mcanadiens

The Ryder Cup seems to have always had sort of a balancing act to do between creating excitement based on national rivalry without having it boil into something particularly ugly. Struck me funny watching some of it where one minute they were going on about the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award and sportsmanship and then later came that weirdo incident with the caddie and the hat-waiving business. I'm guessing that caddie didn't get this year's Nicklaus-Jacklin Award. For serious golf fans, I'm sure it leaves a bad taste in some mouths. We do got expectations for the way the game is supposed to be played. Those guys know it to. They just forget in an unusual event like the Ryder Cup sometimes.

The bit of it that really surprises me is that nobody else seems to have really been effective doing it. From what I understand, it isn't from a lack of trying either. Gotta give the Eagles some credit. But, these Philly people can get right out of town with this "Brotherly Shove" nonsense. I'm not ever calling it that and will fight anyone who does.

Just to look back at the history, the U.S. usually gets hammered in this event. 18 of them since 1985 and the U.S. has only won six. Haven't won in Europe since 1993. I was in frigging high school back then.

Phil has made himself very dislikable over the past several years. It doesn't change the fact that gambling addiction is a very real problem for some people. A major step in any addiction is admitting you have a problem. For the sake of those around him if not the man himself, I hope he gets better.

Back in the days before our rash of course closures, I played a lot of golf by myself. It really wasn't a hard thing to walk on to one of my old home complex's three courses and not need to be inserted into somebody else's group. The pandemic changed all that. With tee times almost being required to get on the course, I've had to become a fair bit more sociable. A long with a pretty regular group of guys at my new home course, I've stayed in contact with a few others and play some of the other area courses with them here and there. At this point, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been out as a single in the past couple of years.

Not a lot to pick and choose from, but I salvaged a par on a particular hole I tend to struggle with. The tee box arrangement on the No. 9 hole at Miami Shores and my general lack of care sees me push a lot of tee shots through the trees on the right and toward the No. 1 fairway. Yesterday I was in No. 1's right rough with about 145 yards and some really tall pines in my way. Figuring there wasn't much to lose at that point, I pulled 8I for the hero shot. Hit it clean and the sucker just did get over the top. It ended up just short of the green, but it was a nice up-and-down from there for the par.

Things that would "keep the core of my golf game intact", limits things quite a bit. One that would truly be a tweak without getting silly is this one. I'd love to have the power to be able to find every single ball I hit. Would have come in handy with the cabbage I played in on Saturday. Little damn white flowers dotting shaggy grass helped me lose at three balls I wouldn't have lost anywhere else. Call it Ball Hunting.

Probably, but I'm not honestly sure. I've tried to purge last year from my mind as much as humanly possible.

When you live in the midwest of the United States, you got a really long way to travel to find anything that fits the classic definition of links golf. The word links shows up in the name of certain courses around here, but mostly that just means there are few trees, they probably builid more mounding into the course and use tall grass as a hazard to create a challenge. Rest assured it is typical Ohio farm dirt resting under the grass. As for the wind, I get annoyed if the breeze goes over 15 mph around here. So it's kind of hard to imagine getting blown around a real links course by the sea.

Finally got an eagle on Saturday. Short 291-yard par four (Yankee Trace, Vintage course, No. 8). Much to my surprise and the group in front of us, I drove the green. It was the longest drive I can recall hitting without significant cart-path involvement. Certainly didn't think for a second I had chance to reach them. Fortunately, they didn't throw my ball into the water hazard. Had about an eight-footer left. It seemed to sit on the lip forever before it dropped. Really cool also that I got to play that round with the guy that introduced me to golf in the first place.

I simply won't play a course if there are more than a couple of houses that are close enough to be a problem. At least in Ohio, there are plenty enough other options.

Right. Nobody is getting rich giving money to legit charity. Charitable deductions are a component of itemized deductions. To the degree someone itemizes (and Morikawa probably does), it reduces taxable income. That in turn, reduces the tax. So you are correct that it isn't a dollar-for-dollar reduction. Generally, itemized deductions are capped at 60% of adjusted gross income. Morikawa is presumably well inside that number. Getting a little break on your taxes isn't a bad way for the government to encourage legitimate charitable efforts. If there is a problem with it that problem is the cottage industry of fake charities that take advantage of people's generosity.

Part of the reason Morikawa approaches it this way is an attempt to inspire other people to contribute to the same cause. By having an amount per birdie, it gives people something to track and root for. $1,000 is a nice, easily-digestible number. Maybe some of his golfing colleagues will match him. Probably more easily done at a figure like that.

Road food and prior to a round of golf, I'd have to go with the waffles. For one thing. it's really pretty hard to screw up a waffle. Secondly, pancakes and french toast can be a bit on the heavy side.

It's probably partially because I went D-I-Y from the start, but I've just had really awful experiences the couple of times I took lessons. Trying to follow the direction took my crappy, but somewhat manageable swing and made it a total disaster. I got my limitations. Any more, the whole business of trying to improve is less important to me than just getting out and enjoying myself. Just really not interested in going down that path again.

There aren't many good reasons to lie and golf tee times sure as heck aren't one of them. When I have had that maybe third player, I'll tell the guy on the phone exactly that. "Definitely two. Maybe three" The guy books my tee time or he doesn't. Most of the courses near me don't have a problem letting pairs schedule and go out unless it is a weekend morning. Even if you are paying for a third and/or fourth empty player, being honest and asking directly is the better policy.

Agreed. Our guy is making a pretty big generalization and sounding quite pretentious in doing so. Certainly a large part of what gets served at fast food restaurants is less than ideally healthy, but there are exceptions. Anyone doing a bit of research can find reasonably decent alternatives at most restaurants. A lot of people that tend to consume fast food do so because their busy schedules don't give them the time to cook at home. Often, fast food places tend to be relatively inexpensive places to get a bite, I wouldn't call people "suckers" either.

Seems to me that this is probably the most appropriate use of this software. Most clubs probably have a fairly good idea already who their sandbaggers are. Based on the number of ways a sandbagger could cheat the system, you still need some human analysis of the situation. If the software flags the sandbagger, it can certainly make the initial conversation easier and give the committee a bit more ammunition in dealing with it.

And that is the biggest problem associated with this Open. Between sleeping and working, I might get to see a bit of it on Sunday. That, however, will depend on my own golf schedule.

I would think it should be a case-by-case basis. Generally, it ought to be avoided where possible, but there may be some very good, practical reasons for internal OB. The linked story indicates the OB has to do with the member driving range. It makes sense. As a player there are only a few other examples that I can think of. One of them was simply silly (the golf pro's sense of pride) and was eventually done away with. Never have figured out why the other even exists.

Anything in sight in the main part of the club is fair game to be looked at, but no touching. Now if you busted into the back room during a guy's private dance, that would be different.

@Big C. Most of the time in that sort of situation my assumption would be that they screwed up the order and there is only single meat on the food itself. Most of the time, I'd let that go. ... If, on the other hand, I knew the food was double-meat, I'd probably point it out to the cashier if I noticed it. Guess I've had a version of this happen a few times over the years. The last time I recall, I was buying a six-pack of beer. The convenience store had a new guy working and he rang me up for just one of the six beers. I did point it out.

Undoubtedly this is the biggest problem with nearly any business property-related crime. It all, eventually, gets rolled into the price we all pay. It was estimated at one time that the mafia's various schemes drove up construction costs in Manhattan by 20%. That surely didn't help those famously expensive rent rates.

@boil3rmak3r The ethical approach would have been to explain to the McDonalds employees that you prefer their sauce to Burger King's and if you could acquire a couple packets. The McDonalds staffer might well have given you the packets (I don't normally eat there, so I don't know). Otherwise, they tell you the price and you pay it. It's such a minor amount that clearly it doesn't bother you. It probably wouldn't bother the McDonalds people much either. However, it is definitely not ethical.

The group I've been playing with all walks with one exception. A fella with some knee issues rides, but makes the effort to match our pace. We make good time and enjoy each other's company. Sady, family circumstances are going to force me to move back south into the Dayton area. So a lot fewer rounds on my very walkable course and all the others will be on the unwalkable kind they got down there. Maybe just a lot fewer rounds in general.