Not long ago, I did a story on what I believed to be the top-10 courses in Myrtle Beach. It was based on personal observation after many trips there, and input from golfers and pros. The story got a lot of responses, and I’m wondering what you readers think. Here’s my list: 1 - Barefoot Resort, Davis Love course 2 - Tidewater 3 - Caledonia 4 - Rivers Edge 5 - Barefoot Resort, Pete Dye course 6 - The Dunes Golf and beach Club 7 - True Blue 8 - Grand Dunes Golf and beach Club 9 - World Tour Golf Links 10 - Pawleys Plantation full post »

Tiger Woods is taking this “aura of invincibility” thing to a new high. It’s like the guy has a force field around him. Rivals bounce off it like bugs off a windshield. Woods should have lost yesterday to Stewart Cink at the Bridgestone Invitational. Of course, he didn’t, winning his fourth straight tournament and 52nd career. Woods looked almost bored out there, and definitely didn’t have his “A” game. In a fairly prestigious, World Golf Championship tournament, Woods again cowed his competitors with his aura. “I was just trying to get it around somehow and keep myself in the ballgame,” Woods told ... full post »

I have a theory about golfers. I’m talking about your everyday, average hacker. They may talk a good game about loving to play the great, difficult courses, but I believe what they’re really looking for is an easy course in great surroundings. I found a great one here in Pinehurst, the Legacy Golf Links. It’s got it all – the looks, the feel, everything. Most easy courses are flat and featureless. Legacy has a lot of character – good elevation change, moving fairways, a good variety of holes, risk/reward, water carries, etc. It’s in great shape and in a beautiful, natural ... full post »

Look, let’s get this out of the way. Tiger Woods is better, right now, than Jack Nicklaus ever was. Let’s stop tip-toeing around the subject. We all know about the majors chase, but people seldom bring up the fact of how long it took Nicklaus to win his 18 majors and how long it’s taken Woods to win his 12. (Hint: much longer). It’s almost as if people don’t want to offend Nicklaus, or to prompt another of his crotchety statements that makes people who worship at his shrine cringe. The only thing you can say about Nicklaus that was better than ... full post »

Before I’m run out of town, or out of the backwoods, let me explain. Anybody who’s a baseball fan has to be enjoying the pennant races right now. Anybody who’s a college or NFL fan is foaming at the mouth right now, wondering who’s going to come out No. 1. The NFL turned out to be smart with its parity moves. With Tiger Woods, it’s preordained. There is simply no one to challenge him, like Andy Irons did for Kelly Slater on the pro surfing circuit. Be honest: The PGA Championship was rather anticlimactic. The only reason to watch was to observe ... full post »

The PGA Championship at Medinah doesn’t really seem like a major, everybody and his brother putting up all those birdies and eagles. Majors are supposed to stand out, they’re supposed to be a break from the routine PGA Tour, with Joe Blow Pro winning at 40-under. Major winners are supposed to win by enduring. All that being said, I have to confess I’m enjoying the hell out of this PGA Championship. At one point Saturday, about 40 guys at the top or within a few strokes, including all the marquee studs you could want. Medinah is far from easy, but of course ... full post »

For anyone who’s ever been to Myrtle Beach, with its condos, golf courses, fast-food restaurants and girlie shows, fending off bears may be the last thing on your mind. Yet that’s what a North Myrtle Beach family found itself doing this week, according to Myrtle Beach Online. A black bear believe to be 4 ½ feet high, ripped through the screen porch at the home of Jody Wicker, injuring one family dog. The other is missing, leaving only a scarf behind. Jody Wicker, who lives in the Coquina Pointe subdivision of Barefoot Resort, told the paper she was nearly caught by the ... full post »

If people still think of golf as the gentlemanly, lily-white sport it once was, and that its professionals couldn’t possibly stain the sport by using steroids, as other sports have done, they may be profoundly wrong. As the sport increasingly favors power-hitters, many in the game are saying it’s time to start drug tests. “We market the guys who hit it 300 yards,” Tour player Joe Ogilvie told the New York Times. “If that’s your message, and people see that beginning at the high school level, I think as a tour it is very naive to think that somebody down the line ... full post »

Greg Johnston, the caddie unceremoniously dumped without so much as a phone call from Michelle Wie or her family, isn’t the only one unhappy with the shoddy way The Wie Corporation treats people. Julie Inkster told SI.com’s EM Swift that Wie basically stole Johnston out from under her without a word of warning. According to Inkster, Brand Wie gave Johnston an ultimatum. Johnston surely regrets his choice now. “It would have been nice to get a phone call from the (Wie) family, saying this is what we’re thinking of doing,” Inkster told Swift. “I’d had Greg for 11 years. It’s not ... full post »

If you’re a female golfer, you may want to check out the “Girls love to golf” workshop in Myrtle Beach in October. It’s the third annual event, hosted by the Myrtle Beach National company and the Direct Approach Golf School at the Willbrook Plantation. Instructors will teach putting, chipping, pitching, sand play, irons and woods using video analysis and on-course instruction. The workshop starts October 12 and lasts three days. It will be held at Willbrook, known as a women-friendly course, and Litchfield Country Club. The cost is $699 and reservations can be made by calling (888) 486-3249 or logging on to ... full post »

Michelle Wie is certainly learning how to be a true professional. She has her worst finish in two years and fires her caddie. Well, not exactly. She had her agent do the dirty work. After Wie blew up at the Women’s British Open, her agent, Ross Berlin, had dinner with Wie’s caddie, Greg Johnston, according to the Associated Press. The next morning at the aiport Berlin told Johnston he was fired. Don’t jump to conclusions now. Let’s hear from Wie herself. She explained why she felt the need to fire Johnston in such a tacky manner. Well, not exactly. Her public relations firm did that ... full post »

I KNOW Michelle Wie is only 16 years old, but somebody – her parents, maybe –should give her some golf homework. Namely, reading the rule book. Wie was penalized two strokes for what the British call “bunker infringement” in Friday’s round at the British Women’s Open. TV cameras caught her making contact with some moss in the bunker before her shot. UH-uh. No can do. Wie didn’t learn about the penalty until after the round, just as she didn’t the last time she was penalized, in her first pro tournament, the Samsung World Championship. She made an improper drop, and ... full post »

For those of you who have been dying to read my full column on LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, here it is. Basically, my point is that she is quite possibly the worst sports commissioner in history. Anyone who alienates that many people is a terrible manager and should be sent packing. And I don’t want to hear about how she has to be so tough to get the job done. You could say the same about John Bolton, and look at the lousy job he’s doing at the UN. The fact is, she’s on the verge of turning a potential gold mine into ... full post »

I’m glad to see Rolex and women’s golf listened to me and others about the world rankings. When they first came out in February, they were heavily criticized for ranking Michelle Wie third. When she moved up to second, most people other than Wie fanatics agreed that was absurd. They still aren’t perfect, but they’re better. Annika Sorenstam would still be first if the new rankings were released today, and Wie would be seventh. I’d say that’s about right. Wie sometimes vanished altogether from the rankings, as she barely qualified for the minimum number of required tournaments, but she did ... full post »

Summer is the time when Myrtle Beach is crowded with families going to the beach, and golfers generally stay away because of the heat. Perfect time to put in those new greens you’ve been planning. At least three courses will be opening this month with new greens: Black Bear, Willbrook and Brunswick Plantation. All three switched to Champions Bermuda, according to Myrtle Beach Online. All three courses made other improvements while they were down. Black Bear also re-did its bunkers and improved the drainage. Willbrook also improved its drainage, as did Brunswick Plantation, which also repaved cart paths. Willbrook, already one of my ... full post »