When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Bill Fields pens a wonderful story in this week's Golf World capturing the the public golf scene, its storied history and the battle to save San Francisco muni's.
GolfDigest.com also has posted a Fields image slideshow capturing the many characters and courses that make the Bay Area arguably the richest of all the American public golf scenes.
Rob Oller with a nice follow-up story on Dennis Miller of the lip-hanger putt fame. Lost in the putt was Miller's status as an alternate who started his day at 6:15 and learned soon after that he was going to get in the field.
The video has gone viral. On it, Miller strokes his putt, which breaks left to right before stopping on the lip. One-eighth of an inch of grass separates him from his U.S. Open dream. He takes a step and turns away in disgust, not watching as the ball makes a handshake agreement with gravity and drops. Five seconds of hesitation that felt like an eternity. The small gallery goes crazy. Miller does a double take and raises both arms.
“The man upstairs blew that one in for me,” Miller said.
As of Thursday evening, someone's cell phone camera shot of their television screen had logged 313,583 views on YouTube (Tiger's Memorial chip-in actually has fewer: 222,908). So, so, SO glad the people in golf televisoin continue to really embrace the power of YouTube!
Miller has drawn a 12:45 Thursday time and 7 a.m. Friday tee time with Casey Martin and Cameron Wilson.
For Immediate Release...
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
USGA TO HOST MEDIA PREVIEW OF “GOLF’S LARGEST PRO SHOP”
U.S. Open Merchandise Pavilion Opens Thursday, June 7
Far Hills, N.J. (June 4, 2012) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) will host a media preview of the U.S. Open Merchandise Pavilion at The Olympic Club, site of the 2012 U.S. Open Championship, on Thursday, June 7, from 7 a.m.–10 a.m. PDT.
Nothing like a 7 a.m. start to get those writers out of bed early...if there is free golf or free food.
The event will feature broadcast and photo opportunities from the launch of the pre-championship opening of “golf’s largest pro shop.” USGA representatives will be available for interviews.
Maybe we could do a seminar on keeping your amateur status while accepting free merchandise?
The Merchandise Pavilion offers an unparalled shopping experience at a state-of-the-art 36,000-square-foot structure located just inside the main admission gate at The Olympic Club.
The pavilion features more than 400,000 items bearing the official U.S. Open logo, including outerwear, shirts, hats, golf balls and a variety of championship memorabilia.
Major apparel manufacturers represented include Ralph Lauren, adidas, Nike, Cutter & Buck, and many more. The pavilion offers the broadest array of Polo Golf/RLX men’s and women’s apparel anywhere.
Anywhere? More than the Morongo Springs RLX Outlet shop, even?
The pavilion will be open to the general public for pre-championship shopping from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from June 7-10. Tickets or credentials will not be required.
Visa/Mastercard accepted, but American Express is preferred.
Here's the list following Tuesday's delayed Memphis qualifier where Tommy Biershenk earned his first trip to the U.S. Open to be joined by Stephen Ames, Joe Ogilvie, Joe Durant, Bill Lunde and Hunter Haas.
Pairings to come later this week.
I suppose it is wise for PGATour.com to edit out references to the darkest days of Commissioner Tim Finchem's tenure. After all, Commissioner Aladeen, who appealed all the way to the Supreme Court but who won't endorse penalty shots for slow play, might realize he once made a truly awful, career-defining executive decision.
But gosh it's fun to read the red-lined version of the AP story.
Here are two separate paragraphs from the PGATour.com version:
Martin, who won the right to ride a cart because of a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg, earned a spot in the U.S. Open on Monday night when he holed a 5-foot par putt in darkness on the final hole at Emerald Valley Golf Club.
Martin earned his way onto the PGA TOUR in 1999. He failed to keep his TOUR card after one year, and eventually became the golf coach at Oregon.
And how the story appeared on the wires, with underline added to highlight the dreaded truth cut from the PGATour.com copy:
Martin, who successfully sued for the right to ride a cart because of a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg, earned a spot in the U.S. Open on Monday night when he holed a 5-foot par putt in darkness on the final hole at Emerald Valley Golf Club.
Martin earned his way onto the PGA Tour in 1999 and eventually won his lawsuit to ride a cart. He failed to keep his PGA Tour card after one year, and eventually became the golf coach at Oregon.
Golfweek's one-stop roundup includes all of the numbers, qualifiers, alternates and notable missers in easy-to-read fashion.
And here is the USGA Sectional page where all scores, stories and photos are posted.
Doug Ferguson's AP story on sectionals focuses on Casey Martin and his USGA-supported cart returning to the scene of his only U.S. Open appearance.
Mike Tomiko of The Oregonian on Martin's qualifying and the backstory of his decision to give it a try this year.
Martin may be back at the course Tuesday morning to watch the sudden death playoff between Daniel Miernicki and Nick Sherwood. Both are amateurs, Miernicki plays for Martin at Oregon. Sherwood plays for Oregon State. James Raia with more details from the Oregon qualifier.
The unforgettable moment of the day (and Sportscenter Top 10 highlight) came with Dennis Miller's epic putt and the surrounding Golf Channel video coverage viewable here, including a super Whit Watson interview with Miller.
Ryan Ballengee profiles Miller, Director of Golf at Mill Creek, who was in a playoff with PGA Tour players Justin Hicks and Scott Piercy.
Nick Masuda files from Black Diamond Ranch, leading with a detailed account of Brooks Koepka denying 14-year-old Andy Zhang in a profile.
Rhonda Glenn was there too and filed a story about the sectional medalist, Scott Langley.
Michelle Hiskey reports from The River Club in Suwanee, Georgia, where Jason Bohn and Casey Wittenberg made it after making coaching changes.
Matt Baylor reports from Glen Ellyn, Illinois where Australian Anthony Summers was medalist over Tim Herron.
Ian O'Conner on former E Street drummer Vini Lopez looping for Mark McCormick at Canoe Brook.
David Shefter's story from the Canoe Brook qualifier focuses on amateur Cameron Wilson qualifying.
Dave Shedloski files from the Columbus qualifier and leads with Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love's successful quest to return to the U.S. Open.
Jason Sobel on Springfield qualifier John Peterson, who was left off last year's Walker Cup team and now will be playing in the U.S. Open.
Rob Oller on the bizarre journey of Peterson and the other qualifier from the Springfield site, Brice Garnett. Neither had played the course before Monday.
Hunki Yun files reports from Woodmont Country Club where alternate Cole Howard, playing with a heavy heart, made his way to Olympic Club.
Barry Svrluga reports from Woodmont with some great color and sense of the day, along with a great Toni Sandys photo of Fred Funk accompanying the story.
Mike Bailey was on the ground in Houston for Bob Estes' dominating performance along with two gutsy performances from Jordan Spieth and Cory Whitsett, both working on almost no sleep after playing in the NCAA Championship match Sunday. Both missed in a playoff.
Thomas Bonk reports from Lake Merced, where Cal grad James Hahn took the sectional and 53-year-old Olympic Club member and Champions Tour player Michael Allen made it to the Open.
Bucky Dent reports from the Germantown CC qualifier in Memphis where 5 inches of rains in 16 hours washed out play.
Golf Channel also posted this video clib of Sands and Isenhour discussing the notables who missed. Other interviews and clips may run too since it's a 90 minute package!
Here is my Golf World Monday item previewing what to expect from Golf Channel's expanded coverage today, and depending on WiFi access, I hope this post will grow through the day with some helpful links.
For starters, here is the USGA page devoted to the U.S. Open sectional results with links to scoring results.
**Golfweek's one stop shop is the same as their preview page, and will simply be updated as the day goes with notes, news and of course, scores.
**GolfChannel.com offers their own page linking to scores, and this Twitter feed featuring insights from their -on-site reporters.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
