The 2015 Newport Cup

[Club Rat]

There's an actual cup, you bet! It's in my living room. :

Only for a few more short weeks...:...

Mike will be taking "The Cup" to sunny Cal where it belongs....

[Golfingdad]

Have faith Shindig, the West Coast Team will be drinking "Champs" pane from the Newport Cup this year.

The East Coast has no clue about the "Jumping Cholla's"  in the Desert which awaits their wayward shots.

I'm going to give a little advice to the East Coast members - "Pack a pair of needle nose pliers and welding gloves in your bag" you'll wish you had them when you need them.

Also, carry several clubs if you venture off "Las Sendas" which translates in Spanish "the Pathways" and is also the name of one of the toughest golf courses in AZ.

Club Rat

My first (and so far only) experience with this cactus came a couple of weeks ago in Palm Springs.  The brave girl trying to strangle that python in the above picture decided it might be fun to walk through one of those while we were playing mini golf at the resort.  I'm getting ready to putt and hear her scream, then look up to see her standing there with (luckily only) one of those attached to her thigh.  I run over to get it off and my first instinct was to grab it.  This is where I can pause to thank Gary McCord for never shutting up about those damn things during PGA tournaments in Arizona, because he obviously burned it into my brain what they can do.  So rather than just grabbing it, I swatted it off with my hat and then plucked the 3 or 4 needles out with my fingers.  A little ice and some TLC and she was fine in a few minutes. :)

I've seen the jumping cholla before, I think I got within maybe 10 paces of it.  Now, I've never played at Moon Valley, do they have cactus in the fairway there?

From the looks of it on google maps, it appears to be quite the oasis.  Lots of green, no desert, and even palm trees.

[nevets88]

Hey East Coast team, this is for you. Doing my part to make it even. :-)

[mvmac]

I've seen the jumping cholla before, I think I got within maybe 10 paces of it.  Now, I've never played at Moon Valley, do they have cactus in the fairway there?

No, at least from what I know, it's more parkland style than a desert course.

From the looks of it on google maps, it appears to be quite the oasis.  Lots of green, no desert, and even palm trees.

Yeah looks pretty good. I'm guessing it might be a little more brown because we'll be there towards the end of the summer but grass will still be healthy.

[GolfLug]

I would think the big difference between East coast golf and dessert golf is, here in the East we have to work for our distance.... Never played on West coast so not sure how far ball flies compared to East coast.

[DaveP043]

No, at least from what I know, it's more parkland style than a desert course.

Yeah looks pretty good. I'm guessing it might be a little more brown because we'll be there towards the end of the summer but grass will still be healthy.

Everything I've seen tells me we're going to have a great time playing there, thanks to you guys for putting this all together.

But really, what was that guy thinking sticking his head into a cactus??

[Golfingdad]

I would think the big difference between East coast golf and dessert golf is, here in the East we have to work for our distance.... Never played on West coast so not sure how far ball flies compared to East coast.

Yup - balls flies approximately 146% farther west of the Mississippi.  Tell @saevel25 that he needn't bring a single club longer than about a 5 iron.

[GolfLug]

Yup - balls flies approximately 146% farther west of the Mississippi.  Tell @saevel25 that he needn't bring a single club longer than about a 5 iron.

I will give you this much; at least you folks are smart enough to know which battles to not pick. .

[Golfingdad]

I will give you this much; at least you folks are smart enough to know which battles to not pick. .

We should also clarify, again for Matt's sake, that if you want to be eligible for the long drive award (if there were any) then you have to be in THE fairway, not simply A fairway.  Want to make that perfectly clear right now because I've seen his Gamegolf summaries.

[GolfLug]

We should also clarify, again for Matt's sake, that if you want to be eligible for the long drive award (if there were any) then you have to be in THE fairway, not simply A fairway.  Want to make that perfectly clear right now because I've seen his Gamegolf summaries.

..and at least 75% of longest 'A fairway' drive... I mean who really wants to win "_____________ (insert sexist comment) long driver" contest.

[saevel25]

We should also clarify, again for Matt's sake, that if you want to be eligible for the long drive award (if there were any) then you have to be in THE fairway, not simply A fairway.  Want to make that perfectly clear right now because I've seen his Gamegolf summaries. :-P

Just make sure to hit it far enough so i dont have to pull my 5 iron out to beat ya. :D [quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/80658/the-2015-newport-cup/270#post_1184545"]Yup - balls flies approximately 146% farther west of the Mississippi.  Tell @saevel25 that he needn't bring a single club longer than about a 5 iron. :-P [/quote] Might not be a bad strategy.

[Golfingdad]

Just make sure to hit it far enough so i dont have to pull my 5 iron out to beat ya. :D

No way could I guarantee that.

Might not be a bad strategy.

You know, I actually thought about that when I wrote it.  "Am I just making a funny joke here, or am I actually giving him a great idea to score well?"

[mvmac]

Yeah thanks Drew. Between giving the other team sound strategy advice and posting pics of snakes, you're on the verge of being benched until Saturday singles.

[iacas]

Yeah thanks Drew. Between giving the other team sound strategy advice and posting pics of snakes, you're on the verge of being benched until Saturday singles.

Probably a wise decision. No team ever said "We need more jolly purple dinosaur." Cowbell, yes. Jolly purple dinosaur? Not so much.

Plus, red and blue make purple… makes you think… Maybe Drew is a double agent.

[SavvySwede]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveP043

I've seen the jumping cholla before, I think I got within maybe 10 paces of it.  Now, I've never played at Moon Valley, do they have cactus in the fairway there?

No, at least from what I know, it's more parkland style than a desert course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

From the looks of it on google maps, it appears to be quite the oasis.  Lots of green, no desert, and even palm trees.

Yeah looks pretty good. I'm guessing it might be a little more brown because we'll be there towards the end of the summer but grass will still be healthy.

Awesome photos. I just watched a video of a guy who rolled his ATV and was covered in those "jumping chollas", ouch! Glad I won't be seeing any.

[Abu3baid]

Not sure if @iacas will like this for The Newport Cup, but it must be posted :-P I am down to a 7.6 :whistle: .

Ok guys, excuse my ignorance. Are you guys going to be playing straight up with everything or will it all be HC based? I would think that this sort of thing would be straight up, and it will really depend heavily on how the captains match people up, and group them together ect.. I'm interested to know if someone wants to explain.

[Club Rat]

Ok guys, excuse my ignorance. Are you guys going to be playing straight up with everything or will it all be HC based?

I would think that this sort of thing would be straight up, and it will really depend heavily on how the captains match people up, and group them together ect..

I'm interested to know if someone wants to explain.

The first four matches will be team play, best ball in am. alternate shot in the afternoon.

Best ball will most likely be full handicap.

Alternate Shot is usually 80% with combined total hdcp divided in half.

It's total up to the Captain's to determine teammates and matchup individuals on the final day.

Typically, Individual matches should be full hdcp, unless it's a large field, then players are flight'd.

Since the NPC is a limited field (6 per team) the players were required to have a handicap less than 10.

Hope I've explained the possibilities, there may be other options.

Club Rat

[saevel25]

Hope I've explained the possibilities, there may be other options.

Club Rat

I knew that the USGA has rules for different types of formats.

Very nice explanation.