Career The Augusta Challenge: Ian Vs Foxy - 18th Hole Results

[samhardy]

Here are your odds @Foxy. 

Foxy not to lose a hole all round - 33/1

Ian not to lose a hole all round - 50/1

Course record to be broken - 11/2

[Ian]

Here I am to tee off on the first hole of what will hopefully be a nice and rewarding round of golf. If you’ve read the introduction then you’ll already know but for clarification purposes, the team I’ve chosen to manage on this journey is.

Liverpool Football Club

My beloved club and a top team on this years game so not a bad choice as I don’t think I’ve ever managed The Reds on any challenges before.

Here is a reminder of the challenge we both faced on the opening hole.

Spoiler

Hole 1 - Tea Olive (Par 4)

So you've picked your team and are ready to start on this mammoth journey. What? Tea Olive? Yes, every hole at Augusta is named after the flower or tree that grows on that particular hole. Anyway, it's a flower native to Asia and is a fairly tricky hole to start off with. A birdie is very much achievable however it may be wise to just accept the par for the first hole, keep your score at 0 and move on. After all, you don't want to be +1 after just the first hole.

Challenge - Buy an Asian GK and ensure he concedes as few league goals as possible. He must play every league game in full but youcan buy a backup in case he’s unavailable.

Birdie - 0-9 conceded

Par - 10-25 conceded

Bogey - 26-39 conceded

Double Bogey - 40+ conceded

So I needed to buy an Asian Goalkeeper and have him conceded as few league goals as possible.

The player I chose for this hole was.

Mathew Ryan

I was happy enough with Ryan as he’s a decent enough keeper but still a downgrade on Alisson so hopefully he won’t hinder us too much.

Transfers

I didn’t make as many transfers as you might expect as I was fairly confident in the current teams ability to keep it tight that I didn’t want to bring in too many new faces to upset the balance. Alisson was a tricky one as I’d have preferred to loan him out for the season but I couldn’t get an takers so he was offloaded for a decent fee. The bulk of my budget was spent on two Italian youngsters in Zaniolo and Chiesa who will hopefully develop into great players over the next few seasons.

League

I put my main focus on the league games and tried to get my best team out as often as possible and it paid off as whilst we didn’t score too many we only conceded four goals all season.

Other Competitions

The cup competitions don’t really matter in this challenge but here’s how we got on in them below.

Spoiler

Community Shield

We started the season well as we took the victory over Manchester City. We had a fairly decent team out and just about got the job done in the end.

Super Cup

I rotated a wee bit here and gave some of the younger lads a game with Zaniolo taking his chance well and grabbing himself a brace. Milner managed to get himself sent off but we still claimed the victory over Chelsea.

Club World Championship

We had trouble here as I maybe took my rotation a bit too far. In saying that I think the team I picked for the semi was still decent but we just couldn’t seem to convert our chances and required a penalty shootout to progress to the final.

Playing extra time in the semi final meant a lot of my boys were nowhere near fully fit for the final but I played a lot of them anyway as I wanted to keep my main boys fresh for the heavy domestic fixture schedule that was to follow. Anyway we struggled to score and Zaniolo getting himself sent off didn’t help but we got the job done after extra time.

League Cup

We rotated heavily in this competition but saw off Norwich, Chelsea and Middlesbrough to set up a final against Leeds. The way the fixtures were set meant I could field my strongest team but what a frustrating event this turned out to be as we just couldn’t find the net. You can see by the stats what I mean but we did finally score as substitute big Divock scored the winning goal in extra time.

FA Cup

We had trouble in the third round against Luton as we played out a horrible 0-0 draw at Kenilworth Road and only just won the replay at Anfield 1-0. We navigated our way through the later rounds and ended up in a final against Arsenal that we won 1-0. It was similar to the League Cup final in that we just couldn’t seem to score, there were shots flying all over the place before again big Divock found the net in the last minute.

European Cup

Bayer Leverkusen were our opponents in the final after we’d beaten some good team along the way including Barcelona and PSG. We were confident going into the match but an early goal for them soon put pay to that. We rallied in the second half with Salah equalising before substitute big Divock came good yet again in a big game and netted a brace of goals to win the club its seventh European Cup.

Manager

Spoiler

Fixtures

Spoiler

Tactic

This was my main tactic for the majority of league games and my preferred lineup.

Mathew Ryan

Here he is at the end of the season, he’s slightly improved and as you can see he played in all league games to confirm my score as a birdie.

Score

Hole 1 (Tea Olive): 3 shots (Birdie) -1

So that’s my first hole completed and next up we’ll see how @Foxy got on.

Thank you to @Foxy for the fantastic header graphic and thank you all for reading.

[FuddledFox]

Very well played and fully justifying being favourite for hole 1.

I will post how my round went either tomorrow or the weekend.

[Mr Tree]

savage, Ian - what a start, Foxy straight on the back foot

[Kanegan]

My god Ian. You are the defense king. No doubt about it. Let's see what Foxy cooks up.

[samhardy]

Hole 1 isn't meant to be that easy

[BatiGoal]

That's a great score, Ian. You're making Foxdog look like your caddy 🤭

[FuddledFox]

58 minutes ago, Mr Tree said:

Foxy straight on the back foot

13 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

You're making Foxdog look like your caddy 🤭

You guys amuse me.

Its not like I conceded nearly as many goals as Ian in just one game.

Spoiler

 

[Woody]

Nice 1st hole score Ian. Foxy has his work cut out for him already.

 

[Gunners Rishi]

Well played

[Nucleus]

Four goals!! 😯😯 yikes

[Ian]

Thank you all for the fine compliments on my first hole results. I’ve used Liverpool a lot for tests and such and this year whilst testing goalscoring tactics I found myself keeping clean sheets left, right and centre so always fancied this hole. I’m not so confident on some of the later holes though I have to say 😂

[FuddledFox]

So after @Ian hit a monster drive, chipped onto the green and then sunk a simple putt yesterday it is my turn to try and not be behind after the first hole.

As I’m sure is clear now I will be managing Manchester City in this challenge.

Asian GK

I decided that I would go for the Philippine number 1 Neil Etheridge between the sticks as he looks a quality keeper at least at the essentials of the game if not with the ball at his feet.

 

Transfers

Manchester City don’t have the biggest squad around and there CB’s aren’t the best so I brought in two more in the shape of Tah and McKenna along with Diawara as a versatile CM and Bailey to play as an IF.

 

The only first teamers to leave were David Silva and Bravo as Otamendi and Stones left at the end of the season.

Spoiler

Tactic and Preferred XI

I wanted to strike a balance between attack and defence so went with a classic 433. Obviously I needed clean sheets but it wasn’t much good if we didn’t win games as well because I would face the sack and this is a very reliable and strong shape.

 

The Season 

All this was very well but what actually happened is more important especially as I was aware from the start that this could be a strong challenge for Ian.

It was a promising start as we only conceded 1 goal in our opening 10 games of the season. This would do very nicely if we can keep this record up for another 28 games.

 

The next checkpoint was in mid March and although the defence is getting a little more leaky we have still only conceded 4 goals in the 28 matches played.

This was where it suddenly started to get interesting....

Spoiler

Just two games later we travelled to the Emirates to take on the Arse and lost our first game of the season conceding 3 goals in the process.

 

That meant we had now conceded 7 goals and we could only afford to concede 2 more and still get a birdie.

What looked a good position on the fairway was now shaping up to be a tricky putt.

It got harder a few games later.

 

So now we can only afford to concede one more goal otherwise we are looking at a par.

Of course at this point I have no idea how Ian has done and a par might be enough to tie the hole but from the position I was in it would be gutting to lose a birdie chance so early in the round.

Our final two games were quite favourable.

With this game though it is easy to concede silly last minute goals and clearly having won the league just before the Arsenal game the players seemed to have lost some focus.

The temptation is to over think it and make changes but I stuck to the game plan and endured two very nervous matches. The Leicester game was the biggest as that could have gone either way and just one goal conceded would have put tons more pressure onto the Palace game.

We got the job done in the end though.

Not a convincing putt in the end after putting myself in a good position but a birdie none the less.

Foxy Hole 1: Birdie -1

Any Other Business

Spoiler

Competitions 

We had a clean sweep of trophies which is perfect as that gives me maximum games in the next challenge.

Player Stats

Manager Profile

I actually conceded more goals in cup games but then I played a lot of 2nd string players in those games and I also let the handbrake off a bit more as well and didn’t shut up shop towards the end of games.

Hole 2 Preview

The 2nd hole is Pink Dogwood and this is what challenge faces us.

Spoiler

 

Challenge - Buy a striker from a club that wears pink (away strips count but not 3rd kits). In the first season, your striker must score as many as possible in all comps. The first season total enables what you can aim for in season 2 (example - 60 goals in season 1 means you will earn birdie if you beat it in season 2). Failure to beat your season 1 target will result in a double bogey.

Eagle - 90+ scored

Birdie - 60-89 scored

Par - 40-59 scored

Bogey - 30-39 scored

Double Bogey - Under 30 scored

 

Thank you for reading and most comments are appreciated.

[broodje kip]

Congrats to both @Ian and @Foxy with those nuts scores

[Ian]

Great season but I was hoping you’d miss that all important putt for the birdie. Well done though and a nice opening hole from us both 👍

So that’s the shithousery over with and now we go for goals.

[samhardy]

A share of the spoils isn't a massive surprise to start but rumour has it the course designer is absolutely fuming at how Hole 1 was eaten for breakfast.

[BatiGoal]

Well done Fox, excellent score as well. Very tight affair here probably till the very end. 

[Kanegan]

Massive followup attempt to Ian's score and got a birdie as well. Well done @Foxy

Edited November 29, 2019 by Kanegan

[FuddledFox]

19 hours ago, Ian said:

So that’s the shithousery over with and now we go for goals.

No shithousery from me just tactics so maybe that’s why I conceded double the goals you did 😉

19 hours ago, samhardy said:

A share of the spoils isn't a massive surprise to start but rumour has it the course designer is absolutely fuming at how Hole 1 was eaten for breakfast.

I’m sure the course designer has a few traps waiting for us to fall in so I’m sure he will have a smile on his face at some point.

@Lord Danish @BatiGoal @Kanegan

Thanks for the comments. I was pleased to scrape a birdie in the end after a few scares along the way.

[samhardy]

The vibe bookies return.

No change to the overall odds after a tightly contested first hole. Ian might have hoped to get an early advantage playing to one of his strengths but Foxy knuckled down and got a share of the spoils. It's as we were before the start heading down the second though.

Overall Win

@Foxy - 4/6

@Ian - 6/5

Things might open up down the second hole though as it's all about putting the ball into the back of the net, something which both managers have experience of doing. It should be another close one and there's a bit of luck involved but there's certainly more chance of a winner on this hole than the first one with all the variables and Foxy is slight favourite to get the favourable outcome. I don't think any of the three outcomes here would be a very big surprise though.

Hole 2 Result (Pink Dogwood)

@Foxy - 7/5

Hole Halved - 9/4

@Ian - 19/10

[Seth Anacondas]

Some watertight defences there. It's a shame Palermo liquidated; they would have been great for Hole 2.

[FuddledFox]

 

It is all square after hole 1 as myself and @Ian both scored birdies to get our rounds off to a good start. Next up is a long par 5 which will involve us playing 2 seasons in order to post a score.

The Challenge

We needed to sign a striker from a team that plays in a pink kit (either home or away) and set a goal total in season 1 and then beat it in season 2 of the challenge. The season 1 total dictates what score we are going for in season 2 so a 90 goal season would mean we can aim for an Eagle, 60 goals and it’s a birdie we are after and between 59-40 is a par. Anything below that and we are in bogey territory and if we don’t beat our season 1 total then it is automatically a double bogey.

Club and Player Choice

In previous years there would have been a few clubs to pick a player from.

As @Seth Anacondas correctly pointed out Palermo and Evian have gone bust and aren’t in the game, Juventus don’t have a pink away shirt this year and neither do some other teams that have had pink away shirts the last few years.

My searching found one club but there is always this doubt in your mind when doing a H2H that my competitor may have found someone better.

Leicester City have a pink away shirt this year so that was where I looked for a striker.

The obvious striker to go for would be Vardy but he is 33/34 now and over two seasons he isn’t going to get any better and probably more likely worse.

My pick was a player who’s name I spell differently every time so he will go by the name Nacho during this write up.

His moment and pace aren’t the best but they will hopefully improve and his shooting and aerial look positive already so I have high hopes for this lad.

Season 1

This is a challenge of risk and reward.

Do I go all out for 90 goals and then have a big target next season to aim for and one that I could miss if he gets an injury or do I aim for 60 and take a -1?

I decided to see how he went in the first few games of the season and if he was scoring at around 2 GpG then an Eagle could well be a possibility even if it meant a nervous 2nd season hoping for no injuries.

Nacho himself made the decision for me as he never hit the heights I hoped for early in the season and was only scoring at slightly above 1 GpG the whole way through. This put a lot of pressure on us to make sure we got as far in all competitions as we could so that he would at least hit the 60 goals which is where I would stop as he wouldn’t need more than that.

Getting knocked out in the League Cup Quarters instantly gave me at least 2 less games and possibly 3 although it did help in terms of keeping player fit.

 

In the end I hit the 60 goals and then Nacho got one more just in case. His GpG rate did go up towards the end of the season as he improved as well which bodes well for season 2.

Season 1 Round Up

Spoiler

Transfers

The league cup was the only trophy we missed out on.

Final player stats.

Season 2

So I must hit 62 goals with Nacho in order to get a birdie otherwise it will be a dreaded double bogey on a +2 on my scorecard.

I was relatively confident although at times last season Nacho did make hard work of it and of course an injury can just destroy this challenge in an instant. The good news was that Nacho has improved so he should do better.

One big annoyance was that he was on International duty through the whole of the new World Club Championship which means he missed three games that he could have got a good head start to the season in.

Last season he scored at a GpG rate of 1.10 which isn’t going to threaten any 1kc totals. My hope was that this season he would be much improved and get the total knocked off with out much trouble.

In the end he did improve but not by much as he scored at 1.14 GpG and scored 65 goals in 57 games.

This is enough to post a birdie score on hole 2.

Season 2 Round Up

Spoiler

Transfers.

 

We lost two penalty shootouts during the season and both to Man Utd which was a shitter, an unbeaten season in the league was good though.

Player Stats.

I now just have to wait and see if Ian has faired any better and won the hole with an eagle which wouldn’t surprise me. I was quite disappointed with Nacho as he made harder work of this than he really should especially as he seems to love missing penalties.

This does put me at a healthy -2 for my round after two holes though so a positive start to my own personal leaderboard score.

[broodje kip]

That’s a good score and very nice to see Iheanacho to play for Man City again

[Ian]

A couple of good seasons and another nice birdie. Good going!

I don’t suppose it’s going to come as much of a shock when I reveal my player choice 😂

[Kanegan]

Great birdie there Foxy. Expecting Ian to do the same. 

[Gunners Rishi]

Brilliant 

added 0 minutes later

Brilliant 

added 0 minutes later

Brilliant 

[Titjes]

Doing great @Foxy, KIU  

[samhardy]

Not a bad effort but you have to feel the door could be open for @Ian 🤔

[Kun Aguero]

Great result, didn't knew that Iheanacho is still so good in the game

[FuddledFox]

Thanks for all the comments 

47 minutes ago, samhardy said:

Not a bad effort but you have to feel the door could be open for @Ian 🤔

I think you are right.