Other Stuff

I've thrown a lot at you in the last few days, so I should probably just ask if anyone is still out there...Anyone?  Bueller?

Some dribs and drabs remain to sort through, otherwise I might have to do some actual work...

One of the Good Guys - I've not been shy about telling you who I like and who I don't, and one of those I like most is Geoff Ogilvy.  Geoff is far from the best player out there, but he's among the most thoughtful about subjects of interest to me, the game itself and its fields of play.  

As you are likely aware, Ogilvy's game had been in serious eclipse for some time until he broke through with a win at the Barracuda Championship, an off-field event, and parlayed that into a nice run in the FedEx playoffs, including a T-2 at the Deutsche Bank.  Geoff wrote a wonderful piece for Golf World about his struggles and how he rediscovered his game:

At first my reaction was to practice harder and longer, experiment more with TrackMan,

video and other equipment, and increase my work in the gym. It made me feel I was doing it the "correct" way, but it's actually easy to just work hard. Somebody next to you is hitting 500 balls, so you hit 550, and it seems you've gained ground. It's the time-honored sports approach that many simplistically ascribe to Ben Hogan, but I have no doubt even his voluminous practice was more about quality than quantity. 

Bottom line, that kind of "more" didn't really work for me. For months, I found myself dragging my clubs to the airport Friday night instead of Monday morning. I finally realized I had fallen prey to a common tour disease: getting analytical, doing a lot of repetition, taking a scientific approach that tempts with possible answers.

Do read the whole thing, as you'll quickly understand why I think so highly of him (plus, let's face it, it's awfully hard to dislike an Aussie). but here's more:

I got very good at grooving a swing pattern that worked only on the range. It didn't help me once I got to the course. In fact, it actually hurt my score because I had developed a flawed mental mind-set that it didn't matter where the ball was going because "it's only a practice shot."

However, what I've known since I was a kid is that it does matter where the ball goes when you're trying to beat someone. So I began to play more friendly matches -- even for nine holes, and sometimes without a money bet -- that, because of my nature, I still wanted very much to win. And I rediscovered that if I really want the ball to go straight and not into the bushes, I'm better off playing a match than hitting 250 balls on the range. 

No shortage of irony here, as he's wonderfully analytical about his troubles and the solution thereto, but said solution was to be less analytical about his game.  He also attributes some of his difficulties to moving his family away from Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, famous for its "spirited money games."

Need more to warm up to the man?  How about this quote about the Ryder Cup:

"As a TV spectacle, it's far better than the Super Bowl. Only one comes close - the 100 meters in the Olympics. Maybe. And it only lasts 10 seconds. Golf generally is not amazingly suspenseful on TV, but that is off the charts."

He's not American or European, and therefore will never play in the event, but he can allow himself the simple pleasure of being a fan.  How great is that?

Agony, Ecstasy -  I saw only a bit of the Web.com Tour Championship final round on Sunday, and it seemed to be as close to the exquisite agony of the late lamented Q-School, with guys throwing up all over their shoes as they try to hold it together well enough to secure a Tour card.  Most agonizing of all was Travis Bertoni, who came to the 18th needing a birdie.  he striped a monster drive down the middle of the fairway and his approach shot was all over a dangerous back-right pin near the water, finishing a mere four-feet away from Valhalla.  The astute reader will sense what comes next, as the unfortunate lad gagged badly on the putt and will relive that moment for the rest of his days.

Shackelford takes some well-deserved swipes at Commissioner Playing Opportunities in this post, comparing a PGA Tour card to constantly devalued Delta or United frequent flyer miles.  I'll try to limit myself to a mini-rant, but in a nutshell Commissioner Ratched has turned the Tour into a closed shop, throwing improvised explosive devices onto all the paths onto the Tour.  First he did away with PGA Tour Q-School, requiring a year of indentured servitude in the minor leagues, regardless of talent level.

Then, while ostensibly increasing the number of graduates from 25 to 50, last year's first class found out that their Tour card did not allow for them to, you know, play in many PGA Tour events.  This was attributed to an inordinate number of players on major medical exemptions, the number of limited-field invitationals and unusual sunspot activity, but the fact remains that the Commish paid his debts in devalued Argentine pesos.  But he's appointed a blue ribbon panel, so all will be well.

Agony, Ecstasy - Part II - Two widely divergent golf-related...ummm...celebrations, for lack of a better word.  First up, an unusual end zone celebration by the Miami Dolphins' Brian Hartline, who was penalized for this in-your-face excessive display:

That looks suspiciously like his putting stroke, is this now a thing?  No wonder that people say that NFL stand for No Fun League.

Our second item is more of a heartwarming story, a man shortening his golf clubs for use by his son after a relaxing day on the golf course (most assuredly not safe for work or children):

Can you believe our game makes some people angry?  Who knew?

Confidentially Speaking - For anyone that has Unplayable Lies on their Christmas gift list, there are two out-of-print golf books on my list, George Bahto's biography of C.B. Macdonald and Tom Doak's The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses.  Doak's book was written in the mid-1990's, long before he became a name-brand architect, and is renown for his rather harsh judgments about modern golf course design.

I've previously blogged about Doak's intention to update the book, and that project is apparently proceeding as he envisioned.  Josh Sens with the details and a short interview with the man himself:

An update on the original, this new work -- the first of a planned five-volume series --

turns the architect’s attention to Great Britain and Ireland, where Doak and three collaborators review 288 courses, assigning a zero-to-10 grade to each. 

The book is intended as a traveler’s companion, helping golfers select courses they want to visit while opening their eyes to layouts that don’t always make the Top 100 lists. Great Britain and Ireland being what they are, Doak finds a lot to like. And Doak being who he is, he isn’t shy when he sees flaws.

So, since this problem seems resolved, I'd prefer if you'd pop for the Macdonald bio.

Now this is great news for those of us that don't get out much, but we'll have to see if the appeal of the original can be maintained.  As a young turk with no reputation to protect, Doak could call 'em as he saw 'em.  he's now in a very different position within the game, though he seems from this exchange to recognize that he can't take back what he once put into print:

GOLF.com: Great Britain and Ireland make obvious sense as destinations. But was it also a relief to be writing about those places because so many of the architects are dead and you didn’t have to worry about offending them? 

DOAK: For a while after I did the first book, I would keep it updated on a computer file. I used to joke that my son would publish it posthumously for me. Keep in mind that this is just the first of five volumes. It’s probably the least controversial because there just aren’t too many scathing reviews to be written. When we get to the American courses, I’m already on the record with my opinions about some of them. And the new ones I see, I’ve got to be honest about them too. My opinions may have mellowed a little over time. But I’m not going to sugarcoat them. 

Promise?  This will put the concerns of insufferable purists such as your humble blogger to rest:

GOLF.com: Another high-profile course is Trump International. My sense is that most golfers, hearing the names Donald Trump and Tom Doak, would think, “Now there are two guys who don’t see eye-to-eye.” Were you surprised by how much you liked it? And, if I’m a traveling golfer and have time for only one course in the Aberdeen area, do I hit Trump or Royal Aberdeen? 

DOAK: Actually, I didn’t like Trump International that much. It’s a 7 because it was a beautiful piece of land for golf, but the design did not really make the most of it, in my view. If you've got time for only one course in the Aberdeen area, our consensus view is to go to Royal Aberdeen, but personally I’d still make the drive to Cruden Bay instead.

Good answer, Tom!  Can't wait to se ewhat he thinks of Great White Whale Askernish, amongst others....

These Gals Are Good -  Not much demand for coverage of the North Greenville (NC) University women's golf team, but you'll like this one:

In the grand scheme of life, few would describe a round of golf as a “life or death” 

situation (for some, this might depend on how they played that day, and what was on the line). However for Lauren Childs, a junior on the North Greenville women’s golf team, her round of golf turned into a life or death situation.

“I was standing on the green when I saw him. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but I looked harder and could see his entire body laying face down on the grass with a lawnmower on the other side of him.” Childs described the situation as she stood on the 15th green at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The women’s golf team was battling its way through the first tournament of the season, when she saw an elderly man laying in his back yard face down. “I saw him reach up and grab the mower with his right arm and try to pull himself up, but his body didn’t move at all. That is when I realized he was in trouble.”

Childs immediately sprung into action. “I knew I had to get to him as fast as I could,” said Childs. “As soon as the girl I was playing with hit, I took off running towards him, and everyone started running after me.” As Lauren Childs and two others from her group reached the man, her past CPR and first aid training took over. She immediately rolled the man over on to his back, pulling off his shoes as the man was profusely sweating, and elevating his feet while spectators dialed 911. “I have been trained in CPR but it has been years ago. Fortunately for him, the other two girls I was playing with were training to be nurses, so we worked to get him in the correct position. The only life saving technique I know is prayer. The moment I laid eyes on the man, I started praying.”

A nice story to end on.