A bit shorter version of The Numbers Game this week as we had an eventful weekend in Pinehurst. Everyone had a great time, especially the blue team… of which I was a proud member. I thought I'd talk about a few numbers associated with the tournament and add to some of the other reports my fellow staff members have given you already.

#22
That is the place of Pine Needles in Golf Digest's latest ranking of top courses in the state of North Carolina. Not too bad given the number of courses in the Tar Heel state. Looking through the list, I've played a bunch of the other courses as well. After playing Pine Needles this weekend, I gave it some thought on where I would rank it.

Going into last weekend I thought that Old North State was the best course I had ever played. Pine Needles is now at least tied (in my mind) with it. In the list, Old North State is above Pine Needles and I think the reason for that is because Pine Needles just underwent a massive renovation on its greens and fairways. Both of which I couldn't even really tell except for a bit of tightness in the fairways. While Pine Needles may not be as mature right now as Old North State, the layout and feel of Pine Needles is something different. You're either going to love or hate a Donald Ross course, and I loved it.

2007
The year the U.S. Women's Open is coming to Pine Needles. I didn't realize this until a few days before playing the course. I totally understand why they want to have it there though. Pine Needles is a shorter and more subdued version of Pinehurst #2. I got to go to the Open this year and saw how the greens and course was playing. Pine Needles will be a great test for the women and I'll be in line to get tickets.

The renovations I talked about earlier were done in preparation for the Open in 2007. They've done a great job and I look forward to seeing the best women players in the world competing at Pine Needles.

5
The average length in hours for our rounds. I always want to finish close to 4 hours. Under normal circumstances there really isn't a reason to take longer than that. The Newport Cup was not normal though. We had some extra time spent over some putts and helping each other out with some reads. Also, lost balls were not abandoned as quickly as our regular Saturday or Sunday games. Not too bad though. We got off a bit late at Talamore, pushing our round back a bit at Pine Needles, but we managed to finish just as darkness was setting in.

50%
The percentage of greens I hit over the weekend. This is about 12-13% less than the average I was hitting going into the Newport Cup. I wasn't too happy with this and it reflected on my scores. My ball striking all weekend was erratic until the last nine on the last day. The back nine at Anderson Creek was probably the best stretch of holes I put together… but that's not saying much. Maybe I was distracted by how beautiful the golf courses were. Sure… that sounds right.

432 and 19
The number of holes golf played by the eight Newport Cup contestants along with the number of natural birdies (no eagles) made. That's 4.4% of the holes, 0.8 birdies per 18 holes, and one birdie every 22 holes. That's not the best golf in the world. Fortunately, as the scratch golfer in the Cup, I accounted for about half of those birds.

2
The weeks I'm taking off from golf. This was the last 'planned' golf of the year and I'm a bit burned out now. I'm going to take a bit of a rest and come back in a couple weeks to practice and see if I need some changes to incorporate for next year. The Newport Cup was a fun trip and I look forward to next year not only for the competition, but to see a group of good guys I got to know and become friends with.

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On October 15 and 16, The Sand Trap .com is holding the initial Newport Cup matches in the sandhills of North Carolina. The competition will be similar to the Ryder Cup (albeit with smaller teams) and should be great fun.

The Name
The Newport Cup is named after the location of the first U.S. Open, the Newport Golf and Country Club in Rhode Island. Held in 1895, professional golfer Horace Rawlins of England was the first champion.

We've yet to choose team names for the two competing teams, so this year they'll simply be the Red and Blue teams. The ball supplies the "white" in a patriotic theme. We'll choose team names at the event. Perhaps we'll be in an irreverent mood and play Team McAvoy versus Team Spackler, or perhaps we'll keep things historic. We shall see…

The Courses and Format
The Newport Cup, unlike the Ryder Cup, will be staged on three different courses:

• Talamore
• Pine Needles
• Anderson Creek

The morning matches at Talamore will be played as a two-man best ball, with three points available per match (front/back/total, similar to a nassau). In the afternoon, we'll head to Donald Ross's Pine Needles - site of the 2007 U.S. Women's Open - and play another 18 holes in a best-ball three-point (again, front/back/total) match. On the final day, we're off to Davis Love III's Anderson Creek to play singles matches. Twelve points are available on the first day of competition and eight are available in singles. We'll be using 90% of our handicaps to compute our strokes, and the matches should be quite competitive.

The Trophy
The Newport Cup itself is actually more of a jug similar to the claret jug. It measures 15" and cast in pewter and silver. It features quite a bit of room to list the winners on the base. When the Newport Cup celebrates its 50th anniversary, we'll just have to add another layer.

Coverage
We know that most of our readers probably don't give a whit about how we play or how the matches turn out, but we will be taking note of the fabulous courses we're going to play. Shortly after our return, we'll post reviews, pictures, and our thoughts on the courses, our booking agent, and the Pinehurst area in general.

Future Plans
The first year we're inviting only staff members, but we have big plans for growth. In the second year, we hope to offer four to eight complimentary invitations to Sand Trap readers and partners to make the matches larger and more competitive. By our third year we'd like to involve some mini-celebrities and invite a few more people - perhaps even enough to duplicate 12-on-12 matches exactly like the Ryder Cup.

Sponsors
The Sand Trap .com would like to thank our generous sponsors, a list of which you can find in the right-hand column on every page of this site. Without our sponsors, this event would not be half of what it has turned out to be.

Titleist
http://titleist.com/
In addition to sponsoring this site for most of 2005, Titleist will be supplying red and blue hats as well as several dozen Pro V1/V1x golf balls (with logos!) for the 2005 Newport Cup. As one can gather, most of our staff plays Titleist, so they'll be present in a big way.

Adidas/Maxfli
http://adidasgolf.com/, http://maxfli.com/
TaylorMade is supplying both red and blue Adidas ClimaCool golf shirts with the Newport Cup logo as well as Maxfli BlackMAX golf balls.

My Putter Cover
http://myputtercover.com/
My Putter Cover is supplying custom red and blue putter headcovers in ultra leather with "The Sand Trap .com" on the top and "Newport Cup 2005" on the sides.

Zero Friction Tees
http://zerofrictiontees.com/
Zero Friction tees are the best performance golf tees around, and they'll be the official tee of the Newport Cup. After all, some of us need all the distance we can get!

GuardDog Watches
http://guarddogwatches.com/
GuardDog Watches is supplying each Newport Cup contestant with a personally engraved Belt Watch 6000. Despite what Rolex may have you think, very few golfers wear watches on the golf course. A watch that clips to your belt is perfect!

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