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 »

I’ve now directed five Solstice Survival events for GolfStyles magazine, and I’m back home in Columbus after two weeks on the road. Back-to-back 20 hour days last week nearly wrecked me, and I found that I wasn’t able to focus or maintain my train of thought. I babbled and it was so hot I think my internal core temperature was about 102 degrees. I once went behind the scenes at Disney World in Florida, and that experience is kind of like running these tournaments. Out in the park, the guests all see a smoothly running operation with no hitches or problems. ... full post »

I have now completed the second of eight GolfStyles Solstice Survival tournaments, this time at Ravens Claw Golf Club in the Philadelphia suburb of Pottstown. The 54-hole, stroke play event had 116 players and was completed in about 13 hours. The cool weather made the event run more smoothly - when I arrived at 3:30 in the morning to set up for registration, it was about 45 degrees. I don’t think it ever got over 75 on June 14, which is weird weather for this time of the year. Here’s my observation, based solely on the 250 or so people I’ve ... full post »

I took the job as tournament director for the eight GolfStyles Solstice Survival events, and I’ve just completed my first one at The International in Bolton, Mass. The private facility was founded in 1901 and has two golf courses, one designed by Robert Trent Jones and updated by Geoffrey Cornish, and the other, newer one by Tom Fazio. We played the older one, called The Pines, which purports to be the longest course in America at 8,350 yards. It was 54 holes in one day in a stroke play format, and the 119 guys who played went ape-you-know-what for it. Gluttons. ... full post »

I’ve developed a new appreciation for tournament directors. Up until now, I’ve simply covered golf tournaments as a journalist, never having to think too much about how they were put together or administered. But earlier this year, a young man who worked for our company moved on. Even though I’m the editor of Golf\Styles Ohio magazine, one of seven GolfStyles regional publications owned by our company, I stepped up to take his place (in addition to my job) because we suddenly needed a new tournament director. Yeah, sure, I’m that kind of guy. But now, I know what color ... full post »

An 11-man playoff. Big names such as Bob Tway wearing shorts and grinding for pars. Bubba Watson driving 400-yard par 4s and shooting 136 on two of the world’s toughest golf courses. If you are a golf fan, the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier at Ohio State University Scarlet Course and Scioto Country Club was as good as it gets. Blustery winds and every shape of cloud imaginable framed the day in Columbus, where the largest qualifier for the U.S. Open in the world was played on June 4. In total, 24 players and two alternates from the field of 143 qualified ... full post »

I’ve noticed something about fashion here in Columbus, Ohio and I wonder if it just happens here or is it everywhere? My wife and I love to go to nice restaurants. It’s our hobby. She’s from Louisville and I’m from Huntington, so maybe there’s a Southern influence in our sartorial decisions: We dress up when we go out to an expensive restaurant, trying to look as if we’re supposed to be there. But no matter where we go, and there are plenty of upscale restaurants in the Columbus area, there always is a guy there wearing a T-shirt, jeans and a ball ... full post »