Live Update Thread - 2016 THP Kickoff Classic Sponsored By Kentwool

Just got home. Looking forward to reading the thread tomorrow. Good night THP


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I really need to get to one of these things..
If you like great golf courses, great people, and having fun..then yes! Hope to see you at RR in June.
 
Congrats on the MVP Brian!! And to the winning Wool Warriors.

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I see Panda has the Nike kicks on again! They look good with shorts too!

They do look good. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the colarless shirt, but it actually looks pretty good.

*Not sure if I could pull it off, but Freddie does.
 
Man, what a fabulous weekend. I have been to a ton of events, but this one might well have taken top spot for fun, people, courses, golf, and the memories.

Everything just added up to make it a special event. I have to say, I really enjoyed it as a team event. It's a different feeling when you're part of something way bigger. Ryan and Freddie were All In on this as I watched them do their Captaining this weekend. They both did amazing and had teams ready for the fight. I'm happy for War and I know the entire team did their best to stay in the fight and bring it home.

Anyway, Friday afternoon was Short Course warmups with CPL, Hacking, and Uzumati who stopped by to play with some THPers. I'll tell you what, that short course isn't all that easy. It is, however, very nice and beautifully laid out. Friday's meet-up with everyone and the chatter around the dinner tables was fantastic, as usual. I knew exactly half the people from previous gatherings, so had another half to meet so I could put names to faces. Amsmith and I got our big-man bro-hug in early and I think we almost knocked someone over. Sorry 'bout that. I ended up bailing out early and passed out in the room with the remote in one hand and phone in the other. I was watching PGA gold when I fell asleep and when Barry came in it was LPGA; kind of freaked me out. #Zonked

Saturday; the day of game faces and nervous excitement on the now-famous THP Range Takeover. I never get tired of the range workers faces as they try to comprehend what the h3ll is going on and when 20+ guys storm the range and start having the times of their lives. There's always so much going on. How many different clubs can you hit? What do my numbers look like on FlightScope? Oh, look, there's the Panda giving some swing tips! What goodies did JB bring for us to try out? It's always so much fun, and it's also maybe the only time you can be on a range with that many amateurs just pounding out shots to the far reaches of the range.

Personally, I got to swing JB's shorty-XXIO, the APEX 5H, the XR16, and e1iterate's TM UDI 2i. All of them are quite solid options....especially the 2 iron I told e1iterate there was no way I could hit that thing, but I was seriously wrong. The first swing was dead straight and seriously long. So were the following swings. I hate it when something like that triggers a ponder....(not really). I brought my own version of a shorty driver, a cut down b.asha with a 910D2 head. I laid it up next to JBs and they were exactly the same length. On FlightScope, I hit one ball that measured 240 and 3050 spin. JB thought the launch angle could go up a bit so I might look into swapping shafts for another experiment, but that is what I had available. I'll take it though, as I pounded out some good sized bombs with it Saturday, and a gravity-defying shot on 18 on Sunday that was pretty long.

Anyway, speaking of match play. Saturday was CPL and myself vs. Hacking and DHartmann. Warning: If you ever come up against a CPLT0AD pairing in the future, you are in trouble. We worked really well together Saturday and won our match going away. Some great shots were bade by all four in the group (I really liked Derek's tap in bird on that par 3), but Barry and I had it going pretty well. I might have had one of my best ball-striking AND putting days I can remember in a very long time, and since Barry is Mr. Automatic, there were just too few kinks in the combined game. Derek and John played like mad to the end, though, and I think we all still had a fun day. The Links course, to me, was suiting, and I think fit my eye, but it could have just been the fact I wasn't missing too many shots and I had my yardages dialed in. If I had to choose a single course to play again, right now, it would be the Links course.

Saturday evening's dinner and pairings announcements: What. A. Night.
That evening might well go down as one of the more memorable in THP history. Outside of some spirited banter and a random infiltrator, just another night of THP awesome. It was fun watching Freddie and War go back and forth on matchups, trying to outmaneuver one another to gain an advantage. I got matched with DawgDaddy, and that was probably a good move on Ryan's part. I've played with Randy dozens of times, and everyone here knows his calmness and demeanor on the course. More on that in a minute. I apologize if I didn't look very enthusiastic this night, but I had been up for over 19 hours already and was really sitting there and watching and taking in every conversation and frenzied huddle I could while I sat there. I was engaged, if not vocal. I thought it was great, Ryan, how you came up to explain your pairing rationale, your insights, and how you saw this playing out. Knowing your Cap has solid faith in your game and pairing is a boost.

Sunday morning range day was a bit more subdued. I think there were lots of tired bodies and minds out there and with the match nearly tied up, a bit of concentration and game face time was more important than that initial day of fun and excitement. It was pretty business-like that day and up to the first tee shots of the day's event. Working off about 2.5 hours of solid sleep, I was struggling a bit, and started to spiral by the middle of the 3rd hole. Forever the calm one, Dawg just kept trying to tell me to have fun. This went on for a few holes and I finally started hitting good shots again. But by this time, dhartmann and mmaynard were up by a couple holes and we were running out of time. We chose for me to start Alt-shot on #10 and for Randy to play into the par 3s. I'm glad that was the call, because that plan paid off toward the end run. Dawg had three shots in the final three holes, that I absolutely know were pivotal in our coming back from 2 down and winning on 18. On #16, I swear I heard him tell me to lay up short of those trees on the right, so I only hit a 7 iron that went only about a yard short of those trees being completely in the way of Dawg's shot into the green. Somehow, he sneaked an iron shot by the tree, by no less than a yard, I'd guess, and put the ball on the front fringe for an easy two chutt/putt. On 17, I gave him a yardage, tried to just tell him to swing his swing and 'let it happen', and he knocked it dead on pin high and right in the center of the green. Another par. Then on 18, I put him 124 out, with a tail wind, so asked if he had a solid 120 yard shot in his bag. He kind of wavered on going over the bunker and attacking, but I encouraged him to just hit that damn ball and we'll sink the putt. You may remember the pic someone posted of the result, as it was right over the flag just about 11 feet or so from the flag. (http://bit.ly/1PS7yOZ) I just need to get it close, at this point, but of course wanted to sink the bird, but it hung out just a tiiinny bit left and lipped off the left edge to a few inches. In the end, we'd pulled off the comeback, and I credit those three swings by Randy for that to happen. Derek and Matt played their hearts out and I'd love to go at it again, fun or comp, any time.

How many times can you say the guys you play with in these events are top of the line, solid, special, etc? Driving home, Hacking and I were discussing how impossibly improbable it must be that so many different people, from so many places, from so many age groups, cultures, and ideologies, can get along at every single event. Seriously, I could never count how many people I've met and hung/played with since I joined THP. The stats would probably say there should be some bad seeds, but there just isn't. I have enjoyed getting to know everyone and this weekend was no exception. And the staff members make themselves available for questions, chat, assistance, whatever, and are just the most solid dudes. Mike, thanks for the set-up on this one; it was special! Ryan, I'm glad we could all pull one out for you. It was great working with ya on this one. I wish I could get down south more for some rounds. #Cookie, I'm now actually looking forward to this stupid work trip to Abilene (hell) so we can get together somewhere in between and beat a course to death. Freddie, as usual, always gracious and entertaining, not to mention helpful. Josh, again, maybe a top 2 or 3 event I've been to, ever. Thanks for what you and Morgan provide for us. And Kentwool! My lord, these drawers are unbelievable. The socks I knew about, and already owned three pair, but the boxers are just a gift from the golf gods. NEVER have I felt like I didn't play a round of golf after a round and sitting in the clubhouse. I even sat in a car for 2 1/2 hours after playing yesterday and still felt fine. What is in these things besides pure magic!? These will likely forever and ever be my go-to undies for any golf outing. Thanks for the support and I hope we all did you proud for sponsoring the event.

Now, I'm at work, PEDS has set in fully, and I don't even want to lift a pen to get anything done.




P.S. Sorry to Just_Hacking for scaring the life out of him yesterday on the drive home. #DontDriveTired And thanks for the round Friday.




dat lag in t0ad's swing!
I just saw this! LOL I wish I could do more with it!
 
Congrats Warriors! Looked like a bast and the course looked wonderful. Thanks for all the coverage!
 
Congrats WW. Awesome coverage for this event, I almost felt like I was there. Golf on TV and updates in my hand. The interaction and banter on the thread was entertaining. My wife thinks I'm too obsessed with golf. Yeah right.
 
I will have a lot to say later on, but just got back home from a long drive and wanted to say one thing before I have to run.

I want to give a shout out to the two captains for this event. Both War Eagle and Tadashi worked hard and in the end, only one could win but it was a close battle, each match was tough and well fought, but more importantly as men, they were the leaders you crave to be around. They set by example, they worked hard and I am so honored to be able to call both of them my friends and THP brothers.

You guys insured that the #THPKickoffClassic would be back in 2017 in some form because of how incredible you two are/were.
 
Just caught up on this, great coverage and I can't wait to get home and watch the drone footage.

The course looks great! Glad everyone had fun!
 
I found this video when going through my footage of the weekend, Captain Wool with the ThinShankFlop!
 
Really loved all the updates, pics and videos. Great job guys and glad everyone had fun and a safe return home.
 
#thpkickoffclassic2017 I like the sound of this!!
 
I will have a lot to say later on, but just got back home from a long drive and wanted to say one thing before I have to run.

I want to give a shout out to the two captains for this event. Both War Eagle and Tadashi worked hard and in the end, only one could win but it was a close battle, each match was tough and well fought, but more importantly as men, they were the leaders you crave to be around. They set by example, they worked hard and I am so honored to be able to call both of them my friends and THP brothers.

You guys insured that the #THPKickoffClassic would be back in 2017 in some form because of how incredible you two are/were.

Glad we could do our part to bring it back.
 
Defending champs make a return?

Hahaha, sign me up now!

I will be trying for a spot on one of these teams!!!! Epic time with everyone!
 
Well done fellas anytime you can get the return blessing this quick u did something right
 
Well done fellas anytime you can get the return blessing this quick u did something right

Thanks for all your hard work buddy! That was an amazing venue.
 
Great hearing #THPKickoffClassic is returning in 2017! Definitely want to be a part of this already. That is just how good this event was!
 
Pretty cool for the event to get another go the next day. Well planned and executed pretty damn well. I'd be back!


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