Celtic 5 - Rangers 1 - Society ZERO!
Apparently Scottish football needed the Old Firm reunited. Maybe`s aye, maybe`s naw. Perhaps having Scotland`s 2 biggest Clubs back in the same league with 4 guaranteed matches against one another and a potential title race is better for the excitement and entertainment of the football follower.
There may also very well be a worth that trickles down from these matches themselves, like a few thousand more pints being sold in bars and pubs across the land. There might be overtime earning opportunities for Police and Paramedics? Hell, there might even be a welcome spike to the Baseball Bat market (No Baseball`s required...). I know for a fact that there is a tender out for quotes to refurbish a large restroom complex in one of Glasgow`s iconic landmarks.. Whoever gets paid for that job will feel like they`ve won the Loo-ttery. I`m not sure what the Rangers fans thought that would accomplish? Surely it would be better if their Team & Manager found a way to dismantle the Celtic defence of Toure & Sviatchenko rather than extract the urine out of Armitage & Shanks?
The 5-1 win by Celtic was perhaps the worst type of result that could`ve come from the first league Old Firm encounter in 5 years. The runaway, one sided, victory may have been good for Celtic and their supporters, but it ripped off the scab of a wound that people had come to forget about. And what typically spills out of a scab that is picked before it`s healed?
What also oozes out is a bile that has no place in society let alone sport. I`m all for rivalry, but it shouldn`t come at the expense of RESPECT. Something that seems to be lost on not only the supporters, but when the Players (past & present) stoke the fires then what are we to expect?
I`m a big believer in the saying "There`s always a bigger fish." and quite enjoy seeing sporting Karma served up, so you just knew as soon as the words "…it was like men against boys" left the lips of the Celtic S-Kipper, Scott Brown, there was a Barcelona sized Barracuda licking its lips somewhere in the shadows. Probably the same shadows that Celtic ended up chasing in the Nou Camp on Tuesday night, where it was less 'men against boys' and more like 'Gods against Traffic Cones.'
You could say this Karma was washed down with some magnificent 7Up. If I could give Brendan Rodgers some advice for the return fixture at Parkhead, it would be to play the Tax Man & VAT Inspector at Centre Half because clearly Lionel Messi wasn`t able to dodge them quite as easily as he was able to evade the erratic lunges of his untried and untested Back 5. You could say his Gamboa didn`t pay off.
So from Wild Tackles to Wildcards, and Captain Davis Love III will hope his gamble does pay off as he announced 3 of his 4 Wildcard`s for the US Ryder Cup Team. Ricky Fowler, Matt Kuchar and JB Holmes join the Automatic 8 which leaves 1 spot still to fill. Davis has left that announcement until after this weekend`s Tour Championship in what will affectionately now be known as the Horschel Pick (after Billy Horschel won the BMW Championship, the Tour Championship AND Fed Ex Cup Playoff Series at the end of season 2014 after Tom Watson had finalised his US Ryder Cup Team)
I don`t think any of the American Wildcards this year are particularly surprising and all add something to the Team. Fowler is good in any format and apparently a very good guy in the Team room. Kuchar is also a much liked player and has an ideal game for Foursomes, while the big bombing JB Holmes is the sort of birdie machine you`d want to unleash in Fourball.
But who will the 4th player be? Reading between the lines of what Captain Love has said, and when this pick will be announced I think it`s fair to say that Bubba Watson isn`t in the frame. Davis stated that he is looking for "a player in form" - Bubba certainly isn`t in form. "a good Team player who fits in well in the Team Room" - I think it`s well documented that Bubba is a bit of an enigma with a personality as quirky as his thru-swing. He also didn`t favour well in a recent PGA Tour Survey where over 100 Players were asked who they`d least likely help if an argument broke out on Tour and Bubba came out on top in that poll.
Other names in the frame are rookies Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger, and considering the current 11 only features 1 Rookie (Brooks Koepka) then there is definitely room and merit for breaking in some fresh blood for future Ryder Cup Teams. The final name being touted who ticks many of the boxes is someone who is already involved. Jim Furyk, with some exceptional end of season form, including that record breaking 58, has really thrown the cat in amongst the proverbial pigeons for his Captain. But I think the time is right for Jim to fix it for someone else.
I personally can`t wait for the Ryder Cup to start, and like 100% of the fans supporting it regardless of which side they support, I hope we give the opposition an absolute hiding. However, for those that will be at Hazeltine I`m sure that the losing fan, no matter how big a defeat or how disappointing a result/performance, would never in a million years consider trashing or destroying the opposing Teams locker rooms? More than likely they`ll all mix, share a drink and have a right good sing song.
I`ve heard that Sky have brought in Graeme McDowell & Russell Knox to commentate because they know their accents are so transatlantic-ly confused that they are about as neutral as you could find..
Someone else not involved this year, but I feel it will only be a matter of time, is Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson made a little bit of history last weekend when he won his first Professional Title and the first by any player using single length irons when he won the DAP Championship at the Web.com Tour Finals.
It`s clearly been Wildcard Week as the curtain fell on the end of the Cappro Cup Qualifying campaign. This meant we found our 16 Automatic Qualifiers to join the Club Championship Finalists. From there Captain Ian Cruickshank and myself set about selecting 6 more suitable souls to make the 24 Players that will make up the match.
Here is are the Final Standings so you can see how you faired and here are the Players in their respective Pots ready for this Friday`s 'LIVE' Draw where the Players will find out:
- Who they`ll play for
- Who they`ll play with
- Who they`ll play against
Click here to view the final standings.
Pot 1
Clark Brechin(+1) Cameron Grant(1) Keith Horne(1) Robbie Murdoch(1)
Pot 2
Stephen Cook(3) Jack Douglas(5) Jay Donald(6) Michael Edwards(6)
Pot 3
Bill Somers(9) Stuart McLaughlin(8) Grant Munro(10) Scott Sinclair(8)
Pot 4
Mike Cameron(12) Mark Wallace(14) Brian Wood(13) Tony Storey(13)
Pot 5
Mark McDonald(15) Gary Duncan(17) Chris Scouller(15) Simon Jolly(15)
Pot 6
Mark Clubb(20) Ian Elmslie(17) Bruce Harwood(19) Norman McBain Sr(17)
All this came on the back of the Keith Tait Trophy Rd 3. The winner of this 3 Round event was Grant Munro with rounds of 65 + 72 + 67 = 204 who finished 6 strokes ahead of Runner-Up, Stuart McLaughlin.
The weekends Competitions saw some incredible rounds. On Saturday Andrew Reid swept the field by 5 strokes with a 62 on his way to topping Division 3. Division 1 saw the next best round of the day in the shape of a 67 coming from Peter Griffiths courtesy of the countback from Grant Munro. Division 2 was won by Peter Will with a 68.
Division 1
1st = Peter Griffiths - 75(8) - 67, 1st = Grant Munro - 77(10) - 67, 3rd - Robert Inkster - 75(6) - 69
Division 2
1st - Peter Will - 81(13) - 68, 2nd - Brian Kiloh - 85(15) - 70, 3rd - Peter Clark - 83(12) - 71
Division 3
1st - Andrew Reid - 82(20) - 62, 2nd - William Brechin - 91(23) - 68, 3rd - Jean-Marie Prieur - 94(21) - 73
Sunday was just a Walk On Medal from the Yellow Tees but again it produced some excellent scores.
Colin South proved he was poles apart from the rest of the field with a superb 61 in Division 3. Keith Horne showed once again that the low handicappers CAN do well in the Yellow Tee Medlas with a 66 in Division 1 while another excellent score of 63 by Alan Mitchell topped Division 2.
Division 1
1st - Keith Horne - 67(1) - 66, 2nd - Keith Allan - 71(4) - 67, 3rd - Reagan Scott - 76(8) - 68
Division 2
1st - Alan Mitchell - 77(14) - 63, 2nd = Alex Dowall - 83(15) - 68, 2nd = William Grant - 79(11) - 68
Division 3
1st - Colin South - 78(17) - 61, 2nd = Stanley Lenort - 85(20) - 65, 2nd = Scott Garden - 89(24) - 65
Last Wednesday was Midweek Stableford time.
Greg Donaldson topped Division 1 with 39 Points, but in the other 2 Divisions the leaders managed to break through the 40 point barrier. In Division 2 Jim Steel scored 41 Points, while in Division 3 David Small went 1 better on 42 points.
Division 1
1st = Greg Donaldson - 39 Points, 1st = Stuart McLaughlin - 39 Points, 2nd = Kevin Daglish - 39 Points
Division 2
1st - James Steel - 41 Points, 2nd - Alan Simpson - 39 Points, 3rd - Jonathan Russell - 38 Points
Division 3
1st - David Small - 42 Points, 2nd = Scott Garden - 39 Points, 2nd = Alan Jones - 39 Points
Getting a 'Tip Of The Cap' this week is Stan Lenort who followed his Driver Lesson on Friday by taking a full stroke off his handicap over the weekend. Stan, as we all know, is the Vijay Singh of Portlethen and is often seen spending hours up on the Practice Strip (So I know he`ll be putting in the time) but this was the first Lesson Stan had taken. So his grinding on the Practice Ground only reinforces one thing…..Practice might make you more consistent but not necessarily improve.
We focussed on a couple of simple Set Up flaws (that you wouldn`t notice Practicing on your own) and a slightly different shape of swing concept (One that matched Stan`s frame better) and he started hitting it much more solidly and much straighter. Something that clearly carried into his weekend rounds.
Well done Stan and keep up the hard work.
Click here to get in touch if you would like to arrange a lesson here at Portlethen.
Last Saturday the minions were battling for the Monthly Medal Final and it ended up being a very close battle indeed. As mentioned last week, it was only the guys that have won a monthly medal that were playing for this. For the rest it was a Consolation Medal and a chance to get cut.
The winning score was a nett 72 on a pretty windy afternoon. Both Pranav Maganti and William Lloyd finished with a nett 72 which meant the medal had to be decided after count back (fractionally). This method takes half the players handicap to see who had the better back 9. After count-back it was William Lloyd who came out on top by half a shot. William's back 9 - 34 and Pranav - 34.5.
Saturday - Junior Monthly Medal Final/Consolation Medal
1st - William Lloyd - 80(8) - 72 ACB
2nd - Pranav Maganti - 87(15) - 72
3rd - Brandon Simpson - 84(9) - 75
4th - Lewis Sinclair - 89(14) - 75
The Junior Gang was on at 3pm as normal and had a good turnout. This week I took on some kids I've never had before for the first hour, and then 8 kids who have started to play 3 holes on the big course for putting - following from last week. Most of the kids struggle with pace and it's all because they hit the putt instead of stroking it to the hole. So this week was all about understanding that the distance you want the ball to go is influenced by how far you take the putter back. Simple I know but a lot of kids and amateurs will swing too far back and decelerate. So they had an exercise to understand and learn the skill before putting into practice in a little game and the difference was huge. This is something that we will keep working on going forward as it will make the game much more enjoyable for the kids now that they can hit the ball in the air.
I had some competitive golf myself last week - The winter Alliance officially started on Wednesday (I know, I can`t believe it's that time again.) and that was played at Craibstone GC. We had a lovely day for it, a summers day should I say. I had a decent score of 69 (level par) which included 5 birdies and a triple bogey on 11 to finish Tied 4th.
I am missing Kemnay next week but will be back the following week at Newmachar, Hawkshill.
I do have a PGA tournament prior to that which takes place this Sunday at Dornoch - The Sandy Pipey Young Masters. This is the last PGA event of the season. Royal Dornoch is my favourite course so I am looking forward to going back there and seeing if I can better my T4 finish in the same tournament couple years ago.
On Saturday the Ladies were back in action. Liz Smith was top of the class with an excellent 72 to win by 3 strokes from Linda Craik, with Kate Craig in 3rd.
Division 1
1st - Elizabeth Anne Smith - 97(25) - 72
2nd - Linda Craik - 88(13) - 75
3rd - Catherine Craig - 92(16) - 76
