Tag Archives: Articles: Competition

I am a golf instructor. Years ago, on the 18th hole at Bear Lakes Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on the 72nd hole of the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School, I finally gave up my dream of making a living playing on the PGA Tour. All I needed was a par 4, and I was in the final qualifier. I drove the ball straight down the middle on the water-guarded final hole, right smack in the far end of a sand-filled divot. My second shot ballooned up into the wind, into the water, and took with it 15 years of pain, suffering, and struggle. Continue reading →

If you’re familiar with my columns you might recall a few that dealt directly with what is a hot topic in golf, that of women playing in men’s tournaments. With the astounding performance of Michelle Wie at the Sony Open I am compelled to visit the subject once again, as I feel that the quality of her play, added to the fine play of Annika Sorenstam at Colonial, creates a new paradigm in regards to inter-gender competition. Continue reading →

You may be wondering (at least those of you with a bent for literature) why I would choose a passage from an English poet when writing about my experience in Scotland. There may be no answer good enough for a Scotsman (who dislike the English to the extreme), but suffice it to say that Wordsworth’s thoughts truly represent the way I feel about my visit there. Continue reading →

“You know why they call it “love grass”, asked John Whelan, our Irish tour guide? None of the 24 American golfers (6 Middle Atlantic club professionals, including myself, and 3 amateurs we each invited to come along as a team) knew the answer. “Because”, said John, “if you hit it in there, you’re f—ed”. Continue reading →

I have played practice rounds with David Duval, Mark O’Meara, John Cook, Fred Funk, Craig Stadler, Jay Haas, Corey Pavin, Jeff Sluman, Tom Kite, and Curtis Strange. I can tell you without hesitation our spots in the PGA Championship are the most valuable assets owned by the PGA of America. There is no greater reward for a club professional, all of whom have to budget time in and around a busy work schedule in order to keep their games in shape to compete at a high level, than to be able to play along side today’s greatest players. Continue reading →

It has been said by many great golfers that their main goal in any tournament is to get into contention going into the back nine of the final round. I would certainly agree with that, for that is where you see what you are made of, where you test yourself and all of the things you have been practicing not only for that week, or month, or year, but for your whole life. Continue reading →

So, is everyone getting all excited about the upcoming World Golf Championship Tournaments? Well, I’m not. The field size of these invitationals ranges from 40 to 75, gleaned from the Sony World Rankings, with a few special invitations. The money is huge: 5 million dollar purses for each, with 1 million going to the winner. Continue reading →

It had been almost 5 years since I last played in a major championship, the 2003 PGA at Oak Hill in Rochester, NY, where I shot a first round 79 before withdrawing due to the death of my wife’s mother on that Thursday night. The course was the hardest I’d ever played: 6 to 8 inch rough everywhere on the course, narrow fairways, firm, fast greens, and over 7100 yards playing to a par of 70, the length an illusion as there are 3 par 4’s that play between 320 and 370 yards. Continue reading →