Algonkian

Played at Algonkian yesterday. Took the day off and had a very enjoyable round. Walked 18 and played from the blue tees (6,909 yards). This was a round that could have been a great one. I was hitting the ball really well. Made 11 pars...the problem is I also made 2 bogeys, 4 doubles and a triple. I had three penalty strokes as well. On just about every par I made, I had a reasonable putt for a birdie, but could not convert a single one. My first putts were good in the sense that I gave myself tap ins for par, but it could have been a great round.

Algonkian is in really good shape and I recommend players get out there before the heat of the summer....it usually gets a bit burnt in the summer heat.

Don't want to jinx it, but I am heading up to NY for business and am going to try and play Bethpage Black.....that will be my fourth US Open course.

A New Year

A new year and it time to get back to this blog. I am not a big fan of new year's resolutions, but I do plan on trying to post on this blog at least once a week. The posts may span more than just golf topics as I will need to find lots of things to say, but so goes it.

Snowing outside at the moment, so I am not feeling like I will be playing golf anytime soon. The last time I played was in December. I went down to Miami on a business trip and got the opportunity to play at Doral. I played the Great White course, not the Blue course. The weather was really nice...80 degrees. Shot an 82, which was pretty good considering I hadn't swung a club in about 3 months. The fitness level is in really good shape at the moment, so I am really excited about how I will play in 2010. Going to really make an effort to play this year....will be good to get the boys out to play on a regular basis.

The tour is on the west coast swing and Torrey Pines looks very inviting. Probably will log some TV time this weekend. I have no interest in the Tiger Woods situation and will not say anything about it. What I am interested in is the new groove situation. I don't know all the facts, but I do not believe that players should be allowed to play the Ping Eye2 wedges that do not conform to the current rules, even if they are grandfathered in. In my mind, they are not playing conforming clubs and should be disqualified. I have always been proud to be a golfer and a major reason is because golfers play with honor and police themselves. Unfortunately, I think any player who relies on this "loop whole" has taken the honor out of the game. My prediction is that something will be done about this within the next couple of weeks. Not sure what the PGA tour can do, but I believe that this is diminishing the brand and is detrimental to the game.

Golf Simulator

Yesterday, my buddy EB and I went to a golf simulator. Dan, over at Keep The Swing (http://www.ktsincgolf.com) have a real nice setup. They have two simulators and then a couple of indoor driving range areas. The simulator is in Hi-Def and has a selection of 14 courses you can play. EB and I played Pebble Beach. We had the simulator for an hour and a half and got in 17 holes (we skipped 16 so we could play 17 and 18). You play with your own clubs and real golf balls. There is an overhead camera and then two cameras in the corners. The cameras, in addition to sensors on the screen determine your trajectory, ball speed, launch angel, etc and then when you hit the ball into the screen, the ball then shows up on the screen and goes down the fairway. The tee shots and shots from the fairway are very realistic and accurate. The chipping and putting is a little far from reality, but still fun. One of the great things is that the cameras show you the swing path and location of where you hit the ball on the club face, which gives you some great feedback. You can really tell when you hit the ball a little off as it just does not go as far. The technology is so good that you can even play fades and draws. From a distance standpoint, I felt like my irons went further than I normally hit them and that my driver was shorter. I think part of it was that I was swinging pretty hard.

On to the results; I shot 75 and EB shot 80. We skipped a par 4, so need to add 4 or 5 strokes to that total. I will certainly be back to this place very soon as the practice and instant feedback is great. I am going to try and get to this place about three times a month during the winter and then when the weather warms up, it will hopefully be like I have been playing for 6 months.

Captain Pavin

Captain Pavin, I like the sound of that. Even though I am still on a high after Valhalla, I can't wait for 2010 and Celtic Manor. Before I get to Pavin and 2010, a couple more thoughts on Azinger. First, I think that it was the right decision to go with a new Captain. I see each Ryder Cup as a distinct event, and I would not want to spoil 2008 by trying to replicate it in 2010. Second, I was a little dissappointed that there was all this talk about Azingers strategy and the "pods". I think Azinger should have kept that one to himself and then passed it on the next captain...why tell the world.

I think Pavin was the right pick. The guy is a three time cupper, he won a tournament 2 years ago, he bleeds the Ryder Cup and no one will fight harder than Pavin. I think he will do a great job. It is a bit early to get to excited, but I think we are back on the right track. What I think will be interesting is who the captain will be in 2012. My pick right now is DL3. The guy is a PGA Champion, a veteran Ryder Cupper and everyone like Davis. I would even put a bet on right now that he makes the 2010 team. He is back on to form and I think he will have a big desire to make the team and then take over as captain in 2012.

Update

Haven't been playing any golf lately...and so no posts on the board. I was just going back and reading the last post on the Ryder Cup. Noticed on Sunday morning I picked the US to win 16-12. Turns out the final tally was 16 1/2 - 11 1/2, so I was pretty close with my pick.

The weather has started to turn cold here on the east coast, so not sure how much more golf I will get to play this year. That being said, I am really looking forward to next year. My knee is fully healed and I think I am going to get a package of lessons early in the spring. Really going to try and get the handicap down to single digits this year and start shooting some scores in the 70's.

Ryder Cup - Post 2

Sunday morning and three hours to the first ball of the day. Watched the entire day yesterday and was completely riveted the entire time. What a great set of matches. The golf was fantastic with some excellent matches. Read the paper this morning to see the pairings, and I like the US chances. I really like the way that Azinger went out with the big guns early. I think putting Anthony Kim out first was a brilliant pick. I don't want to spend a bunch of time analyzing all the pairings, but in the end, I think the US will win, 16-12. I am hoping for a close set of matches with a US win.

Ryder Cup - Post 1

Well, the teams are set and I am really starting to get Ryder Cup fever. Let me give you my perspective on the teams, especially the captains picks. Lets start with the Euros. Everyone seems to be fine with the Paul Casey pick, but they have really been giving Faldo a hard time because he did not pick Darren Clarke. I actually agree with the fact that Clarke should have been picked. The guy just won a couple of tournaments and is a Ryder Cup veteran. The guy plays extremely well under that type of pressure and if you pair him with Lee Westwood, you are almost guaranteed a point. I actually think Poulter is a good pick. I like the way the guy got fired up at the Open Championship when he thought he was making that putt for atleast a playoff. That was some serious pressure and if Harrington doesn't make that fantastic eagle on 17, the tournament could have been completely different.

On the US side, I totally agree with the Steve Stricker pick. I like the JB Holmes pick, except for the fact that he collapsed in the final round of the PGA. I don't like the Hunter Mahan and Chad Campbell picks at all. I just don't think they have played well enough this season to deserve a pick. My picks would have been Stricker and Woody Austin off the bat as they were 9 and 10 in the points. I would then have picked Rocco Mediate and Sean O'Hair. I would have picked Rocco for two reasons. First, they way the guy played at the US Open, especially how he went head to head with Tiger in the playoff. That was incredible. Second, the guys just does not quit. He has a great attitude and would bring that to the team, which I think they need. The attitude he brings is go out there and try to beat the other guys brains in, have fun and then after the match, go have a beer and laugh. I have heard some folks say that Rocco's back won't hold up. Rocco is not they guy you have play 36 holes in one day. If all you do is play him in one match on either Friday or Saturday, and then in singles, he stills brings a lot to the overall team. On O'Hair, I just like the way the guy plays. He doesn't get overly excited and the guy played to win at the Players.