Searching for a Specialist: Wyndham Championship

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Welcome back to another specialist search.

Last week the specialists flopped, to say the least. The top specialist, Stroud, was actually looking great on Friday but closed his day with a double bogey-bogey finish to miss the cut by one stroke. The course horses Jerry Kelly and Brian Harman also slammed their trunks early while Swafford was the lone paycheck, but he didn’t exactly go low over the weekend.

That is certainly a week to forget about. Perhaps it was the weather that caused anarchy. We have to remember this is an exercise that helps us, not a guarantee. Overall, the specialists are still grabbing top 25s in 39 percent of their starts while the TOP specialist has finished inside the top 25 in 18 of the last 36 events (50%)! That is still very strong.

The angles we will look at are Par 70s, Easy Courses, Bermuda Greens, and Less-than-Driver Courses.

Here we go…

Par 70 Courses

The course this week is Sedgefield Country Club, a par 70 designed by Donald Ross.

When a par 70 is on the docket it generally gives a boost to those ball-strikers that can grind out the par 4s and not rely on par 5s to save their rounds.

The Top 10 Par 70 Specialists are:

Greg Owen (0.455 sg:par70 vs. -0.47 sg:total)
Derek Ernst (-0.24 sg:par70 vs. -0.94 sg:total)
Shane Lowry (1.459 sg:par70 vs. 0.793 sg:total)
Chez Reavie (0.922 sg:par70 vs. 0.28 sg:total)
Camilo Villegas (0.502 sg:par70 vs. 0.025 sg:total)
Jason Gore (0.371 sg:par70 vs. -0.095 sg:total)
Shawn Stefani (0.736 sg:par70 vs. 0.278 sg:total)
Brandt Snedeker (1.246 sg:par70 vs. 0.791 sg:total)
Billy Horschel (1.048 sg:par70 vs. 0.598 sg:total)
Robert Allenby (-0.462 sg:par70 vs. -0.876 sg:total)

Snedeker is the most interesting name on this list. Over his last 20 starts on Par 70s, he’s posted top 25s in 12 of them. That’s 60% which is 15 points higher than his baseline of 45% over that time frame.

On the flip side, Roberto Castro is the most fade-worthy here. He is getting a lot of buzz this week across the industry but he’s found just one top 25 over his last 17 starts on par 70s. He’s always capable of a low round, but the stats don’t suggest that he will grind out this classical Donald Ross design for the entire week.

GOLFERS REMAINING: 60

Easy Courses

Even though Sedgefield is a par 70 with just two par 5s, it’s annually one of the easier tracks. The field averages nearly a stroke under par since 2008.

Our easy course angle looks at all courses that play at least 0.75 strokes under par (per round).

The Top 10 Easy Course Specialists remaining:

Ben Martin (0.897 sg:easy vs. 0.267 sg:total)
Webb Simpson (1.384 sg:easy vs. 0.766 sg:total)
Jason Dufner (1.186 sg:easy vs. 0.571 sg:total)
Scott Piercy (0.86 sg:easy vs. 0.292 sg:total)
Morgan Hoffmann (0.549 sg:easy vs. 0.011 sg:total)
Brandt Snedeker (1.24 sg:easy vs. 0.791 sg:total)
Russell Henley (0.649 sg:easy vs. 0.235 sg:total)
Derek Ernst (-0.577 sg:easy vs. -0.94 sg:total)
Robert Streb (0.931 sg:easy vs. 0.568 sg:total)
.
This list is starting to shape up already.

We saw Ben Martin and Morgan Hoffmann both manhandle TPC Deere Run last week, another easy track.

Dufner, Snedeker, and Henley are all golfers that are tough to catch when they get dialed in. That is amplified even more when the course is easy.

Someone on the opposite side of the spectrum is Luke Donald, who doesn’t have a top 25 on an easy course (since 2014). It’s only been nine starts, so not fadeworthy, but something to consider.

Chris Kirk has also been surprisingly terrible on easy tracks since 2014. In 14 starts he’s found the top 25 just three times, which is about half of his baseline rate during that time. The only angles all line up nicely for Kirk, so I don’t think this is a full-fade situation.

GOLFERS REMAINING: 35

Bermuda Greens

After a lot of recent bentgrass events, we now head back to Bermuda Country.

There is a definite skill involved in putting (and also chipping) on bermudagrass greens. Golfers that grew up around it often find it easy while others struggle to adapt. Luckily, we don’t have to data mine every golfer on TOUR to find out what course they grew up playing or what area they played in.

After a season or so the stats start to become clear for a lot of golfers in whether they have an affinity for bermuda or not.

Of the 35 remaining possible specialists, the top 10 remaining Bermuda Specialists are:

Jason Gore (0.367 sg:bermuda vs. -0.095 sg:total)
Ben Martin (0.676 sg:bermuda vs. 0.267 sg:total)
Stuart Appleby (0.526 sg:bermuda vs. 0.166 sg:total)
Seung-yul Noh (0.421 sg:bermuda vs. 0.091 sg:total)
Boo Weekley (0.37 sg:bermuda vs. 0.114 sg:total)
Jason Dufner (0.806 sg:bermuda vs. 0.571 sg:total)
D.A. Points (-0.517 sg:bermuda vs. -0.732 sg:total)
Scott Piercy (0.471 sg:bermuda vs. 0.292 sg:total)
Morgan Hoffmann (0.164 sg:bermuda vs. 0.011 sg:total)
Mark Wilson (-0.248 sg:bermuda vs. -0.399 sg:total)

We saw Martin thrive last week on bentgrass, and now he gets to putt on a preferred surface.

Dufner played high school golf in Florida and college at Auburn (also Bermuda Country) so he loves to come back to the South even though he now lives in Ohio.

GOLFERS REMAINING: 24

Less-than-Driver Courses

Like most classical golf courses on TOUR, this one forces you to hit into positions on the fairway, rather than try to overpower it. There will always be holes where length is an advantage but for the most part, these golfers are on an even playing field on the tee, and it comes down to approach and short game play.

The Top 10 Less-than-Driver Specialists remaining are:

Stuart Appleby (0.887 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.166 sg:total)
Morgan Hoffmann (0.597 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.011 sg:total)
Jason Dufner (1.034 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.571 sg:total)
Ben Martin (0.677 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.267 sg:total)
D.A. Points (-0.322 sg:less-than-driver vs. -0.732 sg:total)
Kevin Kisner (0.887 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.565 sg:total)
Jason Gore (0.213 sg:less-than-driver vs. -0.095 sg:total)
Derek Ernst (-0.654 sg:less-than-driver vs. -0.94 sg:total)
David Hearn (0.633 sg:less-than-driver vs. 0.358 sg:total)

Appleby is well past his prime but he’s still able to contend on these courses that don’t rely on distance. David Toms is a very similar case.

GOLFERS REMAINING: 15

Baseline Performance

If we look at our filter for recent form, we can eliminate a few names that have lost strokes to the field over the last 10 weeks of stroke play.

Seung-Yul Noh
D.A. Points
Derek Ernst
Jason Gore
Mark Wilson

We saw Jason Gore nearly win this event last year so it’s not surprising to see him as a good course fit. His current form makes him a GPP play only, like the rest of these guys above.

The Specialists

Ben Martin
Jason Dufner
Stuart Appleby
Scott Piercy
Morgan Hoffmann
David Hearn
Kevin Kisner
Scott Brown
Luke Guthrie

Our specialist this week is Ben Martin.

One week after tying his career-low round, the Clemson product is now ready to rock again, this time as a specialist.

ben-martin-300x200

Morgan Hoffmann is as close as it gets to passing the baseline filters (0.011 SG:Total and 0.034 Form) but this is another track that should fit his game. Entering the week on the FedExCup bubble, he also has some extra incentive to perform.

Luke Guthrie is the most interesting case in terms of form. Despite missing the cut in two of his last five stroke-play starts, he’s still positive in terms of recent form over the last 10 weeks. Interesting he actually gained more strokes over the field in his missed cut at the Travelers than he did with a 72nd-place finish at the QL National. Not all missed cuts are created equal and Guthrie is showing signs of regaining his game lately.

The list is a bit longer this week than recently, but they all fit the bill at Sedgefield Country Club. Looks like a good week to mix-and-match from the list above to create the ultimate specialists teams.

The Anti-Specialists

The golfers below are negative in all angles this week. Basically the exact opposite of our specialists and we should try to avoid them this week or limit our exposure at the very least.

Hunter Mahan
Geoff Ogilvy
Carlos Ortiz
Hideki Matsuyama
Derek Fathauer

We have a heavy hitter on the list this week. Matsuyama has one of the highest baselines in the field, but the course is not a great fit. We should not be expecting a missed cut this week (although he’s missed his last two here at Wyndham) but a top 25 is not so likely. Considering his salary at $11.400 it makes it easier to overlook him this week.

Best of luck everyone!

Below is a table with the full specialist data. Any fields with a 0 in them mean the sample size is not large enough. There is a minimum of 25 rounds to qualify for each angle.

The SG:Total column is a baseline performance measure (since 2013-14),

Form is the strokes gained per round over the last 10 weeks (including European Tour) and all the other columns will show you their performance for that angle (per round) in comparison to the baseline strokes gained with positive numbers being a good thing.

Golfer DK SG:Total Form Par 70 Easy Course Bermuda LT Driver Specialist Rating
Ben Martin $8,000 0.267 0.656 0.099 0.63 0.409 0.411 0.387
Jason Dufner $7,900 0.571 0.625 0.156 0.615 0.235 0.463 0.367
Matt Every $5,800 -0.645 -1.835 -0.158 -0.011 0.688 0.937 0.364
Derek Ernst $5,400 -0.94 -0.427 0.7 0.363 0.079 0.286 0.357
Stuart Appleby $5,600 0.166 0.253 0.213 0.126 0.359 0.72 0.355
Patton Kizzire $6,800 0.318 -0.354 0 0.745 0.185 0.453 0.346
Tyler Aldridge $5,100 -0.198 -0.221 0 0.178 0.266 0.865 0.327
Scott Piercy $8,500 0.292 0.442 0.336 0.569 0.179 0.215 0.325
Morgan Hoffmann $6,300 0.011 0.034 0.019 0.538 0.153 0.586 0.324
Bill Haas $9,600 0.873 0.78 -0.335 0.596 0.064 0.938 0.316
Seung-Yul Noh $5,600 0.091 -0.124 0.39 0.278 0.33 0.255 0.313
Jason Gore $5,800 -0.095 -0.972 0.466 0 0.462 0.308 0.309
Bronson Burgoon $5,900 0.084 -0.38 0 0.387 0.377 0.466 0.308
David Toms $5,800 0.375 -0.116 0.048 0.698 0.108 0.325 0.295
Cameron Tringale $6,000 0.366 -0.146 -0.238 0.839 0.114 0.432 0.287
D.A. Points $5,500 -0.732 -0.214 0.327 0.102 0.215 0.409 0.263
Brett Stegmaier $5,600 -0.122 0.2 0 0.467 0.343 0.122 0.233
Justin Leonard $5,800 -0.195 -0.924 -0.047 0.749 0.093 0.03 0.206
Webb Simpson $10,200 0.766 1.065 0.311 0.619 0.148 -0.278 0.2
Blayne Barber $5,600 -0.027 0.525 -0.016 -0.173 0.362 0.59 0.191
Camilo Villegas $6,400 0.025 -0.863 0.477 0.182 0.097 -0.011 0.186
David Hearn $6,500 0.358 0.623 0.237 0.183 0.04 0.275 0.184
Mark Wilson $6,000 -0.399 -0.987 0.154 0.151 0.151 0.261 0.179
Bud Cauley $7,000 0.223 0.5 -0.032 0.659 -0.371 0.426 0.17
Harold Varner III $5,900 0.168 0.187 0 0.56 0.091 0.025 0.169
Tom Hoge $5,200 -0.056 -1.429 0.193 -0.21 0.365 0.308 0.164
Dawie van der Walt $5,300 -0.392 -0.712 0 0.516 -0.369 0.502 0.162
Martin Piller $5,400 -0.385 -1.941 0 -0.448 0.384 0.701 0.159
Bryce Molder $5,700 0.257 -0.567 -0.017 -0.002 0.471 0.169 0.155
Kevin Kisner $8,300 0.565 0.318 0.226 0.049 0.023 0.322 0.155
Erik Compton $5,600 -0.097 -0.247 -0.413 0.531 0.216 0.278 0.153
Scott Brown $7,200 0.219 0.5 0.208 0.181 0.069 0.151 0.152
Steven Bowditch $5,200 -0.726 -3.71 0.19 0.244 -0.084 0.237 0.147
Russell Henley $9,000 0.235 0.755 0.146 0.413 -0.02 0.042 0.146
Cameron Smith $6,000 -0.032 -0.826 0.321 -0.251 -0.338 0.825 0.139
Sean O’Hair $6,200 0.11 -0.615 -0.14 0.113 0.157 0.409 0.135
Brian Stuard $5,800 0.057 -0.479 -0.434 0.545 0.16 0.262 0.133
John Huh $6,100 -0.023 0.24 -0.081 0.141 0.273 0.19 0.131
Jim Furyk $11,000 1.51 0.697 0.107 0 -0.242 0.638 0.126
Scott Langley $6,000 -0.005 -1.626 0.41 -0.044 -0.035 0.164 0.124
Matt Jones $6,300 0.262 0.497 -0.319 0.193 0.122 0.491 0.122
Peter Malnati $5,000 -0.518 -0.974 -0.64 0.598 0.216 0.308 0.12
Greg Owen $5,000 -0.47 -1.402 0.924 -0.184 0.099 -0.36 0.12
Lucas Glover $6,400 -0.128 0.432 -0.466 -0.071 0.459 0.555 0.119
Brandt Snedeker $9,800 0.791 0.742 0.455 0.45 -0.236 -0.209 0.115
Shawn Stefani $6,500 0.278 0.846 0.458 0.106 0.02 -0.129 0.114
Robert Allenby $5,000 -0.876 -0.898 0.414 -0.516 0.211 0.328 0.109
Troy Merritt $5,400 -0.201 -0.336 -0.156 0.044 0.222 0.319 0.107
Brian Harman $6,300 0.364 0.88 0.25 0.253 -0.08 0.006 0.107
Whee Kim $5,700 -0.126 0.139 -0.652 0.334 0.159 0.561 0.101
Luke Donald $7,000 0.418 0.032 0.203 -0.69 0.389 0.487 0.097
Si Woo Kim $6,800 0.47 0.337 0 0.459 -0.044 -0.031 0.096
Brendon de Jonge $5,500 0.171 0.054 0.231 0.1 -0.019 0.065 0.094
Steve Wheatcroft $6,300 -0.071 0.908 -0.576 0.384 0.147 0.419 0.094
Luke List $5,700 0.548 0.458 0 0 0.142 0.2 0.085
Shane Lowry $7,800 0.793 0.39 0.667 0 -0.332 0 0.084
Kyle Stanley $5,500 -0.216 -0.319 0.175 0.211 -0.257 0.198 0.082
Boo Weekley $6,700 0.114 1.215 0.209 0.051 0.256 -0.189 0.082
Jarrod Lyle $5,500 -0.821 -0.711 0 0.309 0 0 0.077
William McGirt $8,700 0.506 1.052 0.035 0.246 0.029 -0.053 0.064
Kevin Na $9,100 1.032 1.024 -0.256 0.059 0.217 0.222 0.06
Henrik Norlander $6,600 0.105 0.449 0 0.15 -0.236 0.319 0.058
Robert Streb $7,100 0.568 0.641 0.071 0.363 0.04 -0.243 0.058
Greg Chalmers $5,200 -0.486 -1.39 0.099 0.193 0.034 -0.108 0.055
Patrick Reed $12,200 0.831 0.802 -0.287 0.19 -0.073 0.373 0.051
Kelly Kraft $6,700 -0.121 0.283 0 -0.015 0 0.204 0.047
Roberto Castro $6,000 -0.041 0.434 -0.536 0.338 0.315 0.065 0.045
Ben Crane $5,300 -0.11 0.7 0.16 0.176 0.017 -0.174 0.044
Luke Guthrie $5,900 0.029 0.381 0.061 0.085 0.011 0.017 0.043
Keegan Bradley $8,200 0.794 0.974 0.006 0.271 -0.102 -0.004 0.043
Andrew Loupe $5,700 -0.166 -1.253 -0.528 0.281 0.183 0.235 0.043
Sam Saunders $6,100 -0.417 -0.006 -0.096 -0.03 0.087 0.209 0.042
J.B. Holmes $8,100 0.699 0.599 -0.304 0.675 -0.326 0.116 0.04
Freddie Jacobson $6,700 0.405 -0.153 0.106 0.065 0.126 -0.135 0.04
Danny Lee $7,300 0.418 -0.458 -0.022 0.224 -0.089 0.039 0.038
Spencer Levin $5,900 0.123 -0.137 0.136 0.259 -0.235 -0.009 0.038
Tom Gillis $5,800 -0.308 0.757 0 0.07 -0.28 0.356 0.037
Ryan Moore $10,600 0.78 0.932 -0.26 0.415 0.086 -0.124 0.029
Jimmy Walker $10,000 1.073 0.839 -0.187 0.404 0.025 -0.126 0.029
Johnson Wagner $6,100 -0.011 0.09 -0.431 0.677 -0.322 0.169 0.023
Ken Duke $5,200 -0.376 0.031 0.247 -0.123 0.165 -0.199 0.022
George McNeill $5,400 0.351 -0.629 0.388 -0.423 0.102 0.02 0.022
Darron Stiles $5,000 -1.563 -0.879 0 0 0 0.083 0.021
Alex Prugh $5,900 -0.296 0.727 -0.342 0.197 -0.08 0.307 0.021
Rob Oppenheim $5,500 -0.326 0.011 0 0 -0.027 0.109 0.02
Billy Horschel $7,600 0.598 -0.271 0.45 -0.317 0.09 -0.164 0.015
Justin Thomas $8,600 0.745 0.327 -0.286 0.205 0.004 0.118 0.01
Michael Kim $5,400 -0.025 0.882 0 0.31 0.03 -0.301 0.01
Graham DeLaet $6,900 0.698 0.675 -0.013 0.009 -0.106 0.128 0.005
Tyrrell Hatton $9,400 0.968 1.453 0 0 0 0 0
Jon Rahm $10,400 1.462 1.433 0 0 0 0 0
Wesley Bryan $9,300 0.921 0.921 0 0 0 0 0
Rafa Cabrera Bello $8,900 0.733 0.892 0 0 0 0 0
Andrew Landry $5,900 -0.203 0.888 0 0 0 0 0
Abraham Ancer $6,000 -0.828 0.208 0 0 0 0 0
Neal Lancaster $5,200 -3.005 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jerry Haas $5,100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lucas Lee $5,200 -1.045 -0.11 0 0 0 0 0
Rhein Gibson $5,700 -0.994 -0.206 0 0 0 0 0
Arjun Atwal $5,100 -0.417 -0.36 0 0 0 0 0
Joey Garber $5,800 -1.335 -1.059 0 0 0 0 0
Lee McCoy $5,800 -0.641 -1.358 0 0 0 0 0
Jordan Niebrugge $5,600 -0.928 -2.134 0 0 0 0 0
Chad Collins $5,200 -0.099 0.265 -0.273 0.303 0.01 -0.041 0
Adam Hadwin $7,400 0.311 0.787 -0.227 0.384 -0.297 0.127 -0.003
Robert Garrigus $7,700 -0.003 1.305 0.328 0.282 -0.389 -0.237 -0.004
Chesson Hadley $5,500 -0.27 0.201 -0.377 -0.01 0.208 0.115 -0.016
Jason Kokrak $7,100 0.542 0.553 -0.208 -0.178 0.244 0.074 -0.017
Mark Hubbard $5,700 -0.133 -0.82 -0.339 -0.016 -0.047 0.306 -0.024
Chad Campbell $6,000 0.411 0.765 0.156 -0.038 -0.167 -0.061 -0.027
J.J. Henry $5,100 -0.318 -0.728 0.273 0.254 -0.449 -0.192 -0.028
Michael Thompson $5,700 -0.022 0.211 0.088 -0.057 0.092 -0.24 -0.029
Harris English $7,500 0.771 0.532 0.124 -0.153 0.114 -0.277 -0.048
Graeme Mcdowell $6,600 0.639 -0.133 -0.083 0 -0.291 0.179 -0.049
Dicky Pride $5,000 -0.844 -0.804 0 0.063 -0.432 0.162 -0.052
Chris Kirk $7,200 0.59 0.415 0.382 -1.105 0.19 0.305 -0.057
Wes Roach $5,400 -0.256 -0.078 -0.002 0.278 0.087 -0.597 -0.058
Thomas Aiken $5,500 -0.164 -0.111 0 -0.529 0.305 -0.01 -0.059
Tim Wilkinson $5,900 -0.159 -0.663 0.348 -0.122 -0.185 -0.295 -0.064
Cameron Percy $5,800 -0.014 0.292 0.294 -0.198 0.119 -0.492 -0.069
Nick Taylor $5,300 -0.223 -0.352 -0.437 -0.093 0.008 0.232 -0.073
Hiroshi Iwata $5,900 -0.262 -0.401 0 -0.1 -0.521 0.324 -0.074
Rickie Fowler $11,700 1.113 0.269 -0.129 -0.307 -0.014 0.151 -0.075
Will MacKenzie $5,900 0.045 -0.329 -0.164 -0.029 0.028 -0.154 -0.08
Jason Bohn $6,400 0.466 -0.399 -0.197 0.524 -0.208 -0.446 -0.082
Stewart Cink $5,300 0.26 -0.001 0.071 0.009 -0.133 -0.29 -0.086
Sung Kang $6,200 0.153 0.028 0 -0.01 -0.448 0.082 -0.094
Andres Gonzales $5,100 -0.381 0.202 -0.256 0.286 -0.399 -0.072 -0.11
Jerry Kelly $7,300 0.484 0.181 -0.23 0.027 0.109 -0.35 -0.111
Scott Stallings $6,200 -0.287 0.282 -0.125 0.115 -0.204 -0.258 -0.118
Chez Reavie $6,300 0.28 0.471 0.642 -0.278 -0.324 -0.533 -0.123
Miguel Angel Carballo $5,900 -0.784 -0.427 0.348 -0.349 -0.492 0 -0.123
Retief Goosen $6,100 0.167 0.289 0.213 -0.526 0.084 -0.273 -0.126
Rod Pampling $5,900 -0.298 -0.368 0 0.081 -0.262 -0.356 -0.134
Martin Laird $6,900 0.223 0.755 0.094 -0.179 -0.094 -0.364 -0.136
Scott Pinckney $5,400 -0.194 -0.595 -0.557 0.077 0.013 -0.107 -0.144
Derek Fathauer $5,100 -0.106 0.53 -0.135 -0.057 -0.325 -0.064 -0.145
Chris Stroud $5,700 0.266 0.485 -0.003 0.089 -0.573 -0.188 -0.169
D.H. Lee $5,300 -1.456 -1.437 0 0.247 -0.375 -0.558 -0.172
Steve Marino $6,200 -0.212 0.163 0.272 -0.258 -0.658 -0.071 -0.179
Brice Garnett $5,600 -0.232 -1.455 0.089 -0.029 -0.211 -0.57 -0.18
Jonas Blixt $6,200 -0.033 -0.692 -0.648 0.114 -0.236 0.041 -0.182
Angel Cabrera $5,800 -0.305 0.154 0.357 -0.638 -0.187 -0.39 -0.215
Brendon Todd $5,700 0.204 -2.765 0.135 -0.365 -0.282 -0.468 -0.245
Kyle Reifers $6,000 0.239 0.342 -0.435 0.059 -0.464 -0.152 -0.248
Ernie Els $6,000 -0.008 0.16 -0.035 -0.612 -0.481 0.015 -0.278
Hideki Matsuyama $11,400 1.248 -0.234 -0.598 -0.426 -0.072 -0.19 -0.321
Carlos Ortiz $5,400 -0.29 -0.891 -0.574 -0.095 -0.278 -0.441 -0.347
Geoff Ogilvy $6,500 -0.297 1.077 -0.66 -0.723 -0.23 -0.17 -0.446
Hunter Mahan $6,100 0.152 -1.839 -1.096 -0.346 -0.524 -0.258 -0.556

About the Author

futureoffantasy
Josh Culp (futureoffantasy)

Josh didn’t own a set of golf clubs until after college but his love for the game now grows exponentially. He uses in-depth statistical analysis while trying to avoid the landmines that come with using traditional, outdated PGA stats. He can be found elsewhere writing for Rotoworld and Future of Fantasy. He can be found on twitter @futureoffantasy.