Month: May 2005

Danielle Amiee at Kingsmill

Danielle Amiee will get her “big break” today at 12:55pm EDT. Will she even break 80?

The pairings have been released, and Danielle Amiee will get her “big break” at 12:55pm EDT. She’ll be playing with Emily Bastel and Shani Waugh. Who? Yeah, exactly. The threesome will head off the first tee at the Kingsmill Golf Club’s River Course in Williamsburg, VA.

Will the loudmouth, plastic, over-confident, under-attractive, über-ego Amiee even break 80? I wouldn’t bet on it. If you’ve got an opinion, share it in our forum.

Danielle Amiee Pairing

We’ll update this story as news – and scores – become available.

Round 1 Update: +8 (79) and T135, only one shot better than dead last.
Round 2 Update: After her +6 through 11 start was wiped out in round two, she played Saturday to the tune of a 77, finished next to last, and missed the cut at +14 total. The Golf Channel will air an Amiee special on Monday, May 9, at 10pm ET. (Thanks, BogeyLounge.)

Death of the 1-Iron

Golfers choosing fairway woods and hybrid clubs are overlooking the 1-iron, making it obsolete on store shelves and golfer’s bags.

1-IronThe 1-iron, also known as the driving iron, is becoming extinct. Golfers opting for the latest hybrids and fairway metals are leaving their 1-irons at home, not trusting the club’s ability to get the ball in the air. Are there any golfers who still use this club?

Joey Sindelar, PGA tour pro, finally did the unthinkable. He removed his 1-iron, a Tommy Armour 845, from his bag at the MCI Heritage after 15 years of service. “I’m a very stodgy, slow-to-move, dumber-than-a-rock kind of guy. I’m very slow to change clubs,” Sindelar said. “But this had to happen.”

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Could This Be the Future of the LPGA?

Gender-swapping! That’s right, the first male-born, sexually tweaked “female” is now being allowed to compete in the Women’s British Open.

miannebagger.jpgDanish born, 37-year old Mianne Bagger, 1995 sexual convert (check out the adam’s apple), recently became the first to play in a professional women’s tournament. Turning professional last year, she sold everything she had when she became eligible to qualify for the LET. Mianne is now the first transsexual to play on a professional sports tour since tennis player Renee Richard (aka Richard Raskind) competed during the 1970’s. But, don’t worry ladies… Mianne recently missed the cut in her first event, the Tenerife Open.

The Ladies Golf Union, overseers of the British Open, have followed the European Union and the International Olympic Committee to allow transgenders to compete in women’s golf events, putting women’s sports at a possible disadvantage by pushing gender-neutral policies.

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Rule 14-3b: The “Range Finder” Rule

It’s illegal to use laser- and GPS-enabled range finders on the golf course during handicap and tournament play. But should it be?

Yardage WheelGolf used to be a game of feel, and not just around the green. “This looks like a strong 6-iron,” the pro would say to his caddie (or vice versa). Elevation, wind, temperature, green contours, and even mood could change a club selection.

Years later, caddies and pros got wise and began measuring yardages (often with yardage wheels like the one shown at right). Caddies would show up on Monday and Tuesday to walk the course, measuring every conceivable yardage and writing them all down in a little booklet. They’d include numbers that indicated the carry distance of a water hazard, draw arrows indicating severe slopes and funnels on the greens, predominant wind conditions, and notes about areas in which you did not want to miss.

In the 1990s, this too faded away as caddies with yardage wheels were replaced by ultra-accurate, GPS- and laser-measured yardage guides. Every pro has the same yardage book these days, tailored slightly to suit a particular pro’s playing habits, and caddies spend their Mondays and Tuesdays without a yardage wheel in their hands.

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Wachovia Championship Preview

Three members of the Big Five tee it up this week in Charlotte.

Wachovia LogoTiger Woods is in the field this week for the first time since his triumph at Augusta last month. He isn’t the only big name that will be in Charlotte for the Wachovia Championship. Tiger will be joined by two more golfers in the top four, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. Vijay has played very consistently since The Masters, including his win two weeks ago at the Houston Open. The race for the number one world ranking will once again be a hot topic entering the week. Vijay pulled closer with his win in Houston, and he looks to gain even more ground on Tiger this week.

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Teeing It Up at the Michelob Ultra Open

Se-Ri Pak defends her championship title against Annika Sorenstam and the top LPGA players at the Michelob Ultra Open.

LPGAThe LPGA returns to the Kingsmill Resort and Spa in Williamsburg, Virginia for the “5th Major” of the year. With a purse of $2.2 million (the second largest pay-out on tour), and a first place check of over $300,000, this tournament attracts the top contenders in the world. Money leader Annika Sorenstam, number two Lorena Ochoa and last week’s winner of the Franklin, Stacy Prammanasudh, are all scheduled to attend. Defending champion Se Ri Pak, number 78 on the 2005 Money List with a meager $20,000 in earnings, has yet to make a move this season. Tied for 81st in birdies, tied for 90th in sand saves and tied for 104th for greens in regulation, it is unlikely that the 25-year old has the mental game to challenge this hot field.

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Player Nicknames

Get to know PGA Tour players a little better through this installment of “Player Nicknames.”

Nicknames are part of sports folklore. Fans are eager to slap a sticker on any player with a special skill or quirky personality. There are plenty of both on the PGA Tour. Too often players are veiled behind their own celebrity or the blasé coverage tournament announcers churn out. For my part, I think tournament coverage can be too sanitized.

On the other hand, perhaps its good that coverage is so polite as television can magnify one’s faults. I remember Bill Cosby saying someone once told him cocaine is great because it intensifies your personality. Cosby asked, “Yeah, but what if you’re an asshole?” Maybe thats what colorful tournament coverage could do for us, but I digress.

So I invite you to get to know PGA Tour players a little better through this installment of “Player Nicknames.”

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TaylorMade to Release New Equipment… Again

r7 TP fairway wood and R5 Dual TP driver to be released. What’s next? The r7 TP quad sided chipper?

r7 TP Fairway WoodTaylorMade has announced they will be releasing r7 TP fairway woods to compliment their r7 line of drivers as well as the r5 Dual TP driver. TaylorMade is currently the number one brand of driver and fairway wood on the PGA Tour.

Instead of pushing a single club, it seems TaylorMade has found a new approach to winning the wood market by overwhelming its competitors and customers with one club after another. While TaylorMade makes fantastic equipment of which I play with and dream about playing with, when is enough enough? Within the last couple of months, they have released five clubs with the moveable or fixed weight system; the r7 driver, r7 TP driver, r7 ht driver, r5 dual driver, and the r5 dual fairway wood. Now they suprise us with the r7 TP fairway woods and the r5 dual TP.

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Tiger’s Caddie Drives as Well as Tiger

Stevie Williams, Tiger Woods’ caddie, flipped and rolled his racing car once again. This time he’s uninjured.

Stevie WilliamsTiger Woods can’t seem to keep it in the fairway, and his caddie Stevie Williams can’t seem to keep the wheels on the ground. Williams, who suffered a major injury to his hand back in February while racing his saloon car in New Zealand, has gone and done it again.

The AP is reporting that Williams flipped and roll his limited saloon car four times in a dirt-track race on Saturday. Williams was examined by trackside paramedics and released at the scene, relatively uninjured.

Tiger Woods and Stevie have one of the best relationships on the PGA Tour according to many, and both have commented that their personalities are quite similar. Fortunately for golf fans, Tiger seems to get his thrills “engaging” in somewhat safer activities.

Photo Credit: © Lucy Nicholson/Reuters.