Ego-maniac that I am, the wry smile you see when you read my blog just wasn’t enough. I found a local camera guy (little Mon) and a closed state park course nearby, and went out for a few holes on Tiger’s birthday. The cameralad did his job, so let’s hope that this is the first of many RonMon video blogs. The shot ended up eight feet below the hole. Sadly, I never got to putt, as the park ranger arrived (they must have psychic powers!) and chased us off the course. Happy New Year to ... full post »

In an unanticipated collision of time, space, and Ziparelli, a review-only copy of the Kingdom Of Shivas Irons made its way to my holiday basket in 2006. Inspired by the maniacal, somewhat homo-erotic pursuit of Shivas Irons, I joined a car to a train of my own, seeking the inspirational golf notions for end of days 2006, birth of days 2007. Here is my alliterary list of things you should visit. 1. An independent movie about golf. Sure, the slow-mo scenes of men’s butts walking are overdone, hammy, strained, whatever. The scenery is great, the concept ... full post »

So Terrell Owens hocks a loogie in the face of DeAngelo Hall…they kiss and make up. So Zinedine Zidane head-butts Marco Materazzi in the chest in World Cup soccer…Zidane’s mamma wants to cut MM’s M&Ms off. Could this happen on the PGA Tour? Well, we’ve seen how Tiger Woods holds a grudge. If you’re unfamiliar, check out these situations: 1996…Steve Scott’s caddie/girlfriend laughs at Tiger every time Scott wins a hole. Woods uses it as motivation to come from five down to win. Notable quote: “She ain’t smiling now!” 2000…Michael Campbell pumps himself up to face Tiger in first round of match play championship. ... full post »

For the first time in my lifetime (and probably the last), two golfers were named Associated Press athletes of the year. Lorena Ochoa is the bigger surprise, in that no other female athlete seemed to receive as much coverage for what she did. What she did was to dethrone the queen of the game, Annika Sorenstam, in a way that only Karrie Webb seemed capable of doing. Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie had taken shots, but had fallen woefully short. Ochoa, however, came on like gangbusters early in the year (wins at Takefuji and Sybase before ... full post »

“PLEASE KILL ME NOW Recreational golfer Tom Kenney took a mulligan after he was unable to find his tee shot on the 370-yard 18th hole at Batavia (N.Y.) Country Club, thus wiping out the hole in one he had just scored.” Rushin needs to speak with colleagues Gary Van Sickle and Alan Shipnuck (Heck, even Rick Reilly will do) after blowing the call on this one. Everyone knows that, once a ball is holed, it is holed. The playing of a mulligan would be nullified by the ball’s prior entrance into the hole (as pornographic as it sounds.) I’ve played Batavia ... full post »

I have a friend who recently accomplished a unique feat: rounds of golf in each of the 12 calendar months in western New York. He did not set out to achieve this notoriety, but when unseasonable days in January and February presented themselves, the notion became more than a whim. As of last Friday, he was 11 for 11, and looking for the Dirty Dozen. In a unique intermingling of fate and reality, the Bills were entertaining the Dolphins and I had tickets. Not since my days at Wake Forest had I entertained the notion of heading ... full post »

It turns out that in Idaho, a course called Osprey Meadows was designed by the Robert Trent Jones, jr. firm. It turns out that an Osprey is a type of bird, and a Meadow is a flatland with flora and fauna. It turns out that Golf Digest’s panel of course ranking rankers voted OM the #1, high-end public course of 2006. It turns out that, well, here’s the quote: It won in something of an upset over highly anticipated and highly publicized Bandon Trails, the third 18 at Bandon Dunes, the wind-swept coastal Oregon resort that most visiting ... full post »

It’s beginning to sound like the opening to an old joke, but I have yet to figure out the punch line. Why can’t we play foursomes? Ryder Cup? Nope. Presidents’ Cup? Uh-uh. World Cup? ‘Course not. Latest evidence presented by the prosecution: 2006 World Cup. The treacherous closing stretch at Sandy Lane’s Country Club course was played in -3 by Spain, even par by leaders Argentina and Scotland, -2 by England, and -1 by our World Cup Football rivals, Mexico. The American duo of Cink and Henry…try +3. ... full post »

“The punishing schedule that Kevin Stadler has followed this year has taken its toll. More than 30 tournaments in countries as far apart as New Zealand and Scotland represent a lot of golf. So it is little wonder that Stadler missed his past two cuts, at the Australian Masters in Melbourne and at the Blue Chip New Zealand Open, played at a wet and windy Gulf Harbour outside Auckland. – Scotland on Sunday” This quote, quoted by Truth and Rumors on SI, appears to take Baby Stads to task for his globe-trotting. Nothing could be more distant from the truth. ... full post »

With more than a hint of bitterness, I embark upon this blog. This blog, about a golf course that I will never play, assesses the enigma that is the Tiger formerly known as Eldrick. To borrow a few bars from a sports illustrated article on the next course to come to Dubai, we hear that Tiger has selected the Middle Eastern kingdom to “…hopefully create a memorable, everlasting legacy.” A legacy of what, filthy riches? A legacy for whom, the chosen half dozen? A legacy for when, his own lifetime? To say that I ... full post »

“Where are the LPGA fans obsessed with their tour’s Chris DiMarco equivalent?” This quote, from a recent Chris Baldwin Blog, got me thinking lately. Heck, it even distracted me from my alma mater’s great win in the ACC football championship. Double heck, it even took me away from reading Dot Wong’s evocative prose. Baldwin wonders where, oh where, are the fans…my question is, who is the equivalent? The only blood-and-guts grinder I can come up with on the LPGA Tour is Juli Inkster. Only problem is, she has way more major championships than DiMarco. Three US Ams ... full post »

A poor young man failed in his attempt to sue a school district for the right to compete as a male on a female interscholastic athletic team. This hearkens back to Brian Kontak’s bragadaccio about participating in the US Women’s Open with his wee-wee intact. May I speak for all of society when I write that I am fed up with this polemic? Competition is all about defeating the better opponent. When you conquer one level, you move on. For a male to compete against females in most sports, the point is moot. I have read ... full post »

This is almost laughable. Is Carolyn Bivens broke already? Can’t LPGA.Com afford real-time scoring for their Q-School? Around the corner at PGATour.com, the scoring system is the same as for any weekly event. The ladies are reduced to posting PDFs each round…PDFs, for goodness’ sake. Like this is some inter-office announcement for Schweddy Balls, instead of a Q-School for the top distaff professional tour in the world. If I were a woman, I’d be insulted. Just last…whatever, my glorious self posted a blog ranking the leaderboards on the major tours. If this ... full post »

Sometimes numbers lie. If they don’t lie, they certainly don’t tell the whole story. I’ve spent the better part of 2006 using Steven Bowditch’ misfortunes as fodder for at least one blog per month. You’d think I might have dug a little deeper, imagined a reason for Bowditch’ wildly inconsistent play in his first season on the PGA Tour. Fortunately for me, a little trip around the web to my favorite golf sites uncovered the above-linked article on Steven Bowditch. The New Zealander, a stranger in a strange land, had more working against him than ... full post »

Weep for Steven Bowditch on this Thanksgiving Saturday. In contention at the MasterCard Masters, the lad from NZ roared into contention with 68-69. For those who did not follow in 2006, it was the stuff of nightmares. This is the guy who blows up inconceivably, who graduated to the PGA Tour in 2006 on the strength of a $180000 payday at the Jacobs Creek Open (Nationwide Tour) in Australia. Didn’t need to do much the rest of the year to finish top 20. Since he hit the PGA Tour, thought, we’ve seen one disaster after another. The ... full post »

The most wary of words…If All Goes As Planned…have been applied to the latest golfing stunt, courtesy of Element 21. Element 21 is a rising spec in the golf industry. With offices in Toronto, Jersey City, and a sales distributor in Germany, Element 21 is basing its hopes on two elements: scandium and a shot seen across the sky. Scandium is, briefly, a Russian-designed element, while the shot seen across the skies is a blast from a Russian cosmonaut this evening. Anchored to a special tether, with the ball encased in a unique sleeve, Mikhail Tyurin will ... full post »

It might surprise you to find out that RonMon is half-mennonite, half technologian, and half baked. We know that adds up to three halves, but the third half explains it all. The half-mennonite refers to the fact that cable television is absent in the Mon household. Local stations and public t.v. are all you’ll view if you stop by for a brew (of coffee, that is.) As such, RonMon (third person…nice touch) is left to utilize the various wifi feeds in the ‘hood to keep up with the various tours. Each of the tours presents a live leaderboard of some form ... full post »

With all the news lately about the fourth course at Bandon Dunes, perhaps the most interesting is the role of Tom Doak as architect. Doak calls his design firm Renaissance Golf, and his team of architects, renaissance men. Mike Keiser, the buddha of bandon, has gone on record that, even though he broke with his strategy of unique architects in hiring Doak a second time, the true architect of Old MacDonald will be CB Maxwell, err, I mean, MacDonald himself. Given the locale, the team, and the ownership, how’d you like to have a shot at a paid internship ... full post »

Time for a good battle of words with a fellow blogger. Don’t you hate it when bloggers kow-tow to each other, avoiding a toe-stomp? Well, none of that here at TG. Why, I remember back in the day when I used to argue with Old McDonald and Bold-Whine about … well, actually I forget. No matter. Here you have today’s tift: I wrote a response to CB Maxwell’s maiden blog, where he told us every stinking, unimportant detail of his life, except what brand of toilet paper he favors (I’m told it’s Charmin.) ... full post »

While the young Love IIIs no doubt wore cute costumes related to horseriding or Orange County choppers (like the one they built for Dad), Father Davis III had a much tougher choice. At first, he considered wearing the outfit that won the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. It used to be a nice fit (when he called it the Heritage Classic costume) and made him popular with Ryder Cup captains from the advent of his PGA Tour career through 2005. Another option was the outfit he selected for Thursday’s opening round of the Tour Championship Presented By Coca-Cola, ... full post »

With an extra hour on my hands this Sunday morning, I chanced upon the myriad statistics available on each tour player on the PGA Tour’s official website. Driving distance, accuracy and greens in regulation percentage are fairly standard, long-ball categories. Putting average, sand save percentage, and birdies and eagles are other aspects I would expect to be covered. Total driving is my personal favorite, as it reminds me of Thurman Thomas with the Buffalo Bills in the 1990s. He never led the league in rushing or pass catching yards, but he was always number one in ... full post »

There’s a crazy little thing called the World Amateur Team Championship going on in South Africa. I’m a bit late checking in, but better late than early (wait, that’s not how it goes…) In team competition, Canada held a one-stroke lead over the USA after round two, although Argentina and Denmark closed fast in round three. The format is a simple one…each country provides three players, and the low two scores count. Ergo, with Sebastian Saavedra tossing six birds, one aguila, and a bogey, and companero Estanislao Goya (no relation to the food) cheeping in with 4 birds ... full post »

Column A: Round one of the Q-School is underway. See all the scores here. Go here for relief. Column B: One of us (bloggers) is even after one round. Click here for his blog. Column C: Just heard about this beast: What will they think of next? Anybody got a line on one? Cost estimates? Alternative uses? full post »

The top 30 players and ties in the national finals will be eligible to compete in weekly professional qualifiers held in conjunction with open, full-field Champions Tour events. Nine spots will be available in those Champions Tour events through the qualifiers. The q-school participants be joined in the qualifier by former PGA TOUR and Champions Tour players who meet pre-determined criteria. This plan comes directly from the PGA Tour itself. Yahooo!! I can make it through sectional and national qualifying tournaments, only to have to qualify YET AGAIN on a weekly basis. Can someone explain the logic ... full post »

The news is finally out. The fourth course at Bandon is to be called Old MacDonald, and is to evoke the spirit of Charles Blair MacDonald (or Chuckie B., as his friends from the hood called him when they rolled) and Seth Raynor. Classic golf holes such as Redan, Biarritz, Alps, Sahara, and Cape, will be recreated on the turf north and east of Pacific Dunes. The land, the soil, the terrain, are all perfect for the recreation, and anyone who has not had an opportunity to play a MacDonald or a Raynor will now have that ... full post »

In a thinly-veiled attempt to regain the spotlight of last fall’s Michelle Wie “intervention,” Sports Illustrated writer Michael Bamberger has announced plans to travel back in time and convict Jack Nicklaus of an offense he did not commit. When asked why he waited 32 years to come forth with his allegations, Bamberger revealed that, since he wasn’t actually in attendance at the Open Championship, he could not give eyewitness testimony to the shot that didn’t hit Jack in the back. However, since the only witness to the alleged shot, Joe Dey, currently resides in the great beyond, Bamberger ... full post »

If my keystrokes seem a little erratic, please bear with me. Today, in the US mail, I received a personal nomination from the 2006 US Ryder Cup Captain, Mister Thomas Lehman, to join the PGA TOUR Partner’s Club. My hands were quivering with uncertainty as I gently detached the envelope flap, although not so gently that I avoided a deep, painful paper cut. After applying ointment and bandaging the wound, I managed to read through the blood stains that I have received an honor accorded to a very few golfers throughout the world. If you can ... full post »

Many of you have doubtless read my panning of Tiger Wood’s flat-line technique, aka, the anti-viagra of the arms. Well, I’m here to recant my criticism, and let you know that it does indeed work…for snow shoveling and sump-pump well bailing. If you haven’t seen the news, western New York got hit by yet another “perfect storm” in the past 18 hours. Two feet of Ohio white sand, also known as snow, got dumped on us in the midst of a gorgeous Fall golf season. At 8:30 this morning, I was up, bailing the sump pump ... full post »

I could hardly wait to crack open a cold bottle of Golf Digest, circa November 2007. After all, Tiger Woods promised that I could “Try my flat-line tee-shot technique to hit more fairways.” Cool, thought I. Even if I’m hitting all 14 driving fairways in a typical round, 15 would be even better. It was then that he lost me at “flat-line.” In other words, I was dead, I flat-lined, I could not understand his Cypress version of English. Here’s what he writes: The key to the shot: I BREAK MOMENTUM ON THE FOLLOW-THROUGH ... full post »

I swear to you, I speak his English language, but I am having the hardest time keeping up with Tim Finchem. First I read, way back in the Summer, that the Fed-Ex Cup is set. Then we get the “Chase for the Card,” or whatever the leftover events are called, with Turning Stone Resort supplanting Broome County as the upstate New York event site. Afterward (unless I dreamed this), En-Joie gets a Nationwide Event, then that idea apparently gets pitched for a Champions’ Tour event. Now the Greater Greensboro Open…I mean the Chrysler Championship of Greensboro ... full post »

LOVED: Tiger bouncing the ball off the face of his club, then whacking it into oblivion. HATED: Ball Go Far. Kind of like being drunk with your friends, when everything is funny, then being sober with a drunk friend, and wondering what he finds so funny. ON THE FENCE: Nike Juice 312 See it yourself by clicking here. I’m not sure why they chose mayo, birthday cake, and jello mold. Must be a Portland thing. In Seattle, they would have chosen a latte? In Buffalo, a vat of wing sauce? In Philly, ... full post »

INTRO: I was out for a round today at the currently-being-redesigned Holiday Valley Golf Club in Ellicottville, New York (a trendy little ski town in southwestern New York state.) The course is undergoing a three-year renovation with Paul Albanese, who split from Ray Hearn after completing Mill Creek Golf Club near Rochester, New York. A thought wafted downward on the wind, settling into my placid brain: why must the USA be expected to win at everything? BODY: Recently the USA lost in hoops at the World Championships? USA hockey hasn’t won big since 1980, and that was a stunner. Why? Well, ... full post »

I had the great good fortune of coaching a match this week in upstate New York. Two of the league’s top teams went at it over nine holes, six players a side. After seeds one and two, it was 6.5-1.5 points against my lads. After seeds three and four, it was 8.5-7.5 against, and after seeds five and six, it was…you guessed it…12-12. League rules stipulate that the top seeds play off at sudden victory for as many holes as required. Like a certain Presidents’ Cup match I recall, darkness cascaded around us, with bunkers, greens and ... full post »

Now that the semifinalists for the 2006 US Amateur have been decided, it is time to posit a theory that may hold little interest for many, but should be discounted by none. Trip Kuehne, of the golfing Kuehnes, should be granted (royally or otherwise) a permanent position on the US Walker Cup team. He should hold that post until he renounces it himself, and it should be withdrawn by no other. The reason is a simple one. Until 2005, Gary Wolstenhome had led the GB&I team to three consecutive victories, and four out of five. In fact, had a putt fallen ... full post »

Google Eagle and you should come up with Reno…after Will MacKenzie made three eagles in one round on Thursday, Yusaku Miyazato dunked two tee balls on par threes on Friday. So what wins in Reno, three of a kind or two aces? Not to be forgotten, MacKenzie made another eagle on Friday, for an average of two eagles per day. I don’t care what the air is like up there, or how many things are legal in Nevada…this has to stop!!! Whoops, sorry, got a little carried away there…This has to continue!!! When you are the second-best pro ... full post »

Out went the medalist by 1 down, to the Canadian, Ryan Yip. Out went the McLean lad, by 2 and 1 to John Kelly. Out went Fidel Castro by 2 and 1 to Webb Simpson. Out went Pablo Martin, by 1 down to “Da’ Kid,” Rickie Fowler. In is the Mid-Am, Trip Kuehne, by 4 and 3 over Matthew Swan “Lake". In are the Euro Walker Cuppers, Fisher and Ramsay, by 5 & 4 and 3 & 2 over Hodge and Davis. In is Alex Prugh, by a monstrous 7 and 5 over the other Mid-Am, Strickland. Strick was stricken with ... full post »

The second day of match play is in the books, on the slate, under the tarp, and the winners and losers have emerged. Without adieu, here are the cold, hard facts: Euro Walker Cuppers march on…Oliver Fisher and Richie Ramsay squeeked by, on the 18th and 17th holes, respectively, to move into the round of 16. J-Mo is No’ Mo’…Jonathan Moore will not take an NCAA-USA A double a la Ryan Moore, in 2006. J-Mo was dusted, 2 & 1, by the redoubtable Kyle “Crash” Davis. C-Wa is See Ya’…Casey Watabu will not take a USA PL-USA A double, a la Ryan Moore, ... full post »

“…the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is – and isn’t – a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.” RONMON:These words echo the thoughts of many who follow professional golf, as they seem to be the beacon of light in the darkness of PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem’s period of great expansion. Bent on creating five majors for both the Champions and PGA tours, the commish has pushed his Players Championship to May, and has designated ... full post »

The twins are, coincidentally, both out of the tournament. The Fathauer boys got knocked out, coincidentally, on the 17th hole. One lost, 3 and 1; the other, 2 and 1. The parents are still trying to determine which was which. The Euro Walker Cup guys won two and lost two. The bigger names, Rhys Davies and Lloyd Saltman, both lost. Davies fell to the Flying Finn, Antti Ahokas, while Saltman was dropped by some kid named Tway (more on him later.) The lesser knowns, Oliver Twist (err, I mean Oliver Fisher) and Richie Ramsay, moved on. There will be no Brit ... full post »

In addition to the six guys with the identical initials TBD, there are a number of players who survived stroke play to make the round of 64 at match play in the US Amateur at Hazeltine Regional, err, National Golf Club. Here they are, in no particular order, with the reasoning they bear watching: Tarik Can–Dates (or used to date) Paula Creamer Jon Moore, Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel, Jon McLean–college studs having solid summer seasons Rhys Davies, Richard Ramsey, Lloyd Saltman, Oliver Fisher–Euro Walker Cup heroes Pablo Martin–ungrateful dirtbag who won a major amateur tournament (Porter Cup) in 2005, then decided not to ... full post »

Tim “Old” McDonald, the farmer of prose, lends the notion that Medinah is not acting like a major. Thank God, I respond, Thank God. For too long the notion that under par is a no-no at a major has seeped insipidly into the golf-viewer psyche, to the point where Tiger Woods made something resembling the following claim: It doesn’t seem like a major. A major championship is not decreed by the course on which it is played (Valhalla, a shaved and goateed Pinehurst Dos, a fire-hazard Hoylake, and that unforgettable place wherer Payne Stewart won his PGA.) Rather, it is ... full post »

Here is a brief blog to put two names out there as captain’s picks that I bet you have not considered. The first is a guy who has been a stalwart on the tour for two decades, is the only guy to beat Tiger in a playoff, and has proven his strength recently by coming back from a serious operation. The other guy lived in the shadow of a vicious if supportive father for nearly a decade. He has shown his game by winning once on tour and contending in many other events. The former should ... full post »

Let’s get directly to the corpses: Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich, and (probably) Vaughn Taylor will not be in the top ten of the USA Ryder Cup team when Sunday evening mizzles in. Lumpy, Davis, Cink-Port, Kelly and Glover all have a shot at double-points for a top ten finish this weekend. Heck, with a 6th-place finish, even Aaron Oberholser can make this team. What does that tell you about the system? Although the PGA still needs to work on its selection process, I will go on record as claiming that the PGA championship is infinitely more enjoyable, entertaining, and ... full post »

Use the force, Luke! Lucas Glover, by his own admission, got caught up in the Ryder Cup hype and went AWOL for a few months, made the biggest impression on Thursday. Minus Six! Riley wasn’t bad either, matching him, but it will take more than just one event (unless he wins!) to make the team. If he hadn’t taken a powder in that afternoon match, Riley would be on the short list of Captain’s picks. As it is right now, unless there is a secret bond between him and Lehman, Riley is out unless he ... full post »

That’s right, all capital letters, boys. Time to stand up and say, Captain Tom, I belong. In the words of the donkey in Shrek, Pick me, Pick me! While Blogger Dave examines the Gospel according to Phil and what it really means, and Blogger Kiel wonders how well a middle-aged college coach will do against the world’s best, what matters to me are the guys on the cusp of making and missing the Ryder Cup side, USA style. So here we go: John Rollins, Luke Glover, Stewie Cink, and Jerry Kelly, it’s on you. I have no desire ... full post »

If Tom Lehman wants to win the Ryder Cup so badly that he sees himself as a viable playing candidate, let him have it! He came within an eyelash and a hawaiian of vaulting into the top ten this week in Colorado. None of the other pretenders made anything resembling a move. Heck, Lehman himself may be that veteran force he so desperately needs to steady the ship. Davis? Fred? Scott? Neither their actions nor their words have demonstrated any explosive desire to help the USA reclaim the cup. Yes, Medinah will have the final say, with double points and ... full post »

I’m just too giddy for words. Another Hawaiian teenager, Miss Kimberly Kim from Hilo, has qualified for the finals of the Women’s am. She faces a marauding German in Katharina Schallenberg, so she’ll need to be on top of her game to win the 36-hole marathon on Sunday. Neither Kim Kim nor Schallenber was heralded as a contender when the event began. Both qualified within seven strokes of the medalist (KatSchall at 143, and Kim Kim at 146), so they certainly have not astonished, say, as much as a Leah Wigger (the 64th qualifier) might have. The bigger names ... full post »

Like the seven dwarves, I whistled at Thistle on Friday, so relaxed was the round of golf. Perhaps I owed it to being on the white tees, some 1000 yards shorter than the tips to which I am accustomed. Either way, I would have enjoyed this round. I had no idea who Tim Cates was prior to the round on two of the three nines. He is the architect of Thistle, and is now on my hot list of young designers to watch. Our group, consisting of this venerable writer and John and Scott from Rock Hill, S.C., teed off on ... full post »

Building on success with the Oneida nation of central New York, Robert Trent Jones II has entered into an agreement with the Seneca of western New York to build a golf course in the town of Lewiston, a few miles north of Niagara Falls. The site, next to Joseph Davis State Park, had been slated for golf course development for years. The financing never came together, and the project repeatedly stalled. Then came the Seneca nation. After an exhaustive search that included Jack, Pete, Greg, and other name architects, they decided to employ RTJ2 to design their Niagara County ... full post »

They say that Bobby Jones played the perfect round in a British Open qualifier at Sunningdale. They say that he hit 17 greens, had a lone bunker shot, 33 putts and 33 shots to the greens. His highest score was a four. Having inscribed the “Tiger Slam” next to the “Jones Slam” in the annals of history, Tiger Woods has again rewritten the Jones legacy, this time with the perfect tournament. Completing four consecutive rounds of 66, he made a single bogey each 18, seven birdies per round, and 10 pars each day. He hit 15, 13, 14, and 17 greens ... full post »

Briefly, the USA ladies kept the Cup. They seem to do what the professionals cannot do…get out to an early lead, withstand a challenge, and win the darned thing. Pacific Dunes must have provided tremendous vistas for this exhibition of shotmaking and nerves. Check out the USGA site for pictures. full post »

Never let it be said that yearbook camp is for geeks. I’ve been at one in Gettysburg for two days now, and I can affirm that I am stronger, faster, and better-looking than when I arrived. Yes, you can pretend that Photoshop is to blame, but we all know the truth. Anyway, on to today’s blog entry. Near Gettysburg (about 30 miles west) is the oasis of Penn National, a 36-hole retreat in the mountains of south-east-central Pennsylvania. I know that Baltimore is close, and that Remember The Titans was filmed nearby, but that’s about ... full post »

Here’s the quickest of blogs for you Michelle-Wie debaters. On the heel of her T2 at Evian, I am struck by the similarities to a young David Duval. We remember, in the days before blogs, when Duval finished highly if not with strength, beggin the question “When?” Recall, too, that he had success on the Nationwide Tour, then on the PGA Tour, before finally winning. It appears that Wie must take a similar road. When she closes the deal, we will continue to ask more of her, even a major. Such is the way ... full post »

Last Summer, John Daly debuted a course in Niagara Falls, Ontario, called Thundering Waters. While exact information on his level of participation is scant, he did hit twenty balls across the gorge, in an attempt to conquer the mighty Niagara. He failed. The course, however, is another matter. What it showed me is that Bo Danoff has a future in golf course design. Danoff took a middling piece of railroad property and transformed it into a course reminiscent of Augusta National, Blackwolf Run, and Crooked Stick. That is, he imitates the masters pretty well, ... full post »

How to make news out of nothing…John Rollins received ten more points for winning the B.C. Open than Chris DiMarco earned for placing 2nd at The “Other” Open. And we care…Why? Rollins vaulted past Vaughn Taylor, Lucas Glover, washed-up Davis Love 3.5 and Fred Couples, and Tim Herron into 10th place. If Rollins stays there, then he earns his spot. If not, he drops out of consideration for a wild-card spot. As things stand right now, none of the highly-touted Young Americans (sorry, Bowie) have done anything to justify inclusion as a wild-card pick, other ... full post »

Journalists have selected 2006 to be the year to complain about the British Open. Be they bloggers or respected journalists, targets have ranged from the quality of the course to the club selections of the champion golfer of the year. One noted pundit gave us an unnecessary up-close-and-personal list of ten-plus reasons why this year’s reunion stunk like feet. I find all this interesting, as opposed to boring and noxious. Having done a bit of television and radio, sometimes you have to adopt a tack you would not logically, sanely take, all for the purpose of generating discourse ... full post »

Well, the good news is that Captain America (Chris DiMarco) moved up to sixth, ejecting Lucas Glover from automatic qualification. Jim Furyk strengthened his hold on third place. Sadly, Vaughn Taylor, Brett Wetterich and J.J. Henry still hold onto automatic q-places. Which one do you think Tiger will pick as his partner? The more I think about it, how bad can it get if those three rooks make the team? Toss them out as chum against Westwood and Montgomerie in alternate shot. What’s the worst they can do, lose? That places them in ... full post »

I know, I know…you’ve called the men in white coats to come and get me. While eyes were trained on the region of Hoyl Lake and the 67s of Woods and O’Hair, I was looking at central New York and the rolling flatlands of Verona and Vernon. The tournament’s final twosomes have yet to cross the 16th green, but the event is over. Moments after Bob May drained a birdie on 18 to get to -18, John Rollins one-upped him by posting an aviator of his own to finish -19. Overnight low Swede Hjertstedt is -1, ... full post »

Many pretenders delude themselves by misleading others that “The Open” championship is under contest this week on a continent other than North America. Upstate New York, specifically Verona, is the site of the true “Open” championship of July, 2006. Forget Royal Liverpool, how about Two Gentlemen of Verona? Old Will (and I’m not talking about the anciente, decrepit Wolfrum) would certainly appreciate the latter reference. The two gentlemen might be the Maruyama boys (no relation.) Daisuke and Shigeki find themselves 3 and 4 strokes (respectively) off the lead, heading into round four. Or they might be ... full post »

I’m sitting here resting my bones…that’s from a song by Otis Redding. Anyway, while I’m resting my bones, I’m reading an article in the August issue of one of the major magazines,by Dave Pelz, on short game distances. In my life at golf, I’ve read two of his books on the short game, and profess that they have helped me beyond words. However, with some time for meditation, I’ve noticed some interesting number gaps in the table he provides for the magazine. Employing a four-wedge scheme, Dave provides distances from 28 yards to 100 yards using a three-length method. In clock ... full post »

The Italian Heritage festival is in full swing on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo. Lots of fattening foods and fun rides for the adults and kids. Lots of attractions whose prior billing may not live up to reality. Funny how entertainment mirrors real life. Hale Irwin, all 60+ years of him, is playing in the Scottish Open on the Euro Tour this week. Old Faithful posted seven birdies, including five in a row, to finish at -3, three strokes behind a couple of no-name leaders. Sure, old Hale had four bogeys, but what a run on the ... full post »

What Tim Finchem planned for 2007, Mother Nature brought about in 2006. The B.C. Open has officially been moved from En-Joie Golf Club to Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort, denying the small central New York town one last opportunity to entertain the big boys of the PGA Tour. For those of you who live in metropoli, this is a minor tremor on the richter scale. For folks who live in smaller towns and villages, the B.C. Open represented the last vestiges of a PGA Tour known to our parents and grandparents. In an era known as the ... full post »

Crow Creek is in the right place at the right time. If you are over the age of 25, tired of the madness of Highway 17 North Business, yet not of the age yet to enjoy the extreme tranquility of the towns south of Myrtle (Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, and Georgetown spring to mind), the place to be may be north of North Myrtle, just over the border in Calabash, NC (Google it! I can’t get the link to work.) About an hour from Wilmington, but less than 30 minutes from the Estrande Grande, Calabash is situated to take advantage ... full post »

Wachesaw East is not Wachesaw Plantation. With a 6:30 tee time, Uncle and I had precious little time to waste on screw-ups. We spun our ride around and went the five minutes to the correct Plantation, in time to sneak into our spot, get the First Group flag, and sweep the dew. The foursome behind was champing at the bit to overtake us, but we had a secret arsenal the likes of which make Kim Jung Il blush: we skipped a hole! How many great par threes over water, with pins tight behind bunkers, can you play? I mean, ... full post »

The MonFam arrived in Surfside Beach on Sunday, and Mr. Mon headed to True Blue on Monday for his first taste of Mike Strantz golf. Having read for years about this architect who left us too soon, it was time to experience his worth first-hand. True Blue underwhelmed me at the start, with a modest club drop and practice facility, which is always a good thing. Huh? Well, if you are blown away by the attendants and the range, you might forget that what matters is the course. True Blue is true in senses of the word not yet imagined. Strantz ... full post »

No one is belittling anything Jack Nicklaus ever did…that he was denied Freedom Of The City (as Bobby Jones and Ben Franklin received before him) was a bit snippy on the part of the meisters of the burgh of St. Andrews. However, the blow was cushioned with the issuance of a monetary bill with the golden bear in his glory. A story in Golf Digest struck a different tone, as it resonated with the theme that has echoed throughout golf since Tiger Woods hit the scene: african-americans and golf. I do not say “minorities,” as latinos and asians ... full post »

Never too early to fire the first salvo in the Ryder Cup wars. Taking a virtual tour of the K Club’s Palmer Course, it occurs to me that more blood might be spilled, and more shorts might be stained, by the closing triumvirate of holes than at Kiawah Island in 1991. The water courses on holes 16-18 appear left, right, and center, and should claim a number of victims, mostly from the US side. Why? Check it out. Number 16 is a wee par four of 395 yards or metres (I can’t tell from the site.) It appears that surrounding trees ... full post »

Having just crawled out from under a rock, I beg your forgiveness. The new tee time structure on the PGA tour has me in awe of someone (maybe Finchem, maybe not). I stumbled onto today’s tee times, Sunday at Booz Allen, as I was pirouetting through the PGATour.Com site. Middle-Agers like me remember the single-tee, consecutive-start-beginning-at-dawn on weekdays and weekends. This new structure has players going off one and ten, all within a two-hour (1-3) period. Brilliant! If someone lights it up on the front, the back, or both, the cameras are ready. ... full post »

If you’re not following the Booz Allen Classic this week, tune in to PGA.Com for the PGA Professional National Championship. Sure, a few of these guys get to play in the USGA Open each year, and one or two actually make the cut. For the other 99%, the CPNC is their national championship. This year it arrives in upstate New York at the Turning Stone Resort, near Utica (huh?) Turning Stone boasts courses by Rick Smith (the guy who taught Phil how to play safe), RTJ Junior, and Tom Fazio. Rumors abound that at least two more courses will be built ... full post »

The way I see it, Miles Byrne (Ian Woosnam and the 15th club) and Christopher (Jean Van de Velde and the driver on 18 at Carnoustie) have company in the caddie hall of shame. They can now hold chairs for Monty’s looper and Bones MacKay, who could have should have would have, but didn’t, say something meaningful at the proper time. There he was, ready to claim the major title that had long eluded him. Long birdie putt on 17, fairway-splitting drive on 18, and Monty had a little shot into the green. After waiting with the proper club in ... full post »

Never, under any circumstance, should you pick the following to contend in a major championship (or even make the cut): David Toms…His sun has set. He is short, like me, and not burly, like Jason Zuback. His game is quaint and less than powerful. His putter is not hot enough to ever bring him close again. Davis Love III…The southern gentleman has his hand in everything but golf preparation. He has a family, and has no desire to alienate anyone through 100% devotion to the trade that got him here. Michael Campbell…Once and done. The Paul Lawrie of ... full post »

5:59 EST, with the projected cut at +9. Here are some of the notables. Feel free to criticize everything I write, with vehemence, venom, and vinesse (all right, the last word is fake.) I’m out, I’m in, I’m out, I’m in, I’m out Award: –Allan Doyle, thanks to a bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey finish. I’m Clutch! Award: –Stephen Gangluff, thanks to a birdie on the 450 yard 18th hole to get to +9. I almost barfed it away Award: –Ryuji Imada, +4 over the final five holes to finish at +9. Ryuji Imada Award: –Tim Herron, who scored +4 ... full post »

1. Great for the game of golf. Lots of hits to lots of websites that were tracking her progess, shot by shot. Raise your hand if you didn’t check out something else on the USGA, SI, PGA Tour, or Golf Channel sites. I know that I did. 2. Wie simply cannot putt really fast greens. This is the area where I agree that her avoidance of a ladder-style tournament evolution has hurt her. Had she learned to make pressure putts on slow, junior golf greens, she would then have transitioned to faster, women’s am ... full post »

I’ll start with Duffy Waldorf. You know him, but he survived a 15-for-1 playoff in Columbus, besting the likes of John Daly, Joe Daley, Jeff Maggert, Joe Ogilvie, Justin Rose and Kirk Triplett in the playoff. Let’s move across town to Columbus #2. Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia shot 65-69. If Ghana can make the World Cup, MaMu (his new nickname) can win THE OPEN!! If a Brazilian defender can be labeled KaKa (which means caca in every language on the globe), then we can knight the marvelous Madalitso Muthiya MAMU. Amateur heaven in Cresswell, Oregon, where Jonathan Moore completed ... full post »

Some of us are linear thinkers, while others are balloon-grabbers. The linear thinkers trace every line and connect all the dots. Balloon-grabbers respond to whatever stimulus or balloon floats by, and complete that particular task. As COO of Balloon-Grabbers International, ideas tend to circle my head with alarming regularity. One of those ideas that recently occurred to me was a way to make the Old Course at St. Andrews less popular. Why do people want to play the Old Course? History, you say. Remember that the Old Course, like most of written and oral history, ... full post »

Of late, I’ve been reading an interesting book by Eyal Press called Absolute Convictions. It details the battle over abortion rights in Buffalo and the USA during the 1980s and 1990s. For those who recall, Dr. Barnett Slepian was murdered by James Kopp, an ultra-right wing zealot who believed that violence was the solution to the problem. Press’ father, Dr. Shalom Press, worked with Slepian, and was next on “the list,” according to federal marshals. One of the points that Press makes quite eloquently is that a lot of white males go around making presumptive decisions for the ... full post »

Baldwin and McDonald, tired of the relentless assault of Michelle Wie supporters, have teamed up under the pen name of “Brett Avery” on PGATour.Com to chronicle the sectional qualifying rounds. No word on the legal ramifications. Seriously, can anyone explain Avery’s negativity? I guess the PGATour.Com folks are tired of getting scooped in the blog world by the dopplegangers themselves, messrs. McDonald and Baldwin. full post »

CLICK HERE to follow the USGA Open sectional qualifying at Canoe Brook. This is no blog, just a public service announcement. Cheer for John Pharr, too, who played on my golf team (the one I coach) a few years back. He is now a golfer at NYU. –Mon of the Ron P.S. If the link doesn’t work TRY THIS ONE and click Real Time Scoring near the top. full post »

Destination: Kohler, seemed like an appropriate log entry on Friday, Mem Weekend 1 as three guys piled into a beaten but proud 1998 Caravan, 11 hours shy of Kohler, Wisconsin. The land of milk and honey (not to mention cheese and big flags) beckoned like Eden, Valhalla, or the Ganges, calling us to the shores of Lake Michigan, reworked by the architect and Herb Kohler to resemble something natural, from somewhere else. Having surveyed the two route options, we decided to avoid the Buffalo-Fort Erie and Windsor-Detroit international-incident stops and stick to a NY-PA-OH-IN-IL-WI approach. We arrived around 11:30 ... full post »

I don’t pretend that this idea is at all original, but every time a golf course goes private or public, I revisit this notion. Why, oh why, doesn’t a true, semi-private golf club have more of a place in our golfing society? The old-money private clubs have no need for income, so they simply close their courses on Monday. Less-affluent clubs open their tee decks to charity events as money-makers on the first day of the work week. What if you took your less-affluent club, made Mondays available for charity events and outings, and opened play up to ... full post »

Dateline: 12 May Saratoga Springs, NY I’m ostensibly up here to review Saratoga National, a Roger Rulewich design. The real reason I made the trek to the North Country is to watch our son row a boat in the state crew championships. He has no idea how good he is and could be, and doesn’t plan to row in college. From 40 looking back, it’s hard to keep quiet and respect his decision. I’ve spent the last month coaching my school’s girls golf team. We start out in one of the area’s two domes, spend a month of snow ... full post »

Just a bit of a drop while I’m waiting to head to Kohler. I’ve never torn an ACL. In fact, without mapquest, I probably couldn’t find my ACL. However, I know enough about the injury to tell you this…it takes time. Remember Edgerin James’ long road to recovery with the Colts? How about Willis McGahee and the Bills? It’s never a sure thing, and it takes patience and tons of rehab. Everyone expected Tiger to return to top form immediately, but the reality was that he needed more than a year. The ... full post »

We’ve seen this before, when Letterman went to CBS and NBC got nothing in return. CBS is about to get a terrific reporter in Couric, to replace a guy in Bob Sheafer, who never really wanted the job long-term. So that NBC does not get screwed again, it’s time to send the Masters to NBC, for a number of reasons. Reason # 1–Lanny Wadkins. Kiel Christianson discusses this one at length, so I won’t go overly into detail. Suffice it to say that Wadkins is a menopausal emotional blob whose pithy vocabulary drags every colleague down, as they attempt ... full post »

The amateurs at Augusta put Bobby Jones to shame this year. Here’s the sad story: British Am Champ Brian McIlhenney-80 & 75 (low chop) US Am Champ Edoardo Molinari-80 & 77 (low Italian chop) US PubLinks Champ Clay Ogden-83 & 76 (low muni chop) US Mid-Am Kevin Marsh (low older chop)-79 & 81 US Am Runner-Up Dillonn Dougherty (low long-haired chop)-82 & 78 The better round score (counting Ogden and McIlhenney from Friday) would still miss the cut by five strokes. I’m not going to go into the horrible individual holes turned in by this shameful fivesome (after all, Duval double-parred number two on ... full post »

I’m not trying to drive traffic away from TravelGolf.Com (unless it’s toward BuffaloGolfer.Com, which is currently down–don’t go there.) However, if you are at the office, go to Masters.Org and watch Live From Amen Corner. First time ever…you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren that you watched it live over that old technology, the internet. *****Update # 1***** Rocco Mediate played Amen Corner in birdie-par-birdie. Amazing! However, the benign holes like 9 and 14 are jumping up and grabbing people so far. *****Update # 2 (COMING SOON)***** full post »

Buffalo weather has been extraordinarily finicky this year. Hell, this week! Sunny on Monday, chilly on Tuesday, Snow on Wednesday, with more sun, rain and snow to come Thursday and Friday. I took advantage of the first of ten spring-break days to hit the Glen Oak Golf Course on Monday, to ring in the season with Robert Trent The Jones, Senior. I have been on something of a reading binge this last few months, with three titles at the top: Zen Golf, Fearless Golf, and Every Shot Must Have A Purpose. They all deal with mental ... full post »

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Jean Van de Velde has unburied ghosts from his Carnoustie crash of 1999. Whereas he clearly did not have tha maturity to handle a three-stroke lead on the final hole, ultimately making triple, then losing in a playoff, the skies have cleared for the Frenchman. Sporting a four-stroke advantage with four to play, the master of the minuet eventually stood on the 18th tee three strokes clear of the field…and made double. Tears flowed from my sockets as I envisioned the maturity it took to make six on a par ... full post »

*It must have been ugly. 44 on the front nine, capped off by a quad on the relatively-benignth (get it?) hole. On the back, a double and two singles, sandwiched around his only birdie of the day, on the really-benixteenth (all right, that’s pushing it.) In “The tournament soon to be known as a major” (don’t get me started on that one…Finchem using his weasely lawyer muscle to invent a major makes me vomit), Davis Love III may have made his last stand. You don’t ever enter another prominent event and not recall an 83 ... full post »

After all the research that Dave Pelz did in the 1970s and 1980s on the short game, younger players still ignore its importance. Comments on another recent post got me thinking, and I can now predict that not only will Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia NOT win a major or any other event this year, they will fold under pressure of any sort. Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia have outstanding long games. From tee to green they are wonderful exponents of the game. At the Honda, Donald began to collapse on consecutive holes by making bogey from 60 yards out IN ... full post »

Gentlemen and Ladies, it’s high time we accepted the veracity of a number of statements, hypotheses, and postulations applied to the game of golf. Many have attempted to dispel them, but their efforts have been futile. Now, armed with no facts and little proof, I hereby decree the following to be 100% true, now and forever, ad infinitum, hocus pocus, ides of March. 1. Women are slow and incapable golfers. 2. Young golfers are rude and destructive. 3. The stiffer the golf shaft, the more appropriate it is for your game. 4. The harder you swing, the better ... full post »

1. How is it that Michelle Wie is shooting up the Rolex rankings when she pimps Omega watches? It’s a given that she is number one in the Omega rankings, ahead of such luminaries as Patty Berg, Betsy Rawls, The Great Gundy and The Babe, not to mention such current slackers as Annika and Paula, but so high on a rival watch company’s list? Hmmm… 2) How undesirable is this Honda Classic? It has been evicted from more courses than Cheap Bastard and Tim McDonald combined! The current course looks like more fun and excitement ... full post »

Take out two benign par three holes, and Tiger Woods is leading the Ford tourney by five strokes. Without the bogey on Friday and the double on Saturday, the artist formerly known as Eldrick has a clean slate for the week. The lethal combination of birdies (t1) and greens in regulation (t2) is offset by his being tied for sixth in double bogeys (LOL). What Tiger and others are doing to Doral is evidence that the Florida mainstay is outdated. Face it, what can you do to a flat golf course…fill in the fairways with sand, and dot ... full post »

The marquee pairing for Saturday at Doral will be Tiger and Phil, no doubt. Both posted -13 before Verplank and Villegas, so the brothers V should play in the penultimate pairing, while the brothers “me” should be the final twosome. Keep your eyes two guys tied for 9th, however, as it should provide an interesting matchup. Zach Johnson, 2004 Nationwide money winner, and Troy Matteson, 2005 cash king, are tied at -9, four shots back of the leaders. With Phil and Tiger atop the pride, it’s too much to hope for anything less than a 1-2 ... full post »

As Michelle Wie scales the LPGA ranking ladder, I remember the last time a young golfer ascended with such fanfare. Watching Curtis Strange condescendingly interview Tiger Woods, scoffing at the notion that he could attempt to win every time out, comes hauntingly back as bloggers, commentors, and others applaud and belittle the rise of Michelle Wie. If anyone deserves to be criticized, it is those who are not the golfers, who predict too much, too soon, or give credit/discredit for things that have not happened. Fortunately for Tiger and Michelle, they produced/have produced very quickly. There is no ... full post »

Jerry Pate won today. Not always the most humble guy, he was Payne Stewart before Payne was Payne, and long after Payne stopped being Payne (you follow me?) Old Jerry is one of the few old gassers to have his own website (make clicko here.) However, the win is still pretty cool, especially after last year, when he barfed away a Champs Tour win with a final-hole ball dunking. Michael Bamberger, part-time tour interventionist, seems to be quite elated for Pate. Bamberger praises Jerry’s diving style, even if Pate falls a bit short of Greg Louganis. ... full post »

Jerry Kelly looks like a young Jack Nicholson in his PGA tour dot com mugshot. That’s saying quite a lot about Nicholson’s age, as Kelly is 39 years young! However, this blog is not in praise of Jerry Kelly, but rather, to bury him. I don’t care if he wins this week or not, and he’s currently tied with another under-achieving w(h)iner (get it? w(h)iner!!), Duffy Waldorf. I used to like both these guys, but they just don’t seem to want to win enough for me. Scratch that. Rewrite. Duffy doesn’t want ... full post »

I can’t help but equate his scorecards to a horrific collision of vehicles. They changed his picture on PGAtour.com, but Bowditch’s scores are still as menacing as his former mug shot. Consider this: First Round at Tucson … four birdies, four bogeys, not so bad. The cut will be at -4, so a 68 will get you through to Saturday. Wait, add in a double, a triple and a quad. That’s right, 8 on the par four ninth, 7 on the par four sixteenth, and 6 on the par four 18th. What demons have bewitched ... full post »

Lee, Lee and Wie. Easier to pronounce, if less fun, than Nirapathpongporn or Wonglukiet. There she was, putting on a charge in the style of Joanne Carner or Arnold Palmer. Five under for her first twelve holes, near the lead, and Michelle Wie could not shake Meena Lee (Or Lee Meena, if you will.) Wie made a pivotal bogey on the par five thirteenth, where both Meena and Seon Hwa birdied (two-stroke swing). It’s hard to critique your one mistake for the round, but when Meena makes none (five birdies and a 9-Wood-hole-out for eagle ... full post »

Update # 4 … All is said and done. Geoff beat Davis and Zach beat Tom. The #1 who surprised me the most was Retief. I thought that he would be the first # 1 out, and he was the last one standing. Match play truly is a window into the soul (more on that in my next blog!) I thought this one was a great event, with lots of eagles on par 5s and 4s. Lots of birdie streaks (Tiger, DiMarco, et al.) Update # 3…The up-down match of the tournament is Weir vs. ... full post »

1. The comportment of the fans at Riviera was embarassing. Since when do golf fans root against someone? I know, I know. Monty and Mrs. Doubtfire, Sergio and the Counting Fans at Bethpage. That’s all well and good when it’s the Ryder Cup, but for heaven’s sake, don’t mock, jeer or insult a player trying to win an event. That’s like hockey parents trying to relive their failed careers through their kids, except the fans aren’t even related to the players. 2. Jeff Rude finally wrote the blog I’ve been dying to write. ... full post »

Over the last few years, I’ve become a fan of a healthy little golf mystery series. Dr. Roberta Isleib invented a terrific character named Cassie Burdette, a struggling young golf professional with a penchant for involvement in murder-related mysteries. I don’t wish to bore you with details nor give away plot structure, so I suggest you read the books yourself. Dr. Isleib, a clinical psychologist by trade, knows both the human mind and the golf game beyond well, and does the requisite research (to supplement her training) to flesh out the books. The latest tome arrived yesterday. It’s ... full post »

Not since the days of Greg Norman has Cobra had a winner on tour. Back in the late 1980s, the Shark purchased the company and set about driving it to the heavens of popularity. After its sale to American Brands, and later to Acushnet, Cobra was relegated to second-class status, andits recognition and stock fell to the basement. The great thing is, JB walks the walk on this one. He’s not just carrying the bag, wearing the hat, or playing different sticks while “waiting” for the company to develop a “signature” club for him. He had the ... full post »

I can’t even wait until Monday for this one. Playing on a past champion/current announcer/GaryMcCordLookAlike exemption, Roger Maltbie snuck his way into the ATT field this week and teed it up Thursday at Spyglass Hill. He played like Steven Bowditch’s mentor. Here’s the card: Six bogies Two doubles Five birdies Five pars Hold on a second … five birdies? Maltbie made five birdies and still shot five over? Wait, it gets better. Three of his bogies were on par five holes. Holes that even the most ancient of pros expect to birdie, and Roger Dodger played them like ... full post »

If you hang around golf enough, you’ll find enough stories to break your heart. Hanging around the European Tour site, I followed a link to the co-sanctioned (Tour de las Americas and Euro Challenge Tour) event in Costa Rica, the Kai Fieberg Costa Rican Open. The event would have eventually been named for Kai Fieberg in life, given all that he did to promote the championship. Tragically, the event will now bear his name forever, in homage to yet another man who died too young. For each Eli Callaway, who makes it to a ripe old age and passes on, ... full post »

Dave Vivolo is not a big name in the world of golf. He is the golf coach at Robert Louis Stevenson School, best know for giving us the Firestone guy on one of those Bachelor seasons, and head pro at Monterey Peninsula Country Club, the Cypress Point of the Monterery Peninsula (wait a second, let me think that one over.) He also has a mouth that runneth over. In an article of late, he is quoted as saying about Mina Harigae: “I think she could beat most women in the world right now, on any stage, ... full post »

Has anyone else noticed the softening of Tiger Woods’ intimidating red shirts on Sunday? Gone from Sunday at San Diego were the rubines and the deep maroons. Disappeared from Dubai were the carmines and crimsons that triumphed in major championships of yore. Maybe, just maybe, the softer reds (some call this one ’salmon’) are the influence of his lovely wife. Perhaps, just perhaps, he is so darned intimidating that he doesn’t need the powerful scarlets and falus that remind his opponents that he is out for blood. Just a thought on a boring Monday morning. full post »

Only three names drive the golf media triangle into hyperspace: Woods, Wie, and Daly. Wie’s failings on the men’s tours, coupled with Daly’s failings in life, attract vicarious attention like no other news items. To dispense with the vice, this blog is not about Wie or Daly. I’ve been watching the European Tour site for the last hour for any results in the Woods-Els playoff. Initially, Ernie’s name was on top, but now it looks like Tiger has seized the upper hand of victory. Yes, Tiger has won. The update just arrived. The news is so ... full post »

Shigeki Maruyama, John Senden, Brett Quigley, Bob Tway, Nicholas Thompson and Rod Pampling made the cut on the line Friday in Scottsdale. Ten other guys, including Pavin, Lehman, and Mayfair, missed the cut by a stroke. Six guys get to play for more cash this weekend, while ten others replay the last three holes, wondering what might have happened. Interesting Facts: –Campbell and Maruyama birdied the 36th hole to get into the low 72 and ties. If either one bogeys, 71 are at -1, and the other ten mentioned above play the weekend. –After three bogeys in 8 holes, Quigley ... full post »

Check out Tiger’s first 36 holes in Dubai. They are curious for the following reasons: –Tiger has made 12 birdies and 2 eagles, yet is “only” eleven under par. –Tiger is an aggregate +1 for the 18th hole. Nothing extraordinary if … it weren’t a par five! When is the purr-fect one EVER over par for a par five? –Tiger pitched a double bogey and two singles against his eight birdies and eagle in round two. You want roller-coaster excitement? Watch the last two rounds of the Dubai and see if Tiger can settle down and ... full post »

If you want to read the GQ article, I’ll give you a link at the end. In the meantime, Let’s remember who is calling whom what. Professional golfers are not noted for their selflessness. Nor for that matter are professional athletes. Gandhi wasn’t a pro, but he was a heck of a man … same goes for Mother Theresa, except she was a woman. People who dedicate themselves to singular pursuits are bound to anger many, especially those who have the same pursuits. I do love the nickname FIGJAM (read about it in the ... full post »

Mianne Bagger is in the hunt after one round of the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia. I know that it’s only one round, and she is three strokes off the lead. The fact that she used to be a guy, however, mashes the Michelle Wie controversies (I won’t even link this one!) into small potatoes. What if Bagger wins? Certainly Baldwin will be tongue-tied (or is it keyboard-tied?) Tiger is near the top again in Dubai. Only trouble is, so are Jamie Donaldson, Richard Green, and Ross Bain. I just don’t know how ETW keeps ... full post »

Many have tried to define, nay, to explain the source of Tiger’s tiger. All have failed. Until now. I choose to reveal this history at the dawn of Tiger’s quest for greatness, the Grand Slam of 2006. When Tiger was but a cub, his mother dipped him in a Thai river called the xyts (pronounced ‘zits.’) She held him by his third toe on the left foot, so the only vulnerable part of his physique is … you guessed it, the middle toe. Another version of the story describes Tiger’s venture into a circular 99-hole golf maze. ... full post »

Bangkok Al is batting .500 this week, which will get him into the Major League Baseball hall of fame. He is on the mark with his assessment of Thongchai Jaidee, but DEAD WRONG on his vilification of The International, my favorite go-for-broke PGA Tour event on the schedule. In what other tournament can one swing on the seventeenth or eighteenth holes determine the outcome, as it can in The International? Remember how Rich Beem looked as Steve Lowery was sizing up a two-point birdie putt to overtake Beem? That was awesome emotion, Al! In the same way, match ... full post »

The Spider has gone public. Now I can write this blog. Yay for me. Sean Cochran’s book and I have been like Thelma and Louise this last week. Of all the exercises that Phil Mickelson’s conditioning coach introduced to me, the Spider is the most demanding and the one I cannot, simply cannot, envision Phil doing. I am a lean guy, 5′9″ and 170 pounds, and I cannot do more than ten spiders before collapsing in agony (or as Sean likes to put it, “own level of tolerance.") I feel as though I’ve had ... full post »

In 1974, a Belgian feminist named Luce Irigaray published a volume called Speculum Of The Other Woman. The tome provoked the wrath of followers of Jacques Lacan, from whose camp Irigaray departed with this work. What she detailed was the exclusion of women from traditional psychological and philosophical treatises, perspectives, and forms. This is interesting why? Because the Big Break V is about to start on TGC, and its presentation seems to both contradict and support Irigaray’s assertions. On the one hand, the Bachelor has had only one Bachelorette series, with America clearly preferring women chasing men. ... full post »

You’ve noticed by now that I like to look at high and low scores. Like a blockbuster movie, I love the holes that cause train wrecks and rescues, the ones that move you WAY up or WAY down. Here’s what we have in this hemisphere for this week: High Ringer Scores PGA Tour Rd 1 – Joey Snyder III – 85 1 quint, 1 trip, 2 doubs, 3 boges, 2 birds Rd 2 – BJ Staten ... full post »

Can you hear the sounds of our youth blasting across a golf course? Hip-Hop, R&B, Rap, Metal, and good old Rock and Roll take turns setting a hypnotic pulse to which the game’s alternate rhythm beats. Can you see the colors of the game, greens and browns and sky blues, complemented by pastels, neons, and other, less-muted tones? Dress, equipment, hair, even the playing grounds take on a distinctive hue as a box of crayons spills into the dye of the ancient sport. Can you envision the outcome of a round of golf changing? Numbers, hole counts, ... full post »

Like my new picture? I went for the David Feherty look, but I can only look so sinister. Oh well, it’s certainly an improvement over old pasty guy. Maybe my writing will improve (although old Arnie and Under Par might wonder if that could ever happen.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sean Cochran’s book on golf-specific training arrived yesterday. My curiosity about spiders and other stretches/exercises was sated, and I went through my first workout today. It made me walk differently than I believe I ever have; I felt like a child taking his first steps. This is a good thing. ... full post »

Here are some reasons why I support slow play in golf. Feel free to roast my arse on a spit over hot coals. 1. They charge us enough, so we should enjoy the darned course. 2. I paid enough for these clubs, so I might as well enjoy hitting them often. 3. Kids need to pay for things by finding my lost golf balls and selling them back to me. 4. If my boss is climbing up my behind all week long, I deserve a chance to be master or mistress of my domain for a few hours in ... full post »

I was driving along when it hit me: Superman always wilted in the presence of kryptonite on Earth, right? So how come we see all those Kryptonians cruising around their planet, before it blew up, as if nothing was the matter? The whole planet was made of the stuff, so why weren’t they doubled over in pain, just like Kal-El is on Earth, everytime he comes in contact with the deadly rock? I guess it wouldn’t be all that dramatic if he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “crap, there go my powers. Someone want ... full post »

Punctuating his four days in Palm Springs with a six-bogey, one-double, one-triple, three-birdie Saturday, Steven Bowditch’s over-par performance necessitated a trip to the drug store. Kaopectate, Immodium, gas-x, anything to relieve the spate of flatulent bogitis that runied his time in the desert. That’s seven pars and lots of entertainment on the day. If he could have turned some of those big numbers down, and few more pars into birdies, his 12 birds and 3 eagles would have granted a top-twenty finish. **** Campbell had 27 birdies, four eagles, a double and four singles, in addition to a nest of pars ... full post »

If your tire picks up a puncture today, and the culprit is a loose screw, please do Jennifer Mario the favor of returning it. Our beloved redhead has gone over the edge, with a blog on the odds of Wie winning a men’s major, established by a British bookmaking service at 2-1. The way it is, Michelle Wie will never qualify for a men’s major. The Hawaiian Open is her major. 2-1 is set to sucker people in who might not otherwise bet. Who can resist such odds? What’s that? Low odds make people thinkg ... full post »

You know that a story is developing when a guy plays the same course as Mr. 60 (aka Pat Perez) on the same day, in 19 more strokes. I took a quick look at Steven Bowditch’s numbers on Wednesday at the Palmer Course, and realized that he made two doubles and four bogies on his way to that seven-over score. On Thursday he made four more bogies, yet still managed to shoot -3. Today, the guys made two more doubles and four more bogies, yet shot even par! Shades of Wie, this guy is volcanic! Steven Bowditch ... full post »

Long before the O.C. became the fashionable and troubled county it is today, Broome County, New York gave birth to the creator of one of the most endearing cartoon strips of the 20th century. Johnny Hart created Thor, Grog, Clumsy Carp, Wiley, Fat Broad, Peter, Curls, and of course, B.C. himself. The strip was so successful that the town of Endicott named its PGA tournament after the strip, and the B.C. Open was born. Endicott is a down-state, not-quite-in-the-catskills city that saw its share of glory years. Endicott-Johnson, the shoe company, joined its first last in the city. ... full post »

If you Click Here … nah, better wait to tell you where you’ll go. About ten years ago, one of our daughters went overnight to a local hospital, for some unrecognizeable ailment. I was there, awake, without the aid of coffee, for the whole ordeal. When my wife joined me the next day, her only request was that I go to the Greek restaurant on the corner to get a bite to eat (for her … aversion to hospital food and all.) In the doorway was a flyer for the inaugural Ride For Roswell, a cycling day to ... full post »

The last time I was so jacked about a guy moving from 82nd to 31st was … never. Yet here is Double D, complimenting eleven pars with seven birdies, firing the third-lowest score of the tournament, and getting the supportive juices flowing. Who doesn’t miss Double D? He was like the Marshal, all quiet and mysterious, taking the club back, playing the fade, strolling with a hint of saunter toward the green. If he does indeed make it back all the way in 2006, kudos go to a little-known columnist who predicted it first. And ... full post »

With all the news about that Hawaiian teenager the first three or four days, the pairing of Toms and Campbell (was there a third?) was everything the PGA Tour needed to reaffirm that “These Guys Are Good.” Playing better-ball, Toms and Campbell birdied holes 3, 4, 6 through 14, 16 and 18. When asked what happened on 1, 2, 5, 15 and 17, Toms replied “I missed.” Campbell countered with “He missed.” Although the tournament is an individual medal event, the seven-stroke gap between T & C and the rest of the field inspired commissioner Tim ... full post »

The furor has abated for another time, it seems. Michelle Wie has missed yet another PGA Tour cut, this time in Normanesque fashion. Remember those days when Greg would post a high round on Thursday, the battle back on Sunday, to fall a stroke or two short? That’s the only negative I can find in her play. She seems to start slowly, demanding the big finish in order to survive. That, however, may be attributed to youth intersecting with maturity. Seven birdies are hard to ignore. Obviously, five bogies are pretty obvious, too. ... full post »

Here is Baldwin’s re-quote from Leadbetter: “Wie is the only LPGA player he’s worked with that could handle wind.” Here is Daniel’s response (see sidebar in article): “You couldn’t tell me that Mickey Wright couldn’t hit it right and left and high and low, and Karrie Webb couldn’t do that. All of us who have played on our tour are capable of hitting those golf shots. “For him to make a comment like that and people are reading that and thinking, ‘Wow, she’s the only woman who can do that.’ That’s the perception that’s given up.” Which of the two, Baldwin or Daniel, ... full post »

Three topics of late have generated more responses than anyone but Baldwin ever gets, so it’s high time that we at TG.Com recognize the power of the people. Regular viewers like UnderPar, Norman, triple R, jim COULTHARD deserve our thanks for contributing their opinions on a repeat basis. They certainly find the weak spots in our blog arguments, and support our frequent acertations. Here’s a chronology of the most recent discussions, to bring you up to speed. It all started with What Michelle Wie does Well, and what we need to know, with 84 posts to date. ... full post »

To begin this week’s homage to the ni~na mimada hawaiana, the mon of ron did a little web digging and came up with a few sites worth your perusal. To begin, we visit MissMichelleWie.Com, an eponymous entry into the world of teen fandom. This is a darned (can I write damned?) professional site, with a great layout and efficient linking system. Speaking of links, the links page on this site takes you to some sites that nearly prove Balls-Out Blog to be a soothsayer. The thing is, short of photoshopping her head onto some unclad ... full post »

“The thing she has over all the other girls is great shotmaking,” Leadbetter said. “She can draw it, fade it, and around the green she has a tremendous variety of shots. Those girls are one dimensional. Obviously, that’s why Annika enjoys playing with Tiger, because he helps her with the short game.” Great quote from the king of “if they aren’t there already, I can’t help them.” Funny that someone would select Leadbetter over the other great teachers out there. He is capable of getting players close, but not close enough. Faldo was great, and would have been ... full post »

It’s Sunday morning, Buffalo standard time, and I count exactly one score out of eighty-four posted in the 60s. Is this June and Pinehurst? I mean, Olin Browne DID shoot the 69, something I think I sorta remember him doing in 2005 … time warp? So, is it rust? Does rust explain wonderboy not breaking 80 in three tries? Someone should steal his crap out of his van again … get him motivated. Did Sean O’Hair dump the father-in-law on his bag for someone less inspirational? He was barely under 80 for the ... full post »

I’m looking at Golf Hemisphere, a nicely-done, weekly digest from the folks at Golf Ingest. Specifically I see an ad on the back cover for the new hybrid club from Ping, the G5. It looks tasty, like a stew onion or something of that ilk. And it gets me thinking, when is market saturation reached? Sometime after Todd Hamilton putt-chipped his way to victory in that 2004 British Open, the dawn of the hybrid era gave way to the true empire. Every company in the industry released an iron-hybrid or a metal wood-hybrid. And ... full post »