The Signal
Threadguy, Williams Racing Formula 1 driver Alex Albon, and a third player turn an obstacle-filled putting course into two competitions: a 60-second warmup and a full round scored by strokes. The timer produces a disputed finish, but the course has a clearer verdict — Albon wins with 11, ahead of 12 and Threadguy's 16.
Key Takeaways
- 01
Five increasingly strange holes
The course begins with a normal putt, then adds a mannequin, a wooden bounce, a low plank, and finally a long straight shot with no barriers.
- 02
The clock changes everything
Each player gets 60 seconds to sink as many balls as possible. The opening score is four, Albon predicts five and reaches it, and the last run ends in an argument over whether a late fifth ball should count.
- 03
Albon wins the round
Once they play the holes normally, out-of-bounds drops and awkward ricochets pile up. The final totals are 11 for Albon, 12 for the second player, and 16 for Threadguy.
On the Record
“I'm going to say five”
“I'm having a bad golf day”
The Breakdown
The obstacle course tour
The group starts by walking through five holes. The first is a standard putt; the second has to pass a mannequin; the third jumps wood and bounces onto the lane; the fourth travels under a plank; and the fifth removes every barrier for a deceptively difficult straight shot. Before playing the course for score, they turn it into a one-minute shooting drill.
Sixty seconds each
The first player sinks four while the others count down and remark that pace gets harder under a timer. Asked for a prediction, Albon calls five and reaches that mark. The third attempt becomes the loudest: four balls clearly stay in, a possible fifth arrives as time expires, and the group debates whether two balls being in motion invalidates the finish before declaring Albon the warmup winner.
Drops, rebounds, and bad angles
The full round rewards control more than speed. A ball that leaves the course must be placed back with a drop, the mannequin and barriers turn promising shots into extra strokes, and players repeatedly negotiate whether rebounds count. Threadguy starts well enough but struggles as the angles tighten, eventually announcing that he is having a bad golf day.
P1 for the Formula 1 driver
The totals settle the contest without another tiebreak: Albon finishes on 11, the second player on 12, and Threadguy on 16. The closing exchange turns to technique — soft hands, no tension, and a putting stance that draws a joke about how one of them drives — before Albon is thanked for the round.
Distilled from the episode transcript · Counterparty Recap Desk
