The 2015 Grainy Awards
The Fourth Annual It’s that time of year again, when I gleefully recount the season just ended by bestowing the Grainy Awards. They are the Oscars of the outdoors, the Grammies of the greens, and my heartfelt attempt to recognize the up and downs of golf. Humanitarian Award: Dr. Patricia J. Vittum The well-deserved recipient […]
Making Merion Tough
Read Tim’s observations leading into the U.S. Open Championship at Merion.
Anchoring: The Problem Isn’t With The Rule, It’s With The Rules Makers
No matter what you think of the proposed ban on putter anchoring, you should be upset by how the USGA/R&A went about the process. I don’t mean giving 90 days to discuss it, but how it came about at all years after they had the chance to nip it in the bud and didn’t. Are […]
Presidents Cup 2011
Even though the President’s Cup wouldn’t normally excite me, an Australian visit a few years back put Royal Melbourne among my personal top ten favorite golf courses. The Alister MacKenzie layout is a classic and for a competition of this nature is sure to test the players and enthuse the galleries. From the telecasts, I’ve […]
It’s Not the Open I Remember
Sitting here watching Rory McIlroy go to 16 under after four holes in the final round of the U.S. Open, listening to the announcers tell me that he won’t have more than a wedge into any of Congressional Country Club’s par fours on the front nine, makes absolutely no sense. A wedge? You can blame […]
Can Golf Be Fun?
Right about at this time of year, with the U.S. Open starting in a few days, the golf world is bracing for its annual bitch-fest, the carping and complaining from the pros about how difficult the course is, how poorly it’s set up, and how the brutal conditions will show them at their worst. Yet […]
Augusta National and The Masters
I am a sports junkie and spring is my favorite time of year. Which button on the TV remote do I press and what sport do I watch? Hockey, basketball, baseball, horse racing and most importantly right now – golf! No, not Johnny Miller and weekly “down-grain, cross-grain, double grain and towards the setting sun […]
I’M BACK…..
We’re already two weeks into 2011 and my huge fan base (at least 2) has been clamoring for new posts and wondering why I haven’t offered my predictions for the new year. But first a little reminiscing. What did we accomplish in 2010? Not much… We did not see the industry turn around. It’s still […]
2011 – Thank Goodness It’s Almost Here!
Summer couldn’t end soon enough for superintendents across the country, especially in the north and southeast where extreme heat and humidity did some serious damage to even the best-maintained courses. 2010 witnessed the worst weather in more than 25 years, and I’m sure there’s a lot more gray hair—if there’s any hair left at all—on […]
My Cups Runneth Over
September is my favorite time of year. Temperatures are cooling down, which in any year-but especially this one-means golf courses will be less stressed by heat and we can start preparing for next season.But I also love fall because I’m almost as crazy about hockey as I am about golf. The pre-season has already begun […]
