Winner Winner

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! That is what I have been saying the last couple days of golf. On Friday, I won a raffle (after playing in the WEBN Frog Open at Walden Ponds) that gave me 2 tickets to each of the last 4 UC football games this year. Then, on Saturday, I won a golf outing that gave me a round trip airline ticket to anywhere in the continental US. I can't wait for the next event!

Golf Round

I have been struggling for a while now. I just can't get the club to point at the target consistently at the top of the backswing. It is laid off always.

The first 9-holes was an absolute nightmare. I didn't have any pars and shot 45. Something must have clicked on #17 though. I made birdie on that hole and started to turn things around.

The second 9-holes was much better. I had 3 birdies and a bogey, shooting 34 for a total of 79. If someone would have told me I was going to shoot 79 today like that, I probably would have laughed at them. It was just such and up and down day.

Club Championship

So the Club Championship is this weekend and I am hitting the ball like garbage. I am going to have to get some work in beforehand just so I don't embarrass myself. Hopefully I will play well enough to win something this time. The last three years, I haven't won any prizes. I'll update after the day one (Saturday).

The Men's Met

The last two days were not so good, especially yesterday. I played Terrace Park Country Club in Milford, Ohio and just absolutely hit the ball everywhere. I mainly had a few bad holes, but I just couldn't get anything together and ended up shooting a horrible 87. The first three holes there I went, par, double bogey and quadruple bogey (5-6-8). Starting out 6 over par in the first three holes never helps the occasion. I thought I might have a chance to get some birdies, but just left everything short on the greens, which seems to be a re-occurring theme over the past week.

Today at The Ridge Club near Montgomery Road in Cincinnati, I hit the ball much better, but missed a few greens on the back 9 and the ones I did hit, I seemed to be in the wrong position on the green (above the hole). The greens were really quick and I just couldn't get the ball to stop around the hole on the downhill putts. Even though my score was 78, I felt I played much better than that indicates. Hopefully next year will be better...

US Public Links Qualifier

So today wasn't that good. I struggled all day and it didn't help that I got off to a very slow start bogeying the first 5 holes. I didn't have a par on the first 9 holes and shot 39. I just don't know what to say other than hopefully my next tournament will go better. I ended up shooting 81-79 and finished T-36 out of 61 that finished (some people didn't show up and others withdrew).

My next tournament is the Tony Blom Amateur Championship (the Cincinnati Met) on June 23 and 24. I'll update after that...

108th US Open

Tiger Woods, now that is a name that will go down in history along with Rocco Mediate. These two golfers gave us an absolutely amazing playoff yesterday (6-16-2008). The front 9 was fairly even with Woods going up right at the end, but the back 9 was very, very dramatic. Woods went up by three shots with 8 holes to play and I have to think that most people watching thought it was over. Rocco proved us all wrong.

Rocco ended up making birdie on three consecutive holes (13, 14 and 15) to take a 1 shot lead with three holes to play; the same situation as Sunday. Woods and Mediate traded pars on 16 and 17 and the US Open came down to number 18 once again.

Woods put his tee shot in the fairway, giving him an opportunity to go for the green in two, which he successfully did, while Mediate knocked it into the left bunker. Mediate played smart and just hit it down the fairway. Mediate's third shot came to rest about 15-20 feet from the hole while Woods had a 45 foot eagle putt to win.

Woods missed his putt by about 5 feet or so and then Rocco had a chance to win the US Open. His putt missed just left. They both made the next putt and we got to see extra golf again!

The sudden death hole was #7, a slight dogleg right par 4. Woods had the honor and put his tee shot on the right side of the fairway while Mediate put his tee shot in the left bunker again. Rocco's lie in the bunker was not all that good and thus he didn't hit a good shot. His next shot went well left and into the gallery. He received a free drop and knocked it on the green about 20 feet away.

Woods, meanwhile, hit his second shot just outside 20 feet and had that putt to win...he missed. Mediate had to make his putt to extend the playoff but just missed making Woods the 2008 US Open champion.

One Legged Wonder

Tiger Woods is amazing. Playing on basically one leg, he has managed to get into a playoff for the US Open. After the start of double bogey, bogey, I didn't think that he would actually get into a playoff. I mean, I didn't doubt him one bit, but it's the US Open for gosh sakes!

Rocco Mediate played a great four rounds this week. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't make a birdie on the last hole. He still has a chance, I wouldn't say great, but a chance no less, to win the US Open and be his first major championship win in the 40-something majors he has played in.

Tomorrow should be a great round of golf for these two. They tee off at 12:00pm EST (9:00am PT), so hopefully by 5:00pm EST there will be a winner. Enjoy the golf!

Golf League - Dedicated to My Puppy

Last night's golf league was dedicated to my puppy. She passed on the other night (June 9, 2008). I miss her a lot.

The Memorial Tournament

Congratulations are in order for Kenny Perry. As I predicted back on May 19th's AT&T Classic post, Kenny Perry is starting to play really well. This win puts him in the company with Tiger Woods in that they are the only two people to have won The Memorial three times. Woods won three in a row while Perry's wins were spread out. He did have a solid week, but he had at least one thing go right that enabled him to win.

That one thing was Mike Weir not being able to make a putt all day Sunday. Weir seemed to burn the edges all day, but just couldn't get a putt to drop when it mattered most, like hole #17. Had Weir made that putt on #17, he would have had a lot less pressure on him going into #18. Only having to get birdie would have put him a little more at ease, in my opinion.

Golf Round Today

Today was a good day. I played at Miami Whitewater Forest Golf Course in Harrison, Ohio. That course is in great shape! The greens are fabulous there (considering they were not so good last year).

Getting to my round...it was a good one, except for one hole. I was -2 for 17 holes, but ended up shooting 74. I took an 8 on hole #7. I hit my tee shot in the trees, took a penalty shot. My third shot was right of the green leaving myself short-sided. There was absolutely no room to work with. I tried a high flop shot, but ended up short of the green. My second chip was duffed...then I got upset and just hit the next on one the green. I ended up two-putting the green for an 8. I went from -1 coming into the hole and left that hole +3.

Other than that hole, I played pretty well. I hit 14 greens, had 31 putts and ended up with 6 birdies. This round gives me loads of confidence going into the US Public Links Championship Qualifier on June 18.

Golf League Night

Last night's golf league was a disaster. First off, the other team absolutely careered it and we ended up getting crushed. I mean a 6 handicap player (for 9 holes) went out and shot 38 (7 pars and 2 bogeys). It was very hard for my partner to beat him when he had to give 2 shots. It didn't help any that neither my partner nor myself played worth a hoot.

I guess this was coming...my team had been winning fairly easily the last couple of weeks. I knew that wouldn't keep going, but I didn't think that we would get beat so bad last night. It's just frustrating when you have been playing so well and then all of a sudden it stops and you have no idea why.

Hopefully next week's league night will be much better.

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

Did anyone see Phil Mickelson's 18th hole yesterday? It was an eerily similar situation as the 2006 US Open. Remember when Mickelson imploded on the 72nd hole that year? This tournament was heading in the same direction. Same type of tee shot and same decision making. Fortunately for Mickelson, he actually pulled it off this time.

Although that is Mickelson's typical self, being aggressive, I was waiting for Bones (his caddie) to talk him out of the shot because of the last time he was in that situation. If he would have done the same thing as the 2006 US Open at Wingfoot, he would have never lived it down.

Anyway, props to Mickelson for pulling it off. It was a pretty lucky shot because it cleared in the bunker by about 3 feet.

Golf Tournament

Today's Father-Son golf tournament was at Shawnee Lookout and it was ok. There was some very tricky pin positions on the greens...a lot of pins were right on slopes where if you miss a putt, it could, and did a couple times, go off the green.

My dad and I ended up shooting 71, which was good enough for second place. The winning team shot 67.

I would have to say, although some of the pins were in tricky positions, the greens were outstanding. They might be some of the best greens in the Hamilton County Park District.

The next tournament I plan on playing in is the US Public Links Championship. The qualifying round is at Weatherwax Golf Course on June 18.

Golf Outing

Today's golf outing was not that great. My team was not the best of teams in the world by any stretch. The course we played received 4 inches of rain in the last week...so needless to say the course was pretty wet; this caused me to hit a few shots heavy.

I'm not sure exactly what place we ended up in, but my team finished at -6. The last I heard was there was a team at -8. If that ended up being the winner, I won't be so happy because my team could have got a few more birdies...oh well though.

Has anyone played in any outings or tournaments or anything that would like to share their experiences?

Golf League Night

It was league night tonight and tonight was a struggle. Stuggled getting the ball into the hole. I didn't have too many bad shots (that were unplayable), but it was just one of those days that I couldn't get a good score on the card. I ended up shooting 40 tonight with one birdie. Usually I am in the 36-38 range for 9 holes.

I have an outing tomorrow so I'll write back tomorrow night and let you know how that went. I have a tournament on Sunday of this week. Hopefully that goes better than tonight did.

Anyone else want to share any thoughts?

Retirement

If you haven't heard, Annika Sorenstam is retiring. She will probably go down as one of the best female golfers of all time, and maybe just golfers in general! It's sad to see someone with so much talent to leave at a young age, but I can understand why she is doing it; she wants to have a family. I must say though, it may have another reason as well, Lorena Ochoa.

Ochoa is ranked #1 in the world for the LPGA Tour. She also just finished off a third straight victory this past weekend at the Sybase Classic even though she only shot 71 on Sunday. Ochoa has become the most dominant player on the LPGA Tour over the last couple years. Sorenstam has been competitive, but Ochoa has beat her the majority of the time.

AT&T Classic

I don't know if anyone saw this PGA tournament this past weekend, but the way Kenny Perry's ball kicked on 18 was crazy! I honestly didn't think that Imada would win after the way Howell III was playing the first three days. Howell choked big time on Sunday.

This might be the beginning of a stretch of good golf for Kenny Perry though. In my opinion, he seems like he is beginning to play the way he did a few years ago when he competed in every tournament he played in. That could make for some very interesting golf tournaments in the next couple of weeks.

Working at the Golf Course

Today was my second day back working at the golf course this year. I haven't worked there since last year, maybe August due to the limited number of hours I get per year there.

Onto my day today...have you ever had someone who just doesn't follow the rules? Well today, I asked someone to leave their golf clubs outside (to prevent theft) and this guy just said "I don't leave my clubs anywhere." Does he think that someone is going to take his clubs if he leaves them right outside the door, where he can still see them, and I can see them? I don't think that will happen.

Something that was out of the ordinary today was that a somewhat famous person came in today. That person was Tom Jackson from NFL Live. Apparently he lives in Cincinnati somewhere and comes out every now and again. I didn't mention anything to him about seeing him on TV, but I still think it was pretty neat that he came in.

Induction

This is first day I have had a blog. My goal is for golfers to be able to come here and connect with each other to discuss golf topics, scores, courses and maybe even generate groups and leagues through this site.

Let me get this started. I play most of my golf at the Hamilton County Park District golf courses. I also play in a golf league with about 20 people. It is a fairly competitive league, as we use handicaps. Currently, my team is in 7th place, but we haven't played each week.

I have a few tournaments set up for the 2008 summer. One is the Metropolitan Amatuer in Cincinnati, another is the USGA Public Links Championship and the last is the USGA Amatuer. This will be my first year playing in the Amatuer, so I am pretty excited about that.

Does anyone play in any leagues or tournaments that they want to share? Maybe someone just wants to talk about their favorite course, that is fine too.