10/22 - 10:00 a.m. - Whew!  As Staceman said, Saturday was a long day, "I wouldn't suggest amatures try it."  Actually, it was a great time for "amatures" and "pros" alike.  Also, an interesting day.  The setup was excellent.  49 machines were setup in the entrance area, lobby, whatever, of the FedEx Forum (pictures to be posted this week).  With huge windows in that area, it almost felt like you were playing on a patio.  There was a nice barstaff there as well, with a cool bar where many of us were found throughout the day watching several college football games and the first game of the World Series.  There was also a patio connected which came in very handy during the only downer of the event.  About halfway through the five course play, there was a power outage in Chicago (or something) that affected IT.  I believe a car ran into a pole knocking out a powerline/transformer.  So, we had to take about an hour and a half break.  But, I actually thought that was a pretty good time, as many of us hung out on the patio, had some drinks and got to talk a lot more than we really had time to during much of the rest of the event.  Good times.  As for the events themselves, there several good moments, more of which I will try to address tomorrow morning (about to go settle in for some NFL games).  The closest to the pin contest (Pub Champ) was very entertaining, with Baxter (Segal... sorry if I'm mispelling that) winning, one of a group of Tennesseans coming in second (name escapes me... sorry), Houstonian Staceman 3rd, and Sean (main event winner) coming in 4th.  It was great meeting people from all over the region, including some new players from right around the corner from where I live.  That always surprises me, since I thought I had met most of the people in the vacinity.  There was a very nice couple from SC that we kinda thought were crazy at first, who were dressed like their GT players (sombrero and all!).  They turned out to be very nice, and very cool.  They definitely had a good time with it.  Oh, man... so much more to say, but I'm going to have to get back to it later, as I have to hit the road to go get a good seat for the Sunday games.  I'll get back with more, including a very unexpected, but very nice jacket presentation.  Okay, running out of time....

10/21 - 9:15 a.m. - Yesterday was a good first day in Tunica/Memphis.  Drove up from Jackson, which is about a 3 hour drive.  Beautiful area and easy drive.  The weather here yesterday and today couldn't be better.  Appreciate that Mother Nature.  Immediately checked out the sports bar at The Grand (Replay) to8 see if it was up to Sunday football standards.  Absolutely.  I'll be spending the first part of the day Sunday there.  The casino itself was much nicer than I was expecting.  Everyone there was very friendly.  Ran into Longino (nice meeting you, sir), Brad Litz, Dena, another IT person that I forget at the moment (sorry, I'll learn it today) who was very nice, Hitch and Tim Baker.  Speaking of, we had 8 people from Houston on the flight this morning.  Not bad for an 8:30 flight.  Headed to Memphis at 6:30 (even after gambling for 5 hours... WHOOP!).  Went to check out McGuiness Pub near Beall street.  One GT machine, and of course people were on it.  Piano, Samori and Brian (from NC, just met him) were already there.  We hung out for a bit before heading over to Rendezvous (a local ribs legend, as seen on t.v.) to try some of their dry rub ribs.  Cool place, but we (Staceman and I) were just not impressed.  I love ribs, but maybe I'm too used to wet ribs.  Going to try Blue City (I think that's the name) today if I have time, to try out their wet ribs.  Beall street looked pretty fun.  Will be checking that out tonight as well.  Fun times on the way back to the hotel.  The cabby had no idea where the hotel was... downtown.  Nice.  Good cabby, good.  Stepped into Fox & Hound next to the hotel for a minute.  As we're standing at the bar, an older guy with a private party walks behind the bar, opens the cooler and gets a Miller Lite.  Unfortunately for him, a bartender saw him.  Good times.  :)  Only thing that would have been better would have been him pouring his own draft.  Well, off to the Forum to check out the setup and event.  I'll try to post from there if possible.  Should be an interesting day/night.

10/19 - 5:00 p.m. - Well, I'm getting ready to leave for Mephis tomorrow morning.  Gotta go play a couple of practice rounds to tweak a couple of things with the new courses, then it's home to pack.   I'm going to try to give some thoughts here and there throughout the trip.  I've got my trusty bluetooth phone action going on so I should be able to connect as long as I don't forget my computer.  My plan now is to head to the bar (Stars in this case) and get about two cycles in.  I want to see how the second one goes after a few beers have had time to settle in.  I'll be playing that way in Memphis, so I need to see how that treats me.  Forget that "no drinking during competition" ridiculousness!  Who does that?!?  I mean, that's like playing softball without a cooler of beer... or football... or golf without a beer cart girl.  The horror!!!!  Anyway, I'll touch base tomorrow.  Whoop!

Blog #10 : Oct. 6, 2006

During the '05 Live courses, I never changed clubs.  I got the distance clubs, and used them on every course.  Worked for me.  But, with the new courses, I found the benefits of changing clubs is just too great not to.  It's been interesting seeing the discussion, though, of which clubs are best for which courses.  Personal preference for sure.  And, to be honest, there are times when, according to the setup, there are going to be clubs that are better than your normal preference.  One issue, that could be a major one depending on the circumstances, that I recently discovered... forgetting to change clubs.  When you get used to one set of clubs on a course, then tee off before realizing you forgot to change them... well, that just sucks.  I know this has been an issue for some in the past, but not for me.  Now... ugh.

I love the new courses.  I haven't decided whether it's because there are finally NEW courses, or if it's because they are just fun.  And, I haven't figured out which is the "Heather" course for me yet either.  I loved Heather.  I like courses with a lot of risk/reward... that, you know it's a feat to pull of a perfect game.  And, if you fall behind, there are some ominous holes coming up that could swing the game the other way.  Going into 15 knowing you have four tough holes ahead of you, and you're behind by a stroke or three... it's like the two-minute drill in football.

I had to get something about football in there.  Speaking of, I was pretty devestated by the A&M loss to Texas Tech last weekend.  I actually didn't expect to win going in, just because Tech has had a very good offense for years now, and the Aggies implemented a new defensive system this year.  I wasn't sure what to expect from it.  It wasn't too bad.  And, again, going in, I wasn't completely expecting a win against the Ag's first decently rated opponent.  But, once we were up by 3 with 30something seconds left, I thought it was at worst a tie.  A perfect pass on excellent coverage and a great catch later... bummer.  Polly said I didn't quit whining about it for three days.  Let's go ahead and make it officially six days.  Congrats to the Red Raiders though.  Now, I just hope it's taken out on the Jayhawks.  :)

I have yet to hear anything but good reviews about the Regional events so far.  It really sounds like IT has done a great job of putting these things together.  Awesome.  I absolutely can't wait to get to the Southern Regional in two weeks.  That is going to be a blast.  I'm hoping the South gets the biggest turnout.  It's pretty convenient to everywhere but Texas and Florida.  But, I think there will be plenty of people from both of those states.  I'm really interested in seeing how many Louisiana players show.  I know there are a lot of players there, but they can't play Money Tournaments, only Glory.  It's not a bad drive from there.  I'm thinking any "surprises" might come from there.  However, most of those guys only play from the black tees.  It's going to be odd to them to have any shorter boxes.  This'll be fun.  I'm looking forward to plenty of GT games, but also full blackjack tables and some insane craps table action.  Can we get 200 people there?  I'm thinking "yes".  We'll see.

Blog #9 : Sep. 22, 2006

(Note:  New links and pics will be put at the right from time to time.)

There is so much going on right now, it’s hard to keep up with anything. For those that don’t know, I’m a huge NFL fan. I enjoy college ball, but love the NFL game. So, my television has been on the NFL Network a lot this last couple of months. Now, finally, the games have started counting. I’m not really sure how my wife puts up with me during the NFL season. I applaud her for that. And, this year it’s worse. I’m out playing GT more than normal at this time of year due to the Regionals Event coming up. And, that will continue with the pending release of the new courses. I’m going to have to take a break at some point… though I don’t foresee that until after the Super Bowl. Oh well. Add to that our recent news that my wife is pregnant, and wow! She’s a saint. It’s going to be interesting to see how having a child changes things. I know I’ll be home more, but it’s not like I’m not there now. For GT, I’ll just have to get more lunch time games in. Football won’t be a problem with  NFL Sunday Ticket.  But, as for GT, I wonder if I can get the local gym (with daycare) to carry a machine. Heh-heh….

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been taking a look at the Southern Regionals Qualifying Leader board a bit. I’ve been wanting to keep an eye on area players that I haven’t met, or locations that I didn’t know about. By zipping through the board (which is considerably more time consuming as it grows), I can find locations in the Greater Houston area that have had more than 50 games by one person. And, by looking at the times they play, I can maybe get out and get to meet some of those newer players. The way I look at it is, I have a day here and there where I have some free time, and this is as good a way to spend it as any. Maybe someone can pick up a tip here and there, things they didn’t think about. Or, maybe they don’t realize their trackball could stand to be replaced. But, really, it’s just fun finding new locations, seeing what they are like, and maybe getting to meet some new friends. A side benefit is getting to explain a little better what the Regionals are about and why it’s going to be worth going for anyone. By the way, for those that don’t know, I’m not employed by IT. I just know it’s going to be a blast and want people to get to experience it. I can’t imagine that it’s not going to be a great time. Anyway, it’s been pretty interesting so far, getting out and about. There are a couple of places that are a drive (Pearland, which is south of Houston), but were worth it. I didn’t get to meet the players on that trip. Bad luck. But, it was still interesting checking the places out. I met the operator at one while he was replacing a trackball. The ball he put in wasn’t very good. I got to show them why and talk to them a bit. On another day, I got to make a trip out to meet a few players at a location I hadn't been to in a long time (Pennison's Too... or Two... not sure). It was a great time. It was a weird experience at first. You walk in and see five(!!!) Golden Tee machines. Yep, FIVE! However, four were GT Complete or Fore, with only one being a LIVE. Um... what?!? Crazy. Oh well. Regardless, it was a blast meeting some of the people over there, getting to get a couple of games in with them, and just get a feel for what they thought of the game and how they played. I’ve noticed other places now that the list has grown that I need to go visit. Most of them aren’t around the corner, but with a well placed tollway here and there, it’s not a bad drive. I think this is going to be even more fun now that the new courses are being released. I need to figure out the next time Polly (my wife) is going to scrapbook with her sister. It’ll be trip night!

I noticed a lot of talk on the boards lately about the Pub Champ thing. The discussion was mostly about people playing on “other players’ machines” enough to take over the Pub Champ designation. I understand people who say, “You should be good enough to get it on that machine, or don’t whine about it.” But, that’s not really the issue. There are some people who play a lot. More than others get a chance to. And, sometimes it’s not even about whose better. It’s just being respectful enough to let people get to play in that event. For instance, Todd and Jake may be the same level of player in general. But, Todd has the time to play four times the games that Jake does. Now, both might shoot great scores, but if Todd plays that much more, he’s going to hit those “top” scores more often, even if they are at the same frequency (according to amount of play). So, if Jake has trouble getting the time to get out to play as much, it would be nice if Todd played on machines other than Jakes normal one if that option is available. Sometimes mistakes happen though. There is also another scenario. Because people are making the trip, or maybe deciding whether to, it would be nice if they had an extra event to play in. If I’m playing at a place with four machines, for instance, I would definitely keep the majority of my play to one machine, with the occasional friendly games on other machines. That way, even if someone isn’t the 2nd or 3rd best at the location, if they are going, they have an opportunity to have some extra fun at the event. Plus, it might persuade them to go if they think there is one additional thing to compete in. Just some thoughts on the situation. It would be nice, if they do this type of event again, if IT could take the top person on the machine that hasn’t already qualified.

I have a lot more to say, but I’m going to wrap it up for now. In order to get these things out in a more timely manner, I’m going to try to post them every couple of days. They’ll be much shorter, but that way I don’t keep falling behind so much that I dread tackling them. And, with the new courses being installed today and over the next few days, I’m sure there will be plenty to say or comment on. So, start looking for these much more often, but much much shorter… unless I get carried away… which, of course, I never do.
 

- The Southern Regional event has finally started! Sweet! I’m wondering what is so appealing about this contest to me personally. Maybe I should make a list.


   -Some good trash talking has already commenced. Love that.
   -It’ll be interesting to get a pseudo-gauge of where everyone stands in relation to each other in the South.
   -Since the new courses are coming out, it’s going to be VERY interesting to see how people compare with a fresh start.
   -One thing I’m going to enjoy particularly is, on the leaderboard it shows where people played each of their top games. Getting an idea of where people play around Houston and Texas in general is going to be pretty cool. When I make a trip to Austin, for instance, it would be nice to know where I might run into people playing. It’s always more entertaining to play against and meet new (to me) players.


- I went to play on August 1st (first day of Southern Region qualifying) and a few other players showed up throughout the evening. I ended up explaining pretty much all of how it worked, how the Finals were going to work and how much fun the final should be. There was a poster there to explain some of it, but I wonder how many people aren’t getting a good feel for what this is all about. It would be nice if an ad for it came up on the upper screen when games weren’t being played. It might be easier to explain and reiterate points such as the fact that the Regional format only includes certain states or that the games are all free when you play in the finals. Just seems that might go a long way in getting people to actually attend the Finals. There a lot of people who will throw scores up to see their place in the list without any intention of going. They don’t know what they’ll be missing. I was telling these players that it’s going to be one heck of a party.

- A couple of guys were playing a couple of machines from me. One had played for a while, obviously. The other, had never played. I don’t think I remember hearing someone so excited about the game action. The guy was probably in his mid 30s. He was loving it. I have to think I was seeing the first game of someone getting hooked.

- So, does this contest/competition thing promote play? I can only speak from a personal point of view, but I’m thinking so. My play has increase already. I went out to play on the 1st and threw up a lot more games than normal for me in one day (9). I then went to lunch on the 2nd to fit three games in. I almost never go out for lunch. Then, on the evening of the 2nd, I stopped by to throw a couple of games in as I was going to grab some dog food. And, I would have several more games already if I didn’t play with others. When someone comes in and wants to play a game, I play. I can’t imagine turning someone down. Regardless, that’s a lot more than normal. And, I plan on stopping to shoot a couple of scores before going home. I don’t know why I’m playing so much (for me), but I do know that I can now play even if someone else isn’t at the bar playing. In the past, it was rare that I would play alone. I guess I just want to get those initial games on there so I can see where I need to focus to improve. I have a different focus on the game now as well. I am actually paying more attention to what I’m trying to shoot. I had become a little complacent, probably due to the age of the courses (can’t wait for those new courses!). I’m going to guess that there are other people who’s interest in the game is at least slightly rejuvenated by the Qualifier.

- It is absolutely amazing to me how many people qualified in the MidWest. Maybe all of these people didn’t know they were “qualifying.” However, it doesn’t change the fact that 905 (!!) players played at least 50 games over two months. Wow. That is an average of 742 games started in the Midwest per 24 hour day. And, it’s obviously more than 50 games per person played. Going with what I would consider a very conservative guesstimate, let’s say there were 100 games played (avg) by the top 250, 75 by the next 250, and 50 by the last 405. That’s 64,000 games, an average of 1049 games started a day. Again, that’s ONLY in the MidWest. I also like seeing that 905th is at a 2.36 average score. I think it’s cool that someone enjoys the game enough to play that much without having to shoot “amazing” scores. You think that guy isn’t going to enjoy himself if he goes to the final? I think he’ll have a great time.

- The West isn’t shabby at all in their numbers of qualifiers either. In just over a month, 304 qualifiers is pretty solid. I knew there were some machines in the area that covers the “West”, but couldn’t really get a good feel for how many people played or how often the machines were played. I can’t wait to see how many actually qualify from that region.
 

Blog #7 : July 13, 2006

Sorry for the long break between blog entries. It’s been a busy few weeks. But, I’m back on track now. So….

This Regional Championship qualifying stuff is pretty interesting to watch. It’s absolutely amazing how many people play this game… or more accurately, how many play often. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great game. Just, wow. Watching the qualifying is helping get a small idea of the numbers and why the game is so popular with operators and bars. I was going to start with some numbers breakdowns from the leaderboards, but I thought of a question I had first.

How many games, and in what span of time, really qualifies as “playing often” or playing “a lot”? That’s tough for me to gauge, as I’m sure I qualify as both often and a lot, even though I don’t feel like I play nearly as much as many people. So, obviously, it’s going to be a relative figure. I’m just going to throw out what I see as just above normal and go from there. I would guess that “above normal” would be going out to a place with GT twice a week and playing for about three hours with friends. So, maybe 10 games a week. It’s easy to surpass that playing one player for a few hours or over a couple of days or by slipping in a game here and there during lunch. But, those players would probably more often fall into the “above average play” or “playing often” category. So, let’s say 10 games a week is slightly above average. I know that seems ridiculously low to a lot of people, but I think it may be about right. Let’s look at the Midwest Region. They had (on 7/11) just reached their 451st person to qualify, which simply takes completing 50 games of GT from June 1st to July 31st. That player, in 5.8 weeks, had just made the leaderboard, so had just presumably completed 50 games. That’s just under the 10 per week mark. So, I’m going with anything 10 or above per week as “playing often”.

Now for some fun information. This is all as of July 11th. I was trying to get a feel for how many games were getting played and how much IT was making from game play only. I was curious about this because I was kind of wondering how they would do with meeting, exceeding or falling short on recouping the costs of the Regional Championships. Remember, none of the following figures takes into account any costs involved in implementing the online qualifier that may be beyond the norm for regular operations. So, let’s get to it….

In 1 month and 11 days, 451 people had “qualified” in the Midwest region. At the bare minimum, at 50 games per player, that would be 22,550 games played so far. That would generate income for IT (from the $.35 per game) of $7,982. Obviously that’s a ridiculously low number of games, so let’s try to be a little more realistic (maybe). The top 16 spots are obviously going to get to play for a spot on the U.S. Team for Worlds, so near the top there is even more game play. And, this should be tiered throughout. The players towards the top, in general, are probably the players that play more often just because that’s what they enjoy doing. So, taking that into account, I’m going to throw some numbers up. These are all just speculation.

The following are “Ranking in the Qualifier” = “Number of games played so far” : “Total games for that group.”
1-16 = 400 : 6,400 (I actually believe this is higher, but I’m going for an average… and maybe being a little conservative with this group.)
17-50 = 300 : 10,200 (So, for instance, the players in positions 17-50 would have played 300 games EACH on average in 1 month & 11 days.)
51-200 = 200 : 30,000
201–451 = 75 : 18,825
That’s a total game count of 65,425.
That comes out to $22,898 in collected $.35 fees.
In addition, that projects out to $30,531 for the event, not taking into account any additional players qualifying (which they will). This also doesn’t take into account the many people that could be playing without quite getting to 50 games in that time. Regardless, it’s a bit of a starting point. So, interestingly, IT will be just about breaking even when taking into account the $25,000 in cash prizes in each region as well as expenses and employee costs for the weekends. They obviously will make money beyond the $30K above from other play going on, but much of that play would have existed anyway, since it consists of a lot of players who are playing their normal amount. However, the event’s potential definitely generates a heck of a marketing device. It also promotes play by the “veteran” players who aren’t walking away from the game for a break because of stale courses. This kind of transitions them through until the release of the new courses.

Now, what’s going to be interesting to follow from this point is, how will the other regions compare? Will the West also get near the 65,000 games played in just less than a month and a half? I’m not sure the saturation of players is enough in the West to pull that off, but it’ll definitely be interesting to see. As of the 11th, the West had 29 players that had broken the 50 game point to qualify. And, they will be done with qualifying right around the time the new courses come out, so there won’t be a boost to play from that until it’s over. However, that may be offset in the South and East because a combination of the qualifying event and the release of new courses. Again, it’ll be interesting to observe.

Getting back to the players of the game, I’m taking a look at the person in 451st in the qualifier in the Midwest as of July 11th. Having thrown up at least 50 games in 41 days indicates that the person plays quite a bit (in general). And, it kind of shows what some general scores can be for the just above average player in terms of playing often. The person in 451st had an average score of 3.8, with scores ranging from -11 to +19 (actually, there was one +30, but it’s so far from normal that I’m removing it). I think that’s pretty cool. That’s a person who plays a lot, must enjoy themselves to do so, and has the potential because of that to become a good player. I really hope some of those players decide to make the trip to the Regionals so they get a sense of the fun of the live events as they also pick up some things from other players that might help them improve rapidly. Competition is never a bad thing. A couple of more breakdowns on this player, just because….
Of the 50 games listed:
Coral – 9 (only 1 in the top 20 scores)
Heather – 6 (highest is at 27th)
Whispering – 16
Kangaroo – 14
Cumberland – 5 (including the highest score on the list)
GSPs – There are 7 games with GSPs.
Location – All but 6 games were played at the same location. Those 6 were 3 & 3 at two other locations.


Okay, I’ll be back in a week. No, no, really!

Blog #6 : June 20, 2006

- There was something I was going to mention in the last blog that I forgot.  It was regarding the Texas Shootout.  The location where it was held is a pretty busy hang out on the weekend... in the evenings.  During the days, the business consists of mostly regulars... maybe 6 to 16, depending.  On Saturday and Sunday of the tournament, there were between 30 to 50 people there by noon for the tournament.  The machines and the players took over the space to the immediate left and right of the entryway.  It didn't take long to start noticing the faces of people walking in, expecting just a couple of people to be there, but walking into a throng of people... all standing around playing GT or watching people play.  The looks of confusion on most of their faces was classic, and a nice peripheral source of entertainment for the weekend.

- I'm looking forward to the kickoff of the Regional Championship event in the Southern Region.  But, that's still almost a month and a half away.  I'm wondering what the scores are going to be like near the top.  I'm also wondering how many people will be qualifying (by playing 50 games over the two month period).  So, I've been taking a look at the Midwest Region leaderboard (their qualifying started June 1) to get some idea of what it's like their at least.  The Midwest has a high concentration of upper echelon players, so the top 16ish or so may not be extremely accurate in trying to gauge what the top is going to be like elsewhere.  But, it's still interesting.  Even more interesting though, is the number of players who, nineteen days in, have already gotten 50 games in.  To me, that's a decent indicator of a couple of things; how many people may be attending these events, and how many people are actually playing this game... a lot.  As of today, the 20th of June, there are 143 players who have qualified (again, by shooting 50 games) for that area's Regional Championship.  That's pretty amazing to me.  Now, few if any expect all of the players who qualify to attend the events.  But, you would think that the players who have qualified already, this early in, are much more inclined to attend.  There will surely be many, many more who will qualify in the next month and 10 days that the Midwest has to qualify.  So, how many will attend?  Impossible to say.  But, right now, it looks like it could be many more than I was initially thinking, and that would make for a hell of a fun event!  Even just over a hundred players of all skill levels would be a great time for everyone, with plenty of people of similar skill levels to compete against and meet.  But, right now, it's looking like a much higher number than that.

- As I mentioned, 143 people have qualified already in the Midwest.  I was looking at the stats of the player in 143rd right now.  At the moment, that player has a top score of -10 and a 50th place score of +3.  Personally, I think that's awesome!  That just, to me, indicates that there will be a nice range of skills at the events.  And, with 200 spots getting something, I think it'll be fun for most of them.  And, that's not taking into account all of the people of similar and different skills that the players will meet.  I also wonder, since the person in 143 obviously plays a lot, what it'll be like for them to show up at the event (if they do) and see some of the different levels of players actually playing.  I'm thinking that many players may pick up some things they didn't even think about which they may take home with them to work on, resulting in a possible sudden increase in the talent levels across the board in the months following the event.  Especially with the new courses, which may be seen as a bit of a leveling factor to some degree.  It'll be interesting (to me) to watch.

- Something I miss at some of the places I go to play is the hanging monitor hooked to the game.  In the past, there were a few places I could go which had connected a monitor or television, usually hanging from the ceiling, to the game.  It was very cool.  It would be nice to be able to sit back, whether while taking a break, waiting for the machine to open up, or while not even intending to play, and watch what was going on with the play on the game from a distance.  Sometimes it would motivate you to go over and see if you could get in a game with someone.  Other times, it was just interesting.  And, if you were playing in a competitive way, you didn't have to stand over someone's shoulder to see what was happening.  I never see that anymore.  Maybe it's because people thought the upper monitor on the machine was going to do that.  Maybe not.  Regardless, it would be nice to see again.

Blog #5 : June 08, 2006

- Last week was interesting but fun. I was driving around town to some places that I know have players so I could tell them about the Texas Shootout coming up. But, it's hit or miss on finding many players at some of those locations. It was just "hit" that night. I went to three places, and two of them (that are very hit or miss) had eight or more people there when I arrived! Wow. I actually meant to go to some other places, but because four were playing on the machine already, I had to wait for them to finish, get in a game, then get through that and talk to them about the tournament. That took some time. But, it was pretty fun getting some games in with new players. By the way, for Houston area players, the locations that had eight players were Curb Checkers and Sherlock's (on Westheimer @ the Tollway). There were two machines at Sherlock's, but one had a screen so messed up that you had to wait on the other game. I think I'll have to go back there.

- People don't read flyers. I knew this. But, still. There were three flyers posted by the machines at Einstein's (where the Texas Shootout was held last weekend). I was still telling people basically what was on the flyers because they hadn't read very far. I think the first line next time will have to be "EVERY LEVEL OF PLAYER HAS A GREAT CHANCE TO WIN!"

- I believe that it may be impossible to eat while directing a tournament. You just forget or don't have time. Between running it, shutting everything down, then trying to hang out with your friends and meet new people, beer is about all I have time for. Luckily Polly recognized this and would send the waitress over to force me to order something. She's got my back.

- Speaking of Polly, I've had several people ask me lately how we get along so well with me out playing and putting on tournaments, etc. Honestly, I got very lucky. Now, I don't think I play as much as some people probably perceive. However, I still play. It's a compromise... I play and she deals with it! No, no... just kidding. Now, something like that might get me killed. Actually, way back, she did start getting frustrated with it. I think it was during football season, when most of my time is focused on the NFL or the Big 12. Throw in GT here and there, and, well... yikes. We talked for a while about it, and I did make some compromises with her. During football season, I would cut back on GT, which was only fair. I was going to spend so much time watching football, that I needed the other time to spend with her and do stuff around the house. She agreed to deal with my football obsession. In fact, she's much more into football now (years later). Sweeeeet. In addition, I explained that, when we met, I was playing pool a couple nights a week, maybe some NTN here and there. Now, I was just playing GT instead of pool and NTN. There wasn't a difference in the time I was spending, it was just at ONE thing. So, there you go. It didn't hurt that, as I started making friends playing, she was making friends as well. Sometimes the players themselves and sometimes the girlfriends/wives. In fact, now when I go to play, I usually take her and call some of her friends to meet us out. And, when I show up, I often get the question of whether Polly's coming up so they can call their significant other to come hang out. That's pretty nice. One of the major things is, when we go somewhere (even where I usually play), I'll sometimes ignore GT all together. Here and there, that goes a long way. But, in general, I just got very lucky.

- I've noticed a lot more women playing lately or watching with interest. I think that's pretty cool. Some of the nicer things I've see at Einstein's are couples playing video golf together. Now, THAT's pretty bada$$. There are three couples that I know of there that play together. I may have to have a women's tournament next time (this was requested this time, but there were only three women players available to participate... that will probably grow, especially if it's part of the event before hand). I wonder how many women are actually playing out there, and how many will be at the Regional Events?

Blog #4 : June 01, 2006

Warning, Warning!!!  Long entry this time.  I'll try to keep the next one much more brief.  Good luck!

- Well, as I mentioned last time, I was communicating with IT about the whole “name” issue on GT Live during the upcoming Regional Championship Qualifiers. To quickly recap, they (IT) would like for you to use your real name. Though that might seem like a little thing, a lot of people have some fun with the names and were really hoping they would rescind that stipulation, especially since they figured they would know who they were anyway. Well, I got some answers… or at least IT’s reasoning. I thought it was a pretty good response. I don’t know that it’s going to necessarily work out as they are hoping, but we’ll see. Anyway, here is some of what I found out.

- Why do they want us to use our real names?

o They want the Leaderboards to look legit to everyone who decides to compete. They were pointing out that when Fore came along, they quit allowing nicknames (before Fore, you could). The reason back then was that, some players would use names like JOEBLOWSGOATS and it would be a bummer for the more novice players to be knocked out by someone going by JBG. They would get leery of the tournament system and quit participating. By disallowing that, the Leaderboards looked more legitimate, as they should, and people would be more willing to participate. They tried to remove as many names like that as they could, but it was a pain.

· They would also like the real names to be used just to assist with “confidently identifying” players that are going to show up. Not everyone is going to be using a new Golden Tee Live Card, so they are trying to make the check-in process as uncomplicated for everyone as possible. With real names, they don’t have to remember who certain people are or try to figure out others that they don’t have a strong record of.

· Additionally, they would like for players who are newer… or don’t go to the boards… to avoid the confusion that the fake names as well as constantly changing names might cause. Here’s a direct quote that explains it pretty well:

When the leaderboard is full of goofy nicknames that change every day (or even every game), it is hard for a novice player to understand what he is looking at, who he is playing against, and where he actually stands in the mishmash. This could turn players off and keep them from participating.

As an example, a leaderboard on Monday could show ANDY H listed in 3rd place, and then on Tuesday ANDY H is nowhere to be found, and MR PINK is now listed in 3rd. You and I know why this happened, but many of the average Joes probably have no clue.

- So, why isn’t this a big deal with the regular play Leaderboards?

o They thought about it apparently, and decided that they would allow those names to stay up since they are only up on the board for a little while and are only seen by the 50 people (and, I would say, even then it’s only the people right around them on the leaderboard unless they scroll through the list later) in the event (also, I’d add the people at the location to that… which is sometimes part of the fun for players). They figured they would let the players have their fun with it.

o Additionally, players don’t have to submit claim forms to collect their winnings. They can just keep using them off the account. So, the name isn’t as important, whether they know it or not.

- Are there other things, besides just the confusion of new players, that are factoring into the request to use real names?

o Yep. They want to try to keep the names better for company reasons too, of course. Specifically, the marketing of the event. This makes some sense. Basically, when news outlets (papers, television, etc.) are doing research on the information they are receiving about the event, it would be preferable to IT not to have things that make it look less legitimate than it is. Names like Cincinasti or some of the more colorful ones can make it look like a joke of contest. Having the correct information reported will just bring more players into it, which is not only good for IT but for the players already enjoying the game.

o If Local Press decides they want to know of a player near them to get some information from for an article, it may be hard to give them a contact if it takes more than a glance to give them a (real) name from the leaderboard.

- Back to the qualifying, though… What about the card IDs? Can’t you tell who’s who with those?

o IT have an interesting answer to this, and rather than sum it up, I’ll use their response:

When the qualifying is over, we will ask players to contact us and let us know if they plan on attending. We know what Persona ID was used to play the 50 games, but in many cases that could be all we know about the player. Verifying who they are will be a challenge, and a real name is a good step towards that.

Not everyone knows their persona ID, or even what it is. A player's Persona ID is printed on their GT LIVE Gold Card, and displayed on their personal web account, but not everyone has one of those. There are a lot of players who still use Fore Gold Cards, or a credit card to ID themselves, and Persona IDs are invisible to them in these instances. We will have to teach them to create a web account, properly assign the correct card to that account, activate it all with a verification email, then log in and look up the persona ID, and then tell (us) what it is. Unfortunately since privacy laws are so strict these days, that's about the only way we CAN do it.

o Because of the above, they are going to have some troubles if people just show up at the event, which they expect will happen. And, if they have a real name, it will be much easier to look at the credit card they used, match the name to the “real name” on their list and move on with registration. Without that real name, they’ll have to do some finagling to identify the player and make sure they are the “nickname” they say they are.

- So, those are some reasons they are asking for real names to be used. I obviously still believe many people won’t even realize they need to use real names, or won’t think they are going to be able to qualify, so won’t bother until they actually do qualify. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes, especially with the earlier regions. They are still working on a special version of their FACTS program to identify players with their real name if they have it, which still doesn’t account for those they don’t have of course. They have other things they are going to try and see how they go. Basically, using your real name will help to assure you don’t get removed from the leader board for some reason and will help them. I’m thinking it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the first regions over the next couple of months.

That's it for now.  On Monday or Tuesday, I should have some things to say about the little tournament we're having this weekend in Texas.  Later.

Blog #3 : May 23, 2006

- After I finished my blog entry for Thursday, I went out and played six games. That’s quite a bit for me in one evening, since I’m usually playing against other people, talking to people, or just sitting back relaxing. So, pumping out six games was pretty impressive from about 5:30 to 9:00. I know some people finish games in the 10 minute area, but I can’t imagine doing what it takes to pull that off. I must have my beer during the game! I must also seek out competition. I rarely play solo, unless I just really need to relax after a long day. Anyway, since I finished Thursday, I have played two games (Saturday). I don’t know whether to be proud of myself for taking a break for a few days, or disgusted that I think that’s a break. I’ll go with proud, since I don’t like the alternative. Heh… heh… ugh. Actually, I’ve thought about this before, but I don’t see anything wrong with playing GT whenever I have the time. In all honesty, it’s probably the one the cheapest, most entertaining social hobbies I could have. After playing for a while, the cost is seriously reduced for the actual games. It costs me around a $1.25 on average (after winnings) to play. Even if it cost $3 or $4 on average, it would still be worth it. $3 isn’t bad for 45 minutes of entertainment (which is probably what it takes if you’re relatively new or playing with a couple of players). $4 isn’t bad either, especially if you’re getting 45 to 60 minutes of fun (and/or frustration) out of it. It takes me about 15 minutes to destroy $4 in a MegaTouch. It costs $4 at best for one frame of bowling (not to mention the cost of shoes and a ball if you decide to do that). Softball or football? To play those at this point, you have to join a league, play once a week according to their schedule, and pay league fees… and the costs of any equipment. Sure, you get more exercise with some of those, and they are fun, but it’s not like you (or, should I say “I”) aren’t drinking beer during those too, so that’s a negligible cost. I would rather go to the gym, then go play some video golf on my schedule... and just play pickup games of basketball or go bowling late night with friends. And, it’s pretty rare that I can’t find someone to play so GT with to get my competitive fix. And, if I can’t? There’s always a ***POW***, KINZ*, JAUNTOOMANY or SOTHPA around the country in the tournament I'm in to play against. As much as I can enjoy a game of football or something on X-Box if friends are over, sitting at home playing alone just doesn’t hold that appeal for me. Out at a bar or restaurant, I can play, people watch, listen to some pretty interesting conversations (sometimes referred to as eavesdropping), and usually meet some cool people if I want to. Not a bad hobby. Now, if I can just figure out how not to breath in that second hand smoke…. By the way, that's another good reason to attend a live event in your part of the world if you can.  Once you know some of the names on the leaderboards because you met the people at an event, it just makes playing, while competing against recognizable people, all the more entertaining.

- Speaking of players’ names on GT, that’s become an unexpected hot topic lately because of the upcoming GT Live Regional Championships. People have a little fun with their names on the game, with some making me glad that most of the games are in bars. It’s sometimes a name that as been a longtime nickname, sometimes a topical moniker and sometimes just a way to throw a little humor out there. Whatever it is, people enjoy goofing around with their names. As small of a thing as that seems in general, it’s become the source of a lot of questions leading up to the event (GTLRC). There is information by IT stating that your real name has to be used. That’s introducing the potential of taking a little fun out of it for some longtime players. That’s one issue. However, I think there is probably another, bigger issue with it. The idea of the regional events is to encourage a lot of newer players or players who haven’t typically traveled to these types of events to actually attend, experience and enjoy them. Many of these players may not initially try to qualify (even though it’s just a games played thing). Others may not realize they should use their real name. And, yet others may not even realize it’s going on until later in the process (despite ads, flyers, etc.). So, what if they figure out an event is going on part of the way through, realize they are almost qualified, or just find out their friends are going? Is it too late to change their name? I’m sure there are a lot of people that wouldn’t even notice that section of the rules, and would think they qualified, only to find out they didn’t. IT wants all the people who play to attend. So, they surely don’t want to inadvertently exclude people. That makes the name issue more than just about the people wanting to have some fun with it. As I understand it, IT realized this might be a problem after the discussion about it on the boards, so they are looking at their options. Cool. Hopefully they’ll be able to allow whatever names people want as long as they use the same card (that's just my hope, not anything they've said). I mean, how would we live without the hilarious names like WHERE’SMYCAR, ***ANXIETY***, or STEVE C.… oh, wait…that last one's not supposed to be funny?....

Later

Blog #2 : May 18, 2006

- I was helping out someone on the discussion board (wpbCubsFan) with an Excel file that compared games played head to head between specific players.  Anyway, while using my and his information to test it out with, I noticed something interesting (to me at least).  Between us, we had played almost exactly 2000 games (1028 for me, 983 for him... he started a few months after me on LIVE).  And, surprising to me, between those 2000 games, we had only played in the same tournaments 27 times, or 1.3% of those games.  Or, another way to look at it, of my 1028 games, only 2.6% were played against him... someone who had played around 20 games a week like I do.  I would have thought that would have been MUCH higher.

- I'm putting on the Texas Shootout LIVE this year (fifth one I think) in a couple of weeks.  So, I'm running around Houston kind of trying to play at various places, meet people, and let them know about it.  It's been interesting as always.  I have fliers, but even where the thing is being put on, where large fliers are hanging, they only reach some people.  The problem is, people only read the very beginning.  Then, they figure they can't play in one of those "big" tournaments and stop reading.  So, even there, I end up talking about it and explaining how everyone pretty much gets something, and how a lot of people get opportunities to win... even if you aren't very good yet.  I get to say it over, and over, and over... all over town.  But, while I may get tired of repeating some of the same stuff, it doesn't really get too old, as I'm getting to try to convince new players to come have a great time (which they'll figure out then).  Oh, I also mention how I'm not making a thing off of it.  They don't ask, but I think it might come off less like a sales pitch that way, since I'm just a moron, not a scam artist.  :)  But, damn... read the whole thing!  Ugh.  Oh well... comes with the territory.

- By the way, while out visiting a place the other day to play some on my day off and let people know about the Shootout, a car dealership employee coming back from lunch darted through three lanes of traffic without checking the last lane... mine... to see if it was stopped.  My lane was clear for another block, so I was still going.  Saw him with a car length to stop.  Almost made it.  3000 lbs. of car doesn't stop very quickly, but almost.  Barely chipped some paint on my bumper, but put a cool imprint of my license plate in the side of their Odyssey (mini-van).  They realized pretty quickly that it was their fault, and I just asked for them to touch up that spot, and it was all good.  Then, I went on to the next GT stop.  The hidden dangers of GT Tournament planning.

- That's it for now.  I'm off to play several hours of video golf, since my house is being used as the setting of this month's Bunco Party that my wife participates in.  Hmm... I'm going to have to track "when" I get out to play for the next week or so.  I try to fit a lot of things into the week, so finding time for GT isn't always easy, but I seem to do it.  I wonder how....

Later.

Blog #1 : May 15, 2006

So, here we go… the first blog on UDS. Why a blog? Well, I can’t really think of a good reason, so let’s just go with "Why not?". I guess we can start with trying to explain what I’m trying to accomplish with this blog. I’m not completely sure, but I’m going to be posting to the blog twice a week, and I’m thinking that it will include mostly video golf related items, with the occasional tangent. I figure I’ll include some of the things I run into while out playing, working on the site, talking with friends that play and/or while just hanging out somewhere noticing things going on around me. It’s going to be a growing thing. Bear with me for a while as it develops. I hope you enjoy it to some degree at least.

Why not start with the big announcement today in GT Land….

Last week, I was talking with Dan (DufferDan) about the new Golden Tee LIVE Regional Championships (GTLRC… that acronym is so damned long, does it really save time?), trying to get as much info as possible before the initial announcement release so I could talk about it here. You know what?... I like it! A lot. One of my enduring arguments over the years has been that you could make this a really, really fun and big deal if you could have an event that gave the average player a great experience. The problem with that has been that most of the events put on around the country are put together by the players (painstakingly) and usually sponsored by the bar and operator. Because of that, much of the prize money has to come from the entry fee. There just aren’t a lot of average players that are going to pony up $100 to $125 to play in an event that they think (right or wrong) they have no shot of even qualifying in. And, that stinks. They don’t get to find out how much fun these events are. It looks like IT is taking care of that this time around… in a couple of ways. Pretty much anyone that wants to get involved can. It just takes 50 games played over a two month period, and you’re IN! Still, that wouldn’t be enough. A traveling expense just to not win anything because every awesome player in the nation is there… that can be deflating and not worth it (though, in reality, the experience is still usually worth it). But, IT covered that as well. They did it in two ways:

1 - Separating the Regions: By making four regions, and not allowing players to play in more than one final, they have separated the top players. So, instead of 100 of the best players in the nation all in one place fighting for a few spots, you have maybe 20 or so. That means a lot more spots for players that haven’t taken a chance on attending the events before. (And, some of those players might be surprised to find they actually belong in that "Top Players group!)

2 - Paying out 200 spots in each region: That’s going to be nice for a lot of players wanting to test their skills and enjoy themselves. You don’t have to travel far to get to the finals, you’re not having to play every top player in the nation to find out where you stand, AND you get 200 spots to win something. $100 from 26th - 50th is pretty sweet, especially considering our player run live events usually cost $100+ to enter and pay out about $125 to 32nd place (the last spot typically paid at those events). Here, there’s no entry fee and it pays out about the same to 50th… with different competition. And, while 200th may only win $25, it’s still something, and that’s pretty cool.

The capper on the whole deal is that they are holding the events at casinos around the country. That should give plenty of people a good reason to take a little vacation to go give it a try. And, the more the merrier. I’ve made some great friends by attending these events. Not "GT Friends", but real, going to catch a ball game and b.s.ing around friends. A lot of people that haven’t gone to these things in the past will get a chance to have a blast and make some new friends. You just can’t beat the large, live tournament feel. It’ll be nice to have that "Vegas National Championship event vibe back.

And, that doesn’t even touch on the Pub Champ and Team USA aspects of it (have a look at the official announcement). Very nice job by IT, I would say. They have been vilified quite a bit over the years for certain decisions they’ve made that players and operators didn’t really agree with, some justifiable, some not (in my opinion). But, this time, it seems they really tried to put something cool together for the players (and the operators, obviously). And, if it goes off like it looks like it should, I think they will have succeeded. Nice job, IT. One question... I know y’all pretty well, and I just can’t figure out how in the hell you got enough people over there to agree on all the aspects of something this big?!? (just kiddin’)

I’m sure the details are displayed somewhere right now for all to see, and I’m sure there will still be discussions about it on the message boards. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of feedback this event gets.

Well, kids, that’s all for today. First blog complete. While I can be pretty wordy, I’m not sure if the following entries will always be this long. Guess it’ll depend on what’s going on out there. Hope you enjoyed it. If not, I humbly apologize and will try to do better next time. Later.

More recent photos

At the Mezz with some followthrough.

"All-In-Vegas"

Some old photos

"Here's a tip for you Peter..."

Whoa!  GTers... not GTing.

Link to article referenced below,

Carefully crafted fun quote of the day:
"I have never stepped foot on a golf course, but a come-from-behind eagle shot meant I tied one of the area's [real golf] teaching professionals Friday. We weren't on the actual links, but I figure my six above par on Golden Tee Live wasn't bad. It also didn't hurt that Mihelich [said golf pro] and I had as our caddy Steven Sobe."

Ewww, good caddying, Sobe! You must be a pro! (P.S. Please don't kill me next time I see you. Thank you.)

Great quote in an article on pitch.com about a place called Maloney's:

"The young, frattish presence made sense,....  A small sprinkling of the tattooed-and-pierced showed up as well, such as the small group that got all into Golden Tee.  We fear for Western civilization if Golden Tee is the thing that unites us all."