I don’t know about you, but I like to try a really hard golf course every now and then. I get a little tired of easy, resort courses sometimes. To wit: Panther Creek in Jacksonville, Florida. Panther Creek is one of the newest courses in the area. It doesn’t have a clubhouse yet and the parking lot is still dirt and gravel. Also, they have nine holes to finish. Still, the 18 existing holes are well worth the $30-$45 green fees, if you want to bring out your masochist side. Panther Creek is 7,526 yards from the black tees, though it can be ... full post »

Forget her golf – she almost has – Michelle Wie needs to stop acting like a spoiled brat and tell Annika Sorenstam she’s sorry for acting like a, well…spoiled brat. It’s a familiar story by now. Wie, facing the “88″ rule, pulls out of the Ginn Tribute, hosted by Sorenstam, who gave Wie a special invitation. Wie cites a wrist injury, but leaves skid marks on her way out of the tournament, only to be seen practicing a couple days later. Sorenstam rightfully cited a lack of “class” on Wie’s part. Wie arrogantly said she had nothing to apologize for. What is this? ... full post »

Son! Look here, here’s what you do when you’re golfing in Jacksonville, Florida, on the west side of town. You stop in there at the Cross Creek Steakhouse and Barbecue, over there to Lane Avenue, past Denny’s, up there on the right. Find yourself a booth. Sit down and order gator bites and silver-dollar, fried green tomatoes for appetizers. Wait! First, get yourself a Bikini Martini. Dog, barbecue and martinis go together like night crawlers and mudfish. All right, now you’re ready for Big Meat. They cook their barbecue here the old-fashioned way, dry seasoned and slow-smoked over oak wood every night. Them baby-back ... full post »

You, too, can join the league of arrogant sports franchise owners. All you have to do is pony up $75,000. Yes, it’s the National Golf League, now in its third season. Wow, did time fly! I never heard anything about the first two. Anyway, NGL officials say they have sold 18 teams around the country, and now they’re moving into Florida. The league’s selling point is that their product can be as fan-rowdy as fans want to make it. Fans are free to roam fairways, yell “Get in the hole” as often as they like, talk to the players, talk on cell phones ... full post »

A golfer hit into the rough at a golf course in Reno, Nevada. Like Phil Mickelson, he took a few hacks at it. The difference was, this guy hit something. According to officials, the golfer hit something hard that ignited a spark, and set a fire in the dry grass. “He was totally honest about it,” Reno fire official Curtis Johnson told the Associated Press. About 50 firefighters were called in to squelch the blaze. There was no damage, either to people or buildings, but the rough was scorched. The AP didn’t report on whether or not the golfer belly-ached about conditions. full post »

The Bahamas seems to be suffering from tourism hangover. You know, when one of those great Caribbean tourist destinations bites the hand that feeds it. In other words, they get sick of tourists. The Bahamas suffered one of the worst declines in tourist stopovers in the first quarter of 2007, dropping by five percent over the same time period last year. Officials estimate that’s about a $19 million, and it appears to be part of a long-term trend. The strict, U.S. passport situation is definitely part of the problem, along with other factors, like a temporary loss of hotel rooms, problems ... full post »

Michele Wie has pulled out of the John Deere, citing the need to rehab her wrist injury. Reportedly, she made the announcement while on the practice range, hitting bombs with her driver. Just kidding, though it would not surprise me. It’s natural to have suspicious thoughts after what she pulled at Annika Sorenstam’s tournament. “I’m just coming back from an injury.” Wie said in a press release. “While my rehabilitation is on schedule, I do not have all of my strength back yet. The TPC Deere Run course is obviously very long, and I just don’t have the strength to play there yet.” Now, we ... full post »

Because Tiger Woods is so dominant, we tend to look for chinks in his armor. Despite what his swooning fans say, there is a big one. The guy absolutely cannot come from behind. He’s 0-for-everything when he starts Sunday behind in a major. He looked different yesterday at the finale of the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Dare I say it? He looked unsure of himself. He looked hesitant. He even looked a little scared. I’ll put it like this. Picture Woods in a science fiction movie. He’d be the evil corporation that rules the world, sort of like Microsoft. All the downtrodden ... full post »

Phil Mickelson hurts his wrist practicing in the Oakmont rough, then misses the cut, then proclaims Oakmont “dangerous.” What’s he going to do next? Get himself a personal injury attorney and sue? I’m no particular fan of the USGA, but why should Mickelson blame the USGA because he did something stupid? Besides, who injures himself playing golf? The guy is starting to appear a little like Michelle Wie. (Note the similarities in their wrist injuries). Always blame someone else. Mickelson’s odd accusations fly in the face of most of the other competitors at Oakmont, most of whom acknowledge the course’s excruciating difficulty, but also ... full post »

People say the Atlanta airport is the worst, but for my money, you can’t do worse than Miami International Airport, especially the American Airlines terminal. God forbid you should have to fly to somewhere in the Caribbean, you’ll probably end up in the American terminal. It looks like an over-crowded third-world country in there, overrun with weary travelers, usually sitting around taking up space because their flights were delayed. On a recent trip to the Mexican Caribbean, my flights were delayed on both ends, and I was far from alone. Don’t you love it when they cram you on the shuttle bus, some ... full post »

The sexiest women in the world are Indian. I don’t mean Native Americans, I mean real Indians, from India. If you don’t believe me, watch Indian music videos, if you can get ahold of any. I used to live in Trinidad, where East Indians make up about half the population, and I spent an unhealthy amount of time watching Indian women prance around on videos. They pout better than any women anywhere. Second are Mexicans. Mexican women know how to move. They know how to dress, too. I like Mexican movies, too. I’m watching one now where a bull is chasing a woman ... full post »

I’ve lived in and traveled all over the Caribbean, and the best golf deal I’ve found by far is in Cozumel, in the Mexican Caribbean. When I first heard they were offering free golf, I figured, like any reasonable traveling golfer, there was a catch. It had to be some local weed patch they threw together to suck in tourists. Nyet. Stay at the Plaza Azul hotel and you can play golf to your heart’s content at the Cozumel Country Club. The Playa Azul ("Blue Beach") is a cozy, little boutique hotel about five minutes from the Cozumel airport. It has that ... full post »

First of all, Michelle Wie needs to rid herself of these Nike clowns. No more corporate hacks traveling in her entourage. They give her bad advice and give the impression, correctly, that she isn’t a golfer so much as a walking product placement. Her Nike manager is obviously a jackass. He was almost certainly involved in Wie’s dubious decision to quit the Ginn Tribute. The fact that she hit range balls the very next day, after this so-called debilitating injury, is an incredible insult to one of the LPGA’s most likeable players and greatest champions, Annika Sorenstam. But, mostly, it’s her parents ... full post »

I confess I am not a Michelle Wie fan – is it obvious? – but even I am pained at seeing her go through this prolonged period of humiliation. She is, after all, only 17 years old. There was the collapse at the John Deere last year when she was carted off on a stretcher, finishing dead last against the men twice in Switzerland and Pennsylvania, failing to break 80 at the Casio and finishing 17th in a field of 20 at the Samsung. Then came the Ginn Tribute, when she flat out quit. She cited a wrist injury, but it’s ... full post »

Can there be any doubt Michelle Wie pulled out of the Ginn Tribute to spare herself any more humiliation than she’s already experienced? Wie, playing like a weekend hacker, pulled out after 16 holes, citing her wrist injury. This was after a huddle with her manager, Greg Nard. Nard: “Michelle, do you realize you’re in danger of falling to the LPGA’s 88 rule?” Wie: “Oh my god, like, what is that?” Nard: “If you can’t break 88, you won’t be allowed to play here or any other LPGA tournament the rest of the year.” Wie: “Wow, that is, like, totally un-cool.” Nard: “No kidding, Sherlock.” Wie: “Will ... full post »

The only reason Lorena Ochoa isn’t more popular than Michelle Wie in the U.S. right now is that Ochoa doesn’t wear those tight skirts over long legs. That, and probably something to do with the fact she’s Mexican. Oh yeah, that and the fact Ochoa hasn’t tried to artificially pump up her own PR and endorsement income by pathetically trying to play with the men. Here’s one more fact: Ochoa is the best female in the golfer today, despite the fact she lost in a playoff this past weekend. She edged out Annika Sorenstam last year as the No. 1 female player in the ... full post »