Archives for: July 2009
Planes, trains, automobiles and golf carts in Western Canada
Wednesday July 29, 2009 | 02:00:51 pm 442 words, 3257 views
For a week now, I’ve been traveling in Western Canada. It was supposed to have been a golf trip on Via Rail’s flagship Canadian train from Edmonton, Alberta to Vancouver, B.C., but workers at Via Rail had another idea when they went on strike last Friday.
So much for the train; hello van.
Fortunately, the strike lasted just a couple days as both sides, figuring in this economy that a stoppage of service during peak season was potentially disastrous, agreed to binding arbitration. So I got to pick up the Canadian in Kamloops, B.C., and take it overnight to Vancouver.
I haven’t ...
Jasper Park Golf Course in Canada is a perfect union of nature and man
Monday July 27, 2009 | 12:29:10 am 341 words, 3644 views
You often hear terms thrown around like classic courses, masterpiece, etc. , but very few courses actually live up to that kind of hype. Stanley Thompson’s Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course is one of those courses. And it’s at a world-class resort, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Alberta, Canada, in Jasper National Park.
This is truly a course you could play every day and never get bored. In fact, I’m a little jealous of the 200 or so locals who just pay less than $2,000 annually for their memberships.
Sounds like a great deal, eh? Well, it is, and ...
New York son Giuliani takes his act to the Golf Channel's 'Big Break' at Disney
Friday July 24, 2009 | 11:25:02 am 227 words, 3282 views
Apparently, you can take the kid out of the Big Apple, but you can’t keep the kid from throwing the apple. How much that has to do with Andrew Giuliani competing on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” is up for debate, but the reality golf skills show has always found a few characters to spice things up.
It probably doesn’t hurt that Giuliani, 23, is also the son former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani either.
The younger Giuliani, who recently turned pro after graduating from Duke University, is taking on other aspiring pros at courses and locations around Disney World in Orlando, ...
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Florida lands The Legends Tour's first major golf championship
Wednesday July 22, 2009 | 01:14:53 am 309 words, 3364 views
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to some of the big names from the LPGA in the 1970s and ’80s, many of them are playing on the Legends Tour, which stages a handful of events per year.
This year, the official senior tour of the LPGA will stage its first major, and it’s going to be in Florida at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club Nov. 20-29. The Legends Tour Open Championship will be contested on Innisbrook’s Island Course from Nov. 20-22 and feature a $300,000 purse.
The announcement came recently at a press conference at Innisbrook with several of the tour’s bigger ...
Tom Watson is rock steady going into final round of British Open at Turnberry
Saturday July 18, 2009 | 03:01:10 pm 349 words, 3540 views
Do you get the feeling that British Open leader Tom Watson might fare a little better than the last year’s senior-in-contention, Greg Norman?
Watson, despite being nearly seven years older than Norman was last year when he had a chance to win at Royal Birkdale, seems steadier at Turnberry than Norman.
Maybe it’s the fact that Watson has won at Turnberry before (who could forget the duel with Jack Nicklaus in 1977?), or that he has five British Open titles and three British Seniors to his credit. Watson just seems to carve up a course like a surgeon, never getting too excited, ...
Relief from the heat, great golf in Northern Michigan
Thursday July 16, 2009 | 05:01:56 pm 327 words, 3228 views
As I went though security this afternoon at the Traverse City, Mich., airport, the TSA agent checking my driver’s license said, “Can you send us some of your heat?”
What she was referring to was the fact that my hometown in Texas has been in triple digits for weeks and northern Michigan has had a cool summer. Tomorrow’s high here is only supposed to be in the 60s.
“About 30 degrees ought to do it,” she said with a laugh.
Of course she was exaggerating. But for most of us, 65 degrees in July is heaven, and it’s especially nice when playing golf.
This ...
Leading the LPGA Tour into golf prosperity will be a huge undertaking
Monday July 13, 2009 | 11:26:23 pm 365 words, 3486 views
So we got the formal announcement on Monday that Carolyn Bivens is out as the commissioner of the LPGA, and Marsha Evans, a retired Navy rear admiral, is in as interim commissioner.
Evans, who has also led the Girl Scouts of USA and the American Red Cross, sure seems well qualified and smart – so smart, in fact, that she has already said she does not want the job permanently.
At first glance, who would? After all the LPGA has lost seven tournaments since 2007, and American golf fans can’t even pronounce the names of many of the dominant players on ...
Whether it's golf or entertainment, boredom in Branson isn't an option
Thursday July 9, 2009 | 03:24:38 am 374 words, 3851 views
After spending a few days in Branson, Mo., I offer these observations:
First, Branson offers top-notch Ozark Mountain golf. The new Payne Stewart Golf Club has terrific views and is plenty challenging. Tom Fazio’s Branson Creek Golf Club is as good or better than advertised. And next door, Murder Rock, which has a John Daly design endorsement, is plenty fun and picturesque as well.
But more than that, Branson is a fun place to hang out. There is no shortage of things to do, and the entertainment here is, well, entertaining.
Last night, I got to check out the Liverpool Legends at ...
Branson, Mo., adding great golf to its wholesome setting
Tuesday July 7, 2009 | 01:51:56 am 279 words, 3585 views
I spent a part of my youth in the Delta of northern Mississippi. I’ve lived the majority of my life in Texas. But I’ve never been anywhere more country than Branson, Mo.
This really is a trip back in time in so many ways.
Branson is simply a visit to a time that has left most of the country. The Strip, as they call, is like Las Vegas on a smaller scale and with a “G” rating. Last night, I got to check out Presleys’ Country Jubilee, the show, I’m told, that started it all in Branson.
This is family entertainment through and ...
New groove rule in golf won't affect most of our games, but it does create a disconnect
Thursday July 2, 2009 | 10:03:35 pm 521 words, 4675 views
Does anybody really care about this new groove rule? You know, the one where essentially all irons sold in the modern era would be non-conforming – at least at the higher level of tournaments.
The PGA Tour considered delaying the new groove rule a year so the players and manufacturers would have more time to comply. But after the PGA Tour Policy Board met recently, the tour has decided to stick with the original proposal date of Jan. 1, 2010.
The truth is that while a lot of PGA Tour players really don’t want the new rule – which without getting into ...
The Accidental Golfer
The Accidental Golfer (AKA Mike Bailey) has spent more than 15 years writing about the game that has brought him unbridled joy and temporary bouts of insanity. Now on staff at WorldGolf.com, Bailey is a former senior editor for PGA Magazine, senior writer for Golfweek's SuperNEWS and Turfnet magazines and past president of the Texas Golf Writers Association. He has covered every facet of golf, including the PGA and LPGA Tours, equipment and course architecture, as well as the bane of his golfing existence: instruction. The last has led to at least 30 different golf swings, which all feel different but appear to his playing companions to be the same.
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