US Open-The Random Thoughts

We live near Pebble Beach and I went out for 6 hours on Tuesday with a couple of buddies. I love getting close to the swings and that pro attitude..Chicken Caesar Wraps were the best! Out on Pebble with friends is always time well spent..Fast Forward:

Have been a Gmac fan since he  attended the University of Alabama and  won the Haskins Award in 2002 for the best collegiate golfer in the United States. I like the way he handles himself a lot.. he stayed within himself and did what he needed to do...no small feat when you are being out hit by 30-40 yards off the tee... I've tried it.. Fail.

DJ?..nobody flatlines the US Open... he has this passive/aggressive thing going on and his play on 2 was really bad... Bobby (his caddie) needed to stop him .. but that's easy to say in hindsight..think they should have had a revised plan for Sunday ..head it said a million times.. playing safe is the best choice most all of the time. "You don't need to ride in on a white horse to the applause of millions to grab the trophy".

Then there is Tiger. This week proved to me (again) how much the game really needs him. His 2nd shot 3 wood he carved out over Stillwater cove onto the 18th on Saturday was one of those Tiger shots... when Phil tried it, he found a watery grave.. Tiger delivered and he delivered a putt on 16 on Sat on his way to a back nine 31 that was exciting (especially for NBC). I have not liked the emotional displays but this time I was jacked up.  We say there is no resemblance between golf as most know it and Tournament Golf. I know that. Tiger knows it. He is very good at simulating the pressure, but you have to get out there when it counts. He's obviously not ready to win yet, but I think he will be at St Andrews for the Open Championship. Then there is the Stevie question. I have said before I think he needs a new caddie to go along with his new life.. When you try to overcome what he is you only need to change one thing.... and that's everything... that's one of the oldest tricks in the book...

My biggest disappointment for the week was Ernie.. He had a couple of "moments".. 2-3 footer for Birdie, back nine on Sunday.. he lips out... Champions make those.. He's such a good guy. I want to see him win another major. I do not like the revolving caddie situation. It is obvious who should be on Ernie's bag. After three that's all that matters. Right? .. maybe not the experts say his stock is up along with Westwood (my early pick)  and Phil.  Missing is action and expected to do better are both Geoff Ogilvy and Lucas Glover who may have a couple of top tens this year but likely has read a lot of books (on weekends).

All in all the course and Gmac get my vote...again.

US Open Prediction...

Think Westwood wins the Open next week.. good form. Good Guy.. Due. Driving will be key.. no chance from the rough. Greens very fast and no spin out of the Bunkers... fairways shaved into bankers and off cliffs... Pebble magnificent!

So..Think You'd Hold Up Against the Us Open Set-Up at Pebble?

First you might want to check out the article written in May about the process the USGA goes through to "design" the course...

and then some commentary from Bubba Watson and Chris Wilson on Twitter about the Golf Digest Challenge: 

@bubbawatson so what would a player like you shoot if a 3 shoots 102?

@TheRealCWilson 77

@bubbawatson thats legit funny, play well next week

Gets it all in perspective very quickly...saw a bunch of guys who have no trouble shooting 65 on their home courses get a taste of what tournament Golf at the highest level is all about as they failed to qualify for our National Championship... 

The Pebble caddies have been telling me that you will need a wedge to get out of the rough and the spots that were playable last time around will not be this time...if there is wind the new tee on 13 will make the hole one of the toughest par 4's on tour not to mention how 14 will play. The fairway on 6 has been repositioned so

I'll be out there starting Tuesday of next week.. the guy with the Boston Red Sox hat on prowling around at the southern end of the course... holes 10,11,12,13... Marlboro Country...

...have we named our favorite neighbor yet?

Posted via email from pgoss's posterous

Sportsmanship and Why (to me) Golf is Still a Gentleman's Game

Got a tweet tonight: @pgoss hey it's simple for the Celtics follow Jesus and he will save them... and then: @pgoss Paul pierce owes a bookie some money...The Celts tied the Lakers for the NBA Championship tonight.. it's 1-1.

I am a Celtics fan... Search Amazon.com for celtics

That Compared to: from @RickieFowlerPGA thanks everyone for the congrats...had a lot of fun this week...Justin Rose just put up a solid round..along with many congratulatory tweets from the rank and file on tour and fan base.. Justin Rose came from a couple back to win the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, OH. Jack's Place.  Hey there are drunks at events who behave poorly and half of the Club's members where I play treat the course poorly (learn to rake bunkers and fix ball marks like a pro. The right way. Remember John Wooden saying if you don't have time to do it right , when will you find time to fix it?).. But there is a lack of trash talking in Golf compared to other sports and I'll bet Zach Johnson's Caddie never gets picked up in a Bar Fight packing a pistol... Nice Ad BTW guys...

There is a quiet sense of calm and confidence in the young guns coming up... fewer fist pumps and a great future is in store for the great game.

.. the tree that guards the 8th..

Posted via email from pgoss's posterous

The Best Golf Towel Ever

so I've found it.. Sure. Was on the putting green 2 years ago at q-school (1st stage at San Juan Oaks). Noticed this really nice towel with a Bandon Dunes (book) logo on it. Unique because it had what I immediately understood to be a putter slit in the middle (a you can't lose the towel thing) .. Microfiber.. very cool looking.. and I love Bandon Dunes (site).. alert the media right? who doesn't? .. the towel had a logo that said PlayWel.. nice touch. Creative. I'm a Private Eye.. Looked them up and found the Web-Site. Made some inquires and bought a couple.. then a couple more and now it's all I use.. I love the story. which you can read for yourself  on the site but simply put: former LPGA caddie gets a great idea and does something with it... works day and night and builds a reputation for quality and care.. so I am involved in 3 projects that have come to a screeching halt and now I want to talk with you about towels.. they make great giveaways and will be distributed at the Canadian Open by the Painless Stainless folks. Super high quality..  and are lightweight and super absorbent.. a super-high-tech golf towel.. that says you know what you are doing.. It really does.. you can always contact me at pegoss at gmail.com and/or call me on my Google Voice number 831 275-0624.. lets get some of these in the hands of your best clients and friends.. they'll really appreciate it.

There is more to the Tour than Tiger and Phil...right Golf Channel?

For many (the "in the hole" yellers who consider a Budweiser the drink of champions) the PGA tour is entertainment.. The USGA and the R&A are the guardians of the game and have grappled with how to teach the finer aspects of the game to the ever growing "I'll wear jeans if I want to crowd "(and if you don't think this is a topic for debate, check out any golf forum. These particular discussions go on for pages and pages). Last week, as we watched, my friend Ali commented that the announcers were more mellow.. more like the Euro Tour announcers. More like gentlemen. Less like entertainment and the Kelly Tillman over the top type fake adoration that has a way of creeping into even the best at the game of broadcasting. The PGA tour is the envy of all major sports (except maybe NASCAR). Until Tiger got caught running around, relatively scandal free unless you include not paying one's taxes or an occasional DUI.. Millions to charity and a clean cut image rarely tarnishing until Tiger.. you get the point.. So Quail Hollow is up this week.. a great course.. a sponsorship problem with Wells Fargo thinking over how to "use" the venue to their advantage... meanwhile TGC channel in it's usual classless approach to things, is marketing the event as a showdown between Tiger and Phil... It's not Shell's Wonderful World of Golf.. It is one of the great stops on tour.. super course and usually a great field.. the fans deserve better.. The Golf Channel needs to stop being so downright goofy. Start by hiring Peter Alliss.. he who is not afraid to stand up for the gentlemanly aspects of the game... we could learn a thing or two from Peter...BTW: Does Tiger have a new caddie yet?

Year of The Wedge --

Short Game! So I'm stocking up (a little)... it is critical to have the right tools that you are used to (or do they become used to you?) when it comes to wedges. And it seems somewhat crazy to abandon a system that works. Have always tried to play a gap wedge that matches my irons (which I do now) and I play a 54 and a 58, 59 or 60 depending on the bounce configuration required for the course(s) I'm playing a lot. Currently I play most of my golf on a course that has fluffy bunkers. So a lob wedge with extra bounce is helpful. I rarely use any club other than my lob wedge for bunker shots. I match my iron shafts to my wedge shafts (currently nippon 950GH) .. this year I'm playing Mizuno MX-300's and am very pleased with them. 5 iron through Gap Wedge. My 54 degree wedges is a Mizuno MP T-10 and my lob wedge is a Callaway x-forged 58 bent to 59 for a little added bounce to help me get out of those fluffy bunkers I mentioned.. but I've been trading some notes with a friend who has proclaimed the Cleveland CG15 the game changer and Cleveland Golf  has certainly caught the attention of the "raters" winning the Hot List wedge category at Golf Digest. So I'll be constructing some CG15's with nippon shafts and look forward to reporting back.. I have played the callaway lob wedge for nearly 6 years.. not the same wedge mind you but the exact same model.. This year I will improve my bunker play which is currently a "concede a shot" strategy. Hard to shoot par when you give up a stroke every time you drop it into a bunker...My home course has tiny greens that are well protected. This is the year I get as good from the bunkers as I am chipping around the greens.

The following is a current ad featuring Cleveland's CEO Greg Hopkins:

Some recommended reading on short game improvement:

Tiger - It's great to have him back...

Nearly halfway in his round today, Tiger hit one of those shots.. The kind only he hits.. On the 460 yard 9th hole  he has 207 to the hole  for his second shot and he hits a 5i that draws 30 yards around a tree and lands 2/3 of the way onto the green,  holds and rolls easily to the back of the green. He then makes a 15 foot putt for birdie.. he missed 3 or 4 other putts by less than an inch.. his speed was good.. and he seemed to be having a good time as he interacted with others and even putting his hand on his playing partner's shoulder and sharing a smile as they made their way to 16. Nice. Hope this all works out for him..again...Oh and  By The Way: Couples has a one shot lead at -6 with Watson right behind him. It's the Masters.

Tiger at Augusta

I have to write this for my own sanity. Too many emails and so forth.. I understand recovery. I started the journey almost 30 years ago.. seen 'em come and go and I have no idea what Tiger should or should not do..BUT I do know this. When I was free of the things that brought me to my knees I was not free of the things that troubled me and I had to find peace. The easiest way to do that was to be decent in all my affairs. 

I met an old man.. Near 80 at the time who had been sober for nearly 40 years. He was willing to spend time with me. A lot of time with me.. and he showed me by his actions how to find the comfortable way of living that seems to elude so many who come in for a break in the action.. So if Tiger asked for my help, I'd know what to do with him... the same thing that kind old man (well there were times he was not so kind) did with me.. and as he used to say, "if you stop doing what you were doing, 85-90% of your troubles will go away in time. The steps will fix another 5% of your troubles and the rest you are going to have to learn to live with and be a man about it.".

But there's another Problem. Brad Faxon wrote on Golf.com that he was "much more concerned about Tiger's being treated by the Toronto doctor, Anthony Galea, who was arrested in Canada last October on drug charges, a doctor who admits to using human growth hormone.". Tiger needs to square up and be a man about everything.. He needs to fire Stevie and his management team and hire decent human beings with good manners. As we say, "if you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it, you only need to change one thing.. and that's everything." Good for Tom Watson  and Arnold Palmer for explaining their thinking about Tiger.. He's needs to take the questions and start to humbly act like a gentleman.. no more F-bombs on the course.. We've heard enough.. what a talent he is.. time to grow up.

Good Guy Els Wins Bay Hill ..on Monday. And a Good Cause.

The Following is an except from GlobalGolfPost: 

"It's hard to argue that no one on the PGA Tour is on any more of a roll going into The Masters than Ernie Els. The South African star won his second consecutive start, taking the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in a four-hole Monday finish.

Els finished 72 holes at 11-under-par 277, including a 1-under 71 in the final round. It is Els’ 18th victory on the PGA Tour, which includes three majors and the 1998 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Victory No. 17 came two weeks ago at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral. This year, he has vaulted off to a hot start, finishing tied for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for fifth at the Farmers Trust Open at Torrey Pines and tied for 10th at the Northern Trust Championship at Riviera. To boot, he is the leading money winner on the PGA Tour and is also third in the Race to Dubai on the European Tour."

You can Sign up for GlobalGolfPost Here. It is a great get it on Monday E-zine.

So whats the big deal? I'll tell ya (of Course). Lot's of us thought Tiger thinking things over would give Phil the opportunity to rise up and get the number one ranking but instead we have gotten Ernie and let's all breathe a sigh of relief and say thanks.. Ernie is a guy everyone likes (well most everyone) and he kicked Na back into the lake. Na was last seen screaming at his old caddie at Spyglass as he explained he was playing for a million f-ing dollars and needed better advise than he was getting... so Hooray for the good guys... there sure is enough trouble in the world and we could use a decent role model.. Help Ernie fight Autism and let's root for the good guys...

Daphne's Headcovers, the original headcover company, has joined Ernie Els in support of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation by donating a portion of proceeds from the sales of their Lion headcover which has been a fixture in Els' bag for many years. 

My Favorite time of the year...It's Spring right?

Lots on things happen this time of year in Central California near (dare I say) Cypress Point and Spyglass.. It's the  time of year when a week ago there was still standing water on every course and  by yesterday it had dried out enough that greens keepers were hand watering some tee boxes and all the greens... At our club, the drainage creek that runs through the back nine has some water in it but no longer flows easily to sea (eventually) and the work on the clubhouse to fix a leak (or three) is almost finished. Two of the pics below try to tell the story of what it was like two weeks ago. We have had a lot of rain this winter.. but I'm not really close to the subject... I get the bug this time of year, just like Huck Finn. It takes three days when it really is necessary to wear shorts on the course  and I've got it bad.. I broke a sweat twice and have pulled my trusty blue mizuno visor from the side pocket of my bag and put it around the driver (this year a Cobra ZL with 63 blueboard, stiff at 45"). And I'm making some minor adjustments where I always do.. 3 or 4 wood is up for grabs.. Have a f-60 4 wood head on the way and am thinking g-15, TEE or Diablo 4 wood... maybe check out the G-15 driver and the Diablo Tour Driver (I'm cured of using any Taylormade equipment after having them occupy as many as the full compliment of weaponry in my bag for three years...really should have done what you said girls...why make the promises to begin with?).. a few last little tweaks. No longer swapping stuff every few weeks.. it really is the swing that can be the problem and the space between the ears.  I'm committed to making sand shots a weapon and not a defensive "just get it out" maneuver this year as one of the keys to breaking below a 3 index...but I'm not there...need to work a bit... but the motivation to get going is there.. I wanna play again!

On the Pro Tour we gather at the King's place in Orlando. this week Phil will play and guys are getting ready for the annual rite of passage at Augusta Georgia.  ....and that's the point..

...the Masters tournament remains the high point of the competitive year.. I'm a US Open fan and love the Open.. not sure what the PGA has to do to create a major tournament but I'm sure they are working on it. The Players should take the fall spot if possible but not really my point either. The Point? I, like so many serious players and fans, Love the Masters. The commitment of the Augusta National Golf Club is to be applauded. I was taught it was a gentleman's game...the members at Augusta are the proof.

I'm excited like a kid before Christmas.. It's that time of year.. get all the clubs in the bag working with a little bit of magic and put in some time to get the ball moving properly through the air.. also this year, as the result of swinging the heavy driver over the winter, it seems I've gained a full club over the winter in distance and shot one over on the back nine yesterday to prove I'm gonna be ready... maybe move back to the Blue tees. (see what happens?).. I'm almost 60 now and ready to go! It's close to spring and the Masters is right around the corner.

Two weeks ago:

Soon:

 Bring it on.. the season has started!

A New View of Tiger

Almost 30 years ago I started to make my way through life on a spiritual basis. I made a vow to help those who came after me and Tiger appears to have asked for help so my hand is out and my prayers are for him...Everyone's favorite dancin' fool, "You can't touch this" MC Hammer pointed me to an article I think is worth reading: Tiger Woods, The Atonement Process

Let's see if he can get through the maze...another good article from the New York Times: An Apology With Echoes of 12 Steps

So let's give him some room.. good luck my friend...learn to breath.. healing takes place in the calm.