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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The 100+ Zone

Not that all of these guys are necessarily going to lose their card come the end of the season but don’t we expect more from these folks. Did you see these money list positions coming at the beginning of the year?

ProFilesYou might be surprised to see who is above 100 on the PGA Tour money list. 2006 has been a memorable one on Tour with another career defining year for Mr. Woods, a career most-embarrasing-moment for Phil, and a slew of first-time winners.

Every year there are those who struggle to perform at a level we expect them to. Lets take a cursory look at the above-100 crowd and see what we find…

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A Wednesday on the PGA Tour

In the spirit of the baseball playoffs, we throw a change up and show some of the sights from the GGCC and some thoughts about the recent course changes too.

I live near Greensboro, NC and this week’s PGA Tour stop is at Forest Oaks Country Club for the Greater Greensboro Charity Classic. In place of my normal Thursday column, The Numbers Game, I thought I’d bring you some sights and experiences from the tournament site. Rob Goodman and the people at the GGCC were kind enough to provide The Sand Trap with credentials, and I’m happy to provide some thoughts on the tournament and the recent renovations to Forest Oaks by Davis Love.

Brad Faxon Corey Pavin GGCC
Corey Pavin and Brad Faxon are in the field this week. Brad is winless this year, but Corey isn’t!

Though most of the feedback has been positive, some of the changes border on “gimmicky.” Read on to find out why…

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Golf Talk [Episode 039]

Ping should avoid shooting first and asking questions later. It may work for the military, but it doesn’t work when you’re screwing people who are trying to help the military.

PodcastTiger Woods continues his PGA Tour and stroke-play-event scoring streak, extending it to six with a field-lapping performance at the WGC-AmEx. Byron Nelson passes away, Nick Faldo gets busy with Kelly Tilghman (and deposes Lanny Wadkins), Phil Mickelson is truly done for the year, and Ping screws the military. Tune in to this episode of Golf Talk for more.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 039 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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Bunker’s Dozen: October 2006

The European Ryder Cup team battles Tiger Woods for this month’s top spot.

Thrash TalkThe month of September was dominated by two things in golf: Tiger’s continuous stroke-play winning streak and the European Ryder Cup domination. Tiger won the Deutsche Bank Championship the first week of September and the WGC-American Express Championship the last week of September (it actually ended October 1st). Tiger said his streak ended when he lost in the World Match Play Championship, but it’s actually still going strong at six in a row.

The 36th playing of The Ryder Cup was just as impressive in the month of September. The hype was higher than ever, and the performance of the Europeans was better than ever. Europe beat the United States in a landslide en route to winning The Ryder Cup for the third straight time.

Was Tiger’s play good enough to outlast the great play of the European Ryder Cup team? Also, who else performed well in the month of September? These questions and more are answered in this month’s Bunker’s Dozen. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in the forum. I hope everyone enjoys the list!

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The Race to The Tour Championship

The race to the season-ending Tour Championship is heating up with only four events left.

Thrash TalkTiger Woods won his sixth consecutive stroke-play event, and he did it in convincing fashion. The race for the player of the year award was over a month ago, and Tiger really has nothing left to prove in 2006. We will probably see him one more time on the PGA Tour this season.

That one start will be the season-ending Tour Championship. That also leads me right into this week’s topic. Tiger may have nothing left to prove, but that’s not the case for so many outside the top 30 on the money list. The golfers outside the top 30 want to make one last push to get into the grand finale. Playing in the Tour Championship can make or break a season for many of the world’s best.

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Green Friendly Golf Belts: Looking Good, Doing Good

Sometimes a clever idea solves more than one problem. The belts from Green Friendly Golf not only hold up your pants and look good doing it, they make fixing ball marks and even marking your ball a lot more convenient.

Bag DropI don’t know about you, but I hate carrying lots of stuff in my pockets when I play. I especially hate fumbling around trying to find a coin or distinguish between tees and the ball mark tool. Totally disrupts my concentration, fragile as it is.

This year I went so far as to try those ball markers that you clip on the bill of your cap. My PGA pro friend thought it looked a little too LPGA. While I remained secure in my masculinity, I gave up after losing a few of them.

Green Friendly Golf has come to the rescue with a belt that incorporates not only a ball marker, but also a tool that’s been specially designed to conform to the technique experts now recommend for fixing ball marks. Here’s the story on the belt and the technique…

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Dr. Gio Valiante, Sports Psychologist and Author

Dr. Gio Valiante offers up his opinions on making fearless swings, the “other” golf psychology books, and who he thinks has the strongest mind on the PGA Tour.

Throwing Darts TitleToday’s interview is with sports psychologist Dr. Gio Valiante, who has worked with PGA Tour players such as Chris DiMarco, Justin Leonard, Camilo Villegas, and Chad Campbell. Valiante has also authored a book entitled “Fearless Golf.” Dr. Valiante is a professor at Rollins College and is also the mental game consultant to Golf Digest.

We hope you enjoy the interview.

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Byron Nelson

A gentleman both on and off the course Byron Nelson has carried himself as a humble, true, and generous champion. His influence has continued since walking away from the game as a full-time player in 1946.

ProFilesThose who knew Byron Nelson recognize that his records and trophies all take second place to his tremendous depth of character. Anyone who witnessed Nelson at the tournament that bore his name, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, knew how respected he was by every participant. The Byron Nelson award ceremony was always a tender moment as Nelson greeted and congratulated the victor.

Nelson’s achievements are pinnacles of excellence that rival that of any athlete in any sport. His high level of play over a relatively short time-span amassed an impressive number of victories, set a new standard for the golf swing, and left us with the memories and example of what every sportsman should be: a gentleman.

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