PGA of America blows the call

What a shame! The final major the year which had excitement equal to a seventh game of the World Series went down in flames with one bad call.

Now golf is an objective sport. There is very little subjectively to the rules of the game – at least that's what the rule makers would like to have us think. And they almost pull it off except for that little, 1200+ page volume they publish every time – The Decisions on the Rules of Golf. That volume puts every rule into subjectivity.

But when the PGA of America rules officials decided to assess Dustin Johnson with a two stroke penalty at the end of play yesterday and eliminate him from a playoff, they stuck by the objectivity of the rule. This particular rule being “the player is not allowed to ground his club in a hazard.” At this point they blew it – plain and simple.

No, they didn't blow the rule, they blew the call. Even Johnson said he knows the rule. But in their own defense the PGA will tell us they published a local rules sheet for the tournament stating that some of the 1,000,000+ bunkers at Whistling Straits may be outside the spectator ropes but they are still to be considered bunkers. Not a problem – if you can identify the area as a bunker. And herein lies the problem. It exists on two levels.

First, why in the world would the PGA allow spectator to tramp and tromp through bunkers that could be potentially in play. And I'm sorry, the argument about getting the spectators closer to the action is a cop out. Yes, and we heard that some of these bunkers were “cosmetic.” Please! If it's a “cosmetic” bunker, then don't treat it like a normal bunker. And as a corollary to this, if you can't identify a sandy patch as a bunker because it has been trampled by the hordes, then how on earth would you expect a player to identify it especially if he is on the last hole of a major championship needing a par to win?

Second, with a major championship on the line, why in the name of Old Tom Morris was there no PGA Rules Official right there with Johnson? And the argument here that the rules officials are not supposed to get involved falls flat. If a rules official had gotten involved, this whole major embarrassment would never have occurred. Having a rules official right on the spot to clarify any confusion would have a most satisfying gesture.

Even the experienced CBS sports crew had no idea.

The sad part of the whole incident is that the PGA could have taken charge of the situation and ruled no penalty simply because Johnson hardly knew he was in a bunker with all of the people standing around him and the fact that the bunker had been virtaully destroyed during the past seven days. The PGA could have done what was right. They chose not to.

Honestly this situation is akin to the building of a mosque near the sight of Ground Zero. Someone may have the right to build such a structure, but it is not the proper thing to do. The PGA had the right to assess the penalty on Johnson, but it was not the proper thing to do.

It's a sad day for the PGA of America.

aboutGolf PGA Tour Simulator

Okay, now this is fun and I've always wanted one of these. It sort of falls under the category of big boys and their toys. And while this item tends to be on the periphery of the world of golf, we feel it is our duty to pass the information along. And I'm sure someone else wants one of these also.

So, let's examine (with a few pertinent observations) the newest aboutGolf PGA TOUR Compact SimSurround – the 15-foot version.

aboutGolf is the world leader in indoor golf simulator technology and has pioneered the three-screen simulator which allows the player a greater potential for a real world experience. Meaning that very little additional atmosphere is required to give you the total realization. For instance, if you choose to play St. Andrews, all you need is an oversized, high speed fan blowing right into your face (add an artificial downpour if you so desire). Or, if you play a course in the desert, add a couple of high intensity heat lamps for special effects.

The newest model is the 15-foot wide version that is tagged as ideal for residences and indoor golf centers. The total dimensions of this newest golf toy are 15 feet wide by 20 feet long by 10 feet, 6 inches high. Now I don't care if the local indoor golf center has one of these, but if I lived in northern Minnesota in the winter I would surely want one in my basement. I would emerge from the depths of frozen hell in the late springtime with my game ready for the dollar nassau.

It comes complete with PGA TOUR Software for range and course play, 29 standard courses, 3Trak ball-tracking technology and club data, as well as screen, enclosure, computer and turf. That's right, 29 courses at your finger tips and all real (or at least fictitiously conventional) – except one. Remember the Fantasy Holes by artist Loyal H. (Bud) Chapman? Well, with the aboutGolf simulator you can actually play this course. Imagine playing the 291-yard par-4 at St Ludiwg's Golf Club in the shadow of Neuschwanstein Castle? Now that would be fun.

Holy golf ball, Batman, there's a real and a fantasy golf resort right is your basement.

If there is one ultimate golf toy to possess, this is it!

Tom Watson: Lessons of a Lifetime

There seems no better occasion than this period between the U.S. Open (Father's Day) and the British Open to discuss Tom Watson: Lessons of a Lifetime. There is nostalgia at both ends. Watson just completed what may be his final appearance in the U.S. Open appropriately at Pebble Beach, site of his momentous 1982 U.S. Open victory. He also just happened to have his son “on the bag” during the tournament. Now he is about to return to the British Open, this year being played at St. Andrews. You will, of course, remember the heart break from last year, losing in a playoff last year at age 59.

In between all of this Watson has produced Lessons of a Lifetime. There are few who have learned how to play the game like Watson. He always seemed to have just the right shot at the right time. Exhibit A, of course, is the chip-in on the 17th at Pebble Beach in the last round of the 1982 U.S. Open. There is no better player to listen to and learn from concerning how to play the game.

Make no mistake. This is an instructional two-disc set. It runs almost three hours and is neatly divided into two distinct parts. In Disc One Watson focuses on the fundamentals of the game (grip, setup, aim, etc.) and then gets into the golf swing. Disc Two holds the Watson specialty – the short game. In his prime there was no one better. Watson gives us the basics of the short game and also some of the intricacies around the green. This instruction is worth the price.
Fittingly, Watson ends Disc Two with a tribute to his longtime friend and caddie Bruce Edwards. Anyone with a sense of history for the game is aware of the story. Have a hankie ready for this part.

For any golfer, regardless of skill or involvement in the game, Lessons of a Lifetime is a must have. How could anyone pass up a learning experience from one of the greats of the game.

This DVD set is available at http://www.tomwatson.com/, Watson's new website. This is a place you will also want to linger for a while.

Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine

If you are a die-hard golfer, chances are you are obsessed with swing mechanics, always trying to find that one swing key to gain distance and narrow the shot pattern. So if you are in this category, it is likely that you have encountered Homer Kelley's monumental work The Golfing Machine. Kelley's ground breaking and eccentric study of the golf swing became cult-like in the world of golf instruction.

But what would drive a man to spend virtually his entire life in the pursuit of solving the conundrum of the golf swing? The answer lies in the explanation of how a man could play golf for the first time and score 116 and then six months later with no play or practice in between shoot a 77. Kelley's lifelong passion became the 39 stroke difference between those two scores.

Scott Gummer has taken a sensitive and judicious examination of the man and his work in an effort to help us appreciate the genius behind the most comprehensive study of the golf swing. The Golfing Machine is slightly more technical than the NASA Flight Manual but in Kelley's mind all the technicalities were necessary to completely dissect the golf swing. Yet, Gummer does not attempt to explain The Golfing Machine to us but rather reveal the man. He accomplishes this unmistakably. You will come away with a much more acute understanding of how one man, a non-golfer, could accomplish such a task.

Gummer also gives us insight into the book itself which took on a life of its own. Kelley labored for over twenty years before he published the book. When he did, the seeds of The Golfing Machine grew slowly. But Kelley persisted and finally found a teaching disciple in Ben Doyle and eventually playing disciple in Bobby Clampett. Gummer relates this life to us throughout the second part of the book.

If you are a golf swing aficionado, and especially if you are fascinated by The Golfing Machine, Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine is an absolute must read. It gives us greater awareness into the mystery we know as the golf swing.

How much are you willing to pay for a round of golf?

So the question for today, my dear golfing friends, is what is public golf access? To put it another way, how much are you willing to pay for a round of golf?
What prompted this reflection is the upcoming U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Pebble Beach, as you know, is open to the public – if you have enough money? The current price is $495 for a round of golf.

For most this is a bit exorbitant, a touch on the high side of the green fee scale. Others will go great extremes to come up with the prescribed fare. For a few classic stories on what it might take for most of us to unfold $495, we recommend Randall Mell’s fun story at TheGolfChannel.com.

To put all of this is perspective, allow me to relay this short story. We spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 in Buffalo, Wyoming. Now Buffalo has a wonderful, scenic 18-hole golf course. It sits right at the base of the Big Horn Mountains and is appropriately designated as the Buffalo Golf Club. The course is regularly listed in the top five in the state. At the time we were there, the cost of a membership was $450 for a couple to play unlimited golf. (The cost is now $500 per year.) This included only the greens fee. Carts, if you so desired, we an additional charge. Yes, there were a couple of steep climbs from green to tee, but if you sucked in your gut, walking was no problem. My common statement to folks was that you could play a whole season in Buffalo, WY for about the same cost as one round of golf at Pebble Beach.

You make the call.

Straight Down the Middle

Ever since Chevy Chase exhorted us to “be the ball,” golfers have been seeking the elusive “zone,” a place in the time-space continuum where physical ability has been layed aside and the mind conquers. Or perhaps the quest began when a shepherd first struck a rock with a crooked stick. Or perhaps this does not matter.

What does matter is that someone has actually documented that chase, lived (in a keep-your-sanity sort of way) to tell about it, and actually come out on the other side as a golfer more focused on the spirit of the game. Josh Karp's most recent volume Straight Down the Middle: Shivas Irons, Bagger Vance, and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Golf Swing takes us on that journey.

Let’s face it, every golfer is trying in some way, shape or form to lower his or her score. Golfers will try just about anything. They’ll listen to any piece of swing advice from virtually anyone, always searching for the magic that will drop the score even one or two strokes per round. But very seldom do they pay attention to the mental game.

So, is it possible to transform one’s game and lower one’s handicap from the inside-out – increased attention to the mental game – as opposed to the outside-in – give a try to the latest and greatest swing tip?

Karp sums up the thesis of his quest in Chapter 2 when he states, “…that the actual ‘playing’ of a round of golf occurs in roughly 180 seconds… What’s happening the rest of the time, where our mind resides during that time, is something we pay almost no attention to, yet which profoundly impacts our performance.” From this realization the pursuit is on.

He goes from guru, to sensei, to golfing Buddha in an endeavor to find peace of mind in the mind boggling game of golf. As we travel with Karp we discover what seems like an endless number of golf instructors totally focused on the playing the game with just the mind and damn the swing.
Not only does Karp tell us his story – the toils and the triumphs – but he also passes along some useful (at least to him) instruction and drills such as the Jug McSpaden drill (pgs. 61-62). He also presents us with an apt description of the relationship between golf and spirituality, the struggle to make the ball do what you want it to do through only the force of our will.

How did all the senseis, gurus, Zen masters and whatevers help? Well, for one brief two month period beginning on August 8, 2008, Karp found himself in the zone … or whatever Zen golfers choose to call it. Golfing nirvana set in. But just as quickly and suddenly as it arrived, it was taken away by the ever vengeful golf gods.

And how does it all end for Karp? Let’s just say he is at peace with his golf game.

To Win and Die in Dixie

One of the marvelous aspects of golf is the rich history that it contains. And the most fascinating element of that history is the characters that the game has embraced. Tournaments come and go year by year, but it is the great characters that make the game come alive.

It is easy to recognize the more famous characters – Vardon, Jones, Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus and a host of others. But is it a real discovery when a virtually unknown personality from the past is spiritually resurrected and brought to our attention. Such is the accomplishment of Steve Eubanks in bringing to us the story of J. Douglas Edgar in his latest book To Win and Die in Dixie: The Birth of the Modern Golf Swing the the Mysterious Death of Its Creator.

I must admit, even though I consider myself an enthusiastic student of golf history, I had never heard of J. Douglas Edgar. Yet when I had completed the book, I wondered how I had ever overlooked him. It is perhaps that his life was tragically cut short and that he never reached his full playing and teaching potential.

It is this story that Eubanks has uncovered for us. It is a biography of Edgar revealed through the investigation of his death by a determined Atlanta Constitution reporter Comer Howell. It is a story that contains all the elements of a great fictional murder mystery with one exception – it is not fiction; it is real life.

Eubanks has certainly done his research on the charismatic life and mysterious death of Edgar. The book is filled with detailed narrative. He has seemingly omitted no detail. But this great detail leads us to some fascinating stories. We learn a bit about Margaret Mitchell and how she drew her fiction from real life stories. We are also treated to a fun story concerning Alexa Sterling (pg. 98) revealing how greatly the times have changed in just over 100 years.

But as involved as we might get in the life and death of J. Douglas Edgar, we cannot forget his contribution to golf – the fundamentals of the modern golf swing. Chapter 7 gives us a good description of what is known as the Edgar Movement.

For students of the golf swing and golf history To Win and Die in Dixie is a must read; to those who enjoy a real life, enticing murder-mystery, it is a must read; and to those who would like to pick up some historical trivia, it is a must read.