Spending More Time in the Sand Than David Hasselhoff

When I was younger, I used to like watching the early season celebrity pro-ams – the Hope, the “Clambake” at Pebble Beach. It was fun for me to watch the nice weather and see some famous people hack around with the pros while I was sitting in the midst of winter in the wonderland known as Wisconsin.

As I get older, I like them less and less.

First off, I don’t live in the frozen tundra anymore so the early PGA season isn’t a preview of spring like it used to be. I don’t drool looking at the overseeded fairways in Tucson or the Pacific Ocean off the Monterey Peninsula. Maybe I’m maturing . . . [insert punchline here].

Second, I just don’t like watching B and C List celebs swinging the stick with pros who are trying to do their jobs. I like Ray Romano just fine, but I’d rather not see him chop it out from a fairway bunker with JB Holmes watching. Same for Kevin James. And I certainly don’t want to see some corporate CEO who is a member at Pine Valley and sandbags to a handicap of 18 while looking all the world like a 2 cheat on national TV either.

But the thing that has come to bother me the most is the way that the Hope courses are destroyed by the pros. Remember Duval’s 59? It was at the Hope. Every year, the 5 rounds of the Hope give up more birdies than the Badgers gave up passing yards this year. It is ridiculous. And this year is even crazier. Pat Perez set a consecutive round PGA tour record for low score in the first two rounds. This was such an incredible standard and worthy record that it was broken the next two days by Steve Stricker’s 61 and 62. That’s 123 strokes for 36 holes. To break it down even further, Stevo had 21 birdies, 15 pars, and nothing else except an uncontrollable case of the giggles during those two days. 6 more birdies than pars! 33 under par after four rounds? Are you kidding me?

Maybe it is because I can’t make birdies like that in any situation, even in those courses with windmills and clown mouths. I can’t appreciate 11 birdies in one round because it is beyond my mind’s ability to comprehend, much like the path our Secretary of State took to her current position.

I love professional golf. And I am a huge fan of Stricker’s, so it isn’t that I’m upset Steve did this. Someone would have, so it might as well have been the fellow Cheesehead. But I would much rather see these guys challenged. I like tournaments where birdie is not that easy and bogey is a definite possiblity on most holes. I want to see them work a bit – make the spectacular shot to save par, not the boring play for birdie. The US Open is the classic example, but the Player’s and the Wachovia in Charlotte are good ones too. This is one of the reasons I never got too excited about my hometown tournament, the Greater Milwaukee Open (now, the US Bank Open, at least this week). Brown Deer is a very good course, but pros just kill it.

Bottom line: As I get older, I just don’t want the game to look that easy for anyone.

The only good thing about today’s round: no celebs.

Tags: European PGA Tour, Golf Business, Junior Golf, Uncategorized by
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I ran into Jay Busbee’s interview with David Feherty online today and I just had to share some of it.

For those who don’t know, Feherty is a former European tour player from Ireland who retired in 1997 and since, has been the best on-course announcer in golf history for my money. He has a way with words that, well, no one else has. For example, he has used the phrase “pulled up on the back of his underwear violently” in describing how a certain PGA player felt after flubbing a shot. Another favorite: “that ball ran across the green like a frozen sloat” – I think that means the green was slick.

But, as this interview shows, he isn’t just funny, but a man who may care about America more than most Americans.

Some excerpts:

His view on the war in Iraq: “What you think of the war — whether we should be there, whether we shouldn’t — isn’t truly relevant anymore. This is one of the greatest good deeds the world has ever seen. Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world, and we blew right through it. And now you’ve got Iran pushing in, looking to gain control. It’s truly terrifying — we think in four-year election cycles, and these people think in hundreds of years.”

On how great it is to live in the US: “I’ve lived so many other places, and it’s given me some perspective. The average American wouldn’t believe how extraordinary we have it here. Every day I wake up, I think, “Am I still in America? Yes? Thank f—!”"

And some of the funny stuff.

Speaking about a golf tour he did in Iraq for the American troops where a long drive champ hit a ball off a rubber tee in Feherty’s button fly, “When you’ve got a club coming 200mph right at your plums, that’ll wake you up.”

On how amazing Tiger was compared to the players Feherty was used to on the tour when he hit the scene: “And then every round, Tiger would hit a couple shots, and I’d say, “F—, I didn’t see that one coming.”"

Another reference to how unique the Striped One is: “You just can’t say enough about the guy. He’s winning majors by 10, 12, 15 shots. We haven’t seen that kind of stuff since the 1800s, when Old Tom Morris was playing with a badger’s testicle stuffed with seagull feathers.”

Badger’s testicle stuffed with seagull feathers? How does he even imagine this stuff?

And finally, how’s this for an attitude about life after nearly dying in a bicycle accident last year: “But still, man, I’m a lucky guy. Can’t wait to see what’s going to be next.”?

The world needs more Fehertys.

Tags: Blogging, College Golf, Equipment, European PGA Tour, History, Junior Golf, PGA, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup by
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I’m back from my self-imposed blog vacation – and a real one too. A few Happy New Year comments:

1. Hilton Head is great. We (Lori, Alex, Andrew and Brett and I) went there for a few days to play around while Alex played in a tournament at Sea Pines, including 2 rounds at Harbour Town (how does that work, exactly – kid plays great course, dad walks along with crackers and a Diet Pepsi in his backpack. Where did I go wrong?). Weather was great, Marriott Grande Ocean was, well, Grand (with or without the “e”), and Harbour Town continues to be a great course. Even if you’re just watching.
2. Dan Jenkins is one of the funniest writers I’ve run into. I’ve always liked his stuff (“Dead Solid Perfect”, “Semi-Tough” ) but while on vacation, I read his new book about the LPGA, The Franchise Babe. Because I liked it so much, and I remembered why I liked DJ in the first place, I just started “The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist”. Jenkins knows more golf history, and has lived through most of it, than any other golf writer. And he is hilarious, if you like West Texas’ views of the world and an unabashed man-love for Ben Hogan.
3. Remember the name Jim Liu. He has dominated the junior tournament series my son Alex plays in, winning 5 of 10, finishing second in three and third in one. And he is in 8th grade, competing against 16 to 19 year olds! He is as solid a junior golfer as I’ve seen, except for maybe local Raleigh stud, Grayson Murray. Grayson is currently the number one ranked junior in the country for his graduation year of 2012. Watch for Jim and Grayson on the Golf Channel in a couple of years.

That’s it for now. It is “great to be back” in the 49 degree rainy weather that we love so much.

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My son, Alex, has another International Junior Golf Tournament this weekend – at Pinehurst #8, no less.

Alex has been playing junior tournaments for quite a while now. He started with local tournaments at our then home course, Lochmere Golf Club in Cary, NC.  He graduated to more regional tournament series, the Eastern Junior Golf Association and The National Junior Golf Club. The last two years, though, he has improved enough to play national type tours, such as the IJGT, the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT), and the big daddy of all junior tournaments, the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

These tournaments are the most reliable route to college golf scholarships. It is very difficult to play only high school golf or local tournaments and attract any college coaches’ attention (especially club golf – coaches essentially ignore any “Junior Club Championships”). Big time coaches – Oklahoma State, Georgia, Wake Forest – have the reputation and talent level that allows them to ignore all but the very top tournaments in AJGA and, thus, the very best junior golfers in the world. They can get anyone they want, so they can be choosy.

There are all kinds of levels of college golf, though, and lots of opportunities out there. Alex has recently been getting information about Bethany College, a small NAIA school in Kansas. Apparently, they are very competitive nationally and have a good academic reputation. It certainly isn’t a school Alex would have considered (primarily because his parents never heard of it before), but now, he might.

Junior golf and the inhabitants therein is a fascinating study. You see all kinds of parents and kids. There’s the one parent who called his kid “Tin Cup” on the range in disgust after the kid wouldn’t listen to his advice and kept mis-hitting his shots. Practice shots. On the range. And he wasn’t kidding – he was mad.

There’s the dad who would stand behind the green on the exact line he wanted his son to hit when his kid would hit approach shots (if you’re unsure, that is grounds for disqualification – no golfer can get advice or coaching during a round unless it is from his own caddy or a coach if it is a team competition). I’ve actually gotten to know this guy a bit over the last few years and he is a very nice guy – he just wants his kid to succeed too much.

• We interrupt this blog for an important PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: General advice for youth sports – parents, you are the child’s parent, not their friend, not their agent. Be a parent. Love them, support them, respect them, but if they don’t do as well as you or they want to, accept it and teach your child from the experience. Disappointment is part of the maturation process so expect it and, if possible, welcome it as a growth tool for your child.

Then there are the great people – both parents and kids – we’ve met. The IJGT, as the name suggests, has a fair number of international kids who play, usually coming from the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head (if you heard of the show, School of Golf, on the Golf Channel, that school is the subject of that show). Alex and I were commenting after the last tournament how generally gracious, respectful and fun the kids in that tournament series are. We haven’t really met a jerk at one of the 15 or so tournaments he’s played there in child or parent form, nor among the coaches and directors. And some of the kids and their parents have become good friends, such as Kurtis Straw and his folks, Randy and Carla, from Pennsylvania.

Kurtis Straw, junior golfer, star hockey player and all around nice guy

I’ll try to capture some photos from the course this weekend to give you added flavor. Alex has 3 top tens so far in IJGT this year – let’s hope for an even better showing in the rain!

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Just wanted to share some pics from our weekend at the IJGT Junior Tournament in Williamsburg, VA at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club this last weekend. Leaves turning, beautiful course – great weekend. And young Master Ehlert took 4th – not bad, though he felt like he should have won.

Tags: Junior Golf, Places to Play by
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Cameron Peck was named AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year – and deservedly so. He won 4 big tournaments including the US Junior.

But will he be a great pro?

Take a look at some former players of the year:

• 1988 Phil Mickelson (for the 3rd year in a row!)
• 1989 David Duval (#1 player in the world during the Tiger era)
• 1991and 1992 Some kid named after a feline
• 1994 Robert Floyd – Ray’s kid, made it to the Tour
• 1995 Ryuji Imada – pro
• 1996 Charles Howell – still a pro
• 1997 David Gossett – struggling pro
• 1998 Erik Compton – in the news now because he’s trying to get through Q school after his second heart transplant.
• 1999 Hunter Mahan – star on the PGA and of the recent Ryder Cup
• 2001 Casey Wittenberg – struggling to make it on the Nationwide and PGA

It got me thinking about other sports – what happened to their players of the year in high school?

Football:

• 1987 Emmitt Smith – serviceable back for the ‘Boys I guess
• 1990 Robert Smith – the smartest football player ever, supposedly. Great college player, good pro for the Vikes
• 1993 Ron Pawlus – Domer Haters, insert joke here.
• 1994 Payton Manning – he’s OK
• 1996 Tim Couch – made it to the NFL for a couple of sniffs here and there, the last with the Pack
• 1998 Ronald Curry – wait, is this the basketball list?
• 2001 Joe Mauer – wait, is this the baseball list?
• 2005 Greg Paulus – can’t these football guys get their sports straight, for goodness sakes!

Not bad. Lot of good players. It seems that golf is not the only sport where some level of future greatness in some sport can be seen early.

But how about baseball? It has to be the most difficult of the major sports to predict future success. Here we go:

• 1986 Gary Sheffield – not a nice guy according to reports, but a great player
• 1990 Todd Von Poppel – a lot of pub, a little success
• 1993 Alex Rodriguez – not a bad ball player, I guess
• 1998 Drew Henson – apparently, the baseball pickers don’t know their sports either
• And a lot of other no-names

Basketball? I won’t go through the list but it includes JR Reid, Alonzo, Kenny Anderson, Corliss Williamson, Damon Bailey, Stephon Marbury, Kobe, Baron Davis, Lebron, and Greg Oden. At least they get college success pretty well.

There you have it – an unofficial survey of the predictive success of national honors at 17 years of age. I don’t know what it means, but I wouldn’t put it past young Mr. Peck to be putting for real dough in the next several years.

Tags: Junior Golf, Uncategorized by
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I realized that I hadn’t written in the blog for quite a while, so I’m throwing one at you. By the way, that is the great thing about doing a blog for myself, rather than you, the reading audience – I don’t have to write if I don’t feel like it. I didn’t feel that way about my business blog – I felt like I was letting the business down if I didn’t write at least every other day. And I know some other bloggers; in fact, most other bloggers, have that pang of guilt if they don’t write regularly.

So, here goes.

1. The USGA announced its nominees for the 2009 Executive Committee – and, yet again, I am not on the list. Why not? I have just as much know-it-allness and smarminess as Jim Vernon (president) or Irv Fish (treasurer). And I know I’ve got more of what the USGA needs on its Exec Committee than nominee Christopher Leidel, current Executive VP and CFO of The National Geographic Society. Come on – National Geographic? When is the last time they ran a “Best Courses in America” issue? Just in case one of your nominees doesn’t pass the rigorous background check I’m sure you put them through, USGA, I’m right here.

2. The AJGA, the most prestigious junior golf tournament series in the country, announced its Rolex All-Americans. No, I’m not on that list either (too old, maybe?).  But, local Green Hope grad Ben Kohles, now a freshman at Virginia, is an honorable mention. Alex, my son, played several matches in high school golf last year with and against Ben, since they were both number ones for their respective high schools and their schools are in the same conference. Nice guy, great golfer. Congratulations, Ben!

3. NC State golf is on the rise! Darren Blair of the Wolfpack became the second cub to win a men’s golf tournament. He won the Bank of Tennessee at the Ridges tournament last week. With Matt Hill winning just before him, the Pack is coming on strong. And the new course is about to open. I predict the NC State will be contending for a national title in the next couple of years and will soon become one of the dominant ACC programs.

That is it for now. I’ll get back to you whenever I feel like it.

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