SO, DID you have a Bubba-esque start to your Fantasy Golf challenge, or did your team leave you without a prayer at the Masters, perhaps coming unstuck at Amen Corner? Worry not, you have another 20 tournaments to get it right, and if you do you might just be €15,000 the richer come the end of August.
That’s the prize for our winner this year, with €5,000 going to the runner-up and €2,000 to the third-placed manager. There are also rewards for our top three managers each month, fourballs at Moyvalley and New Forest Golf Clubs for first and second, respectively, with a €100 credit card for the Spawell driving range in Dublin going to third.
And if all that wasn’t generous enough, our weekly winners get a goodie bag of golf merchandise, including the most coveted prize of all: a Fantasy Golf polo shirt.
The not-so-good news is that there are just over 11,500 teams in the competition, so you have your work cut out to prevail – although, as the lottery slogan puts it, “it could be you”.
Veterans of our Fantasy Golf competitions will notice more than a few changes this time around, not least in our scoring system. This year, apart from the usual points awarded for making the cut and for final placings in tournaments, “best round” points are also up for grabs.
And tournaments are now “weighted” in to three categories – major events offer triple the usual points, the Players Championship, BMW PGA Championship and WGC Bridgestone Invitational get double, the rest the regular amount.
So, Bubba Watson won a very handsome 96 points for his managers in week one.
You can make unlimited team changes up to 12pm each Thursday, but you'll need the transfer password which will appear in Tuesday's The Irish Times and again in this section each Thursday (see below). You'll find all the information you need about the competition on our website ( irishtimes.com/fantasygolf).
Noel Connors, from Clane, Co Kildare, is the manager to catch after week one, Antislice winning him a mighty 336 points at the Masters, with four of the team finishing in the top five. He even had the luxury of not having to fret over who won the play-off, having hired both Watson and Louis Oosthuizen. Peter Hanson and Matt Kuchar, who tied for fifth, completed Noel’s rather dazzling start to the competition.
Next in our schedule is the RBC Heritage in South Carolina, the first of four category one tournaments in a row – so just the regular prize money is on offer. Good luck to you all between now and the end of August, may your points be many and your missed cuts few.
* This week’s transfer password is PORTRUSH
