Tassie 2015

Managed to get in last night...just. It filled up in under 3 minutes. Bit of a change this year as the Buddon is being used as the 2nd course rather than the Burnside.

Did anyone else get in?

So, it's nearly here, my favourite week of the golfing year, just putting the finishing touches to the itinery.

Travelling up Thurs 3rd Sept and looking to play a round in Ayrshire on Friday 4th Sept. Taking a gamble that I'll be out of the knockouts by Friday 11th and playing in Trumps Open.

So...Saturday 12th Sept is currently free (again assuming no latter stage involvement in the Tassie knockouts) and am looking for a game (anywhere from Aberdeen to Ayrshire), who fancies a meet and a game then??

I would JAS, but I've got Champion of Champions at Leven that day.

No worries Super., play well, looking like a bus to the Braids on the Saturday morning then :-p

Would have been pleased to invite you for a game on the Saturday JAS, but busy with the family, next time perhaps? Hope you get something good sorted.

Time for an update...

Well 2nd year in a row we've been blessed with benign weather for the medal rounds. Monday was especially good, rubbing on the factor 15 in Carnoustie in September...whats all that about??
Slightly different this year in that the Buddon Course has been used as the 2nd course rather than the Burnside. Personally having now played the Buddon I prefer the Burnside but thats just me, what I will say about the Buddon is that (strangely) it has the best conditioned greens of all 3 courses (and the trickiest).

So to the performance so far, had a practice on both San/Sun and shot 81/82 Buddon/Champ. Off very early on the Buddon Monday...horror start of bogey, double bogey, bogey. Would have been easy to let the head go down but dug in, still made more unforced errors than I would have wanted (5 x 3 putts...grrr) but a couple of birdies and ended up with a 78, not great and left a big task to qualify for the knockouts.

Tues on the Championship was as solid a start as I could have wished for, fairway - middle of the green for first 4 holes, unfortunately 3 putted the 4th. Got into trouble on the 5th but sunk a settling 10 footer for bogey to limit the damage. boomed it down Hogans and against my game plan went for it in 2. Struck it too sweet and ended up in back bunker, chopped out and 2 putted so no harm done. a bogey on 9 saw me turn in 39. So basically to make the scratch I needed to come back in 37/38 ish. More bogey's at 10 & 13 saw the scratch slipping away but still had a chance then came Spectacles. Boomed drive with just a slight tug left, bunker, chopped out about 60 yards and had 8 iron from 150 over specs. Struck very well, got up there and it had caught the right greenside bunker, managed to scull it 40 foot past the pin and 3 putted for a 7 ouch!! Struck the ball beautiful over the last 4 holes but bled away 2 more bogeys and finished with an 80. So gross 158 net 146 for the 2 days.

Turns out the qualifying scores were 155 for the Scratch & 149 for the Handicap, so safely in the handicap and playing a 5 hcp this morning in the first round.

Mondays CSS were 70 for the Buddon and 76 for the Champs, if they were the same Tues then I'll have a wee cut to take home. So all in all a decent week so far. :-)

Great playing JS. Play well today!

Nice write up Jas, good luck today

Well done Jassie. Good luck today

what is the qualifying criteria for the Tassie? would be a great event to make a holiday out of for me and a few friends. all 3-7 hcaps

Well done JAS.
Can't you bribe Doon out for a round? Or the erstwhile poster who played (was in love with) Silloth? A bit far south perhaps . . . .

Keep it going Jas.

hend085 wrote:what is the qualifying criteria for the Tassie? would be a great event to make a holiday out of for me and a few friends. all 3-7 hcaps

Think it's pretty tough to get in, not on handicap but just how quickly it gets full. The website is open for about 35 milliseconds in around January time I think! See JAS' first post.

I applied one year, had about 3 windows open, refreshed them all the time. Filed my entry within 10 seconds of it opening and ended up about 90th reserve.

A good alternative would be the Montrose Golf Week. A magnificent course.

hend085 wrote:what is the qualifying criteria for the Tassie? would be a great event to make a holiday out of for me and a few friends. all 3-7 hcaps

Handicap 18 or less and the ability to type fast at precisely 7pm on the 11th of January. It's a great week Hend, this is my 6th

Btw lost on the 20th hole yesterday, great match I just made one more error than he did. Was 2 up after 2 and it was 1 up or 2 up all the way round until he birdied 16 to square the match then holed a downhill swinging 12 footer in 17 when I three jabbed. Holed a four footer on the last to extend then 3 jabbed the first extra hole for a half. On the 2nd extra he puts it to 10 foot and I found the bunker and never got up & down.

Managed to sneak a slot on Championship in afternoon, different gravy off the back pegs!! Struggled to 29 points....ironically birdied spectacles (the one I tripled in the medal the day before.

Hard luck Jas, sounds like the game is in good shape though.

Yeah games in decent shape Super, still have one or 2 calamity holes per round which is holding me back.

30 points today off the back pegs again, wind quite a bit fresher. 3 silly doubles but a nice par on the last into the teeth of the wind sets me up well for Trumps tomorrow :-)

thanks for info JAS. might try my fastest finger first skills in the new year!
unlucky on your match.

its great that competitors can play bounce games on the course after you've been eliminated.

Not the Tassie itself but for the finale of the Tassie trip played the Open at Trumps yesterday. Bit of an organisational faux-pas on my part, for some reason I thought that the Trump Open was Friday, turns up on Friday and...oh no sir it's the practice round today, what's your practice round tee time? Um I don't have one. Would you like a slot? we could fit you in. Its a complimentary round. Oh go on then!! So...2 rounds at Trumps for £90

Friday was hard, good 3 club wind, just managed to break 90. Turns up on Sat...oh dear, 4+ club wind and we got as far as the 7th before the rain came on. Absolutely horrific conditions, never thought I'd be pleased with a 95 but yep, quite pleased with a 95, it was carnage out there, over 50 NRs. As far as I could tell when I left nobody broke net 80. Certain winner was a +4 who shot 77, the only one to break gross 80.

So 10 rounds in 9 days and a wee cut back to 5.3. Think I might have a couple of days off!! Looks like my 1st round opponent went all the way to the semis...at least, the semi final and finals results haven't been posted. I do wonder if they were postponed due to yesterday's storm

I wonder how many days a year trumpton is actually playable (and enjoyable) given its design the local weather?

McLaren wrote:I wonder how many days a year trumpton is actually playable (and enjoyable) given its design the local weather?

I doubt anywhere would have been enjoyable in the storm that passed through the North East Yesterday. There was one thing that impressed me. 12 holes of solid heavy rain I expected to start seeing standing water on fairways & greens...there was none, suggesting they've done an excellent job building in drainage. Others coming in later said the same.

Got to say though in a 3 club wind and above, if you can't control your ball flight you will have an absolutely torrid time there. I'd love to see it get the Scottish Open to see how the pros would manage it. I'll stick by my initial though the first time I played it, it's easily capable of holding the Open.

McLaren wrote:I wonder how many days a year trumpton is actually playable (and enjoyable) given its design the local weather?

Considering by your own admission you have been north of Fife on no more than a few occasions all you can do is wonder.

The number of playable days is precisely the same as the number of playable days at any other East coast course, like North Berwick etc.

Really?

You think in the same rough conditions Trumpton's design is as conducive to still having an enjoyable round as NB's?

Have you ever played North Berwick or any other east lothian course?

JAS wrote:
 it's easily capable of holding the Open.

This comment about Trumpland got me thinking... what other courses out there could / should host the Open?

I've been to the Open twice, RSG and St Andrews. I've played two Open rota courses, Birkdale and Hoylake, and one former venue Princes. Based on these experiences, the only other links courses I've played that could hold the Open are Dundonald and at a push Formby. Both have length, challenge and drama. All the others I thought of are either too short (North Berwick), too tight (Dunbar) or too easy (Littlestone) for the top pros.

Dundonald is probably too close to Troon and Turnberry, and has lost the elite Loch Lomond cachet, but I loved it. Long and tough, but also strategic. Just an amazing experience.

I'd start including non-links courses, I'd also take the requirement of it being in Britain out of the specification too.

It's the worst major by a mile, needs livening up

would be nice to have a matchplay format. ie 2 rounds of strokes leaves top 16 to play matchplay or something like that

Super

How can you say any of the four majors is by far the worst. Each event can be boring, exciting or mediocre depending on that years weather, which players are in form, the course etc.

All four of the majors have good and bad years and it does not seem that any of the majors has more good/bad years than any of the others.


As for where the Open should go, I just hope they stop using the historic courses soon before R&A tinkering ruins them all.

If Trumpton comes under new ownership then it seems an ok venue for pro golf.

If I were in charge the Open Rota would be;

Castle Stuart
Trumpton
Celtic Manor (the moronic casual fan will value Ryder cup "magic")
The Oxfordshire
The London Club
Renaissance (if tinkering is kept to a minimum)
Wentworth (it is already totally f***ed)
Castle course (If it is felt a St Andrews course is needed on the Rota)
Kingsbarnes

Dundonald would be a surprisingly good shout Ray, it's got the length as you say and they could narrow some of the fairways if they chose to. Well placed from a transport perspective too.

When did they break away from LL? And are they financially stable? I'm sure I've said this before but I can't understand why a major hotel group with a golf resort pedigree hasn't moved in and utilised the huge space between the main road and the portakabin clubhouse to build a big golf hotel. I don't think Ayrshire anything like fulfills its potential as a world class golf destination. In some ways I'm glad because it makes the great courses easier to get on.

Jas I have moved this to a new thread to avoid hijacking the Tassie chat.