Blimey was November that long ago?
Anyway FINALLY had the bandwidth and time at work to tell the full story of DPWTC last year.
Going to be a busy few weeks but here you go - something to help with insomnia/make a change of MoPe must go posts
https://roadtotherydercup.com/2018/01/16/the-day-the-world-changed-dpwtc-2017-review/
Well what th fuck happened did we win or not ?
Donāt worry. You will be getting LIVE updates during the actual event.
In September
(Hopefully the 3rd rate developer will have found an easier way to copy & paste a pic direct from a mobile phone gallery onto here by then - and no I aināt going to have time to do the whole upload it here copy it there thing while Iām posing for the TV cameras)
For now all you need to know is I get a trip back to EU next month for ātrainingā and to play golf on the actual course.
Which has kinda dumped me in the shit as I fly overnight 13th/14th Feb - so I aināt in town on Valentines Day - which is the 10th anniversary of me & Mrs D_Pās first dateā¦
#doghouse
Oh FFS.
So next week is the Desert Classic.
For decades we had a legend - Bernard Dowling doing the protocol / Marshaling on the first Tee.
His retirement ast year was āa big storyā
Now that weāve gone all showbusiness, guess who has replaced him.
And, seriously, guess who has been appointed to ālook after herā next week. No friction AT ALL at home about this task, no siree.
See Golf CAN have itās moments.
Our new āStarterā
Page Spiranac
48,000 people entered a global competition to play a round with her, Rory and Nial One Direction Horan.
35% were under 25 females, 47% were under 35 year old males.
Itās tough at the top of Elite Sport
No no no no no noā¦that is not even an innuendo FFS. 
Oh the humiliation.
Was about to selfie with another Marshal and got photobombed.
Actually heās a good lad had a fun but weird day being Digital Media Content Producers instead of volunteers at Golf. Think Iām all over some chicksā instagram ho hum
Jokes apart today was fun and a major step in the new era. Tomorrow I am working with a dream team - Henrik, Rory and Sergio. #elitesport doesnāt get tougher than this
Actually a great weekend. Got really exciting (for golf) and huge crowds.
I have super hero status with the family in Poland having got Niall to sign a with love to xxx for my Niece.
Most epic moment?
Spectator laying flat on his back I go up some people around him and ask the "do you require medical attention lineā¦
No.
He had actually simply walked into a tree. How do these people get on a plane to get here?
But jeez the woris is so full of snowflakes.
Excuse me sir say I donāt tell me what to do is the reply. Boof set of golf clubs hit him in the lower abdomen.
Both were pmsl moments and horrors for the dumfvcks
Meanwhile
I must admit I did enjoy that final round, was good stuff, nice to see Rory nearly back to his best.
And he managed to drop an F-bomb on the live coverage on Saturday too.
FFS.
So the original purpose of my trip back was to attend training for Ryder Cup, have a biz meeting with the guys about Mobile & Cloud Apps and see Mum, landing Wednesday morning to annoy Mrs D_P by dumping her on Valentines Day (gotta keep 'em on their toes)
We also were supposed to get a free round of golf at the venue for familiarisation.
Now I had to pull that forward due to work meetings in London.
And discover the current state of the course Iām supposed to play in Parisā¦
Orange balls
Suffering from Insomnia AG?
Posting on the Whoās still awake thread?
Well, this should cure it for you. The last instalment of āTournament Golfā before the real business begins next week in Paris.
Pop Stars, Pin Ups & Social Media.
Oh and a couple of mentions of golf as well.
Well that was one helluva day.
Senior Marshal training at Le Golf National. Some pics and some facts and figures.
1st up what a stunningly beautiful golf course it is. And when even someone as wonky as me has to thiink about what club to take off a tee (mainly 3 Wood) it tells me it is a course that wonāt suit the big boomers in September.
So I arrived Friday night, checked in to the Novotel that is right behind the 18th green. Typical French managed property - about 2 people working there, travelodge style rooms half with a view half looking at a car park. Luckily I had stopped in Guyancourt and sticked up on booze & munchies).
Saturday we met up had breakfast then into a lecture hall (which will be the main Security/Police station in September) a video from Thomas Bjorn and a panel including the girls who communicate with us, Course Manager big wigs and stuff from French Golf Federation and even top brass from the European Tour (David Garland - Tournament Director).
Lots of stuff was covered but
September
51,000 spectators EACH DAY (Note on days 1&2 there are only 4 matches on course at any one time - so 10,000 + per GAME).
7,500 staff working on site and 1,350 volunteers.
The course is +25 years old so they have refurbished it 7mil euro spent on 8km of new drainage systems, 45 bunkers have been rebuilt.
There will be 14 Grandstands seating over 10,000 people. 15 of the biggest outdoor TV screens ever used at an event.
8,000 Corporate Hospitality tickets (at around 5k euros a day average each ticket)
There will be a stunning ampitheatre on 1st Tee/18th Green with a 6,000 seat Grandstand. 2,200 seats for which have already been pre-sold/reserved.
40% of all tickets sold were to French Nationals, 6,000 people are coming from the USA.
On my side?
Over 1,000 Journalists are accredited - they will be managed by 80 Media Marshals. All volunteers work 1 basic 6 hour shift, so morning or afternoon with a group in my case
There are Meet & Greet teams at the railway stations, park & ride etc - met one of them - retired guy who volunteers for everything like this - hates sport - just enjoys being an anorak I guess.
Grandstand Marshals who will rotate between seeing nothing by managing access and numbers through to standing in the stand itself. Everyone then watches the golf when not on shift.
It goes without saying that security will be solid - lots of layers - and Airport Security was used in Gleneagles so can expect something very similar.
There is no vehicle access to the course, public Park & Rides start 20km from the venue. We have a volunteer park & ride 2km away which iI planned for wwhen booking mydigs for the week.
An insane amount of work has gone into the planning already - obviously the locations of TV Towers/Studios and even the route that Media & families have to walk around the course.
So after ALL of that we were off out onto the course to play a tournament - Greensomes format. I havenāt hit a golf ball since last June and played like a drain BUT we didnāt come last! I actually smashed some stonking drives on 18th and 12th and (eventually holed some putts!
But what a golf course. It was absolutely beautiful. The way they have created it in a āLinks styleā means that almost every hole has ābankingā that can take the huge crowds. It is a BIG course to walk and in a lot of cases there is a long walk from green to next tee which will be hard work when we have some 200+ people inside the ropes with the golfers.
It will look amazing on TV in September. I know I wonāt play on a course as good as that ever again - could never afford it!
Oh and I only lost 5 golf balls which was a LOT less than most people on the course!!
One of the Par 3ās showing how well suited they are for spectators
The āiconicā ācombinedā 15th & 18th greens. For us the 18th was a par 5 for the Ryder Cup it will be Par 4. I smashed a stonking drive, partner laid it up perfectly, and I chunked it into the lake. Ho humā¦
After the prize giving we had a nice 3 course dinner, beers wine beers and I staggered to bed about midnight with a 5am alarm to pack and get to the airport.
Bleagh.
And no Iām not in any of the pictures 
So I take it youāve worked out where to stand for each of the cameras to capture your good side.
Tip: take a spray-can of paint to mark āXā on the fairways so you can walk to the exact spot. Weāll be looking for your Sotonians badge. 
Iām sorry if Iām missing something here but that green looks a bit pot-marked and fuck me itās sooooo small. 
The pitch ānā putt at Riverside Park looks in better shape.
Well spotted but I already have that in my possession - so I know exactly where I will be on each hole at each moment as each shot would be played - just donāt know who with yet of course. (And obviously my round of golf meant sure that I never stood anywhere near where the pros will be - I was more up the side of those hillsā¦)
Also I could share that information but then I would be in breach of all the darned security protocols - and BOY are there a lot of those
Le Golf National.
First Impressions.
Yes, the latest chapter in my Blog on the road to The Ryder Cup for you insomniacs
I got stick for it over the years, but at least I was lucky enough to watch him up close in his prime.
I also saw āthe human sideā of him a few times but then came the meltdown and injuries.
But it would be an impossible story for him to get back to anywhere near the top.
Surely?
One thing thatās for sure, IF he gets back it would be a story to tell somehow and perhaps the Happiest One I would ever post on here.
First look for you
1st Tee & 18th green grandstands will hold over 6000 people
All watching me of course 