UPDATE: Well, I was right on the money with Ben Martin…No win, no Walker Cup. I was half-right with my picks. The USGA got Peter Uihlein and went with Cameron Tringale instead of Van Sickle. Both won two matches at the Am, so that part was a draw. Neither one captured a big amateur event this Summer and MVS went through a massive slump that ultimately proved his undoing. On to Philadelphia. UPDATE: Two big sighs of relief from the blue coats. The kid (Patel) and the Texan lost by a lot (For ... full post »

UPDATE: Bud Cauley loses to David Lingmerth, 2 & 1…all 8 Walker Cuppers are out!! MEANWHILE, Mike Van Sickle wins, 6 & 5…Dan Woltman wins, 7 & 6… Peter Uihlein wins, 2 & 1… Cameron Tringale wins, 1 up… Phillip Mollica wins, 1 up. DO YOU THINK that these guys want to make the USA side just a little bit? I do, too. ORIGINAL ENTRY: Rickie Fowler loses to Bud Cauley, 3 & 1 Brian Harman loses to Chris Ward, 19 holes Morgan Hoffman loses to Charlie Hoffman, 19 holes Nathan Smith loses to Zach Barlow, 2 down Drew Weaver, missed match play by 1 stroke Adam ... full post »

I am going to let you in on a secret: I did not want to test this system. A marketing representative had offered to send me the Sonic Golf Solo system; I decided that no answer was the best answer of all. I had read Mike Bailey’s review on TravelGolf.Com, along with other reviews on competing sites. Imagine my surprise when the box showed up on my desk. “Well, just tuck it over in the corner and they will forget about it.” No such luck… “So, RonMon, how is the Sonic Golf test going?” ... full post »

since you are conjuring up this entire conversation, how about you tell me? –Certainly, Woodsy. I imagine that it is the Padraig Harrington-Henrik Stenson one. –(Tiger laughs, uncomfortably) I’ve got to hand it you, RonMon. Tom from Albany really doesn’t know how smart you are. Why do you think I fear that pairing? –The two of them are European and will feed off each other. And, neither one has to stare you down. You’ll dispose of Y.E. Yang by the 7th hole, but you won’t ever get the chance to give off your vibe to Paddy and ... full post »

I was listening to ESPN Radio on my way back from the grocer today and caught a wee bit of Jason Sobel and his opinion on Lucas Glover. It seems that Glover had made a bit of a move (he is currently -2 for the day and tied for second place.) Sobel was of the opinion that the US Open win in June had suddenly placed Glover in an elite class. I agree, but not the one Sobel selected. Shaun Micheel, Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Zach Johnson, Ben Curtis, Mike Weir, Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, David Duval ... full post »

One web site leads with: Visions of 15 dance in Woods’ eyes Another offers: Tiger blows PGA Championship wide open Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire…you would think that all the golf scribes had gone loony, bonkers, mad and googly the way the have gift wrapped this 15th major for the purring one. He has a four-stroke lead with 36 holes to play. It simply is not over. This is not the 2000 US Open, where nothing was conceded despite a 6-stroke halfway lead that ballooned to 10 by Saturday evening. Concede it if he gets ... full post »

I find myself in the midst of a five-day junket in the Sandhills of North Carolina. Despite the immense shadow cast by the Pinehurst Resort and its eight golf courses, I and my colleagues have decided to bypass those tracks in favor of five other layouts. We had the opportunity to play two Dan Maples designs on Monday the 10th and a Donald Ross creation on Tuesday the 11th. The three courses differed noticeably and merit a bit of discussion here. If you have had the opportunity to play any or all, please chime in with your observations and opinions. Dan ... full post »

Never one to shy away from civil and uncivil debate, I shall take on all who voice opinions in support of or against my selections. The 2009 USA Walker Cup team is so difficult to choose, for the exact reason that Captain’s Picks for the USA Solheim Cup side were so hard to forecast: no one is winning! Nevertheless, I forge ahead, using consistency as my beacon. Without delay, I present my pre-US Amateur (big asterisk, to be explained at bottom) USA Walker Cup side: Rickie Fowler…Is there any doubt? Bud Cauley…won the Players Am, currently in semis ... full post »

After my post on the omission of Mike Van Sickle from Golfweek’s hot list of players most likely to make the Walker Cup team, I received a comment on the post from Mr. Jeff Babineau, Editor of Golfweek. Here is what Mr. Babineau wrote: Ron Sometimes you get what you wish for – in this case, a rebuttal from the team at Golfweek. You called where we placed Mike Van Sickle in our Walker Cup Watch List a “pathetic attempt … to get the competition” and said it “reeks of professional jealousy.” My reaction: Laughable, really. I’m willing to bet Golfweek has ... full post »

get the competition. 2009 being a Walker Cup year, Golfweek has established a Walker Cup Watch list with 10 picks and 5 alternates. What makes this year’s selection interesting is that the son of a Golf/SI writer (Gary Van Sickle) named Mike Van Sickle is in the running. Mike V.S. was the greatest golfer ever produced by Marquette U. and has put himself into position to 1) Win the Porter Cup and 2) Make the cut at last week’s Nationwide event. He was a first team all-american and scholar all-american, played in two PGA Tour events ... full post »

Copy editors influence all of us at an early age. Alliteration, not hyperbole nor hallucination, is the foremost literary device in evidence in our written lives. I utilize thesaurus.com to find the other 90 percent of words, 90 percent of the time. Ten percent of the time, I confess, I use it to alliterize or alliterate or, simply, litter. So cometh the Pinehurst Peregrination. Six days of travel and golf as I and three chums descend on the Sandhills region of North Carolina. We’ll be staying at The Pit vacation villas, a place eminently cool for ... full post »