Tim Hortons Canada Challenge@Gothic Hills

[hmammoth]

I guess I better start by apologizing for this weeks course. When I asked metatropic to design this weeks course I was more than happy with the result, I was a little bit surprised by the name he choose, as the course does not give off a Gothic vibe to me, or I should say, it did not give off a Gothic vibe to me. Unfortunately when the course name was announced locally, it attracted the wrong sort of attention, it attracted teenagers, not just any sort of teenagers, but goths, emo's, wannabe teenager vampires. The name of the course attracted them like flies and with them came their dark and brooding lifestyle and I am not sure why. Sure the architecture of the course buildings incorporates Gothic elements, featuring arched doorways, wrought iron details but thats not uncommon with golf courses. But now under every archway, by every wrought Iron gate is a teenager dressed in black just standing there deep in thought. It gets worse, they have taken over the club house bar and turned it into a cafe,  Dark coffee blends and themed pastries are served instead of beer and whiskey, instead of talk about hole in ones, there are book clubs discussing the latest YA dystopian novel and why it could come true in the not to distant future. We had bought brand new golf carts especially for you guys but now the golf carts have been pimped out, now adorned with stickers of brooding vampires and quotes from Edgar Allan Poe. Imagine cruising down the fairway in a cart that looks like it's straight out of a Gothic novel – complete with a mini fog machine for that extra dramatic effect.

We have tried to get them to leave, we have hired extra security and just when we think it is starting to work, some stupid rumor spreads on the internet, the latest one, that the Cullens from Twilight have stopped playing baseball and have developed an unexpected penchant for golf. Rumors circulate faster than a vampire flying through the trees in a forest and this one is bad.Twilight enthusiasts wearing Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts have been seen wandering the fariways.. The atmosphere is charged with anticipation, as fans clutch their copies of the Twilight series, hoping for a glimpse of the Cullens in their golfing glory. Some corners of the golf course become selfie spots for enthusiastic Twilight fans, who strike poses next to strategically placed cardboard cutouts of their favorite characters. There's an ongoing debate about whether the 9th hole is Edward or Bella's favorite. I really don't know whats worse, the brooding goths and emo;s or the bright and cheerful twilight fans. At least the ones in black don't speak to the golfers, just stare with dark menace at anyone teeing off, the Twilight ones just wont shut up abut the novels, the movies and how golf needs this to bring new(well old) blood to the game.

It's to late to do anything about it now, ye guys will just have to deal with them, hopefully it won't affect your game to much. From now on though, there are going to be strict new rules with it comes to naming golf courses, have fun and good luck, oh if you want extra fans of the golf course, wear black and fake fangs.

[honeybadger64]

Slightly different tale from me.

Approaching 5 years on tour, never won anything, never really been close. Played (badly) through all the rough times on all the platforms at one time or another. All I ever really wanted to do was get to Korn Ferry and now Kinetic. Spent most of my time in CC-B or CC-C. I had a very fortunate and very good week on some oddball tropical gorilla infested island back in 2020 in a promo event, got bumped to Korn Ferry and lasted a whole three weeks. In those days you were chucked in and had to transition from pro to master swing in a week. I played three events with a dying controller and accumulated six or seven demo marks.

Four years acting as a stepping stone for folks in CC-B, I had a decent week in the the promo in September and got back where I enjoy. With the best scheduler, most interesting course choice and tough but fair conditions. Nobody taking things too seriously and entertaining course write-ups each week. Accumulated and cleared a few demos so far but usually hover around the cut line just above or below. I still play every week even if I don't think the course suits my game. 

This week's choice didn't really suit my eye. A couple of practice rounds barely breaking par wasn't the confidence boost I needed. All of Sunday I just watched sport on TV, telling myself that I should just skip this week and hope for better. I couldn't fault the course, as when I went to the Rangers board to check which d!ck had said this was a good course for Kinetic, it turned out that I was one of those d!cks.

Awake too early on Monday, played the CC as a potential warm-up. Went well enough and found myself starting Round One of Kinetic. As putt after putt shaved the edge of the hole, approach shots found sand or rough and too many tee shots found trouble. My neighbour must have been woken as I shouted at the screen, "NO!!!!! why the f**k do you do this to yourself? week after week, you know it doesn't suit you, but no, you have to play. You're a d!ck!!"

Two over on the third tee, it wasn't pretty. Level at the turn and a birdie on the last cancelled out some mid-nine indiscretion. Level par and 138/139 on Monday evening. I am one of those that will always play the second round if I tee it up. Looking at the board, I was sure that the cut would come around -14 or -15 so that was out of the question. I had this vague hope that I might get to eight or nine under despite every indication to the contrary. 

Five birdies and a bogey so four under at the turn. Three stops on the par train and holes running out. A hole out from 125 yards, ball in the light rough and a yelp of surprise from me. Birdies on four of the final five holes and I post -10 for my rounds. Counting the number of players who have scored more for their rounds it looks like I will avoid a demo mark. It doesn't get me into the weekend, but it was possibly one of my favourite rounds in five years. It turns out I was correct in my original assessment of the course and what a hoot that inconsequential round of pixel golf that was.

See you all next week.

[Brenelan]

I'm clearly a borderline pro player at this point - every week in Kinetic, I'm riding the cut line. Sweating this week again to the last hour (sitting on the number at -14 currently).

At least I'm not throwing up on myself and have no demo marks at this point, but it sure would be nice to start pushing ten under each round instead of the normal five to eight under.

[blueblood1995]

With a count of 158 players for this tournament is there any consideration to increasing the cut line a little from top 65 ??
Only basing this question off my time in CC where you'd be lucky to break the 100 barrier and cut line is 60% + ties.
Cheers !!