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Post by mrohde4 on Oct 31, 2016 23:23:08 GMT -5
Been a member for a year, and I can't imagine my weeks without competing in these tournaments. A great escape from work, life, etc.
BUT... I've often thought to myself how TGCTours was formed. I have a general understanding of the administrators and their respective roles, but who's responsible for starting this? Better yet, what's their story? If there is an "About Us" section that I've missed, I apologize. Maybe it's been discussed in a podcast that someone can lead me to. Perhaps some of you can get together and film a Drunk History episode of this site. (great TV show)
Regardless, thanks to the admins for running such a wonderful site.
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Post by ATLdust on Oct 31, 2016 23:28:20 GMT -5
Been a member for a year, and I can't imagine my weeks without competing in these tournaments. A great escape from work, life, etc. BUT... I've often thought to myself how TGCTours was formed. I have a general understanding of the administrators and their respective roles, but who's responsible for starting this? Better yet, what's their story? If there is an "About Us" section that I've missed, I apologize. Maybe it's been discussed in a podcast that someone can lead me to. Perhaps some of you can get together and film a Drunk History episode of this site. (great TV show) Regardless, thanks to the admins for running such a wonderful site. I second this motion!
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Post by Doyley on Nov 1, 2016 0:40:58 GMT -5
I'll coles notes it - I thought we had a thread on here a while ago that detailed the beginning but can't find it 1. I ran an online league called the PGA Tour via Google Sheets/HB forums that had approx 100 weekly players during the summer of 2014 2. Tim approached me out of the blue to see if I'd be interested in running the tours on a site he'd create (backend) with the help of Jeff (frontend) as well as Job Fickett (designer/lawyer) who helped us navigate legal stuff early on before having to take a leave due to work 3. We posted in September of 2014 (I believe) that we were creating the site and had a 75 day countdown timer on the main page as we built the site out with the goal of starting by January 1st, 2015 4. Site got built out and we ran a couple of beta tournaments in late November that went well then set up the initial Q-School in December on 6 now famous courses (who can name them all off the top of their head?) 5. Initial site was built around the assumption we could have up to 500 members by the end of the first season - we had well over 1,000 - which caused the initial tours (PGA, European, Web, Champions) to expand with flights in February of 2015 (Web-A, B & C and Champions-A & B) 6. we were still growing by leaps and bounds so we went with a bit different model that we could scale better - the Challenge Circuit came in late June of Season 1 7. Challenge Circuit split into CC-Pro and CC-Am for Season 3 due to the wide range in skill levels from the A to Z flights 8. Along the way we've added some core staff around Tim, Jeff and I that keep the machine running smoothly - beyond that core staff are many volunteers doing important jobs all over the TGCT landscape Snapshot of the original siteLots of details left out as I have to go home but if you have more questions fire away.
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Post by Generic_Casual on Nov 1, 2016 1:39:33 GMT -5
Man, that OG website! Many thanks to you all for putting all this together! #golfislife
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Post by ATLdust on Nov 1, 2016 3:39:24 GMT -5
I'll coles notes it - I thought we had a thread on here a while ago that detailed the beginning but can't find it 1. I ran an online league called the PGA Tour via Google Sheets/HB forums that had approx 100 weekly players during the summer of 2014 2. Tim approached me out of the blue to see if I'd be interested in running the tours on a site he'd create (backend) with the help of Jeff (frontend) as well as Job Fickett (designer/lawyer) who helped us navigate legal stuff early on before having to take a leave due to work 3. We posted in September of 2014 (I believe) that we were creating the site and had a 75 day countdown timer on the main page as we built the site out with the goal of starting by January 1st, 2015 4. Site got built out and we ran a couple of beta tournaments in late November that went well then set up the initial Q-School in December on 6 now famous courses (who can name them all off the top of their head?) 5. Initial site was built around the assumption we could have up to 500 members by the end of the first season - we had well over 1,000 - which caused the initial tours (PGA, European, Web, Champions) to expand with flights in February of 2015 (Web-A, B & C and Champions-A & B) 6. we were still growing by leaps and bounds so we went with a bit different model that we could scale better - the Challenge Circuit came in late June of Season 1 7. Challenge Circuit split into CC-Pro and CC-Am for Season 3 due to the wide range in skill levels from the A to Z flights 8. Along the way we've added some core staff around Tim, Jeff and I that keep the machine running smoothly - beyond that core staff are many volunteers doing important jobs all over the TGCT landscape Snapshot of the original siteLots of details left out as I have to go home but if you have more questions fire away. You guys should all get together and do a podcast telling stories of getting this thing up and running and just events over the years. I'm sure you guys would have some humorous stories to tell.
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Post by dh-nufc on Nov 1, 2016 7:36:19 GMT -5
I remember when I came across this in April 2015. I'd never done anything like it before. It was quite daunting at first but it looked like an amazing concept. I would never have believed though that I'd still be playing it 18 months down the line. It's gone from a daunting place to a 2nd home for me!
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Post by titaneddie on Nov 1, 2016 8:21:51 GMT -5
You said you guys had a lawyer to help navigate "legal stuff". Was there ever any sort of "legal threats" or any other opposition to you guys running this?
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Post by scampi00 on Nov 1, 2016 8:36:59 GMT -5
You said you guys had a lawyer to help navigate "legal stuff". Was there ever any sort of "legal threats" or any other opposition to you guys running this? I second this. It was the first question I had too. I'm interested in what a lawyer would be needed for at all.
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Post by mrohde4 on Nov 1, 2016 10:45:45 GMT -5
Great stuff. Thanks Doyley.
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Post by Doyley on Nov 1, 2016 11:10:14 GMT -5
You said you guys had a lawyer to help navigate "legal stuff". Was there ever any sort of "legal threats" or any other opposition to you guys running this? Mainly to do with our plans on using real names for tours/events and advising us on what we could and couldn't do. Also a big help in setting up our bylaws that everyone has read and memorized right?! No legal threats for the most part - at least none from the official tours or courses we use.
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Post by Tim on Nov 1, 2016 11:33:41 GMT -5
Doyley, time to change that signature.. you're back in the top 10! CONGRATS!
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Post by SMIFFYLFC79 on Nov 1, 2016 12:05:42 GMT -5
Doyley, time to change that signature.. you're back in the top 10! CONGRATS! No point, he will only be in for a week
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Post by Crazycanuck1985 on Nov 1, 2016 12:22:36 GMT -5
I've been lucky enough to be here since the start. I stumbled upon TGCTours just as the beta tournaments were happening. At this point, I was still designing on Xbox and had just started a show called "Canuck's Course Critiques". I loved the look of the site, but I had been a part of many league sites before, almost all of them were great for the first month, then died out. I figured this site was the most ambitious I had seen, but would most likely suffer the same fate. Boy, was I wrong. I switched over to PC in December of 2014 where my designing and my course critiques show kicked into high gear. I must have caught the attention of Tim, as he messaged me and told me he loved my videos and asked if I could do some video work for TGCTours. I was really excited an honored to be a part of the site (even though I still thought it wouldn't last). Then came the excitement of the very first q-school. Nic Zaiser, ( misternic) posted some amazing recaps and "bubble watch" reports as well as doing the q-school wrap-up show...which was incredibly entertaining (go find it on youtube, you are in for a treat). I was one of the few that was "interviewed" by Nic on the show. I was too shy at that point to do anything live, so I remember sending him the answers to his questions and him pretending to be me and giving me a squeaky, high pitched voice. I thought that was hilarious. Q-school was a struggle, but I managed an ace on the 2nd hole at Crawford Mines to just sneak in and get my Euro card by one shot. I was hooked. The inaugural season began and I started doing Course Preview videos. I was in charge of the PGA courses, timwilsonuk did Euro and obsoletenexus did the Challenge Circuit (remember those guys?) Each week, we took some video of each course, highlighted some "key holes" and talked about them. I would give some "keys to success" on each course as well. I had a blast doing them, but between the Course Critiques and these videos (which took about 2 hours each time), it became too much and I had to stop after a couple months. I was then asked to head up the review/course database part of the site when life became very busy for Job (jwfickett). This was back when we were rating each course out of 5. Rating was fun, but very subjective. The number of emails and complaints we received had us ditching the review system for "course approvals", which I think is still working well. I continued playing and my Course Critiques show was taking off. Some days, I would do 3-4 shows! I was then approached by Elz, whose course I reviewed (and I remember he wasnt all that happy with what I had to say), and was very keen on joining me. We did the course critiques show for another couple months, then held our first contest...the Par 3 Course Design Tournament. It was our first contest and my favorite. So many fantastic courses. The contest was won by Dr. Yeti, who in the coming months, also joined the crew. Shortly after, Canuck's Course Critiques morphed into TGCTLive! We ran that show for over a year, with lots of fun and some great contests that churned out some incredible courses. The run finally ended a couple months ago as we were feeling time constraints and burnout. I'm sure we will be back for TGC2! Can't forget about the podcast! In July of 2015, a gentlemen by the name of Irving R. Levine joined my twitch channel as I was designing. He watched a few of my streams and sent me a voiceover promoting my new course. Once I heard his voice and his sense of humour, I knew he had to be a part of the team somehow. Me, Irving and a few others started the 19th Hole Podcast and we have had on some great guests and had some great discussions. I will be taking a break from the podcast as well, but it is in good hands with Irving, gdog, Moe Slorkman, DoubtfulObelisk and others. I am scaling back my involvement in the tours as I am suffering from some serious burnout, but I like to reminisce on how all this started....for me anyway! Thanks to Tim Doyley, SmilingGoats and the rest of the core team that have brought me into the fold to help out. It has been a great ride so far.
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Post by misternic on Nov 1, 2016 12:32:25 GMT -5
Oh this brings back memories. I also have been around since the start. I was super excited about the Golf Club game for months before it was released in the summer of 2014. I designed for years on Tiger Woods Course Architect, mainly for my own use, and was really looking forward to a new tool to craft courses. I bought the game as soon as it came out on xbox and found TGCT about the same time. TGCT had a major roll out planned in Nov of 2014. Q school followed by the start of the season in Jan 2015.
I was fortunate enough to be on paternity leave with my daughter that fall, and got obsessed with the site and the game. As Canuck noted, I put some interest (not skill) to use in helping add some spice to the site media wise. The first Q School was huge. It involved everyone (required that month of Nov) and everyone was obsessed about where they would be placed. Top 250 earned PGA/Euro cards, and allocation to Web and Champions tour under that. It was super excited as we all learned the game.
Here is the "show" Canuck referenced for that first Q-School. It was fun to make, but certainly not the quality it could have been. Enjoy - . I am certain you will find it more a reflection of how far the site has come and maybe give you a few laughs.
Nic
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Post by misternic on Nov 1, 2016 12:36:26 GMT -5
We did a masters preview and post show including a jacket presentation that first year as well. Then came the weekly wrap up and all sorts of stuff that first year. The weekly wrap up has been expanded and improved (kudo's Gdog and Irving) but the major recaps could be a cool addition again...
The funny thing about that first interview with Canuck was I picked his name almost completely by chance. I did not know him, or even "of him". He was near the cut line for top tours and I wanted that perspective in the show. I sent emails to like 3 people that met the criteria and he replied. Fast forward and he is now a force du jour and as he noted that can lead to burnout. Thus why some of these video type things are hard to keep going. Guess I will need to have another child for the paternity leave... lol (not happening).
N
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