Month: December 2004

Ryder Cup Points Shakeup

A major announcement regarding the accumulation of points for Ryder Cup play: the first major shakeup since 1993.

Ryder Cup K ClubFresh off their drubbing just a few months ago, the PGA of America has revised its points system to award more points to players with top-10 performances in Ryder Cup years, major championships, and tournament victories. The change goes into effect January 6-9, 2005 at the Mercedes Championship. Points accumulated thus far will remain intact.

“The PGA of America’s goal is to ensure the strongest possible team for the next edition of the Ryder Cup Matches at the K Club in Ireland,” said Roger Warren, PGA of America President. “The new system rewards the game’s hottest players as well as many players who have won events in the year of the Matches.”

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Man Steals Golf Course

A New York television station is reporting that a Cayuga County man has been arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property for stealing bits and pieces of the Owasco Country Club over the period of three years in order to build his own three hole course on property he shares with his twin brother.

Now, that’s what I call dedication to the game. It’s too bad he might not get to enjoy it for 3-5 years. 🙂

Just Trust

Trust your swing. It’s the only thing you’ve got, after all.

BrainThe next ten “Tip of the Day”s are being taken from an article by Dr. Bob Rotella for Golf Digest, titled “Inside the Golfer’s Mind.” We’re paraphrasing, changing the language a little, and condensing his typical three to four paragraphs into one or two. This is tip eight of ten: just trust.

Athleticism is often about reaction. Often you’ll hear a player say he “overthought” something; athletes are at their best when they simply “do” without a lot of conscious clutter. Golfers “in the zone” are so “unconscious” in a way that they may not notice a fly landing on their ball during their swing, a change in weather, or even – as in my case a few years ago – a huge gash on my cheek from a tree limb.

To “go unconscious,” players must trust their swing. It must be intuitive and instinctual. A mis-hit shot should not shake the foundation of trust, nor should it send a player into a tizzy of thought. Phil Mickelson shot 59 recently and hit only five of fourteen fairways. Had he stopped to ponder “what’s wrong with my swing?” on the second tee he’d have never broken 70.

Trust your swing. It’s the only thing you’ve got, after all.

Brand New Server

We’ve got a dedicated little server here just for The Sand Trap .com!

The Sand Trap .com moved today. You may not have noticed, but we have. We’re sitting here on a brand new server, folks! That’s right. We’ve grown so quickly (the addition of the golf forum helped!) that we thought we’d better do this sooner than later, and so we have.

The Sand Trap .com is coming to you live from a new new server. It may take a little while still for your caches to clear and for DNS servers worldwide to agree, but the fact is simple: we’re here. Or there. Or not where we were this morning. But still right here on your screen. 🙂

Forum Open

The forums are open, the forums are open! Register today!

Well, I stayed up until about 5am and got some work done on the forum. It’s not completely done – we’re still going to tweak the look of a few things, but it’s ready for your posts.

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/

You’ll also note that we’ve included the link in our menu at the top of the site.

Some nifty features of this forum include:

  1. Have a blog or a golf site? Put the darn thing in your signature! We’re happy to have you.
  2. “Reputations” can be built – users can rate other users (after they post x times – we’ve yet to decide on x).
  3. Thread ratings – at the top of each thread you’ll see an option to rate the thread with stars. Go ahead!
  4. More more more – we’re just starting out with this, but more to come!

If you’d like to skip straight ahead to the registration, go ahead: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/register.php.

Q-School Kickoff

PGA and LPGA Tour Q-Schools kick off soon. The men will play six rounds, the women five, and everyone’s hopes are on the line.

What makes players gruel through five or six rounds of tournament play against hundreds of competitors for a virtually non-existent purse?

A dream.

A dream of playing on “the big tour.” Of walking the courses of the LPGA and PGA Tours from inside the ropes, and with clubs in hand. That’s right: the final state of the PGA Tour’s “Qualifying School” or “Q-School” starts today.

Though the winner pockets only $50,000, the payoff cannot be measured in terms of money. The top 30 and ties earn PGA Tour cards for 2005. Players landing in spots 30 through 80 earn full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour for 2005. The remaining players “earn” non-exempt Nationwide Tour status.

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Stinger Tees

Stinger Tees – yet another tee that helps you hit the ball further. The difference? These actually make sense, and are affordable too!

Ever since seeing The Golf Channel‘s Playing Lessons from the Pros with Cobra Long-Drive Champs Jason Zuback and Brian Pavlet, I’ve been intrigued by the “Stinger tee.” Zuback and Pavlet recommended it as “necessary equipment” that gives them an advantage. When LPGA cutie Laura Diaz professed to using the same tees in her Playing Lesson I had to give Earl Weiss, owner of Stinger Tees, a ring.

A few days later, I had my grubby paws on some 2¼” and 3″ Pro XL Competition Stinger tees. The tees are as attractive – the natural wood grain doesn’t leave paint marks on my clubs – as they are functional. The thinner tees are easier to stick into hard ground and the sharper points make these tees great groove cleaners. My course’s superintendent is a fan of Stinger tees too: “they don’t chew up our mower blades as much as thicker tees or those damned plastic tees.”

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Norman, Scott Take Flak for Missing Aussie Open

Greg Norman and Adam Scott have taken heat from Bruce Devlin and Wayne Grady for skipping the 100th Australian Open. Boo hoo.

Greg NormanGreg Norman, who has participated in the Australian Open 23 times in his career, has come under fire for missing the 100th Aussie Open, held November 25-28, by Bruce Devlin. Devlin called Norman “selfish” and said that he should do more to publicly thank the Aussies who have supported him throughout his career.

Said Norman, “I haven’t read his comments, but considering I’ve played the Australian Open 23 times in my career… I think my track record speaks for itself.” Norman hasn’t played in the tournament for four years because it typically coincides with Thanksgiving in the US. “It’s my life, and I like to spend time with my family. My children are in college in the US, the only time they come home is for long weekends like Thanksgiving.”

Adam Scott was also missing, opting to play in the Skins Snore, err, Skins Game instead. Mister Slice adds another quote, this one from Wayne Grady: “As far as I’m concerned, the big losers out of this are the Australian golfing public and Greg himself. I’m pretty sure Greg won’t be around for the next major one in 100 years.”

Tight Lies Tour Says “What Rules?”; Allows GPS

Players on the 2005 Tight Lies Tour will be allowed to use electronic devices to get yardages. Who needs a caddy anyway?

Tight Lies TourThe Tight Lies tour is one of several regional circuits. Call it a “mini-tour” if you want – they’re all across the US. Ryan Palmer, a recent PGA Tour winner, once played the Tight Lies Tour.

This time, it’s not one of the players making news, but a rules change for the 2005 season. The Tight Lies Tour has decided to allow the use of electronic range finders. The tour has partnered with SkyGolf GPS, which uses a statellite-based system to determine yardages (accurate to within one yard) to carry hazards, the front of the green, the pin, and more.

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