[Melvyn Morrow]

Come on Guys,  we must show respect for the new Honorary
President of Askernish Golf Club, our one and only Mr Kenny Dalglish.

[Rich Goodale]

I may post this also on the e-mail thread, but all your Buda Pests out there.....

I've negotiated a gala meal on Monday night at the Crusoe.  3 courses with 6 options for each course.  25 quid with a supplement if you want a Sirloin/NY cut steak.  Blame that last item on Al Gore and his obsession with "biofuels" or "W's" oil industry bondage fantasies, depnding on your political persuasions.   All beverages supplemental, with an especailly selected house Chilean white and red avaialbe at 12-16 quid per bottle.  There will likely be a few celebrity guests there to add to the entertainment value of the meal.

For Tuesday night we will be eating more informally off the "bar" menu, which ranges from deep fried haggis through fish and chips to filet mignon.  As we will be getting off late from Elie, and some might want to stay there for a few pints, we'll eat in the order we stagger into the Crusoe.

The cats who might be attending this meal are slowly being herded, but a few have not been he(a)rd of, or have so and been forgotten by me, namely:

--the Glenrothes gang (FBD, Dodd, Izatt and McElroy)
--the Elie toffs (Cole and Mackillop--fellow toffs Pearce and Gamble are coming)
--the Fairmont St. Andrews working stiffs (Slatter and Balingall)

Let me know ASAP, fellow Pests.

Rich

[Andrew Mitchell]

Hot on the heels of Rich's entertainment thread I'm posting details of the golfing arrangements.

The participating teams
North America versus Great Britain & Ireland.  Hopefully all parties know which side of the divide they fall. 

Match format
All matches will be scored over 18 holes with the final scores (1 up, 2 up, 3 up etc) being added together to give a cumulative totals of holes up or down.  This keeps all matches alive for the full 18 holes and all will count towards the final totals. Monday morning and Tuesday morning will be four ball better ball match play, with foursomes in the afternoon.  Wednesday morning will be singles although we will go out in fourballs.

The captains have agreed to ask players not to discuss their match result with others but place the written result in a sealed envelope and hand to one of the captains. These envelopes will then be opened during the evening meals on Monday & Tuesday and at lunch on Wednesday to add an element of entertainment and suspense.  This does not prevent you discussing what a good/bad game you had and what good company your partner and opponents were!

Handicaps
As previously mentioned please continue to tally your pars/birdies at pre Buda rounds to calculate your Behr handicaps.  This handicap can be adjusted in line with the pars/birdies scored at Lundin & Elie in the morning rounds.  Shots to be negotiated between the parties on the first tee.

Pairings
My co-captain & I, and our self appointed leader, are trying to herd all participants into roughly equally numbered teams taking into account the fact that not everyone is playing all three days and all five rounds.  In an attempt to reduce the chaos on the first tee at Lundin next Monday morning to an almost manageable state I have emailed to participants what we understand each individual’s playing intentions are.  Could you please confirm by email or IM that our understanding of your plans is correct?  Please also advise if you would be prepared to play additional rounds (if not rostered for all five) or stand down for a round if it is necessary to even up playing numbers.  Please note that it not our intention to prevent anyone playing when they want to do so but we appreciate there may be times when people do not want to play 36 holes a day.

Early responses encouraged.

If you have any preferences for playing partners/opponents please let Mark Bourgeois or I know (as quickly as possible).  All requests will be considered but no guarantees!  Our intention will be to try and ensure that people are playing with & against as many different partners/opponents as possible.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Guys have a great time, but it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to withdraw.  I will be at the pre Buda meeting at Cruden, but will have to fly south over the gathering celebrants on Sunday night. I'll wave.  Apologies for the late notice.

Rich I'll email you tomorrow to see if I owe you any money and I'll contact the hotel direct. 

Sometimes a man's got to do...

Enjoy and please post lots of pictures and tales of what I missed.

Tony

[Mark Bourgeois]

Sorry to hear this, Tony. This makes Saturday more special!

[Mark Pearce]

Sorry to hear this.  BUDA won't be the same without you and Captain Mitchell's team will have to rally from this blow to its prospects.  Still looking forward to seeing you on Saturday (that's the day after tomorrow - almost within touching distance now).

[Bill_McBride]

McBride's traveling show has experienced a variety of weather in Dornoch - strong wind, frequent downpours, sunshine - and that was just Tuesday!

36 on the two courses at Dornoch Tuesday, lovely day at Nairn yesterday, RD this morning in two balls, most to Brora this afternoon, Golspie tomorrow morning in a match vs 8 of their members, and a wrap up final round at RD tomorrow late afternoon followed by a farewell dinner at Luigi.

Saturday on to St Andrews!

Rich, our dinner commitments stand as previously indicated, and I think golf commitments as well, although I woudn't mind sitting out Tuesday p.m.  Feet already sore!

We look forward to seeing you all, sorry not Tony Muldoon.  We will be Behring our handicaps for all to see.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Bill, stop eating up our sunshine! Re Behr, I've received the latest report from The Behr Center for Confusion (redundant) in Geneva, Switzerland. Running a student's t test, early findings show the Behr handicaps of Populaton A, which is composed of low handicappers (Rich), differ minimally from official handicaps.

However, Behr handicaps of Population Z (Mark), which is composed of choppers, differ from round to round by as many as 5(!) strokes.

Behr handicaps therefore will be played at full, with no Byzantine 80-percent-divided-by-Avogadro's-Number type calculations.

[Peter Pallotta]

Mark - for the world's sake, I hope your genius for statistical analysis is being used for good instead of evil. Also, I believe everyone should just do what Max Behr says. Like, I'm supposed to think I know MORE about golf and match play and golf architecture than Max Behr? Ha, ha, not likely, sir!

Peter

[Mark Bourgeois]

Peter

It's not without flaws, chief among which is variance in difficulty of courses producing distortions in handicap.

But CONGU apparently shares this flaw too - perhaps to a lesser degree.

But Behr proposed a solution which represented common sense and anticipated the course rating by however many decades: calculate the "true" par for each hole according to how Bobby Jones would score on it.

A second, unresolved flaw is the requirement that golfers use the same tees. Of course, that's not an issue at Augusta National.

Mark

[Peter Pallotta]

Thanks, Mark -

But if I'm understanding it, Behr's system was conceived/design strictly for match play, which it seems to me would make it more useful in THAT format than either CONGU or the USGA index. Do you think?

I have to admit that the elegant simplicity of it (and the example - Bobby Jones, 14 pars, 2 birdies, 2 bogies = scratch) is what appeals to me most.

Peter

[Mark Bourgeois]

Oh yes, for match play.

Basically, official handicap systems measure the whole but Behr captures the parts, as Behr writes.

Something interesting coming out of this - again, noted by Behr - is how the Behr system really just measures one end of a golfer's range or distribution of scores. That would be the business or scoring end.

In contrast, USGA tries to account for hole-to-hole, and round, variance by clamping the opposite, or blowup / blob, end.

In the final analysis, its not going to make much difference to the low handicapper, who plays steady golf. And given all the adjustments made to limit variance in scores by mid and high handicappers, such as ESC and 80%, it might not matter much in the final analysis.

But as Behr writes, why go through a bunch of approximations when you can just measure directly?

Mark

[Peter Pallotta]

Gents - I ask only that when it's all over you provide a meticulous re-cap of the golfing events, i.e. I would like a specific record of who won, who lost, who failed his team miserably, and who pummeled his opponent mercilessly...

I'm just sitting here, waiting patiently....

Peter

[Rich Goodale]

Peter

We won, convincingly, but as I played for both teams I'll let others post more of the specifics, at their leisure.

Rich

[Peter Pallotta]

Rich - thanks. But that reminds me of the punchline to an old joke:

What do you mean "we" Kemo Sabe?

Hope you guys had a great time.

Peter

[Tom Huckaby]

Rich - thanks. But that reminds me of the punchline to an old joke:

What do you mean "we" Kemo Sabe?

Hope you guys had a great time.

Peter

Peter - you're killing me man - you just butchered one of my all-time favorite jokes... one I use on a darn near daily basis on my kids...

It's "what do you mean "we", Paleface?"

If he says kemo sabe it's not very funny.

Guardian of all humor,

TH

[Peter Pallotta]

Ah, hell, Tom - I'm sorry. I can't tell you how depressed it makes me that I butchered a joke, and one that you love no less. Of course it's "pale face"...

Ashamedly yours
Peter 

[Tom Huckaby]

Ah, hell, Tom - I'm sorry. I can't tell you how depressed it makes me that I butchered a joke, and one that you love no less. Of course it's "pale face"...

Ashamedly yours
Peter 

Peter:  your batting average being oh so very high on these matters, you have no need to apologize.  I just do so love that joke.  Imagine the punchline applied to way too many everyday situations, especially with a 13 year old daughter... Butchering jokes is much better than repeating them to death.  Of course that's the fun of it with said daughter....

 

[Marty Bonnar]

Back to work today after the festivities. Didn't take a single pic so hopefully someone else will post a few soon. As usual, played like a big fat eedjit when in the company of fellow gcaers. Anyone else have that affliction?

It was absolutely fantastic meeting so many great folks. GCAers, friends, guests, hosts were without exception great golfing, dining and drinking buddies.

Thanks too due to the members, stewards, secretaries, barmen, waitresses, greens staff and starters of our chosen venues. All were fine ambassadors of our bonnie wee county.

Architectural thought #1: Why have I left it so long to play Elie. What a plonker! Fifteen miles from home is the course which is THE very epitome of GCA values. Quirky, shortish, challenging greens, amazing rumpled fairways, dells, semi-redans, capes. JUST a wonderful education for the expert and the tyro alike.

Special thanks to Captains, Organisers, Hosts. GREAT job. Can't wait for Kent!

best,
FBD.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Peter's right, youse guys is killin' us. Whats the score, Wha's happnin'?

From the pre Buda weekend.

Andy Levett



The greatest burn EVER!!!!



Mark Bourgeois - doing what he does best.










'Slim' Mark Pearce

[Tony_Muldoon]

from the first post on this thread.

Q which Buda participant recently played golf for “Sweden. B”?

Should we insist he stays with his new nationality?   

Did he let on?  Was he rumbled?  Did you all call him "Sven W-"?

[Mark Pearce]

Architectural thought #1: Why have I left it so long to play Elie. What a plonker! Fifteen miles from home is the course which is THE very epitome of GCA values. Quirky, shortish, challenging greens, amazing rumpled fairways, dells, semi-redans, capes. JUST a wonderful education for the expert and the tyro alike.

Having played it so frequently on holiday I was concerned that, in some way, Elie wouldn't stand up to the test.  Of course I should never have doubted it.  Golf as it should be, more half par holes than you can shake a stick at, eight (I count) blind shots, greens running away from you and in all that some great shots and strategic questions to be asked.  A blast.

It was 16 years since I last played Lundin and I have to wonder why it hasd been so long.  The first four and last four holes are great holes and the highlight of the course but, 13 (and perhaps 12) aside the  Braid holes are also good holes and make for a great course, though in the 3 1/2 rounds we played there it played like 3 1/2 different courses as the wind swung round.

Cruden Bay as an appetiser was fantastic but in winds approaching 30 miles an hour the last 5 holes were more than enough challenge for me.

The highlight, though, of BUDA, as last year was the crack.  We may be bound together by an obscure, slightly odd interest but without exception the GCAers I've met have been a blast.

Finally, as Rich said at Wednesday lunchtime, BUDA may be once a year but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have many more smaller GCA get togethers this side of the pond.  In that spirit, how about a mini get together in North East England this Autumn to see how wrong the Confidential Guide got that region?  I'm thinking Seaton Carew, Brancepeth Castle and The Northumberland might make a good set of courses?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Still no rel news?  Let me put it this way, who will be defending the Buda cup next time?

Mark, had I been able to stay for the main event I was going to suggest a get together this September 19-20-21-22.   With the competitive elements being on the 20 and 21st, Sturday and Sunday?  Of course it’s a mere convenience that the Ryder Cup will be showing in the evenings. Count myself and a mate in, to arrive sometime Friday night, play sat, sun and mon with television each evening?  Your courses sound great. Anyone else?   

[Marty Bonnar]

Mark,
total agreement here with the minor quibble over the spelling of the word 'crack'.

Given the several other current meanings of the word  we Gaels have taken to using the Erse 'craic' , not the 'ersecrack', if you get my drift

Notwithstanding any of the above, a pleasure to meet you, sir. May it be the first of many's a happy/inebriated encounter!

FBD.

PS Tony, patience dear boy. Some of the chaps are still in transit. Bourgeois shall have his moment in the sun...

[Darren_Kilfara]

I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to properly socialise with everyone on Monday evening - my wife was glad that I got home in time to help put our kids to bed, but still! It was great catching up with some of you, though (and meeting FBD his ownself for the first time!)...sounds like it's been a good week. For my part, I really enjoyed playing Lundin Links for the first time on a great day in good scoring conditions, which I enjoyed taking advantage of! FWIW, I think Mark is a bit harsh on #13, which though an unusual hole and one not terribly similar with the rest of the course is a far a more effective and interesting "transition" hole than the likes of #9 at Cruden Bay, to pick one example of the type.

Cheers,
Darren

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