The Rain Man, Glover, Captures U.S. Open Title at Bethpage Black 2009
Published by Mike on Tagged Learn To Play
The U.S. Open returned to the Bethpage Black Course this past weekend on Long Island, New York where it last decimated the field leaving Tiger Woods as the only player standing and below par in 2002. It’s fearful reputation was softened a bit by the steady rainfall during this years tournament, but make no mistake about it many players were still well over par and missed the cut by making the error of missing the fairway on critical holes.
As with the Masters I have to admit I am disappointed in the outcome of this years Open. With wife Amy awaiting surgery, and her request for a win, I thought sure Phil would pull this one out of the hat. He is as capable as any and more so than most when it comes to golf skills, but the majors still seem to elude him when he is in contention on Sunday. When he made his move and went to - 4, he appeared psyched and I thought this would surely be the one, a real Cinderella Story in the making but it was not destined to be. He missed a three footer on 15th hole and a makeable par putt on the 17th that ended his chances for his and Amy’s dream finish. Bethpage Black reared it’s ugly head and clutched victory away from not only Phil Mickelson, but Ricky Barnes and another Cinderella Story contender in David Duval. They all finished tied at -2 and a share of the second place prize. Duval, looking a bit heartier since his stellar play around the turn of the century, when he was ranked 2nd in the world behind none other than Tiger Woods had played well during this Open. Second behind Tiger was not a bad place to be at that time but he has struggled over the past four or five years and has missed quite a few cuts. He finally recaptured some of the form at Bethpage Black that made him one of the top players in the world at that time in his career. The U.S. Amateur Champion in 2002, Ricky Barnes, dropped 6 shots in his last round and just missed birdie at 18. A birdie would have put a little pressure on Lucas Glover but the putt slid by on the left side which ended any chance for a tie and a playoff. Lucas two putted easily for par and victory. Lucas Glover, a real good player with all the skills needed to win, remained the most cool, calm and collected out of the final pairings on Monday and Bethpage Black could not take the prize away from him. He did drop three shots in the final round but the Rain Man, Glover, played intelligently enough to outlast the competition.
Golf On A Bet - “The Nassau”- Not Just An Island In the Bahamas
Published by Mike on Tagged Learn To Play
One of the important but often overlooked aspects of golf is the terminology used in playing the game. Par, Ace, Bogie, Double Bogie, Eagle, Sandie, Greenie, Nassau, etc. are all golf terms to be acquired when learning to play and will be addressed in a future post. But what is “The Nassau” you say. Well I’m glad you asked. Nassau is not only a popular vacation destination in the Bahamas but in terms of golf it is a friendly wager amongst friends to make the golf round a little more interesting. The term Nassau, if I’m not mistaken, was derived from its creation at a country club in Nassau County, New York, in fact I believe it was The Nassau Country Club.
Who Is The Golfer in The Photo Below ? Anyone venture a guess ? Sign up and let me know who you think it is and where he’s playing ?
Playing Your 1st Golf Round - Part 8 - “The Putt”
Published by Mike on Tagged Playing Your First Golf RoundThe “Putt” is the stroke or shot in golf once your ball has landed on the green. This shot calls for rolling the ball toward the flagstick or cup if the flag has already been removed and is normally made using the putter. The putter is the club which has the least loft and a relatively flat face. If you have followed parts one thru eight in “Playing Your First Golf Round” then you have progressed from making your first tee time reservation, arriving at the golf course, the first tee jitters, hitting your clubs and progressing down the fairway and finally reaching the green. Congratulations !
There are two key ingredients to making a good putt, Speed and Direction. Because the green usually slopes in different directions it is key to learn how to read the slope of the green. The five main different types of putts normally encountered are Uphill, Downhill, Left To Right, Right To Left and Straight. For an uphill putt the ball must be struck harder in order to make it up the incline slope. The opposite holds true for a downhill putt because the ball will have a tendency to accelerate down the slope depending on the severity of the decline of that slope. A left to right putt will do exactly what it says - go from left to right. This means that you will aim your ball toward a target or line left of the cup and the opposite holds true for a right to left putt. The amount of distance left or right again depends on the severity of the slope of the green. There are also double breaking putts and even triple, which are usually associated with longer putts on very undulating greens, but that is a discussion for another time. When first starting to putt I would advise to aim directly at the cup or flagstick and experiment to get a feel for both speed and direction. These two ingredients of putting are critical to ultimately scoring well at golf. More than half of the total strokes of a persons score are usually made on the putting green.