Turkey Cup Challenge: International Travel of the Turkey Cup Trophy

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

International Travel of the Turkey Cup Trophy

Highlights of the Turkey Butt’s adventures during 2012 included a trip to Scotland in August, and a trip to Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast in October.

In Scotland, the Butt accompanied the Reigning Champion to two courses on the west coast – Royal Prestwick and Western Gailes. Prestwick was the home of the first Open Championship (referred to as the “British Open” by us Yanks). It was also the first course designed by Old Tom Morris, and the first club at which Old Tom was the head pro. In case you don’t know, Old Tom Morris is revered by many as the father of modern golf, grew up at Royal St. Andrews and finished his career there. Prestiwck is a true links style course with some odd features including massive built up grassy dunes guarding greens to create blind shots (two such holes have the names of “Alps” and “Himalayas”) and a massive bunker the size of a house with stairs to climb into known as the “Sahara bunker.” Western Gailes is a lesser known course with less historical significance. However, it was probably the more enjoyable of the two (Ok I scored better there). It is a site of Open qualifying tournaments and is a classic links layout by the sea. The weather was absolutely beautiful for 73 holes played over two days. The rain gear stayed in the bag!

Bandon dunes is the next best thing to Scotland without leaving the United States. It is a true golf Mecca with four championship courses as well as two par-three tracks. The Reigning Champion and the Butt experienced all of the Bandon courses during a team play tournament with some fellow members from champ’s home course in CA, Rolling Hills Country Club. The four main courses are: Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Old McDonald and Pacific Dunes. All had a links style layout (with some pine forest thrown in on Bandon Trails), each course having its own distinct personality. The amazing thing about Bandon is that walking is mandatory – there are no golf carts there (by the way it is the same in Scotland).

Caddies were a part of the experiences in Scotland as well as Bandon. It is truly a joy to play golf in this manner!

Following are several photos with captions and comments.

The Butt at the Prestwick first tee!

Turkey Butt on the bag at Prestwick – waiting to tee off.

Reigning Champ at Prestwick – on course with the Butt.

View of hole #17 known as Himalayas for the large “mountain” that must be carried on the approach. However, your ball also has to clear the Sahara bunker shown here in front of the green. The size of the bunker can be put in perspective by the flagstick and the stairway into the bunker.

A closer look at the green on #17 – look where the ball ended up. Yessss! (OK, yeah, I missed the birdie putt.)

Prestwick trophy case with replicas of the original Open Championship belt and Claret Jug. What? No Turkey Butt replica?

The Turkey Butt arrives as Western Gailes!

Champ with Butt on first tee at Western Gailes – ready to tee off!

Nice beach view at Western Gailes – a beautiful day for 36 holes!

Champ and Butt ready for tee-off at Bandon.

Caddies showing us the way at Bandon. Note the Butt is still on the bag!

Heavy load for the caddie!

A seaside green at the Pacific Dunes course.

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Ye Olde Turkey Cup Rules

- To be played annually (in November) at a location selected by the host of the Madison/Byerly/Thompson/Westphal/Marsden Thanksgiving Celebration.

- Generally, to be played the day after Thanksgiving

- Winner to receive the prestigious turkey butt club head cover (which must be carried on winner’s bag at all times during play for the ensuing year)

- Juniors in the field (players under the age of 18) will compete for a the equally prestigious Panda Bottom club head cover. Juniors are still eligible for the overall turkey butt prize.

Play in order based upon who is “away.” Keep individual scores per foursome as follows:

1) First on the green 1 point

2) Closest to the hole from off the green 1 point

3) First in (first putt only) 1 point

4) Snake at end of 9 (last golfer to 3 putt) -2 points

If two or more players three-putt a given hole, the “last” to three-putt is the last player to have attempted his second putt and missed. Headgear or other suitably embarrassing attire as decided by the rules committee must be worn by the player currently carrying the snake until he is relieved of such burden by another player or until the end of the respective nine. Only putts from the green count toward three-putts, and fringe putts don’t count.

5) Snake at end of 18 -4 points

On the second nine, the snake competition “starts over,” that is, the holder of the snake at the end of the first nine does not carry it over to the tenth hole. See #4 for other snake rules.

6) One mulligan off tee box per golfer allowed per 9 holes (but once you announce that you are taking a mulligan, then you must play that ball – i.e. no “druthers”)

7) One OB “Safety” per golfer allowed per 9 holes (after OB shot, player may place ball at any location on fairway without penalty)

The OB must be deemed and accepted as “unintentional” by the other players in the group.

You can buy an OB “Safety” off another player for an agreed upon sum at any time as long as they have an available OB “Safety” to sell.

8) BMW 1 point to all others in group

Bitch, moan and/or whine about a shot that ended up with a result that did not justify the level of bitching, moaning and whining. A BMW must be “called” (i.e. suggested) by someone in the foursome and generally agreed to by the others in the group, except the BMWer

9) FISO (F&#%! I'm still out!) 1 point to all others in group

FISO does not apply on parts of the course other than the putting surface.

10) Player having the most points in the field wins, unless #11 is in effect. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by a putt-off or other suitable tie-breaker to be decided by the rules committee.

11) If a player makes a hole-in-one, that player automatically wins the tournament, irrespective of point score. In the extremely unlikely event that two or more players make a hole-in-one, the tie shall be settled in accordance with #10. For purposes of this rule, hole-in-one only counts on the actual first shot, i.e., a mulligan ball cannot score a hole in one.

Special allowance for juniors and other novice players in the field (aka the "hackers rule")

In the interest of maintaining a reasonable pace of play, a junior or inexperienced golfer who is clearly struggling to advance the ball shall be allowed to pick up the ball and advance it to a location nearer the hole. The placement of the ball shall be done in consultation with the rules committee member (or committee designee) in the player’s foursome and will not be done in a way that clearly places the other players in the group at a disadvantage. This will be done based upon said rules committee member’s judgment as to fairness. Examples of fair placement locations may include (but are not limited to) the following:

· Placing the ball in the fairway near a yardage stake (e.g., 200, 150 or 100 yard marker) and playing in turn from there.

· Placing the ball in the fairway at a location that is near the ball of the farthest “non struggling” competitor from the green, and playing in turn from there.

Examples of placements that would not be deemed fair may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Placing the ball on the putting green or fringe when no one has yet reached the green or fringe
Placing the ball at a location that is not on the green or fringe but is significantly closer than the other competitors.

Handicapping to Allow for Less than 4 Players in a Group

· 3 players in group, subtract 3 points per player in group

2 players in group, subtract 9 points per player in group

Test

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

International Travel of the Turkey Cup Trophy

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