Carnoustie Tour 2016

Day 1

The tourists headed up to Carnoustie separately. A large number went via Stirling and the rest via Edinburgh. The choice of Stirling was a little bit like a 3 wood lay up, leaving a nice number the next morning, meaning that it was only a short journey on the first day of tour.

As the tourists gathered, the mandatory club sandwiches were ordered and consumed with a couple of noticeable absentees from the tour tradition. Lawro and Pops felt that they needed at least 2 hours of practice before the initial tee off time. The Carnoustie Golf Links club sandwich was rated as the best seen so far by the tourists.

Tee off time was 2:30pm so the troops hit the nets, the putting green and the short game area. There was intense focus as usual and not a lot of banter as the tourists prepared mentally and sought to find some rhythm and confidence. There was even a few short holes played in advance of the first tee on a small course near the practice areas.

At 2:30pm, everyone hit the first tee to be told a few home truths by the man on the first tee. Everyone listened intently, not realising at this point that everything said by the men in black was in fact the exact opposite of the truth. The first group then headed off with Ben having the honour in the first group. Everyone managed to get away well on the first tee and swings were filmed. An omen for how tour would go was that the previous year’s winner was in fact the only person that did not manage to get away well on the first. This was a sign of things to come.

The first day was a struggle. The wind was up, the pressure was on and it was the Championship course. The rough was not particularly penal and the weather was fine, so it was not all bad.

Nearly all golfers started well with a string of pars and two pointers. Tim met his nemesis on the second when told to hit a 200 yard shot towards the bunkers. If executed, there was no way he would hit the burn. Luckily for him, as his ball bounded towards the burn, he was actually safe and dry but his confidence was knocked and his trust in the course attendants was diminished.

This year we attempted to use Golf Gamebook to keep track of all of the scores during the day meaning that there was always a rolling leaderboard to view. It worked well and is definitely something to use again.

The highlight of the day was the birdie on the 17th from John who thought he had hit a hook left into the rough 100 yards before the green. He was surprised to find that he was in fact only 12 foot from the hole and managed to roll it in. Impressive since so many of the rest of the tourists were too long off the tee and went for a paddle in the burn.

Evening Activities

Once the golf was finished, the apres-golf started. Everyone headed into the hotel in their golf gear and from then on, there was never a suggestion of wearing anything other than golf shoes and outfits that evening. Beers were consumed at a rate of knots and Spoof inevitably followed soon afterwards. Tim took the brunt of the punishment on Spoof, so much so that Tom pretty much accepted defeat in a later round to ensure that Tim would make it to the golf course the next day. Matt also shared some Jamie Foxx impressions which were certainly memorable and he will hope that the videos taken never make it into the public domain. Burgers were demolished once ordered and at 3am the tiredness kicked in and people started to head off to bed.

Day 1 Gallery

Day 2

The vast majority of tourists arrived for breakfast just before 10am. Noticeably missing were Matt and Tim. They were either already at the range or, as was the most likely option, sleeping off the hangover. They ended up making it down just before lunch to discover that their only option for lunch before golf was a takeaway fish finger sandwich.

Tim headed off in the first group and somehow managed to get a good drive away. The course on the second day was a shorter course but still provided a challenge. The top score for the day was 32 points with Matt, while Chris managed to come second with 30 points.

Dave, who managed to be the third best scorer of the day, scraped around with some shocking play from the tees but with plenty of magic around the greens. Ben and Tom spent a lot of time walking up the middle of the fairway on their own while Dave criss-crossed behind and in front of them only to finish with more points than them on the day. One group even had to keep quiet for another group on the Championship course alongside them.

Golf Gamebook didn’t manage to have the correct course handicaps meaning that points needed to be tallied manually after the round. It meant extra points for some and less points for others.

The evening of the Saturday was much quieter than the Friday. A few drinks in the hotel and then off into town to the local curry house which served some very good food. A nightcap at the bar before a sensible bedtime not long after midnight.

Day 2 Gallery

Day 3 - The Final Round

With Gamebook back up and running for day 3, Tom, Pops and Lawro headed off with an early tee off time to ensure that Tom could make his flight. Tom started well and put pressure on the others. John, Tom and Dave then went off in the middle group before Chris, Matt, Ben and Adam went off in the final group.

Chris started well and continued to play well throughout the day. The tournament winner was never in doubt once he had got through the front nine. His driving was immense (although not quite as long as Ben’s 290 yarder) and his iron play was assured. Matt and Adam put up a good fight but were never really in contention. Adam hit driver on 17 only to be unable to find his ball. The ruling was of course to go back to the tee which was something that Adam found difficult to accept.

Overall there was some really good play and a worthy winner in Chris. Scoring 41 points on the final day was always going to be difficult to beat. His winnings were duly accepted and spent on bounty from the course shop.

Day 3 Gallery

Final Results

Chris Matthews dominated the final day with an impressive 41-point round to claim victory at Carnoustie. A commanding performance on one of Scotland’s most challenging championship courses.