Author: Cody Thrasher

Silly Season Excitement

The LPGA Tour spiced things up at the ADT Championship, and Tiger lost in a playoff. That’s a pretty solid week of golf.

Thrash TalkFootball season is entering crunch time, and many golf fans have gone into hibernation until 2007. That’s usually the case for me as well, but it’s been a little different this year. I’ve realized there are a lot of quality tournaments around the globe to keep me excited deep into the calendar. This part of the golf season is usually referred to as the silly season, but that can’t be farther from the truth.

I’ve never watched the LPGA Tour in November prior to 2006, but I’ve watched the last two events this season. The ADT Championship this past weekend was one of the most exciting LPGA Tour event I’ve ever watched. It seemed like I was watching a major championship instead of a regular event, and that’s a bonus this time of year.

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Move Over Annika

Annika Sorenstam wasn’t necessarily ready to pass the torch, but Lorena Ochoa took it anyway.

Thrash TalkAnnika Sorenstam decided to play golf with the men this past weekend. The world’s number one female golfer teamed with Fred Couples at the Merril Lynch Shootout and finished in last place. While Sorenstam was playing a silly season event, Lorena Ochoa was winning her sixth LPGA Tour event of the season in dominant fashion (by ten shots to be exact).

The win was Ochoa’s third in a row, and she clinched the LPGA Tour Player of the Year title in the process. Annika and Karrie Webb have combined to win every player of the year award since 1996 which definitely blew my mind. I figured at least one golfer would have snuck in there and stolen the award in that ten-year time period. That makes Ochoa’s 2006 season even more impressive.

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Bunker’s Dozen: November 2006

The PGA Tour season may be over, but The Bunker’s Dozen rolls along!

Thrash TalkThe 2006 PGA Tour season is in the books, and it’s time to start looking forward to 2007. The Bunker’s Dozen takes no vacations, however, so the show must go on. The golf world didn’t see Tiger or Phil in October, but there were still a lot of things going on around the world. Golfers made their final charge towards the top 30 and top 125 on the PGA Tour money list. Some were successful, and some came up short.

The European Tour also wrapped up their season in October, and the Order of Merit wasn’t decided until the last few holes of the final event. The LPGA Tour hasn’t concluded for the season quite yet, but a certain golfer won again and moved one step closer to becoming player of the year.

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Pinemeadow Excel Hybrid Review

Pinemeadow makes affordable clubs, but can they stand up to the stiff competition in the hybrid market?

Pinemeadow Excel HybridPinemeadow Golf has been around since 1985, but I didn’t know much about them until this year. After checking out their website, it’s easy to see they are looking out for the “average” golfer. Most of the die-hard golfing fanatics want the most expensive and popular golf clubs, whether it’s TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, etc.

Pinemeadow Golf takes a different and much more affordable approach, and it’s very respectable. I started my golfing career with a Dunlop driver from Wal-Mart, a Dunlop putter from Wal-Mart, and some King Snake (knock-off of King Cobra) irons. All in all, my first set of clubs cost about $200 total. I played with these clubs for almost ten years, so I always have a soft spot for inexpensive golf equipment.

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The Tiger Challenge

Adam Scott moved his name to the top of the “next to challenge Tiger” list this past weekend at East Lake.

Thrash TalkHow nice would it be to win The Players Championship and Tour Championship before turning 27? Adam Scott knows how that feels now, yet he is still considered an underachiever by golf fans worldwide, including myself. The young Australian burst onto the scene a few years back and was quickly labeled the next Tiger Woods. That was unfair to Scott, but it’s just part of the game.

Adam Scott’s golf swing is very similar in mechanics to Tiger’s old swing, but that’s about all the two have in common. Scott is laid back and never seems to change emotion, while Tiger lets the world know what he is thinking throughout his rounds. In the grand scheme of things, Tiger had eight major championship victories before turning 27 compared to Scott’s zero.

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Tour Championship Ramblings

The Tour Championship hasn’t lost its luster yet, but it’s getting closer to the edge every year.

Thrash TalkThe Race to The Tour Championship is one that keeps me interested in the PGA Tour long after the season’s final major championship, and this year was no different. I watched nearly every tournament in the past month or two, including yesterday’s final round of the Chrysler Championship. Congratulations are in order for K.J. Choi who won this week’s tournament and moved from 68th to 26th on the PGA Tour money list. Choi gets to tee it up at East Lake for his efforts.

Most of my weekend focus was on Ernie Els. The Big Easy missed out on the top 30 last season due to late-season injuries, but he was bound and determined to make it to the season’s final event this year. In the end, a tie for sixth was good enough to move Els to 27th on the money list. Seeing the South African attempt to crunch the numbers after his round showed me just how much The Tour Championship still means to most of the world’s best.

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Nationwide Tour Watch List

Which Nationwide Tour golfers will be the next to have success on the PGA Tour?

Thrash TalkThe Nationwide Tour has seemingly changed its name more times over the past decade than Vijay Singh has changed putters in recent years. My first memories of the tour was Steve Flesch winning the 1997 Nike Tour Championship to earn his PGA Tour card. Flesch hasn’t ever dominated on the PGA Tour, but he has had a solid career nonetheless.

Troy Matteson was an unknown in the golf world about a month ago. Matteson finished first on last year’s Nationwide Tour money list to earn his PGA Tour card in convincing fashion. However, he found out early in 2006 how much tougher the PGA Tour is.

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A First Time for Everything

There are several golfers on the brink of winning their first PGA Tour tournament.

Thrash TalkIt has been a couple weeks since I published a Thrash Talk, but good things have been happening in the golf world. The Sand Trap held its annual Newport Cup in North Carolina, and once again my team was on the short end of the stick. It was great to meet up with all the guys and play some great courses, but losing isn’t my cup of tea. But I must say that, as an American golfer, being a loser in a team event is particularly fitting.

As far as the PGA Tour goes, congratulations to Troy Matteson for picking up his first career PGA Tour victory. Matteson was a star on the Nationwide Tour last season, and he took full advantage of his PGA Tour exemption this season.

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The Sand Trap Top 20: October 2006

The Florida Gators bypass the Pokes and a host of others in this month’s rankings.

College GolfThe Ping/Golfweek Preview is in the books, and that means college golf is officially in full swing. Congratulations are in order for the Florida Gators for winning the team portion. Billy Horschel, a Florida Gator sophomore, shot a final-round 63 to take home the individual honors as well. There goes my original prediction of Florida being young and untested.

The Ping/Golfweek Preview was the biggest tournament so far this season, but it wasn’t the only one. Southern California won the Inverness Intercollegiate tournament in mid-September, Alabama won the Carpet Capital Challenge, and Duke won the Fighting Illini Classic in impressive fashion.

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