Little Mountain Country Club (Concord, OH) Review

“Deep Freakin’ Bunkers Country Club” may be a better name for this course, but Little Mountain will suffice for now.

Little Mountain CC LogoI looked high and low, but never really saw any large mountains at Little Mountain Country Club (LMCC), so they must be little. Or perhaps I was simply distracted by the gaping bunkers sprinkled liberally about the course.

LMCC is a five-star layout (as determined by Golf Digest), which places it in some heady company: Bethpage Black, Spyglass Hill, Pinehurst #2, Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach, Arcadia Bluffs, and Whistling Straits are among the others to receive a perfect rating.

I live less than 90 minutes from Little Mountain, so I’ve stopped by a few times. Is the course worthy of five stars? Read on to find out…

Harry Vardon

Carrying only ten clubs and dominating the sport for many years, Vardon is one of golf’s all-time greats. He was golf’s first celebrity and one of the finest players.

ProFilesIn the minds of many Americans, golf celebrity was realized in Arnold Palmer. He was the people’s champion. He could hit the ball a mile, had a quirky follow through, and putted knock-kneed, which was fun to watch. Then along came Jack. He stole the show and set an almost unattainable standard for success in the golfing world. Tiger showed up a few years back and began to redefine the title “best golfer ever” yet again. He’s probably already done but we’ll still wait until he beats Jack’s record.

Long before any of them there was a quiet man who redefined the word “champion.” He was a lowly greens keeper who became the first international celebrity in golf: Harry Vardon. Here is a snippet of his fascinating life…

Nuggets, Volume Two

Volume two of Nuggets gives us some insight into a couple injured players trying to recover, interesting facts about Tiger and sheds some light on the Euro Ryder Cup selection.

The Numbers GameI always make a few notes as I thumb through the stats pages and other websites as I compile my column. Some things aren’t worth an entire article, but together they make for a good read.

This week in The Numbers Game, it’s the second installment of those little bits of information I find interesting. Read on to see if you do too.

2006-2007 College Golf Preview

The Sand Trap opens its new college golf section in style with a special season preview.

College GolfMost of the professional tours are starting to wrap up their respective seasons. The college golf season, on the other hand, has just begun. Last season’s national champion was crowned just a few months ago, and it’s time to get it started again. Between now and next June, the top programs in the country will fight it out for supremacy.

The Sand Trap will be covering college golf from now on, and rightfully so. Many of the world’s best, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Jim Furyk, made their way through the college ranks before striking it rich at the professional level.

There is no better way to get the ball rolling than a season preview. I’ve put together my top-20 rankings, as well as my prediction for national player of the year, freshman of the year, and national champion. Sit tight and enjoy.

2006 Bell Canadian Open Preview

I’d like to welcome a new name to the PGA winner’s circle! It’s about dang time someone besides Tiger Woods got some press in the newspaper.

Bell Canadian LogoNo, Tiger Woods isn’t playing this week… meaning that we get to see another guy hoist a trophy on Tour this year. However, there is still a good chance Tiger shows up on Sunday in the final group and comes back from a 20-shot deficit to win again. Hey, it could happen!

Random Tour Thoughts

Thrash Talk goes inside the ropes of all three major professional tours this week.

Thrash TalkI hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. In Oklahoma, it hasn’t stopped raining since I got off work Friday, so I’ve had the chance to watch a lot of television. I can’t gripe because we needed the rain, and there was plenty to watch on the tube. Golf fans received an added bonus this weekend. We got to see some of Vijay Singh’s 61 at the Deutsche Bank on Sunday, and we got to see a Vijay-Tiger pairing on Monday.

Volume Seventy-Four

Make up your mind Tiger. Do you want to win in a playoff, or do you want to win while coming back from a three-shot deficit?

Tiger Woods wins another golf tournament, Thomas Bjorn lashes out at European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam for not picking him, and Annika Sorenstam fires a final-round 62 to capture another LPGA event.

I swear professional golf never gets old or boring!

Ogio Straight Jacket Travel Bag Review

The Ogio Straight Jacket: a $99 travel bag that protects your sticks while looking stylish to boot.

Ogio Straight Jacket HeroThe tales of a golfer on the go’s woes often begin with “airline baggage handlers” and ends with “broken clubs.” It’s a sad tale, yet one that needlessly plays itself out time and time again across the airports of the world. A golfer arrives, waits anxiously at the baggage claim, pulls his clubs off the track, and opens the zipper to his rain hood with trepidation. Have his favorite clubs survived or met an ugly fate?

The frequent golf traveler has no doubt invested in a golf travel bag. Travel bags fit over your standard bag – be it a cart or a stand bag – and offer additional storage and protection to your collection of sticks. Ogio, makers of some fine stand and carry bags, makes two travel bags: the Monster and the Straight Jacket.

I’ve spent some time recently lugging my clubs through airports in a Straight Jacket, and here’s what I think.

Bunker’s Dozen: September 2006

Tiger Woods is on top of his golf game and this month’s Bunker’s Dozen!

Thrash TalkTiger Woods ruled the golf world in July… and August. Woods claimed his second major championship in a row and the twelfth of his career. He also won the next week at Firestone for his fourth consecutive tournament victory. The talk of another Tiger-slam has already started to heat up.

Other than the domination by Eldrick, Richie Ramsay became the first Scottish-born golfer ever to win the United States Amateur Championship. Was that enough to put him on this month’s list? How about Phil Mickelson’s struggles? Did his shaky play finally knock him off the Bunker’s Dozen? Find these things out and more in this month’s list.

If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in the forum. I hope you enjoy!