Tweet Golf Cup - the countdown begins

According to the website, there are 200-odd days to go until the inaugural Tweet Golf Cup, an 18-hole, four-person-team Stableford competition to be played over the impressive and intimidating Dundonald Links golf course in Ayrshire. Having received the news that the entry of my team, Never Up Never In, had been accepted, I thought I would start the build-up and anticipation of what promises to be an exceptional day of golf.


The Team

This event will be played over 18 holes, in teams of four, with full handicap allowances. The best two scores per hole will contribute to the final team total - the team with the highest score wins the Tweet Golf Cup. This is the same format used for the Macmillan Longest Day challenge which I completed back in May 2011, so I have a good idea of what is required (and what to expect) in terms of a reasonable score.

Being keen to produce a respectable performance, it was essential that I could call upon the services of three highly skilled and competitive golfers, ready to grind the links into submission and stroll back down south with the trophy safe & secure. I quickly realised that this was going to be harder than I thought, so I ended up with Geoff & Ash - both of whom completed the Macmillan Longest Day with me - and my shy, retiring and far-from-recalcitrant, father-in-law Noel. I feel this will give us a good balance - two single-figure handicappers and two mid-teens will, I hope, provide a solid platform for an assault on the upper reaches of the leaderboard.

Alternatively, we will sink into the abyss of anonymity, left with little option but to slink back homeward, tae think again. Or something like that.

The Trip

Clearly, having overcome the initial hurdle of securing a pink slip from my beautiful, supportive and understanding wife, it would be rude to schlep all the way to Irvine to play one round of golf. Not to mention the fact that links golf isn't played that regularly in Bedfordshire, so some pre-competition practice the day before is definitely required.

The next question is where to play? Having (very) briefly flirted with the below travel option, we made the call that driving is going to be the most efficient and cost-effective method of getting up to Scotland, so we have a reasonable array of options in terms of where to break the journey and get 18 holes in.

Working on the assumption that my mate Scho (and/or his parents) are available on the Thursday, the plan is for us to make a call into Southport, the glamorous heart of the Golf Coast in England's North-West, and play at what is, in (not only) my opinion, the best golf course in the country, Royal Birkdale. This is a course that I have been lucky enough to play a number of times and I thought it would add an extra dash of class to the trip, not to mention providing the team with some much needed links golf preparation.

Of course, it would be great if the microclimate of Southport can provide us with a day like I had back in June 2011, as the photo shows, but just having the chance to play there is bonus enough.

Plan B, which is always necessary, is to travel a little further north on the Thursday and play either at St Annes Old Links or even at Silloth on Solway, the latter being considerably closer to our overnight stop in northern Cumbria.

We'll then be departing from the sprawling metropolis of Longtown at early-o'clock on the 24th to ensure we arrive at Dundonald with plenty of time for coffee, breakfast and an appropriate warm-up on the range and putting green.

As you may have gathered, I am looking forward to this trip immensely and I will post further updates and developments as they occur

I am the Part-Time Golfer