Flashback: The Legendary Driving Range Fight At Silverado

Everyone who witnessed the fight would recount it for years. And with the PGA Tour returning to Silverado resort in Napa this week, what better time than to remember the late Dave Hill and J.C. Snead getting into a fight over driving range antics. The setting? The 1991 TransAmerica Championship on the Champions Tour (then Senior Tour) event at Silverado.

From Robert Sommers' book, Golf Anecdotes: From the Links of Scotland to Tiger Woods.

I'm not sure about the "around the range" part as the telling I've heard was far more cinematic, with Hill marching right down the range as legends of the game stopped hitting balls and watched the duel unfold.

Either way, kind of makes you wish they had cell phone video and YouTube back then!

The Donald: Golf Should Be Aspirational, For The Successful

The November Golf Digest will feature an interview (highlights here) with the uber-exposed Donald Trump as part of its "disruptors" feature and at least The Donald finally comes clean on his vision for golf: a rich man's game.

So much for those Scottish roots where the game started as very much a working man's pursuit back when they were whapping pebbles around.

On where grow-the-game efforts are flawed: "I would make golf aspirational, instead of trying to bring everybody into golf, people that are never going to be able to be there anyway. You know, they're working so hard to make golf, as they say, a game of the people. And I think golf should be a game that people want to aspire to through success."

Of course this means we have to use The Donald's definition of success, which might include wearing gold chains that would be the envy of Sammy Davis Jr., owning some hot red $500 driving moccasins and owning at least one jacket with a bold gold crest. Take that millennials!

And Then There Were 80…Drive, Chip & Putt Finalists

The sub-regionals and regionals are over, the PGA pros who oversaw the long days can take a break, and the kids of all ages can now dream about arriving in Augusta next April for the Drive, Chip & Putt, all 80 of them.

PGA.com with the roundup of qualifiers, including returning Girls 7-9 year old champ Kelly Xu of Santa Monica who moves up to the 10-11 year old group and four other returning competitors from the event's 2014 debut.

Congrats to all involved and we look forward to seeing you at Augusta National!

Old Course Snags Another One: Add Rory To The Converted List

Add Rory McIlroy to the long list of elite golfers who have found the Old Course at St. Andrews lacking ("hated it" in McIlroy's case), only to play it more and more and fall in love.

From Doug Ferguson's AP notes column:

"Thought it was the worst golf course I've ever played," he said. "I just stood up on every tee and was like, 'What is the fascination about this place?' But the more you play it and the more you learn about the golf course and the little nuances, you learn to appreciate it. Now it's my favorite golf course in the world."