Saturday, April 25, 2009
Hometown Sentiment (Sort of)
Here's hoping that Jerry Kelly collects his first win in a few years tomorrow in New Orleans. He'd be the second leg of the Unversity of Hartford triad (which includes Patrick Sheehan--who won on the Nationwide Tour a couple weeks ago--and Tim Petrovic--whose only career victory came at New Orleans a few years ago). Jerry is one of the nicest guys you're likely to find on Tour--he has a great time playing the game and does it with a good attitude--both on the course and off. Karma's got to be on his side for tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Coming Home
I'm home this week from college, having finished Winter Term of my sophomore year at Washington & Lee University. Knowing I'd be home this week, I contacted the coach of my high school team to see if I could join them at practice--an alumnus-guest appearance, I suppose. He agreed, so I met them at around 3:30 this afternoon at our home course, Simsbury Farms GC in Simsbury, CT (I attended Westminster School, a boarding school also in Simsbury).
Golf has much to do with the reason I'm home this week. I've struggled a bit on the golf course this year. I've always been a pretty solid player tee-to-green and a streaky putter. To that end, I have putted particularly poorly lately, which has left me on the outside of the five-man travel team for our last two tournaments of the year. But being able to see my family and hang around at home has been relaxing so far. Furthermore, my afternoon reviving old memories could not have been better.
I arrived at Simsbury Farms about 20 minutes before the team. The putting green was faster than I remember from past Springs. Pleasantly surprised, I decided to continue to work on figuring out how to keep my left hand from coming alive too much and pushing the putter open. I hit some decent putts when I made my backswing shorter, so I decided to put it in play on the course.
To put it bluntly, it worked beautifully. I hit all nine greens in regulation and shot 33, 3-under par. After starting with four pars, I hit the par 5 5th green in two and made a 25 foot eagle putt. I made my lone mistake on the next green, three-putting from about 30 feet, but a 15 footer for birdie on 8 and a 10 footer for birdie on 9 capped off a good nine, something that has been lacking lately.
In thinking about what caused m to play so well, I decided that it was more than the putting stroke change I made. It was some good old-fashioned nostalgic mojo. While all the new faces on the golf team made me feel old, playing with my coach and two current juniors (one whom I know well) felt comfortable and right. Just the thing I needed to get back on track, I think. Here's hoping it continues. Even though my W&L golf year is over, I'm looking forward to playing in some tournaments this summer and returning to proper form. And I have nostalgia and home to thank.
Golf has much to do with the reason I'm home this week. I've struggled a bit on the golf course this year. I've always been a pretty solid player tee-to-green and a streaky putter. To that end, I have putted particularly poorly lately, which has left me on the outside of the five-man travel team for our last two tournaments of the year. But being able to see my family and hang around at home has been relaxing so far. Furthermore, my afternoon reviving old memories could not have been better.
I arrived at Simsbury Farms about 20 minutes before the team. The putting green was faster than I remember from past Springs. Pleasantly surprised, I decided to continue to work on figuring out how to keep my left hand from coming alive too much and pushing the putter open. I hit some decent putts when I made my backswing shorter, so I decided to put it in play on the course.
To put it bluntly, it worked beautifully. I hit all nine greens in regulation and shot 33, 3-under par. After starting with four pars, I hit the par 5 5th green in two and made a 25 foot eagle putt. I made my lone mistake on the next green, three-putting from about 30 feet, but a 15 footer for birdie on 8 and a 10 footer for birdie on 9 capped off a good nine, something that has been lacking lately.
In thinking about what caused m to play so well, I decided that it was more than the putting stroke change I made. It was some good old-fashioned nostalgic mojo. While all the new faces on the golf team made me feel old, playing with my coach and two current juniors (one whom I know well) felt comfortable and right. Just the thing I needed to get back on track, I think. Here's hoping it continues. Even though my W&L golf year is over, I'm looking forward to playing in some tournaments this summer and returning to proper form. And I have nostalgia and home to thank.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Masterful (Ha Ha) Performances
As far as I am concerned, Masters Sunday (Easter Sunday too) is one of the best days in the golfing year. It's second only to the three days of the Ryder Cup. I prefer it to the final days of the other three Major Championships because on Masters Sunday, you pretty much always know what you're getting. Augusta National (at least the back nine) is the only course with whose general layout and important features all diligent professional golf fans know without ever having been to the tournament. I love the US Open, Open Championship, and PGA for sure, but the Masters has a mystique all its own. Naturally, I was glued to the television all afternoon.
I was disappointed by two things today. First, that Kenny Perry wasn't able to close the deal and sail into the annals of golf history as the elder statesman of the Major Championships. Don't get me wrong; Cabrera is a very good champion--it amused me that the shirt he wore today looked like the same one in which he won the 2007 US Open--but Perry's everyman personality and his genuine appreciation for the game and for his fans would have made excellent inhabitants of the Green Jacket. We didn't get to see the assorted triumphs of the equally unassuming Chad Campbell validated either. Instead we got El Pato, the Seve of the South, which isn't too bad either.
My second disappointment was just the extension of the unapologetic, unabashed Tiger idolatry that permeates the golf media. Yes, the man is undoubtedly the greatest player of the age and probably the best ever. Yes, he and Mickelson provided some fireworks during the afternoon. But when CBS shows most of Perry's and Cabrera's and Campbell's early shots on tape delay because they're sticking every step of the way to Tiger and Phil, it gets on my nerves. The networks really need to make a better effort of exposing viewers to many of the Tour's other characters in an interesting way, in my opinion. Otherwise, when Tiger exits the stage after cementing his legacy as the game's greatest player (which I would guess will come before 2015 or so), there will be very little in the way of compelling personalities to keep many viewers interested because it'll have been all-Tiger, all-the-time for years.
Other than those grievances, I had a nice time watching the coverage. There's nothing that makes me more excited to play golf than watching good golf on TV. The weather's going to be pretty decent here in Connecticut tomorrow, so I hope to avail myself of a round at one of the area's golf courses tomorrow (exact course TBD), on which I will report.
Cheers.
--Tim
I was disappointed by two things today. First, that Kenny Perry wasn't able to close the deal and sail into the annals of golf history as the elder statesman of the Major Championships. Don't get me wrong; Cabrera is a very good champion--it amused me that the shirt he wore today looked like the same one in which he won the 2007 US Open--but Perry's everyman personality and his genuine appreciation for the game and for his fans would have made excellent inhabitants of the Green Jacket. We didn't get to see the assorted triumphs of the equally unassuming Chad Campbell validated either. Instead we got El Pato, the Seve of the South, which isn't too bad either.
My second disappointment was just the extension of the unapologetic, unabashed Tiger idolatry that permeates the golf media. Yes, the man is undoubtedly the greatest player of the age and probably the best ever. Yes, he and Mickelson provided some fireworks during the afternoon. But when CBS shows most of Perry's and Cabrera's and Campbell's early shots on tape delay because they're sticking every step of the way to Tiger and Phil, it gets on my nerves. The networks really need to make a better effort of exposing viewers to many of the Tour's other characters in an interesting way, in my opinion. Otherwise, when Tiger exits the stage after cementing his legacy as the game's greatest player (which I would guess will come before 2015 or so), there will be very little in the way of compelling personalities to keep many viewers interested because it'll have been all-Tiger, all-the-time for years.
Other than those grievances, I had a nice time watching the coverage. There's nothing that makes me more excited to play golf than watching good golf on TV. The weather's going to be pretty decent here in Connecticut tomorrow, so I hope to avail myself of a round at one of the area's golf courses tomorrow (exact course TBD), on which I will report.
Cheers.
--Tim
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Intro
I have decided to set up a blog for my thoughts on golf, as separate from my general blog, Tim's Varied Musings. I aim to opine in the future on many (perhaps all?) things golf--from my own personal playing experiences to the professional game to golf course architecture--in this here blog. Here's hoping this isn't just an addition to the Internet trash heap that piles up by the second.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)