If you’re going to be in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area this fall, the Genoa Resort course is one course you want to cross off your play list. It’s more of a construction zone than a golf course at this point and nobody needs to be chasing birdies while dodging bulldozers. Often literally. These earth movers are really hauling and they’re not getting out of the way for golf carts. A lady golfer told me about nearly fearing for her life. Or at least her golf clubs (maybe she could have bailed from the cart). Genoa Resort course’s parking lot looks like a construction ... full post »

Tiger Woods usually shows a deep appreciation for golf history. He’s much closer to being the modern gentleman ambassador to the game than a lot of people give him credit for (the swearing fuss is way overblown). But this week of all weeks, when the unquestioned great gentleman of golf Byron Nelson died at 94, Tiger forgot his manners. When asked about his winning streak - which Tiger claims is still alive at five because he lost European events and it’s a PGA Tour streak (this is a gripe for another day) - Nelson’s name of course came up. Nelson holds one ... full post »

One of the few good things about Europe’s roll in yet another Ryder Cup is seeing Paul Casey step up and hit some incredible shots. Casey is the Englishman who rightly said he “properly hates” the conceited American pros on the U.S. Ryder Cup team and finds U.S. fans “bloody annoying.” He took a lot of heat for this - Titleist pulled his endorsement contract, TravelGolf.com’s own Tim McDonald waged a personal war against him that seemed to last for several eons. When all Casey did was show his disdain for an opponent, the fuel that powers winning teams. Casey wasn’t ripping ... full post »

Sure, Sergio Garcia is a mental midget in real clutch golf situations (Ryder Cups don’t qualify). And sure, Sergio shows less fashion sense then the average bum on your average San Francisco street corner. (All yellow outfit in the British Open final round, anyone?) But you still cannot help but love Sergio Garcia. No golfer carries greater word of mouth among average folks in the golf industry than Garcia. He has near Nelson Mandela goodwill. Talk to tournament officials or volunteers and inevitably Garcia’s name comes up as the polite, down-to-earth exception among the mega rich golfers. Garcia drew more such praise in ... full post »

Ben Roethlisberger was back stumbling around the huddle Monday night, giving another lesson in why he’s the most overrated quarterback in NFL history. Big Ben completed 17 of 32 passes for a whopping 141 yards and two interceptions, led the Steelers to zero points. And Steeler fans are just about dumb enough to name another sandwich after him for it. Roethlisberger really makes that offense go, huh? A week earlier with career journeyman Charlie Batch at the helm, Pittsburgh only put up 28 points in a win over Miami. And Batch threw for three touchdowns - Ben’s total in a typical month. But ... full post »

No, Tiger Woods strangely hasn’t asked me yet how to focus on the big stage (even though I once did come within a game of a Madden Championship). And no, Tom Lehman didn’t come to his senses and go to another international coaching source for wisdom (though I do have a better international coaching record than Mike Krzyzewski having once led a group of my little brother’s mostly Irish neighborhood friends to a victory over an Italian family). Heck, I haven’t even put up one of those little U.S. flags in my window. But this doesn’t mean I’m not doing my ... full post »

You come over a hill in the highway and suddenly there’s snow. In September. The white stuff falls against the rental car’s windshield. It covers the pine trees on the side of the road. No, Michelle Wie hasn’t made a cut. Hell hasn’t froze over. You’re just caught in a shockingly early British Columbia snow shower. This was the scene as I drove from one golf course to another. Granted the snow only came in about a half hour stretch of mountain pass. And the temperature that dropped from 68 to 32, went back up to 58 when I reached the next destination. ... full post »

Tom Lehman apparently yearns to somehow finish third at the Ryder Cup. The two-team Ryder Cup. Why else turn to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for international coaching advice. That’s equivalent to going to Martha Stewart for legal advice, to Urkel for tough guy advice, to O.J. Simpson for marriage advice. Coach Overrated K is fresh off guiding the U.S. Basketball Team to a third-place finish at the World Championships. After weeks of fawning press coverage touting how things had changed dramatically under the sage coaching and team building of Krzyzewski, the U.S. lost to a Greece team that couldn’t beat the Atlanta Hawks ... full post »

I was in Lake Placid last month, playing a bunch of the area’s historic golf courses and one round, I ended up getting paired with a Canadian. Now usually I love the Canadians. So much so that I consider myself an honorary citizen (though I’m still waiting for my free health care and maple syrup). My Canadian brothers are unfailing polite, they don’t raise an eyebrow when I crank my first tee shot off a tree and send it screaming backwards 100 yards behind the tee box and they usually tell great stories. But this particular guy went on a rant about ... full post »

Anyone who’s been to both Las Vegas and New York knows that Gotham’s title as the City That Never Sleeps is pure ceremonial hogwash. Sure, you can get a great burger till 4 a.m. at the Corner Bistro on 4th street in New York, but that’s about it … Can you see a Broadway show in New York at 10:30 p.m.? No, but you can in Vegas. Can you go to a nightclub where the action’s only getting started at 3 a.m. in New York? No, but you can in Vegas. Can you get married in a surge of spontaneous love ... full post »

In U.S. destinations as far flung as Reno, Nevada and Lake Placid, New York this summer, I’ve run into a number of hot Polish blondes. The hospitality industry seems to bring them in by degrees of charm. Almost all these women can disarm your typical golf tourist with one smile. I’m starting to think that Poland must be a country that’s only populated by beautiful blondes who speak English better than 80 percent of America. Sort of like the secret Model World George stumbled upon in Seinfeld. So TravelGolf.com’s own Brandon Tucker actually goes to Poland and what does he write about ... full post »

There are some “golf destinations”, you wouldn’t mind seeing take a hurricane hit. As long as people and animals weren’t hurt of course. But the Cabo corridor is one oasis that deserves a giant shield around it. This 19-mile stretch between the party town of Cabo San Lucas and the authentic Mexican town of San Jose del Cabo is a pure treasure of high-end seaside golf. Travel enough and any destination wow tends to evaporate. But Cabo delivered it in spades on my first trip there this summer. It’s easy to see why a number of Americans end up going to Cabo ... full post »