Everyone seems to be jumping off the Michelle Wie hype wagon these days joining the rare orginal thinkers who spoke up when the marketing machinery hummed along unquestioned. The latest is Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson (when you’re later then TravelGolf.com’s Tim McDonald to the party, you’re late). It’s getting to the point where you cannot even find a dirty dozen who will admit they were ever Wie Warriors these days. The transformation’s sort of astounding - until you consider the kind of people who tend to latch onto worshipping supposed stars with no backing up results. You have to give ... full post »

Pro golf is in its “Silly Season", which was apparently dubbed that because Dumb Moronically Pointless Cash Grab didn’t catch on with the marketing guys. This is where golf’s stars (liberal use of the term) play for big checks under ridiculous rules with no pressure whatsoever. You really think Fred Couples was sweating it when Stephen “No Name” Ames won the Skins Game last weekend? Couples tried a putt with his wedge, replaced John Daly’s ball on the green with a remote-control ball that swerved here and there. Oh, that Couples. Hilarious stuff. If you live in 1980. Which is where the Skins ... full post »

Driving past a golf course in Michigan on a 44-degree day, found the parking lot filled. Hey, it was 44 and sunny. That’s the Michigan attitude toward golf. If it’s not snowing, if you cannot get frostbite just by opening your mouth, it’s a fine day to play. Imagine how packed the courses are going to be in the Detroit area this week when temperatures are expected to be in the high 50s in something of a brief Indian Summer (when it’s late November and it’s near 60 in Detroit, that’s near summer). Golfers in true cold weather states treat this sort of thing ... full post »

One of my best friends in the world - a woman I went to college with and have known for almost 15 years - often jokingly refers to me as snob. OK, sometimes it’s not so jokingly. My friend is a big lover of diners (she’s spent a little too much time in New Jersey) and I would rather eat just about anywhere but. It’s not that I’m opposed to runny scrambled eggs that might have spent 10 minutes on the floor. It’s just, I can do that at home. When I go out, I would prefer that the menu doesn’t have ... full post »

When We-Ko-Pa opened in 2001, it made a LeBron James-like impact on the Scottsdale golf scene. Golfers fell hard for the Scott Miller design on Native American land without a house in sight. Sports Illustrated almost immediately dubbed it one of the 10 best new public golf courses in the whole world. It came in at No. 2 in the TravelGolf.com 2006 Top 10 Courses in Arizona. Reader Chase King wrote in “I played it last year and I can still vividly remember the course like I have recently played it.” It’s the kind of track that spawns devotees. Which is why the Dec. ... full post »

When I wrote a column calling David Duval the Mike Tyson of golf, I knew someone would come flying in with an outraged, “How can you compare the princely, good-guy Duval to a convicted rapist!” If anything it surprised me how long it took. It wasn’t mentioned until the eighth upset Duval fan’s letter. And then the writer Stuart seemed more upset that Tyson had his face tattooed than raped Desiree Washington. Which proves the point. No one’s booing Tyson because he has a rape on his record. Sadly, that wasn’t what outraged sports fans who attended the first stop on Tyson’s exhibition ... full post »

Look, I’m all for the massage thing. If that’s what gets you going, more power to you. But then they had to go out and make spas look downright ridiculous. The Hyatt hotel chain has started offering BlackBerry Massages in all its upscale spas. And yes, this is exactly what you think it is. It’s a bunch of pretenious I’m-so-important types sitting around a spa getting their thumbs caressed. These are the people who just have to let you know how much time they spend on their BlackBerrys - or as they call them (hah, hah) CrackBerrys, which they believe qualifies as the ... full post »

Retief Goosen coughed up another tournament on Sunday. Only, no one paid attention because he’s Goosen and Tiger Woods also somehow didn’t win. Still, Goosen shooting a final round 73 - including a nifty four-bogey back nine 39 - at the HSBC Championships in Shanghai shouldn’t be overlooked. And not just because it continues to validate something I wrote almost 18 months ago. After Goosen’s Greg-Norman worthy meltdown at Pinehurst in the 2005 U.S. Open, only one golf voice had the courage to declare Retief Goosen done as a major player. And he has been, not coming close to an important win ... full post »

Sometimes finding a golf course in good shape for a reasonable price is enough. Especially in a place like Las Vegas where golfers going in blind can find themseleves paying big dollars for very little value. That’s what makes Painted Desert Golf Club such an unexpectedly important course. This often completely forgotten track is one of the most consistently green and well-conditioned courses in Vegas despite its Sin City-reasonable $109 high-season greens fee. I wrote story about Painted Desert last spring and its greens whisperer superintendent. And it’s nice to see that more Vegas visitors (locals long knew the secret) are discovering it. “As ... full post »

Sure, Dan Quayle didn’t exactly give the most in-depth interview in our celebrity golfer series. Even if Quayle did find time to blame all his political failings … er, obstacles … on golf. (To read the full story, click here.) He refused to discuss the Republican candidate he thinks should be the presidential nominee in 2008 for example. And I didn’t just assume this was because Quayle might not know who the potential candidates are. With that steel trap of a mind and all. Whatever you say about The Murphy Brown Crusader though, he did stop and talk. He’s not close to ... full post »

Dragon Ridge Country Club - the showy Jay Morrish and Dave Druzisky design about 25 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip - closed it doors to outside play on Nov. 1. The owners have said from the beginning that Dragon Ridge would eventually be a strictly members-only club, but still there were golfers enjoying the course over the years (it opened back in 2000) who weren’t going to quite believe it until the day arrived. Now, it’s here and well … you might want to make friends with a Dragon Ridge member. It’s not every day you see lava and a ... full post »

Anyone who went trick-or-treating the other night or stayed at home and handed out candy knows the truth that should be haunting all of Tim Finchem’s NASCAR dreams. The kids just don’t care about golf. Did anyone in the entire country see a kid dressed up as a pro golfer? That Tiger Woods craze is long gone. Kids today are much more interested in being Dwyane Wade, Derek Jeter or in some parts of the country, even Matt Leinart. (Thankfully, not even the youth are on the Ben Roethlisberger bandwagon any more.) Going as a golfer is apparently more lame than that old Friday ... full post »

Cheaters often win in sports - it’s just the nature of life. But are there times when cheating can make you lose? Are there instances where breaking the rules, either through planned out schemes or simple willful ignorance, takes you or your team out of rhythm, invites in defeat? Kenny Rogers and Michelle Wie might want to start asking themselves those questions. There are more differences than similarities between Rogers and Wie of course. Rogers is a 41-year-old cameraman-tossing veteran pitcher who’s about as adorable as an old metal garbage can. Wie is the 17-year-old Nike spokesdream who’s had adult men covertly ... full post »