'Dis And 'Dat

The rains have stopped (at least temporarily) and golf was played.  More on that later...

Misery...Company - Despite a horrid winter and almost 5" of rain this week, golf has been played and our course doesn't seem any worse for wear.  We're luckier than some it seems, as per this Chicago Tribune account:

A blog written by Skokie Country Club superintendent Donald Cross warned that viewing pictures of the course's weather-damaged greens "can lead to Insomnia, Hypertension, Depression, Anxiety, Irritability, Stress, Mood Swings, and other psychological and physiological conditions ... all of which have been experienced by this author!" 

Dr. Ed Nangle, director of turfgrass programs for the Chicago District Golf Association, said he has seen fairways that look like "a chameleon in a candy shop." 

Gary Groh, the head professional at Bob O'Link in Highland Park, summed up his frustration over the chilly spring this way: "It's 48 degrees here right now up by the lake. Doggone it!" 

The driving range is open at Bob O'Link, but the course might not be playable until June after the poa annua died on about 13 greens, forcing the club to re-plant.

Ouch, that sucks!

A survey conducted by the CDGA and Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents found nearly 65 percent of area courses have damaged greens and an estimated 85 percent have issues with fairways or tee boxes.

"I've been in the business for 25 years," MAGCS executive director Luke Cella said. "This is the worst."

Not That I'm Comparing - I try not to use the blog to whine about my game, at least not often, but yesterday was that bad.  I had spent some time with Kent St. Charles, our young PGA Professional-in-training and frequent evening golf companion/opponent trying the new TaylorMade driver on the launch monitor, and took a demo out on the course with me.  There's a tendency to overswing when hearing numbers (especially low numbers) and the round started badly, descended into abject suckery and closed as farce, including three rinsed balls.

Today was a better day, thank God.  I didn't hit all that much better, but the short-game kicked back in and a good second nine let me post a somewhat reasonable number, nine shots better than Friday.  Though still not the kinds of score I think I should be shooting, it's not often you improve day-to-day by that large a margin, or so I thought until I read this Jim McCabe piece about Brandon de Jonge:

Certainly, de Jonge didn’t come close to moving Tucker out, though the personable Zimbabwean did himself proud with his turnaround at the Quail Hollow Club. One day after failing to make a birdie in shooting an 8-over 80, the 33-year-old de Jonge gave his parents, family members and assorted friends from his adopted hometown of Charlotte plenty to cheer about in a bogey-free 62. 

How does one improve by an average by one stroke per hole? 

“Low expectations,” de Jonge said with a smile.

Good for him, especially as he makes his home in Charlotte and was playing in front of family and friends.  Now McCabe mentioned a guy named Tucker above, and that's an even better story.

Tucker may have then regaled Brendon de Jonge with his historic scoring accomplishment in that toughest of all U.S. Opens, the 1898 affair at the Myopia Hunt Club north of Boston. The sheep must not have been hungry that year, for the rough was impossible and to understand how difficult it was, consider that Fred Herd broke 80 just once in four rounds – and still won by seven strokes. 

So it’s hardly a surprise that Tucker established a bit of infamy that year, by shooting the worst recorded professional score ever, a 157, in the first round. Clearly out of the competition, Tucker gutted it out and came back with an even 100 the next day and while he wasn’t around for the final two rounds, the fact that he improved by a whopping 57 strokes has him as part of folklore – perhaps forever.

Wow!  Just like John Daly.....err perhaps the Bizarro World John Daly.

It Wasn't A Dream? -  I gave it a couple of days in the hopes that I might have been dreaming, but the PGA of America still intends to furnish Donald Trump an open mike in 2022.  I was hoping they might have come to their senses, but no such luck.  At a Thursday morning joint press conference at Trump Tower, PGA CEO Pete Bevaqua had this to say about the venue:

"The conversation starts and ends with the golf course," PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua

Bevaqua, Trump and Ted Bishop Make Nice.

said. "We have to take the PGA Championship, one of golf's majors, to really only the best golf courses in this country. That's the first critical point. Is the golf course worthy? And that discussion as it related to Trump Bedminster was an easy discussion. It's a phenomenal property, a championship caliber golf course with an unbelievable amount of room for the operational requirements and with the added bonus it's in a major market. To be able to bring a major championship to the metropolitan area with the infrastructure, the hotels, the excitement that it generates in terms of spectators, when you start to line up those pieces, it becomes an easy decision."

That went for quite a bit after Pete told us the conversation was ended, wouldn't you say?  And I can't help but compare and contrast that to this description of the golf course included in the PGA

Trump National Golf Club -- Bedminster, built on the 600-acre former estate of sports car magnate John DeLorean, features two courses -- the Old and New Course. The Old Course, designed by Tom Fazio, which will host the 2017 U.S. Women's Open and the 2022 PGA Championship, opened for play in 2004 and plays to 7,560 yards. It has received rave reviews and since 2005 has been ranked among the Top 100 Golf Courses in America by GOLF Magazine and many other rating systems. It is considered one of this country's great golf courses and has the capacity to hold massive numbers of spectators.

The bolding is mine, but the emphasis would seem to be shared by the PGA.

And if you have the stomach for it, here's 4:37 of your life you'll want back:

In other Trump news, see what you think about this Farrell Evans piece:

How can golf, which has overcome so much to open its doors to African-Americans and other minority groups, not be more proactive about monitoring someone who doesn't always represent in his public appearances the inclusive spirit that the game wants to present to the world?

Trump has the right to share his views on current events and to criticize President Obama. But what's out of bounds is racism, thinly veiled, coded or otherwise.

I find Evans' accusations of racism against Trump to be not terribly well-supported.  The man is a constant self-promoter without much of a filter, and there's no doubt that entails risks.  The Donald will use the PGA and Open Championships (assuming the R&A returns it to Turnberry) as a vehicle to promote himself and his interests, and if the PGA of America doesn't get that then they're being willfully blind.

One more quick Trump-related item, this Hank Gola post on Ferry Point:

“It’s a Jack Nicklaus signature course. I think it’s the best course Jack has ever done,” he went

on. “It’s getting raves from the few people who have been on the sight. It’s now completed and pretty much grown in but I’ve decided to open it next spring rather than doing a half a season.”

With New York City taxpayers footing the $236 million bill to complete the work, residents will receive a special rate at the daily fee facility. Trump stepped into the breach and was awarded a 20-year lease by the Bloomberg administration, as well as the contract to operate the facility, agreeing to erect a $10 million clubhouse.

$236 million just to complete it?  I wonder what they've sunk into it from start to finish...  Trump is talking it up as a major venue, and we had speculation as to the USGA's interest in a prior item.  I don't know how much room they have there for tent villages and the like, but how you would get spectators in and out would be my question?  Maybe you use the CitiField and Tennis Center parking lots and ferry them over?

The Coach From Hell - Golf is a game for gentlemen, except when it's not.  You won't see this kind of item here too often:

A San Francisco Bay Area golf coach who was set to receive an award from the PGA before he was arrested and accused of molesting three boys tried to hire a hit man to have them killed, prosecutors said.

An ugly story that just proves it can happen anywhere.

A Friend Indeed - This is more my cup of tea than the one above.  Evan Beirne is a former college player attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open.  As many do, he had a buddy caddie for him:

Keegan and his boss du jour.

Keegan Bradley: PGA Tour player. Major champion. Caddie? 

That was the case at the local U.S. Open Qualifier in Jupiter, Florida on Friday. U.S. Open hopeful Evan Beirne formed a friendship with Bradley after the two played college golf together at St. John's University in New York. Beirne is a year younger than Bradley and is still playing on the mini-tours, but he's a very respectable player in his own right. He holds the course record at New Haven Country Club after shooting 58 in 2010.

I'm hoping to caddie for the above-referenced Kent in an event this year.  Of course I've warned him that it's going to be like that Davis Love McGladry commercial, you know the one where he asks for a nine-iron and ends up playing a soft two-iron.

Another Reason To Ban John Daly - As if I needed one, right?  Take a gander at this outfit spotted at the Kentucky Derby:

John Strege informs us that the outfit is from Loudmouth Golf, made famous by you-know-who.  The pants are a relatively modest $99.50, but the jacket will set you back some $395.00.  No word on the cost of her hat.

Phil Being Phil - Another hearty perennial here is Phil doing Phil-stuff.  Here's today's installment from his blistering third-round 63 at Quail Hollow:

So when Mackay says Mickelson made him in gape in wonder, it gets people’s attention.

That’s what happened at the 13th tee Saturday at the Wells Fargo Championship, with Mickelson’s shot-making glowing red-hot around Quail Hollow Golf Club. 

That’s where Mackay gave Mickelson the yardage, the 216 yards his player needed to cover to get to a back pin at the long par 3. Mackay told Mickelson it was a 6-iron. He had a hand on the club, ready to pull it, but Mackay saw a familiar glint growing in Mickelson’s eyes.

“I’m just waiting for him to say something, and he goes, `I’d love a good 7 here,’” Mackay said. 

A 7-iron? From 216 yards? 

“I said, `Oh my God,’ before I could catch it,” Mackay said. “I didn’t mean to say `Oh my God.’” 

Mickelson waggled that 7-iron over his ball before making a hard lash, unleashing a big, sweeping hook that worked its way beautifully to the flagstick, kicking up and rolling out to within 9 feet of the hole. Mickelson made birdie there.

Per Bones:

“He told me, walking up, that when I said `Oh my God,’ he took it as a challenge,” Mackay said.

That wouldn't work out for anyone else, and only works about half the time for Phil.