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.