2011 Diary Dates

Make sure you check out the games & event section for updates on events in 2011.

10th/11th April - 2 day Golfshake event at De Vere Staverton Park, coinciding with the Masters

Event format TBC - http://www.golfshake.com/golf/view/5999/

19th/20th June - Golfshake North vs South, main event on the Monday 20th, coinciding with the US Open. Once again taking place at the Abbey

Team North - http://www.golfshake.com/golf/view/5997/

Team South - http://www.golfshake.com/golf/view/5998/

Be sure to check out the Gtour website for updates on the amateur golf tour we assist in running, for 2011. The exciting news soon to be announced that building on the success of the last 2 years the 2011 season will become 'Gtour The Race to Cyprus'

The games/events section lists the Golfshake events, Gtour events and all the other open events organised by fellow Golfshakers

http://www.golfshake.com/golf/search/

Darren,

I've registered my intrest for the 2 day event, I'm a DeVere member so get free golf at DeVere venues and wondered if that might be usable on that event.

I want to play in the GS Open and the N v S, so the 2 day event aswell may be a push with boss, but if it's not going to cost to much I could probably swing it.

It will be nice for the North team to win the trophy in some good weather.

I just hope everything goes well for me in 2011 as I've put my name down for the last two events and haven't been able to make them!  Maybe third time lucky.

Russ

Good point Matt.  However, you should smell the Southern softies after a round in their shell suits.

Tim

Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't it the Northerner's who invented the shell-suits, the Scousers practically live in them. As for the North beating the South at golf you need to do a lot of praying.    

sorry mr howard but the only way the south could win is

1 dave ley foots the bar bill on sunday night/ monday morning for the north team

2 the M42 is closed for the weekend

3 your hopes and prays are answered and we still have snow

Paul

I don't think a bit of snow will stop you playing, you practically live in it up north. But we all know the best golfers come from the South and i can just see you now biting your nails and worrying about your game...!!!

Well, Christopher, we do not have a good record in this event as we have only won this trophy once. We are 3-1 down. Our only win was when it was held in the South, but this will never happen again and with the country divided up to suit the North it will be even harder to win again, although we can live in hope.

They have some formidable players on their side and a tremendous strength in depth and that is why they seem to be able to get across the line in front.

I am personally unbeaten in this event having played in three and won all of them, thanks to my playing partners.

I am pleased they have altered the date as The Abbey last year was a quagmire and not a pleasant place to play a competition of this magnitude. If you suffer from first tee nerves then The Abbey is really going to get to you with the whole field on the first tee watching.intently and not holding back on the banter.

I am quite sure that you will thoroughlly enjoy the event though, Chris, win or lose.

Chris

" But we all know the best golfers come from the South"

That'll be Lee Westwood the southerner then would it.

I am only gutted that I am on holiday the week of the N V S or I would be there handing out another beating to a pair of southerners pretending to play golf!!!

Dave,

Without Bubba there I'll have to take them both on my own

Dave

I think you find Westwood comes from East Midlands not the North, and if you want to go down that route what about   Poulter / Casey / Rose / and Ross Fisher all Southerners. And on the subject of North v South, never count your chickens till they've hatched as the saying goes...!!! PS yes i know Rose was born in South Africa but from the age of 5 he was brought up in Putney..

Chris - I did not choose the route, it was your statement we all know the best golfers are from the South!

The best golfer (as ranked) is Lee Westwood, not from the South. For the purposes of the North South debate, it is my understanding that the Midlands are considered North. I would not be so pedantic to pick up on your error regarding Mr Rose.

I'm not counting chickens. If you had read the post you will note that I cannot attend.

Dave

My statement { all the best golfers come from the south ] was just a bit of banter to see if anyone took the bait. It seems someone did, hook line and sinker me old mate..!!  

Yes of course. How silly of me. 3 to 1 the North.

It's funny how every year the south give the same old banter & yet the result is always the same

Well, John, I seem to recall that you have won 3 matches at home but lost one away and it was after the away defeat, which was quite substantial, the North decided that they would always play in the North.

So Cambridgeshire is now classed as in the North. Amazing.

John, I'm sorry but I must correct you on one thing.  The North did not lose that game because it was played in the South, it was entirely the fault of their half-witted captain, whoever that idiot was.

Well said J.P.

Seems very strange that the North have to play on home turf all the time, to give them more of a chance of winning,{ maybe their scared of getting a whooping or maybe they don't like playing in hot weather.} Also maybe it should be called South versus the rest of England or  has the Norths boarders grown all of a sudden.......!!!!! Oh and John where would sport be without a bit of banter, it brings a bit of fun and lightheartedness to the game, as long as you don't bring it to the field of play.

Home turf, it's not as if we bring a mob of cheering fans as a 13th man so to speak.  The result would have been the same whatever the venue!

You have to place a border somewhere, I think the south must be thinking of poaching Midlanders to bolster their weak armoury.

We have the "where is the border" debate every year.  The border was set up for the very first event and has remained the same ever since.  For what it's worth, I agree that the border is in the wrong place.  If you split the country evenly, draw a line that follows the line of the M6 across the North of Birmingham and extend it to the East and West coasts.  That is an even split and sets up some great rivalries like Norwich vs Ipswich, Coventry vs Leicester and North Wales vs South Wales. 

The decision to move the border would lie with Darren, but even if it was moved there would always be people playing for the "wrong" side.  I now live in Gloucestershire but would only ever play for the North as I am a Yorkshireman.  Tim Hawkins is from Essex but lives in Derby; he plays for the North.  The truth is, it's not where you live or where the border lies, it's about what feel.  If you believe you should play for the North, play for the North.  If you believe you should play for the South, play for the South. 

One thing I will say is I belive that the North's domination is not down to borders or where the matches are played, it's down to picking the right partnerships against the right opponents.  The North have managed to get it right 3 times out of 4.  .  There are a lot of good players on both sides and I believe that if the captains get it right, their team will win.

Chris, you have now been playing long enough to realise that 4 ball better ball is really a lottery. It just depends on how well the pair can combine, i.e always one being in the hole. Last week myself and Darren A were third and last in scores yet beat our two opponents in matchplay.

Foursomes is the only true test, other than singles.

Perhaps this competition should be widened to three teams, North, South and the Midlands.

No matter how much you attempt to defend the current borders, they are just not fair, proven by the inability for the South to raise a team anyway. 

The match should also be decided on an exact amount of players from each side. We have no wish to be lent any players from the North as we all know what happened at Belton Woods.

I agree regarding four ball betterball John, that's why I made my comment about picking the right partnerships and the importance of the captain's decisions.  Adam and I combined well last year due to his consistant good play and my ability to pull a good hole out of the bag every now and then. 

I have never tried to defend the placement of the border and stand by my comment above about splitting the country in half across the line of the M6.  Trouble is, with people like me migrating across the border there will always be people playing for the "wrong" team

I agree with Chris, it won't matter where you place the borders, people will play where there loyalties are.

The only way you will ever get an even amount of players in each team is to set a maximum number allowed, but there your restricting the event.

If my memory serves me rightly the reason the South had to borrow players from the North was because some southern softies bottled it & dropped out at the last minute,

Tim Essex Boy Hawkins 

Are you one of those people that support a football team one year and when another team starts to do well you change to that one, and as for smelling those Southern softies in their shell suits well i suppose you should know being as you are one,  ps its people like you that you should never turn your back on...!!!   with all those knifes lying about.      

Christopher, what you will quickly learn on Golfshake, is that the majority of events are held well north of Watford, which means that us southerners are the ones doing the traveling and incurring the most costs.

When the N v S was held at Wokefield Park, Reading the North team was the one that became depleted as it was considered too far for them to travel. They want everything on their doorstep.

Would any of those from the North like any fish to go with all the chips on their shoulders ?

The North have been the better team more often than the South but you would never know it from the comments.

i can only speak for myself when i congratulate the North for their achievements and try to change the outcome this year.

Lets not turn Golf into Football with all the insults and abuse.

I believe that most people know where their alliances are. Regardless of  where they happen to currently live.

lets all have a drink together on the sunday night and enjoy making new friends.

OH B******S TO IT. COME ON THE SOUTH   !!!!!!!

I can't make it this year because of the change of date but, correct me if i'm wrong, isn't the event being held in Redditch?  That's hardly in the Northern heartlands is it?  A quick Google search puts Redditch just under 200 miles away from Plymouth with Dover being about 5 miles further (I'm guessing there won't be many of the South team travelling from further afield?)  Both of these are about 20 miles closer than Newcastle-upon-Tyne, while the Leeds area, where a fair few of the North team will travel from, is around 135 miles away.  I hardly think this represents a massive advantage for the North as the location is more or less central.

As Chris has already stated, the dividing line debate will always rumble on and there are some merits to some of the arguments for moving it.  I really can't see how descending to playground-like name calling about football teams helps anything though.  Unless it's a thinly-veiled attempt to poach the now Northern legend Mr Hawkins.  As has already been said, people sign-up for whichever team they feel best-aligned to.

Firstly i haven't got a problem if someone wants to turn their back on their roots, but when that person comes out with  {Quote, you should smell those Southern softies in their shell-suits} and he happens to come from Essex, i find that very strange. If i moved to the North i would still class myself as a Southerner and would therefore play for the South, i certainly would not come out with comments like the one Tim used. I know its only a bit of banter which i happen to like, but find it a bit strange when a Southerner says it about hes own....!!!!  but having said all that it doesnt really matter the most important thing is to enjoy the great game of golf and for the South to bring home the trophy.

Ah, Christopher, t'was not me who turned my back on Essex but more of Essex turning it's back on me.  As for where my loyalty lies, well we all have our reasons for alignment but you shouldn't judge until you know what they are.  The N v S is really just a ruse to get some real rivalry that is unique in my experience, but it's on the course and certainly doesn't extend to the bar before or after, even despite some of the questionable tactics employed by a certain Welsh 'southerner' to knobble our side last year.  Just to prove it I'll find you and buy you a drink at the event (pint or a half of shandy?).

PS - strangely enough I've been a supporter of Colchester Utd since about 1970, something you're lumbered with rather than choosing unfortunately.   I've also have a great affinity for Wycombe Wanderers as it happens.  But most definately not Saarfend or Ipswich.

Tim, IL take you up on your offer, and gladly buy you a consolation beer afterwards.{ only joking before all you Northerners get too upset}. However at this moment in time i cannot fully commit myself to the event as i am self-employed and wont know if i can take the time off until nearer the time. But believe me i will do all i can to be there, not to kick some Northern arses but to play in a competitive team at golf, which i thoroughly enjoy and haven't played in for a few years. Oh and to give and take some Banter, see you there hopefully.....!!!!           

Chris,

once you've attended a NvS, you'll quickly find that everyone takes anything said leading up to it with a pinch of salt.

I hope you've got one of those whisper shell suits that doesn't make a crisp packet noise when swinging!

Does this mean that I will be getting invites to play at Saunton with you, David?

What do you want to go and do that for David, just when I'm going to have to start doing regular trips to Southampton.  Typical.

John F

You crack me up............!!!!!!!!!!!!    

Quick update, final info going live very soon, hopefully tomorrow.  Lots already registered so will keep you in the loop and drop you a PM for the NvS and April.

Adam's just finishing of the matchplay league.