Back in September I wrote a piece for the Northern California Golf Association Fall Magazine on what amateur golfers (or weekend hackers) should and shouldn’t emulate from PGA Tour and LPGA golfers. It’s funny because the next time I played golf, I realized I was guilty of many of the “Don’ts,” so perhaps I should heed to my own advice! Check it out and maybe this can even help cut down a few strokes from your game. (continue reading…)
Guan Tianlang: having a good old sit, in a field.
Chinese amateur Guan Tianlang completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand yesterday, thus ensuring his early invitation to next year’s Masters Tournament.
Currently just 14 years and 5 months old, Guan looks set to demolish Matteo Manassero’s 2010 record, set when the Italian was 16, and become the youngest competitor in the tournament’s 77-year history. (continue reading…)
Alison Lee (L) and Quirine Eijkenboom embrace. British Amateur runner-up Matthias Schwab can be seen in the background.
The United States team made the most its home advantage at Olympia Fields yesterday to retain the Junior Ryder Cup by a margin of five-points (14.5-9.5). (continue reading…)
Chuasiriporn at the 1998 US Women's Open, where she finished second.
For a brief few days in 1998, a 20-year-old amateur by the name of Jenny Chuasiriporn stood at the apex of women’s golf. In fact, she very nearly deprived Se Ri Pak of her first major championship, pushing the South Korean to the second hole of a sudden death playoff to decide the US Women’s Open
A career as a leading light of the LPGA Tour appeared inevitable. (continue reading…)
Crookall-Nixon: by all accounts quite good at golf.
18-year-old England international Seb Crookall-Nixon made history of a sort last weekend when he carded a 10-under-par 59 in competition at Peel Golf Club on the Isle of Man. (continue reading…)
Sure, it looks peaceful...
The case of 75-year-old Dubliner Thomas Talbot has long been a talking point in Irish golfing and legal circles.
As a member of Hermitage Golf Club – a tidy track in Lucan, West Dublin – the septuagenarian became embroiled in a dispute with the club’s committee over its decision to impose handicap reductions totaling nearly eight shots over a period of five years.
Alleging “defamation”, Talbot sued both the club and its then handicap secretary in 2006, for the perfectly reasonable sum of €10 million ($120 billionty-billion, approx.). (continue reading…)
Patrick Cantlay and Chris Williams: We're getting whooped so bad in this foursomes match
First of all, my thoughts are with the individuals and families who lost loved ones in 9/11 ten years ago. I wasn’t living in NYC then — it was one of my first few weeks as a freshman at Yale, just up the road — but as a resident for the last six years, I’m proud of the city I now call home.
Anyway, the US Walker Cup team received a letter from President George W. Bush on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Bush’s great-grandfather, George Herbert Walker, played a major role in establishing the amateur competition and donated the cup that bears his name. Via the AP: (continue reading…)
The victorious Great Britain & Ireland team capture the Cup
With the US Open tennis and NFL’s opening weekend, I’m not sure how many of you kept up with the Walker Cup, contested at Royal Aberdeen in Scotland. From what I saw in the highlights on Golf Central, I wish I’d caught more of the coverage, or heck, been at the matches. (continue reading…)
Because I lost our bet: Jason Kidd is an excellent human being, an incredible athlete and an even better golfer.
Even though I didn’t catch any of the US Amateur action last week at Chambers Bay, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about it and wishing I were. Whenever someone in the golf biz hears my roots are in the Seattle area, they ask, “Have you played Chambers Bay yet?” The answer is no. At least not yet. But you bet I will before the US Open rolls into town in 2015.
I relied on my friend and fellow writer Tony Dear for updates via email on Chambers and the event. I knew the reviews would be mixed because it’s a new venue and different (and we know how the pros feel about those two traits, but the amateurs are more receptive). Being that Tony is British and a good golfer, I trust his judgment when it comes to “links golf.”
