Just a handful of items this morning, as exciting paperwork beckons...
Pacific Dunes, Ready For Its Close-Up - I hope you were able to catch some of thegolf last night, because Pacific Dunes looked spectacular... As feared, America's Sweeetheart, 12-year old Lucy Li, lost in the morning round. But the attraction was the golf course, and with only a wee breeze the ladies torched it.
I committed blogging malpractice in not running this video earlier as an enticement:
This is one way to play the 154-yard, par-3 10th @BandonDunesGolf. Congratulations, @MarieAnnBos. #USWFourBall
It's important for players to choose carefully where they will make their aces...the 10th at Pacific Dunes is about perfect, because you can see it all as the ball tracks to the hole...
As for the Fox broadcast team, well the best that can be said is that they're new at this...This was very much the Fox B-team, and Natalie Gulbis was as bad as feared. One can only hope that Fox can solve the problem with her audio feed....you know, the problem being that there was one.
The USGA used the broadcast to announce that the U.S. Amateur would be held at Pinehurst in 1919 and at Bandon Dunes in 2020. Readers might recall that a short while ago we featured Mike Keiser speaking of his dream of bring the Am to Bandon, though we came down on the skeptical side. My reasoning was that Mike builds his courses for the recreational golfer, and none of the four courses seem sufficiently brawny to stand up to these lads and all the time they spend in the gym. Interestingly, they haven't decided which courses will be used for the event... I'd guess Bandon Trails, but perhaps that's only because it beat me up and left me curled on the floor in a fetal position.
The NBC Broadcast Crew, Ready For Its Close-Up - Alex Myers had a fun week in Ponte Vedra Beach, embedding with the NBC/GC crew to take us behind the scenes in a seven-part series. He takes us into the NBC compound, it's own village of trucks and tents:
And who doesn't like pics of control rooms?:
But the real fun stuff is when he goes up in the crane with the cameraman above No. 17:
There's segments on riding shotgun with Roger Maltbie, sitting on the "other island" with a camera man for eight hours and why Johnny Miller broadcasts in bare feet, so take a spin through it all.
Van Cynical, Ready For His Close-Up - Gary was en fuego this week, even befor ehe got to the mailbag...First he had this about Fox:
-- One more thing about Fox Sports. As a dress rehearsal for its first U.S. Open this summer, the Fourball Championship was pretty ragged. I’ll give Fox a pass because it was match play, which is a challenge for TV, and it was two-man amateur teams. All the tour player talent talking on the air knew next to nothing about these players. Luckily, long-time amateur golfer and former Walker Cup coach Buddy Marucci was on the broadcast team to supply some knowledge. One friend texted me that “I’d rather put nails in my eyes than listen to Greg Norman in the booth” while another texted, “Obviously, Holly Sonders wasn’t hired for her interviewing skills. Awkward multiple times!” Another tabbed Joe Buck as the next Brent Musburger on golf, which was not a compliment. It’s too early to make a call on the Fox-USGA deal but so far, it’s not trending in the right direction. Fox needs time…
There were two perfectly good reasons for hiring Holly, and I'd say that they're...errr....holding up quite well. I'm most amused by the fact that he no doubt wrote that before he saw Natalie Gulbis in the same role.
He led the piece with this:
-- Did you happen to see the most noteworthy thing about the USGA’s new Fourball Championship, which was televised by Fox Sports? I mean, besides Nathan Smith of Pittsburgh teaming up to win his fifth USGA title? The USGA allowed the players to use laser rangefinders, the Fox cameras occasionally showed them using rangefinders to get yardages and guess what? The world, somehow, did not explode. PGA Tour, take note…
Gary, it's not just the Tour, as the USGA doesn't allow DMD's in their professional events either...I'm not sure why.
And in things you'd never thought you'd read:
-- Leading the Rollins College graduating class with a 3.96 GPA and earning a spot as a commencement speaker was Elin Nordegren, the former Mrs. Tiger, who impressively grinded out her degree over nine years. No word on the prom, though…
There's lots more, so give the man a click if you're so inclined...
Not Ever Ready... - What's the opposite of a DVR alert, for this is one program I need to take all precautions to miss:
While addressing media in New York -- mostly answering questions about ESPN's recent breakup with Bill Simmons -- ESPN president John Skipper revealed a new batch of "30 for 30" films are in the making. Volume Three will include documentaries on the Tyson-Holyfield fight, the Buffalo Bills' four consecutive Super Bowl losses and, get ready golf fans, John Daly.
Gotta give them props, that list is most definitely three of a kind....
Gonna Need A Wide-Angle Lens - In this week's golf silliness, comes this:
In this day and age, you know you've arrived when a fake Twitter account is created in your honor.
That's the case for Devin Bock, who received a lot of TV time as Kevin Kisner's caddie on Sunday. A Twitter account -- @BocksCalves -- was created yesterday after Bock's calves generated some buzz during the final round of The Players.
Here's what the fuss is all about:
Admit it, in their own way they're every bit as impressive as anything Holly brings to the table...
Ready For Her Close-Up Since 1913 - Many thanks to loyal reader and friend Mark W. for sharing this video of Ida Pieracci... just watch it:
OK, the backswing has gotten a little short, but that's gonna happen in your second century. But the putting stroke is still MONEY!
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