Listener No 4369: Golf... By Xanthippe

[AHearer]

The grid fill was not as hard as I had expected, as spotting the treatment of the holes was a great help. I'm sure I'll have mucked up the last step, however, as i'm in the "good walk ruined" camp. I'm off to look for an app -- there must be an aid for golfers on the web somewhere that I can use as a check. Xanthippe must be congratulated for cramming so much thematic material into the clues: I'm sure there are solvers out there who will have enjoyed that more than I did. Fun, nevertheless.

[midgler]

I make it 11 puns to date - 12 if you count the original caddy. So: I won't lie, I did think you were looking a bit green, which of course explains why you were stymied and found it so hard to pin down the final links.

Now that we've reached the clubhouse, shall we have some cake with that tea? Would you prefer a wedge or a slice?

[logophile]

I'd like a cup cake please ;-)

[icynorth]

Now I've had a chance to collect my thoughts, some feedback. This is a fine puzzle. Maybe the matchplay scoring task diluted it a little - a shame, as the grid was (to be informal) genius. Thanks Xanthippe!

[the_heisman]

Great crossword
And that is definitely the best round of golf I have ever played!

[moffat]

We can now identify the course and the players ! Both played top-class golf from the same tees and no handicap strokes were conceded so we can conclude that this was a match played "level" between two category-one ladies over a course with a par of 68 off the ladies' tees comprising fourteen par-4s and four par-3s (the 5th, 8th, 14th and 17th holes). A course unusual in having no par-5s and, crucially, with its 18th hole running due west, which is very rare in course design (because of the setting sun). Not difficult for someone "in the game" to identify this course. Very few par-68 courses have more than two scratch lady players so we can just look up the online handicap list [on howdidido.co.uk] and identify our two high class lady players at this club. Where, it seems, the prevailing wind may be from the west as the EW average scores on the par-4s were much more than the average NS scores. Nice touch for the winner to clinch it with a birdie. Some consolation for the loser that she won the "bye". QED

[British_Olympics]

So ...... New Brighton pitch and putt then ?

[Cruncher]

I am being very dense about this scoring system and wonder if anyone can enlighten me without revealing too much information. I am assuming that the score represents the point at which one player is unassailably in the lead and the other player can't catch up, rather than the final score. I therefore assume that players would still play out all 18 holes even though one player was already the winner. Is that correct? So if, for example, one player was 5 holes up with 4 holes to play that would be the score given even though, if they won the remaining 4 holes, they would finish up 9 holes ahead with no holes left to play.

[olichant]

cruncher, that's my understanding (I could, of course, be wrong...)

[Cruncher]

Many thanks, Olichant. Weird system

[British_Olympics]

Hi Cruncher, in real life the remaining holes would not be played out, this being one of the main differences between match play and stroke play. More info here if you want: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_play

[perseverer]

I posted a similar question to Cruncher in the Sport section and one of the replies fits in with what moffat posted

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Sport/Question1452344.html

[moffat]

Further research suggests that the course was Royal Porthcawl GC (where the 1st hole does run due north, and the 18th does run due west). The match may have been the 2013 Final of the Welsh Ladies' Open between a Welsh Lady called E*** and a French lady called Estelle !

[AHearer]

Just returned to this thread after a spell away. I do apologise if my original post seemed to give away too much -- though I can't really see how it did. The title and the instructions made it pretty clear that the puzzle hinged on the game referred to in the quotation. I didn't give any details of the treatment of the holes. If there is a feeling, though, that I somehow let the cat out of the golfbag, then I am sorry.

[British_Olympics]

Not at all AHearer, absolutely no need to apologise of course !

[petefoxes]

A really excellent puzzle ... I'm (a week behind on Listeners) having a weekend in Devon and this has been a brilliant way to spend the evenings after all the walking and eating. Thematic material in abundance - well done and many thanks, Xanthippe.

Hinting at the quote was definitely a spoiler, though. Glad I twigged that independently before looking here as it made all the Hole clues much more straightforward.