{"id":1537,"date":"2006-10-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/newport_cup_2006_in_numbers\/"},"modified":"2006-10-19T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-19T13:00:00","slug":"newport_cup_2006_in_numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/the_numbers_game\/newport_cup_2006_in_numbers","title":{"rendered":"Newport Cup 2006 in Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheThe second annual Newport Cup<\/em> is over<\/a> and the numbers are in. Unfortunately for myself and rest of the Blue team, our numbers were not large enough to overcome the Red team’s. They were led by a father-and-son combination that proved too much for the Blue Sand Trap<\/em> staff member team.<\/p>\n

This week in The Numbers Game<\/em> I’ll talk about all things number related at the 2006 Newport Cup<\/em> held in my home state of North Carolina.
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\nRanking the Courses<\/strong>
\nI gauged the feelings of the four courses we played last week. If I had to rank them on a scale of one to ten, one being bad and 10 being great, here’s what I think it would be.<\/p>\n

Tanglewood Reynolds<\/a> – 5<\/em>
\nThe Reynolds course is the shorter and tighter of the two Tanglewood courses. Some complained the layout felt like a county or municipal course (I pointed out to one person that Tanglewood was owned by the county) and was not up to the quality of other courses they were used to. The greens were also not as smooth as the other course, even Salem Glen’s sanded putting surfaces. That being said, the Reynolds course can be a bargain to play at around $30 in peak season.<\/p>\n

Salem Glen<\/a> – 6<\/em>
\nI think that everyone liked the layout of the course and the general feelings were good. The problem is that the greens were in rough shape. Salem Glen had problems earlier in the summer and lost some portions of their greens and had put a good deal of sand down to promote growth. The greens actually rolled pretty well, but the sand was not visually appealing. I’ve played this course quite a bit and, when it is in good shape, can be a great course.<\/p>\n

Greensboro National<\/a> – 8<\/em>
\nThis course was in great shape from tee to green. The G2 greens were a bit frosty in the morning, but were smooth after a couple holes. Personally, I had trouble getting my line and speed down and couldn’t hole any long putts, but I won’t blame the greens… but that was more golfer error than anything else. The rest of the group really raved about the feel and look of this layout. The only negative for me is it’s location, which is about 25 minutes from a highly populated area and is a bit of a drive. Still, it is worth the haul.<\/p>\n

Tanglewood Championship<\/a> – 9<\/em>
\nI call it my home course, so I have a bit a bias. That being said, I think most of our crew would agree that this was the best of the four courses. The greens were in fantastic shape and were rolling smooth and fast. Typically, this is the best time to play the Championship course, and it didn’t disappoint. I just wish that my game wouldn’t have disappointed. My worst round of the weekend came at the best course and one I was most familiar with.<\/p>\n

The Bet<\/strong>
\nWe decided to make one bet at the beginning of play. The game wasn’t skins or some other popular bet. We played a points game that I had picked up from some other guys earlier this year. Basically, it goes like this:<\/p>\n

Each player is given points in the amount of their handicap (i.e. a 13 handcap starts with 13 points). Players are given points based off gross score:<\/p>\n