"I'd pay $15 to play El Dump-o-rama down the street with the bowl-shaped greens and the bunkers that haven't been raked in four years. Absolutely. That's fun. That's fun golf."

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A fun item from Doug Ferguson's Deutsche Bank second round notes column: 

Rich Beem lives the good life on the PGA Tour, playing the best courses with the best players, taking part in pro-ams with the rich and famous. But he still enjoys going back to his roots - a municipal golf course, a few beers, lots of laughs.

Beem was having lunch with his caddie, Billy Heim, on Monday in Rhode Island when he mentioned he was going to play golf and the waitress recommended a course in Providence called Triggs, an old Donald Ross design.

"I played with two police officers from Rhode Island," Beem said. "They had their day off. They finished playing golf, but I don't know how. They were really enjoying their day off."

This wasn't the first time Beem has gone from TPCs to municipal tracks. He was asked if he would pay $400 to play Pebble Beach.

"Oh, God, no," Beem said. "But I'd pay $15 to play El Dump-o-rama down the street with the bowl-shaped greens and the bunkers that haven't been raked in four years. Absolutely. That's fun. That's fun golf. We play these beautiful courses all the time, but what's wrong with going out and playing fun golf now and then, shooting whatever, play in your bare feet."

Heim is more than just a caddie. He lost in the final match of the 1987 U.S. Junior Amateur to Brett Quigley, who happened to play with Beem the first two rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

How does a former PGA champion wind up on a municipal golf course?

"I'm just another guy who took a day off of a work and went to go play golf," he said. "Is that so bad?"

Shipnuck on Cabrera

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aug14_cabrera_299x238.jpgI finally got around to Alan Shipnuck's SI piece on Angel Cabrera, which unfortunately was relegated to the Golf Plus Fed Ex Cup stand alone issue. Unfortunate because it's an oustanding and revealing read that should have made the main issue. Well, those NFL training camp spreads are pretty special.

Anyway, don't miss this. And because I'm kind, the link is to the single page version to save you the trouble of the nine-page version.


"Sergio Garcia has...cultivated the most laughable persecution complex this side of fellow divas Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan."

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While reading Geoff Russell's Golf World Front Nine this evening, he reminded me of Sergio's cup-spitting incident and suddenly my sympathies subsided. I didn't even feel bad for him after this thrashing from Steve Elling at Sportsline:

For years, Sergio Garcia has manufactured thin excuses, pointed fingers elsewhere and cultivated the most laughable persecution complex this side of fellow divas Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan. Mostly, the sporting public has cut him some slack, because he was young and frustrated and playing in the shadow of Tiger Woods.
And... 

After last weekend's dive into the wallowing waters of self-pity, Garcia has faced excoriation on a global scale like no other top pro since Greg Norman. But of course, the Shark was consistently gracious in defeat, the consummate sportsman. Norman, as a rule, fell on his sword after his major-championship disasters, and many fans felt compassion, not scorn.

But Garcia, the preening and coddled superstar, deflects his shortcomings elsewhere. It recalls the scene in a locker room at another major championship a few years back, when Garcia was spotted repeatedly adjusting the rake of his cap before he left to play that day. Maybe if he had instead spent time looking at the man in the mirror, instead of the lid on his head, he'd find the source of his problems. Style trumps substance again.

Incomprehensively, at age 27, he lacks the maturity to realize that bad breaks, real or perceived, are why golf is the most brutal mental sport of all. Moreover, being accountable means more than just adding up a score at the end of the round.

Yet for the most notorious flirt on the PGA Tour, Lady Luck remains the lone woman in golf to escape his embrace, and it's driving him psycho.

"If we can have something in clothing, something in wine, and one or two other areas, such as golf-course design, it could be interesting."

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Paul Forsyth talks to Ian Poulter about how important winning the Open Championship would be in...uh, extending his brand's range of services.

He does not need telling that lifting the Claret Jug is more important than wearing it, as he has been reduced to in recent years, but success at Carnoustie would bring priceless exposure to his new clothing company, the first collection of which is to be launched in the days ahead. “I would love to win it,” he says. “For me, there is more to golf than just hitting balls at the minute. I’m seeing it from all angles. We want to try and grow the business, and winning a major would help that. It wouldn’t just be a two-minute fly-by.”
Whatever happened to the good old days when winning a major was just fun because it was, you know, a major?
The 31-year-old has invested a sizeable chunk of his not inconsiderable earnings in Ian Poulter Design. While an account with 60 professionals’ shops represents a cautious start, the grand plan is to be more than just a retired golfer when he grows old. “Who knows what the next 20 years will hold? The aim is to grow the other side of Ian Poulter, the business side. If we can have something in clothing, something in wine, and one or two other areas, such as golf-course design, it could be interesting. The business side fascinates me. Successful business-men fascinate me.”
You know I love how the golf course design part could be just one little subsegment of the brand extension.

 

Isn't it touching how today's touring professionals take the plowing and plundering so lightly? 

Bubba Debuts $14.98 Collection; Awaits Hackel's Review

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Golf Digest's Jeff Patterson posts about the debut of Bubba Watson's "Steve and Barry's" line of shirts. You may recall that it's the same chain doing $15 basketball shoes with Stephon Marbury and other surprising hip looking stuff.

The collared shirts, rainshirts, pants, shorts and hats, which make up the 30 items bubbagolf offers, feature mostly pastel colors, the kind Watson likes. He has worn his brand of clothing since the beginning of the year and has had remarkable success -- four top-5 finishes (including a T-5 at the U.S. Open) and a PGA Tour-leading 315.3 yards off the tee.

"I chose which colors I liked, which designs I liked, which stripe patterns, how many buttons I wanted," Watson said. "Down to every last stitch, I played a part in everything. Picking the tags, everything."
Who knew he was so demanding?
Watson is still amazed he was picked to head the golf clothing line.

"Anybody that has their name on a clothing line, it's a special thing," he said. "That really blew me out of the water that they'd want to come to me, a guy who is practically a rookie on tour, so I said, 'Heck, yeah. I'll do it in a heartbeat.' "

Providing quality clothes for a low price is something that's close to Watson's heart. Growing up, he wasn't able to afford an extravagant golf wardrobe.

"My mom had a regular job to make more money and my dad worked at a construction site for 32 years to make sure that I could have everything, like newer clothes for golf tournaments so I didn't have to wear the same outfits every week," said Watson.
Somehow I don't see Marty Hackel featuring one of these shirts for a Golf Digest Index fashion spread.

 

"The First Tee or some other charity should own the U.S. Open."

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I think Joe Ogilvie needs to stop drinking that special fruit punch they're serving him at PGA Tour Policy Board meetings. In a USA Today Q&A with Jerry Potter:

On the U.S. Golf Association …

"It shouldn't own golf tournaments, especially at the professional level. It should worry about the rules of golf. It has lost total concept of what it's about. The PGA of America is the backbone of golf. Their pros teach the game. The PGA Tour pros are the ones the fans are following. The First Tee or some other charity should own the U.S. Open."

Hey, and maybe PGA Tour Championship Management can manage it...pro-bono of course.

On the PGA Tour …

"It's the face of the game, but we don't get credit for what we do. The NFL gets recognition for the United Way, but we gave over $100 million to charity this year. (Fans don't) know the difference between the PGA Tour and the PGA of America."

And sometimes certain really prominent newspapers and magazines don't either!

On the equipment controversy …

"You don't need bifurcation of the rules because the average player needs to play the same equipment we play. If they (USGA) change the grooves, we'll have to wait and see what the effects are. They say it won't affect the average amateur, but should they make rules based on what the best players in the world can do? … The USGA worries too much about 200 guys in the world and how they play golf. We're supposed to be the best at what we do."

Now wait Joe. The average player needs to play the same equipment you play? And why is that? Do they get the same benefits you do? Come on!

On drug testing in golf …

"I don't think you need it. Golfers have always called penalties on themselves, and using steroids is cheating. The penalty for cheating is so severe you would be dead. The Tour would suspend you for life, and no company would want to sponsor you."

The Commissioner could not have said it better himself. 

Emailing With Levet

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headshot-135x95.jpgJames Corrigan follows up his revealing Retief Goosen e-interview with another online interesting conversation, this time with Thomas Levet, who is recovering from a bout with vertigo and teeing it up at Walton Heath today in hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Open.

Just in case you think your golf swing is giving you problems, just consider this:
Are golfers particularly susceptible to vertigo?

I'm not sure about that, although there have been a few others who have suffered, such as David Duval, Peter Hanson. It's a condition that can hit anybody at any time. The golf swing did trigger my vertigo, though, and they had to find out why. When they did, that was when I could work towards a cure.

"Why do they want to stop Tiger or Phil [Mickelson] or Ernie [Els] from playing great golf?"

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That's Neil Coles talking, subject of John Huggan's Tea On A Sunday In Scotland Scotland On Sunday column this week. Coles not only talks abou this fear of flying, but golf in America, the state of the game and--close your eyes Fairhaven readers--the dreaded ball. Take it away Mr. Coles...

"I have no regrets about not playing more over there. I did three tours in America. The money was no good anywhere else. I didn't really enjoy it much, to be honest. The life wasn't for me. The sameness of the motels and the courses was boring. And there was no prospect of taking a week off to go home for a break. My best finish over there was third place in Palm Springs. I won $1,500 for that. My game was reasonably well suited to the courses, and I enjoyed the big ball."

Ah, the ball. Like so many of his contemporaries, Coles has watched the evolution of golf at the highest level over the past decade or so with something akin to horror. The modern game, all crash-bang-wallop, is a long way from the subtle, nuanced sport that he played at his peak.

"There is no doubt that shaping shots is a lot more difficult these days," he sighs. "The ball doesn't curve like it used to. The small ball had to be shaped in order to get any sort of control. You had to hold it up in crosswinds. It was so lively. If these guys played with a small ball today, they wouldn't know what had hit them.

"The arrival of the big ball in Europe had an effect on the type of player who could be successful. I remember little guys like Dai Rees, Sid Scott, Charlie Ward and Ken Bousfield being successful. They would have no chance today. So the big ball changed the face of golfers. They got bigger and stronger. The little guy is very much the exception nowadays.

"Now, is that for the better? I don't know, but it is certainly different. It's my contention that we can't go on improving the ball. The golf courses are going to have to be 8,000 yards to challenge the top players, and they will be unplayable for everyone else."

Putting on his course architect's hat for a moment, Coles is as close to animated as he can get, and his fear for the future of the sport in which he has spent his life is obvious.

"I think if we got the R&A and the USGA around this table, they would agree about the ball going too far. But they are scared of lawsuits. And the problem is that, in order to keep the scores up, major championship courses are being set up in ever more extreme ways.

"I shudder when thinking of Carnoustie in 1999 or the US Open at Shinnecock in 2004. And the Masters this year was borderline. I do wonder if the punter wants to pay good money to watch top players scuffing around like they did at those three events. The very best players were embarrassed. I don't want to see that. I want to see people going round in the 60s, and making birdies and eagles. That's entertainment to me.

"I subscribe to the view that a great golf course should yield low scores to a great player playing well. If it doesn't, there is something wrong with that course. If someone as good as Tiger [Woods] shoots 20 under par to win, it is a compliment to the golf course. That's my philosophy, but it isn't everyone's.

"Clearly, the USGA want par to win the US Open every year. They don't seem to care that they are putting on a show for millions of people. I don't understand where they are coming from. Why do they want to stop Tiger or Phil [Mickelson] or Ernie [Els] from playing great golf?"

 

"It's been a long time, but it's been a short time at the same time"

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Thanks to reader Steve for picking up the highlights of Seve's pre-Champions Tour debut conference call:

I will do my best, but I don't want you guys to have too much expectations from me. Obviously from time to time there will be one great shot here, one great shot there, but nothing that you haven't seen before.
 
It's been a long time. It's been a long time, but it's been a short time at the same time (laughing) because it's unbelievable how quickly the time goes by, you know? They say that it's like you're going to bed -- it's like a dream. Life is like a dream. You go to bed and you wake up with age. I don't know if that's a good translation, but we say that in Spain. Life is a dream. You know, you go to bed and you wake up with age. That's exactly what happened.

In one way it looks like it's been many, many years, and on the other hand it looks like it was yesterday when I joined the TOUR, you know? Time goes by very quickly for everybody. For everybody.
 
Q. You look like you're in the same shape you were when you were winning the British Open and The Masters. What have you done to prepare for this tournament and to get ready to come out here?

SEVE BALLESTEROS: (Laughing) well, thank you for that compliment. I wish you were right (laughter).
And on Sergio...
As you say, his putting is not very consistent. He's very young, you know, and he nearly won the TPC last week. You know, he has plenty of time ahead to win a major. But remember, to win a major, there's only four per year, and it's not easy. In fact, neither have the Europeans; they haven't won a major championship for the last four years. I'm wondering what the hell is going on there (laughter).

You know, we've been beating the Americans quite easily, but when they compete in the majors, they -- I don't know. They can't win. Something is not right there. I don't know what.