Tees2Greens on Golf

June 2007 - Posts

• A Wie Bit Early

  By Scott Stubblefield When I was 16 and 17, the only goals I had were to keep my car privileges for the weekend and to somehow salvage a C out of trigonometry; not of making a professional golf tour and flying around the world. But for Michelle Wie, she has never known much more. And as she plays in the 2007 U.S. Women's Open this week, the golfing world will concentrate all its efforts on her once again. Wie has been the center of the golfing world for a couple of years now, and is one of the most visible athletes in the world who's, not to mention, very well paid. As we all know, not all of this has been peaches and cream for young Michelle. With the lack of performance, trying to break the gender barrier in golf and expectations falling short of her potential, she has been hit with more punches than Jerry Coonie. In most articles out there today, you read of Miss Wie's "handlers" mapping out her entire life. It sometimes sounds like this girl doesn't even have the opportunity to decide what she wants to eat, much less succeed and fail on her own free will. I think if she could have the ability to think for herself a bit more, we might be able to give her some slack when using the age card. And when an entire team of adults are running the show while controversy keeps erupting all around her, you have to think that the lack of inexperience is not from Wie's game but from the entourage of "handlers." I know we are sick and tired of hearing the excuses for why she has not lived up to what expectations we've built for her. But as I will say along with others, I don't think it is all her fault. The biggest fault here lies with everyone involved and that Michelle just turned professional a few years early. She should have kept her boat steadily sailing toward the end goal! The early acceleration to the finish has visibly shaken the 17 year old golfer. Although some doctors say brain development in youths reaches adult levels of intelligence by 11 or 12 while others say that full development isn't until the early twenties, you can't develop real life knowledge and logic until you actually go through certain situations. Experience counts! Unfortunately for Wie, the "handlers" are the individuals who are instilling her decisions and reasoning, making her out to be the bad person in all of this when all she is trying to do is play golf. I don't see how it's remotely possible for her to break an egg nowadays, much less par. If she wouldn't have started this whole superstar career so early, we may have seen her grow up destroying every amateur record known to woman and possibly man! She would have learned to think for herself and assess life changing events that she would inevitably go through with maturity, without her life being dictated to her. She would have been more respected, felt better about herself, and had a lot more confidence in what she could handle. Recent interviews have shown her to be unsure about the past, present and future. But when the river is flowing green, her "handlers" only had one direction in mind: To set sail for Fort Knox! Michelle may have been forced to progress with her career way to early and it could have been slowed and handled better. But the reality is that she is here. And she's going to be here for a long time to come. If we embrace her and cut her some slack, it will only stop the juicy discussions and criticism; not the super expectations we all have for her. Whether she's playing in a LPGA event or PGA event, we will all tune in to keep a close eye to what she shoots in order to make our own assumption about what went right or horribly wrong. This love/hate relationship most of us have with her will fade over time, especially when she wins and wins big. The skeptics will say it's about time and the fans will say I told you so. The conversations about her will never stop and the opinions will only be modified to each of our positions. It's at that point where we all rush to the closest forum or blog to chuck in our commentary grenades from the peanut gallery. I still feel that her turning professional too early along with the so called "handlers" have subdued Michelle and what she could have accomplished thus far in her career. But when visions of dollar bills are dancing in the heads of those around her, she had no choice but to relinquish her life to begin what was expected to be greatness. I question if that was supposed to be monetary gain, or golf greatness? In any case, as Nietzsche once said, "No price is too high for the privilege of owning yourself." I hope one day her "handlers" will at least return this one privilege and responsibility back to her. Posted Jun 29 2007, 09:07 AM by Scott Stubblefield with no comments Filed under: Tees2Greens, Scott Stubblefield, Michelle Wie

• Freak Luck Is A Strange Thing

  By Sam Johnson In the past Argentina has been plagued by inflation. By 1989 inflation had reached 5,000 percent making the nation's currency almost worthless. Imagine being in a golf tournament and the purse was $1,000,000 when you started and $10,000 when you finished? However, recently things got much better in Argentina. The government created the nuevo peso Argentino (new Argentine peso) bringing inflation under control, and Angel Cabrera won the U.S. Open waddling home with 1,260,000 Nuevo Pesos Argentinos and the entire country shouted Ay! Caramba. Who would have believed it? The Duck beat the Tiger, but it happened and I, as a bit of a duck myself, couldn't be happier. Fire up another Winston, hand me that second helping of mashed potatoes, and let's play golf. Angel Cabrera is the 2007 U.S. Open Champion. Chips and salsa one under par on Sunday, abs of steel two over. Somewhere Billy Casper is laughing, jiggling of course, but still laughing. Cabrera didn't win it, Tiger lost it, you say? Pour me another shot of Tequila while I disagree. He and Tiger may play a hundred times in the future and Tiger may win a hundred out of a hundred, but on those four days Angel Cabrera was the best golfer in the world, not Tiger Woods, not Jim Furyk or anybody else. It's time to realize that your favorite nine and seven football team is not a better team than that. You are what you are. Could the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team beat those "Commie Russian Bastards again?" It doesn't matter; they have their Gold Medal just like Cabrera has his name on the trophy and 1,260,000 of Nuevo Pesos Argentinos in the bank. As Johnny Miller waited for Furyk and then Tiger to make their moves, Angel Cabrera and his caddie sat nervously in the locker room waiting. "I was definitely feeling nervous, but I assumed that this is the same sensation everybody was having in my place," said Cabrera through an interpreter. And, it was at that very moment that I realized that had Cabrera at 240 pounds and his caddie at 170 pounds switched bodies perhaps Angel would be getting a little more respect. But who cares? Angel Cabrera is Lyle Lovett marrying Julia Roberts, and who wouldn't trade their abs for that? On 361 days this year Tiger will be the best golfer in the world, but not at the 107th U.S. Open. Is the mystique gone, or just back in Florida thinking about baby Sam who would arrive shortly? Pack away your red shirt and grab your passport for the British Open next month. Phil Mickelson will be there along with Retief, Furyk, Padraig, Ernie and Vijay, but look out for that chubby guy sitting in the smoking section. As Rocky Balboa once said, "Freak luck is a strange thing," so the next time you tee it up with your buddy that has beat you like a red-headed step child once a week for the last year, remember Rocky Balboa and Lyle Lovett and know that all things are possible. You are the U.S. A. Hockey Team, David with a slingshot, and yes, Angel Cabrera. So, light up that Winston, and take one more trip through the buffet line because tomorrow you could win the club championship. Granted, it would help if you could hit the ball 390 yards like Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open Champion. Posted Jun 22 2007, 09:03 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with no comments Filed under: Tees2Greens, Sam Johnson, Angel Cabrera, U.S. Open

• The Long And Short Of It - Part 1

  By Scott Stubblefield If you are a complete golf nut like I am and love equipment, you probably have tried just about everything under the sun to try and discover that one club that knocks the most strokes off your round and makes you feel confident with a particular part of your game. That especially rings true with the putter. The putter is the very reason I am writing this today. Because of this crazy club I lose sleep, lose money and now it is draining me of my sanity; what little I have left! It doesn't matter if the putt is three feet or 30 feet, I just never have a clue of how I am supposed to use that crooked stick to knock the ball into that itty bitty hole. To this day my great rounds are always hampered by "if I only would have made a few more putts." In regard to this feeling I know that I am not alone. Is this challenge one that a golfer can overcome with practice and mental adjustment or does it embed itself within haunting our minds forever? In the search to improve this part of my game I think I have used just about every putter available to man, but I never ventured into the land of the long or belly putter. Sure, I have messed around with a few of them at the course or when a golf buddy was using one, but I never truly gave these putters a shot. I am thinking that now might be the time! Could one of these putters possibly scare away the demons in my mind? We have seen all the top players tinker with their game from time to time and we have seen great putters lose that deft touch with the old standard blade only to regain the magic with the over-sized wand. Players like Bernhard Langer can win Masters Jackets on the toughest greens in the world with his unique style and a short putter only to lose his stroke completely and emerge again with the long putter. Most recently I observed him playing fantastic golf at age 49 with the young guns at the 2007 Colonial. Tom Lehman won the British Open with a short putter, lost the stroke, went to the long putter and is now back again to the short putter. That is hard to understand. The first player to wield the long putter was Charlie Owens on the Senior Tour in the 80's. Who is he? Maybe it didn't help Chuck that much, but he sure did open the door. I will have to check the archives. Scott McCarron left working for the family business once he tinkered with an old Ping putter and turned it into his own magic wand. Rocco has rekindled his career and taken the stress off his back with the pole, but not without a complete hazing from fellow playing partners. Freddie Couples went as far as to say that the belly putter feels like cheating it is so easy to putt with and he shows us that every time his back is in good shape. So, when is the best time to change and when is it good to just keep working on what you have? Great question and for all of you with answers please feel free to ring in. I am at my crossroads, but my pops always said there is no better time than the present to look for a different direction for improvement. Will it really be better? I have to believe him, as he was always right. (I had to say that because I know he will be reading this article). I have heard many different reasons why a player would go to the broomstick - because of the "yips" or as a last resort before quitting the game. I am hoping my reasoning is not the latter. I guess I could still enjoy the game putting mediocre in corporate scrambles and fun rounds, but when it comes to true competitive golf I can't handle it. The last competitive round I played was an open qualifying event and the putter I used was very close to being lost forever in a murky pond. I however fished it out of the water on the 18th hole since it was a Scotty SSS Circle T Newport and has some collectable value. But, rest assured that the putter is currently in a very dark place. Oh, and it was not flung in rage or with people around. It was done very tastefully. I strangled the putter as I held its head underwater and then let go. There were no witnesses. So, now as I embark on the journey to go to this long or belly putter, I will have to hold someone accountable if it does not work, as being a competitive golfer it's never my fault. You're right, it's always the equipment. So, all you golf club manufacturers, hold your breath as I begin this experiment to save my game. If it fails, the bad reviews will begin to fly along with all the putters. Posted Jun 15 2007, 09:01 AM by Scott Stubblefield with no comments Filed under: Tees2Greens, Scott Stubblefield, Putters

• Welcome To The Tiger Tour

  By Sam Johnson Tiger Woods now has his own tournament, the AT&T National, to be played July 2 through 8 at the famous Congressional Country Club. That's not news. However what may be news is that the golf world has pulled an end run around its own rule about appearance fees. How's that you ask? Well, for his duties, which is basically showing up at said tournament, the Tiger Woods Foundation will receive a multi-million dollar charitable donation no matter what Tiger does on the golf course. Technically, that may not be an appearance fee, but when the money ends up in Tiger Wood's control what else would you call it? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the Tiger Woods Foundation does wonderful work, but that's not the point. The fact is that Tiger's presence in a tournament can make it or break it from a TV rating standpoint, and without TV ratings sponsors are hard to find, and without sponsors tournaments disappear. So, what's next? Will Phil Mickelson and his Foundation host the next FBR Open in Scottsdale? How about Vijay Singh and his Foundation hosting the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, or Ernie Els, or Jesper Parnevik? Okay, maybe not Jesper. Granted, it may only be the top two or three players in the world that make enough difference to warrant such treatment, or maybe there's only one. But how many Tournaments would plop down a sizable chartable donation if it would guarantee that Tiger Woods would play in their tournament? Consider how few tournaments the top players actually play in these days. Now consider how many spots on their dance cards are already filled with four majors, plus the Players. Now add to that the World Golf Championships, the Tour Championship. Then comes the money games like the million bucks Tiger and others get for showing up in Dubai and Asia. Now don't forget that Tiger plays in two Buick events, plus the AT&T National, just like Phil plays in the American Express sponsored tournaments. Then there are Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer's tournaments, which most attend. Now, factor in that the big name players don't like to play more than three weeks in row and what have you got? The answer is very little room for any other tournaments. So, what's the harm? Perhaps there is none, or perhaps Tiger, Phil, Ernie and the boys are becoming their own tour and in doing so relegating the regular PGA Tour to non superstar status and that would worry me if I were ranked number 75 in the world. Because with relegation comes less exposure followed by less money and less opportunity. How many tournaments already have limited exposure because they are only seen on the Golf Channel? Again, so what? What does Tiger and all of the others owe to golf? Actually, everything; without golf Tiger is selling real estate, Phil is on the Poker Tour and Ernie is a potato farmer in South Africa. Politicians and CEOs get in trouble when they think they are the smartest guys in the room. Athletes get in trouble when they start thinking that they are bigger than the game. Last year the PGA Tour touted that they had raised a billion bucks for charity and that's admirable. But what happens if this new order takes hold? Sure, Tiger's Foundation will get its money and so will Phil's, but what about the dozens of other charities that are left out in the cold? Who got their share? Tiger, Phil and Tim Finchem should remember that golf did not invent the big buck charity golf tournament; charity invented the big buck golf tournament. Sometimes when the banquet table is too big you forget who bought the groceries. Posted Jun 08 2007, 08:59 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with no comments Filed under: Tees2Greens, Sam Johnson, Tiger Woods

• Drive For Show, Putt For Dough

  By Sam Johnson His brother Rick Dempsey is perhaps the better-known athlete, but Pat Dempsey has an even bigger swing than baseball's 1983 World Series MVP. At about six-foot four inches tall and maybe 240 pounds, Pat Dempsey is built like a brick caddie shack and swings a golf club like Conan The Barbarian swings a two-handed sword. Pat and I met a couple of years ago at a charity golf tournament where he was hitting drives for charity. For twenty dollars Pat would launch one into the stratosphere for you. Playing with a foursome that was born in the middle of the last century, we were more than anxious to purchase his distance, so we coughed-up the twenty bucks and then watched Pat do his thing. To say Pat swings hard would be like saying Steve Nash can shoot free throws. It is absolutely violent to the point of making the spectators flinch, and I know because I was the head flincher. And, when someone said that he killed that one, it didn't seem like a metaphor. Forget the long, smooth under control swing; this was pure violence. As a special treat, Pat also did his impression of Happy Gilmore starting his pre-shot routine by jogging toward the ball before striking his mighty blow. As the ball sailed down the fairway I secretly wondered what must it be like to scare other golfers and small children with my drive; to reach every par five in two; to carry every bunker; to laugh in the face of water hazards? If I could hit a ball like that would my wife still make me take out the trash? I think not. As we approached our charity ball at about 365 yards out I glanced back at Pat who was lighting a celebratory cigar and laughing like Arnold Swarzenegger. "I'll be back," I thought I heard him shout. With only a sand wedge left to the green and with four shots at it, you probably think we'd pitch it up there for an easy birdie, but if I recall we didn't get a ball inside of ten feet with four chances. Save for a putt that did a 360 around the hole before falling in we almost blew the whole deal. Pat is still hitting the long ball but now as Captain of UST's Long Drive Team as well as a competitor in the senior division of Long Driver of America and the RE/MAX Long Drive Championship. The Team is doing really well this year with five of six team members already qualifying for the World Championship. For the record, they're swinging UST's V2 Long Drive shaft designed especially for long drive and other competitive gorilla activities. I don't have a list of future Long Driver of America Tournaments or the requirement to enter, but I bet if you pay an entry fee and go through qualifying you can join the testosterone exhibitions. However, before you quit your day job and jump out there you should know that the flat-belly record holder, better known as the Open Division, is Jason Zuback with a blast of 412+ yards. Interestingly, Zuback is also the shortest Champion standing a mere five-foot nine inches. Just for the record, Viktor Johansson is the tallest Champion at six-foot six inches. Nancy Abiecunas is the woman's record holder with a drive of 332+ yards, and coincidentaly she is also the shortest women champion at five-foot ten inches, an inch taller than the shortest men's record holder. The tallest lady Champion is Stacey Shinnick at six-feet two inches. Just imagine the mixed scramble team you could put together. The leading money winner on the Tour is Dave Gureckis with $69,350 for his entire career. That is correct; that's his career earnings not annual. Our friend Pat Dempsey has earned $58,070 over about ten years of competing. Don't get me wrong, fifty thousand bucks is a nice bonus, but you might want to keep the day job, which I assume all of these men and women do. So, I guess it's true that you drive for show and putt for dough, but there seems to be more to it than money. I think these men and women really love the thrill of hitting the big one, and come to think of it, so do most of us. What's a lay up? The one question that everyone always wants to ask is what kind of golfers are these guys? Pretty good, actually. Pat, like many of the other long drive guys, is a scratch golfer, but the other side of that coin is that just about every club pro in America is also a scratch golfer. So then, how good are Tiger, Phil and the rest of those guys all the way to the Nationwide Tour who play golf for a living... really, really good. Let's put it this way, Sean O'Hair could spot most of us an eight on seventeen at Sawgrass and still beat the crap out of most of us, and he might even win the long drive contest, as well. Posted Jun 01 2007, 08:58 AM by Sam 'Bogey' Johnson with no comments Filed under: Tees2Greens, Sam Johnson, Rick Dempsey, Long Drive