5:43 PM – Windy City Open Finals: Game One (on Laurel)

Thorbrogger picked up a stroke on hole 6 with an eagle and went into the 10th up one. Lannen picked that stroke back up on the 11th with a brilliant chip. Lannen then picked up a stroke on the 13th hole with a lengthy 84-foot putt.

Up one going into 17, Lannen stuck the par-3 green with a safe shot off the tee, while Thor went just long giving Jeff a two-stroke lead going into 18. Lannen laid up and Thor hit the front brick surrounding the green sending his ball into the water.

Jeff eagled for a -27 and with that became your 2011 Windy City Open champion.

5:25 PM – Thor vs. Harris (Loser’s Bracket Finals)

Playing on Laurel Park, Chris Thorbrogger nailed a double eagle on hole 4 and picked up another shot on the next hole. Made the turn up 3.

Lance picked up a stroke on 15, but Thor picked the stroke back up on the par-3 17th. On 18, Harris found the water and Thor stayed dry. His eagle gave him a -27 and he beat Lance by 4.

5:14 PM – Thor vs. Welter (Loser’s Bracket Semis)

Playing on Laurel and a shot for the finals, Thor took out Welter -27 to -25 on Laurel Park. Thor took a one-shot lead into 18 and laid up on the drivable par-5. Welter tried to reach the green, got wet, and Thor tapped in for eagle.

This set up a Thor/Harris showdown for a shot at the finals.

4:55 PM – King of the Hill Match (Lannen vs. Harris)

Jeff Lannen picked up an early stroke on hole 4, takes the turn up -13 to -12 (playing on Grizzly). He picked up another stroke on the back and went into 18 up two. After sticking the green, Jeff tapped in his eagle putt to take the match -26 to -24.

4:50 PM – Kinzler vs. Thor (Loser’s Bracket)

Perhaps the match of the day. Thor aced the 3rd hole to take a one-shot lead and held onto it until the 16th hole when Kinzler aced a par-3 to tie it back up. After a sick (and I mean sick) setup on 18, Kinz drove the green and Thor was just off. Kinzler, however, missed a left-10 putt and Thor knocked in his chip for a -28 and a win on Timber Bay.

4:25 PM – Stenmark Goes Down

The 2011 Missouri Open champion has also been eliminated. Matt Welter beat Mark Stenmark on Grizzly Flats with a -26 to knock him out of the tourney.

4:04 PM – King of the Hill Update

The king of the hill match is set. Jeff Lannen will take on Lance Harris for a spot in the finals. Lance took out Matt Welter to get there while Lannen took out Chris Thorbrogger.

3:29 PM – Haas Gets Bounced

Brendan Harris took out Andy Haas on Grizzly in extra holes (today’s theme it would seem), and Haas is out of the Windy City Open. Winner’s bracket is winding down, still a lot of matches to be played.

3:17 PM – Welter vs. Kinz

In a battle of unbeatens, Matt Welter took our Graig Kinzler in extra holes while playing on Laurel Park. Kinz, however, is still in it and will try and battle back on the loser’s side.

2:56 PM – Winner’s Bracket Update

Chris Thorbrogger took out Ryan McCook and Marc Muklewicz in back-to-back matches, and will now take on Jeff Lannen next.

Others who have yet to drop a match: Graig Kinzler and Matt Welter (playing each other), along with Lance Harris.

1:29 PM – Early Fireworks in Big Matches

A couple of big matches early on, and round two gave us a handful of big-time showdowns. Jeff Lannen took out Andy Haas, and Chris Thorbrogger took out Ryan McCook (-28 to -25).

12:46 PM – Round One Winners

Marc Muklewicz, Andy Haas, Chris Thorbrogger, Jeff Lannen (in extra holes) all won their first round games. Still plenty of round one matches to be played.

12:14 PM – Matches are Underway

And Gatsby’s is up and running. With the qualifier complete, we will soon narrow down the 32-man bracket and have a 2011 champ. Here’s how the top qualifiers finished.

Chris Thorbrogger -126

Graig Kinzler -124

Adrian Westergren -123

Jeff Lannen-123

Evan Gossett -122

Updates on matches coming… stay tuned.

And with that, we’ve reached the end of our early 2012 preview.

After you enjoy the images below, you’ll have seen a portion of every course in Golden Tee’s latest update while they’re being created. While we have much to reveal yet, this certainly gets the ball rolling on what should be a fantastic couple months leading up to launch.

The courses themselves aren’t just unique but they’re also very different from one another in a variety of ways. We’ve seen snow, we’ve seen grass, we’ve dirt, and now we’re getting a taste of a different kind of look that will add more unique elements into the mix.

One. Last. Time. Here are the guidelines, y’all.

1. We’ve got a long way to go, folks. We’ll show you a little to get your brains workin’ but don’t plan to unleash the whole bag o’ goodies on day one. Trust us, you’ll be ready for this once the game launches.

2. The courses are far from complete. There are more trees, obstacles, and detail to be added into each shot between now and launch so keep in mind you’re seeing a work in progress.

3. Trust me when I say we’re saving the best is yet to come. Yes, this is meant to “tease” you. It’s our jobs and we’re evil for it.

Festivities are just getting underway. Stay tuned to the GTB and Goldentee.com for the next few months as we gear you up for Golden Tee 2012.

Cheers,

-ak

One new hard drive later and the Golden Tee 2012 Sneak Peak is back on track! (wish I was joking)

In any event, thus far we’ve gotten a look at more than half the courses in GT’s latest installment. With two courses yet to be revealed, we’ve still got plenty o’ tricks up our sleeve before this first batch of 2012 build up is complete. Our fourth course to get this treatment, aka today, will no doubt stick out more than anything you’ve seen thus far.

By now you probably know these guidelines word for word, but for those of you that don’t here’s the deal.

1. We’ve got a long way to go, folks. We’ll show you a little to get your brains workin’ but don’t plan to unleash the whole bag o’ goodies on day one. Trust us, you’ll be ready for this once the game launches.

2. The courses are far from complete. There are more trees, obstacles, and detail to be added into each shot between now and launch so keep in mind you’re seeing a work in progress.

3. Trust me when I say we’re saving the best is yet to come. Yes, this is meant to “tease” you. It’s our jobs and we’re evil for it.

I GUARANTEE you’ve never had to putt on a green like this.

Signing off on that note,

-ak

Welcome back, y’all.

It’s day 3 of Golden Tee 2012 week, and we’re moving on to the third course. Before we reveal the next batch of screens from the latest game, I wanted to tackle something that has come up from a handful of you via email, Facebook, Twitter and even text message. (You’ll be getting my phone bill in the mail shortly, thank you very much)

The courses we’re revealing are not actually in order of how you’ll see them on the game on the course selection screen. Some of you could possibly care less about this BREAKING revelation, while others may find it interesting. Regardless, now you know.

Nope, this is good ol’ fashion random selection and I think it’s safe to say the best is still yet to come. I’m not one for picking favorites, but trust me when I say you’ll like what you say between now and the rest of the week.

As stated the past few days, here are the guidelines for this early preview.

1. We’ve got a long way to go, folks. We’ll show you a little to get your brains workin’ but don’t plan to unleash the whole bag o’ goodies on day one. Trust us, you’ll be ready for this once the game launches.

2. The courses are far from complete. There are more trees, obstacles, and detail to be added into each shot between now and launch so keep in mind you’re seeing a work in progress.

3.Trust me when I say we’re saving the best is yet to come. Yes, this is meant to “tease” you. It’s our jobs and we’re evil for it.

Here they are, shots from GT 2012. Tune back in Thursday and Friday for more.

Cheers,

-ak