Wednesday, April 7, 2010

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“[Ads by Yahoo!] Start Your Career In <b>Golf</b>” plus 3 more

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[Ads by Yahoo!] Start Your Career In <b>Golf</b>

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Golf Clinic at Castle Creek

On Wednesday, February 3rd, 30 students from the class hosted a clin...

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On the bag: Augusta National is the 'ultimate test' in <b>golf</b>

Posted: 07 Apr 2010 07:41 AM PDT

"All of them."

Johnson chuckles in agreement.

"If you are a little bit off with your game, that's a golf course that will magnify your weaknesses pretty quickly," says Johnson, who held off Tiger Woods down the stretch on a bitterly cold Easter Sunday to claim his green jacket. "That's true whether you're hitting a driver, a 4-iron, a sand wedge or even your putter. It's just an amazing golf course where, unless you've played there, you have no idea how much difference a foot — a single foot — can mean to a golf shot."

For all its beauty, mystique and tradition — Magnolia Lane, Amen Corner, Rae's Creek, Wednesday's Par-3 Tournament, Bobby Jones' lasting presence, azaleas in full bloom, caddies clad in white jumpsuits and the green jacket — the golf course that unfolds over rolling hills tees up bone-chilling terror.

"During The Masters, it is the ultimate test in golf," says three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, whose best finishes at Augusta National were ties for fifth in 2002 and 2008. "You have to be in top form with every club in your bag to do well at Augusta. You can face every shot there is in golf in every round you play there.

"The course rewards you for hitting proper golf shots and destroys you for hitting dreadful shots. And Augusta is at its most intimidating when you are coming down the stretch."

Two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson says Augusta National is a gem that shines as the most complete test in golf.

"For starters, you have to be creative there, and your short game has to be impeccable," says Mickelson, who donned the green jacket in 2004 and 2006. "The greens there are the most demanding greens you will ever face, whether you are putting on them or chipping onto them.

"And your distance control has to be perfect, or you will find plenty of trouble. And you must avoid the trees. If you hit into the trees, you really don't have a chance."

Today, there have never been as many trees to avoid since the course was cut out of the Georgia pines and dogwoods. While changes have always been made at what has truly become a shrine to the game since the club's opening in 1933, the so-called "Tiger proofing" of Augusta National following Woods' record-shattering win in 1997 has really altered the course's complexion.

After Woods dismantled the course with a record score of 18-under-par 270 to win by 12 shots over Tom Kite, the men in the green jackets who run Augusta National moved to combat the game's technological advancements by reinforcing the course's defenses — especially beginning in 2002.

An intermediate cut of rough has been added. New tees were put in to add length. Trees were planted, and bunkers were added, shifted and deepened to narrow fairways and pinch landing areas. Drainage systems under each putting surface were installed to provide the competition committee the power to modify the firmness of each green at the touch of a button.

In 1997, the course played to 6,925 yards. This year it can stretch out to 7,435 yards. The fairway bunker on the right of No. 1 is now a 330-yard carry. The par-3 fourth is now a 240-yard haul, which led to Woods once saying he might need to tee off with a driver. The seventh hole is a 450-yard uphill bowling alley with lanes of trees rimming a slim fairway and leading to a severely slanted green fortified by five bunkers.

The 11th is a downhill sliver of fairway protected by pines on both sides and measures 505 yards — 50 yards longer than when Woods won his first of four green jackets in 1997. The par-5 15th, with its imposing and dream-shattering pond fronting the green, is 530 yards. The uphill, slight dogleg right 18th is 465 yards, some 50 to 55 yards longer than in 1997 when Woods overpowered it with a driver and sand wedge.

"It's certainly not the same experience," Woods said last year about the course. "The golf course has changed quite a bit. Your strategy has changed. You don't go out there looking to shoot super-low rounds because they are not out there anymore, especially with these conditions that we have had the last two years.

"If it calms down, I am sure you can probably shoot one of those good numbers, but there's going to be a different way of doing it."

In 2007 and 2008, cold weather and gusting winds played a major role in making an even-par round the exception rather than the rule. But when Angel Cabrera won a three-man playoff to claim his first green jacket in 2009, he finished regulation play at 12-under 276. With Mother Nature bathing Augusta National with a warm embrace and little wind in the final round, many players, most notably Woods and Mickelson, woke up the echoes that once roared through the pines with spine-tingling charges.

Still, as difficult as Augusta National has become with the super-sized additions, no one thinks even for a millisecond about ignoring the special invitation that arrives in the mail each year.

"I'll be honest, the first time I was ever invited to The Masters, I was more excited for that practice round, more excited to see the golf course, than I ever have been in my life," says Jim Furyk, who finished a career-best fourth at Augusta in 1998 and 2003. "It is just a special place.

"In my opinion, Augusta National would be like the American St. Andrews as far as tournament golf is concerned. Everyone is dying to get in The Masters."

In their own words

Brandt Snedeker has played Augusta National about 45 times, first as a collegiate golfer at Vanderbilt. In 2008, he briefly took the lead in the final round of The Masters before finishing third. Here is what he had to say about Augusta National:

The most dramatic thing I noticed the first time I saw the course was how small the greens were. And how much elevation change there is. On TV, the 18th green looks massive. You play it, and it's a relatively small green. It's shocking to see it the first time. And the elevation changes — which don't look so dramatic on TV — are unbelievable.

On the 13th, it's like swinging a baseball bat when you are in the middle of the fairway. So you have to practice so many shots from so many different lies to get ready. You are never hitting a shot from a flat lie unless you are on the tee.

Just as shocking is the fact you have to feel comfortable on that golf course, because there are so many nuances, so many places on the golf course where you absolutely can't miss with your shot. And then you put 35,000, 40,000 people in there, where every hole is packed with people, and they are all there watching you from Thursday through Sunday.

You just have to find as much calmness as you can, and that comes from preparation. That's why you don't see many first-time winners there. And that's why you find so many guys who have won multiple times there.

It's so hard to control your emotions because the course is so penal for being just 1 yard off. You can hit a good golf shot and just miss your spot by 1 yard, and you're hurt so severely. There's no way around that, so it's so hard to

keep your mind in check when there are times you are playing well and end up in trouble time and time again. That course is great at luring you into a (false) sense of security, where you are thinking you're playing well, and all of a sudden you're nine holes into your round and 5 over par. There is such a fine line between hitting a great shot and a bad shot there. It's unlike any other golf course I've ever been on.

There are two spots on every hole, depending on pin position, where you can't end up. If the pin is in the back on the first hole, you can't be over the green. If the pin is on the front left of the green you just cannot be in the left bunker. For every pin position on every green, there literally is at least one place you cannot be. And this becomes so much tougher to deal with because every golfer will tell you that one of the hardest things to do in golf when you are playing well is to shoot away from the pin.

Ochoa goes global

Saying it is her responsibility to reach out and help as much as she can, world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa is hoping to take her golf foundation to all four corners of the world.

Last week Ochoa announced an ambitious plan during the Kraft Nabisco Championship in which the mission of the Lorena Ochoa Golf Foundation is to reach under-represented people in golf and provide them with the opportunity to enjoy the game and to possibly pursue careers in golf. Ochoa has already set up facilities in Mexico and is looking at sites in China and the USA. Beyond that, who knows?

"We are professionals. What we do for a living and the opportunity that we have is amazing, and I will always be very thankful, and I want to share that and help as much as I can," Ochoa said.

One of the first official functions of the foundation is a fundraising tournament April 6 at Industry Hills Golf Course in Industry, Calif. Ochoa's hope is to make it an annual tournament.

Jason Taylor, CEO of the Lorena Ochoa Golf Foundation, said the demographics of golf in the USA are "a little out of skew, and it's the goal of the foundation to change that through outreach programs, through alliances with other groups to provide opportunities and introduce new people to the game in a fun and festive way and keep them in the game, but also teach them how to play the game."

Taylor said the foundation is working with the Southern California Section of the PGA and is building a pilot program at the Goose Creek Golf Course Public Facility in Mira Loma, Calif., which will feature the latest technology in the world of golf.

"We want to take golf directly into schools and faith-based groups and directly into civic groups," Ochoa said. "We want to create new golfers."

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Stats and quotes

Stat of the week: 3. Number of players who have won The Masters in back-to-back years. Jack Nicklaus was the first to turn the trick in 1965-66, then Nick Faldo in 1989-90 and then Tiger Woods in 2001-02.

Quote of the week: "I thought we were going skiing." —Suzann Pettersen after the first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, in which she took the lead with a 67. Cold winds greeted players before a warming trend that featured little wind rolled in for the rest of the week. Pettersen could not catch close friend and frequent practice partner Yani Tseng, who won her second major championship with a one-shot victory over Pettersen, who has now gone T2, T2, fifth and second in the last four years of the first major of the season on the LPGA tour.

Chip-ins

Pro Football Hall of Fame electee Jerry Rice accepted a sponsor's exemption to compete in the Nationwide Tour's upcoming Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in the San Francisco Bay area April 15-18. He will double as the tournament's host with proceeds benefiting the Jerry Rice 127 Foundation. … World Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Watson has been named the 2010 Ambassador of Golf by Northern Ohio Golf Charities. The Ambassador of Golf Award is presented annually to a person or persons who have fostered the ideals of the game on an international level and whose concern for others extends beyond the golf course. Watson, who owns eight major championship titles, is active in the Kansas City area's charitable endeavors, ALS fundraising efforts and development of golf courses for junior players, and has made several trips to the Middle East to visit military bases. Watson will be honored Aug. 4 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, in conjunction with the Bridgestone Invitational. …

LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Juli Inkster is the recipient of the 2010 Patty Berg Award in recognition of her many contributions to women's golf. The award, instituted in 1978 by the LPGA Board of Directors and first awarded in 1979, is named in honor of LPGA Founder and Hall of Famer, Patty Berg. Since winning three consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur titles (1980-82) and subsequently being named Golf Digest's 'Rookie of the Year' in 1983, Inkster has collected more than 30 career victories, along with a string of awards and honors in her nearly three decades on Tour.

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'To Live and Die in Dixie' gives life to great <b>golf</b> mystery

Posted: 07 Apr 2010 12:05 PM PDT

April 7, 2010 -- Even the most hard-core golf junkies have likely never heard of J. Douglas Edgar, and that is a shame. So, too, is it a shame the fate that befell him on a deserted downtown Atlanta street one August night in 1921.

Thankfully, acclaimed Atlanta author and former PGA Professional Steve Eubanks makes sure that those fortunate enough to read the true story of To Live and Die in Dixie not only learn all about Edgar, a English immigrant who became one of the finest golfers of his -- or any -- generation, but also that sordid rumors, intrigue, mystery, corruption and tortured sports stars are not confined to the Tiger Woods era.

We also learn that a man named Comer Howell of the famous Howell family in Atlanta, a budding newspaper reporter whose father was the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution, would stumble upon a grizzly scene in the late night hours of Aug. 8, 1921, on West Peachtree Street. There Comer and two colleagues spied in the headlights of his Cadillac a man lying the street struggling to stay alive.

But his wound -- specifically, a puncture to his femoral artery -- proved mortal, and J. Douglas Edgar, the beloved head golf professional at Druid Hills Golf Club and friend and informal instructor to the great Bobby Jones and countless others, lay dead in a pool of blood before the three men. From that frightening moment on, Comer Howell's life -- and his life's mission -- would never be the same.

After initially assuming that Edgar's demise was the result of a hit-and-run accident, Comer almost immediately begins to doubt his seemingly obvious deduction as to the cause of death and spends his days trying to uncover the truth. Alas, many factors -- among them political cronyism, racism and the societal norms of the time -- conspire to make his quest a frustrating and fruitless endeavor, one that would haunt him until his death.

And while an official coroner's inquest and police investigation would establish the cause of death as a hit-and-run accident, Comer and Atlanta police detective J.W. Lowe begin to look into Edgar's life, his character and his many acquaintances. The possible role of a Japanese prostitute and local Japanese hotel owner with ties to organized crime add to the mystery. From there, Eubanks rolls out an intriguing storyline that turns into a whale of a whodunit.

Adding to the story -- and the mystery -- is Edgar's love of drink and the company of beautiful women, both of which figure into his fate.

To those who have never heard of Edgar or his accomplishments or his untimely and mysterious death, Eubanks, through exhaustive and extensive research and entertaining and descriptive prose, tells the reader that Edgar was a highly intelligent man who through sheer determination and will crafted himself into a terrific golfer and the inventor of the modern golf swing. His discovery that the legs and hips provided the real power and control behind the golf swing revolutionized the game, and players of all skill levels sought his instruction.

Like most who have fallen victim to the lure and clutches of golf, so, too, did Edgar. From the first time he picked up a wooden-shafted club as a young lad and tried to hit a golf ball -- he whiffed his first eight swings before making contact -- he was hopelessly hooked. He spent the next several years of his life determined to master this new and frustrating game, when he finally and quite by accident unlocked the secret to the swing. Calling it "The Gate," Edgar's new swing transformed the game and led to him becoming one of the greatest players of his day.

To wit, Harry Vardon, the only six-time winner of the British Open and arguably the greatest golfer in the world at the turn of the 20th century, said of Edgar, "This is a man who will one day be the greatest of us all." To back up Vardon's claim, Edgar won the 1914 French Open, the 1919 and '20 Canadian Open championships -- the first by a record 16 shots -- and lost the 1920 PGA Championship in a match-play final to Jock Hutchison.

Remarkably, Edgar's margin of victory in the 1919 Canadian Open remains a record on the PGA Tour to this day. Look it up.

But Edgar's burgeoning and promising career -- and his colorful life, which lasted just 36 years -- ended on that dark street in downtown Atlanta. And to this day, no one knows for sure how it happened.

Eubanks blends beautiful words with exquisite phrases to take us back to a simpler time when men wore suits and ties when they played golf, and women wore corsets and bonnets when they sipped tea with pointed pinkies and, of course, gossiped. His descriptions of a young and growing Atlanta, of an ancient England and the birth and evolution of golf would fit well into any history book. He also captures and portrays the language and speech patterns of people on both sides of the Pond to a T.

Through person-to-person interviews with Edgar's descendents and those of his contemporaries, as well as through trips to England, Scotland and Canada to personally inspect the records and accounts of Edgar's life, Eubanks gives us both a thorough history of the birth and evolution of the game of golf and the sad story of a man most would never have heard of.

What a shame that would have been.

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Augusta National <b>Golf</b> Club chairman Billy Payne: Tiger Woods disappointed everyone

Posted: 07 Apr 2010 10:27 AM PDT

Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The chairman of Augusta National Golf Club had harsh words for Tiger Woods, saying the world's best golfer disappointed everyone with his sex scandal and didn't live up to expectations as a role model.

Billy Payne said Wednesday that Woods won't be judged in the future solely on his performance as a golfer, but by the sincerity of his efforts to change as a person.

"As he now says himself, he forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility," Payne said during his annual state of the Masters news conference. "It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here. It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids."

Woods is returning to competitive golf for the first time since a Thanksgiving night car crash unleashed reports of a secret private life that included numerous extramarital affairs. He was dropped by several major sponsors and spent 45 days in therapy.

"Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children," Payne said. "I hope he now realizes that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing, but would settle for his smile."

Woods will tee off in the next-to-last group Thursday afternoon with K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar, in pursuit of his 15th major championship and fifth Masters title.

"We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past," Payne said. "This year, it will not be just for him, but for all of us who believe in second chances.

"Is there a way forward? I hope yes. I think yes. But certainly his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change."

Payne declined to answer specific questions about Woods, saying his prepared remarks were all he wanted to say on the matter. The chairman also refused to address any extra security measures that were put in place after Woods announced he would return to the game at the year's first major championship.

However, Payne did scoff at the notion that Woods' decision to play at Augusta will steal attention from the tournament itself.

"We don't look at things that way," Payne said. "We are very secure in who we are, and the Masters has almost now a 74-year history. We just kind of do things our way. We are not threatened by other big news stories or things like that."


Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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