I hear a growing number of complaints each year about spectators wearing golf shoes at golf tournaments. “You’re not playing, why are you wearing your golf shoes?” Hey, I know I’m not playing. Good God. It’s the Memorial Tournament, in which the top 10 players (minus Phil Mickelson, who withdrew today because of a sore wrist he hurt while practicing at Oakmont for the U.S. Open) in the world are participating. “How come you’re wearing a golf shirt?” I want to ask. “How about those dopey shorts with the big pleats in the front that do no good to hide your sagging ... full post »

I went to Muirfield Village Golf Club this morning to pick up my media credentials for the upcoming Memorial Tournament. It’s a beautiful, sunny day in Columbus and there were plenty of people on the premises to catch a practice round and Jack Nicklaus‘ clinic later in the afternoon. I didn’t walk the golf course, so I don’t know how many of those in attendance were out on the course watching play. But there were several hundred fans in the bleachers around the practice range watching players hit balls. To me, that’s crazy, but I understand that most people don’t ... full post »

As I said in my blog about the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifiers a few days ago, it’s the best spectator experience a golf fan could want. You get close and there are few galleries. Find the one nearest you at U.S. Open and go to it. A few years ago, I was covering one at Brookside Golf and Country Club in the Columbus suburb of Worthington, Ohio. As is always the case, there was a playoff among several players tied for the last few spots. One was the always entertaining Fulton Allem. The South African was in form that day, playing ... full post »

There was a terrible story in the news today. A 65-year-old golfer died on May 22 after his cart plunged 75 feet at a golf course called Pala Mesa Resort Golf Course in Fallbrook, Calif. Apparently, he drove off a cliff and fell onto a road below. He was ejected from the cart as it fell and died when he hit the ground. To me, it was a serious and sorrowful story and brings to mind places I’ve been where it was possible to fall that far in a golf cart. I played at The Raven once at Snowshoe Resort in ... full post »

It’s one of my favorite times of the golf season. The sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Open are nearly here. The whole process starts back in the winter, when hopeful players submit a registration form to the USGA. They then go to 18-hole local qualifying in May, where a few players from each of the 82 sites around the country advance to the next stage, which is the sectional. The sectional is 36 holes of pressure packed golf. In Columbus, Ohio, where I work as a golf journalist, there usually is a sectional qualifier each year on the Monday following the Memorial ... full post »

Do you still read the newspaper? I do, and I even read Dear Abby on occasion. But I do not watch Dancing With the Stars, so I think that balances the ledger on my questionable entertainment consumption. Today, Dear Abby had a great letter. I was actually disgusted, then thankful for my own wife after I read the letter from “Protective wife” from Santa Clara, Calif. She wrote that her husband practices swinging a club for 15 or 20 minutes after breakfast in the morning. She then says she fears this much physical activity could damage the internal organs or at least ... full post »

Charles Bukowski wrote that love is a dog from hell. The Barfly knew what he was talking about. Ask the people who work for Chrysler. It turns out that the current dog from hell is Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., the private American company that just bought Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler AG for a lot less money than that German company paid for it nine years ago. Its first order of business likely will be to downsize the considerable prices it pays auto workers and their pensions and health care, if you believe the news stories. Let’s take a second, though. Did no one ... full post »

On Thursday, I was watching my boy Joey Sindelar make a 5 on the island hole, No. 17 at the Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass. He was well on his way to a two-over finish, but hey, that was a shot better than Tiger Woods. I’ve gotten to know Joey over the years because he played at Ohio State University, which is in Columbus where I live and write. Sindelar might not be the most popular golfer ever known, but in Columbus, with the power of Ohio State, he’s a name brand. Sindelar is one of the most genuine, affable guys ... full post »

Last week I wrote about my apprehension about playing the media day at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The host course for the Memorial Tournament is one of Jack Nicklaus’ greatest layouts and it is visually intimidating. This year, I determined to try to have fun and not let the daunting nature of the course cow me into playing crappy golf. As it turns out, I played marginally crappy yesterday. The rough is brutal and it’s the kind of course that penalizes the smallest of mistakes. A series of minor misjudgments turns into a pile of insults to your game and eventually, ... full post »

I’m concerned about the disappearance of the nation’s honey bees. Here in Ohio, I started seeing reports a few months ago when winter was beginning to release its hold on the area and bee keepers went to check on their hives. What they found was alarming. A huge portion of the bees were simply gone. They weren’t even dead, just missing. Maybe someone with expertise in this field can explain to me what’s happening. Having posted this concern, I harken back to a time a few years ago when I was covering the href="http://www.ohiogolf.org/">Columbus District Golf Association’s Senior Championship at the ... full post »

In the April 28 edition of Golfweek magazine, writer Travis Hill wrote an interesting column in the golf life section. He admitted to having a man crush on Ian Poulter. More directly, he said he like Poulter’s clothes. He likes the wild colors and styles of the Europeans. Now, Hill is going into the women’s sections of clothing stores in search of pink and orange shirts and pants. Now, I’m not a metrosexual but neither am I a misogynist. I’ll sport the occasional gem-toned shirt. But I won’t ever be caught asking a playing partner, “Where’d you get that sweet ... full post »

Golf is a funny sport, but most of the time, not funny ha-ha. Most golf jokes are bad and bordering on schlocky, corny or worse. Once in a while, you hear a good one. For some reason, this memory came back to me today. About eight years ago, I was in North Carolina with my wife and kids on a vacation with her extended family—dad, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, the whole deal. There were about 20 of us or so in this big house on the beach, and while that’s a great vacation, my brother-in-law Dwight and I scooted out at ... full post »

Scientists released a study that says pot can cause paranoia and psychotic episodes. Well no kidding. People spent time and money finding out what everyone who’s ever smoked pot already knows? What’s next? That someone will research whether white referees in the NBA call more fouls on black players than white? Oh, yeah. They released that study yesterday, too. You wanna know what real paranoia is? The feeling I got yesterday when I received my invitation to play Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial Tournament media day on May 8. I love the course, but it’s brutal and I’m bad. Golf ... full post »

Remember when Jay Leno used to be funny, before he took the job hosting the Tonight Show? His bit was, “I’ve got a beef,” then he’d go on for a while about some things that were bothering him. Excuse me while I borrow that, Jay. Beef No. 1: What the hell is that piece of hair on the back of Drew Gooden’s head? I recently added the NBA to my sports television consumerism. I have always watched golf, baseball and football. But LeBron James is that good enough and Cleveland is close enough to make me into a fan. Anyway, I ... full post »

One day last week, I was going along just fine when something odd happened. Nothing too strange, just a seemingly random occurrence that popped up out of nowhere. Suddenly, everything else I was doing was affected. With no one to help me, I flopped around like a fish on a dock. There was nothing much I could do about it - I’d tried all the fixes I knew and nothing worked. I had to look for serious professional help. Since you’re a golfer, you probably assumed I was talking about my own game just then, right? One swing flaw can magnify ... full post »