From The Cabbage 2015 - a preview

So here we are. Less than one week to go before the start of what will be, quite possibly, the greatest golfing extravaganza ever seen. EVER.

OK, so that might be an exaggeration but it's certainly going to be a lot of fun. We have eight people, eight sets of golf clubs, four buggies and plenty of beer - what could possibly go wrong?

Here's a little bit of insight into the format, structure and participants on our fourth annual hackfest around golf courses in the UK, adopting the moniker of 'From The Cabbage' for the first time in 2015

The biggest step forward this year is the number of participants - having started out as a fourball (Never Up Never In, visiting Scotland's west coast for the Tweet Golf Cup in 2012) we've steadily added new faces, although this is the first time we have a 'healthy' even number of players, which opens new possibilities in terms of format

There are the 'regulars' - your author James & his father-in-law Noel, Noel's brother-in-law John and, Imperial Tobacco's largest single customer, Ash; we also have Chris playing his third tour and James' brother-in-law Greg being allowed back for another go; we also have the pleasure of welcoming (tour) virgins Geoff and Mark

In terms of our plans, we are going to be singularly located in Cornwall for the duration of the tour - our first day's play will be taking place at Trethorne GC near Launceston before we move on to China Fleet Country Club for rounds two and three.

For format, we will be continuing our tried & trusted method of an individual Stableford competition, played over any four of the six loops of nine holes that we'll play on tour - this allows for a certain amount of 'hangover acceptance' golf without damaging victory prospects too heavily.

Additionally, now we have a decent even number of people, we can now introduce a Ryder Cup-style team competition alongside the individual - this will be spread across the three days and will put a total of 8 points up for grabs. Fourball better ball matchplay on days one & two; singles matchplay on day three - 4.5 points required for the win. This is a format that myself & Geoff have enjoyed at past Harey Cups and I believe will work well for our group next week

So, what of the teams? We decided to draw a metaphorical battle line down the Irish Sea, in order to form Teams Sassenach (an Irish derogatory term for the English) and Potato (a less-than-pleasant nickname for those from the Emerald Isle) - we steered away from appointing specific captains for these teams, not least because we might struggle with format familarity, so the order of play for each day will be decided by committee...which should be interesting

Team Sassenach                                                             Team Potato

James Wheeler                                                                Geoff Sammons

Ash Patel                                                                          Noel Sandvoss

Greg Walters                                                                    John Gannon

Mark Herring                                                                    Chris McMahon

So I think that pretty much wraps up the preview of From The Cabbage 2015 - further updates will be delivered via Twitter and a review on this blog upon our return

I am The Part-Time Golfer