PDC International 2014

All hail the Chief! 102 stableford points for the best three rounds ensured the Chief took the PDC trophy again, this time single handed, with Craw, Jeff and Lord one point behind.

This year saw the return to Barnbougle - 36 holes at The Dunes on Thursday, followed by a wind swept 18 (plus another dozen or so for the brave) on Friday at Lost Farm, and a final 18 at Lost Farm on Saturday morning.

It's hard to go past the post-event summary from TC:

Digger - proved he is a champion, it may be a fluke if you win once, not if you do it twice.

Jeff - 14 greens in regulation, gets better with age like a good red from the Margaret.

Craw - what's better than 3 birdies in a row? Hole in one. Get that smile off your face Craw.

Ferg - who cares when your son's a future Australia cricket captain?

Ben - if he had a handicap twice as big it would be daylight second.

Doc - massive purple patch in round 5 with regulation birdie on 10 and several pars.

McGenius - moral support was missed on days 3 & 4.

Tim Y - great commentary, great swing, was peaking when it was time to go. Dark horse for 2015.

Wardy - started majestically with 35 and peppered the flag spasmodically the remaining time - all the time receiving calls and calmly averting crisis as they arose.

Tommy - was missed on day 1 but managed to battle injury to conjour many highlights. Big ticker.

Dave - a swing only Jim Furyk would love. Like Wardy started strongly. Good night Dave.

All of this took place under splendid sunny blue skies and temperatures in the high teens, even if the Friday morning zephyr grew to 50km/h by the afternoon. Superb! Meanwhile Brisbane went into lock-down as G20 was held in the CBD. Half the city left for either the Sunshine or Gold Coast and fried in the stinking heat, that climbed for 39 on Sunday.

PDC International 2011

The 2011 PDC International returned to the Apple Isle - to the wonderful Barnbougle Dunes and was extended to include the new Lost Farm layout. Opinions were split very evenly about which was the better or preferred course, although I suspect the Lost Farm may have just won an official vote.

As usual, what would seem to be the simple task of selecting players and match order and rules on night 1 turned into a 2 1/2 slog fest over several bottles of wine. But we got there in the end...

Team captains for the event were the old boys, Chief and John. Chief's team were designated blue shirts on day one and included Bellringer, Lord, Shirls, Coolsa, Doc. John's team were white shirts day one and included Craw, Jeff, Wardy, Schnapper and Tommy.

Day 1 at Lost Farm presented a terrific challenge, especially after the wind (40km/h?) hit the field from about the 13th hole onwards in round 1. In the morning on the par 3 6th I hit 6 iron, in the afternoon I hit 1 iron! Great fun.

Jeff donned the chef's outfit for Thursday night dinner and knocked up a terrific pasta feast, which was accompanied by local ales and superb wines.

Day 2 we returned to the familiar environs of Barnbougle Dunes. Conditions were brilliant - blue sky, sunshine and 18 degrees. And we had plenty of time to enjoy it - our afternoon round took 5 hrs 45 mins and the last group finished in the dark after 8.00 pm. All that sitting around waiting is probably the reason for the over representation of photos from the back 9!

The overall individual event winner was Shirls (by a lot), followed by Bellringer (I think), while Chief led the team victory.

Despite the carnage which both courses reaped on the field on Thursday and Friday, the hardy ones tackled Lost Farm again on Saturday morning, others had a long slow breakfast while Shirls, Bellringer and I took the local mailrun with Pete the pilot to Flinders Island and back. Brilliant stuff.

Well done to everyone involved in the organisation. Great company, great food and wine and superb golf courses. Stay tuned for updates about the 2012 venue!

Photos and various footage from the weekend are available HERE.

PS Favourite holes for me at Lost Farm were the short par 3 4th at the most westerly point of the course, the wonderful short 4 par 14th which play straight into the wind, and the tough par 4 16th. All magnificent. At Barnbougle the par 4 12th and 15th continue to offer a variety of options (although on the latter perhaps the designers didnt envisage players hitting 4 iron in from the 14th fairway!?) and are completely brilliant.