Volunteering is a great, noble deed. Unless you’re volunteering at a golf tournament. Especially one run by the USGA - one of the most powerful, rich organizations in sports - at a country club so private that you’re not getting in to play without references from an actual Vanderbilt. Then, you’re an absolute fool who shows as much common sense as Britney Spears does in child transport. And they’re an awfully lot of these dolts out there. The U.S. Women’s Open in Newport, Rhode Island will use some 2,500 volunteers. That’s a group bigger than the population of some towns willingly working ... full post »

Regular readers of TravelGolf.com may be shocked to hear this, but I’m not usually a VIP Room kind of guy. Sure, Donald Trump calls. And Rush Limbaugh blathers on about the time we spent together on the radio (no, it wasn’t in the Dominican Republic). But the Entourage guys aren’t inviting me to their wrap parties. Carson Daly’s been a little cold since he moved the show back to LA. Heck, I haven’t even been asked to join Britney Spears’ team of mannies (male nannies). So it’s no little deal when I’m being ushered into the VIP Check-in Lounge at Reno’s Peppermill ... full post »

Michelle Wie is playing in Newport, Rhode Island for the U.S. Women’s Open. Which means they’ll be a lot of people swarming the town’s charming - and highly commercialized - streets who think Wie is the GREATEST FEMALE GOLFER EVER. These are the same type of folks who only watch Olsen Twin movies and think every other actress is some kind of pretender. In other words, these are either the very young, the very disturbed (think people Dateline NBC catches in one of their specials, or a teacher Oprah’s interviewing) or the very stupid. If you’re in Newport, even to watch the ... full post »

So this is what America’s great airport security has come to? It’s now about hassling rich 55-year-old dedicated golfers walking off their private jets? That’s what happened to Rush Limbaugh when he returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic. Some glory-seeking customs officials decided they just needed to search Limbaugh’s bag. Because he’s such a threat to border security. Under this great search they found a bottle of Viagra - my goodness, my - and tried to somehow turn it into a federal case. Limbaugh’s name wasn’t on the prescription bottle and his lawyer said it was written in his doctor’s ... full post »

When Roger Clemens takes the ball tonight for the Houston Astros, he’s sure to be celebrated as a great hero who put his hometown first. Heck, ESPN’s already covered his “return” with a fervor usually reserved for new Popes. And it’s all a big joke. For there’s no more money grubbing athlete in all of sports than Clemens. He’s always been up for sale to whoever would pay him the most, bend to his demands the easiest. Clemens is a much worse example of athletic greed than Terrell Owens. Yet TO’s savaged while The Rocket is celebrated. Please. Clemens drags out these so-called retirement ... full post »

TravelGolf.com blogger arcane Ron Mon fell in love with someone else’s blog post recently. So much so that you wanted to double check that he wasn’t really a 15-year-old girl living in Kentucky posing as this 40ish something white guy from Buffalo (in other words the opposite of most Internet lies). Ron Mon wrote, “Bravo. As any discerning reader can … well, discern, your blog is not about golf. Rather, it assesses how a thirty-year old man, formerly a prodigee, constructs his life in the face of, well, life. There is no loophole in the points you make, nor the questions ... full post »

Heard from a few friends from Michigan who attended the U.S. Open how heavy handed the security was at Winged Foot. One of them - a grandfather who looks like a kindly grandfather complete with the gray hair, gray mustache and easy smile - recounted how a security lady stalked over and scolded him for not having his ticket badge “displayed properly.” He had the badge around his neck. The wind blew it around, so it was backside up. When he flipped it over and asked if he was in compliance now, the guard shot back something along the lines of, “You ... full post »

Yes, the Old Phil reared his driver head just in time to blow the U.S. Open. And cause Johnny Miller to all but declare him the dumbest American since Homer Simpson. Still, it’s impossible to deny that Phil Mickelson’s decisions made the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. If it wasn’t for Mickelson sending drives sailing into garbage cans (and recovering) and off big white tents (and not coming close to recovering), the final round of the U.S. Open would have been a gigantic bore. Really, does anyone besides Aussie loonies like TravelGolf.com’s own Ian “I can’t even pick the right Australian” Lenton care ... full post »

No one needed Tiger Woods’ back-to-back 76s at Winged Foot more than the imbeciles at PGA Tour headquarters. You can bet Tim Finchem let loose with a cartwheel or two. (If white guys in suits can cartwheel). For if Woods hadn’t imploded in the U.S. Open, any credibility left with the PGA Tour’s schedule would have been blown away. If Woods had been able to contend in the U.S. Open after having not played in a single tournament in more than two months, Finchem could have effectively kissed his Tour goodbye. Or at least introduced it to its new compatriot: Arena ... full post »

I enjoy tweaking the blue blazer crowd at the USGA as much as anyone. And there’s no doubt they make a number of boneheaded decisions over at their headquarters in the New Jersey hinderlands. But in the case of the Golf for Beginners bloggers being denied media credentials to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, the USGA made the right call. And Barry and Stacy provide all the evidence needed in their own blog complaining about it. That’s when they let it slip that they “got plenty of autographs” on an “official US Open hat.” Sorry, if you’re trolling for autographs, you’re ... full post »

Border security, or border sanctuary, dominates the headlines. George W. and The Terminator get in fights over it. CNN’s Lou Dobbs has made a career talking only about it. The furor always seems to center on Mexico. Some people want to build a fence. A few retired guys with nothing else to do in Arizona (obviously not golfers) take it upon themselves to play John Wayne. Whatever we do let’s wait … long enough to import the great attitudes of Mexico’s hospitality workers. No U.S. service business could use this cheer lift more than the golf industry. Spend time playing golf in ... full post »

If John Daly was feeling lonely in sports’ stupidity ward, he needn’t fret. Here comes Ben Roethlisberger barging … er, skidding in … helmetless of course. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ cocky Super Bowl gifted quarterback - let’s face it, he played about as well as Joey Harrington did in Detroit during the big game - almost trumped Daly’s sound gambling recovery strategy with his motorcycle prowess. All Big Ben did was play Big Dummy by driving his sports bike without a helmet or a valid motorcycle license - and getting the expected close encounter of the fender kind. Daly may throw his money ... full post »

Here’s a little bit of sacrilege for all the fawning golf historians out there: Winged Foot’s nice enough, but it’s no once in a lifetime play. It isn’t Augusta National. It isn’t the Old Course. It’s certainly not Bethpage Black. Heck, it isn’t even Baltusrol. Sure, the English Tudor clubhouse sets a neat, staid, stuffy tone, but the West Course itself runs out over largely flat New York land. Give me the showy over-the-top high-end public golf of courses like Wolf Creek in Mesquite, Nev., Mexico’s Cabo del Sol and my new favorite - Lake Tahoe’s Edgewood - any day. For the mid-to-high ... full post »

Is it harder to be responsible for a few teenage kids or 25 fully grown - and supposedly mature - golf travel writers? I’ve never had either group under my care, but I’m starting to lean toward the latter as the bigger headache. I’ve been on one of those press trips to the Reno-Lake Tahoe area - one of those trips were our own Tim McDonald would be whining about the mandatory lavish dinners keeping him up past 7 p.m. Anyway, on this trip - where rental cars are supplied to all the golf writers - one self-intrepid reporter reportedly ran out ... full post »

I’m the worst golfing golf writer in the world. Certified. When I come upon a long par 5, I write down an eight on my scorecard before teeing off and hope nobody calls me on shaving off a stroke. Or three (if there’s any water to shank a shot into nearby). Yet, I putt better than Michelle Wie. When I arrived at my hotel room today, I turned on the TV and stumbled across the Golf Channel - just in time to see the Marketing Miracle blow a shortie on No. 17. Talk about your karma. Sure, Wie went on to birdie the ... full post »

The blue blazer crowd at the United States Golf Association loves to pretend that they are the great golf democracy. They’re bringing golf to the people you know. Every golfer in a USGA championship is treated equal. OK, make that treated equal in theory. For in turns out, that goes out the window when it comes to Michelle Wie. What went unreported in the mania over Winless Wonder’s run at 59th place at the U.S. Open qualifying is that the USGA put Wie’s hole-by-hole scoring at Canoe Brook on its home page, while every other golfer in the field only got their scores ... full post »

TravelGolf.com’s own Tim McDonald got all emotional recently over how great walking the golf course can be. He noted its numerous benefits. Which apparently includes meaning he only has to break out his extensive Richard Simmons’ Sweatin to the Oldies videos for fun rather than a workout. I used to agree with McDonald (on walking courses, not on short shorts Simmons). Until I got to Los Cabos. Walking? Are you crazy? Try to walk a course in this Mexican resort mecca and you’d have half the staff rushing out after you, asking what’s wrong. Trying to walk a course in Los Cabos is ... full post »