Golfing Thread

[farmteam]

Not out west, but in terms of public courses, Wilmette looks amazing after the renovation. Back nine is especially gorgeous.

[RockRaines]

Glen Eagles is a full course with two 18's and they have $20 twilight after 5. Pace of play is pretty strong there.

 

George W. Dunn in Oak Forrest is a great course, pro qualifier I believe, over 7K yards. It's one of my favorite courses to play at but the pace of play can be horrible. Otherwise it's outstanding, well manicured and everything else.

Hit the nail on the head with Dunne. Great track but they pile groups on every 6 min.

[iamshack]

Dustin Johnson taking a leave from professional golf to overcome "personal challenges"

[Sonik22]

Dustin Johnson taking a leave from professional golf to overcome "personal challenges"

Wow. Good luck to him, hope he figures it out. Fun to watch him drive the ball, absolutely bombs 'em

[Jenksismyhero]

Too much on his plate I guess - banging Paulina Gretzky, winning big golf tournaments, making millions, etc.

 

Although seriously the dude apparently has a coke problem.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Jenksismybitch

[iamshack]

Too much on his plate I guess - banging Paulina Gretzky, winning big golf tournaments, making millions, etc.

I heard rumors of cocaine.

 

You know it had to be something major if he is pulling away right before the PGA.

Edited July 31, 2014 by iamshack

[IlliniKrush]

Played today, shot 110. Not terrible for me. Yes, I realize 110 to some of you is awful, but I've only recently picked up golf in the past couple of years and haven't played a ton.

 

Some bogeys, decent amount of double bogeys. Missed a bunch of close par putts, but then some holes where the wheels fall off and put up an 8 or 9, some OB balls etc. Driver was brutal today. Highlight of the day was making 2 putts off the rough and in, each from about 15-20 feet away.

 

Learned that I need a 2/3 hybrid. I don't have a ton of distance off the tee (when I can actually find a fairway, but slice isn't as bad as it was), which is fine, but I need something for a shot or two up the fairway besides my 3 iron or 4 hybrid.

 

Also Rock the more I read about your lob wedges, the more I think I'll need one of those for shorter shots that need some loft, not just using a pitching wedge. I also need to do what you talked about which is practice some bump and runs etc.

Edited July 31, 2014 by IlliniKrush

[iamshack]

Played today, shot 110. Not terrible for me. Yes, I realize 110 to some of you is awful, but I've only recently picked up golf in the past couple of years and haven't played a ton.

 

Some bogeys, decent amount of double bogeys. Missed a bunch of close par putts, but then some holes where the wheels fall off and put up an 8 or 9, some OB balls etc. Driver was brutal today. Highlight of the day was making 2 putts off the rough and in, each from about 15-20 feet away.

 

Learned that I need a 2/3 hybrid. I don't have a ton of distance off the tee (when I can actually find a fairway, but slice isn't as bad as it was), which is fine, but I need something for a shot or two up the fairway besides my 3 iron or 4 hybrid.

 

Also Rock the more I read about your lob wedges, the more I think I'll need one of those for shorter shots that need some loft, not just using a pitching wedge. I also need to do what you talked about which is practice some bump and runs etc.

Do you have a sand wedge?

[IlliniKrush]

Do you have a sand wedge?

Yeah, and I suppose I should be using that closer to the green instead of my wedge...

[RockRaines]

Played today, shot 110. Not terrible for me. Yes, I realize 110 to some of you is awful, but I've only recently picked up golf in the past couple of years and haven't played a ton.

 

Some bogeys, decent amount of double bogeys. Missed a bunch of close par putts, but then some holes where the wheels fall off and put up an 8 or 9, some OB balls etc. Driver was brutal today. Highlight of the day was making 2 putts off the rough and in, each from about 15-20 feet away.

 

Learned that I need a 2/3 hybrid. I don't have a ton of distance off the tee (when I can actually find a fairway, but slice isn't as bad as it was), which is fine, but I need something for a shot or two up the fairway besides my 3 iron or 4 hybrid.

 

Also Rock the more I read about your lob wedges, the more I think I'll need one of those for shorter shots that need some loft, not just using a pitching wedge. I also need to do what you talked about which is practice some bump and runs etc.

I have a bunch. I am long off the tee usually around 300 with really terrible long irons so I score by wedge play both in the fairway and just around the green.

 

 

You know, we should have a Soxtalk open for charity one of these years.

[dasox24]

I have a bunch. I am long off the tee usually around 300 with really terrible long irons so I score by wedge play both in the fairway and just around the green.

 

You know, we should have a Soxtalk open for charity one of these years.

That's actually a pretty cool idea. While I've never attended any of the SoxTalk functions (softball game, Sox game, etc), that is something I would most likely do if it happened. I'd gladly make the trek to Chicago.

Edited August 1, 2014 by dasox24

[iamshack]

Yeah, and I suppose I should be using that closer to the green instead of my wedge...

Yeah, your sand wedge is usually what you can use for most chips around the green, although there is a time and a place for a flatter club like an 8 or a 9 iron, even fairway woods, and also the lob wedge. But at this stage, you can use a sand wedge for most of them.

[iamshack]

Finally got my first official handicap index...bring on the Club Championship!

[Jenksismyhero]

I have a bunch. I am long off the tee usually around 300 with really terrible long irons so I score by wedge play both in the fairway and just around the green.

 

 

You know, we should have a Soxtalk open for charity one of these years.

 

Pssh. I'm lucky to hit it 240-250. I've never been able to drive the ball long. Luckily i'm pretty good with my 4-6 irons and I have a pretty good short game.

[iamshack]

Pssh. I'm lucky to hit it 240-250. I've never been able to drive the ball long. Luckily i'm pretty good with my 4-6 irons and I have a pretty good short game.

It's been said that driving distance is one of the most exaggerated statistics the average golfer throws around. Not saying anything about Rock in particular, but most people are generally 25-30 yards shorter than they think.

 

I generally hit it about 250-265. I have holes where I get one really well and I might have a little breeze behind me and I'll get out to about 280 or even 300 or so, but usually I am in the 250-265 range.

 

I was hitting it longer last year and earlier this year, mostly when I was trying to play a draw. I'd come through the ball on a bit of an outside to inside swing path, and if I could keep the face fairly square, I could really hit it. That ultimately led to some pulls and pull hooks however, and so now I have been concentrating on coming through the ball on an inside swing path to prevent that hook. It doesn't go as far, but it goes a lot straighter.

Edited August 1, 2014 by iamshack

[LittleHurt05]

Quite the dick move by this "source"

 

Dustin Johnson is serving a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour after testing positive for cocaine, a source has told Golf.com.

 

According to the source, Johnson has failed three drug tests: one for marijuana in 2009 and two for cocaine, in 2012 and 2014. He was previously suspended for the 2012 failed test, but that suspension was never made public. Under the PGA Tour’s drug-testing policies, the Tour is not required to announce any disciplinary actions against players who test positive for recreational drugs.

 

Johnson announced on Thursday that he is taking a leave of absence from professional golf, effective immediately.

 

“I will use this time to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced,” he said in a statement issued by his management company. “By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion.”

 

The PGA Tour released a curt statement wishing Johnson well and saying it looked forward to his return. When asked directly about Johnson’s failed drug tests and suspension, Ty Votaw, executive vice president of the PGA Tour, said Friday that the Tour would have no further comment.

 

Johnson’s conduct has long been a topic of conversation among close observers of the Tour. He is often seen in bars near his home in Jupiter, Fla., and is also known to have had a sexual indiscretion with at least one wife of a PGA Tour player.

 

The suspension means Johnson, 30, will miss the PGA Championship -- the season’s final major takes place next week in Louisville, Ky. -- and also the PGA Tour’s lucrative FedEx Cup playoff series. Johnson’s agent, David Winkle of Hambric Sports Management, notified the PGA of America on Thursday that his client will also not be competing in the Ryder Cup in Scotland this September. Earlier this week, when asked if Johnson was about to be suspended by the PGA Tour, Winkle texted an SI reporter, “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

 

Winkle did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Johnson’s failed drug tests and suspension.

 

Last year, Johnson announced his engagement to Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey great Wayne Gretzky. She was seen with members of her family at this year’s Masters and also attended the U.S. Open. Gretzky, a model with a handful of small film credits, appeared on the May cover of Golf Digest as a fitness maven.

 

In 2012, Johnson played the Cadillac Championship at Doral in March and then did not play again for 11 weeks, until the Memorial in late May. Johnson said at the time that he was not playing because he hurt his back while lifting a jet ski. However, Golf.com’s source says that Johnson was actually serving a suspension for failing a drug test for cocaine. The PGA Tour had no official comment at that time and Winkle denied that Johnson had been suspended.

 

An eight-time winner on Tour, Johnson had been enjoying one of the most successful seasons of his career, logging a win, two seconds, and seven top 10s on the way to earning more than $4.2 million. He was a near certainty to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Johnson’s leave will make Team USA captain Tom Watson’s job easier. Watson has three captain’s picks for his 12-man team and, without Johnson on the squad, Patrick Reed moves up to the ninth and final automatic spot on the qualification points list. Phil Mickelson moves closer to that final berth, in 10th place. Tiger Woods remains well outside automatic qualification.

 

Considered one of the most lavishly talented players in the game, Johnson is without question one of the longest hitters. At the British Open two weeks ago he hit one drive that measured 405 yards. His reputation as an extraordinary driver of the golf ball makes Johnson an important endorser of TaylorMade products. Earlier this year, then TaylorMade CEO Mark King was concerned about what he was hearing about Johnson’s private life but was told that there were no issues that would affect his ability to represent TaylorMade. (King is now president of Adidas North America, TaylorMade’s parent company.)

 

In a statement TaylorMade said it supported Johnson’s decision to temporarily step away from the PGA Tour. “We wish him well and look forward to his return,” the company added.

 

Despite his wins, he is perhaps better known for the major championships he has let slip away. In 2010, he was in position to win the PGA Championship but grounded his club in a bunker on the final hole, incurring a two-stoke penalty that left him two strokes out of a playoff between Bubba Watson and eventual winner Martin Kaymer. Earlier that year, Johnson had a three-shot lead at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach after 54 holes but shot a final-round 82 to finish eighth. And in 2011 he was in contention at the British Open at Royal St. George’s before fading in the final round to finish tied second.

 

 

 

[SoxFan562004]

Quite the dick move by this "source"

I'm by no means a golf insider, but the source isn't outing anything that's been kind of known for awhile, especially the jet ski injury b.s.

[LittleHurt05]

I'm by no means a golf insider, but the source isn't outing anything that's been kind of known for awhile, especially the jet ski injury b.s.

 

I get that, but it's different if everyone "knows" about his drug problem, as opposed to someone with inside knowledge telling golf.com who posts it as their head story on their website.

[iamshack]

I wonder whose wife he drilled.

[LittleHurt05]

I wonder whose wife he drilled.

 

My "sources" on Google seem to think it was Will MacKenzie's now ex-wife Alli Spencer, who was a FHM model.

[Dick Allen]

Anyone see the Real Sports piece on golf on HBO? It was pretty interesting. Courses are closing, kids are playing less and less. The run they had with Tiger is gone. The common complaints were too expensive, takes too long and too hard to play.

 

They talked to the CEO of Taylormade and they are trying a lot of new things, like foot golf, which seemed horrible to me, like kicking a soccer ball until you get it in a huge hole, or the one I found interesting, 15 inch wide cups. Bryant Gumbel played with the guy and said it was fun, but didn't consider it real golf. The CEO said that goal was to make it fun. To get people on the course. I guess it shaves about an hour off a round. Jack Nicklaus thought any ideas to get people on the courses were great. Curtis Strange was the opposite.

[Dick Allen]

My "sources" on Google seem to think it was Will MacKenzie's now ex-wife Alli Spencer, who was a FHM model.

sauces

[Jenksismyhero]

Anyone see the Real Sports piece on golf on HBO? It was pretty interesting. Courses are closing, kids are playing less and less. The run they had with Tiger is gone. The common complaints were too expensive, takes too long and too hard to play.

 

They talked to the CEO of Taylormade and they are trying a lot of new things, like foot golf, which seemed horrible to me, like kicking a soccer ball until you get it in a huge hole, or the one I found interesting, 15 inch wide cups. Bryant Gumbel played with the guy and said it was fun, but didn't consider it real golf. The CEO said that goal was to make it fun. To get people on the course. I guess it shaves about an hour off a round. Jack Nicklaus thought any ideas to get people on the courses were great. Curtis Strange was the opposite.

 

I'm torn. More people means more golfers which means prices don't need to keep creeping up. But more people means longer rounds.

[iamshack]

I'm torn. More people means more golfers which means prices don't need to keep creeping up. But more people means longer rounds.

Not sure about suburban Illinois anymore, but in many places (especially warm weather areas) there are just tons and tons of courses. There was a boom in the 80's and another boom in the 2000's (AT = After Tiger). Problem is, all these developers were trying to outdo eachother and build courses for professionals. Those type of courses require mucho maintenance dollars and so now many of them are closing or falling into disrepair. Additionally, as was mentioned, these courses are hard, and therefore, they take a lot of time to get around. Most only allow you to take a cart because the holes are not routed closely enough.

 

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about golf "dying." Dick's Sporting Goods laid off 500 PGA professionals (they had tried to have one on hand at every store to differentiate themselves from their competitors). Equipment sales are way down. They've had to sell drivers under cost just to get them off their shelves.

 

Well golf isn't dying. Golf is alive and well. Some 30 million people in the United States alone play golf. The problem is, the equipment market is just oversaturated. How many drivers is one expected to buy? How many putters? How many sets of irons? I'm not going to drop $300-400 on a driver and then buy another one in 3 months. Same goes for a putter or a set of irons. 20-25 years ago, when I was just taking up golf, if you wanted to find a really nice set of irons, you had to order them through a manufacturer or through someone who belonged to a club. Otherwise, you went to Sportmart and got the same set of MacGregor's or Wilson's that every other hack had. Today, there is a Dick's or a Golf Galaxy or whatever in damn near every strip mall. You can find a stock set of irons made by almost every manufacturer in golf within a 5 mile radius of most suburbs in the US. Additionally, go to any driving range or public golf course on a weekday afternoon in the summer or a weekend morning. You'll find guys in their suits and guys in their construction boots out there next to one another beating balls into the sun. Sure, maybe it isn't as crowded as it might have been in 2006 when Tiger was in all his glory, but there will be a hell of a lot more folks out there than 20 years ago.

 

 

[Jake]

I have a feeling that golf is going to become an actual country club sport like polo where there just aren't many people playing it and it becomes more clearly a sport for rich people. I wonder if any high schools are cutting it - I know mine always made the kids pay all the expenses so they'd never cut it so long as there is a course nearby