THW Golf Headlines

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Friday Teams With Fun

by MacTHW

The focus this weekend was all about team gameplay. Team binkerton stalls while another team-up makes sure no team goes undefeated this season. These are your headlines for Friday night.

binkdog, dude, enderdog and MacTHW hit the links this weekend for competitive team action.

The night starts out at Kiawah Ocean, the location of the next binkdog Senior Tour Invitational. Scores are close as the golfers hit the turn with MacTHW leading by one stroke. dude goes on the offensive along the back nine, making four birdies and an eagle, leaving second place for MacTHW and bink and enderdog settling for third.

On the team side of the game, enderdog suggests a teaming of himself and MacTHW, known as Team Sandbag to go up against Team Yeehaw who have, so far, been undefeated this season. It is a pitched battle, with the game constantly being brought back to even and no team gaining a big lead. The game goes the distance but Team Sandbag has team Yeehaw dormie on the 17th. Team Yeehaw is unable to bring the game even and Team Sandbag hands Team Yeehaw their first defeat.

Kiawah Ocean:

Next challenge is played at The Els Club, where dude reaches the turn ahead by two. The back nine is unfriendlt towards the golfers and no one manages to go under par. dude and MacTHW struggle along the back, both scoring a 41 while binkdog sneaks ahead by one stroke for the win.

enderdog considers his mission accomplished by handing Team Yeehaw a loss, so he wants to go back to teaming with binkdog against Team All-Dude. Challenge accepted. The players are firing on all cylinders this evening and, like last game, no one can manage an upper hand. The game once again goes the distance and Team binkerton manages to bring the game back to even on the 18th, after going dormie to Team All-Dude on the 17th.

The Els Club:

Final round of the evening is at TPC Scottsdale…a course that has not been played since dude scored his crushing, Team Housewares all-time record low of 59. dude tries to repeat but is slightly off-pace at the turn. His charge never materializes along the back, yet still manages a victory by shooting a 66.

Team All-Dude once again challenges Team binkerton. As has been the story all evening, the competition is very tight between the teams. The game goes to the 18th hole again, where both teams are all-square. Whichever team wins the hole, wins the round. dude sinks his birdie putt which goes unanswered by Team binkerton. Team All-Dude defeats Team binkerton by going 1UP on the 18th.

TPC Scottsdale:

Awesome team competition this weekend. Next weekend is the binkdog Senior Tour Invitational. Will enderdog continue to add to his tournament wins or will binkdog rise to the challenge and win his own tournament? Let’s also not forget about the underdogs, Ash and MacTHW who could stun the crowd by grabbing a tournament win at Kiawah Ocean next weekend. The only other thing to wonder about, is one what round the young dude will drop out of the tournament on. Wagers anyone?

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Rescheduled: binkdog Senior Tour Invitational

by MacTHW

Due to scheduling conflicts, the binkdog Senior Tour Invitational has been moved to August 17 - 18.

The course will still be Kiawah Ocean.

That means an extra week to practice!

When You Snooze, You Lose

by MacTHW

Only three competitors arrived on the links for this weekend’s outing but they used their time wisely. Out of the five games played, four of them were for hotly contested Course Pro records. Competition at times was fierce and there may have even been an accusation of game “fixing”. Not only do you lose when you snooze, but you also have to read the headlines to find out what happened to your Course Pro records.

enderdog and MacTHW found themselves at the tee box of Royal Birkdale on Friday evening. After waiting around and discussing lepidopterology for a bit, they teed off for a 2 player, head-to-head battle. Even after four bogies, MacTHW finds himself in the lead after the front nine. enderdog doesn’t put up much of a fight along the back. MacTHW doubles the 17th as an enderdog charge fails to materialize. Somehow MacTHW beats enderdog by three strokes and is a mere two strokes shy of the record at Royal Birkdale.

Royal Birkdale

Next, the duo heads to Whistling Straits where binkdog’s record of 6-over par 78 could be in jeopardy. MacTHW has a rough start, going double-bogie on the 1st and 3rd, but manages to steady the ship with four birdies along the front nine. Again, MacTHW finds himself in the lead as he and enderdog head into the back nine. enderdog appears to be in the clutches of a massive binkdog-choke but after his fourth bogie on the 15th MacTHW suspects shenanigans. enderdog doubles the 18th when MacTHW voices his concern that enderdog may be throwing the game. enderdog denies the accusation and vows to hand out a beatdown the next game. MacTHW’s three over par 75 is good enough to earn his first Course Pro record of the season.

Whistling Straits

enderdog chooses Bethpage Black as the course where he would try to make good on his promise of a beatdown. MacTHW goes eagle on the 4th, signaling to enderdog that it would not be an easy beatdown to hand out. MacTHW then doubles the 7th, leaving himself two down to enderdog at the turn. MacTHW then goes on to bogie five of the first 6 holes along the back, while enderdog hits ‘em straight and sticks to the fairways, effectively crushing MacTHW’s hopes and dreams of capturing yet another record. enderdog, however, manages to set a new course record at Betpage Black, beating out teammate binkdog by four strokes for the record.

Bethpage Black

The duo decide upon TPC San Antonio as their last round for Friday night. enderdog, fresh off a record win at Betpage, sets his sights on the course record of 68 owned by dude. Things go wrong early and both players are off pace at the turn. enderdog makes a charge along the back, bagging three birdies but it is not enough as enderdog falls five strokes shy of claiming the record at TPC San Antonio.

TPC San Antonio

With enderdog off at his book club and binkdog soundly asleep, only Ash and Mac make it to the tee box on Saturday evening. MacTHW wants another crack at Royal Birkdale after coming so close to snagging the course record the previous evening. A disappointing attack on the front nine leaves MacTHW at three over par and Ash five over par, the record now seemingly out of reach. MacTHW launches another charge along the back. He and Ash both eagle the 15th, restoring hope that the record could be broken. Ash goes on to birdie the 18th and MacTHW follows with par. MacTHW takes the record by two strokes and adds his second course record of the season.

Royal Birkdale

These are the dog days of summer and game play is expected to be light again next weekend, with binkdog off on assignment and Ash and Mac out on the 11th. As hot as it has been this summer, the ShadeTree Caddy recommends hitting all balls into the shade.

Stay cool!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

New Nicknames and Kinect-Rage, On the Next Episode of Headlines

by MacTHW

Kinect-induced rage rears it’s ugly head again this weekend. Course records continue to fall, despite the fact that the green grid is now turned off. Team binkerton continues it’s dominating rampage across the THW Golf team landscape. Can they be stopped? The same question could be asked about the headlines…all up in your grill, ...right now.

Friday night kicks off at Valhalla where five golfers have their eyes on the prize…Course Pro. enderdog starts out on fire, besting his nearest competitor, Ash, by three strokes. His nerves stay clam along the back while the rest of the field jockeys for position. While Ash and binkdog battle it out for second, dude sneaks ahead by one, leaving them to battle it out for third instead. They tie and MacTHW rides in the caboose a mere stroke back. enderdog wins by a wide margin and sets a new course record at Valhalla, leaving dude with one less record under his belt.

Valhalla

Next up, MacTHW calls out for Celtic Manor Resort. The course and wind play to his favor as he finds himself in the lead by three strokes at the turn with dude and enderdog nipping at his heels. enderdog mounts a charge along the back but falls short even as MacTHW runs into trouble and bogies 14, 15 and 16. MacTHW squanders his lead and lets the young rookie make up for lost ground. dude birdies the 18th as the best MacTHW can do is PAR, setting up a tie for first with enderdog coming in third.

Celtic Manor

binkdog claims it’s time for him to get off the schneid and the place for it to happen is PGA National. A battle shapes up between dude and enderdog but dude appears to have the upper hand by the turn, dusting enderdog by five strokes, and having only 28 total strokes on the scorecard. dude does not let up along the back pretty much wiping the fairway with the rest of the golf crew. At ten under par, dude falls two strokes short of claiming another course record.

PGA National

A dude-less Saturday evening kicks off at Crooked Stick, where Team Awesome steps into the ring with Team binkerton looking for their first victory of the season.

After spending some quality time at the practice putting green, binkdog proclaims himself to be the Supreme Putter and feels that he will lay the smack down upon everyone at Crooked Stick. The putter never quite heats up as he finds himself in last place at the turn. MacTHW appears to be headed towards a course record at Crooked Stick but enderdog steps up and rips victory from MacTHW’s hands. An eagle on the 11th plus three more birdies vaults enderdog into the lead, setting him up for a two stroke victory over MacTHW and a new course record in the record-books. Meanwhile, the Supreme Putter comes in fourth, earning him the new nickname—Sub-preme Putter.

In the team effort, Team Awesome lands the first two strikes but Team binkerton stubbornly refuses to go down. Ash lands a roundhouse kick with eagle on the 9th but Team binkerton responds with a double-leg takedown, with both binkdog and enderdog getting eagle on the 11th. Team binkerton heads into the 18th at 1UP and Team Awesome needs to win the hole in order to bring the game back to even. Unable to land a knockout punch, Team Awesome goes down for the count on the 18th.

Crooked Stick

enderdog eagerly wants to go to Pinehurst No.2, which should have been an early warning sign. enderdog scores five birdies and no bogies along the front placing him squarely and comfortably in the lead. binkdog mounts a charge along the back and starts to gain on his team-mate but runs out of holes before catching him. enderdog ekes out a two stroke victory over binkdog, effectively keeping binkdog ON the schneid.

In the team effort, Team binkerton takes Team Awesome to the mat early and keeps them there, eventually forcing Team Awesome to tap out after the 13th.

Pinehurst No.2

The last match of the evening takes place at Royal Melbourne, where it’s a tad windy and wet. binkdog finally looks to be coming off the schneid as he leads by four strokes at the turn and besting his team-mate enderdog by ten whopping strokes. enderdog makes it clear who the alpha dog on Team binkerton is by birdieing six of the last nine holes. binkdog, in the clutches of an epic binkdog-choke, gives up ten strokes to enderdog along the back and both dogs have to settle for a tie for first. Is binkdog on or off the schneid? You be the judge. After the match, an enraged binkdog proclaims he absolutely, positively HATES the Kinect. Is he signaling a return to the Chicken Stick?

Team binkerton once again takes Team Awesome down to the mat and puts them into a guillotine choke hold. Team Awesome makes numerous attempts to escape but the lights go out on the 14th as Team binkerton wins 5UP.

Royal Melbourne

After Royal Melbourne, enderdog compares himself to a certain battery that keeps on going and going and going in reference to his recent string of victories as of late. Perhaps a new nickname is in order for the alpha dog—The Endergizer!

Team competition remains this reporters best aspect of the THW Golf weekend outings. As competition is heating up, Team binkerton continues to dominate on the team circuit. Lets see if their success continues next weekend.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Enderdog Fails to Defend at Spyglass

by MacTHW

Blink and you’ll mis ‘em…these are your headlines for the July 20th golf weekend.

Ash and binkdog start the evening off at Torrey Pines. Ash’s putter is hot and finds it’s mark repeatedly, unlike binkdog who struggles with his EA-induced left handed putting patch of suck. Ash leads at the turn and keeps the lead all throughout the back nine. Ash wins by four strokes.

Torrey Pines

The rest of the crew joins Ash and binkdog on the first tee at Pebble Beach. MacTHW wonders how to “click down six clicks” on the 7th, referencing his swing setup from the Wii. Everyone falls off the PAR pace along the back nine but dude manages to squeak in with one less stroke than binkdog and enderdog, who have to settle for a tie for second.

Pebble Beach

dude retires for the evening and the crew decides to hop over to Kiawah Island, in preparation for the upcoming binkdog Senior Tour Invitational. Team Awesome accepts a team challenge from Team binkerton and now it’s a dual game.

Scores are not impressive and binkdog and MacTHW find themselves tied at the turn. binkdog goes low on the back, bests MacTHW by four overall.

Kiawah Island

In the team effort, Team binkerton calls it good on the 12th, going 7UP.

Ash takes off for the evening and the remaining trio head over to St. Andrews in hopes of gaining a Course Pro record. enderdog and MacTHW battle it out down the front nine but gets the wind knocked out his sails along the back, which turns to disaster, allowing binkdog to claim second.

St. Andrews

Game play resumes on Saturday as the crew, minus enderdog, tee off at Oakmont. binkdog and dude are tied at the turn with MacTHW only one stroke back. dude avoids trouble but falls two strokes shy of gaining Course Pro status. Team Awesome heads out onto the battlefield against Team Yeehaw where Team Awesome stumbles on the 13th, letting Team Yeehaw go 6UP.

Oakmont

With enderdog missing in action, the crew decides to take on the record at Spyglass Hill. dude manages to stay on PAR along the front and going 2 under along the back. dude sets a new record at Spyglass Hill, leaving enderdog with one less course under his belt.

Team Awesome takes on Team Yeehaw again and it ends up becoming a very pitched battle, each team gaining the upper hand every other hole starting on the 13th. Team Awesome fails to keep up letting Team Yeehaw go 2UP on the 17th.

Spyglass Hill

Join us again next weekend for more golfing action.