I think jeans and jean shorts are terrible for the golf course. Let me add to that cargo shorts. I saw some guys playing recently at an upscale course and they were all wearing rumpled cargo shorts that hung well below their knees. They looked like orphan clam diggers. And while I’m complaining about attire, let me add Ernie Els to the list. Who told him to pair a baby blue sweater vest with a pink golf shirt and the dullest gray slacks anyone’s ever seen at the British Open. Good God, Ernie, get it together. At least Andres Romero ... full post »

How does one mix golf and a wife? Someone fill me in, please. Let me give you some background - I’ll tell you a story that’s as old as golf itself, but it just happened yesterday. I’m the editor of GolfStyles Ohio, and our company hosted a Players Series tournament on July 29 at Longaberger Golf Club, one of the top public golf courses not only in the state but the nation. So I got up at 6 in the morning (and yes, of course, I was up late on Saturday night/Sunday morning) and drove the hour over to the course ... full post »

Yesterday, I played an interesting round of golf at a club owned by American Golf called Oakhurst Country Club south of Columbus. Two of the guys I played with hadn’t been on a golf course for two years, and neither of them wanted a competitive, grinding round. They asked if I would mind playing a scramble. I felt odd about it, but I agreed. I have to say that it was enjoyable. We played fast and never from a bad spot. The two who hadn’t played much were at ease and actually performed better than any of us thought they would. Some ... full post »

Gary Player’s pronouncement that perhaps 10 players in all the worldwide professional golf tours are using steroids is patented Gary Player garbage. He’s looking for media attention, and I here I sit guilty of giving it to him, so I’m just as bad as he is. He said they may be using creatine, to which I say, “Who cares?” Creatine is a legal substance. And why such a small number? Ten total? Hell, that’s not even worth talking about. Have you seen professional golfers? Those who aren’t skinny are fat. Tiger’s the only one I see even partially yoked up. ... full post »

At the risk of sounding like an ugly American, I’m getting sick of English people’s sense of superiority. Here’s where I’m coming from. I was talking to my younger brother on Skype yesterday, and he lives in West Malvern, England. Though we both hail from Huntington, West Virginia, he and his wife and children moved there two years ago and now he’s a full-bore British Islander. His wife is a native of that area. As is the case with all our conversations, the subject of education came up - his daughters are nearly the same age as my son. He and his ... full post »

The British Open apparently strips back the veneer of my insecurities. I started watching it on the first day of play and it didn’t take long before I started getting sick of listening to how awesome it is. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to play golf in crappy weather. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s an outdoor pursuit and I’m supposed to have fun, freezing my butt off isn’t what I’ve got in mind. I mean, there stands Tiger Woods, and every time he hits a shot, he puts on hand warmers. Uh, isn’t it July 19? ... full post »

Aren’t Canada geese just lovely? The way they fly through the air in a V formation. The way the parade their goslings in a row from wherever they are to wherever they’re going. Their gray, black and white markings with the distinctive chinstrap. Their angry hissing and flapping of wings and biting people. Their man-sized scat. Charming. Also, non-migratory, I say. I understand they are federally protected because they are supposed to go south in the winter. Well, I don’t know where you live, but in Ohio, the damn birds are on nearly every golf course, honking at players and crapping ... full post »

The Nationwide Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational at Ohio State University’s newly renovated Scarlet Course (I’d like to see you cram more facts into a lead sentence than that) is in Columbus this week. It’s the tour’s first-ever invitational and one of my boys is playing. I’ve known Craigen Pappas for 15 years, and the South African is playing on a sponsor’s exemption. His day job is head pro at the Country Club at Muirfield Village, but his moonlighting has a fun turn - he’s competing with two of his brothers, Brenden and Deane, both Nationwide Tour regulars. Craigen, 47, was a ... full post »

I’ve seen lots of wildlife on the golf course before. Just this year, I’ve seen wild turkeys, deer, fox, groundhogs, turkey buzzards, bald eagles, herons, Canada geese (of course) and many others I can’t recall right now. For the most part, these animals pose no danger to golfers. But did you catch that story in late June about the resort in Wyoming where three young moose sauntered onto the premises? They took a dip in the pond at Little America Hotel and Resort and in the end, state workers were forced to tranquilize them. Now, I’m no moose expert, but I think ... full post »

I’ve done some writing for trade magazines over the years, and the more I hear about the practice of rolling greens, the more I like it. Apparently, people completely abandoned it for about 50 years, then picked back up on it in the 1980s. Now, you see it a lot. But I played golf not too long ago with a guy from Delaware, and he says his superintendent doesn’t believe in rolling greens. He also said the greens were like putting on shag carpet. Before the Memorial Tournament this year, I saw sidewinding greens rollers all over the place. That’s all the ... full post »

At 6:10 on July 8, I was sitting on my couch eating dinner with my six-year-old son as we watched the AT&T National’s final round wind down. OK, so maybe you don’t eat dinner in front of the TV. Go piss up a rope. Anyway, one of the tournament’s other big sponsors, Cialis, had an ad on at this time. I couldn’t find the remote and, before I knew it, the guy is saying that even if he gets interrupted, his erection medicine will still work because Cialis stays in your system for 36 hours. Then, the spot’s announcer voices over some ... full post »

After administering six of the eight GolfStyles Solstice Survival events, I have picked up on something. I’ll get to it in a second. We play three 18-hole rounds of stroke play in one day, and average just over four hours per round. For the third round, I have everyone move up to a shorter set of tees, usually about 6,200 yards or so. It’s to help the pace of play and give tired muscles a break, and believe it or not, the scores don’t drop dramatically. The players think because they’re playing a shorter course, they can carry hazards from the tee. ... full post »

I’ve been covering golf for 15 years, and I’ve developed a theory. Golf is not an athletic body movement. It’s a magic trick. The secret to golf is what your hands are doing at the moment the clubface impacts the ball. It happens so fast, the untrained eye can not even see it happening. Same thing with a magic trick. Once you learn how to do it, the prestidigitation is difficult for a spectator to pick up on. Anyone can make a golf swing, so you don’t have to be athletic to do it. Now, if you are skillful in the eye-hand ... full post »

Ever been playing slowly and have the ranger come by and give you a hard time? It’s always some old pain in the ass guy who is retired and just works at the course for free golf. Well, the next time you tell your buddies how you’d like to kick his rear as he drives out of earshot, think twice. The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan reports June 26 that a 72-year-old man named Bill Barnes was scratching off a lotto ticket in a gas station when a sketchy customer tried to pick his pocket. Barnes had just gotten $300 out of ... full post »

Recently, I visited my uncle George Davis, and he gave me two antique golf clubs that belonged to his uncle (my great uncle) Elmer Davis. One of the clubs was a Vulcan spoon V-16, what amounts to a 3-wood. It has an early steel shaft that isn’t nearly as big or graduated as today’s, but the head is about the same size as a modern 3-metal. Interestingly, the hosel of the shaft is bored through to the sole of the head. The club is 75 years old, but the technology is about the same. Only the materials are different. The other ... full post »