Crystal Springs Quarry Golf Club
This is the time of the year when Editor Gene and I get into a bit of a debate over the British Open. Is it a fun-to-watch true test of greatness as I believe? Or is it all just a matter of luck, a tournament played in bad weather on a cow pasture as our editor often argues? Well, I don’t know whether Gene will offer a counter point, but I can say with absolute conviction that I win the argument this year. The Open Championship offered something for everyone. I don’t know how anyone could have come away disappointed The action began before the first tee shot was launched. The world’s number one player was missing, laid up in Florida with a bum knee. That fueled speculation about a possible asterisk in the history books next to the winner’s name.
The commentators were wringing their hands and arguments abounded at bars and grills throughout the world. Would the eventual winner not be seen as a real hero because he didn’t have to compete against Number One? Most said that idea was nonsense, simply because it was The Open, with the weather, the pressure and everything else that goes along with it. But the only possible answer came at the end: No asterisk. The winner, an Irishman named Harrington, won it all last year when Numero Uno was there. In howling winds Padraig ran away from the field. We will never know whether Tiger would have conquered the wind but at least we know this was no fluke. Another bit of fun was dished out by John Daly at his pre-tournament news conference. “I think his lies kind of destroyed my life a little for a little while.” He was speaking of his ex-coach Butch Harmon who dropped him a few months ago claiming getting drunk was more of a priority of Big John’s than golf. Butch also charged Daly with drinking in a Hooters tent during a rain delay at the PODS Championship. “He just made up stuff…..” Daly said.
I’m happy that Butch destroyed John’s life only for a little while. But temporary or not, I need to know whether Butch lied, merely expressed an opinion based on observation or stated the facts. Saying that Daly’s drinking is more important than his golf is clearly an opinion, but it’s probably an opinion many of us also hold to. Anyone who has read John’s book "My Life In and Out of the Rough, the Truth Behind all that Bull****You Think You Know About Me” is likely to express the same opinion if asked. He tells an amazing story of drunkenness and various other misdeeds. And he blames most of it on others. The Hooters issue isn’t a matter of opinion. It either happened or it didn’t and there had to be witnesses. If Daly walked into the Hooters tent during a rain delay, he would not have just blended into the crowed. If he sidled up to the bar and ordered a beer, a diet coke or a Jack and Coke, a hundred sets of eyes were on him. It really doesn’t matter in the scheme of things because, through his own doing, Daly has become a half comic-half tragic figure. But just to satisfy our curiosity, if anyone out there knows the facts, please come forward. Your identity will be protected.
Then there was the talk about the absence of the hottest player in the world, Kenny Perry, who chose to spend his week playing in Milwaukee. Did he owe it to the game to show up at one of the most important tournaments thebest players play? Some say yes, some no, some don’t really care. As for me, for whatever it’s worth, I’m somewhere between yes and don’t care. I’m sure Perry is patting himself on the back right now, however. He pocketed more than a hundred grand in Milwaukee and stayed out of the wind. And what about the Greg Norman story! He took the place of the world’s best player guaranteeing that many more televisions were tuned in during the final two\rounds than otherwise would have been.
Those who would normally watch only to see how Tiger plays were curious enough to find out whether a 53 year old legend would make some history. I don’t need TV polling numbers to determine how many people are watching a golf tournament. I just keep an eye on my wife. If Tiger is in the hunt in a major, she’s glued to the set.
That was the case on Open Saturday when Norman took the lead. And it was again the case on Sunday, that is, until he bogeyed the first three holes. She went to the basement to watch something else. The big story of course was the weather. Some cold and rain in the early rounds then a howling wind on that last day. If you enjoy watching good players make bogeys and doubles, Open Sunday was your day. It was also your day if you like watching commercials. Good old ABC did it right once again. A few golf shots followed by an equal number of commercials. I like the balance. It doesn’t let you get too comfortable. I particularly enjoy seeing the same commercial nine times. This allows me to commit everything to memory, so that when I am out shopping or perhaps looking for a new bank or a management consulting firm, I have a firm grasp of what these various companies have to offer.
My favorite of the day was the one where the apparently young upwardly mobile business woman spoke to us about having been the middle kid in a group of seven and how it taught her not only to lead but also to follow and to compromise and be a team player. And she ends it with this pithy summary: “At the end of the day it’s a great skill set to take into business.” I told you I have them memorized. Let’s examine this one more closely. A “skill set.” Nice term, very catchy, wish I had a skill set. Do you have a skill set? If you do, do you take it into business “at the end of the day?” Why not the beginning of the day when you can use your skill set all day long? I mean if you don’t bring out your skill set until the end of the day, isn’t it a bit too late?
As long as we’re on the topic of language and temporarily off the topic of golf, ask yourself when and why a game winning home run became a “walk off ” home run. Does the guy who hit it always walk off the field afterward? Usually when someone hits a homer to win a game, his teammates dash onto the field and jump up and down to greet him as he touches home plate. No one really walks away. They stand around high-fiving each other. I’ve even seen the hitter carried off the field. Back to golf talk. Does anyone know what makes one a “great ball striker?” I turned the TV on early during the first round of the Open and in a matter of minutes the commentator claimed that three different players were great ball strikers.
I wonder if there is anyone playing golf at that level who does not strike the ball solidly almost every time he tees it up. I know some players putt better than others, and some hit it longer than others. But if you’re not a great ball striker, then you’re playing in my league. It seems, at the end of the day, another meaningless term has crept into the vocabularies of those who believe sportscasting must be non-stop chatter. Wasn’t it fun to sit back and listen to Peter Allis for the short time ABC allowed him on its airwaves?
OK, one more goofy term I must have heard 50 times. The green has a “false front,” meaning it slopes back toward the fairway and if you don’t get the ball far enough onto the green it’s going to take the slope and run back toward you. That doesn’t make the front false does it? It’s still the front of the green. It’s not where you want to leave your shot but it is a part of the green. At the end of the day, that’s the truth.
