I was completely disgusted by the Congressional hearing involving Roger Clemens. It wasn’t Clemens’ testimony that disgusted me, although it’s starting to look like the Rocket is a little looser with the truth than his slider. It was the way the Republicans groveled at the feet of the man they were supposedly investigating. The Democrats wanted to get to the truth. The Republicans seemed aghast that a man of wealth and influence could be treated in such a manner. Truth be damned when wealth and influence are at stake. This is a theme as well in golf, which I suspect is heavily ... full post »

Tiger Woods‘ first golf course design is due to open in Dubai next year. It will not be open to the public. It will be open only to members and guests of an exclusive, 80-suite boutique hotel It’s called Al Ruwaya and will be located in Dubailand, the hub of Dubai’s tourist center. Plans also call for 320 villas. Golf course revenues in golf-nuts Dubai averaged nearly $8.8 million in 2006, compared to $1.3 million in Great Britain and Ireland, according to accounting and consulting firm KPMG, as reported by ABC News. Now, I’m not criticizing the project nor Woods’ reported ... full post »

Most people know Fidel Castro is a baseball fan and considers golf a sport of the upper crust, and therefore suspect. But, since his brother Raul has taken over, Cuba is showing a willingness to build golf courses, in order to help the country’s ailing tourist economy. Several big projects are in the works, which leads me to believe they’re going about it the wrong way. If they really want to grow the game of golf on the island, build quality, affordable courses for the working people. Everybody knows Fidel is still powerful. If someone can get him to play the game which ... full post »

First of all, I like Nick Faldo and think he’s doing a good job for The Golf Channel and CBS. All those critics who say he should tone down his irreverence are humor-less drones. His humor injects some much-needed irreverence in the game, which has very little. But, I have to say his about his on-air endorsement of TaylorMade on the Golf Channel during the Accenture Match Play Championships. It stinks, Nicks. It smells. Faldo used to be with Nike, but signed with TaylorMade a few weeks ago. On the air, Faldo sang the praises of the TaylorMade ball and criticized Nike as ... full post »

OK, so my prediction about how Tiger Woods would not win the Accenture Match Play championship was slightly off. It’s early in the season and besides, I have a wrist injury; my predictions may never be the same. Nevertheless, I will forge ahead with an even bolder prediction. Tiger Woods will not have a perfect season. My fellow blockheaded bloggers, Bill Wolfrum and Chris Baldwin (comrades in blogging, not blockheaded-ness) are actually raising the idea of Woods having a perfect season. This is not only completely ludicrous, it defies quantum physics, even when talking about Tiger Woods. I’ll go even further: Tiger Woods will not ... full post »

I’ve heard a lot of reasons why golf is in such decline in the U.S., with hundreds of course closings and literally millions of people giving up the game. Most of them are true to some extent – too expensive, too time-consuming, etc. – and there’s another reason I’ve always suspected. The younger generation is lazy. They’re slugs. They sit around playing video games, their already-pathetic muscles atrophying into useless masses of fat and blubber. Their heads full of fantasy, violence and mayhem. Now, I’m backed up by Rodney B. Warnick, a professor of recreation studies and tourism at the University of Massachusetts. Warnick ... full post »

The season is barely underway and already Michelle Wie is making excuses. Wie, who had a season last year that could only be described as a travesty, said she will never be the same, physically, after her wrist injuries. “I just accepted the fact that it’s never going to be 100 percent ever again,” Wie told the media before the LPGA’s Tours Fields Open in Hawaii. “After a major injury last year, it’s never going to be the way it was before.” She’s 18 years old and ready to give it up because of injury? One wrist was sore, the other fractured. I’m not ... full post »

If you ever grow weary of watching Tiger Woods‘ Complete and Total Dominion of the PGA Tour, switch that channel over to the pink station. There is actually some competition over here. First off, this could be the year of a gargantuan battle between Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam over No. 1. It’s an attractive prospect: Two great golfers with personalities to match. Both are humble, amiable and damn it, not too bad looking. Personally, I love Sorenstam, but I’d like to see a new ruler of the roost, and if I were to pick one woman, Ochoa would be the one. You also ... full post »

Yes, Tiger Woods has won this event twice, but he’s also lost to the likes of Nick O’Hern, last year, and Peter O’Malley in 2002. I’m not sure how good a player Woods is in match play. He’s obviously king of the universe in stroke play, but look at his Ryder Cup record. Not that impressive. Maybe he just can’t get fired up at facing off against only one player, versus the thrill he gets from beating entire fields the rest of the year. It’s the nobodies he has problems with. Or maybe it’s a case of his opponents getting ridiculously fired-up over ... full post »

Golfers may dress blandly, like your high school class president, but they are always popular at countries trying to lure the kind of tourists who don’t smoke dope, stay at hostels and buy the cheapest beer. Bulgaria – Bulgaria! – is the latest poor country to understand this. The country says it/s going to make a push to attract golfers. Right now, the country only has three golf courses. This is a whole country we’re talking about here. But, they say there’s another 15 in the works. “…The regular tourist usually spends from 50 to 100 euro a day, while the golf tourist ... full post »

I have to admit I’m a sucker for island golf courses. Even though I’m Florida born and bred, I’ve never spent much time in the Pensacola area. But, I’ve recently played a couple courses here that make me wonder what I’ve been missing. Tiger Point Golf and Country Club is an excellent course, and today, when I played Lost Key Golf Club, was one of the better days I’ve had on a golf course. Cool, sunny weather, an unhurried round on a great course, island setting, an affable pro pointing out the subtleties – this is why we play golf. Lost Key is sometimes ... full post »

Golf trails are always welcome. Even if they’re just marketing ploys, they give golfers options, themes and, most importantly, usually discounts and packages. At their best, they can be thrilling. The people at Meadowbrook Golf Group say they hope to eventually challenge the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the most well-known and respected golf trail in the country, in Alabama. They’re starting relatively small at Meadowbrook, with four courses in the Pensacola area: Shalimar Pointe, Tiger Point Golf and Country Club, Hidden Creek and Scenic Hills. “Once we hit 50,000 rounds at those courses, who knows what will happen,” said Tiger Point pro ... full post »

How’s this for an architectural pairing: Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia. The fidgety Spaniard and the ambitious Aussie, who was known for blowing the big ones in his playing career. I hope they don’t choke on the TPC of San Antonio. Norman and Garcia are designing one course of the 36-hole facility while Bruce Lietzke and Pete Dye are laying out the other. There’s another unlikely duo. Four designers for two courses. This layout has a chance to be schizophrenic. The first course by Norman and Garcia is to be called Cibolo Canyons and is supposed to be 7,500 yards long. The second, as ... full post »

A federal judge in San Francisco recently ruled against Marriott in a lawsuit involving accessible golf carts for handicapped golfers. Marriott, which operates 26 courses in the U.S., has said it has no obligation to provide handicapped carts, essentially single-rider carts, to handicapped golfers. The judge ruled that Marriott had violated the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act, as well as the California Disabled Persons Act. The judge stopped short of issuing an injunction against Marriott, but urged both side to reach an agreement. The suit was brought on behalf of three disabled golfers, two from California and one from Florida. Of course, the makers ... full post »

I’ve always enjoyed playing Joe Lee-designed golf courses. He might not be wild and spectacular like a Pete Dye or have the artful bunkering of a Rees Jones, but his courses are always low-key, thoughtful and well thought out. He designed a course in Delray Beach, called the Hamlet Country Club, one of his so-called “flagship” courses, which is private. A Welsh architect by the name of Ian Scott Taylor – Welsh-sounding enough for you? – has been commissioned to do an in-depth study on restoring the course. Lee designed the course in 1972, but the years and hurricanes have changed the ... full post »

If you happen to be driving down the Coastal Highway in that part of the eastern Florida Panhandle, you could do worse than stopping at Outz’s Too Oyster Bar and Grill. It’s one of those old-time Florida oyster bars, hard by the St. Mark’s River. Oysters are the big deal here, from the oyster shell parking lot to the fresh oysters they put on your plate. You might have to wait a few minutes to get served, but that’s because they’re out back shucking them – that way, you know they’re fresh. They cook ‘em up fried, just the way I like ... full post »

The difference between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson was never more apparent than Sunday, even though they were playing continents apart. Mickelson played great in the final round of the FBR, firing a 67. J.B. Holmes, however birdied No. 18 to force a sudden death playoff, and kee-rushed a drive on the same hole in the playoff. Mickelson was also in good position, but choked on his approach shot, allowing Holmes to make a short birdie putt to win. There are those who say Holmes just played better. He obviously did. But, when crunch time came, it was the would-be challenger to Woods ... full post »

Stephen Ames, Rory Sabbatini, Woody Austin. Now, Ian Poulter. I have enormous respect – at first – for guys who take on Tiger Woods verbally. Especially given the history of Woods’ payback on guys who diss him. It gets tiring watching Woods dominate the legions of the meek, which consist of everyone except for him who plays professional golf. So, when someone comes out and says he’s going to open up a can of whup-ass on El Tigre, it’s a break from the monotonous hero-worship. Alas, they almost always become forlorn objects of public ridicule, either because Woods toasts them or they eat their ... full post »