Ryder Cup- Day 2 Pairings and Thoughts

The matches for the Saturday morning session have been released and perhaps the most shocking thing about them is that Tiger Woods has been left off the pairings for the first time in his career. Though given his play during day 1, this is not surprising. Now, on to the matches.

Webb Simpson & Bubba Watson vs. Justin Rose & Ian Poulter
This has potential to be another blow out from the team of Simpson/Watson or a tough match between two teams that both won on Friday. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Bubba Watson might not be the best golfer for Foursomes given his ability to hit the ball from one side of the course to another, but Capt. Love obviously has confidence in him. The Americans would be well served to get off to a strong start here to keep the good momentum from Day 1 on their side.

Keegan Bradley & Phil Mickelson vs. Lee Westwood & Luke Donald
The Americans are certainly hoping this team keeps up it's solid play and can pull out another point in this competition. Westwood should be riding high after today's play, getting a win over Tiger Woods. If Bradley and Mickelson can maintain their solid play this should be a point for the American side.

Jason Dufner & Zach Johnson vs. Nicolas Colsaerts & Sergio Garcia
Given Colsaerts world beating play Friday afternoon, this one will likely have the Americans sweating it out, possibly for a loss. Dufner & Johnson won their Friday morning match but that was against players not nearly as hot as Colsaerts and Garcia.

Jim Furyk & Brandt Snedeker vs. Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell
One has to suspect the Northern Irelend pairing will not be changed out for Saturday afternoon either, given their fair results on Friday. Expect this match to turn out the same as it did on Friday morning.

Projected Saturday Morning session results: 2-2
Projected Overall: 7-5 USA leading

Have to wait and see what the actual matches bring and then on into the afternoon.

Ryder Cup- Day 1

Today was certainly a day for the young guys on the US Ryder Cup team.

Tiger Woods continued his poor play in the Ryder Cup going 0-2 in the days matches while Phil Mickelson was buoyed by the strong play of Keegan Bradley and went 2-0 on the first day of play for the first time in his career. The shot Phil hit on the 17th hole in the afternoon Four-Ball match was simply magnificent. The day's good play gives the American team a lead going into the second day for only the second time since 1995.

The first match of the day with Rory and Graeme facing off with Furyk and Snedeker went much as one would expect before the Americans ran off 3 birdies in 4 holes on the back nine to extend the match. Indeed, the American team was lucky to make it past the 14th hole, as was mentioned on this site in the preview. From there, the teams of Mickelson & Bradley and Dufner & Z. Johnson won their matches, showing that perhaps these matches will hinge on the play of the  younger players on the American side. After those matches, the perpetual Ryder Cup underachiever Tiger Woods went off with Steve Stricker and Woods did what is somewhat standard for him in the Cup, that is, of course, lose. So with that, the American team came out of the Morning session with a 2-2 tie, which given recent American failures in Foursomes is solid.

In the afternoon, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson came out of the gate like men beating out a fire and wound up winning the match 5&4, which is closer than the match really was given that the Americans were up 6 through 8 holes. From there the young teams came out and won two more matches before Woods & Stricker lost to the exceptional team of Colsaerts and Westwood; Colsaerts had 7 birdies and an eagle on his own ball. But that put the Americans up 3-1 in the afternoon matches for an overall lead of 5-3 after Day 1.

Captain Love should announce his pairings for Saturday shortly, though if he has any intelligence at all he will under no circumstances break up the pair of Mickelson & Bradley while breaking up Woods and Stricker quickly. But whatever he does, he need not stop this train while it's got good momentum. More to follow once pairings are released.

Ryder Cup 2012

Obviously Captain Davis Love III does not share the NHL superstition of not touching the Cup prior to the win. Hopefully his grasping the Cup goes the same way it did for Sidney Crosby when he grabbed the Prince of Wales Trophy prior to the Stanley Cup.

Recent history is not the best place to look if one is to have high hopes for American victory. The American team has won only 4 times since 1985 and two of those wins are rather controversial. And indeed the record of American players is just as bad as the team record. Hopefully, though, having 4 rookies on the team will give the team a needed infusion of new, "dumb" talent. Dumb meaning not having those demons in the bag from multiple losses. Hopefully these rookies step up and take some control because if we are to go with history, waiting on Tiger or Phil to lead the charge to victory will only lead to 2 more years without the Ryder Cup.

Hopefully the American team can start off well in the Friday morning Foursomes session. However, the first match, on paper, does not look very appealing. The inconsistent Jim Furyk teams with the currently hot Brandt Snedeker to face World #1 Rory McIlroy and his countryman and good friend Graeme McDowell. The Americans will likely be lucky to make it past the 14th hole in this match. The two middle matches seem relatively even on paper. The anchor match of the morning has Tiger Woods, who, despite his records elsewhere, has been a perennial underachiever in the Ryder Cup, and Steve Stricker facing off against Justin Rose and good friend Ian Poulter. That should be a solid match.

A perfect situation for the Americans would be to come out of the session leading 4-0, but considering recent American mediocrity in Foursomes, a 2-2 tie would be a good result. The Americans need a good start to the event to make sure the Chicago crown is energized and even a bit rowdy heading to the afternoon matches.

And, if there is any question of this writers objectivity during the upcoming matches, let us settle that quickly:

Clear enough??

Golf Book Reviews: A Nasty Bit of Rough (David Feherty: 2003)

This book starts off with the unbelievable and goes forward to being absolutely hilarious. During any number of times through the book, you will likely find yourself laughing out loud, possibly to the point of tears. In the course of the book, we go from a competition where the good guys win, to the bad guys getting over on them, and finally back to the good guys coming out on top.

The main characters are all old friends of Feherty's "Uncle Dicky." Most of these men are old war veterans. And it's such a various cast as to be completely unbelievable. Among the (formerly) all male membership, the craziest character is a person who underwent a sex change operation so that the club wouldn't have to accept a new, female member. The imagination Feherty must have to come up with that is incredible.

And that is really just the tip of the iceberg in this book. From cover to cover, this may be the funniest book on golf you will ever read.

Navistar LPGA Classic-Final Round

Stacy Lewis held off the low scoring defending champ Lexi Thompson today to win her third LPGA Tour event of the year and sweep the two events in Alabama on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. She shot a total of 35 (THIRTY-FIVE, just to make it clear) shots under par in 8 rounds on the Trail this year. Who knows how many more birdies she had in practice rounds. That number either flies in the face of how supposedly difficult the Trail courses are or shows how vastly better Tour players are than the rest of the golf world. Probably equal parts both, really.

This win also comes close to solidifying her as the Player of the Year for the LPGA Tour. That is quite an accomplishment and she would be the first American to win that award in nearly two decades (Beth Daniel, 1994)  Hopefully she can continue her outstanding play as the LPGA Tour goes on an international swing for the next two months before returning to Orlando and the Grand Cypress Golf Club for the season ending Titleholders event.

All in all, a very good day for Miss Lewis. It would seem that the Roll Tiders and War Eagles didn't get out of hand given the prospect of a Hog winning in their state during football season. Best of luck to Stacy the rest of the year.

Navistar LPGA Classic-Day 3

It would seem that the cheers emanating from the Johnny B household today have propelled Stacy Lewis to the lead of the Navistar. Well, cheers and that massive kettle of skills she is able to draw from. She shot a bogey free round of 65 today while the second round leader and defending champion Lexi Thompson had struggles, shooting a 74. As an aside, I remember watching her on TV during parts of the 2007 Women's Open which she qualified for at the mind blowing age of 12 when she was still going by her full name of Alexis, but I digress.

Stacy Lewis must have a thing about Alabama, this year at least. About her round, she said “I think going into today I knew I needed to make birdies just the way the scores had been all day, and you don't know if you're ever going to start off like that. “You can kind of hit it good warming up, but you never really know what you're going to take to the course.” It would certainly seem that today she successfully navigated the toughest yardage in golf, that from the practice tee to the first tee. 

She also spoke about her tee shots not seeming to roll out as far as they normally do which is probably due to a combination of bermuda grass fairways being slower than many other types, the massive rainfall that Capitol Hill has gotten recently and the fact that the RTJ Trail tends to keep courses a bit soft and slow in general, even without the extra rain. This on a "links style" course. Yes, indeed, the Trail has quite a ways to go before it can advertise anything as a "links," at least among those who know what a real links should be.

Lexi Thompson fell off the pace a bit and from the looks of her interview she was in no mood to talk. Any time a professional answers a question "um-hmm" it was a bad day. Good for her being bold enough to give a real answer like that. When asked what she intended to do after the round and into the night to clear her mind she said "just hang out, eat dinner, have fun." Another refreshing, real answer. Let's hope she doesn't start giving the Nuke LaLoosh cliche answers like many other professional golfers. 

Tomorrow has two possibilities, given that Stacy Lewis holds a two shot lead. One, she could start off hot and put the tournament out of reach for the other golfers. This is certainly the scenario she would prefer. Two, she could play an average round, allowing the other players to get into contention, closing the gap on her. This could lead to a down to the wire finish which fans would love to see for the drama. Either way, tune into it tomorrow, watch some good golf and check out one of the fabulous courses we have here in Alabama.

Navistar LPGA Classic-Day 2

Lexi Thompson shot a 3 under par 69 today to maintain the lead in the Navistar LPGA Tour event at Capitol Hill. She is being chased by Mi Jung Hur of South Korea and Mindy Kim of the United States, two golfers Johnny B has never heard of. Stacy Lewis sits 4 shots back in 11th place, having a chance to sweep the events in Alabama this year after winning the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic earlier this year.

In the post round interview, Lexi Thompson seemed as though she was not impressed with her round today, transcript of the interview can be seen HERE. Of course, how many very good and great golfers are ever satisfied with their rounds?

As for Johnny B, well, the cheers are being directed towards Stacy Lewis. I first saw her playing on the range at the 2007 US Women's Open at Pine Needles and have followed here playing career thus far with interest. Here's hoping she adds another trophy to the case.

Coverage starts, live, tomorrow at 2pm on Golf Channel.


PGA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
In other news, the men are at East Lake, just a short drive up the road from the current Johnny B homestead. The course looks fantastic as always and it is hoped that the opportunity to play there comes sooner, rather than later. And, in spite of his philandering ways, the cheers are going to Tiger. He needs more wins and money less than I need more golf ball display cases, but lets face it, we're witnessing history with him and it's never bad to see him make a little more.

Navistar LPGA Classic

This week the LPGA Tour is in Johnny B's current state of Alabama, playing on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail site at Capitol Hill's Senator course. Man, that's a long winded name for a golf course. This course is advertised as a links style course due to it's lack of tree lining and pot bunkers. However, one thing it is missing that links courses most certainly have is the option for the player to roll the ball onto most of the greens. But the nice ladies on the LPGA Tour don't mind that and probably don't even think about the style of the course.

Thursday saw Lexie Thompson shoot a 63 to take the lead in the tournament she won last year. She is certainly an exceptional talent in golf. However, one has to wonder if, perhaps, people are being pushed to do things at such young ages. It was just ten years ago that the golf world looked on in shock at young Ty Tryon attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour. Now, it is not that uncommon for kids not old enough to vote having full playing status on a major golf tour. There was even a ten year old who qualified for the US Women's Amateur this year. Best of luck to them all in the future.

Strangely, as much as the RTJ Trail prides itself on having numerous very difficult courses, this course, along with Magnolia Grove (Crossings) in Mobile, seems to be among the easier on tour yeilding scores deep into double digits under par. Of course, it should be noted that the Tour event is played at 6,607 yards, substantially forward of the 7,724 yard back tee yardage.

We'll just all have to wait and see how play turns out today and then leads into the weekend. However, if historical trends are any indication, it is likely that the finish will come right down to the eighteenth green, and while the eventual winner won't like that, we, the fans, certainly will. TV coverage will be on Golf Channel.

Anchorage, Alaska Golf Summary

So during a recent trip to Alaska, the writers here played six courses, five 18 hole courses and one 9 hole course. Those six are added to another played a few years ago means that seven of the ten courses in close proximity Anchorage (close being defined by normal distances, not Alaska Distance; to some in Alaska, Fairbanks is "just up the road" from Anchorage...yet it's 6 1/2 hours and 360 miles away) Of these seven, all six of the 18 hole courses in the area are included. These courses are generally of fair quality.

Ranked from top to bottom, in this writers opinion, the courses played are:

Eagleglen GC: 6

Anchorage GC: 6

Moose Run (Creek): 5

Settlers Bay GC: 4

Palmer GC: 4

Moose Run (Hill): 3

Fishhook [9 holes]: 2

Those numbers are certainly respectable for a city of nearly 300,000 residents, plus more in the metro area. In fact, they may be just as good as most comparable metro areas in the United States, especially if only considering public courses. After all, what is the level of quality of golf in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York when all the private clubs are thrown out? No, truth be told, the residents of this part of Alaska have a great selection of courses to play. Anchorage is not exactly a golf travel destination like Myrtle Beach or Pinehurst by any means, but the courses are of fairly high quality for locals and visitors.

All the reviews for courses played are linked above.

This area has some very unique features with which it must struggle. On top of the inhospitable winter weather, the courses also must deal with the fact that they get virtually no play from non-local golfers. And the courses certainly have no national members such as courses in places like Park City, Utah that have similar weather conditions. But overall, the Anchorage metro area has a solid selection of golf courses and those courses are good enough to hold the interest of golfers.

Settlers Bay Golf Course- Wasilla, AK

This is the only housing development course in Alaska and the course uses that tidbit of information in it's advertising, though this writer is not sure if saying your courses is routed through houses is really a good thing. But that aside, the course is not bad. It has some up and down spots, as most do, but as a whole, it is a fair course. However, it must be said that having the range and first tee occupiying the most scenic part of the property might not have been the best way to route the course. On the front nine, the houses are generally not obtrusive, only coming into play on a single hole. However, on the back nine, they are more in play, indeed it seems that one hole was even altered due to homes being built. This course is certainly not the best course in Alaska, but it'd not a poor choice either.

Holes to Note

Hole #1: Par 4, 429 yards

Occupying the finest piece of ground on the entire property is never really a good thing for the first hole. However, this one does. The hole itself is not a bad hole, quality dogleg left that plays substantially downhill off the tee and overlooks Pioneer Peak in the distance. The best play off the tee is to play to the inside of the dogleg, over the depression. This widens the fairway and shortens the approach. The shot to the green is uphill to a modestly defended green that has some decent interest. Good opening hole in general, but sadly, the scenery never again comes close to matching that from the first tee.

From the tee, the hole opens up nicely for the player with the mountains providing a beautiful backdrop.

From the fairway, the player is left with this uphill approach.

From up close, the interior movements and fall-offs are visible

Hole #7, 630 yards

Playing downhill from just below the clubhouse, this is the longest par 5 on the course. On colder days, this hole would play as a real monster. The hole plays dead straight and really just requires the player hit two solid shots in order to be left with a reasonable shot into the green. But the green is one of the best this writer has played in the state. It sits as a biarritz green (which just warms the heart, naturally) and can be approached either from the air or on the ground, as it should. The green certainly makes up for the otherwise average nature of the hole.

From the tee, the player is not shown any options. The play is simply to hit the fairway as far off the tee as possible.

On the second shot, though it cannot be seen here the proper play is down the left side of the fairway, leaving a better angle into the green. It should be noted that the cart path crossing the fairway is a real eye sore. Why do courses do that?

Once closer to the greenm the bunkers that protect the putting surface are visible. This green is not a 100% biarritz green because it is aligned at a slight angle from the fairway/approach, but it is very close.

Here, the central valley and the front and rear plateaus are visible. The front pin, as usual, offers it's own unique challenges for distance control. The ball seen in the picture roughly a yard off the right fringe landed perhaps 5 yards right and 1 yard long of the flag, then released out to 35-40 feet from the cup. One has to wonder how many of the golfers here recognize the similarity in the green contours?

Hole #13: Par 4, 313 yards

This hole is of note only because it is a very poor hole. The golfer, upon leaving the 11th green, is not given a direct route to the tee. He must walk down to directly in front of the teeing area and then back about 75 yards to get to the back tees. Once there, he finds a teeing area that could have its own postal address. The tee is situated between the back decks of two nice homes and might actually draw a crowd to watch during a tournament. From there, the hole plays downhill. There is a bunker situated on the right side of the fairway roughly 250 yards off the tee. The best play is to play as close to the bunker as possible, or over it for the longest players, to leave the best shot into the green.

From the back tee, there seems to be little room for error, though the opening is slightly wider than it would appear. The bench visible by the forward tee pad is roughly where the player arrives after leaving the 11th green before walking back to the tee. The target bunker is visible in the center of the image with a house directly behind it.

On the second shot, the golfer is confronted with one of the worst hazards this writer has ever seen. The bunker sized hazard on the right is not a bunker, it is a fronting pond. This green is one of the highest points of the course, so there is no need for the pond from a drainage perspective. It is simply there to inflict severe penalty on the golfer. This course had significant potential to be good until this hole. From here, the course just goes downhill.

As mentioned above, the course starts off very well on the first hole and the entire front nine is generally solid. But the back nine is very lacking. Holes 10 and 11 are good, but from there, the course really staggers to the finish. 4 out of 10