This Week at TravelGolf.com: Oct. 3, 2006

The time has come for us golfers to get revenge on those TV weathermen

Is there any profession that torments golfers more than the weatherman?

Or meteorologists as they pretentiously call themselves before launching into a heartwarming soliloquy about Doppler One Million or whatever high-tech radar that's all the rage these days (but in all reality's probably a bucket stuck on top of a garage).

The weather guy tells you it's going to downpour all day Saturday, so you don't book a tee time and find yourself straight out of Doppler when it turns out to be nothing but sunny. The same smiling doofus reports Sunday's a guaranteed beauty, so you schedule two tee times and are up a creek when Noah's Ark is recreated.

Weathermen have all the accuracy of Ryan Leaf and all the accountability of a college professor with tenure. If George W. really wanted to explain away those false weapons of mass destruction reports, he should have sent his local weatherman rather than Condoleezza Rice.

Oh, you got it wrong? Well, what do you expect. It's the weather guy.

Golfers have taken this meteorological abuse far too long. It's not like farmers are dumb enough to listen to these airheads and buxom bimbos standing in front of blue screens.

It turns out that many of these weather dudes play golf. What else are they going to do with all that time they pretend to be staring at radar? It only takes so long to fling a dart at that board with symbols for sun, rain, snow and fog, after all.

So find a weatherman on the course. Look for the golf club that's pricey but desperate enough to shell out free rounds (weathermen aren't big on treating). Challenge the puffy hair man to a match and swing your way to satisfaction.

There's nothing like trumping the weatherman to make you smile. I'm the worst golf-playing golf writer in the world and I recently dusted a Reno weatherman. It turns out most of these guys aren't very good (when you're a weatherman you've sort of run through talents).

Go ahead. Beat your weatherman today.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Pinehurst's top 10 courses: In the
home of American golf, No. 2 still tops

Few areas are as fertile for growing golf courses as the Sandhills region of North Carolina. The ideal soil and terrain have sprouted 43 of them over the years. The standout is the venerable No. 2 course at the Pinehurst Resort. Donald Ross' masterpiece has inspired a number of top-notch tracks in the region many call the home of American golf. TravelGolf.com gives its list of the Pinehurst area's top 10 courses.

Also: Measure your game against the masters

Golf joins high school's 'in-crowd,' Ogio's
strapless Shling carrier & golf in Vietnam

Podcast host Dave Berner talks to Ron Montesano about high school golf's growing popularity. Gear geek Kiel Christianson discusses Ogio's new strapless carrier for golf bags, the Shling. And Tim McDonald talks about his upcoming golf trip to Vietnam.

Also: Subscribe to the podcast via RSS

Montreux in Reno: Where million-dollar
homes overshadow a Nicklaus course

The course at the Montreux Golf & Country Club community in Reno might be home to a PGA Tour event, but it is largely overshadowed by the mini-castle homes that line its fairways. This seems just fine to Reno community and business leaders. When Montreux opened in 1997, many doubted whether its over-the-top real-estate component would be successful. Today Montreux is still firmly high-rent, and the houses are only growing grander.

Also: TravelGolf.com's Luxury Golfer magazine