"I'm killing it, and it doesn't go anywhere"

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PH2007070100981.jpgThe Washington Post's Eli Saslow asks PGA Tour pro Steve Marino, used to manicured greens and exquisite fairways, battles public course hazards at East Potomac.

Thanks to readers John and Phil for this fun story.

The more I watched Marino play, the more convinced I became that golf, for us, involved little common ground. When I asked Marino about the obstacles I considered daunting on PGA Tour courses -- long holes, imposing water hazards, gigantic bunkers -- Marino said they never bothered him. Similarly, at East Potomac, Marino obsessed over details I had never noticed. Overgrown fairways made it impossible, he said, to generate substantial spin on iron shots. Stiff sand traps caused the ball to release on a flat trajectory, negating the importance of touch.

I guess Marino hasn't gotten the USGA memo that U-grooves function better out of light rough than they do from tight fairways! 

The greens bothered Marino most. After six months spent on greens that ran as fast as tiled kitchen floors, Marino now felt like he was putting along the bottom of a filled swimming pool. No matter how hard he hit it, the ball almost always slid through sand or water and grinded to a halt short of the hole. After Marino left two consecutive putts short on No. 11, he dropped his putter on the green.

"I'm killing it, and it doesn't go anywhere," he said. "I might just start putting with my driver."
 

R.I.P Dowd and Mineck

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Over at the much improved Golfweek tour blog, Jeff Babineau express sadness at the sad loss of two people in golf, one I had the privilege of knowing. I'm copying and pasting here since the Golfweek blog posts can't be individually linked...

What a sad couple of days for golf.

Kelly Jo Dowd, who inspired us all with her strength and spirit, passed away Thursday after a long battle with cancer. She was 42.

The Dowd family’s plight became a national story 13 months ago, when Dakoda Dowd, then 13, played the LPGA’s Ginn Open at Reunion Resort, just outside Orlando. I’ll never forget seeing Kelly Jo raise her hands high in the air when Dakoda ripped her opening drive right down the middle. “Proud” doesn’t begin to capture what was filling up her heart that morning.

When Dakoda birdied the hole, she beamed, “My daughter’s a stud.”

Months earlier, Kelly Jo sat on a wooden bench near the practice tee at Reunion as Dakoda hit golf balls. The deep love for her child was so evident in her eyes. The parent-child bond the two shared, and the sense of family enjoyed by Dakoda, Kelly Jo and Mike Dowd – Kelly Jo’s husband and Dakoda's dad – is something every family should strive to achieve. We’d all be richer. Life dealt the Dowd family a tough hand, and they’ve always handled it with incredible class.

The news of Kelly Jo’s passing comes on the heels of  news earlier in the day of the shocking, sudden death of John Mineck in the Boston area on Thursday. It would be inaccurate to say John didn’t have any kids. His “baby” was his beloved Boston Golf Club, and it was there  on Thursday his life came to a tragic end, as he was killed in an accident incurred while he operated heavy machinery on property at the club.

Boston Golf Club, if you haven’t had the pleasure of visiting, is such an incredible place, so cool. It has John’s indelible fingerprints all over it. It always will.

Condolences to both families. Kelly Jo and John were special, kindred spirits who lived life with a vibrant energy we all should carry each morning the sun comes up.

As I write this, it’s nearly 1 a.m., and my – and John’s – beloved Red Sox are on TV, winning a rain-delayed game out in Texas. My 6-year-old son, Luke, is asleep next to me on the couch, no doubt dreaming of something grand that only 6-year-olds can dream. When I carry him up the stairs to bed tonight, you can bet he’ll get an extra hug and kiss.

Too often we’re starkly reminded how short life really is.

 

113,527,276,681,000,000 to 1

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Carl Bialik crunches the numbers in his WSJ column on the odds of multiple hole-in-one's holes-in-one.*  And no one told his editors that you make a hole in one. You don't hit it.
Jacqueline Gagne has had 10 once-in-a-lifetime experiences in less than four months.

Since Jan. 23, the 46-year-old from Rancho Mirage, Calif., has hit 10 holes in one, or just eight fewer than were hit on the entire Ladies Professional Golf Association tour last year.

Her local paper, the Desert Sun of Palm Springs, Calif., has corroborated Ms. Gagne's feat, running notes alongside articles from editors saying they're just as skeptical as readers, but everything has checked out.

The paper also asked a local statistician, Michael McJilton of the College of the Desert, to compute the odds against the feat. The result, which headlined the article: 113,527,276,681,000,000 to 1. And that was after just seven aces. I asked Mr. McJilton to repeat the computation after Ms. Gagne hit three more in the following couple of weeks, over a total of just 75 rounds. He returned the astronomical number of roughly 12 septillion (12 followed by 24 zeroes) to 1. Such an unlikely event should never happen. It's like winning the lottery four straight times. No wonder David Letterman came calling.

Private Jet Travel Tax Increase?

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John Hughes and Jonathan Salent report for Bloomberg on a possible Bush Administration-sponsored tax hike on corporate jet travel.

Not only would this have ramifications for the professional golf and courses in remote locations, but think of the burden this might place on USGA presidential jet travel?  Good thing they're cutting those USGA employee benefits!

Nice Going Wally

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Scott Paske in the Wichita Eagle, reporting on the response to help local athletes in hard hit Greensburg, Kansas:

Tim Hacker, who runs a golf academy based in Alpharetta, Ga., has led an effort to assist GHS golfers. Hacker graduated from Greensburg in 1983 and has followed media reports about the tornado and its aftermath.

Working with his friend and fellow teaching pro Stan Utley, he secured the donation of golf equipment to the school from Titleist chairman and chief executive Wally Uihlein.

Hacker, who is affiliated with Callaway Golf, was also working with that company on a possible donation.

 

Ron Rhoads, R.I.P.

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ronrhoadsFrom today's LA Times obituaries (no link) (link here, thanks reader Kevin), sad news about one of the game's great gentlemen who I feel privileged to have known and taken lessons from:

Rhoads, Ronald Harrison

Ronald Harrison Rhoads (Ron) passed away peacefully on April 12, 2007. He leaves his wife, Martha, his daughter, Carolee, her husband John, and grandaughter Nancy. He is also survived by his brother Roger Rhoads (Linda), brother, Rick Rhoads (Joan), sister, Lorraine Greenburg (Ray) and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Virginia, in 1996.

A native Southern Californian, Ron graduated from Beverly Hills High School and The University of Southern California. He married his high school sweetheart, Martha. Ron was able to spend his career playing the game he loved; he was the head golf professional at Sahalee, Riviera, Sherwood and North Ranch Country Clubs, as well as the golf coach for his alma mater, U.S.C. Ron was devoted to the game of golf and touched many people with his expertise, work ethic and caring attitude. Ron also enjoyed fishing and hunting and divided his time between homes in Whitefish, Montana and Malibou Lake, California. He was a wonderful husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother and uncle and will forever be missed by family and friends alike.

A private memorial will be held on May 12th. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation would be appreciated. 

Golf.com Poll

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Caught this poll on golf.com. Naturally, you can guess what I voted for (sorry Mr. Nelson).

We want to know...

Byron Nelson won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945, a record that may never be matched. Which of the following records do you think is the most impressive?

    * 30.5% Nelson's 11-straight victories
    * 4.8% Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs
    * 9.2% Jim Brown's record of eight NFL season rushing titles
    * 37.7% UCLA's run of 10 NCAA basketball titles in 12 years
    * 15.3% Wayne Gretzky's 2,856 career points

I think the only thing more amazing than the inclusion of Wayne Gretzky's 2,856 career points was that 15.3% actually voted for him!