Maybe It's Not My Short Game

I've been fretting about my short game for the past week and am trying to write about the situation, but this makes me wonder if my problem might lie elsewhere.

Golf On!

"While our skill levels may vary, we here at Bagram Airfield find it relaxing to use the mine fields outside the base to practice our driving skills. Unfortunately, the ability to retrieve these balls is obviously limited. They do however provide great motivation for distance and accuracy!"

Keep Calm & Golf On - Golf & The Battle of Britain

Ena Squire-Brown leaving her bombed-out home on the
day of her wedding.  Photo credit: www.dailymail.co.uk

On this Memorial Day, as we remember and honor those who have fought and died in war, let's also pause and remember that even as peoples endure the horrors of warfare life continues.  People laugh and cry, love and marry and have babies.  Children attend school, and golfers play on, and on, every act taken in brave defiance of the destructive power of war.

On Laura Davies and Lucy Li

There's something magical about a competitive sport in which a seasoned, experienced 50-year old professional athlete and an 11-year old amateur can meet on the playing field as equals.   That's the nature of golf, and that's the nature of the US Women's Open.

My Take On the "Ownership" of Professional Athletes: Basketball vs Golf

I've been watching the Donald Sterling debacle unfold on national television over the past two weeks with amazement and with deep sorrow.  The Sterling-Clippers mess is, in many ways, the natural and logical culmination of the commoditization of basketball and basketball players, and could as easily have popped up in the pro football and pro baseball arenas.

April 27, 2014. LA Clippers protesting Donald Sterling's
racist rant by wearing their shirts inside-out, hiding
Clippers logo and name.

The tragic subtexts in the Sterling-Clippers scandal are neither subtle nor symbolic: How, in the 21st Century, in an enlightened and civilized society, can an 80-year old oligarch "own" a group of athletes collectively valued at something north of $500 million?

Play 18 With Mom Today!

Lessons From Cut Day at Stoney Point

Joanna Klatten leads by 2 shots going into the weekend
at the SRH Women Health Classic.
Photo Credit: Scott A Miller.

I've been so enjoying my time at the Self Regional Healthcare Women's Health Classic at Stoney Point.  For two days I've been stationed on the par-5 6th hole, which has a blind tee shot, as a spotter.  The hole has always befuddled me and I looked forward to the opportunity I'd have to study the pros' techniques for navigating the bunker and playing the hole.

From the forward tees, a short hitter like me tends to try to shave the left edge of the fairway bunker and then proceed down the fairway with a couple of decent shots, two-putt, and walk off happily with a bogey.  But an errant tee shot, and I've had many, will either put me in the fairway bunker, out-of-bounds on the right, or into a tree-poison ivy-snaky hazard that runs the full length of the left side of the fairway.  I more often go in the bunker or right and out-of-bounds.  Both are expensive mistakes.

Ready, Set, Go! Who's Coming In Hot?

Women's Health Classic Leaderboard, off the 18th Green
at The Links at Stoney Point

The scene's set and everything's in place for the Women's Health Charity Classic at the Links at Stoney Point.  The leaderboard's up and waiting for the players, who are rolling into town now and have a practice round Tuesday morning.  The party tent's ready for two days of Pro-Am events and festivities, and the course is ready for the Thursday tee off.  And if you're in the Mother's Day mood on Sunday, you can take Mom to Sunday brunch at the event's party tent before the final round tees off.  Follow this link for the tournament schedule.

Not Everybody Plays Blitzkrieg Golf

Greats of Golf Scramble, 2014 Insperity Invitational

I was feeling just a little bit crabby about the foursome of old guys playing in front of me yesterday.  They were taking their time getting in and out of their carts, chatting amiably with each other between shots, and generally just not at all concerned with the pace of play.  The women play ready golf.  Actually, we play Blitzkrieg Golf.

A Big Southern Welcome for The Symetra G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised In The South)

The Elephant Topiary, The Links at Stoney Point

It looks like a circus is coming to town at The Links as Stoney Point.  Well, if not a circus, something that looks big and involves the elephant topiary we local folk know and love as one of the centerpieces at the Festival of Flowers.  There are party tents, a huge leaderboard between the 18th green and the clubhouse, viewing stands for important people, cross-cut fairways, and greens that are, well, lush and green and, according to a couple of golfers I chatted with today, holding the line and rolling true!

Stoney Point's hard at work preparing a huge Southern Welcome for the Symetra Tour players, staff, and fans.  They have about two and a half days to finish getting the sidewalks edged, the tables inside the party tent set up, and tend to all the other little details that make a big party simply perfect.

The Aussies are Coming to Town!

I've been checking the LPGA/Symetra web site daily for the last week, waiting for the Women's Health Charity Classic field to be announced.  Finally, it popped up last night and I got my first peek at the golfers who are going to tee off next week at The Links at Stoney Point.  We're in for a treat!