It seems like a perfect fit: Vacationing golfers, playing 18-36 holes a day and wearing out their aching feet - followed by a rejuvenating pedicure in the hotel spa. Believe it or not, the service remains largely untapped by the male golfing demographic, especially here in Myrtle Beach (I asked an employee at a salon how often golfers come in for pedicures, and he looked at me like I’d just asked if he thought “fanny packs” were making a comeback). Apparently it’s manly to get a full body massage, but a Vietnamese woman on her knees giving your feet some ...

There are certain underdog golf destinations I can’t help but root for as they try and gain attention among the many heavyweights like Arizona, Scotland and Myrtle Beach. Like Poland, for example. I suppose you can’t really call a country of 40 million people and only about a dozen regulation courses a ‘golf destination’. But they’re doing what they can to bring the game to the masses in central Europe. Possibly the biggest step towards gaining international exposure recently was recently announced: Krakow Valley Golf & C.C. just scored a Senior European Tour event for the May of 2008. It’s the ...

Probably the most rewarding thing about a round of golf - other than a roped 240-yard 3-wood over water to six feet - is when you are a witness to nature in action. Dataw Island is a small coastal community near Beaufort, SC. I’m still not all that sure where it is exactly, but you pass over a bunch of bridges to get there. It’s a small, friendly community where everyone waves when they pass one another on the road. The posted speed limit is 30 mph, but going any faster than 25 doesn’t feel right. The private Cotton Dike ...

There have been occasions during my time as a writer at WorldGolf.com where I have suggested that walking a golf course is a superior experience over riding. It’s an argument that generally sparks passionate comments from each side. As of today, I am dismissing my favor of walking and siding with the riding set. Yes, I’m flip-flopping faster than a line cook at I-HOP. The change in heart, you ask? This morning I arrived to Hilton Head Island and was greeted with high-70 temps and not a cloud in the sky. Getting ready to tee off on the Hills Course ...

Forbes Magazine released its Top 20 Earners under 25 this week. Finishing 4th with an estimated $19 million in earnings from June 2006 thru June 2007 was 19-year-old Michelle Wie. She had an estimated $16 million in endorsements during this time. Wie finished behind Lebron James ($27 mill), Reggie Bush ($25 mill) and Maria Sharapova ($23 mill). Some young women she finished ahead of include the Olsen twins ($17 mill), Hilary Duff ($13 mill), Avril Lavigne ($12 mill) and Lindsey Lohan ($3.5 Mill).

WorldGolf.com reader Rick has written to us asking for advice on how to book a long weekend in Myrtle Beach for his bachelor party of twelve this February. Rick is looking for middle-range courses not too far from Myrtle Beach, because they would rather take cabs than rent a car. First off Rick, be sure to go with a golf package, which will especially fit larger groups like yours. The courses that probably fit you best are mid-range courses like Myrtle Beach National’s West and Southcreek (I like West more, personally because it’s more wide-open and driver-friendly). Myrtlewood and Waterway ...

Donald Trump’s proposed $2 billion resort is going to be built somewhere - if not in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Northern Ireland appears willing to fill the void, according to this story from the BBC. A representative from North Antrim in Northern Ireland would welcome discussions with Trump for the sake of building the resort in his county. “This area (North Antrim) already has a number of very good golf courses,” said Robert Coulter, MLA for North Antrim. “And as a largely rural constituency has plenty of room for another. It also has a stunning coastline like Aberdeenshire. I’d be only too ...

I’m always sure to check the reader reviews of golf courses on our WorldGolf.com network, looking to see if anyone’s recently reviewed a course I’ve played in my travels. I use it as a sort of barometer really, ensuring that despite my lofty status as an internet golf writer, I’m still grounded and speaking consistently with You: the golfing proletariat. I especially perk up when I see a new entry from a course I played growing up, and Hon Min’s review of Brookside Golf Course near my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan brought back some great memories. Min rated Brookside ...

Is anyone else fascinated by how each State in the Union has their own interpretations of how to distribute liquor to its citizens in a responsible manner? I’ve been in Myrtle Beach about a year now trying to comprehend South Carolina’s odd regulations, and I would like to offer a primer to any golfer who will be visiting for the first time. I would hate to see any of you go thirsty and sober due to negligence. First of all, the only place you can buy hard liquor - other than a bar/restaurant - is at an “ABC Package Store". ...

Myrtle Beach has a dizzying tee time rate structure. Courses have up to a dozen different rates based on the time of year. But right now during the holidays is probably the best combination of price and weather. Tee time operators report the courses really slow down during the holidays, filled with mostly local players. It seems the golf foursome takes a back seat to all those family obligations this time of year. So courses are practically giving away their tee times through the New Year. You can get on some solid bargain courses for less than $40 right now ...

Perhaps golf is clean of performance-enhancing drugs after all. How else could you explain its failure to be made an official sport at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, it was recently voted down. Phil Mickelson is supporting Olympic golf as he tees it up in Singapore. It seems the committee doesn’t have much of a desire for a legitimate, honorable sport these days. The Games’ credibility is getting worse and worse. Just look at this Wikipedia entry detailing every scandal in 2004. There are plenty of instances of performance-enhancing drugs. The Olympics are becoming a joke - full of ...

It’s hard to believe such a renowned landmark like the Dunes Golf & Beach Club could ever be in jeopardy of not making it. But believe it or not, its place as a forefather in what has become one of the biggest golf destinations in the world wasn’t a given. This day 60 years ago, local Myrtle Beach businessmen met in Chapin’s Cabin just off of where the 11th now sits. They wanted more recreational options in town and decided a golf & beach club on this property would be a good start. The early going was rough for the club. ...

TravelGolf.com’s Chris Baldwin’s recent newsletter on how Arizona desert golf is harder than just about everywhere else in America poses the question: What is the world’s hardest golf destination? I have a hard time believing it’s the Valley of the Sun or similar desert golf. The only desert golf I’ve played is in Las Vegas and it wasn’t remarkably more difficult. In fact, Bali Hai Golf Club has fairways so wide, if the pilot of a 747 happened to miss its landing strip across the street at McCarran International Airport, it wouldn’t think twice about touching down on one of ...

This Sunday afternoon on the High Stakes Golf Tour airing on ESPN, 20 players will be putting up $250,000 each in a two-man best ball tournament. 19 of the players are Y-Chromosomes. The one woman who thinks she has the cojones to beat these high rollers? Janet Jones, former actress and dancer and wife of Wayne Gretzky. She’s teamed up with jack-of-all-trades Vince Van Patten. It’s a bit of a head-turner, hanging out at Bali Hai practice green and seeing a score of middle-aged guys with five o’clock shadows and big egos. Then among chatterboxes like Phil Hellmuth is one unassuming, blonde ...

David Leadbetter is mouthing off “woulda coulda shouldas” to the press again regarding his phenom-turned-Titanic. That’s in his words, by the way. After suggesting to the press that Michelle Wie shouldn’t play mens tournaments earlier this summer, now he’s going public analyzing her dreadful 2007 season. This coming from the Toronto Globe and Mail: “If she hadn’t played those [men’s] tournaments, then everybody would have considered 2006 her best season yet,” Wie’s swing coach, David Leadbetter, who had made his opinions known to her and her family, said Monday from his home in Orlando. “It was absolute madness for her ...

Sometimes all it takes is beating the world’s most dominant golfer heads up to end a streak of 86 events without a title. Sure it’s the “silly season", but Mike Weir is surely giddy over his performance over the last month - first beating Tiger Woods in a pretty-close-to-meaningless match at the Presidents Cup - now winning the Frys Open. When Weir won The Masters in 2003, he was touted as a possible Top 10 mainstay. Well, he’s barely been on the radar since his win at the 2004 Nissan Open. On a side note, it was nice to see ...

Tiger’s grilling brats with Roger Federer on his yacht somewhere between Gatorade endorsement mega-deals. Ernie Els is giving pre-game rugby pep talks apparently. Yep, it’s about that time for golf’s “silly season". There is one new addition this year, but it isn’t PGA Tour affiliated. It’s the new High Stakes Golf Tour, scheduled to air this Saturday and next on ESPN. There are no scratch golfers in the two-day event. In fact, most of them are pretty terrible. Some are allowed to use a tee on every shot. They’re mostly poker players like Phil Helmuth, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey ...

When a friend of mine who lives in Charleston suggested we watch Thursday night college football at Moe’s, I thought, “Why would we want to watch a football game at a southwestern grill?” Moe’s Downtown Tavern isn’t the chain restaurant you go to for takeout fajitas - and when we asked the front desk where Moe’s was, that’s the direction they pointed us in, so be specific when you ask. Moe’s is a great place to watch sports, eat dinner, drink beers and talk trash to opposing fans, but everyone in there - actually everyone in Charleston - is really ...

The family building a home to the right of the 11th hole at Coosaw Creek in North Charleston couldn’t possibly be golfers. Only about half of home owners on golf courses play golf. The other half simply enjoy the open green spaces behind them and the higher resale values. But since they don’t understand that 90% golfers hit at least five or six stray Scud missiles during a round, it’s hard to know they’re sitting ducks. Coosaw’s middle tees are only 6000 yards, and the backs are 6500 yards but a sneaky-hard slope of 140, so most mid-handicappers are tempted ...

Donald Trump is back in Scotland and the site of his proposed golf resort just north of Aberdeen, and the Scotsman has a very detailed report of current happenings. The $2 million project continues to face opposition. When I visited the location last October, Trump officials hoped it would have been green-lighted by June and construction would have begun by now, but it continues to be held up by those pesky nature conservationists. The Scottish Wildlife Trust says the course would do irreversible damage to the dunesland, which is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest. Local businesses, including nearby golf ...

Call me blind, call me naive. Sorry Gary Player, I just don’t see steroids as a problem in golf. Not now, not in the foreseeable future. Tour pro Charley Hoffman agreed with me, as we trolled the fairways at the Viking Classic Pro-Am at Annandale (actually he was in the fairway, I was looking for my ball O.B. around some little girl’s lemonade stand). “I think the PGA Tour was pressured into it,” he said. “I don’t think steroids are being used out here. It’s not a problem.” Actually, he said something way funnier off-the-record I can’t use (maybe I’ll tell ...

Detroit has had three temporary casinos since the late 1990s, but its first full-blown casino-hotel opened opened this week at the new MGM Grand. Building permanent, Vegas-style casino-hotels have always been the master plan and in 2007 its finally coming to fruition. There are three casinos downtown, the Greektown Casino and Motor City Casino being the other two (they will open permanent casino-hotels next fall). It was all part of a desperate plan to try and revitalize the gloomy downtown that saw its population - and money - head towards Oakland County over the last two decades. But there ...

All this talk about how the Presidents Cup actually features a better field than the Ryder Cup, and how it’s more of a worldly event and should get more publicity than its more famous competition is omitting one major factor as to why it will never be as big of a deal: There’s no Sergio Garcia. Okay, it’s not just Sergio, but the whiny, waggle-happy, yellow pants cry baby is the icon to use. The American Sports Fan just can’t get riled up about the International Team like the Europeans. To bemoan about 6/7’s of the world’s landmass would be ...

I like a good sports blooper as much as the next guy. And Woody Austin’s tumble into a creek at the Presidents Cup today made Jean Van de Velde’s bare-legged folly at Carnoustie seem civilized. But while we all pile on the American Team’s dunce, let’s not forget the true character in Austin, who shook off hilarious heckles of “Marco! Polo!” from Canadian fans to finish with three birdies and halve his match Friday versus the Internationals. Austin is known for snapping his putter from excessive head-butting and ill-advised Tiger Woods comments But his clutch, three-birdie performance in his first ...

Five pleasant surprises from my maiden voyage to Biloxi, Mississippi: 1. Hard Rock Hotel: I’m not big on “themed” properties like the Venetian in Las Vegas or Legends in concert in Myrtle Beach that features Elvis and Garth Brooks look-a-likes (although Medieval Times rules, but only if you dress up as a peasant and take a girl on a first date there). When I’m at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, I find how the front desk answers the phone, “How may I ‘rock’ your world” a little cheesy…but the rooms at this joint are fantastic. I’m used ...

On paper, the International Team for the Presidents Cup looks stronger than the 2006 European Ryder Cup team that laid a serious beat down on the U.S. There are more Top 20 players in the field this week than at the Ryder Cup. After Thursday’s opening matches in Montreal, it looks like an early route for the U.S., who didn’t lose a single match to lead by five points. Down in Mississippi Wednesday, I played in the Viking Classic Pro-Am with American up-and-comer Charley Hoffman. He’s never played in the Ryder Cup or President’s Cup, but it’s a goal of ...

This morning I woke up to belt sanders and screaming carpenters. It’s that time of year when the condo I live in gets a makeover. It’s great for resale value and probably keeps the homeless from thinking it’s abandoned. But I don’t own the unit, so all I know is that my door has wet paint on it and I can’t sleep in past 8 a.m. So I ended up coming into the office unusually early and got a lot of blank stares from co-workers who aren’t used to my presence while on their first cup of coffee. This isn’t ...

The most significant difference that separates humans from all other earthly life forms is the consciousness of how we dispense bodily waste. It is unacceptable among social circles to relieve ourselves voluntarily - the lone exception being the baby pool. Scientists also confirm the theory of evolution cannot be proven until a family of monkeys is seen using a toilet not under duress or in a circus, but out of their own free will. This chasm causes a culture clash among humans and the rest of the animal kingdom in many walks of life. The battle is prevalent in our ...

I’ve been saying since January that I don’t care if the University of Michigan football goes 1-11 this year, as long as that one “W” is finally vs. Ohio State. I didn’t know that was a real possibility. As we await Saturday’s marquee Tickle Fight between 0-2 laughing stocks Michigan and Notre Dame, this could be the first year Michigan doesn’t have a winning record in a long, long time. At least Michigan isn’t to the sad level of Notre Dame yet. They dumped a good coach in Tyrone Willingham in favor of immediate results from a video-taping sidelines cheater: ...

Phil Mickelson is the cause of most of my golf-related mood swings lately. While some browse the internet for hours looking for Britney Spears VMA reaction or suggesting substances to test on Willitblend.com, I’m usually up all night trying to decide whether I like Phil’s candid demeanor and go-for-broke playing style - or loathe the fact that his game between the ears have led to a decade of a mostly empty rivalry between him and Tiger Woods - a rivalry that could have been one of the best ever. The origins of my Mickelson obsession came when I was reporting ...

I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with another American on US soil about the Walker Cup. In three visits to the UK and Ireland in the last year, I was engaged in banter almost daily about it with Brits or Irish or Scots, and my contributions were generally far less insightful. It’s a shame the Walker Cup isn’t on the hearts and minds as much over here. It’s one of the great amateur matches and spotlights some of the budding stars of tomorrow. Tiger Woods played in the 1995 Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl. Of course, it’s ...

Only in the World Amateur Handicap Championships can a high-handicapper whose swing is fluid as a Tourette’s attack beat out nearly 4,000 other golfers to win a $650 prize and a trophy as big as the Stanley Cup. I’ll admit, I never saw winner June Wang’s swing this week, but who among us lower-handicaps have witnessed a 27.5-handicap’s swing that didn’t cause instant indigestion? The World Am isn’t really designed for us single-digit handicappers to win the overall crown. In the tournament’s 24-year history, a single-digit handicap has won the overall title only twice. Even still, it’s a great ...

I was surprised to discover the 19th hole at the World Amateur Handicap Championships in Myrtle Beach is a lot like the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando - only with loads of free alcohol and fewer saleswomen in cheerleader outfits. Some big names in golf were on hand. Dave Pelz had an entire army of minions selling short game secrets. Annika Sorenstam made an appearance for Cutter & Buck, much like she did in Orlando. There is a big demo area on the left end where all the big manufacturers are selling drivers. In the middle of the expo floor, ...

Take 120 players competing in stroke play split into foursomes (most holes have an A and B group) and put them on a Pete Dye-designed course and you’ve got a recipe for a tidy and efficient 6.5-hour round of golf. Such was the case today at the Dye Barefoot course in the World Amateur Handicap Championships. Many of the Grand Strand’s 100-plus golf courses usually pack foursomes in pretty good on any day (I play more five-hour casual rounds here than anywhere else in the world) but the World Amateur makes the illusion of a five-hour round of golf feel ...

Some professional athletes cheat with steroids, amateur golfers sandbag. The World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach is notorious for “sandbaggers". I’ve been analyzing some scores, online at the World Am website and also at the 19th hole. I’ve been talking to participants from various flights, getting their opinion on whether their particular flight is tainted with these scoundrels. The general consensus seems to be the higher the flight, the higher the sandbagger infestation. This makes sense. The higher you say your handicap is, the easier it is to score better than expected. For instance, WorldGolf.com’s resident duffer Chris Baldwin ...

While critics shed their two cents on the controversial new FedEx Cup playoffs, 3,778 die-hard amateur golfers have bigger things on their minds: The PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championships, starting Monday morning. The “World Am” is amateur golf’s greatest spectacle: a four-day event spread out over 70 Myrtle Beach-area courses. It’s a tried-and-true tournament with a fanatic, loyal following. Golfers of all abilities have a shot at winning the overall prize, from scratch golfers to 36.4 handicaps. Then there is the famous “World’s largest 19th hole” that takes place each night at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. It’s part ...

I’m thumbing through the new Golf Magazine World Top 100 Ranking. I like the world rankings better than the U.S. version, because just about all of the world courses offer at least limited public play, versus the private-heavy American list that only helps to justify why country clubs can demand $100K initiation to new members because of it’s ranking. This also explains why I’ve played so many more top world courses than the American ones. Of course, we all know these rankings, despite all the mathematical categories involved, aren’t perfect. How do you judge man-made, multi-million dollar marvels like Whistling ...

I know Barclays and the PGA Tour are feeling slighted this week as Tiger Woods ditches the inaugural event of the FedEx Cup, making it just another second-tier tournament on the schedule Tiger won’t compete in, so he can sail his yacht or sky dive or whatever a young bazillionaire does on an off week. Of course, the most insulting thing about Tiger’s WD is that he’ll probably still win the FedEx Cup despite missing the first event. Maybe in 2008, if the FedEx Cup is still around, he’ll try to win after withdrawing from the first two. But before ...

Wales is self-admittedly not as developed as a global tourist destination compared to Scotland, Ireland and England. It’s a trade many towns and hotels are learning as they go. “Wales is what Scotland and Ireland were twenty years ago,” is a common saying used around here. Tour operators tell me B&B’s in particular can be hit-and-miss: four and five-star joints are usually top-notch, while others offer little more than a room and tell you where the kitchen is. That’s a far cry from Ireland, where every other house on any road you drive down is a B&B, and most have ...

Wales has some considerable ground to make up before becoming a formidable rival to neighboring Scotland and Ireland’s golf tourism, especially with North Americans. I haven’t run into any others here in five days and most clubs tell me few pass through, though they do see a little more than before. With their first Ryder Cup three years away, the future looks bright for golf in Wales, not only with tourism but within their own ranks. If the amount of kids I’ve seen embracing the game at local clubs is any kind of foreshadowing, this little nook of the U.K. ...

In discussions I’ve had with other golf industry people about Wales, one particular course has come up more than any other. It isn’t Ryder Cup host Celtic Manor or the country’s most prestigious links Royal Porthcawl. “Be sure to see Pennard,” they all said. In a recent interview with architect Tom Doak, he named it among his five best “undiscovered links” in the Isles (to put things in perspective, he considers Scotland’s out-of-the-way Machrihanish closer to mainstream than hidden). I finally saw Pennard Golf Club today and was blown away. The course opened in 1896 and seems to have bypassed ...

Wales desperately wants to host the world’s top international golf events. So much so, they built the first golf course specifically designed for the Ryder Cup Matches - which will come to the country for the first time in 2010 at the Celtic Manor Resort. It even bears the transparent name: the “Ryder Cup Course". The design was a collaboration of minds from the European PGA, architects and tour pros and can max out at over 7,500 yards. The goal was to create a spectator-friendly, drama-filled golf course with an exciting finish full of strategic options. Officials describe the ...

Welsh Tour operators tell me roughly 90% of their guests have been on a Scotland or Ireland golf trip before Wales. It’s stiff competition in the British Isles, and this country, on the southwest end of England is making more and more noise. There is no shortage of golf here: over 200 courses in a country of about 3 million people. 19th century links like Royal Porthcawl, Tenby and Pennard are as old as nearly anywhere, and I’ve heard great things. They’re also much cheaper than heavier-trafficked Scottish and Irish courses. The Celtic Manor Resort, which will host the ...

The WGC Bridgestone Invitational wasn’t the only big win for Tiger Woods Sunday. He also won ESPN’s Who’s Now?, an interactive quest to determine the world’s most “now” athlete. I’m not the first blogger to rip Who’s Now? Kiel Christianson whined about the coverage cutting into his essential Brewers-Marlins highlights two weeks ago. But his complaints were of taste. Mine are of deceit, foul play, and possibly the greatest triumph of marketing since P.T. Barnum. Viewers of SportsCenter will note Tiger won, while Lebron James finished in second. Both finalists of course are products of The Swoosh. Look, we can ...

Tadd Fujikawa and Michelle Wie shared common youthful dreams: escaping the grim, hopeless prison of the Hawaiian Islands for a brighter future in pro golf. Wie’s path - after a promising start - has been rocky, which is more than Fuji can say so far. 16-year-old munchkin Fujikawa made his first PGA Tour appearance as a professional this week at the Reno-Tahoe Open. He shot an opening 6-over - which is worse than it sounds given how easy the course was playing and considering the Tour’s better golfers are duking it out with Tiger at Firestone - not with Dicky ...

I’ve been silent on the “Steroids in Golf” debate. Mostly because it isn’t so much a “debate” as it is a blind witch hunt. All of this coverage seems to have been fabricated and forced by the press in search of a gritty tour underbelly that doesn’t exist. There is no precedent that suggests golf is as tainted as baseball or cycling. There is very little reason to believe the integrity of the game is somehow being compromised by performance-enhancing drugs. Gary Player’s comments at the British Open were horribly ill-timed and I’ve got to side with his perturbed countryman ...

It’s a groundbreaking week for pro women’s golf. The Women’s British Open is being hosted on the Old Course at St. Andrews for the first time in history. Shortly after the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this summer, I predicted a breakthrough major victory for World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa this week. Why? Well, the Old Course is a long-bombers course (just look at Tiger’s two titles here, John Daly’s also) and the Ocho is a beast off the tee. Also, people always point to her tendencies to pull tee shots under pressure. Well, the Old Course is her kind of ...

LPGA bombshell Natalie Gulbis won’t have to hear the “Yeah she’s cute, but she’s not a winner” comments anymore. Gulbis beat Jeong Jang in a one-hole playoff to ice her first win at the Evian Masters Sunday. Not only did the 24-year-old Gulbis win, it was one of the LPGA’s top fields: Ochoa, Sorenstam, Pressel, just about all the top-flight golfers were competing and she beat them all out. She never lead the tournament until Sunday, when she shot a 2-under 70 to force a playoff. Ochoa, Ji-Yai Shin and Julie Inkster all finished one back.

I am looking for a prospective partner to help design and market a new golf invention that will revolutionize the way we all practice. Here’s my pitch: So I’m at the range yesterday, bangin’ balls, and I realize I’ve reached the bottom of my bucket before I’m satisfied with my swing. Who hasn’t had this problem? You don’t want to go buy a whole new bucket - you just want to hit a dozen more shots. You already checked the top of the ball machine to see if it’s unlocked…but it’s not. If you want more balls, you’re gonna have ...

Has anyone seen trailers for Who’s Your Caddy yet? I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to go. Finally, an urban Caddyshack for the IPod generation. From the looks of the preview, it seems like it uses the fresh premise of: Black guy for some reason finds himself out of place in white man’s world - white man looks disgusted at black man’s unwillingness to fit in. They haven’t given away the ending, but my guess is the white man realizes black people are in fact good people, even if they are late to their tee times and ...

Did you make sure to check the refund policy when you ran out and bought a “belly putter” this weekend after watching it perform miracles on Sergio Garcia’s maligned putting game at the British Open this week at Carnoustie? Of course, the belly putter, like all other putters, has no cure for the timid mind. And Garcia missed numerous short putts on Sunday including an 18th-hole lip-out that would have clinched the Open and his first major. His putting was the most under the microscope this week, but in the end it was Garcia’s extremely conservative approach that likely doomed ...

We here at WorldGolf.com have been whining plenty recently about the American Dollar’s weakness in Europe and the British Isles. But honestly, this currency ineptitude is hurting my self esteem a little. I haven’t been to my old stomping ground Canada in years and to hear we’re almost equal makes me want to send some NHL teams back to Winnipeg and Quebec. The other day, I had to toss a quarter onto the sidewalk in front of some kids just to be reassured my money is still worth something. But that doesn’t mean British Open courses are out of reach ...

Just when you thought kids were growing up too fast…a new study on MSNBC is reporting fewer teenagers are having sex these days compared to 2005. Surprised? Not me. How could teenagers possibly have the time for sex when the majority of them are chasing the lucrative dream of earning their very own tour card? Things sure have changed since I was in high school. My friends and I all shared the dream of trying to extend curfew past midnight. Now kids are spending their weekends tracking down Phil Knight’s people for a sponsorship. At least I’m not a ...

This week’s Scottish Open host Loch Lomond Golf Club is revered as arguably the top parkland course in all of Europe. As of this spring however, it has company right down the street. Sharing the beautiful loch waters and Ben Lomond mountain backdrop is the new Carrick course. It’s open for its first full summer this year. I had a chance to preview about eight holes in the fall and was blown away. I didn’t get a chance to play Loch Lomond G.C., but I can’t imagine it being a whole lot better than the Carrick. Unlike Loch Lomond G.C., ...