Over 10,000 Votes Cast in Only 4 Days

Dave Hollingshead and Bert Loftus Neck-and-Neck

In theory, it was a simple idea - the players have always wanted to design a hole. "This would make a fun, little contest," Duffer Dan nonchalantly commented during an IT marketing brainstorm session. GT.com management agreed but warned the Duffer to never underestimate the Golden Tee player community and that this thing might grow larger than expected. Naively, the Duffer grinned and replied, "Come on, guys. It's just for fun!"

Just for fun, Duffer? The record-breaking traffic logging into Goldentee.com is taking it a bit more seriously than that.

Since Design-a-Hole voting kicked off on May 1, more unique visitors have logged into the #1 player website in coin-op than ever before. "Thousands of players are logging in to Goldentee.com each day," responded IT's VP of marketing, Scott Morrison. "That's more online action than new course release day!"

For Golden Tee players, playing their favorite game is priority in their hearts and minds. But with Golden Tee immortality on the line, the trackball inside of the mouse has become almost as important as the one on the game.

Since May 1 the voting results have seesawed, with every nominee either taking the top spot, or almost leading, at some point in the process. But as of May 5, two nominees are separating from the pack at an equal pace.

First, it's Dave Hollingshead of St. Charles, MO with his design idea aptly named "The Falls." It's a mountainous par 4 (or 5) that features a brilliant waterfall through the center that flows over the green. Dave cleverly created a safe way to the green and a risk/reward shortcut as well. And while he was nervous that his amateur Microsoft Paint skills would hurt his vision, in reality his design is showing quite well online.

A mere 1% behind is Bert Loftus of Nashville, TN and his now famous "Frog's Pond" model. Bert spared no expense to show his vision of a par 4 with multiple tee-zones, landscapes and creative looks. With carved foam and a variety of realistic modeling techniques to prove his design, the voting community is in awe of his efforts and are reacting just as Jim Z. and Larry did.

But with a week and a half of voting left, don't count out anyone just yet. Keith Donnell's daunting "Beware of Gravity" mountain peak hole has been holding its own and Ross Clifton's "Headache" - the bounce-off-the-cliff hole - has been turning heads as well.

Shockingly, Tony Johnson's "Steps" par 3, featuring clever elevation changes on the tee and green positions, has fallen to the bottom of the pack after his blistering first-place start. Tony, a former Team USA member and well-respected member of the player community, will surely put the heat back on and try a run for the top.

With 10,000 votes in just 4 days, there's no telling what kind of response will be seen come May 15. And it's now safe to say that this contest is as serious as it is fun. If you haven't voted yet, get your opinion in now before it's too late.

Oh, one last thing. Hey, Duffer, are you having fun yet?

Duffer Dan: "I'm just thankful we took away the cash incentive…"

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