2017 Newport Cup Matches at Talamore Resort (Pinehurst, NC)

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, coachjimsc said:

@DaveP043 – I am really glad we got to play together in the singles match. We did pretty well on our challenge ball together. A true gentlemen and thanks for suggesting that area for the NC. Looking forward to playing with you in the future.

The Newport Cup is so much more than winning or losing. So the Blue team has bragging rights for two years. Okay great. More importantly we have formed friendships that will last a lifetime. 
 

Thanks, Jim.  I have to admit, the challenge ball was pretty exciting. But I can claim no credit for the choice of venue.  My only contribution was some contact info, the rest of the credit goes to Erik and Mike.

And I agree completely with the last bit.  I made 13 new friends in Phoenix in 2015, and 7 more this past week in Pinehurst.  Of course it matters a bit who won, that's what we were working so hard to achieve, but much more important was the camaraderie and friendship.

[NCGolfer]

11 hours ago, coachjimsc said:

@NCGolfer – My roommate Dave K. who does not snore. Can’t ask anymore from a roommate. I had an absolute blast playing alternate shot with you. Yeah we could have played better but didn’t really matter we had a lot of fun both on and off the course. Looking forward to catching up with you in the spring and playing in Charlotte.

Great summary of everything Jim and, yes, we should definitely catch up sometime in the spring in Charlotte!

14 hours ago, cipher said:

It was great to play with you and learn from you @NCGolfer.  I truly enjoyed our pairings.  Hopefully I was not too much of a distraction out there with my long game struggles.    Thanks for being a good sport about it if anyway.  

I enjoyed it as well...truly.  We had a great time out there and I just wish we could have brung home more points!

[iacas]

 

[mvmac]

Been traveling a bunch so finally able to post in this thread.

Big thanks to @RandallT for the great work he did, great to meet and spend time with him in person.

On 10/23/2017 at 8:16 AM, Phil McGleno said:

@mvmac and @iacas-What did you do the whole time? Play behind them? How much work did it take to do this. I run a few monthly things and THOSE take a heck of a lot of work.- Can not imagine this.

As Erik said, we were busy posting on Twitter, on the matches and making sure to mention our sponsors. 

It's a lot of time and work to put it together, Erik and I started putting things in motion in February and there is/was always something to do. 

From a non-playing captain perspective I try to help the most I can because I literally have no effect on the outcome of the matches. Tried to contribute the best I could with strategy and positive reinforcement but I was also itching to get out there and play. Not saying I would have done better than anyone else or changed the end result, was just tough not playing.

On 10/23/2017 at 8:16 AM, Phil McGleno said:

Matches would have been tied without the challenge balls?-Does everyone think having them was the right idea?

Yes it's amazing it would have been another tie.

With the challenge ball I'm still slightly on the pro side and if I was to play devil's advocate I would argue that if we want it to be a "true" Ryder Cup like event then we shouldn't have it. When @iacas first brought it up I didn't challenge it and I think it adds some interesting strategy and more excitement to the final day. Yes it sucks to lose the event with the challenge balls not going our way but it is only 6 points out of 60.

I'm definitely open to modifying the challenge ball. Rather than alternate shot maybe we just have each player challenge their individual opponent in singles and make each challenge 1/2 point. 

My post on IG from Saturday night, can scroll though some of the pics.

 

[Pretzel]

@mvmac, from my perspective you were definitely the more involved captain on the course (then again, take this with a heaping of salt due to the fact that I admittedly didn't pay much attention to the blue team). You were out there reading putts and talking strategy with just about everyone on the team, and I know at least for me it was pretty helpful (even if only for my peace of mind) to get a second opinion on my game plan or the read of a putt.

I did hear tales, though, of the more thorough evening preparation the blue team had. They could be nothing more than legend, but apparently there was a fair amount of match planning going on.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Pretzel

[iacas]

Not really @Pretzel. We did it at the pizza joint. Took two minutes.

Also, my team was experienced. They didn’t need me to read their putts.  (I read a few.)

[DeadMan]

Yeah, it was just me that was having @mvmac read putts, so I think @Pretzel's perspective is messed up by playing with me the last two rounds. 

For what it's worth, he mostly only confirmed my read so. It was really more of a confidence thing for me. I didn't want to second guess my line when I'm standing over my putts, which I do too often. 

[DaveP043]

After the discussion about the challenge balls providing the margin of victory, I became curious.  I went back and looked at the actual matches to see what had the potential to change the standings as much as a single challenge ball.  

For any "point" that finished +1, changing a single lost hole to a win would change the results from +1 to -1, the same as a challenge ball.  This could be as little as a two-stroke swing for a single player.  There were nine 9-hole "points" that finished at +1 for the blue team.  In some situations, that reversal would also change the 18-hole point, resulting in an even bigger swing.

The only way a single stroke could cause a similar swing is in either a 1.5-1.5 match that went +1/-1/AS, or a 2.5-1.5 match that went +1/AS/+1.  A change in a single hole from a loss to a half, or a half to a win can be accomplished with a single putt made or missed.  That difference would then change both the 9-hole point and the overall point by 0.5, resulting in the same effect.  There were three 1.5-1.5 matches, and one 2.5-0,5 for blue where that single stroke could have made the difference.

All of this stuff only goes to show how close and competitive the matches really were.  For me, I wasn't wild initially about the challenge balls, but when they were being played I really enjoyed the added pressure and excitement.  I'm sure the concept can be revised, and possibly improved, but in hindsight I think it was a good addition to an already great competition.

Edited October 27, 2017 by DaveP043

[iacas]

44 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

All of this stuff only goes to show how close and competitive the matches really were.  For me, I wasn't wild initially about the challenge balls, but when they were being played I really enjoyed the added pressure and excitement.  I'm sure the concept can be revised, and possibly improved, but in hindsight I think it was a good addition to an already great competition.

Yeah, I think the leading candidate the next time around is that an individual can challenge another individual during the round to play a hole with the Challenge Ball. That will count as their score in the match AND the challenge point. Probably half a point, as noted, to keep the ratio to 24 points on singles day.

[Golfingdad]

Another change that should seriously be considered for next time, IMO, is that Mike and Erik should play.  Add a player and make them the 8th or subtract one and make them the 6th, whichever works best.

Guys like me and Dave P, who’ve been fortunate enough to play in both of the last NC’s, could play the roles of “captains” and scorekeepers during the golf.

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Another change that should seriously be considered for next time, IMO, is that Mike and Erik should play.

I appreciate the sentiment, but we have too many other things to do.

[Denny Bang Bang]

Congrats, East Team!

[Big C]

Congrats to all the participants on another hard fought competition. I haven't been around here much lately, but I enjoyed checking back periodically to hear about the results. 

As someone who has been on the receiving end of the @iacas patented "reverse jinx," it was good to see him work his magic again in post #222. 

It was a flashback to 2015, when Erik all but conceded the Newport Cup to the red team deep into the back 9, only to see blue mount a furious comeback late comeback and rally for a tie. 

 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, Big C said:

Congrats to all the participants on another hard fought competition. I haven't been around here much lately, but I enjoyed checking back periodically to hear about the results. 

As someone who has been on the receiving end of the @iacas patented "reverse jinx," it was good to see him work his magic again in post #222. 

It was a flashback to 2015, when Erik all but conceded the Newport Cup to the red team deep into the back 9, only to see blue mount a furious comeback late comeback and rally for a tie. 

I like to assume the worst. If it happens, I'm more prepared. If something better happens, it's a bonus!  

[RandallT]

Pretty cheesy quality in this, but I'm just starting to learn how to do video for my submission for Newport Cup 2019. Thought y'all might get a kick out of seeing the animation of the scoring.

Hard to read the actual scores and names (and I goofed up and forgot the 3rd hole score on the final day), but the main thing I wanted to see was how the match ebbed and flowed in the progress bar at the top. As it turns out, the number of points at stake between 15 and 18 visually make the rest of the tournament look like just warm up! 

What is that they say about the Masters starting on the back nine at Augusta?

 

 

Edited November 1, 2017 by RandallT
grammar

[iacas]

Did I ever post this?

[mchepp]

Forgot how much fun we all had. 

[Jeremie Boop]

One of the things I've always been disappointed about is I've never been good enough to take part in any of these. They looked like such a good time.