by Basil Ashoo
I have just read the stories about the poor conditions and service of Walters Golf in particular, Deser Pines golf club. I have already made reservations and plan on playing the first week in August. I need to know what the course conditions are like now? Are there any follow up stories you can direct me to so I can get current info? I'm going to Vegas on vacation with my wife and I certainly want to have fond memories of my experience playing golf there.
Any info would be appreciated,
Basil Ashoo
Greensboro, NC

by DC Rivera
Mark, I agree 1000% with your comments about Michele Wie. After she did not make the cut at the John Deere, I did not watch the third round. But when Sean O'Hair became a front runner - a young many who has a story of his own - I did watch the closing round and it was a great finish for a great young man who, I believe has a bright future. My prediction is that Wie will win a tournament, even before she turns pro!

by Bob Henderson
So sorry, but I'm an aged Scot and a traditionalist about golf. Wie is a great player, no doubt, with a great future.
But there's a men's tour and a ladies' tour. If the likes of Wie can play on the men's tour, then it's only right that some male draw (like big hitting Hank Kuene or John Daly or a straight-hitting putting wizard like Toms, or Donald or whoever) should be able to play on the ladies' tour. I suspect a few weeks of the men winning everything(which they would) and women going home (even Sorestam) with smaller paychecks would soon put an end to this nonsense.
If sponsers, rightly, want to liven up the boring, every-weekend 72 holes strokeplay competitions, let's have more varied formats, not bring in pretty girls who, frankly, can't cut it on the men's tour.

by Ken
"Are we having fun yet?"
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
Questions we always ask our children, and when we get a "yes, you bet!" then our heart smiles too!
It's just a game, and she's just a kid. Let's us enjoy it too, she obviously is!
I take your side Mark - let her do what she wants.

by Carl
Right on. Let her do what she wants to do. The experience she is gaining right now will help her win big - when there is a full field.
Carlo

by Jim
There's no doubt she is a special talent and will do well in her career.
She should focus on using that talent to hype the LPGA and not the PGA.
There is no shortage of talented golfers on both tours and Michelle should be focussed on being the best female golfer and not a sideshow on the men's tour.

by Jeff Gibson
A few points to remember:
1. Females mature so much earlier than males that a 15 year old girl is like a 20 year old boy. A 12 year old girl qualified for the US Women's Open! It is not unusual at all in women's sports for a 13, 14 or 15 year old to be competing on a national or international level. Do you think a 14 or 15 year old male could possibly compete with the men?
2. After Anika (best female player in the world) played in Ft. Worth, there was no mention of her doing it again. At all. Why?
3. Do not think Michele is playing everywhere she can. She is picking her courses. At the Sony, she played her home course, had 22 putts the last day and did not make it.
3. Is she a talent with a bright future on the LPGA Tour? Yes. Can she play with the men on the PGA Tour on a regular basis? No. Should she? No. Why is golf the only sport where some women think they can compete on an equal basis with men? Why not baseball or basketball or boxing or pool or anything? Is there a misconception about how good the men are? I can tell you that they are awesome. The courses they play on a regular basis would destroy most players. They are strong and powerful athletes, not just a bunch of weaklings out their shoving a ball around.
4. Is Michele good for golf? Yes. But remember, you cannot be kinda equal. You either are or you aren't. At least that is the way I am treated. If she wants to play with the boys, then she should only do that. No going back. The real world, where you have to qualify and slug it out every week.
5. In the PubLinx, she will be able to play with the run of the mill players, but not the best. Will she win it? Please! Will she make it to match play? Maybe. Will she win a match? Maybe.
6. By the way, who is paying for all this golf she is playing this summer? Is it her father or is he a Nike consultant? I thought the USGA regulated amateur status. Point is, she should be treated like everyone else.
7. I am afraid Michele is being asked to do something she cannot do. I am afraid she is going to be doomed to be unhappy with her role in golf. Instead of being a major star on the LPGA Tour, she is going to be jousting at windmills, trying to achieve something someone else told her she could. The best she could ever be is a
mediocre to poor PGA Tour player. Every guy in the Top 500 can beat her regularly.
7. Is the message that if you are a great female player, then you do not play the minor tour (LPGA) but try to play the major tour (PGA). Isn't the right thing that there are simply two tours and they should not be compared. Who loses if they are? What sponsors and marketing people want the fact that the LPGA Tour is looked upon as a place for players of lesser ability to play to be thrown in the public's face.
I wish Michele luck. I think there is a very good possibility that she will end up very unhappy. Clint Eastwood said it best: "A man's (girl) got to know his limitations".
Thanks,

by mike
Great Article. Im sick of all the media hacks bagging on Wie and her parents. She is an incredible talent, and great for the game.
Let it be. She would rather play with the big boys and girls and compete but maybe not win, than mop up on teen agers?? I love that attitude. It shows a lot of confidence in herself, instead of needing to beat weak junior competition.

by Jeff Gibson
A few points to remember in all of this hype.

by Brian Mondschein
I'm still worried about that damn earring of hers.