The Golf Majors Tipping Competition

The US PGA 2009 Tipping Comp

The Open Championship 2009 Tipping Comp

For those of you who know me the following will mean something, for the rest of you I apologise for the open display of exuberance…
 
NORMAN!!!!! YEAAHHHHH!!!! NORMANNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
After years of running the GMTCs and watching them grow in popularity, I have finally managed to emulate my golfing alias and take out my first major (GMTC) (which ironically happened to be a British Open). And what a sleepless night it was in the Stark/Norman household. Watching Jim Furyk going backwards and my closest opponent’s team on fire early (especially Leonard) I thought it was going to be another hard-luck story after the disappointment of watching my son go so close in the last major. But as my great mate Dicky Pride said to me “Norman – you’ve gotta lose one before you can win one” and I can’t begin to explain how good it feels to have finally shed the dreaded tag of “greatest GMTC tipster not to have won a major”. My team finished on a score of +19 and in the end a comfortable 3 shot buffer thanks mainly to the heroics of Luke Donald and his final round 67 and to Graeme McDowell for pulling the handbrake on for the opposition. Bad luck to Andrew Wilson who was valiant in defeat and really made me earn it (YEEAHHH!! at last the NSW bandits get a win over the SA burglars!) and also Chris Tangey in 3rd place on +26. Gaining exemption into the final GMTC of 2009 were Richard Fellner on +30, Chris Tangey #2 on +34 (great effort!), Tony Burke on +36 and John Thwaites on +38.

Thanks again to everyone for entering another super GMTC, there would have been some serious cursing of selections when the cut came down as there were any number of teams that had 6 players make the cut and I reckon neither Adam Scott nor Geoff Ogilvy will be high on the popularity poll in the next GMTC. Special mention goes to the luckless Jeff Beggs who was the only player to pick the winner (Stewart Cink) in his team but would have been ruing the performance of Ogilvy. See you in a month’s time for the final major of 2009 at Hazeltine National from Aug. 13-16, the USPGA!

Cheers,
Starky

The US Open 2009 Tipping Comp

In a gripping finale, it was Nick Bull who came from the clouds to take out the 2nd GMTC of 2009, beating the luckless Xavier Stark in a sudden death playoff when both teams finished tied on a score of +40. In the end it was extremely close as 3 players finished 1 shot back and no doubt there must have been a lot of people cursing the last day performances of some golfers on their teams (including me on behalf of my son!!!). For Nick he was fortunate enough to have 3 players (excluding the cut player in each team) different to Xavier (Ian Poulter shot 67, Henrik Stenson 68 and VJ 69 versus Xavier’s trio of Dustin Johnson 72, Hunter Mahan 72 and Rory McIlroy 68). But that’s golf tipping for you. Xavier was extremely disappointed to miss out on claiming his first GMTC at the age of 22 months and 28 days but he has vowed to be back for the British. In 3rd place (again in a playoff) was GMTC debutant Ross Emmerick on +41, who on one hand can curse Adam Scott for his last day 75 and on the other be thankful for placing him in 7th position on his team and getting him on the podium. Bad luck to Blair Jenkins and Dirk Wymer who narrowly missed out and 6th and 7th place finishers Sebastian Shand and Reg Ravindran.
 
Thanks again to everyone who entered for yet another bumper GMTC. I hope to see everyone back in about a month’s time for the 3rd GMTC The British Open from Turnberry Scotland... yep the location of Greg Norman’s first major victory back in 1986!

Cheers,
Starky

The US Masters 2009 Tipping Comp

Well punters, what more can be said…
 
After arguably the most exciting major in a long time where Greg wound back the clock (sort of) and gave us all reason to believe he might still be able to win another major, performing way above expectations to only just miss the cut (that double on 13 cost him in the end)… and a 48 y/o going oh so close to becoming the oldest major winner of all time… and a big-hitting Argentinian out-gutsing them all to claim his 2nd major title - despite looking more like a weekend hacker in the trees on the first playoff hole! I don’t know about everyone else but I thought it was great to see some different names fighting it out with some of the big guns right behind them keeping them honest. If that is a sign of the majors to come in 2009 then we’re in for a massive year.
 
The first GMTC of the year did not disappoint any less. With not too many big names suffering the dreaded “trunk slammer” on the weekend it was a congested leader-board right up to when the final putt was holed. And coming out on top to take out his first GMTC was kiwi tipster and golf pro John Thwaites (-22), who would’ve been cheering for every Steve Stricker birdie on Monday morning as despite not having Cabrera, Perry or Campbell he showed the true value of picking a team of 7 golfers that all made the cut and posted a solid result. John managed to grind out his victory from a luckless Brad Quinn (team #2) on -21 who actually had Cabrera but would’ve been cursing some of his other players performances just like Kenny Perry would’ve been cursing his twitchy swing over the last few holes. Also on -21 in 3rd place (beaten on count-back) was Mick Van Raay who will no doubt be crossing Retief Goosen off his Xmas card list for being the only player in his team to miss the cut. Only 6 players picked Kenny Perry and Mick was one of them. He would no doubt have been crying in his beer like poor old Kenny on Monday evening…
 
Rounding out the top 7 leader-board were Chris Tangey, Daz Gloster (both teams would you believe!) and Ian Crotty who defeated Raj Sebastian and Steve Doran on count-back.
 
But for those who are still struggling to come to terms with the performances of 1 or 2 of their players (like myself), don’t despair as with the addition of the Fair Dinkum Cup this year you still have plenty of time to make a move for the coveted trophy. All your players who made the cut and won Fedex Cup points get allocated the same points in the Fair Dinkum Cup and the person with the most points at the end of the year cleans up. Thanks to all for getting involved. The next major & GMTC will be the US Open from June 18-21 in just over 9 weeks time, bring it on.
 
Cheers,
Starky

The US PGA 2008 Tipping Comp

After a weekend when too much sport was barely enough (as Roy & HG would say), the final GMTC of 2008 was decided when Sergio Garcia kindly gifted the Wannamaker Trophy to Padraig Harrington earlier today. Again it was a major disappointment to see the Aussies out of contention when the final round kicked off, especially given the fact that David Graham won his US Open at the same course about 30 years ago and our relatively solid record in the PGA. Personally I lost all interest after Kenny Perry pulled out with an eye injury as that was the end of my team right there - thanks Kenny!!! But someone had to win and the real tournament (i.e. the GMTC) was practically over when the cut came down on Saturday our time, with only 1 punter out of 63 managing to select a team with all 7 players making the weekend... Matthew Pitt.

And so the eventual winner was none other than the King of the Bushrangers and long-time GMTC fan Matthew "PW Jones" Pitt on a score of +51 (mind you he entered 3 teams - although his #1 team did the job!) - taking home the 1st prize. Putting up a brave fight for the placings were Louise Tangey (+53) in 2nd and British Open winner Scott Wilson (+57) in 3rd, who went close to emulating Harrington and winning back to back majors - and must now be re-considering ever picking Adam Scott again. Winning entry into next year's US Masters were GMTC debutant Ben Spencer (+60) as well as Mick Van Raay (+63), Mark Wiley (+68) and Richie Weir (+71).

Thanks again to all for entering and competing in another great year of GMTCs. See you all again in 2009.

Cheers,
Starky

The Open Championship 2008 Tipping Comp

That's the last time Norman. Once again you got us all excited and gave us hope for salvation and "closure" on all of those past lip-outs / chokes / major failures... but we should have known what the outcome would be. At least I wasn't one of the poor punters who took the 500-1 and thought they were in for the ultimate pay day (to get them back to square for every other time they'd backed you) only to be left crying in their beer in the wee hours of Monday morning...

Still what a sensational event, one of the best GMTCs in a long while with the leader board fluctuating as wildly as the Birkdale breeze with every round. In the end there were only 7 teams that managed the seemingly impossible task of picking 7 golfers to make the cut - A. Presnell, A. Wilson, B. Morrissy, C. Green, M. Van Raay, S. Wilson and T. Longmuir, although this didn’t guarantee them a top 7 finish with some players posting scores that probably had them wondering why they bothered turning up on the weekend.

When the winning putt dropped there was a clear cut winner who ran away with it just like Harrington for a 5 stroke victory, congratulations to Scotty Wilson who finished on a score of +88. In 2nd place was Troy Longmuir (+93) followed by the only other player to break 100, Brett Morrissy on +96. Winning exemption into the final event of the year the USPGA were Matt Henderson (+100), Mick Van Raay (+101) and Colin Green & Nathan Lyons (+102).

Thanks again to all for entering and I hope to see everyone back again in 17 days 11 hours 2 minutes and 12 seconds when the world's best golfers and tipsters will descend upon Oakland Hills GC in Michigan for the 90th edition of the USPGA from Aug. 7-10.

Regards,
Starky

The US Open 2008 Tipping Comp

Talk about a nerve-wracking finish… and I'm talking about the GMTC, not the actual tournament!!!

On a nail-biting final day when Luke Donald pulled out midway through his round to cruelly rob a number of teams any chance of glory (including the 2 teams at the top), it came down to a tie and PLAYOFF once again mimicking the event itself! The 2 teams in question were those of Brad Bowler and Scott Wilson who finished in regulation on a score of +49, 2 shots ahead of Joel Jacobs.

Showing more calm under pressure than Tiger himself, in the end it was Brad Bowler who prevailed with his Top 6 just edging out Wilson's Top 6 (+40 vs +42). Andrew Waterworth, Andrew Wilson, Craig Parsell and Tim O'Connor rounded out the top 7 gaining themselves exemption into GMTC #3 the British Open from July 17-20 at Royal Birkdale. Thanks to all for participating and I look forward to doing it all again in about a month.

Regards,
Starky

The US Masters 2008 Tipping Comp

Thanks to everyone for entering.

Regards,
Starky