Big Break Palm Beaches Discussion Thread

[Gipper]

I am rooting for Chad. This is my first big break season and he has me hooked.

[RandallT]

Two highlights for me from this week's episode:

1. Chad eliminating the third challenger in two days.  I can't blame people for taking him to elimination for obvious reasons.  One, his leg.  Two, he is the "newest" to the game and didn't play college, mini tours, etc. as far as I know. Three, his length.  But I'll be damned if this dude is just a monster when the bell rings.  An absolute animal when he's on the clock with a very strong mental game I believe.  I doubt that anyone will be taking him to elimination challenge for at least 2 weeks.

2. Tyler's impression of Brandon during a one-on-one, with the voice, "I'm striking the ball so well today," is the biggest laugh I've had for any Big Break season so far.  I mean he hit the nasally voice spot-on. This includes Anthony's antics/delusions from last season.

On a similar note, does anyone else notice that Tyler's one-on-ones are a little excessive?  Seems like they are playing his clips every two minutes, and not giving a ton of words to the other players.

Dead on. Just watched the episode. Tyler did dominate the commentary, but I found him kinda funny. Herman? Harmster? Those are new to me.

Looks to me like Brandon and Richy are looking the most dominant, with Robert up there too (people have noticed how long he is, although Brandon piped a 315 drive on the last episode too).

Wesley went with 3-wood in the playoff against Robert which was interesting. I was shocked Chad picked Wesley for elimination- I was sure he'd go with Kyle, who had been a bit shaky for the past two episodes. Worked out for him though- that was a fun playoff. Bryan Brothers are no more.

	Total	First Immunity	Later Immunity	Impressive Challenge	Terrible Challenge	Not Picked for Elimination	Guaranteed Elimination Round	Survived Elimination
		2	1	0.75	-0.75	0.5	-1	0.25
Brandon	6.25	2	1	2	1	1	0	0
Chad	0.50	0	1	2	2	0	1	2
Clay	5.00	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
George	-0.75	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
Justin	4.50	2	0	0	0	1	0	0
Kyle	0.00	0	1	0	1	1	1	1
Richy	5.00	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Robert	4.25	1	1	1	0	1	0	0
Tommy	4.50	2	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tyler	3.00	1	0	0	0	2	0	0
Wesley	3.00	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zach	-1.50	0	0	0	1	0	1	1

[Big C]

I am rooting for Chad. This is my first big break season and he has me hooked.

I agree it's a good season so far, and Chad is the sentimental favorite for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, his chances of winning are next to nil. You can't drive the ball 250 and beat that level of competition consistently.

[Tennhacker]

Two highlights for me from this week's episode:

1. Chad eliminating the third challenger in two days.  I can't blame people for taking him to elimination for obvious reasons.  One, his leg.  Two, he is the "newest" to the game and didn't play college, mini tours, etc. as far as I know. Three, his length.  But I'll be damned if this dude is just a monster when the bell rings.  An absolute animal when he's on the clock with a very strong mental game I believe.  I doubt that anyone will be taking him to elimination challenge for at least 2 weeks.

2. Tyler's impression of Brandon during a one-on-one, with the voice, "I'm striking the ball so well today," is the biggest laugh I've had for any Big Break season so far.  I mean he hit the nasally voice spot-on. This includes Anthony's antics/delusions from last season.

On a similar note, does anyone else notice that Tyler's one-on-ones are a little excessive?  Seems like they are playing his clips every two minutes, and not giving a ton of words to the other players.

I have watched every season for past 4 years or so and this on dose have one of the deepest talent wise to memory.  Tyler seems to be the most colorful of the group, and he isn't afraid to talk about things when asked.  Plus he's a Knoxvillian which is cool.  Gotta route for the hometown contestant when it happens.  Although i don't think he has a realistic chance without some luck.  But hey you never know.

[rehmwa]

Tyler seems to be the most colorful of the group, and he isn't afraid to talk about things when asked

first impression I thought he'd be a tool.

I was wrong, pretty entertaining really.

[David in FL]

I'm slowly warming up to it this season. No doubt about the depth of talent. Very strong. Like everyone, I gotta love Chad's heart.

[sk1dm4rk]

I'm rooting for Robert.  Rohanna's was my home course back in my High School golf days.  Family friends as well.

I need to catch up.  I've only seen the first episode this season.

[RandallT]

I'm rooting for Robert.  Rohanna's was my home course back in my High School golf days.  Family friends as well.

I need to catch up.  I've only seen the first episode this season.

He's impressive- highest OGWR of the contestants at 600 something. Most haven't played in events that have standing for the world rankings, and if they have, they didn't do well enough to get more than the default points so their rank is like 1600 or something.  I think Robert had a bunch of qualifying events in Latin America- 3 top 10s on that tour in the last few months of 2014, as i recall.

Reminder for anyone just joining (if interested)- on the 2nd page of this thread (on a non-mobile browser anyway), there's a summary of each player. Starts alphabetically with Brandon through Zach. Robert and Richy definitely stood out to me after researching them all, but after seing the first few episodes, I think Brandon, Tommy, Justin, Tyler, Clay, and Kyle have a shot (in that order). They're all pretty good, but I'd lean toward Richy/Robert/Brandon being the dominant three right now. I took Chad off my list of possibles, just because of length (lack thereof), but he's still who I'm rooting for.

[natureboy]

Good players, some of the normal odd shots are not appearing like always.

The vet had a rough day.  But he got it together when it counted.

That dude has been money in competition. Doesn't fear losing.

I wonder if he picked the other Bryan because his bro picked him for the first elimination challenge.

@Big C - his distance limitation may not come into play until later in the show (last few elimination rounds) when they start playing full holes. Early on I think they typically stick to specific skill challenges.

On the pitching / chipping challenge Does anyone have a thought why so few went for the more distant 5 point circle vs. the nearer, but much smaller 4 point circle? Too much slope?

[BuckeyeNut]

I don't like Neff's Porn stache and incessant need to describe things with sound effects...

Mmmmmmmmm....... Melanie...

Tyler Neff is hilarious and I enjoy his commentary when doing the confessionals.   I especially enjoyed his commentary on Chad's performance in elimination challenges!!     I also get a laugh when Tylers does his Brandon Hartzell impersonation................doing the squeaky voice!   Hahahaha....he cracks me up!!!

[newtogolf]

I don't like making definitive statements because you never know but, yeah, I think this is as close to a sure thing as there is on that show.  Obviously, they can manipulate it if they really want to but as soon as it gets to the point where they are playing long holes or doing long drive contests, he is at a massive disadvantage.

If my math was right, I think the one he crushed on the last hole of the elimination challenge was still under 260 yards.  That will catch up to him eventually.

I thought it was 240 yards, but I might be wrong.  Even 260 yards is short compared to some of the guys on the show.  He's going to be giving up at least 40 - 60 yards on par 4's and 5's if he makes it to the finals which is only possible if he can avoid eliminations or elimination challenges that put greater emphasis on distance.

[Slowcelica]

I thought it was 240 yards, but I might be wrong.  Even 260 yards is short compared to some of the guys on the show.  He's going to be giving up at least 40 - 60 yards on par 4's and 5's if he makes it to the finals which is only possible if he can avoid eliminations or elimination challenges that put greater emphasis on distance.

Forget the show, if he did win how would he be able to compete on a PGA course and with tour players with that kind of distances?

[newtogolf]

Forget the show, if he did win how would he be able to compete on a PGA course and with tour players with that kind of distances?

Agreed, he'd struggle to make cuts in a PGA Tour event without more distance off the tee.  Crane, Curtis, Leonard and Weir average under 270 yards from the tees, Scott Verplank is last with a 259.4 average which would be close to Chad's.

[DeadMan]

The real problem for Chad is if he keeps getting forced into playing for elimination. Last week he was the only contestant not to hit the green, and only hit the fairway 1 out of 3 tries. Even if his short game continues to be as amazing as it has been, the odds are against him if he's playing for elimination every single week.

[RFKFREAK]

The real problem for Chad is if he keeps getting forced into playing for elimination. Last week he was the only contestant not to hit the green, and only hit the fairway 1 out of 3 tries. Even if his short game continues to be as amazing as it has been, the odds are against him if he's playing for elimination every single week.

I'd imagine he wouldn't be in elimination every week because if he continues, he'd likely win some immunities on challenges that play to his strength.

[rehmwa]

One problem with Big Break is they overplay the obvious and easy angles.  (excessively using only one or two people in interviews, finding an angle on a player and just playing on it over and over and over.....)

If the 'lesson' shows are McLesson shows, then Big Break is the McContestant (12 one-trick ponies) show

They'll find ways to put Chad out there and try to cash in on his handicap and service with viewers.  And nothing else.  And since he's the most sympathetic, the other 11 won't get developed until Chad gets eliminated.

They'll design challenges to get as much Chad-airtime as they can - and they'll have every screen shot contain or start on the prosthetic, and they'll play military music in the background, and they prompt him to interview about his service, instead of his golf.  too bad, his golf is pretty good.

They are a bit poor at finding more ways to get something for viewers out of all the contestants, or letting the contestant personalities show through to more than just the initial surface stuff that they exploited in the 'intro' episodes.

cynical viewpoint of the day....my apologies...I'd like to see a bit more mixup, especially when the crew is decent

[newtogolf]

Another good week and was pretty impressed that everyone made it over the flop wall.

Chad takes out another competitor, the guy has ice in his veins.  I still have concerns about his distance off the tee since last night he only hit his driver 240 yards, though he was in the middle of the fairway.

Fortunately he landed in the fairway but he's going to have a tough time beating guys that hit it longer and don't choke.  It will be interesting to see if the other players call him out again or if he has them scared.

[Golfingdad]

Another good week and was pretty impressed that everyone made it over the flop wall.

Chad takes out another competitor, the guy has ice in his veins.  I still have concerns about his distance off the tee since last night he only hit his driver 240 yards, though he was in the middle of the fairway.

Fortunately he landed in the fairway but he's going to have a tough time beating guys that hit it longer and don't choke.  It will be interesting to see if the other players call him out again or if he has them scared.

Not only that, but the worst was, what, 16' away from the pin?  The "worst" of the 3 winners was 8" away.  Kinda refreshing, huh?

Regarding the par 5, I thought it was a bit humorous that Chad said that since Tyler was in trouble he wouldn't try to go for the green, while I was thinking "Or perhaps its the fact that you're still 35 yards further from the green than how far your good driver went?"