Author: Erik J. Barzeski

Slow Play Calculations

How much time can you save just by walking 15% faster? The answer may surprise you.

The Numbers GameThis week, The Sand Trap is throwing hard light on slow play on America’s golf courses. We’re fed up, tired, and sick of spending five hours traversing four miles of course, especially when there are so many incentives to play more quickly: more time with family, more time at the 19th hole, more time to play another 18 holes, and the increased likelihood that our spouse will let us play to begin with!

In this week’s The Numbers Game, we’re going to look at how much time one can save doing simple, efficient things on the golf course, ranging from walking more quickly to being ready to play when it’s your turn.

Read on, because I think the amount of time you can save may be impressive.

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Golf Talk [Episode 055]

Stevie may not need to break Tiger’s driver at Oakmont: he may play 3W and 5W off every tee all by himself.

PodcastNick Watney puts away his first Tour title at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, Tiger Woods plays Oakmont (mostly with 3- and 5-woods), Phil switches coaches officially, Curtis and Hubert get into the Hall, and Lorena Ochoa reaches #1. All this and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 055 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Golf Talk [Episode 054]

We have a special guest this week, and he joins us to talk about the new Pro V1 and Pro V1x.

PodcastThe women on the LPGA play in high winds while the weenies on the PGA Tour delay until Monday. But we have a joke for you: Knock knock. Who’s there? Boo. Boo who? Boo Weekley. Plus, George Sine, Annika, Tiger, and Phil. All this and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 054 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Golf Talk [Episode 053]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh, sorry, I dozed off during the back nine on Sunday.

PodcastThis week it’s Masters, Masters, Masters. Zach Johnson wins, Tiger Woods puts a ball in the water (and a bunker) and fails to win, and everyone else falls by the wayside in what was perhaps the most boring Masters of all time. We’re sure Zach will take it, though! All this and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 053 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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2007 Masters in Numbers

Zach Johnson wins this year’s Masters. How did he do it? Was this the most boring Masters ever? And how’d the staff do in predicting the outcome? Find out.

The Numbers GameThe Masters is over. Zach Johnson is the winner, Tiger Woods failed to mount a Sunday charge (as did most of the rest of the field), and Augusta put up more than a fair fight. So be it.

While we’re between Numbers Game columnist, I thought I’d fill in with some quickie stats from this year’s playing of the U.S. Open, errr, Masters Invitational.

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2007 Masters Live Blog

Join us in a running commentary on the 2007 Masters. Who will win? Reload frequently.

18:40 – Tiger fails to hole out for eagle to tie Zach Johnson. The final leaderboard looks like this:

Pos Player         R4  Tot   R1   R2   R3   R3   Total
--- ------         --  ---   --   --   --   --   -----
1   Z. Johnson     -3   +1   71   73   76   69    289
T2  R. Sabbatini   -3   +3   73   76   73   69    291
T2  R. Goosen      -3   +3   76   76   70   69    291
T2  T. Woods        E   +3   73   74   72   72    291
T5  J. Kelly       -2   +4   75   69   78   70    292
T5  J. Rose        +1   +4   69   75   75   73    292
T7  P. Harrington  +1   +5   77   68   75   73    293
T7  S. Appleby     +3   +5   75   70   73   75    293
9   D. Toms         E   +6   70   78   74   72    294

Phil Puts the Green Jacket on Zach

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The Cheers Have Left Augusta

I hope that Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts are superglued in their coffins. If not, they’re probably spinning so fast they’re likely to pop out in China before the final round concludes on Sunday.

Masters LogoThrough most of two rounds of the 71st Masters, one thing is clear: the music has died. The cheers have died. The excitement has died.

With a first-round lead of -3 (which required a 20-putt performance by one of the two leaders) and a stroke average of 76.147, Augusta National is playing more like a U.S. Open venue than the host course of The Masters. You can not only count on one hand – no, make that half of one hand – the number of eagles we saw in the first round.

Have you ever heard less cheers at any golf tournament than you heard yesterday during the first round of The Masters?

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Golf Talk [Episode 052]

Jeff is back, so I can’t make any snarky comments in the subtitle here, but this week I don’t need to: Phil sets himself up for his own ice cream joke.

PodcastMorgan Pressel makes her first LPGA win a major, while Adam Scott and Stuart Appleby prepare for The Masters by playing “Rinse-a-Ball” in Houston: who would win? Also this week, more on Sergio’s spit, Phil’s Masters dinner, Billy Payne, and the demise of Augusta Natioanl. All this and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 052 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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2007 Masters First-Round Tee Times

When will the players head out? Well, Tiger Woods is at 1:52. First out this year? Ian Poulter and Billy Mayfair.

8:00 am – Billy Mayfair, Ian Poulter
8:11 am – Scott Verplank, Nick O’Hern, Joe Durant
8:22 am – Larry Mize, Tim Clark, Troy Matteson
8:33 am – Sandy Lyle, Dean Wilson, Bradley Dredge
8:44 am – Ben Crenshaw, a-John Kelly, Davis Love III
8:55 am – Chris DiMarco, Kenneth Ferrie, Steve Stricker
9:06 am – Gary Player, a-Julien Guerrier, Vaughn Taylor
9:17 am – Arron Oberholser, Niclas Fasth, Zach Johnson
9:28 am – Tom Watson, a-Casey Watabu, Fred Funk
9:39 am – Mark O’Meara, a-Dave Womack, Stuart Appleby
9:50 am – Bernhard Langer, Rich Beem, Colin Montgomerie
10:01 am – Chad Campbell, Angel Cabrera, J.J. Henry
10:23 am – Mike Weir, K.J. Choi, Henrik Stenson
10:34 am – Fred Couples, Geoff Ogilvy, Ernie Els
10:45 am- Sergio Garcia, Bart Bryant, Shingo Katayama
10:56 am – Phil Mickelson, a-Richie Ramsay, Adam Scott
11:07 am – Jose Maria Olazabal, Charles Howell III, Justin Rose
11:18 am – Stewart Cink, Todd Hamilton
11:29 am – Seve Ballesteros, Carl Pettersson, Paul Goydos
11:40 am – Ian Woosnam, Tim Herron, Robert Karlsson
11:51 am – Jim Furyk, Rod Pampling, Ben Curtis
12:02 pm – Raymond Floyd, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jeff Sluman
12:13 pm – Robert Allenby, Brett Wetterich, Lee Westwood
12:24 pm – Shaun Micheel, Jeev Milkha Singh, Ben Crane
12:46 pm – Craig Stadler, David Howell, Stephen Ames
12:57 pm – Retief Goosen, John Rollins, Yong-Eun Yang
1:08 pm – Michael Campbell, Lucas Glover, Rory Sabbatini
1:19 pm – Fuzzy Zoeller, Darren Clarke, John Edfors
1:30 pm – Mark Calcavecchia, Thomas Bjorn, Tom Pernice Jr.
1:41 pm – Padraig Harrington, Jerry Kelly, Luke Donald
1:52 pm – Tiger Woods, Paul Casey, Aaron Baddeley
2:03 pm – Vijay Singh, Brett Quigley, Hideto Tanihara
2:14 pm – Trevor Immelman, Camilo Villegas, David Toms