Roody

I don't blame Tiger for getting pissed. Photographers from the media know the rules - you can't snap pictures during the golfer's swing. This is Tiger's "job". If someone came to my place of work, stood in my cubicle and let out a high-pitched shriek all day, it'd make it hard to get my work done. Someone said earlier that we amateurs deal with birds chirping, other people talking, etc during our golf swing, so what's the big deal? I don't think you can compare your round of golf with Tiger's until you actually play for a million bucks against the top players of the world in front of a global TV audience. I'm no expert, but my bet is it's a lot different than playing for $20 against your buddies at the local muni.

Ha! I wish. If I was going, I'd do all I could to get myself planted at hole #12 if possible. That'd be the ultimate. But I am very content to watch it on TV, as I have done all these years. I'd have to say it's my favorite tournament of the year, just ahead of the U.S. Open.

Yes, but it's been so long that I cannot remember when exactly I last did it. I have however, slammed my club into the ground as recently as last season. And that's one of the things I'm vowing to improve on this year. Two seasons ago I had one of the best seasons I've ever had. Made a lot of improvements and scored very well (got down to a 13 handicap). Then, this past season I had extremely high expectations, and often got angry when I struggled. I came into the season expecting to better my previous one, only to find that my handicap went up by three strokes instead (as high as 16, but I managed to get it to 15 by season's end). So this coming season I am vowing not to make it "results-based". I think I put too much pressure on myself last season, and it hurt my game. I still want to improve, but I'm going to play the game for fun first, and hopefully the results will naturally follow. That, and I don't think people enjoy playing with an angry golfer. So there's some extra motivation.

That is exactly what my pro told me. Aim for an imaginary ball in front of the real one when hitting 6-iron and above. Lower irons, fairway woods, and driver, it's as if you should aim for an imaginary ball behind the real one.

That's most of the reason that our economy is in the mess we're in now - too many people taking out home loans that they had absolutely no business taking out. Lucky for my wife and I, we spent within our means, and we're thriving financially now because of smart decisions when we were younger (ok, it was mostly her driving the smart decisions, but hey, I should get some credit for marrying a good woman with a good head on her shoulders). But to get back on topic, I liken Michelle Wie to a child actor. Fame, success, and money (ok, maybe not "success" just yet, but fame and money) have been thrust upon her. It's sorda like locking an alcoholic in a room with a keg. I've heard stories about Michelle's behavior in Pro-Ams. People have said she's rude, barely talks, and acts like every minute she's made to be at the Pro-Am is like torture. Do you know why she acts this way? Because she doesn't get it. She doesn't get that it's the fans who are the reason she has millions of dollars, and the reason she is famous. She needs to realize that, and act accordingly. Yeah, I imagine pro-ams are probably rather boring for many of the pros. But this is one of the times where she, as a star athlete has the oppotunity to interact intimately with her fans, and the impressions she leaves with them will last a long time. Those fans will talk about their experiences to other fans, and the word spreads. That is why I'm so animated about spreading the word of my experience with Morgan Pressel. I played in a Pro-Am with her last year. And I gotta tell you, I went into it with some pre-defined opinions of her. I saw an immature girl on TV in the U.S. open a couple years back, and I thought "oh boy, this should be fun". But after spending 18 holes with her, I have to say she was a truly amazing and personable young woman. Of the 6 years that I've done LPGA pro-ams, she was my favorite, just slightly edging out Angela Stanford. Another truly telling indication of Morgan's maturity is how she handled a question I posed her about Michelle Wie. I said "so, I've seen you in interviews and whenever Michelle Wie's name is brought up it seems to bother you. How do you really feel about her?". Her immediate comment was "ohhhh boy, don't get me started..." and then she paused and then said "ehhh, no comment". She could have dished, but instead took the high road.

I guess as a middle-class American who will probably never ever see that type of money, I have a hard time visualizing how it's so difficult to transition into a millionaire's lifestyle. But I'm also not 18 years old either, I'm 34, so my level of maturity is a bit higher. I guess I just answered my own question. A 34 yr-old has a much better chance of transitioning into a millionaire's lifestyle than an 18 yr-old would. But I think you're right, there are so many people who can't seem to be financially responsible in this country, be they millionaires or not. I guess it's not surprising they need teams of people to educate them how to be.

I think the tournaments where the top scores hover above par are more fun to watch for both the men and women. Gives it more excitement knowing that any hole could yield a bad score and knock a player out of contention. And it also makes scoring a birdie that much better of an achievement.

I think I'm more amazed to see Stricker holding the #4 position. Just seems like there are better golfers out there that should be residing in that spot.

I make it a point to visit my pro and take at least 3-4 lessons with him each year. I believe this coming season will be the 5th season I've worked with him. It's paid off some, as I used to be a 22 handicap who couldn't hit his driver more than 220 off the tee. Now I'm a 15 handicap and can hit it 260 or more (I measure a lot of my drives with my Sky Caddie just for fun). I give a lot of the credit for that to my pro. Some of it was probably because I've been working on flexibility as well, but my pro taught me how the physics of a golf swing works. He explained it to me in plain english so it is understandable and makes sense. And then he was able to tie it to my movements in my swing. I think it's imperative to take lessons if you want to continue to improve.

No, just Golf Digest. I got a free year's subscription to it when I played my round at TPC Canyons in Vegas last year. All I had to do was leave my email address and then take an online survey. Free is better than wholesale. I may extend the subscription once it runs out though.

I enjoy the Pro-Am. I like to see celebrities play, especially because the celebrities have handicaps like most of us do. It's a nice change of pace from the rest of the year.

I wish we had that problem here where I live. We have plenty of courses, but they are mostly crowded every week. If you want a decent tee time at most courses (i.e. before 9:00 a.m. on weekends) you have to call and set it up on the Monday before. Which makes me want to join a private club sometimes.

It's the same as basketball. Back in the 90's there was no country that could compete with our NBA players. Which is why the Dream Team owned everything in their way. But with many countries becoming more modernized, it opens more opportunities for their citizens. They're catching up with us, and in some cases surpassing us. Same with golf. More players starting golf at a young age nowadays. It used to be a rich white man's sport. Not true anymore.

The technology they are employing is incredible. I was very impressed by the ball tracker. I think the next innovation should be a real-time putt surface visualization. Something where they can lay a grid over the green just before the player putts and show the true projected roll of the putt. No clue how'd they do such a thing. But then again, I never thought they'd be able to pull off a ball tracker either, so....

I couldn't agree more. I don't watch The Golf Channel religiously, but I watch it enough to know that Kelly does just as good a job as any of the others on there.

In most cases, Al Sharpton is usually part of the problem and not the solution. I do dream of a day when racism is non-existant and things like this aren't as big a deal. Probably won't see it in my lifetime though.

To take a quote from a movie: "Why do we fall?" "So we can pick ourselves back up" In golf, you're going to fall a lot before you get it right. This past season was a bit frustrating for me. You see, two seasons ago I started working out and doing a lot of flexibility training before it began. I also took some lessons before the season as well. I had a break out year. I gained a ton of distance on my drives, and lowered my handicap to 13 (from 20). In early winter of 2007, I trained some, but probably not as hard as the season before. I went into spring with high expectations. I was ready to lower my handicap to 10 or better. I pretty much expected to. As you can probably guess, I was in for a rude awakening. Not only did I not lower my handicap, I struggled to keep it at 13. And as you can see from my profile on the side, I ended the season at 15. Not terrible, but not what I was hoping would happen. And to add injury to insult, I broke my right index finger in October of this year, and had to hang up the clubs a couple weeks earlier than I probably would have liked. So what am I doing about it now? I joined a gym three weeks ago. I'm dedicating myself to doing a LOT more cardio than I've ever done, and to working on exercises to strengthen my core. And once the season gets closer again, I'm going to call my pro and schedule some more lessons. The final thing I'm going to do is change my attitude. This past summer I focused way too much on the results. And that only lead me to getting frustrated when I didn't achieve them. I'm going back to having fun on the golf course first, and the results will take care of themselves. So, in other words, don't give up. Golf is the best game on the planet.

Kelly Tilghman doesn't care about black golfers.

My wife plays about 3-4 times a year. She's actually pretty good off the tee. She's hit her drives anywhere between 150-175 yards. It's off the ground where her game is a bit shakey. I'm hoping she'll play more where eventually I'll be able to convince her to go on full-blown golf vacations with me. Right now her attitude is if the golf course costs too much to play, it's not worth it for her to go out there and hack it up. For me to get her to go on a real golf vacation, she has to get good enough where she doesn't mind paying higher prices to play better courses.

http://www.valleyofthegeeks.com/News.../golf_kerr.gif

Yes, it's immature, but I about fell over from laughter when I came across this. I dare say this might rival the infamous Christie Kerr Longs Drugs trophy picture. Enjoy :)

I can say that Rochester is not a fluke. We've got probably close to 80 courses in the area, many are good quality, and the prices on most of them are very reasonable. That, and we're home to Oak Hill Country Club, site of several major golfing events over the years, including the 1995 Ryder Cup, the 1980 and 2003 PGA Championships, the 1984 U.S. Senior Open, the 1989 U.S. Open, and soon the 2008 Senior PGA Championship. We also have hosted a regular LPGA event for the past 31 years at Locust Hill Country Club, and as of 3 years ago we now also host a Nationwide Tour event at Irondequoit Country Club. It's a great town to be in if you're a golfer.

I think the main problem with internet forums in general is that everyone who posts is "anonymous". In other words, people act much differently than they would in real life. When there is a feeling of anonymity, what comes with it is a feeling that you are less responsible for your behavior. After all, if they don't know who you are and they have no way of ever knowing who you are, then you can act out as you like and there are no consequences for it. As a forum admin, you are faced with the challenge of providing a fun and open environment, but have to also balance the fact that there are plenty of idiots who will think and act as I described above. So you have to lock down some things, throw out a few restrictions. Sometimes the restrictions ruin things for the good members, which sucks. But it's a necessary evil if you want to run a forum that is enjoyable for most people. Free speech only applies as long as you're not infringing on the rights of others in the process.

I don't disagree with you. If he's editing posts because he simply doesn't like the poster, or the content, or he's just having a bad day, then that's obviously unethical. I'm not saying that is or isn't happening. Technically, it's our privilege to post here, not our right. Conversely, if EB doesn't appreciate his members, it will eventually take its toll on his membership numbers. Seeing as he's been around for a while, and he's got plenty of members, then he must be doing right by them for the most part.

Yeah, it's definitely cold this time of year, and if I had to name a downside it would be that we can't golf year-round up here. But May through November the temps are great. Not too hot, not too cold.