Happy Thursday, Goodboys Nation blog fanatics! Kelly Tilghman here for Golf Channel‘s special preview of the 2012 Goodboys Invitational. This year is the 22nd year the Goodboys are gathering, and for 2012 it is back to the New Hampshire/Maine seacoast and three golf venues the Goodboys have played in years past: Breakfast Hill G.C. in Greenland, NH, The Ledges G.C. in York, ME, and Pease G.C in Portsmouth, NH. And joining me once again here in the booth overlooking the finishing hole at Pease G.C. to preview all the drama and excitement we expect to come is none other than my colleague, 6-time majors winner, Sir Nick Faldo.

NF: Great to be here with you, Kelly. This is a wonderful place to preview this year’s Goodboys Invitational, and it ought to be a real corker of a golf tournament.

KT: Thank you for joining me here as well, Sir Nick. In Goodboys vernacular, today is “Christmas Eve”, the day before the start of the 2012 Goodboys Invitational. As the Goodboys are wont to say, if you haven’t found your game by now you just dance with the girl you brought. If there was a common theme running through this year’s Goodboys weekend, what would it be in your estimation?

NF: I would have to say the sheer competitiveness of this year’s event, Kelly. When you really boil it all down, there is really only one team that won’t be competing for the hallowed Spielberg Memorial Trophy come Sunday afternoon here at Pease, and that’s the team of Ron “Cubby” Myerow and Scott “Hulkigan” Tripp. I hate to dash the hopes of these two marvelous competitors and their legion of fans out there, but that team has no chance – zip, nada – of being in the thick of things by the time the lads move over here to Pease on Sunday – the courses on Friday and Saturday are just going to eat that team up. But everyone else I fully expect to be rounding the clubhouse turn in perhaps the most exciting final day ever seen in Goodboys history.

KT: More exciting than the “Killer” Kowalski / “Gaylord” Perry cheap bridge table collapse of 1993 at Killington? More exciting than “Bone” Piekarski kicking the asses of the 1999 field at Pease? (voice rising) More exciting than the team of “Killer” Kowalski and “Cubby” Myerow shocking the field at The Captains in 2003? Why, how could any finish match the excitement of those years? Are you mad?

NF: Er, can we perhaps gear it down a couple of notches there, Kelly?

KT: I’m sorry, Sir Nick. It’s just the prospect of five Goodboys teams making the turn on Sunday and having the whole tournament come down to the last few holes just gives me goose bumps all over… shall we go to break?

NF: Can we please?

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KT: Welcome back to Golf Channel’s special preview of the 22nd annual Goodboys Invitational. This year, Sir Nick, the Goodboys will be back at the seacoast playing courses they’ve all seen before: Breakfast Hill, The Ledges, and Pease. You’re quite familiar with all of these courses, having played with any number of Goodboys over the years. How do you see them setting up for this year’s Goodboys Invitational, Sir Nick?

NF: Well, I certainly think the whole idea of the first two days will be survival; both Breakfast Hill and The Ledges are going to be challenging tracks for all of the Goodboys. The big thing this year, Kelly, is for each team to somehow find a way of holding it all together until Sunday when Pease serves as a launching pad with fantastic opportunities for shooting a low round. These two courses will challenge the Goodboys in different ways: Breakfast Hill requiring a certain amount of shot-making and distance control, The Ledges absolutely demanding that you get off the tee and keep it in the short grass. For both courses the line between making a good score and putting up a crooked number is a thin one, indeed. The teams that can avoid disaster and keep their collective heads during the first two days ought to be in a great position come Sunday. As I mentioned previously, I don’t think it would be a surprise to see at least three or four teams – if not five – in the mix come Sunday. It promises to be quite exciting.

KT: Of the three courses, which is your personal favorite, Sir Nick?

NF: Well, Kelly, I’d have to side with “The Great White Shank” Richard here and say that none of these courses holds a candle next to one that lies just a short crow flight from all three of these courses: Portsmouth Country Club. Why this year’s EXEC-COM chose the quick and easy way out instead of using their wiles and their contacts to try and get Portsmouth added into the mix really boggles the mind. One really has to check to see if anyone is home there. EXEC-COM always like to talk a good game, but in this case they really dropped the ball. It’s a travesty and truly shameful in my mind. If you’re going to spend the time and money up on the NH seacost, for Gawdsakes, show some vision and leadership, pull some weight, and do whatever it takes to put the Goodboys on a track that’s worthy of the majesty and splendour that is the Goodboys Invitational. Why, this EXEC-COM ought to drawn and quartered, then hung while maggots devour them from within.

KT: Stern words from the great Sir Nick Faldo. We’ll be back with more of our 2012 Goodboys Invitational Preview after this commercial break.

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KT: Welcome back to Golf Channel’s 2012 Goodboys Invitational preview. I’m Kelly Tilghman here with Sir Nick Faldo. So, Sir Nick, let me get your sense about the pairings for this year’s Goodboys Invitational, shall we? Who are the favorites, the dark horses, and the also-rans?

NF: It never fails to astound me that no Goodboys champions have ever repeated the following year. Why is that? It’s as much a mystery as how Katie Holmes was able to get away from Tom Cruise without him stealing Suri away to a Scientology “Let’s Get Metaphysical” camp. It’s like asking why someone prefers chocolate over vanilla or strawberry. It’s like asking why Phil Spector put strings and a choir on Paul McCartney’s “The Long And Winding Road”. It’s like asking if, in fact, only four percent of the matter and energy in the universe has been found, where the hell is the other 96 percent? It’s like asking if Madonna is going to expose her…

KT: Sir Nick!

NF: Er, sorry Kelly, I guess I got carried away. I guess the bottom line is that the law of averages states that sooner or later a sitting EXEC-COM is going to repeat as Goodboys champion, and I think this is the year. Defending champions “Vegas” Clark and “The Funny Guy” Andrusaitis will be pushed – of that I have little doubt – but in the end I just think they’re just too strong and too consistent not to come out on top.

KT: Who do you think is going to push them the hardest?

NF: I think there’s a real sleeper in this field, and that’s “Skipper” Bornemann and “The Great White Shank” Richard. I just have a feeling this team is really going to click. Sure, they’re not getting a lot of strokes when you boil it all down, but I think they can play to their respective numbers, and that might just be good enough to get the job done.

KT: Do you have a sentimental favorite, Sir Nick?

NF: I do, and I’m sure everyone out there is hoping that this is the year that “Goose” Dwyer, with the help of his partner “Killer” Kowalski, finally captures his first Goodboys Invitational championship. He’d no longer be known as…

NF and KT: BEST GOODBOY NEVER TO HAVE WON A GOODBOYS CHAMPIONSHIP.

KT: I think another sleeper team could be “2 Times” Proctor and “Possum” Shepter. Judging from all the Goodboys e-mail traffic it appears Possum says he has a “secret weapon” that he’s bringing to Goodboys. Any idea on what that might be?

NF: He better hope it’s his putting stroke. Otherwise he and 2 Times haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell.

KT: “Deuce” Doucette and “Doggy Duval” McLaughlin…

NF: My biggest question would is whether Doggy can shake off the rustiness of nearly a year off while recuperating from back surgery. Still, both he and Deuce hit the ball very straight and make very few mistakes. We’ll just have to see how well the Dog’s back holds up over three days of golf.

KT: In just a moment we’ll be back with our predictions as to how each of these teams will finish in this year’s Goodboys Invitational. Who’ll be hot and who’ll be not? Stay tuned…

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KT: Welcome back to this Golf Channel special preview of the 2012 Goodboys Invitational. OK, Sir Nick Faldo, it’s the moment of truth. Your picks for this year’s Goodboys Invitational, one through six:

NF: Kelly, I picked them to win last year and I was right, so I’m not going to change my stripes. I’m going with:

1. “Vegas” / “The Funny Guy”
2. “Skipper” / “The Great White Shank”
3. “2 Times” / “Possum”
4. “Killer” / “Goose”
5. “Deuce” / “Doggy Duval”
6. “Hulkigan” / “Cubby” pulling up the rear.

KT: Me, I’m also going with EXEC-COM to repeat, with:

1. “Vegas” / “The Funny Guy”
2. “Deuce” / “Doggy Duval”
3. “Skipper” / “The Great White Shank”
4. “Hulkigan” / “Cubby”
5. “2 Times” / “Possum”
6. “Killer” / “Goose”

NF: At least we’re in agreement who will be the 2012 Goodboys champions. I think it will be a great tournament, and I personally can’t wait for it to start.

KT: Well that completes Golf Channel’s “2012 Goodboys Invitational Preview” blogcast on Goodboys Nation weblog. A big ‘thank you’ to Sir Nick for joining me. Have a great night, and as the Goodboys saying goes, keep it long and keep it straight!