Jack Nicklaus is largely overrated as a golf course designer. Or at least, the guys who actually design the seemingly endless roll call of courses that end up with Jack Nicklaus’ name on them are overrated. That’s the way of life in today’s celebrity architect crazed golf world. Golfers see the Nicklaus name on a course and go ga-ga like a crazed teen who’s spent her parents fortune making American Idol vote calls. Cabo del Sol Ocean Course is the exception worth all the Jack frenzy however. This course in Los Cabos has received raving press ever since it opened of course. Which ... full post »

On last Memorial Day, I wrote urging golf courses to give veterans free golf on this day of honor as a small gesture. The movement hasn’t exactly taken off. It’s still very hit and miss - the way Pistons center Ben Wallace is 0-for-7 hit and miss at the free throw line. There are a few courses stepping up. Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando made it free golf for anyone with a military ID today - which includes active, retired and National Guard personnel (everybody who’s ever served). But mostly, Memorial Day’s still just another day to squeeze out some big ... full post »

Charles Barkley is getting more run out of comments he made in an exclusive interview with TravelGolf.com than almost anything he says about basketball on TNT. Unless the hoops talk involves dissing Kobe Bryant (for good reason). St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Dan O’Neill is the latest to comment on Barkley’s declaration that he’s retired from golf. “Charles Barkley is John Daly’s kind of gambler, but he is the Bogeyman’s kind of golfer,” O’Neal wrote. “When asked about the state of his game, the Chuckster told Travelgolf.com he’s hanging up the Callaways.” Yes, unfortuntately O’Neill apparently calls himself the Bogeyman. A self-dubbed nickname I’m ... full post »

Who suddenly decided walking your dog while playing golf is a fine idea? Or more accurately, letting your dog run the fairways as you launch wayward missiles into the trees. Everyone’s seen these dog walking golfers. They’re inevitably in a cart themselves while their dog sprints every which way in crazy pursuit. And it seems like you’re seeing more and more of this special annoying breed. The owners. Not the canines. I ran into a twosome with three dogs in tow on a pretty nice course in Palm Springs. What’s next? Babies on golf courses? Of course, that will never happen. Not because of ... full post »

Not everyone’s taking Charles Barkley’s golf retirement announcement in stride. Barkley told TravelGolf.com in an exclusive interview that “I’ve retired from golf. It just got too frustrating. I don’t play anymore.” This has prompted Chicago Tribune golf writer Ed Sherman to plead with Barkley to come back and start hitting people with his wayward shots again. While quoting and crediting TravelGolf.com’s story, Sherman wrote, “It is disappointing to hear that Barkley plans to take his game off public display. I found it heartening that one of the greatest basketball players of all time, an athlete with superb balance and hand-eye coordination, struggled ... full post »

You haven’t really been to Las Vegas, if you’ve never taken a spur of the moment, pack tonight, bolt tomorrow, call in sick trip. It truly should be the only kind of Sin City adventure. For how wild is it really if you plan that Las Vegas getaway longer than George Washington plotted the Revolutionary War? Oh, you wild and crazy rebel, you. Memorial Day weekend could be your chance to break from that pocket protector worthy method of vacationing. For with the big weekend just several days away, Las Vegas remains wide open for a golf and gambling getaway. “A lot of ... full post »

Pink bats were all the rage in the Major League Baseball over the weekend. Randy Johnson - that used to be ace - suffered three pink bat hits in the first inning alone Sunday. The Brewers Bill Hill hit a walk off home run with one. Jim Thome blasted another monster shot with one pink swing. It was all to raise awareness - and cash - for breast cancer research. And Major League Baseball players, usually correctly thought of as the most close-minded Neanderthal athletes in all sports, were largely cool with the pink. With a few notable exceptions. “I love my mother, ... full post »

It’s Mother’s Day, but golf’s two most high profile fathers linger in the news. In the same week that Earl Woods died, B.J. Wie’s daughter had one of the better on-the-course moments of her not-so-tournament-numbers-young career. Whether you think Michelle Wie making the cut in a Korean men’s tournament is a wonderfully amazing feat or the equivalent of madly celebrating tying the record for most yards gained in the first quarter of an NFL Europe game is a matter for debate. Everyone from Maury Povich to Rush Limbaugh to 60 Minutes fawning Wie interviewer Steve Kroft would agree Wie needs a ... full post »

For those of you who live under a rock - or in some completely soccer mad country, which is almost the same thing - and missed it, Kobe Bryant basically pouted away a Game 7 vs. the Phoenix Suns the other night. Lightly criticized in the Los Angeles papers for going off for 50 points and supposedly ignoring his teammates in a Game 6 loss, and no doubt urged by Phil Jackson to get those teammates involved in Game 7, Kobe decided to stage one of his shot boycotts. So with the Lakers down 15 points at halftime, the most dominant ... full post »

If you’re looking for something a little more substantial than a convenience store hot dog, a drive through taco stand or greasy diner food for a late dinner on that Scottsdale golf trip, there are a few more options than you might expect. Kazimierz World Wine Bar on the trendy downtown Stetson Drive (right off Scottsdale Road) is one of the best. They don’t quite have the New York late night dining thing down. If you show up at 10:30 and order a full meal with your wine, they might tell you how the chef needs to round up a few ... full post »

How low can Martha Burk go? She’s already become the least effective activist of all time. It’s so bad for Burk that Hootie Johnson’s replacement Billy Payne is effectively outright mocking her. When Payne received a letter from Burk requesting a meeting to discuss Augusta National’s men-only membership stance, he did everything but laugh at it publicly. But he sure came close. “I think I’m aware of her positions on all issues as they relate to Augusta,” Payne said in a conference call. “I don’t see that any dialogue would be meaningful or helpful.” Burk might as well replace her business suit with a ... full post »

I don’t want to say that Michelle Wie making the cut at the SK Telecom Open is about as impressive as me passing driver’s training at age 16. But it’s close. From a historic standpoint. For Wie tied Se Ri Pak’s barely recognized or commented on 2003 feat. You’d be hard pressed to find Pak’s accomplishment on page 18 of most U.S. Sports sections back then. But because it’s Michelle Wie now, this is an incredible, mystifyingly great day, a huge step forward in her marketing plan … er, career. Please. I haven’t heard such utter bunk since John Daly tried to become ... full post »

Tiger Woods dad died and only a man’s who been through it can understand what that means. I once had a boss - a guy well established in his forties - who’s father died and he wasn’t close to the same guy for over a year. Your dad dying changes you. Woods already found himself stepping back and enjoying life more, basically admitting that only four tournaments a year count in golf anyways. Who will forget the images of Tiger bungee jumping and banging cars in a celebrity stock car race in New Zealand? And who knew glare-specialist/caddie Steve Williams had ... full post »

The Los Angeles Clippers - Jay Leno’s longtime running punchline - are in the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in 30 years. You could chalk this up to the Clips hoodwinking the Bulls out of Elton Brand several years ago. You could point to Sam Cassell’s capacity for winning while annoying. You could credit Mike Dunleavy for being a much better coach than his son is a player. And you’d be wrong. It’s the golf. Has to be the golf. When I went out to Los Angeles in the heart of the NBA regular season, I heard about ... full post »

John Daly is becoming less and less the lovable character and more the screwed up moron every day. The latest is Daly writing in his new book that he lost between $50 and $60 million gambling in the last 12 years, according to the Associated Press. Fifty or sixty … who hasn’t lost track of $10 million here or there. Daly’s already wasted more talent than any athlete since Mickey Mantle and made the worst reality TV show since Anna Nicole Smith (no small double). But at least he has an excuse for blowing that three-foot playoff putt against Tiger Woods at ... full post »