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Post by rizzuto on Dec 23, 2018 14:50:57 GMT -5
I had the privilege of playing 10-12 rounds of golf with Jay Seigel on some of America's best Golf Courses. I also played a couple rounds with Jay & Lionel Hebert.
Jay, gave me the Nickname of 'Dr. Golf'; for once I am on the Green I am deadly = A natural Talent.
Very impressive that you were so monikered by the great Jay Sigel. He lives not too far from me, although I have never met him. As you know, he was a legend on the amateur circuit and made millions in the insurance business. Great throwback names to the Cajun brothers, Jay and Lionel Hebert. They each won a PGA Championship -- Lionel was the last golfer to win it in its old match play format, a very early golf memory for me. You are living well if you got to play with such esteemed golfers. Taking me back to the days of Gardner Dickinson and Tommy Bolt and Art Wall Jr. and the amazing dentist Dr. Cary Middlecoff, one of the greatest golfers of all time. The best golfer I ever played with was my Uncle Bud. He was a few notches below the Brothers Hebert. But he took lessons from another forgotten golf immortal, Ed "Porky" Oliver, who won eight PGA events and finished second in three majors -- twice to Ben Hogan. So using Inger's degrees of separation philosophy, I am only three degrees of separation from playing with Ben Hogan. BTW Dome, I concur with some of your views on approaching golf, especially those on putting and the over-emphasis on power. I can't see the clock turning back on that one, even though it will always cost us Ryder Cups played in Europe. I do agree that golf, along with baseball, is the ultimate thinking person's sport. That is probably why there is more good sports literature on those two sports than any other. Boxing used to have a great literary pedigree as well, but as the sport has deteriorated, so has the writing devoted to it. Pipps - you've probably heard of the small-ball theory of sports: "the smaller the ball the better the literature." |
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 23, 2018 16:44:28 GMT -5
Pipps - you've probably heard of the small-ball theory of sports: "the smaller the ball the better the literature." Love it, Rizz. No, I missed that theory somehow. And of course leaving ping pong out of the equation -- now that I think about it, that doesn't qualify as a sport anyway -- I love the concept. The number of great football and basketball books -- and we can throw the hockey puck in there too -- is well behind those on baseball and golf. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 23, 2018 17:01:54 GMT -5
Before my wife became ill, I played golf as often as possible. I've played courses that were little more than nine-hole cow pastures to Pebble Beach, and enjoyed them all. Growing up in the boonies of south Louisiana, golf was some remote abomination that interrupted weekend television - especially as we had only three channels to watch. How could anyone play such a boring game, much less watch it for hours on Saturday and Sunday? In 1984 at university, I was shooting pool in the dorm, when a group of my friends traipsed through the common room carrying golf clubs. I had never known anyone who played golf, and I had no idea that my buddies even owned clubs. My pal Tim said, "Hey, Rizzuto! You want to go beat a few balls around?" Of course, I replied that I had never touched a golf club in my life. To which, they all smiled at each other and said nearly in unison, "Oh, that's okay. There's nothing to it. Steve's studying upstairs, you can borrow his clubs." Because I was a rather good athlete, my buddies were used to losing rather handily to me at, well, just about everything. I didn't understand their obvious glee at getting me on a golf course. The par five first hole, I carded a 13 (even though I was on the edge of the green in two shots). On the par four second, a 12. But during that front nine, I hit one perfect seven iron, the white ball spinning against a cloudless blue sky, then settling softly near the pin for a birdie putt. Unfortunately, I three putted for bogey...but that seven iron hooked me for life. Every other sport or game had always come so easily for me. Golf was quite another animal altogether. The game has frustrated and fascinated me, elated and humbled me. It teaches you patience and emotional balance - never get too high or too low. And, it has led to life long friendships and a ocean full of memories. An eloquent testimony to the lure of the game. Nobody who has given it a fair trial would ever call it boring. In my younger days I was pretty good at basketball and decent at baseball and tennis, but golf had a way of slapping me upside the head. Just enough glimpses of glory to keep me plugging away. As with baseball, the older I get, the more nuances I discover. And the more I love the amazing history of the game. |
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Post by kaybli on Dec 23, 2018 17:16:29 GMT -5
Rizzuto, I sent you a reply back about the problem you were having on your iPad. Did you get it?
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2019 GOLF
Dec 23, 2018 17:27:45 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 23, 2018 17:27:45 GMT -5
That reminded me of the day I carded a 17 a fifth hole at Brandywine Golf Course (no longer in existence, unless some has bought/reopened in past couple years) in Elton, MD. The tee shot is over a pond, and for some reason that particular day, I just wasn’t getting over that pond. I hit my three wood a couple times. Kerplunk! I changed to driver and hit ball too far right to clear the water. Kerplunk! After a few attempts my golfing buddies said, “It’s one of those days. Just go drop one on the other side and take a twelve”. Nope! I’m not going anywhere until I deserve it and them I’m taking what I earned!
So, of course I eventually cleared the pond. If I hadn’t, iI’d probably still be there, twenty years later, kerplunking away. The funny thing is that I hardly ever had hit one in that or any pond since my first year golfing, and seldom did it after. It would happen, but only on the rare occasion. But that one day, something just got in my head and I struggled. That’s the kind of stuff the game can do to you...In fact, in time I discovered that if I hit my driver on that hole I could easily drive the ball through that hole and onto the adjoining fairway that was headed in the opposite direction. Yet that one day, even though it felt like I had hit the ball well, I missed my line and plopped the ball in the drink.
The rest of the round? It wasn’t my best day, but I wound up carding a 109, so the other 17 holes were an “okay-ish” 92. Just one hole that bit me in the arse... I hadn’t come in over 100 in about a year... and rarely ever did again...
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2019 GOLF
Dec 23, 2018 17:30:04 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 23, 2018 17:30:04 GMT -5
Pipps - you've probably heard of the small-ball theory of sports: "the smaller the ball the better the literature." Love it, Rizz. No, I missed that theory somehow. And of course leaving ping pong out of the equation -- now that I think about it, that doesn't qualify as a sport anyway -- I love the concept. The number of great football and basketball books -- and we can throw the hockey puck in there too -- is well behind those on baseball and golf. I have a great book on BB’s if you want to read it... (: |
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2019 GOLF
Dec 23, 2018 17:46:09 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 23, 2018 17:46:09 GMT -5
Rizzuto, great story how you wound up playing golf for the first time. For me, one day as I was leaving work I saw my boss out in the field, which the company kept mowed, hitting golf balls. I stopped and eventually he asked me if I would like to hit a few. He handed me a seven iron, and to my surprise a made contact and hit the ball better than he expected me too. I was 39 at the time and had never had a club in my hand.
The next day, he came out and got me out of the warehouse and told me to get in his car. In a few moments we were at the golf course on the driving range hitting balls. All during work hours mind you.
A week or so later, I was borrowing his brother’s clubs and scuffling my way to my first full round, carding about a 130. It turns out his brother was a really crappy golfer and often carded similar scores, so I was now thought to be a better prospect for a golf partner than his brother. The year before, he and his brother had made it so difficult for me to take off an hour early to bowl in my league that in had quit the team. Now, I was being encouraged to play free golf once a week during work hours (the company had a membership).
I improved fairly quickly, though it took me until well into my second full year of golfing to get my first birdie. I had also developed a reputation for somehow always being the guy that hit the “shot of the day”, often playing with both of the brothers. I recall the lesser golfer of the two being a rather poor sport who would talk just before your back swing to pint out all of the hazards “watch the wind. don’t forget the water on the right”. Little did he know that I used that to make me mentally stronger so I could just pick a target and forget about all the hazards...
That’s another thing about golf...the personalities, the way people reveal themselves, and sometimes the absolute hilarity that occurs out there on the course...
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Post by rizzuto on Dec 23, 2018 18:16:26 GMT -5
Rizzuto, I sent you a reply back about the problem you were having on your iPad. Did you get it? Yes, Kay, thanks so much. Weirdly, as quickly as the problem began without warning, it stopped in similar fashion. It has not happened again since you wrote. |
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Post by kaybli on Dec 23, 2018 18:49:12 GMT -5
Rizzuto, I sent you a reply back about the problem you were having on your iPad. Did you get it? Yes, Kay, thanks so much. Weirdly, as quickly as the problem began without warning, it stopped in similar fashion. It has not happened again since you wrote. OK. Sounds good! Let me know if it pops up again! |
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Post by domeplease on Dec 27, 2018 13:06:47 GMT -5
Below is my list of PGA Golfers that I expect (some of them) to do great this year. It is also my list for betting (not all; but it gives me options), depending on the Event, Course, Weather, etc.
Not in Priority Order: DeChambeau Finau Fleetwood Grillo Kizzire Koepka List Molinari Na Noren Rahm Rose Schauffele Stenson Woodland Woods
***Tequila has APPROVED this list.
I have added Vegas to my above list : He has a good game, great attitude, smiles all the time =Enjoys the GAME. |
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2019 GOLF
Dec 27, 2018 17:54:04 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 27, 2018 17:54:04 GMT -5
He could be related to Robinson Cano. At least no one will get upset if he doesn’t run hard to the first tee...
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2018 19:51:01 GMT -5
Below is my list of PGA Golfers that I expect (some of them) to do great this year. It is also my list for betting (not all; but it gives me options), depending on the Event, Course, Weather, etc.
Not in Priority Order: DeChambeau Finau Fleetwood Grillo Kizzire Koepka List Molinari Na Noren Rahm Rose Schauffele Stenson Woodland Woods
***Tequila has APPROVED this list.
I have added Vegas to my above list : He has a good game, great attitude, smiles all the time =Enjoys the GAME. Jhonny Vegas also has the coolest name in golf, by far. He really sounds like a fictional character. Another guy who smiles all the time is Matt Kuchar. I think his face muscles are frozen into a permanent smile. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Dec 27, 2018 20:02:52 GMT -5
BTW, The Golf Channel was showing old episodes (I guess there is no other kind) of "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf" on Christmas day. It was great to see Jimmy Demaret and Gene Sarazen handling the broadcasts. I saw one with Sam Snead vs. Roberto de Vicenzo and another of Arnold Palmer vs. Julius Boros. I had forgotten how Snead used to use a croquet shot for short putts.
How different the courses were!! Snead and de Vicenzo played at Congressional, which I have visited several times over the past 20 years. But this match was from 1968 -- amazing how much rougher the greens were, and how brown and hard much of the fairway was. With those clubs and those balls, it was no wonder breaking par was a real challenge.
Demaret and Sarazen would do the broadcast standing on the green at each hole, with hundreds of feet of wires running up to their mics. They spoke as the golfers were lining up their putts, and interviewed the golfers every couple of holes. I know it was only an exhibition, but still what a contrast to today. The women in the crowd were wearing dresses, and many of the men were wearing coats and ties. Probably half the people were smoking (including Arnie in his match against Boros in the Bahamas.)
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2019 GOLF
Dec 27, 2018 21:09:06 GMT -5
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Post by inger on Dec 27, 2018 21:09:06 GMT -5
Weird thought: Could pervasive smoking at matches have been the original reason the “golf clap” came to be. With one hand occupied one couldn’t applaud with aplomb?
In any event, the few Wonderful World Of Golf shows I’ve seen we’re terrific entertainment, and it seemed most matches were close...
For you younger folks, think of the recent Phil vs. Tiger match with much less ado...
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Post by domeplease on Jan 4, 2019 10:59:15 GMT -5
01-04-18: www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/is-bryson-dechambeau%e2%80%99s-flagstick-putting-method-about-to-go-mainstream/ar-BBRMN1K?li=BBnba9I&ocid=U147DHP I really like this Pro...
KAPALUA, Hawaii - Justin Thomas said he couldn't really take himself seriously if he ever holed a winning putt with the flagstick in. Doesn't like how it looks.
It's obvious Bryson DeChambeau has never cared about optics, which is why he said he was going to putt with the flagstick in all the time once the modern rules of golf went into effect this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Some people laughed but DeChambeau was serious, and he backed it up Thursday while leaving the flagstick in the majority of the time in Round 1.
He also topped the field at 3.868 strokes gained putting Thursday and suddenly this whole flagstick thing doesn't look so ridiculous anymore. It looked like it might have helped on at least one or two birdie putts as DeChambeau shot 4-under 69 to move to T-6.
He wasn't the only player in the field to do it. Just the most frequent and outspoken.
"I feel like I maximized my potential on that," DeChambeau said. "Especially on 16 today, where it's kind of blowing downwind, five percent slope, straight downhill, you want that pin in to help. So that's what I kind of did and utilized it to my advantage. So I felt like for the most part I needed the pin to be in and it went in and it was a very nice help."
He was playing with Dustin Johnson, who probably spent less time studying the modern rules than DeChambeau spent picking his shirt this morning. Johnson told him before the round he was cool with the whole flagstick thing and to have DeChambeau's caddie Tim Tucker just handle the flag all day to avoid confusion.
"It's definitely weird. Well, not weird, it's just different watching someone putt with the flag in," Johnson said. "It actually worked out where it wasn't a big deal. It didn't slow us down or anything."
DeChambeau left it in about half of the time, including for birdie makes on 11, 14 and 16 on the back nine. The crowds are pretty small at Kapalua's Plantation Course and there were a few comments in the gallery, but it didn't really seem to impact anything. READ MORE...
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