Well that was about as enjoyable as watching the Wardley fight last night.

We obviously could have won it a lot more easily but wanted to put those pesky spuds fans through the wringer

You’ve earned the right to be where you are, but football is not being improved by VAR.
Shay Given made some good points on the subject on MotD.

That last 1 in that article is, logically, longer odds than this one.

Incidentally, the lady in the original article did ace a par 3, and the albatross/eagle were at par 5 holes

The 12th at Woodhall Spa has a plaque commemorating it having been halved in one at some point in the past.

[Show me the bookie]

I just don't get these million to 1 odds.

Top lady golfers now hit up to 290 yards off the tee. The minimum yardage for a ladies Par 5 is 401 yards, and 450 yards is common.

If someone is telling me that if there are (say) 3 Par 5 holes between 401 and 499 yards, and that it is a million to 1 chance that a lady hits a good drive and then holes an iron from between 120-200 yards, then I'm taking those odds.

The Par 5 become Par 4 effectively. Trillions to 1 someone hits a hole in 1, another eagle and a birdie in the same round? Show me the bookie

The bookies have learnt a lot about golf odds since 1991
https://www.honestbettingreviews.com/hole-in-one-betting-coup/

I’m inclined to contest the idea that Starmer is a ‘bit’ bland and grey. He’s utterly bland, grey and seemingly devoid of a political vision.
Say what you like about the two PMs who have had the biggest influence over our country in my lifetime but both Thatcher and Blair had a vision.
Blair’s was of himself as a saviour, but at least he could work a crowd.

[I'm also a bit perplexed how they worked out the odds of 4.5 trillion to one, or whatever it actually was. How would they work that out?]

...and now for something completely different & really quite sensational (if true).

I was watching the LPGA (Ladies) golf at the weekend, the Joburg Ladies Open, & the commentators mentioned a really weird stat featuring New Zealander Amelia Garvey. She's not a world-beater (World Ranking 142) but had a good Tournament, finishing 13th.

So I went over to Wiki to check it, & sure enough, the stat was confirmed on there...


In 2024, during the final round of the Royal St Cloud Women's Championship on the NXXT Women's Pro Tour in Florida, Garvey made history being the first professional golfer to record a par, birdie, eagle, hole in one, and albatross all in one round, a one in 4.5 trillion likelihood.[9] She also had a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and a 6 on her scorecard.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Garvey





It's so unlikely that it's a struggle to believe it happened, but all the google searches seem to confirm it, as did the commentators on the TV.

I'm also a bit perplexed how they worked out the odds of 4.5 trillion to one, or whatever it actually was. How would they work that out?

Doobs is better qualified to answer this, but they are multiplying the odds, as they see them, of each event.
The key question is about how they arrive at the odds of each event.
A quick search says that a hole in one is a 1/12500 shot across all golfers and a 1/2500 for a pro.
No doubt similar stats can be found for birdies pars and albatrosses and all will be in a similar range.
That being said, I think it’s safe to say that it is an unlikely set of scores in a single round.

But then, were led to believe that the sequence of each shuffled deck of cards is ‘unique’ but that doesn’t stop my opponent hitting a one-outer on the river at a frequency that is annoyingly recurrent.

Finally we’re off the radar as the two North London clubs and the Toon battle it out for media attention.

Isn’t it great that we have an NHS that can respond like this.
Yeah, there are snags and snafus sometimes, and the catering can sometimes be less appetising than we’d like but, when it comes to the nitty gritty stuff about taking care of us when we might not have done it delivers.

I’m sure you’ll be back out there on the golf course soon Tom and in the meantime I hope Mrs Red is tending to your every need as you recover.

Get well soon

[John Stonehouse?]

Anyone remember John Stonehouse?

Was a Government Minister in the 70's who faked his death via drowning & ran away to Australia under a new name with his mistress.

It eventually came out on top, though when he was first arrested the Australian police thought he was Lord Lucan (another great news story) who had disappeared just 2 weeks earlier.

He was deported back to the UK, but astonishingly, he never initially resigned his seat in the House of Commons.

Eventually he was charged with a range of frauds, as well as spying for the Czech Republic as it then was, and at his Trial he conducted his own defence in comical fashion, & was sent to Prison for 7 years.

I sometimes think Stonehouse was the inspiration for the Reginald Perrin TV series with Leonard Rossiter.  

From the Wikipedia page on said series
At the end of the first series, Reggie fakes suicide by leaving his clothes on a beach in West Bay, Dorset and running into the sea. Coincidentally, MP John Stonehouse faked his own death in this manner shortly before the book was published, although neither was inspired by the other; the novel was written before Stonehouse's faked suicide in November 1974, but not published until 1975. The phrase "do a Reggie Perrin" did enter the vernacular, however, assisted by the Stonehouse affair.

The canoe guy from Seaton Carew nor Hartlepool who turned up in Panama may have been inspired by one or both

Jimmy Saville, and I suppose  in the same genre, Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall, and Max Clifford.

The Savile saga produced more and more revelations as it progressed and I don’t think we will ever know the full truth about who knew what and when.
I wonder if he could have got away with it for so long had the internet existed when he was active.

Lennon, what a terrible waste of a talent and decent human being. Been passed away now longer than he was alive.

So difficult only choosing 3 things on this thread. It's like being asked your favourite 5 songs, just impossible.

Favourite five songs is easy

Get Back
Sympathy for the Devil
Heroes
Common People
Learn to Fly

It’s so easy that I can do it again tomorrow

Great choices there.

I think music is mood dependant. I could choose 5 today and a totally different 5 on another day. I couldn't even do a top 5 singer/group, just impossible for me.

That was pretty much my point. Tomorrow’s 5 will almost certainly be different, even if only by one song. Although all 5 could be different.

Lennon, what a terrible waste of a talent and decent human being. Been passed away now longer than he was alive.

So difficult only choosing 3 things on this thread. It's like being asked your favourite 5 songs, just impossible.

Favourite five songs is easy

Get Back
Sympathy for the Devil
Heroes
Common People
Learn to Fly

It’s so easy that I can do it again tomorrow

1966 - I was 12 and away at Boys’ Brigade Camp. Took the ferry to the Isle of Wight and kept my radio to my ear. When Hurst scored the goal that put us ahead in extra time I ran up Ryde Pier and slipped on the damp boards nearly losing my radio over the side.

1968 - the first English team to win the European Cup. Yes, I am aware that Celtic did it the year before and that too was memorable.

2001 - my daughter rang me to say that a plane had hit a skyscraper in New York.

There were any number of others but the first two were joyful memories and we need more of those.

1) The death of Elvis (The 1st and only time I saw my Dad cry)

2) 911

3) Covid (more the aftermath, rather the actually period during)

Elvis dying was very sad day. I was going on 19, came in from the pub to find my Mum and sister in tears. Luxembourg 208 played Elvis songs all night.

Elvis was a spent force when he died. I was far more affected by Hendrix going and he had so much more to give.

I was weened on Elvis, Mum was a huge fan. That's why it was a sad time in our household.

Yeah, I get that.

1) The death of Elvis (The 1st and only time I saw my Dad cry)

2) 911

3) Covid (more the aftermath, rather the actually period during)

Elvis dying was very sad day. I was going on 19, came in from the pub to find my Mum and sister in tears. Luxembourg 208 played Elvis songs all night.

Elvis was a spent force when he died. I was far more affected by Hendrix going and he had so much more to give.