After turning my hat around, untying and re-tying my shoelaces three times, and deciding to stop sending chili peppers up Johnny Miller’s ass, I got back to my usual level of mediocrity yesterday, carding a gentleman’s 82 (with a 4-putt) at Little Bennett (pro tip- the green on #9 has a slope that parallels intermediate ski resorts so if your ball is on the green and it’s above the hole…you’re screwed).

Maybe being sick the last week and a half helped me get rid of the demons (I got rid of everything else, or so it seemed).

The bigger aid was to move up.  My two gong show rounds were from the black tees at Redgate and the blues at Northwest.  If I’m being honest with myself, that’s probably a bit too much for me (it’s the difference between hitting a hybrid or a 4-iron to the green or hitting a middle/short iron).  While discussing the state of affairs, I think the PGA has it right with the “tee it forward” and here’s why- if you play and go out and have a great round with multiple birdies (and if you’re the wagering type, maybe you won your bet with your buddies), are you really going to beat yourself up afterward with “well, I only played the middle set of tees?”

Didn’t think so.  You still had to sink the putt (or chip in) for the birdie, and being someone who openly jokes that I can 3-putt from anywhere (I joke mostly because drinking myself into a drunken stupor and crying uncontrollably would probably unnerve most people)…I can say that making that 12-footer can be the hardest part.

Speaking of putting, the LPGA International Crown has been riveting stuff (I would argue that the LPGA is a lot more fun to watch currently than the PGA Tour), but for the love of everything good…the pace of play is beyond horrendous.  The playoff between Korea the USA was tremendous, and if they had been able to complete shots in under 3 minutes it would have been even better.  The Ryder Cup, I fear, will be more of the same of glacial pace of play.  Let’s keep it moving along, folks.

Played Redgate yesterday (7/5) and threw up one of the worst rounds I’ve played in recent memory.  Only some luck (and it was luck) with the putter kept it from being worse because from tee to green I was abysmal (that’s being far too polite- it was worse than that).

The fairways were a mixed bag (the ones that were cut looked good), the tee boxes were equally inconsistent (some looked really good, some were chewed up, and holes 12 and 16 were their usual hard-pan dirt).  Greens weren’t much better (some were cut, others weren’t, #11 is marginally better than it normally is), and more frustratingly pockmarked with divots (and I’m talking each green had multiple divots on them).  Look- I get it…it’s a public course so you’re not going to get country club level quality.  This has nothing to do with this- it has everything to do with people fixing their divots.

Billy Casper Golf is now managing the course (the city of Rockville still owns it- this explains the deal (as I’ve said repeatedly I don’t live in Rockville or Montgomery County so I don’t care one way or another as it’s not my dime).

The other issue that came up yesterday…smoking.  I used to smoke, and in the last month I’ve played with non-smokers, a guy using an e-cigarette, and the guy I got paired up with who smoked several mini-cigars.  Golf Digest recently addressed smoking pot recently.  I’m ambivalent about it, but common courtesy says to just ask “mind if I light up?”  So I’m asking…what’s your feeling about it?  I played at Torrey Pines a couple years ago with guys who were smoking pot on the back 9 (they were kind enough to offer me a hit- to paraphrase another golfer “I didn’t inhale”)…great guys who played fast (so the idea that it kills pace of play didn’t hold true).

Do you care if someone fires up a cigarette, mini-cigar, joint, or phallus-sized cigar?

No photos…this is a SFW site and frankly, I’d like to keep it that way.

On a warm but not oppressive June morning I played at Fairway Hills in Columbia.  The course was, in the main, in good shape (a couple of fairways had some burned out areas but by and large the course was in great shape; the greens were rolling true and the rough was thick (our incessant wet weather is helping I’m sure) but but to a manageable level.  Full credit to the course superintendent and his/her staff for keeping the course in great shape given the wild weather swings we’ve had this year.

One new thing Fairway Hills is doing- weekday mornings you can play 6 holes for $6.00 (all back 9 holes).  I don’t know how many people are doing this, but full credit for them trying something beyond the norm.

If there was a hiccup, it was at the end when we came up upon the start of a scramble tournament…specifically three foursomes on/around the par 3 17th hole, playing at a pace that would make Kevin Na scream “hey…while we’re young!”  It took 45 minutes to play the last two holes (I timed it).  At that pace, that’s a 6 1/2 hour round, and there is absolutely no excuse for that pace of play.  Watching them play (we had plenty of time) it was like watching a “what not to do” video relative to pace of play.

If you’ve played for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly played a scramble.  Get paired with a good group of your fellow golfers and it’s a fantastic event.  Get paired with people who have the personality of a lawn chair, and it’s like spending five hours in the dentist’s chair sans painkillers.

Nobody likes to be told to move things along, but if your response is “I paid my money and I’ll take as long as I feel like” then you’re part of the problem.

Courses need outings- they bring in revenues, and it brings your novice golfer out.  However, like anything else, they have to be managed.  Shoving them in front of your dawn patrol/dew sweeper groups grinds the entire pace of play to a halt.  Courses also have to take care of their core, and it is a balancing act.  I’ve seen outings start first thing in the morning (especially your shotgun format like we had yesterday), or starting at noon (when the course has had time to get your morning groups around) or later.  A balance has to be struck.

Amid the men’s US Open getting horrible ratings (the final round had zero excitement unlike previous years) and the FIFA World Cup getting huge ratings for the US team’s games, you’re having the inevitable “See- soccer’s going to take over!! and golf is dying out because Tiger’s not around/golf is old” dirge (I can’t bring myself to link to this stuff).  I’ll admit to watching the US team’s games (the late-game drama helps as does the lack of commercials), but am I going to go watch Major League Soccer?  No, and neither is the vast majority of people tuning in.

As usual, SWIRIC nailed it.  She likened the World Cup to swimming in the Olympics.  People love to watch swimming in the Olympics- for two weeks every four years Americans cheer like nobody’s business to watch.  And when the Olympics is over, everyone goes back to whatever it is they were doing to begin with.  I mean, people love to go swimming (especially on a hot summer day…few things rival that dip in a refreshing pool), but would I tune in to watch the ASL (American Swimming League)?  No.

I won’t claim any science, but I’m seeing an increase of younger golfers (under 30’s) this year.  Not sure if it’s being driven by the PGA Tour, marketing, or what.

Hit ’em straight, and let’s keep moving along.

One of my biggest complaints about golf courses is the way that many of them try to pull the wool over my fellow golfers when it comes to aeration/punching or other goings-on that might otherwise dissuade one from wanting to play a course.  I’ve long said (before I started this blog) that courses should publicize any aeration or partial closures (i.e. temp greens, temp tee boxes, etc.) and let an informed customer make the decision.  Golfers will respect this; where you lose people is when you have the starter tell them what’s going on, and you send people off in a frustrated mood.

Last Saturday (5/17) I played Northwest Park; as I’m want to do I made my tee time in advance, and if you remember (if you live in this area) it started raining.  And raining. And holy crap Sweet Baby Ray did it rain.  So I came home after work on Friday, and Northwest Park had left me a voice-mail letting me know that the back nine had flooded out, and they were using the front nine and the “inside” nine as the second nine, and were offering a reduced rate due to the closure.

On the day, the guy in the pro shop, and the starter, could not have been nicer.  The starter was adamant that it was cart path only (understood, and I also understand he’s doing his job) but otherwise was quite pleasant.  He explained the problem holes (13 and 16) and was quite polite about it.

Here’s the thing- everyone in my group was okay with it.  We understand that you can’t control the weather. But you can control how you react to it.  That phone call was a great example in how to handle a difficult situation.

Take note course operators.  This is how you handle things like this. And well done Northwest Park and Montgomery County Golf.

Now…if we can just talk about your damn speed cameras…