TGCT Survivor - Course Design Edition LIVE!

[culallen]

I told VctryLnSprts in his early play through of Hickory that it might be my favorite course on the entire game, and mentioned later that it was, in my opinion, the course of the year. I think the results of this contest we’re dead on. Congrats to Matt F and all the others.

Thanks to all who made it to. It was a lot of fun!

Now, when does TGC Design: the Bachelor Edition start...?

[rhino4life]

Aug 10, 2018 7:06:28 GMT -5 mayday_golf83 said:

OK, so here's that long post I promised to write as I'm up WAY earlier than I wanted to be this morning.

First off, let me start by saying I'm absolutely thrilled with finishing second. Yes, I would have loved to have won, but I felt this was a major step forward for me from previous design contests. I've had a habit of losing to the eventual winner in these things. While that continued, I know I left it all on the table this time and was just edged by another designer who did the same. There's no shame in that.

Congratulations to mattf27 on a phenomenal course. After playing Hickory Creek in beta, I knew he would provide strong competition and he didn't disappoint. Matt might not have had a showstopper, drop-the-mic hole, but he did exactly what he did with Corozal in the Nat. Treasure contest -- put out 18 beautiful works of art that while, on the surface, seemed pretty straightforward kept you on your toes the whole round. I was enamored with Corozal when I judged it and I was equally enamored by Hickory Creek. His championship is well-deserved. 

I further offer congratulations to Terry Grayson on his third-place course. I'm as guilty of anyone for under-appreciating the course he put out at the onset, but the Kraken was defintely a course that grew on me as we went along and proved a worthy top-3 finisher. He also made the gutsiest move of the competition, calling his shot in the second round the way he did. The move worked out spectacularly on his behalf. As much as we love to bust Terry's chops about putting out goat ranches this, as some other noted designers have mentioned, was his finest hour in the designer ... so far. 

Additionally, major credit goes out to our novices, including sharky21  lajvol20  hippystein & ddixjr509 -- all of whom stole the show with incredible designs, especially considering their lack of previous publishes. I knew David was on the right track after judging his Nat. Treasure course, and he followed that up with The Olmsted. Razorback Ridge, Riverbend and Dragon's Pass were phenomenal courses period. What they were able to display in this contest bodes very well for the design community moving forward.

While I'm not a huge fan of the "Survivor" TV show, this format proved to be very engaging. The show's slogan of "Outwit, outplay, outlast" definitely applied here. This contest was all about matchups, more specifically, manipulating matchups into your favor. I'll confess now that, very early in the results portion of the competition myself and a few others formed a secret alliance. With a gut feel for the overall rankings, an understanding of the plot twists Eric was providing and a little well-placed influence on our fellow competitors at the right time, we were able to help dictate several of the matchups over the course of rounds 2, 3 & 4. Havre Hills getting a bye in round 2, Lost Oaks falling and Mav losing the captaincy, and how the courses were broken up into teams in round 3 were no accident. They all involved strategy and lobbying. That influence may have even played a role in how the lineup for round of revenge was cast  . While I'm not going to disclose who aligned with me, and leave them to divulge that information if they wish, they know who they are and their support and teamwork are what made the strategy plays successful. 

Now time for the thank yous. The first of which has to go to VctryLnSprts for putting on this contest. It evolved into its own monster and, like any contest, there was perhaps a little too much drama at some points along the way, but this contest managed to engage the design community for the better part of 5 months. It also produced 25 excellent courses for grateful schedulers and players to enjoy. On all fronts, no matter how stressful I know it was on Eric at times, this contest was an unquestioned success. 

To the judges, who I won't tag for fear of omitting one, thank you again for your time, dedication and deliberation. Having recently sat in the judge's chair, I know full well the hours you put into this and the tough calls that had to be made along the way. I hope you, in turn, have learned a thing or two from the other side of the glass that helps improve your own designs going forward. I know judging the National Treasure contest absolutely helped me with Monterey Bay. I thank @griff for having me on that panel. He took some time with me to break down McNaughton following its first-round exit in last year's Summer Showdown, but it took a bit of a sabbatical from the game, returning with a renewed energy and judging that contest for his words to really sink in for me. 

That's all I've got for now. Congrats to the winners. Thank you to the organizers/judges and a tip of the cap to all who entered. 

~ Jeremy

That was about as long as the contest explanation. Thanks for the kind words...i took a lot of appreciation from these courses and as i told Eric...the newcomers in this contest just made the design game really hard for the rest of us.

[mattf27]

Aug 10, 2018 7:31:17 GMT -5 joegolferg said:

Follow that speech, Matt... 🎤

Well, I won't spend to much time repeating stuff everyone else has already said, but I still want to say thanks to everyone who made the competition possible, it was a blast. In retrospect, I'd be the one person who didn't really need to strategize too much because I wouldn't end up losing any matchups. And even then, I still feel like Jeremy practically carried the rest of us to the end of the competition with his backroom dealing, scheming and fantastic strategy. The strategy ended up being one of the most fun parts of it for me, and even though it wouldn't have changed my finishing position, it certainly didn't feel that way at the time. There were so many fantastic courses in this contest, that I figured one of them HAD to edge me out eventually. Jeremy was already someone I was worried about before this contest, and the plot he created for this one certainly raised the bar.Terry certainly earned his top 3 finish with an amazing course. Even the rookies, who I wasn't overly worried about coming in, put out some seriously awesome stuff, and were downright scary matchups. There were some fantastic ideas in there, and general detail polish is probably the only advantage I had over many of these up-and-comers. I look forward to getting utterly destroyed in future matchups with all of you guys.

[coggin66]

Congrats to Matt for the win and all the other designers that took part. I was one of the initial 32 contestants but was not able to finish in time. However I have remained an avid viewer throughout and I wanted to congratulate Eric on running a contest that has managed to maintain a high level of interest to the end. I have not always agreed with the judges but I appreciate the time and effort they have put in to properly judge 25 courses. Competitions like these make my life as a society scheduler so much easier.

Now I just need someone to run a competition that gives me 4 months to complete a course!

[joegolferg]

So, I'm just fishing around for feedback from the judges from this contest. What I'm interested in most is finding out the feedback from the judge who scored me the worst and the one who scored me the best so I can compare the two. My course was the Cincinnati Club, if you have any notes on it I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts either in here or in a PM, I'm not fussy. Cheers.

[Deleted]

Too many posts to read through so if already asked....Can we get the scores, no names attached? X number of judges thought I did Y correctly/incorrectly/neutral can help me with future designs.

And I 2nd what Joe said here^^ but I want them all.

And I REALLY don't like this: 

I'll confess now that, very early in the results portion of the competition myself and a few others formed a secret alliance. With a gut feel for the overall rankings, an understanding of the plot twists Eric was providing and a little well-placed influence on our fellow competitors at the right time, we were able to help dictate several of the matchups over the course of rounds 2, 3 & 4. Havre Hills getting a bye in round 2, Lost Oaks falling and Mav losing the captaincy, and how the courses were broken up into teams in round 3 were no accident. They all involved strategy and lobbying. That influence may have even played a role in how the lineup for round of revenge was cast


This now brings into question ANY of the judging. Who shaved a point here or there just based on who they wanted to see near the end? Was the contest judged or produced? Not a whole lot of room for argument when you make this type of confession. Let the backtracking begin....

[lajvol20]

Aug 12, 2018 12:53:28 GMT -5 joegolferg said:

So, I'm just fishing around for feedback from the judges from this contest. What I'm interested in most is finding out the feedback from the judge who scored me the worst and the one who scored me the best so I can compare the two. My course was the Cincinnati Club, if you have any notes on it I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts either in here or in a PM, I'm not fussy. Cheers.

If you send a PM to the judges several have offered to get back to you with comments.  I've heard back from most, if not all, of them.  Here's the list:

The Panel:



Chad - titaneddie

Chris - warhawk137

Chuck - Violinguy69

Dale - coruler2

David - rhino4life

Griffin - DoubtfulObelisk

Jason - energ1ser

Robin - rob4590


Griffin doesn't have written comments but has offered to stream a playthru of any course and share his thoughts.

[titaneddie]

I was one of the judges. I actually barely understood the format, was not aware of the upcoming twists, and honestly didnt pay a whole of attention to it. I scored the courses, and voted on the matchups...like every other judge.

Probably not the best way in going about asking for feedback.

[Celtic Wolf]

I've had feedback on what I done wrong and I'm using the it to guide me in the designer again,thanks to Robin and David for that. What I would like is feedback on what I done well just so I know and can apply it to future courses, even if it is the small details or something that's in the background, thanks.

P.S.Robin and David did include positive feedback but did say they would concentrate on the areas that need improving. Just so you know they weren't being harsh on me.

[Deleted]

MAJORHIGH - I don’t understand your post at all, particularly the last paragraph. You do realize that Jeremy was not a judge, right? Whatever alliances were formed behind the scenes was unknown to me or the judges, that was contestants playing the game. They were being creative and having a little fun, and not breaking any rules, so I wasn’t even upset to find that out. But that played absolutely no part in the judge’s scores, so that’s why your post is so confusing.

[lajvol20]

Aug 12, 2018 13:16:21 GMT -5 MAJORHIGH said:

Too many posts to read through so if already asked....Can we get the scores, no names attached? X number of judges thought I did Y correctly/incorrectly/neutral can help me with future designs.

And I 2nd what Joe said here^^ but I want them all.

And I REALLY don't like this: 

I'll confess now that, very early in the results portion of the competition myself and a few others formed a secret alliance. With a gut feel for the overall rankings, an understanding of the plot twists Eric was providing and a little well-placed influence on our fellow competitors at the right time, we were able to help dictate several of the matchups over the course of rounds 2, 3 & 4. Havre Hills getting a bye in round 2, Lost Oaks falling and Mav losing the captaincy, and how the courses were broken up into teams in round 3 were no accident. They all involved strategy and lobbying. That influence may have even played a role in how the lineup for round of revenge was cast


This now brings into question ANY of the judging. Who shaved a point here or there just based on who they wanted to see near the end? Was the contest judged or produced? Not a whole lot of room for argument when you make this type of confession. Let the backtracking begin....

That comment was made by a designer in the competition who had nothing to do with the rules or the judging.  He read the rules, understood how the contest worked, played the courses, formed his opinions of how the courses stacked up, and tried to influence those who were setting lineups (other designers in the contests, NOT the judges) to set them a certain way.  None of that has anything to do with the judging.  

[Terry Grayson]

The behind the scenes plays and moves made this
One of the best contests I’ve been involved in. There
We’re some bold moves made behind the scenes that
Not a judge was aware of but it had zero influence on any
Of their scores! Jeremy ran with the motif and did some
Pretty cool moves behind the scenes and even tried to talk
Me out of the only big move I made

It was an awesome contest I had a blast

[Celtic Wolf]

Aug 12, 2018 13:52:37 GMT -5 Terry Grayson said:

The behind the scenes plays and moves made this
One of the best contests I’ve been involved in. There
We’re some bold moves made behind the scenes that
Not a judge was aware of but it had zero influence on any
Of their scores! Jeremy ran with the motif and did some
Pretty cool moves behind the scenes and even tried to talk
Me out of the only big move I made

It was an awesome contest I had a blast

I agree with this, some good discussions and second guessing went on in our team. I didn't play the contest as it should be played, but I wanted to test my course against others where the smart play to advance would be sit back and let others get involved.

To be honest I didn't agree with some of the scoring, but the judges were giving their opinion and preferences.

[Deleted]

My bad...lesson learned for me that "glancing" a write-up is dangerous. It came off sounding from a judge's perspective so I definitely jumped the gun there. My apologies to all, especially mayday.

[mayday_golf83]

Aug 12, 2018 13:16:21 GMT -5 MAJORHIGH said:

Too many posts to read through so if already asked....Can we get the scores, no names attached? X number of judges thought I did Y correctly/incorrectly/neutral can help me with future designs.

And I 2nd what Joe said here^^ but I want them all.

And I REALLY don't like this: 

I'll confess now that, very early in the results portion of the competition myself and a few others formed a secret alliance. With a gut feel for the overall rankings, an understanding of the plot twists Eric was providing and a little well-placed influence on our fellow competitors at the right time, we were able to help dictate several of the matchups over the course of rounds 2, 3 & 4. Havre Hills getting a bye in round 2, Lost Oaks falling and Mav losing the captaincy, and how the courses were broken up into teams in round 3 were no accident. They all involved strategy and lobbying. That influence may have even played a role in how the lineup for round of revenge was cast


This now brings into question ANY of the judging. Who shaved a point here or there just based on who they wanted to see near the end? Was the contest judged or produced? Not a whole lot of room for argument when you make this type of confession. Let the backtracking begin....

Sorry, but I think you’re off the mark here. I, as a contestant, aligned with other contestants to lobby our respective teams for certain matchups which we felt would benefit us in the long run. This was done without any knowledge of the judges scores (in fact, our round 2 strategy nearly backfired because I was dead certain Sonoma Sands would beat the Kraken ... whoops!). On the other hand, the judges had no clue what we were scheming. Eric may have had a notion we were up to something, but exactly what he wouldn’t have known b/c our PMs were being conducted outside the official contest PMs (otherwise it wouldn’t be so secret no would it 😉).
There was an element of strategy that was in the players’ hands. It was up to them to decide if they wanted to take advantage of it, but the best courses still won — as they should have.