Late Post

Umm...sooo. Are there any readers of this left besides my dad? *crickets chirp*

Apologies for the lengthy absence. Instead of trying to catch up by posting what I should have, allow me to offer some quick hits:

Johnson Wagner wins the SHO

Pretty impressive considering that Phil, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker, and a lot of other winners were playing in Houston, AND Wagner didn't rank highly in almost any PGA Tour statistical category. He's a real nice guy, and you can tell this win meant more to him than it would have to a proven champion. Fun fact, his actual first name is Montford. Awesome. The first Blair offspring has a new first name: Montford Danger Blair.

Trevor Immelman wins the Masters

Or Tiger lost it, depending your mood. Even though much hullabaloo was made over Tiger's missed chances (and rightly so) Immelman won it more than Tiger lost it. How clutch was hit putt from off the green at 11. Super clutch. everyone kept saying he was going to crack under pressure and he didn't. By the way, did you hear he's a fan of Gary Player? Coincidentally I'm at the Byron Nelson right now and he opened with an 8-over 78. D'oh.

Adam Scott Likes This Course Okay

On the final hole at last year's SHO, Adam Scott made a 48-foot par putt to win. On the first hole today he made a 55-foot birdie putt that jump-started a course record 9-under 63. The funny thing is that he almost withdrew. Scott took awhile to come into the press center after his round because he was being looked over by the medical staff. Turns out he is running a fever and could be suffering from strep throat. He said he's felt crappy all week and didn't want to get out of bed. In the end, he decided to come out and see how he did. I wonder who felt worse, Scott or Jason Gore, who did withdraw due to illness?

Welcome to the SHO! Part I

Wow, I can't believe SHO week is already here. Seriously, it's APRIL!! I feel like I'm still recovering from Christmas. Apologies for not updating sooner during the week...I also can't believe it's already Thursday.

The Shell is one of the few weeks of the year when we get to cover the professional circuit. It's interesting to see how the national golf media lives. Sometimes it can be pretty messy. Yesterday we all wanted to talk to Phil Mickelson after his pro-am round, but Phil didn't want to come into the media center, and wanted to do his interview outside the scorer's hut. It was drizzling, and us print guys had to jockey for position with the TV vultures. We stood in a semicircle for almost 15 minutes waiting for Phil to finish 18, and complete the autograph guantlet. As soon as Phil stepped into the circle the TV cameras closed like a trap, shutting most of the print guys outside of the circle. I almost lost an arm shoving my recorder through a gap. The TV guys (who only think about golf when they drive by a putt-putt course) asked only six stock questions, including such gems as "With all the attention to (Tiger) do you ever feel like your career is overlooked?" Answer: "Not really." THAaaaaNKS!!!

It was lame. After this week I can't wait to get back to the events where it's just me.

Bobby Lord Update

It's really easy for us to dehumanize the athletes we watch on TV. Their extraordinary level of play, their bank accounts, their jet set lifestyle are all factors that help us forget that sports stars are regular people. For me, the most memorable moment of Tiger Woods' career wasn't a fist pump or a chip-in, but the emotional hug he gave Steve Williams after winning the first major after the loss of his father. Because you know what? We've all been on the giving or recieving end of that hug.

We were reminded again when Ernie Els announced that his five-year-old son Ben has autism.

The news made my think back to one of my favorite stories of 2007: Special Olympian Bobby Lord. We profiled Bobby in our May 2007 edition. Bobby worked at the driving range at Magnolia Creek. As far as I know he still does. But what the golfers aiming 7-irons at the ball-picker didn't know was that the driver, Bobby, could deadlift 600 pounds. That's right, Bobby is the best Special Olympian power-lifter in the country. When I talked to Bobby and his parents way back in April, Magnolia Creek had just hosted a golf-a-thon to raise money for a trip to Shanghai to compete in the Special Olympics World Championships in October. I know I'm a little late with the update, but nonetheless I'm happy to report that Bobby captured two golds and one silver while competing in the highest level of power-lifting. Bobby also loves playing golf as much as he does lifting.

I wish everyone could have a chance to meet and talk to people like Margie, Robert and Bobby. They really opened my eyes to some misconceptions about autism.

"(Most people) think that autism is a severe mental handicap when in fact it is a perceptional disorder that does not in any way limit their motor skills or ability to perform sports," Margie told me. "In some ways it enhances their ability to play sports because of their tenacity. They're never going to quit. When everyone else is leaving the golf course or putting green, they're still going to be there."

What's Going On?

There are some big changes in the works at Houston Links, and we're all excited about the next few months.

Currently we're in the process of looking at an overhaul of our website, www.houstonlinksmagazine.com. Up until now it has been a skeleton job who's basic function is to host our media kit and allow people to sign up for free home delivery. We stopped updating it back in September once we knew we were going to revamp it.

I, for one, am bouncing off the walls with ideas for our new page. Kevin has had to reign me in a bit, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that he would be willing to host this blog on the parent site. We're also knocking around a bunch of other neat ideas.

-------------------------------------------

I covered the AJGA's season kickoff at Redstone two weeks ago. The Houston Boys Invitational was won by New Jersey's Morgan Hoffman. Dallas' Cody Gribble (No Relation) finished bogey-quad after holding the lead after 16. He showed real class though afterwards in talking to the media and warmly congratulating Hoffman. AJGA Invitationals are loaded with the top junior golfers in the country. The Tournament Course was set up less than 200 yards shorter than it will play for the PGA Tour pros. Looks like we're in for a good show.

In other junior news, Cory Whitsett has leap-frogged good friend Peter Uihlein for the No. 1 spot in the AJGA's Polo Junior Golf Rankings. Cory's response?

"It only matters if you're No. 1 at the end of the year."

True dat.

--------------------------------------------------

The TGA season kicked off last weekend with the South Four-Ball. Houston Links' 2007 Mid-Am of the Year John Dowdall and his partner Jonathan Shipley (who we almost picked) shot a blistering final-round 62 for the win. Both of them are great guys and two of the best mid-ams Houston has. Glad to here they started off 2008 the right way, with a win.

---------------------------------------------------

Look, I like Tiger as much as anyone, but after reading the stuff people are writing you think he invented the game. No doubt Tiger will shatter Jack and the Slammer's respective records, but is he golf's greatest champion? Don't think so. I still say it's Bob Jones, who won 62 percent of the majors he played in, won 13 championships in 7 years, and retired at 28. This was a time when he had to play against amateurs like Francis Ouimet, Jerry Travers, Lawson Little, Chick Evans, and Johnny Goodman, who all won U.S. Opens. He also had to beat World Golf Hall of Fame professionals Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Leo Diegel, Mac Smith, and Tommy Armour. Oh yeah, and also did it while earning degrees from Georgia Tech, Harvard, attending law school and passing the bar.

I would say that Tiger Woods is the best mental player ever. That's why I like to watch him. In contrast, it was Jones' nerves and the strains of championship golf that made him decide to retire early.

-------------------------------------------

Glad someone decided to crack down on this

-------------------------------------------

Troubling report: More Americans are giving up golf than ever before. From my perspective, I would say that golf is one of the least accessible sports to take up. Unless you can afford to join a private club, the most sensible option for beginning golfers are public courses, where there is a greater fear of embarrassment because of larger crowds. Cost really is a factor. I would bet that most beginning golfers are like me: just entering the workplace. After college, cost is a factor. One way to alleviate this? Walk. I'm of the Robert McKinney School. I enjoy the game better walking. It's better for you, you see more of the course, and you can go straight to your ball. I think carts should only used for people who can't comfortably walk. Hey, if that sounds codgery, I yam what I yam. As my friend and journalism teacher Melanie Hauser once said:

"You're a throwback, so you don't count."

Epic Post to Come

I realize I haven't updated the blog in a few weeks, but things have been pretty busy. Look for an epic post later on this evening, inclusing my thoughts about the best junior golfers in the world playing at Redstone last weekend.

USGA Annual Meeting, Part I

This week everyone who's anyone in American golf administration will be in Houston. The USGA is hosting its annual meeting at the Hilton Post Oak. People such as PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, LPGA commish Carolyn Bivens, and former prez George H.W. Bush (who's recieving the Bob Jones Award) are attending. Obviously, USGA Executive Director David B. Fay, the entire Executive Committee, and members of all the other (zillion) committees are here. I've been here since 8 a.m., it's now 2:15. The joint isn't exactly jumping, there are a lot of committee meetings (not open to public). But that doesn't mean there hasn't been any news.

Many of the USGA committee members have been here since Tuesday. During that span of times several decisions of the championship variety were handed down. Two extremely new but spectacular courses were just called up to the show. Notably Tacoma's Chambers Bay (built by Houston-based construction firm Heritage Links) was awarded the 2010 U.S. Amateur AND the 2015 U.S. OPEN! Whoa. The course opened only last year! Likewise Erin Hills
just outside Millwaukee was awarded the 2011 U.S. Amateur. That course is also a year old, and will be hosting the U.S. Women's APL this year.

Think the USGA is loving links?

There was a rules seminar this morning. Some interesting things I gleaned:

• A golfer may now lift their ball from a hazard to identify it. Consequently, there is now a penalty for playing the wrong ball from a hazard. Before 2008, if two golfers were in the same bunker but couldn’t identify their balls, they would have to pick one. Then whichever of the two golfers played first would have to go investigate the ball they just hit and figure out if that was indeed his original ball. If it wasn’t, they would’ve had to replace it and replay their original ball. The USGA hopes this change will help improve place of play.

• The definition of advice has been changed. From now on two golfers in competition -or their caddies- may give each other distances without penalty. In the old rule, if you gave an opponent yardage you would lose the hole in match play or be penalized two strokes in stroke play. Professional golf fans may recall that during the 2007 Honda Classic Mark Wilson was penalized two shots when his caddie gave his playing partner. Those two lost shots put Wilson was in a four-way playoff.

• There is also a lesser penalty for a player carrying –but not playing- a non-conforming club. In the 2004 rules the penalty was disqualification. At the 2007 (Las Vegas PGA Tour) Kevin Stadler realized that the shaft on his 7-iron was bent. He hadn’t played a shot with the 7-iron, but he was disqualified because the club didn’t conform. In 2008, Stadler would be penalized two shots for each hole the club was in his bag, but he could not be penalized more than four strokes.

• In the old 2004 rules, if a golfer’s ball is accidentally deflected by themselves, their opponent, either of the caddies or the players’ equipment the player would be penalized two strokes or the loss of a hole in match play. The USGA felt that the punishment didn’t fit the crime, especially when it came to match play. From now on the golfer will just add one stroke to their score for that hole.

• Rangefinders and GPS course-measuring devices are growing more and more popular. The USGA allows local competitive committees to make up their own mind about the use of rangefinders. However in 2008 the USGA has declared that all rangefinders that measure anything other than distance (such as gradient, wind direction, etc.) illegal.
  

FYI.