Kraft Nabisco.. and why the LPGA is good to watch for most of us..

In a word: Tempo. Love to see the hard and super fast greens at Mission Hills. Played the course once in 110 degree heat. Fattened my wallet with a few Benjamins that afternoon. Had to resuscitate one of our foursome with Coors as I recall. THE cure for heatstroke!

I have played some Championship golf on fast and firm courses and know what all the girls are dealing with this week.. hard to hold the greens even with short irons. When I played the Bridgestone RX I could never get enough spin on the ball to stop it with anything longer than a 9i. After a nice afternoon on Black Horse I swapped balls.. back to the ProV1. It putts better and is close enough in distance off the tee (a big thing for me) but I can stop a 6i on a green that would not be possible with a lower spin ball.. so what's the point? Championship conditions requires some adjustments.. most of our shots out there require an ability to control the ball from inside 130 yards.. Driving is critical as well.. you cannot play good golf if you can't drive the ball decently. But on a fast and hard course I can hit the ball lower off the tee and run drives out past 260 and my scores become a function of an ability to launch and spin the ball with my 100 mph driver swing speed inside 160..The Prov1 is a very versatile ball. It works for me and it works for the average tour player swinging at 112. I can hit that butter cut with it into greens and now with my new high launching irons I can take all the heat the summer will bring. But I need that Tempo .. that's the point. There is very little difference between my game and the typical LPGA tour player. My distances are very close to the ladies. I hit one more club than the longer hitters and am right their with the rank and file...   


It really helps me to watch the ladies. Have proven that with performance. Would love to hear what you do to improve your game away from the course and range. Sandra Gal really got my attention last week. Her tempo is superb. A female Ernie Ells.

I have been annoyed at the lack of HD coverage on the Golf Channel of women's golf. They say it's in HD but we know better. So this week I am happy to be improving by watching the ladies at the Dinah Shore. Really enjoying the tournament and I think there is a message for the LPGA here.. Better courses, set up tough. It's good for the game! The first Major of the year is here. I'm ready.. We punched the greens at the club yesterday...

The view from behind the first green at Salinas Golf and Country Club.

St Andrews... Looking forward.. to what?

@SFBAYGOLF Kerr & Creamer unless Tigre wins this week RT @johnraser In your opinion, what's the most exciting story in golf right now?

@PlayersTowel St Andrews: Woods Appears to Be Confident but Is Searching for Consistency http://is.gd/drZTa

I so look forward to the Open.. have, it seems, all my life... but my golf story is two Americans on top of the LPGA after a lot of years of asking the question: where are the Americans? I'm not a nationalist, but I root for the home team and sure find Paula and Cristie a bit more accessible than an interpreter.. Paula and Cristie are the biggest story in Golf unless Tiger makes a run.. Agreed. But, can I pick Westwood again?  ...beware of the wounded golfer and the "experts" have picked the top players in the world. how about Darren Clarke? Who's your pick?

Saw the story about Tiger dumping his Cameron for a  Nike Method Putter... will it matter to anything but his bank account? There is the logical answer about it being heavier and Tiger thinking that will help him on the slower greens of St. Andrews. And KJ Choi borrows a page from the handbook of one Randy Haag... Look him up at Amatuergolf.com.

I've finished watching the miserable job the Golf Channel has done to preview the Open and the much better job that ESPN has done...It's time to get this show on the road and let the players do the talking. My hope is that someone someday puts someone with an ounce of intelligence in charge of the Golf Channel someday. It is truly an embarrassment most of the time.

"This place is a beast and a half" CK... The Ladies will play their Open this week

"This place is a beast and a half".. was a tweet from Christina Kim and I've heard they will play Oakmont at just under 6600 and par 71...have heard a lot of buzz on this one... and that the US Women's Open is finally on a grown-up golf course... so let's get it straight... nothing compares to Oakmont. I say that having never played it but one of my regular companions on course has and as a close to scratch player, did not break 90... He doesn't necessarily travel well but it's a very tough course and he has tour length on his side.. I for one will be very interested to see who is number one in the world of Ladies golf after this week... I'm picking Kerr...

..a few Tweets:  

@Kstupples Played the front 9 at oakmont today. I have to hand it to Johnny Miller a 63 round this course has to be the best ever

@Kstupples pebble has nothing on this place. Pebble is like a walk in the park, this is like climbing Mount Everest!!!

@TheChristinaKim: For the record. I have never in all my life seen a golf course like Oakmont. This place is a beast and a half

..will add to this one... it's Monday night.. 

Oakmont could lay claim as the most-challenging venue used for USGA competitions. At the 2003 U.S. Amateur, only one golfer out of the 312 starters for stroke-play qualifying managed to break par (70), while the stroke average was 79.014. Then again, Johnny Miller carded a final-round 63 to win the 1973 U.S. Open, which is considered by many to be one of the best 18-hole rounds in major-championship history.

Course Preview (USGA Site).

Cristie Kerr, Yani Tseng, Anna Nordqvist go off the 1st tee at 1:14pm Tee Times

Angel Cabrera shot 5 over par to win the ’07 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Link to a mostly (gotta be) excellent article in the New York Times about Cristie and delayed Motherhood.. and being the first American woman golfer to hold the number one ranking since??? bet you didn't know!

@KayCockerill  Mike Davis is setting up course similar to men's open in 07. Green speed is 13.5-14 on stimp and hole loc will be almost identical.  

Hmmm...prediction for the week: Winning score will be +4 and cut will be +12. Even par will be a terrific score any single day.

Can't wait for Women's Open to start tomorrow at Oakmont. I'm really curious as to how the women will play the course. Greens r outrageous!

@Golf_Tweets  Oakmont Is Cage Fighting in Fashionable Clothing Link to Armchair Golf Blog #Golf#Blog

40 Players in the Field are using a PlayersTowel. Buster Loves these Towels. Lightweight, Microfiber Waffle design that holds moisture really well.

"If the USGA wants to embarrass us, it's possible.", Natalie Gulbus in USA Today.

"I never came close to breaking par," Gulbis says. "On the first hole, you have to land the ball 15 feet short of the green, and it still might roll over the green. We've never played a course where you have to think about putting the ball off the green. You might have to think about that five or six times a round.

NYT Article: Question on Lips at Open: How Far Over Par?

NYT After Day One:  An Amateur Tames a Tricky Open Course

@ZachJohnsonPGA I'm picking Cristie Kerr to win Womens Open at Oakmont. Best of luck to all participants.  Thursday 6:48pm PDT

@ronsirak 46 players didn't break 80 in Womens Open at Oakmont. Under 10-stroke rule huge number cud play weekend. 146 players within 10 after rd 1.