JW played Streamsong Black the other day and re-addicted himself with the game of golf. He was telling me about the layout, which was wide and all about angles to the crazy undulated greens. What he saw with the Gil Hanse design (same guy who did the Rio Olympic Course), is the emerging renaissance in course architecture. The game of golf changed significantly when it moved to the US, and not for the better.
I'll write more about this later, but I told Dub there are a few podcasts & sites he should subscribe to for his long work commute. You should too:
The Fried Egg - A scratch amateur player (Andy) who runs a blog/newsletter, and is passionate about the previously referenced shift in golf course architecture, and the degradation of classic designs. You can sign up on his main page to his weekly newsletter which discusses all things golf. He also runs a podcast which lately had some great guests. Highlights include:
Tom Doak - Two hours with the guy who designed Streamsong Blue, as well as many different world renown layouts.
Bill Coore - Designed Streamsong Red with Ben Crenshaw, and other top rated courses. I'm looking at a few of their sites for a Scottsdale trip in 2018.
Mark Broadie - The professor who developed the "Strokes Gained" metrics.
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No Laying Up - Fairly well known in the golf world, these guys began trolling players on Twitter during tournaments. It's now a legit media outlet, and while they've become more serious, they've befriended many players who appear on their podcast. Rory (3 times), Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner, Jim Furyk, etc etc. They're also doing extensive course reviews, mainly because they're now paid to go play nice courses. Bastards.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Saturday Golf
Gary, Darren and I have vouchers to Reunion... this Saturday at 11:30am. We need one more. Who wants the last spot? $60ish
Monday, December 18, 2017
Going Low - 2017 Edition
Hot off the press from Faz, below are last season's low rounds, as well as an update of your career best performances. Seems World Woods (Rolling Oaks) and Reunion (Palmer) were big hits in Summer 2017. Also worth noting that Faz and Geoff's career low rounds were 5 years ago. Anyway... enjoy!
Who's at the bottom of both lists? The font is small and I can't quite read it...
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| Summer 2017 |
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| Career |
Who's at the bottom of both lists? The font is small and I can't quite read it...
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Bounce Back Percentage
In professional golf, the "Bounce Back" statistic shows the percent of time a player is over par on a hole, and then under par on the following hole. Can you shake off bogeys?
It's also completely useless for 99% of the world's golfers. You don't make enough birdies, mainly because you play too far back.
I've always said we have "bounce back doubles." After you make a birdie, you're probably going to blow up on the next hole. Let's quantify this theory...
I've taken the data from our 2017 seasons (18 events), and divided us into three groups:
Bird Watchers - Those of us who make at least one birdie every couple of rounds, and have enough data to make an assumption.
Ornithophobics - Those who are afraid of birds. Their bounce back performance is meaningless since the sample size is too small.
N00bs - Three kids we picked up off the street, and didn't play in both seasons.
Your "Average Bounce" is the average gross score to par that you made on the hole following a birdie. If, by some rare chance, you birdied the final hole... I gave you a follow-up "par."
But the true test is the "% of Doubles Plus." Since we are every day hackers, you should at least expect a bogey on the following hole. But double bogeys and worse? Those are bad, mmmmmmmkay.
Greg had two birdies last season, and made a double bogey on the following hole both times. Faz did it six of nine possible times (once was a triple bogey). Speaking of... nobody made a quad or worse following a birdie in 2017, but there were 5 triples: Dave twice and Chandler, Buchert, Faz once.
It's also completely useless for 99% of the world's golfers. You don't make enough birdies, mainly because you play too far back.
I've always said we have "bounce back doubles." After you make a birdie, you're probably going to blow up on the next hole. Let's quantify this theory...
I've taken the data from our 2017 seasons (18 events), and divided us into three groups:
Bird Watchers - Those of us who make at least one birdie every couple of rounds, and have enough data to make an assumption.
Ornithophobics - Those who are afraid of birds. Their bounce back performance is meaningless since the sample size is too small.
N00bs - Three kids we picked up off the street, and didn't play in both seasons.
Your "Average Bounce" is the average gross score to par that you made on the hole following a birdie. If, by some rare chance, you birdied the final hole... I gave you a follow-up "par."
But the true test is the "% of Doubles Plus." Since we are every day hackers, you should at least expect a bogey on the following hole. But double bogeys and worse? Those are bad, mmmmmmmkay.
Monday, December 11, 2017
Letters to Santa: A DPT Christmas Wish List
Every member of DPT has several flaws as a person and a golfer. Unfortunately, Santa can't fix all of them this Christmas, but let's see what our league members should have at the top of their Christmas wish list.
Co-writing credits to Chandler, John, and Darren, so if you're upset about what's said, it was probably one of them.
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Co-writing credits to Chandler, John, and Darren, so if you're upset about what's said, it was probably one of them.
Irish Dave - The Letter 'H'
While the potato famine may have ended over 150 years ago, the 'th'-sound famine continues to ravage Ireland to this day.
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| With Santa's help, these two words will no longer sound the same. |
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Buchert - A New Liver
Buchert - A New Liver
It's never too early to be put on the transplant list. Hopefully for Buchert, it's not too late.
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Chandler - Optimism
Maybe he can use positive thoughts to finally drive the ball farther than 210.
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Mike H - A Mannequin
He needs a good playing partner and someone to talk to once the season starts. And by "talk to," I mean: "sit there and listen to a play by play recap about some round 3 years ago."
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| He looks interesting AND interested! Unlike the rest of us. |
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Robbie - A Haircut
It won't be long until Robbie's golf game will be adversely affected by this:
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Robbie - A Haircut
It won't be long until Robbie's golf game will be adversely affected by this:
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| Sweet letter jacket, though. |
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Faz - Magic Wedge
Some of these aren't just jokes...
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| I wonder if it's easy to throw. |
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Reid - Golf Ball Finding Glasses
Reid - Golf Ball Finding Glasses
The league just got faster!
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| Santa can probably find the Puma brand. |
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Greg - Mike Pence's Weekend Retreat
Yeah, the new car helps, but he's gonna need some more praying for it to really go away.
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Gary - Fountain of Youth
The eyes are gone, and we've already asked Santa for a transplant and glasses for other league members. Gary just needs to turn back the clock to the good old days. Maybe we'll do next year's rapture in St. Augustine. I hear they have one of these.
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| Worked for Ponce de Leon, right? |
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Big John - Nair for Men
Real women love manly man hair, but the college girls are a little more timid.
Real women love manly man hair, but the college girls are a little more timid.
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| Not-so-Harry Hanz. |
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Tall Mike - Back Fusion Surgery
It allegedly worked for Tiger. And Tall Mike has to be ruining his shirts with the amount of time he spends rolling around on tee boxes "stretching."
It allegedly worked for Tiger. And Tall Mike has to be ruining his shirts with the amount of time he spends rolling around on tee boxes "stretching."
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Casey - Taller Tees
He's the only person in the world who can top a drive off a 5-inch tee. Sadly, I think the next size up is for youth T-Ball.
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He's the only person in the world who can top a drive off a 5-inch tee. Sadly, I think the next size up is for youth T-Ball.
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Darren - Sham-Wow-Fit Shirts
They don't exist yet, but maybe we can start a fund to research their viability. I think he sweated through his jacket in 40 degree weather on Sunday at Lake Jovita.
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| Did we just find a prototype? |
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Anthony - Polara Golf Balls
You may remember these from 2012 as the ball that only went straight (as long as you line it up before each swing). They're still around, and still incredibly illegal... but Anthony might actually win an event if he can keep his tee shots on this planet.
You may remember these from 2012 as the ball that only went straight (as long as you line it up before each swing). They're still around, and still incredibly illegal... but Anthony might actually win an event if he can keep his tee shots on this planet.
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J.W. - A Babysitter
He's never going to get that ever elusive win if he can't show up to tournaments because of kids. He probably wouldn't get it anyway, though.
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Brendan - A New Yeti
That one with the guy's face that looks like he's getting a colonoscopy while on amphetamines needs to go. Steve Irwin would be ashamed.
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| I hear these are quite popular in Tallahassee these days. |
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Katie - Scissors, Gasoline and a Match
For cutting up, dousing, and burning all her rompers and jumpers. And that Girl Scout uniform she wore the first time she ever played with us.
For cutting up, dousing, and burning all her rompers and jumpers. And that Girl Scout uniform she wore the first time she ever played with us.
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Geoff - A Choker Necklace
He literally choked away our first ever tournament back in 2012. And just a couple of weeks ago he choked away a chance at a career round. Is there a Mark Richt line of "turnover chain" chokers?
He literally choked away our first ever tournament back in 2012. And just a couple of weeks ago he choked away a chance at a career round. Is there a Mark Richt line of "turnover chain" chokers?
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| Perfect for pissing away perfect seasons against Pitt AND ejecting from the leaderboard on 11! |
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Gorecki - A Break
Christmas came early for Gorecki! He won't be disparaged in this post. You're welcome.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Spring 2018 Season
The schedule is posted, and standings reset for the new season. Greg, Ho and Robbie received unanimous approval by The Board... and are ready to make a run at The Cup.
Everyone can now use the registration link to load in your availability for the season. Remember, once you fill out the form, and I load you into the system, you can (and should) keep your RSVPs up to date.
Due to holidays and whatnot, we have more Bye Weeks than usual. Use those to your advantage when planning your WAG duties!
World Rankings:
A reminder of how the World Rankings work...
The rankings look back at the previous 18 rolling league events. You make the list if you've played in at least 10 of those events. Rankings are based on the average points of your BEST 10 performances in that rolling 18. The more events you play, the better chance you have of increasing that score.
Rankings are used to qualify for The Rapture, which locks after Week 3 of the Summer season. This means the rookies need to play in at least 10 of the next 12 events to possibly outright qualify.
This will be the first year people fail to qualify for the event. So play often... and play well.
Everyone can now use the registration link to load in your availability for the season. Remember, once you fill out the form, and I load you into the system, you can (and should) keep your RSVPs up to date.
Due to holidays and whatnot, we have more Bye Weeks than usual. Use those to your advantage when planning your WAG duties!
World Rankings:
A reminder of how the World Rankings work...
The rankings look back at the previous 18 rolling league events. You make the list if you've played in at least 10 of those events. Rankings are based on the average points of your BEST 10 performances in that rolling 18. The more events you play, the better chance you have of increasing that score.
Rankings are used to qualify for The Rapture, which locks after Week 3 of the Summer season. This means the rookies need to play in at least 10 of the next 12 events to possibly outright qualify.
This will be the first year people fail to qualify for the event. So play often... and play well.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
2-Man Roaming Scramble Recap
Nice day out on the course. Weather was solid, and conditions were enjoyable. Party Bear and myself "dominated" the field, shooting a very surprising -6. Robbie's driver was amazing and I basically made every putt longer than 15 feet. It was just one of those days where the flat stick won the tournament.
Faz and Casey probably deserved to win, making their birdies from much closer range. A couple of dumb bogeys caused them to fall one shot short.
The rest of the field played more of how I expected, with only 6 shots separating 3rd and 8th place. The format is really designed to keep the scores close to even par.
It sounds like the event and course received good reviews, so we'll do it again next winter.
In a week or so I'll roll over the schedule and standings for next season. First event is January 21st!
Faz and Casey probably deserved to win, making their birdies from much closer range. A couple of dumb bogeys caused them to fall one shot short.
The rest of the field played more of how I expected, with only 6 shots separating 3rd and 8th place. The format is really designed to keep the scores close to even par.
It sounds like the event and course received good reviews, so we'll do it again next winter.
In a week or so I'll roll over the schedule and standings for next season. First event is January 21st!
Saturday, December 2, 2017
2-Man Roaming Scramble - Dec 3rd
December 3rd, 2017. 9:50am. $20 entry! Give yourself plenty of time to get down to Sun City Center. Remember you must use 6 tee shots from each player. You move based on your NET score! When in doubt, don't ask Gary what to do.
Pairings (Strokes):
John/Katie (4)
Gary/Buchert (0)
Chandler/Robbie (0)
Faz/Casey (2)
Crum/Tall Mike (4)
Geoff/Gorecki (8)
Reid/Darren (2)
Greg/MikeHo (1)
Pairings (Strokes):
John/Katie (4)
Gary/Buchert (0)
Chandler/Robbie (0)
Faz/Casey (2)
Crum/Tall Mike (4)
Geoff/Gorecki (8)
Reid/Darren (2)
Greg/MikeHo (1)
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