Golf Empire

Despite my usual troubles on the links during the start of the season, this year seems to be different. After a relatively quick start, I am hoping that the golf that I played down in Florida can help me to make my game better than it has ever been. And it was not just myself, but my friends also improved scores over the four days. I think this could be the way to discover the problems in one’s game, as repetition of this nature forces the golfer to adapt by playing so much golf, there is no way it could get any worse. My own example would be my putting. The first day I played, my putting was miserable. I three putted more than I would like to admit, and because of that, my score suffered. I knew that I would not be able to continue this way, and after the second day, the number of three putts dropped dramatically. I don’t know if it was the practice that came from all the rounds or the state of mind I found myself in, but I feel like this trip permanently changed my game. For people who are looking to improve the way they play, I think playing multiple days in a row (like three or four) is really the way to discover how one truly plays.

Furthermore, I find that the attention one pays to coping with a part of the game that is failing, can often lead to a sloppier round. Instead focus on other parts of your golf game that just seem to be working. When my putting was off the first day, I relied heavily on my short game to save my round. I often found myself thinking about how important a certain chip might be, because if I did not hit the ball close, there was a strong possibility my putting would not be able to come through. It was in this was that I was able to learn a lot about golf and my own game in particular. To sum everything that I have been thinking up, just allow yourself enough time to play the game because no one becomes a golfer overnight. It take practice and experience to build a well rounded golfer. I hope my thoughts help in improving the way you think about the game.

This weekend is the annual Verizon Heritage Tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links is the annual “cooldown lap” from the Masters. Many of the big players, like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and others sit this one out. But that does not mean it is not exciting. The biggest story from the weekend was whether or not Boo Weekly, the winner the past two years, would be able to get the trifecta. Unfortuantely, this was not his year as Brian Gay took total control of the tournament, shooting twenty under! The next closest competitor, Luke Donald and Briny Baird were ten strokes back. Ten strokes, now that is impressive. As for the rest of the field and those who didn’t play, the next major will come soon enough! Cheers from South Carolina.

Eric, I certainly agree that the Pebble Beach ProAm is one of the most fun tournaments to watch. You say you’re in New England; I’m in beautiful New Jersey myself, and I share your desire to golf right now, even though the courses aren’t open yet! In fact, this weekend might be the first in a while where it wouldn’t be too unreasonable to be out there. Despite what the groundhog said (before biting Mayor Bloomberg!), I have high hopes that this is a harbinger of warm weather to come soon.

Back to the PB PA, Saturday ended with Dustin Johnson, a second year pro, in the lead. He was on the Poppy Hills course and shot 5-under 67 to take the lead; his 201 total leading second place Canadian Mike Weir by 4 strokes and Retief Goosen by 5. Johnson’s amateur partner was Joe Rice, a personal injury lawyer from South Carolina whose story is kind of interesting (at least for lawyers and tobacco industry types): he was part of the cabal of PI lawyers who became unfathomably rich in the late 90’s when they were commissioned by the states to help them sue the tobacco industry for damages ostensibly incurred by the states when they paid for medical care for indigent sick smokers. When the industry settled with the states (in what is called the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement), these lawyers received a cut of the $250 billion (yes that’s BILLIONS) that was to be paid over 25 years. The firm Joe worked for, the Scruggs law firm, was headed by Dickie Scruggs, who has recently been in the news by being convicted of various bribery related crimes which are still reverberating in Mississippi. Dickie spread that wealth around and a whole lot of lawyers and judges in Mississippi got caught up in it. At least all that money has apparently allowed Joe Rice to practice his game: he sank a couple of key putts on Saturday to keep their team tied at 23 under for the ProAm lead.

But I digress. As I said, I’m here in NJ and it’s mid-afternoon: coverage is just beginning for the Sunday round. It looks like another beautiful day in Monterey, California and I’m looking forward to watching how the day develops. Also, two more hours before Duke plays Boston College.