This Week at TravelGolf.com: June 28, 2005

ID, please: Pro golf tours
should institute age limits

Last week the NBA raised its minimum age requirement, meaning American players will have to wait one year after their high school class graduates before they're eligible for the draft. (International players will have to be at least 19 years old.)

Now it's time for the PGA and LPGA Tours to do the same.

Exhibit A: 17-year-old Morgan Pressel's opening round at last week's U.S. Women's Open. After a brilliant start that left her 5-under-par through eight holes, Pressel finished at even par thanks to a double bogey, bogey finish.

According to the Associated Press, "After an errant tee shot on 18, she slammed the driver into the turf. She made bogey there, bent down creakily, then angrily snatched the ball from the cup and barely raised one finger to acknowledge the cheering crowd. With her playing partners still reading putts, she trudged to the far side of the green and sat cross-legged, staring into space, wondering how it all went bad." She then broke down in the press tent, fighting through tears to answer questions about a very respectable round.

Thanks to promising young players such as Pressel, Michelle Wie, and Paula Creamer, the LPGA's marketing department is absolutely giddy. Last month, they unveiled their new campaign, " These Girls Rock," which is fairly accurate since Wie is 15 and Creamer just graduated high school in May, "These Women Rock" might have been a little misleading.

Nobody's blaming Pressel for last week's meltdown, mind you. Asked to excel on an international stage, most 17-year-old kids wouldn't even be able to compose themselves on the first tee. Pressel is a special talent, and she always has been. This is the same player who qualified for the U.S. Women's Open one week before her 13th birthday. The girl has skills. She just shouldn't be playing any LPGA events now. Not yet. Instead, let's hope she accepts her scholarship to Duke, enjoys at least a year of college life, and then joins the LPGA Tour better for the experience.

Exhibit B: The sad journey of Ty Tryon, who made the PGA Tour in his first attempt at 17. He's now 20, an average player on the Hooters Tour and miles away from the Show. Tryon should be a cautionary tale for all those parents who force their kids to focus on just one sport. The same parents who send their kids across country for "expert" training. But Tryon is a distant memory for most parents. Instead, they look at the Kevin Garnetts of the NBA and the Serena Williamses of tennis and push ahead with their tunnel vision. Education? Life experience? Overrated, apparently.

Fortunately, not everyone falls victim to the money trap. On the PGA Tour, there's plenty of buzz surrounding a player who made his professional debut just last week. This year's top college player, Ryan Moore, tied for 13th in this year's Masters and finished his senior season at UNLV with a fifth-place tie in the NCAA tournament. Whatever he does -- on or off the course --- his future is golden.

Exhibit C: A player you might've heard of, Tiger Woods. Safe to say those two years at Stanford didn't hurt his pro career. In fact, here's guessing few athletes ever regret their college experience. Even if it is just for a short time.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

La Jolla makes the best base
for a San Diego golf trip

With San Diego’s well-known golf courses such as Torrey Pines and La Costa North and South plus a ton of great, lesser-known tracks, the formula for a good time on the links here is pretty simple. The key to making a great vacation, then, is finding the right place to stay. The ocean-side community of La Jolla fits the bill. It provides all those things you actually go to San Diego for in the first place.

Full story | Where (and where not) to golf in the Golden State

Springtime in Iraq: Tips from
travel writers for a 'safe' visit

Who cares about accurate reporting when you've got travel writer Mary Mouthpiece raving about the explosive golf scene in Iraq, home to "world-class courses, challenging for all levels." As she writes, "Most of Iraq's courses are very playable, with wide, generous landing areas and large, receptive - though land-mined - greens. If it's exercise you want, many courses allow running and ducking, but some do charge for use of steel-reinforced Humvees."

Full story | Rebel Blogger: "Travel writers are maggots!"

Fowler's Mill in Ohio not your
dyed-in-the-wool golf course

Most golfers come to Fowler's Mill Golf Course in Chesterland, Ohio because it was created by Pete Dye. They get more than a Dye test, though – they also get stellar customer service, writes Jason Stahl. It's refreshing not to have to wait an hour to tee off, throw down a greasy hotdog and then try to outrun Neanderthals hell-bent on drilling you with a Titleist. This is the way golf was meant to be played.

Full story | A taste of blue-collar golf in Ohio