week’s record round of 78 shot by bink.  Ash (85) had another good round while Mac wasn’t far behind with a 92 - good job everyone !! Well DONE virg !!  In our other group, Jared and binkdog battled all the way, with Jared getting a birdie to bink’s bogey on 17 for a 42 to 43 difference.  Ze5 ran into trouble and finished with a 50 on the back.  Jared finished with an 80 for an overall 2nd place at scottsdale with bink squeezing out ash for 3rd with an 83.  Ze5 snuck in front of Mac with a respectable 90.   

TPC Scottsdale Final Scores:

Virg-76
Jared-80
Binkdog-83
Ash-85
Ze5-90
Mac-92

Our top 3 golfers (Virg, Jared, and Binkdog) from TPC Scottsdale advanced to the “winner’s bracket” for a showdown at the K-club.  Our 2nd group featured Ash, Mac and Ze5, who took a slight detour by playing the wrong course for a couple of holes before they realized they weren’t at the k-club   Virg started hot with a par, but found the snowman on 2.  Meanwhile, jared and bink continued their hot play.  Jared carded 2 birdies for a 39 on the front, with bink on his heels again with a 41.  Virg cooled off from his record pace with a 47.  Group 2 ran into immediate problems as everybody started with a triple bogey.  Ze5 would bounce back with 4 pars to tie mac with a 48 and Ash was 1 stoke back with a 49 at the turn.  Back to group 1, Jared started off the back with a birdie.  Virg started a mini-run with 2 consecutive birdies, but ran into problems elsewhere carding a triple, quad, and quintuple bogey to break the century mark at 101. Binkdog carded 5 pars, but came up just short as a 2 stroke swing on 17 gave Jared a one stroke victory, 82-83.  Group 2 ran into similar problems on the back with Ash getting the dreaded 11 on 11 .  Mac was mr steady, and his 5 pars were enough to outlast ze5 who ran into problems with a quad on the par 5 16th, finding agua when he least wanted it.  Mac finished at 90, with ze5 at 95, and Ash limped home behind virg with a 103.

K-CLUB Final Scores:

Jared-82
Binkdog-83
Mac-90
Ze5-95
Virg-101
Ash-103

We mixed it up again at Hazeltine in sloppy, windy conditions with group one consisting of Ash, Virg, and Ze5.  Group 2 was Bink, Jared, and Mac.  Group one had a lively battle on the front, as Virg jumped up with 4 pars in the first 6 holes, but averaged double bogey for his final 3 holes.  Ash (50) and Ze5 (51) managed just 2 pars between them, but were close behind Virg (47) at the turn.  Group 2 continued their hot play, as jared fired a 40 to lead all golfers into the turn, with binkdog on his heels yet again with a 41.  Mac ran into trouble early and finished the front at 51.  Group 1 picked it up on the backside, with pars and birdies in relative abundance.  The battle took a turn for the worse for virg on 16, when an untimely 11 took him out of the running.  Ze5 and Ash battled all the way to the finish, with ze5 picking up a stroke on the back (42) to put them in a tie at 93.  Virg snuck in under the century mark for a 98.  After group 2 made the turn, binkdog failed to keep up with Jared, who took a 6 stroke lead into 17.  Binkdog made a late charge going par birdie and picking up 5 strokes on Jared, but fell short as Jared’s 85 was good enough for the win over binkdog (86) and Mac tied virg with a 98.

Hazeltine Final Scores

Jared-85
Binkdog-86
Ash-93
Ze5-93
Mac-98
Virg-98

Virg had enough and bid his fellow golfers adios, but they were still ready for more golfing action!  Mac sat out a game, while binkdog, ze5, jared and Ash took on the tree-lined fairways of Wentworth.  Ash must have re-calibrated his wiimote, because he came out swinging, firing 2 birdies and 4 pars in the first 6 holes, going into number 7 at -2!  He cooled slightly, but hit the turn in a wicked 35, tying Virg’s record from earlier in the evening!! Jared and Bink just tried to hang around, shooting 39 (jared) and 42 (bink).  ze5 ran into some difficulties and it is the belief of the other golfers that somebody else picked up his wiimote around the 8th hole, as he went seriously downhill, with 30 yard tee shots and 11s!  The back 9 was more of the same, as Ash went -1 on the first holes, while bink and jared struggled to find fairways and greens.  Ash would eventually cool off and shoot a 45 on the back to finish with an 80! Well done ASH!!  Jared (85) and binkdog (87) tried but couldn’t piock up any strokes on the back.  The golfer appearing to be “ze5” shot a 76 on the back 9 for a total of 132.  It is the author’s belief that this round should be tossed from any averaging (Ed note: -Investigation pending-).

Wentworth Final Scores:

Ash-80
Jared-85
Binkdog-87
Ze5 (*) - 132

In our final event of the evening, our remaining duffers (binkdog, jared, ash, and mac) made their way to Cog Hill.  The magic appeared to be gone for Ash as he came out of the gate with a triple bogey to get down early, but roared back with 5 pars on the front for a 46.  Jared and bink tied for the lead with a 44 at the turn, in spite of Jared’s impressive 2 birdies on the front.  Mac was only 2 back of Ash with a 48, and started out on a tear on the back 9 with 5 pars in a birdie in the first 7 holes to only trail Jared by 2 going into 17.  Meanwhile bogey-dog had trouble finding the fairway and also found himself down 2 to jared coming into 17.  Ash landed in bogeytown early and often on the back to take himself out of contention to finish with a 45 and a total of 91.  With Jared in the driver’s seat coming into 17, it looked like it was in the bank after a par (and bogey by mac and bink) gave him a 3 shot lead over both.  The action would get intense on the final hole as Jared found trouble and stumbled in with a triple bogey for an 84.  Mac just missed a par putt and finished at 85.  “Captain Clutch” (aka binkdog) came up big with a par putt to pick up 3, tie Jared for the win (84) and beat his arch-nemesis Mac by a shot! 

Cog Hill Final Scores:

Jared-84
Binkdog-84
Mac-85
Ash-91

So - the question before us now is .. who is the champion after this past weekend?  While bink had an impressive showing Friday night,  The total win count for saturday goes to Jared with 2.5 , Ash had 2 , Virg 1, and bink .5 (2.5 if you include friday plus more for team play).  Unfortunately that only tells parts of the story, as Virg had a record setting round of 76 in impressive fashion.  If you use our old measuring stick of average score, the champion would be binkdog, who edged out Jared for best average.  So is the champ Jared on wins, Virg, on awesomeness, or Binkdog for consistency?  Well, if my name was Jared, Virg, or Binkdog - i’d probably be calling myself “champion” until this weekend

Until next time …  Hit em long and straight !!!