Gary Player thinks that there are three kinds of golf: amateur golf, pro golf, and tournament golf. Huh?
He’s back. I’m telling you these former golfing gods just can’t let it go. He said it back in May and in an article earlier this week, Gary Player states again that governing bodies need to pull back modern clubs and balls and that they are making a mockery of the sport. “What they have to do, and it’s unanimous among the pros that play golf and understand the game, is they have to cut the ball back.”
Sigh.
The PGA Tour’s stats website has a lot more information than I previously imagined. Let’s take a look at some of the more obscure stats on tour.
During a recent trip to the PGA Tour’s stat website, I stumbled across some more stats that they are keeping. Yup, that’s right, more numbers in which to drown myself. Stats such as proximity to hole, GIR % from other than fairway, average distance of putts made and others popped up and got my interest.
This week in The Numbers Game, I’m taking a closer look at a few of these to answer a question or two I had. Also I wanted to throw out a few factoids for you to chew on.
Tiger and Vijay headline a strong field this week at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club.
Tiger Woods comes into the Buick Open on top of the golfing world as always. Mr. Woods won his second major of the year two weeks ago at St. Andrews to (hopefully) answer the question “is he back yet” once and for all!
Unfortunately, last year’s Buick Open took place when Woods was still facing that question, and the honor of being defending champion belongs to Tiger’s top rival, Vijay Singh. Both players will be looking to win this event for the second time in their respective careers. Singh also won it in 1997, and Tiger won it in 2002.
The ladies ferry across the Mersey for the Weetabix British Open.
The LPGA Tour takes a short chunnel ride from France to England this week for the the season’s final major tournament. Added to the official tour schedule in 1994, The Women’s British Open became a major championship in 2001 but traces its roots back to 1976. The course changes annually and this year the ladies will play golf at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in the city of Merseyside.
3M makes golf apparel? You bet, and it’s not too bad either.
Most golfers I know love to shop around for new golf equipment. It’s like Christmas morning any time of year! We all love to test out the latest drivers, irons, wedges, and putters. But if there’s one golf item I hate buying, it’s gloves. I am very hard on golf gloves and go through several every year. I live in Oklahoma, where the humidity at times is overwhelming, and humidity and golf gloves definitely don’t get along. I rediscover this fact every year.
For every Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott, there are other young golfers who have struggled to live up to the hype.
I am always excited to see young talent make their way to the PGA Tour. There are always going to be young guns that overachieve and young guns that unfortunately underachieve. Tiger Woods obviously burst upon the scene in late 1996, and he has elevated the sport to new heights ever since. In the past five or six years, there have been a handful of golfers with the “next great challenger to Tiger” stamp on them. This group has included names such as Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott. These two golfers haven’t won a major yet, but they have still had very solid careers and have lived up the hype.
A fair test of golf that plays far shorter than the 7025 yards listed, the Upper Course at the Peak is a sight to behold.
Peek’n Peak has long been known to northwestern PA and New York as a great place to ski. With over 25 trails, “the Peak” entertains skiiers and snowboarders in those wintry months when golf can’t be played.
When golf can be played, the Peak offers two courses – the Lower and the Upper. The Upper course, some may remember, plays host to a Nationwide Tour event – the Lake Erie Charity Classic, won this past July 3 by Esteban Toledo.
This week, the Bag Drop takes a quick look at this year’s equipment from a hands-on perspective.
The 2005 golf season is reaching the midway point. What better time to stop and evaluate some of the clubs that have made it into my bag so far this year? Without further ado, let the mini-reviews begin!
This week’s links will hopefully bring you a little “mo” to get through the work week.
I think there’s a new word in the golf jargon dictionary. Tiger’s been using it, and I found myself saying all round yesterday. That word? “Mo.” As in momentum.
Tiger was saying it as a good thing, “Those two birdies really gave me some mo.” I was saying it like, “Crap, those two doubles are going to make it tough to recover.” Regardless of the type of mo you’re referring to, I really like it.
Here are this week’s links. If you’ve got some other good jargon to share, drop it in the comments.