Gutted......no hold that headline....Feckin Double Gutted!  Westy gets mugged (Ok Phil played brilliant) at the Masters and just to rub salt into the wound, James Morrison wins a week too late in the also-rans tournament in Europeshire.....magic!  Still I'm being very short with my memory and  a 700 quid return from Westy's brave effort (his time will come) is more than welcome and pushes this season's balance to £2100 to the good!

Playing very well at the Masters and catching my good eye was Mr Yang of the YE type.  He's playing in the far east this week in the China Open and I really fancy his chances.  My only concern would be the tiredness factor but to be honest if he plays like he did at Augusta there's only going to be one winner.  So it's £50 each way on Mr Yang.  You'll have noticed that the strategy of betting two guys each way every week has changed, I get that way when I'm on a winning streak..............pick one guy and go for it.....it's working so far!  Be lucky!

Friday 16 April 2010

Funny how when you've just come off a big win, niggling things like your 66/1 shot finishing just outside the places doesn't bother you too much.................aye that'll be right the bawbag! Even a final round 62 couldn't squeeze young Master Morrison into the places.........but easy come easy go.  Anyhoo the Masters is here!! And Lee Westwood is going to win!  It's his time! So no messing about this week it's a single bet and, because I'm feeling flush, it's £100 each way on Westwood so c'mon the Worksop Wonder!  Still £1600 to the good in case you're counting.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Well, well, well would you believe it?! A winner! £600 down turns into 1700 earth pounds to the good, feckin magic and god bless the Welsh! Maybe that's taking it too far........god bless Rhys Davies.....yeah that'll do, well done young man.  Feeling rather flush to say the least and ready to give the bookies another thrashing, I've got my eye on another youngster in the shape of James Morrison. With £50 each way at 66/1 the bookie will be kicking his wife and mother as well as the cat if he comes up with the goods!  Oh pleasant dreams!

Wednesday March 24 2010

With 50 quid each way thrown at Lee Westwood last week at Doral for a bit of an interest I am now a cool 600 earth pounds out of pocket........not good.....not even average........piss poor to be honest.  But as every punter out there knows, to give in is folly, the big win is just another week away.

To business then and a young Welshman has caught my eye with his current good form and I think he's a good shout for at least a place this week in Morocco.  Rhys Davies is the name and after his 3rd place finish in Malaysia (where Jaidee managed to chuck away a place with alarming ease cheers mate) we like the look of this youngster particularly as he seem able to hole crucial putts when it matters.  So with the kiss of death put on the lad, its straight in with £50 each way at a very healthy 35/1.....go on boyo.

Wednesday 17 March 2010

A bit of a lean time of it, would be a very, very diplomatic way of summarising my year to date.  Gave my pocket a well earned rest the last few of weeks including ducking the WGC at Dove Mountain which is a punters nightmare.........though, was particularly delighted to see Poults winning..........yeah you’re right, that’s the same Poults I had 100 quid each way on a couple of weeks ago in Qatar and he didn’t even have the decency to trouble the scorers over the weekend! Feckin Unbelievable!!

On this week to the Malaysian Open which hardly sets the heather alight with it’s usual all star cast. But as I was getting a bit stir crazy not having been to the bookies for a while the bets are on with £25 each way on Jaidee (who should win!!) and Horsey (who should be in running for a place)  - that folks is the theory anyway.

David Horsey is a guy strongly fancied by a gambling friend of mine, whose plan this year is to have a considerable bet on him every time he tees it up whether it’s The Open or The Outer Hebrides Classic!  Be interesting to see how that one works out, but I’ll certainly be joining him in cheering him on this week.

Sunday 28th February 2010

Well would you believe it? It's Saturday night again and my man is once more in the mix for Sunday.  Joint leader too and needless to say the nerves are jangling with anticipation.....again.

I'm comforting myself tonight with the thought that surely.......surely if you get yourself into this position often enough yer man is gonna come through at least now and again...... and my time is surely now. However, the quality of players around him for tomorrow's final round is fantastic.....so once again.....

Saturday 6th February 2010

Living in the real word, as I occasionally do, an each way return of £225 on young master Rory was not a bad result. "Oh what to do with it?" I pondered.......... but not for long........... £25 went in the clubhouse bar and £100 each way went on Poults in Qatar seemed like a great plan.  Well the £25 spent in the bar was certainly enjoyable......... as for Poults, well you know the guy on form? The guy with possibly Britain's best chance for a major? The guy with the steely determination to win? The guy on the Friday night flight from Doha to Heathrow?!! Unbelievable feckin unbelievable.

So it's back to square one for the Dubai Desert Clasic, actually back to square one minus £200 to be more precise, but an old favourite of mine - well not exactly old - has come to promenance in the shape of Alvaro Quiros. The big fella has played well recently and has good form in Dubai so it's a no brainer really £50 each way at 22/1 and we'll get this season rolling. That's the plan anyway.

Wednesday 3rd February 2010

It won't have escaped the attention of those of you who can count that we're two weeks into the golfing year and yours truly is 200 quid down and not exactly happy with his lot.  With that in mind, all the metaphorical eggs that were available to me have been heaped into one almighty basket this week.....or to be more precise it's boom or bust with fifty notes each way on young Rory McIlory at, what I thought, was more than decent odds of 14/1.

As I sit here writing this on Saturday night the good news is that McIlroy sits in 2nd spot just one shot behind, the bad news is that he shares that 2nd spot with Ian Poulter and their both behind Martin Kaymer! So a hard day's work ahead for my man to say the least........but please believe me when I tell you that chickens are not being counted here.......BUT it is nice to have a guy in the mix on a Sunday..... was beginning to forget what that felt like!!

All this excitment has made one quite tired, so I'm off now for some much needed beauty sleep and some pleasant dreams of a young Irishman winning his first tournament of the year..............and a certain punter bagging his first winner too........till next time.

Saturday 23rd January 2010

After 2 rounds at last week's African Open my man Sterne was sitting handily on the shoulder of the leaders and looking good for a weekend charge, something he is well known for, so the anticipation was high.  Of course he then proceeds to have a most bizarre (writers code for shit) round which opened up with a promising eagle but was followed by a barrage of pars and a couple of bogeys thrown in for good measure......magic.  Even a best-of-the-day 67 on the Sunday couldn't rescue the situation.  Needless to say my other big bet, big Uli, didn't trouble the scorers either.......feckin magic.  Just the dream start to the year I'd been hoping for....not.

But this week at the Joburg Open Sterne is going to be back bigger and better........you'd think?!  Sitting on the shoulder of the leader after two rounds and well known for - whahait a minute stop the bus - does this sound familiar?! You're damn right it does and once more that 'great weekend player' blows it again on the Saturday with another shit (writers code for bizarre) round that feels like a dagger through my heart - well my pocket to be more exact! My other shout, Edoardo Molinari, is as many off the pace as Sterne but without the highs and lows!

To say I'll be glad to see the back of South Africa is a slight understatement but in this game you have to keep your spirits up so it's on to the Desert Swing and hopefully a winner......or a place.......or at least somebody contending on the Sunday!!

Saturday 16th January 2010

Great to be back after an enforced lay off during which I’m sure I spewed my guts more times than you’d see at a bulimic conference......been a great start to the diet though!!

To be honest can’t say I’m sorry to have missed the first two events of the 2010 season because quite simply neither young Pablo nor Master Ramsay were on my radar - so some dough saved there for a change.....result! Last time, in between cursing my luck with near misses last year, I mentioned a plan....yes a plan. A plan more cunning than a cunning plan devised by Professor Cunning himself........well no, not really, it’s a simple plan. After years of chasing money on every conceivable tour - the Seniors, Japanese, Challenge and yes even the Ladies - what on earth was I thinking about?! - oh yes and even the odd dabble into the murky world of 3 ball betting - if there’s a quicker way to lose cash please don’t let me know about it!  How does the guy who played fantastic on Thursday get beaten by a shot (its always a shot) on the Friday by the guy who hacked round as if he was playing with borrowed clubs and a cricket bat as a putter the previous day?!

This year I’m concentrating my efforts on my favourite tour, the European Tour. I’m also going to keep a wee note of my profit and loss at the end of each month - which is as much for your entertainment as it is for my ego (depending on how things go you understand!).

My usual punt in any given week is usually £100; this can rise and fall depending on the previous week’s success or failure. Although nothing is set in stone, my bet will probably be two guys, one of which will be quite well fancied and one further down the betting offering a bit of value......please note when the one further down the betting wins a tournament, a week's holiday is to be expected due to slower recovery time from excess alcohol intake now that I’m getting on a bit.................only kidding, every effort will be made to keep the diary up to date on a weekly basis.

That all said onto the first tourney of the year.....not a great field for the Africa Open, could probably have qualified through the regionals myself!! (a slight exaggeration but you get the picture). Sticking to the previously mentioned format...the bets are on......and this week’s runners are £25 each way on Richard Sterne at 12s and the same on that other house hold name Ulrich Van Den Berg at 100/1.

Tune in next week for a run down on how it all went......till then cheers!

Wednesday 6th January 2010

It’s late November, wind and rain have started their annual four month battering of central Scotland, twenty-something males will be looking out their long sleeved shirts for Friday and Saturday night because "that’s the winter here noo", you have to be female or have some sort of medical condition to wear a jacket, you understand!  However my own thoughts are far away, yes, very far away indeed.

The 2010 European Tour kicks off in South Africa in a couple of weeks time and my head is full of new ideas, new plans, new tactics, new hope and yes new belief that this is the season the bookie is going to take a kicking so hard that it’ll be weeks before he can sit down for a shit.

The 2009 season lays strewn out behind me like the Scottish football team’s World Cup qualifying campaign - plenty of effort and passion but not enough wins to make the whole thing worthwhile.  For me it seems to be the close things that hurt most.  If your hard earned is on a couple of guys who just don’t perform as expected, well that’s the gamble but when you pick ‘the right guy’ and he still doesn’t win well that’s tough to take. 

Let me take you back to early April and the Estoril Open in sunny Portugal.  It was simply one of those weeks when I knew, YES knew that Gonzalo Fdez-Castano was going to win - his form was good, he liked the course and in an unspectacular field he was the man…...and so it proved…..until the back nine on Sunday afternoon when, despite playing great golf, he simply couldn’t buy a putt.  If he had holed half of the 6 footers that came his way he’d have won by 3 or 4 strokes!  It was incredible to watch - incredibly painful - considering the wedge that yours truly had on him.  Still never mind, he made it into a play off with a young Irishman looking for his maiden victory...surely...surely.  30 minutes later Michael Hoey’s first win on the big tour was a surprise to most people, well you could certainly have knocked me over with a feather!  Still, onwards and upwards eh, no point in dwelling on things, law of averages and all that, next time my man’s in a play off it’ll be happy days, where’s that bookie, oh yes bring it on.  No more pesky unknown young Irishmen coming from nowhere to ruin my day ........wait a minute, who’s burly frame is that heading this way?.......Shane Lowry ?!  Lightning doesn’t strike twice my arse!!

Fast forward to the middle of May and I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Robert Rock at 100/1 (it still makes me cry when I think about it) has shaken off all challengers in the Irish Open apart from some local upstart amateur showing off in front of his home crowd.  You know the kind of thing - drive into the bundai, hack it out to fairway, approach shot to 40 feet then can the putt, once yes, twice maybe, but four days worth?!  Someone’s taking the piss!!  It was lovely though to see mum and dad with tears in their eyes as their boy (who incidentally had done nothing before this tourney and has done nothing since) win his national title and subject my already fragile mind to yet more paranoia. Yes as they say in Ireland it was just feckin grand.
Wednesday 25th November 2009