msd3075

Who said anything about hating the rich? And as for TV coverage, what's annoying (wasn't that the topic of this thread?) is that Augusta demands to be different simply for the country club tradition and by no means to any benefit for the entire game of golf. Again, read above. It's about having to be "superior" for nothing that has anythign to do with the golfing aspect of the tournament. None of hte annoying aspects being discussed in this thread have anything to do with the golf being played in the tournament. It all has to do with other details. THAT is exactly what annoys me.

The snobby attitude is that they go out of their way to be different than every other tournament for not benefit of the GOLF tournament. It's all about heightening the country club atmosphere. Again, you are correct that it is theri tournament and their decision to run it. That doesn't mean that every golfer has to agree with it. You keep referring to The Masters as being a great GOLF tournament because of the tradition, but everything you are referring to has absolutely nothing to do with GOLF. It's all COUNTRY CLUB tradition. Golf tradition does not equal country club tradition.

I have a feeling everyone is just going to have to agree to disagree on all of this.

If you don't know what I'm referring to on your own, you wouldn't see it as such anyway. No problem if you don't, that's just what your opinion is of it. To each their own.

Making caddies wear certain uniforms and demanding certain TV coverage criteria have absolutely nothing to do with the game of golf. It all has to do with country club tradition, NOT golfing tradition. There is a HUGE difference.

It has nothign to do with the word itself but instead the snotty attitude that surrounds the event as a whole. To me, that attitude completely takes away from the game.

In a way, I completely agree with you. That still doesn't mean the "patron" thing isn't annoying too.

Sorry, I know the question wasn't directed towards me. I play at a club atleast twice a week that has held a major ('69 US Open) in addition to the '67 Ryder Cup, '93 US Amatuer, and mutliple Tour Championships. The two founders of the club have 4 Masters wins and 1 PGA Championship win between them. The surviving founder (Jack Burke) is one of the biggest proponents of playing "real" golf and not the overmanicured, perfectly green game it seems to be morphing into today.

I think you aren't seeing what he's saying. You can have all the tradition, all the old-school feel, and all the uncommercialized golfing you want without having to use only the word "patrons" to describe the gallery, playing elevator music when showing the leaderboard, and any of the other Masterisms that people seem to refer to as "tradition". None of these aspects of The Masters have anything to do with the game of golf whatsoever.

Champions Golf Club in Houston, TX

The funny thing is that this morning I was messing around on http://www.mcad-tx.org/ (the Montgomery County Appraisal Distict website that shows the tax info for all property within that county he lives in just north of Houston), and I found his house on there. According to that site, the house you showed above is not correct. The house he lives in is on the west end of that street on the north side of the cul-de-sac.

An absolute must read for any golfer is Jackie Burke's It's Only a Game . His view of the game, his experience with multiple pros, and his "I don't care what you think" attitude all come out in this book. I grew up out at Champions Golf Club and know Jackie fairly well, and this book comes as close as I think possible to talking to him in person (except without all the explitives). You will not be disappointed at all.

'05 Infiniti G35 Coupe - my weekend toy '07 Dodge Durango - company vehicle '01 Lexus GS430 - wife's car

I'm a drilling engineer for an oil field service company here in Houston.

Absolutely perfect.

Great comment. While I completely agree that people should be fitted for their clubs if at all possible, the extent to which it makes a significant difference varies from player to player. There were people playing to much better thna a 2 handicap way before club fitting was as common as it is today.

Hello everyone!! Just thought I'd introduce myself on here. I'm a recent college graduate (Hook 'Em) and a drilling engineer here in Houston. I've been playing golf for as long as I can remember but gave up the game for a bit while I was in high school and college. I grew up playing at Champions Golf Club and now am a junior member. When I picked the game up seriously again about 2-3 years ago, I was probably about a 16 to 17 handicap but have now worked myself down to the edge of a single digit handicap. What prevents me from getting any better is inconsistency; I'm either putting for birdie/par or double/triple bogey. There is no in between. Anyway, just thought I'd introduce myself here. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from everyone here and enjoy all there is to read about.

You make a good point with this. One of the only aspects of golf where "tips" from other golfers can be extremly helpful is theory/course management. So many people overlook this part of the game, yet to me it's the most important part and one that can improve your scoring/handicap more than anythign else. Every golfer's swing is different, and everyone has different technique and swing thoughts. Getting tips on swing aspects might not always be a great idea, but you can always learn from tips about how to approach the game and improve your course management.

I'm not trying to keep this going since I did not watch coverage of the Houston Open live on Sunday, but is in normal for tour players to switch putters in the middle of a tournament?

Seeing as he had the line milled on the topline, he could have had them put the three dots on it instead of "Cameron" or the Red "X" logo? All I know is that the putter I held in my hand that he was using on Wednesday was a Scotty Cameron mallet putter.

I can kinda see where you are going with this, but you are missing a few important points. When you say "worse than me", are you talking just straight handicap or that every aspect of their game is worse? Also, is the person the same age/physical condition as you? I know of plenty of people that are extremely inconsistent on any type of swing but are some of the best putters you will run across. I'd take a putting lesson from them anyday. Also, there are plenty of older players that have detereorating games if judged by handicap/score but have more knowledge about the game than you could wish to know.

Are you sure about that? I know he was using a Red X3 on Wednesday and atleast during the first two rounds (didn't catch much of the last two rounds). He said the only custom feature he had on it was that he had a line milled on the topline of the putter to correspond with the line he draws on his ball.

I know I'm a bit late on this thread, but oh well. I played with Charley Hoffman in the Wednesday Pro-Am out at Redstone for the Houston Open. He was telling me that he just switched putters this week because his putting has been horrible so far this year. He has two Scotty Cameron Red X3 mallet putters; one light and one heavy. He's been using the light one all year so far and switched to the heavier one this week just to change things up. I guess it was a change for the better.