GCAT

[Medicaptain]

If you know what this means...lets get this forum rolling

Playing in my first GCAT (Golf Channel Am. Tour)event this weekend. ASU Karsten Nov 2.

Anybody else playing in it?

[teejaywhy]

Not a member, but good luck!

[Bomb and Gouge]

Good luck!

 

I played in about 20 GCAT events and they're a lot of fun.

[Medicaptain]

I am in the Championship Flight (3.7 HDCP) and I am sure I will shoot a big number....but over time I am hoping to really bring some heat to the flight....I plan on posting my experience as much as possible....I have NO idea what to expect....

[Bomb and Gouge]

...I have NO idea what to expect....

 

Expect a 5 hour + round of golf.

 

 

:russian_roulette:

[Medicaptain]

Hope not...we are the second group out....WTF is up with 5 plus rounds...just inexcusable

 

I will need an intervention if we get to 445

[Medicaptain]

Great tournament...well run....worth the money...

 

I played like shiznit.....I played bad and the golf gods were NOT on my side...in fact I think they were laughing at me...

 

It was SO bad....one of the players in my group had a girlfriend walking with us...and said "I have never seen anyone get such bad lies and bad breaks in a row like you have today"......enuf said...

 

I will be back!

[teejaywhy]

I was checking out the GCAT and GCATPHX websites, looks pretty interesting.

 

They say they are quite strict about enforcing the "pace of play." ;)

 

Of interest to me would be the tournaments at the private courses, Royal Dunes and Anthem, although there was an article in Thursday's EV Trib that Royal Dunes has been foreclosed upon and there is some speculation that it may become a public course.

 

QUESTION - do I understand it right - you are flighted by handicap but then play gross within the flight?

[ricar1610]

I played in Sunday's event too. I have played on the tour for 3 years now and it is fun. I have met a lot of great people and the rounds are normally about 4.5 hours - it is slow at times but it has not been too bad. The tour is well run and competitive. Playing at scratch in your flight takes away a lot of the sandbagging problems. It is amazing how different my regular handicap is compared to my tourney handicap - the tourney cap is about 3-4 strokes higher - definitely a different game when you play for something!!! All in all a good tour played on nice golf courses. The next two are at Trilogy Vistancia and Ocotillo - hard to beat those 2 courses.

[Medicaptain]

I agree....What the heck is up with competitive golf swingitis?...

 

I have never understood myself in this regard.....I have a stressful job and at times..unbeleivable so (Firefighter/Paramedic>Captain>Chief)...what's funny is I am always the ROCK on bad incidents...calm...cool...making the decision and performing the care for the sick and injured...never been nervous doing it...scared shiteless a few times

 

"Now on the next tee is......".........gulp......big nasty weak high cut off the tee.....

 

Whatever....I am glad I got the first round out of the way....great group of players and I am really looking forward to competing....I have not shot over 80 in three years but I could have told ya tuesday when I signed up I would shoot a big number...LOL

 

See ya at Vistancia!....im glad they finally got their greens back to shape

[Medicaptain]

Second event....What a great day except for pace of play...but still overall a GREAT outing. I had a fantastic front nine..(one under) and I left 3 strokes on the course easily...but it felt good to have a good solid ball striking and putting nine holes...Now the back?...we wont talk about the back...lets just say I had a half of a win....LOL

 

Regarding pace of play, we all did the best we could since we tee'd off so late behind everyone else...there was an immediate hang up for the first three holes...we really thought we were in for a 6 plus hour round...instead it picked up and we finished in 5.50....ouch....it made for a long day...but I didnt see anything that we could have changed very much.....

 

If your considering playing and dont want to commit to a full membership...let me know..I will bring you out as a guest and you can see what it is like....

[TMfan54]

where are these tournaments held? any in nj? and how much to play as a guest?

[Golfingbanker]

I signed up for this last year in Memphis. I paid the $200 signup fee and never got to play. They held about 4 tournaments and then the local tourney director gave up. I was busy trying to re-establish my official index in order to play.

 

I hope we have a better director this year.

[Medicaptain]

ours here in Phoenix are VERY well organized...19 events this year. I heard today that Royal Dunes is now open the the public. A few guys have played it lately....

 

They were trying to be as strict as they could today for pace of play....sometimes...it just doesnt work out..but I KNOW they did everything they could to pick it up and it ebb'd and flowed pretty well after the initial back up.

[malasuerte]

Ocotillo Sunday.....It will be in great condition...hope its not cart path only.

 

Home course, I won last year, so I want to do it again! This is my last tourney until March as I am going for shoulder surgery which will keep me out of the next 3-4 tournies.

 

We have a solid schedule laid out for the 09 season...so i am pumped....2 good regionals, great 2nd half lined up.

[Medicaptain]

Awesome...introduce yourself to me Sunday...I am the hack/stress case/yipper with the 2k clubs in a RED Cleveland stand bag.....LOL..see ya then

[Lumpy_22]

Have fun boys, played in the GCAT this year and qualified for Nationals in Florida this past October, was an awesome trip and experience... made the cut with a semi solid second round... don't ask about day 4...lol

 

By far I have enjoyed my experience with GCAT, we only get 7 events or so in our 6 month season, but most of the guys are pretty good, and the competition in good.

 

Funny how how our competetive handicap is 4 strokes higher...lol I knew I wasn't the only one....lmao

 

Good luck, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Medicaptain]

Four strokes higher?

 

I have not personally been above 78 in two years(honest)........and my first round was an 84....

 

Second round I was under par for the front...and did not even PAR a hole on the back...I missed 5 or 6 par putts by lipping them out.....I laughed but was SICK inside...

 

All in fun...and all in due time...juss gotta feel the nerves again...god I love that.

[Lumpy_22]

Nothing better than playing with pressure... learn to love it, and you'll enjoy it...

 

Wish we had more opportunities to get the nerves...

 

Funny though, I can play under 80 75% of the time. I've only put 1 round under 80 in the GCAT and that was a 77 at the Nationals on Palm that should have been 71 if I could putt... seriously 37 putts ..... ouch!

[MBurritt]

How was the Winnipeg tour this past year...I play on the Halifax tour. Had about 13 events I think, great tour directors, and the courses we played we awesome.

 

Only issue was getting guys out, but hey when it's brand new what can ya do

[Lumpy_22]

The Winnipeg tour is good. The two guys that run the show are solid people, so that's a bonus. Most of the guys are pretty good to play with..

 

We have the same issues with players.. the championship flight rarely has more than 3 if ever, most of the time only 2 or less, The Palmer is pretty stacked with 8 to 10, and the Hogan is around the same..

 

Getting guys out consistently is the issue. The target is 60, we get that sometimes, but I would say the same 25 guys are out most tournaments. I've told more people than I could count, people say yeah I'd love to, never show, return calls, or register ... so that's frustating

 

It's really good environment. Our amateur event has a qualifier and we get roughly 150 people trying to qualify. Add that to the 40 or so that are exempt from the previous year and that's almost 200 players that we could draw from. Out of that 200, I would say only 10 have ever played in an event with me being one of them along with a guy I usually play with on the GCAT.

 

In Manitoba for players not belonging to a club, there's a tournament called the municipal that's run by the three city courses in conjunction with each other. Each has a field of 144 and they get about 250 or so between the 3 courses. It's a 2 day event that's run really well and is very cost efficient complared to most. Of those 250 only maybe 40 play or qualify for the amateur. so there's another 200 players available..

 

Not sure about Halifax, but most Manitobans are 'thifty' so maybe the costs keeps them away. But with skins you can get some of your money back even if you never win place or show.

 

All in all it's a good experience. You get level competition, no sandbagging for the most part, meet new people, and get better at competition. What else could you ask for...

[MBurritt]

I wish we could get 60. For some reason I think a lot of the Halifax members are "thrifty" as well, or maybe don't see the idea of real competition in the tournaments.

 

I would've love to have gone to Nationals this year, my tour director came in 7th overall. Maybe this coming year we'll get a bunch more guys to come out, but I doubt it. Probably be the same crew that played the tournaments this past year.

 

Hey Lumpy, what do you think about the new GCAT website?? I don't know if I like it as much as last years.

[Medicaptain]

its official...I SUCK at tourney golf.

 

7 pars and two doubles on the front....freakin shoot me. Back was similar.

 

I will just keep tryin to play my normal game.......I am a better golfer than this...What the ?

[malasuerte]

Could not adjust to the cold the second 9 and came up short almost every shot. Got some miserable breaks(hit a sprinkler in the fairway and ricocheted into the water and another off the cart path into the water).

 

No breaks, poor adjustments and no capitalizing on my good shots(hit the flag 3 times but missed the putts) led to a poor round.

 

But the course was just about the finest I have ever seen it.

[Medicaptain]

It wasnt cold....it was FREAKIN FREEZING!

 

I swear it was two clubs shorter all day.....as far as breaks...all my bad breaks occured on the greens...I just couldnt read em.....but YES...that is a VERY fine course

[Medicaptain]

UPDATE-

 

the GCAT played Lone Tree today...course was in decent condition. I had never played nor seen the course before. Greens rolled great..didnt look great but all putts rolled where they were supposed to. Fairways and tee boxes were in good condition.

 

I hit 13/14 Fairways. 14/18 greens with 36....yes...36 putts for a 77.........I noted some progress personally...nobody in our group had more than a bogey...NO doubles were had by anyone...some GREAT up and downs....(I just didnt have any)

 

Winner was a 72...Ho hum.....at least I finally broke 80...geez...I have a legit 2.7 HDCP and havent had much success in my return to tournament playing......I guess baby steps back in the game....I started with a three putt on the first hole from 15 feet....figured it was gonna be a BAD day.....I had one more but it was a complete "circus" putt on #3 so I dont feel too bad...just didnt get many breaks....

 

Great group....I had a lot of fun playing with two guys I have played with before and a new guy...we had fun...a few laughs and we continually encouraged each other....

 

For a course that should have cost under $50...and we paid $125...it was well worth it to feel just a lil pressure and play with some great guys.

 

Hopefully we will see some good turnout soon with a new Tourney Director.....but alas...we have no control.

[golfingnut300]

I got a few ?'s. What do you get if you win your flight? How do you qualify for the nationals? Why is there a point system?

 

I am thinking of joining but $199 membership and $125 per tournament is a little steep. Especially since you cant win any money.

[Medicaptain]

You really need to dive in to where your local tourneys are played...I would suggest giving the tour director a call or email to find out these details.

 

We HAD a GREAT tour director and he recently left...unfortunately....the new one really seems to be trying and in time he will make it what it once was...hopefully.

 

I think the courses on the schedule and the TD really make the difference

[Lumpy_22]

The money is based on the number of entrants in your flight....

 

Prize breakdown for a 8 player flight works out to roughly $100 - 1st, $40 -2nd, 20 -3rd give r take a penny or two.

 

Qualification for the Nationals, is done by either of two ways......

1) Win either major (mid season or finale)

or

2) Win you flight points race. Points are accummulated over every event for every placing.

 

So you can win some money, but to be honest if money is what your after go pro..... There are skins game challenges that usually pot a afir amount of money. Based on flights, usually the first three flights are together, as well as the last three flights. You can shoot 110 and make 1 birdie on the right hole and walk away with $50 to $100 depending on how many birdies are involved..

 

I played the Winnipeg tour last season. The guys running the show, John and Jason worked hard and it was fun. I won an event ,being a Major (2 day), so I qualified for Nationals. I played in Florida, had a great time, made the final cut and placed 22nd out of 136 in my flight. I played bad by my standards, but it was an amazing experience. Met some great guys from St. Louis and Texas... had fun, that's what it's about.... not money, or trophies. I challenge myself against the course, and most days the course wins.... but every so often, she throws you a bone....

 

I would reccommned you try it first, but I'm in again this year...

 

Amateurs CAN win money, but are limited to $750 per event. I could live on $750, but the pro tours don't pay that $750 I imagine. Also, you win a hole in one car or cash, and you are still an amateur... they changed that some years ago.... you had 20 handicaps claiming they were pro.... lmao