Uh Oh, it’s winter

By Steve Gordon

                All I can say is that it came too fast. I am sitting here in suburban Philadelphia looking out the window at snow blanketing the ground and my push cart and golf clubs are still in the car. Of course yesterday coming out of the grocery store with a weekly cart of food and opening the trunk of the car I wasn’t so happy to see them there.

               It was not even two weeks ago I was playing golf with friends around here and while we weren’t in shorts and short sleeves we weren’t bundled up like Ralphie in The Christmas Story. You know, the kid who was going to shoot his eyes out with the Red Ryder BB rifle he wanted so badly for a present. Not that it’s related to golf, I still have a working Red Ryder.

               The bottom line is that there isn’t any golf being played around here with a thin layer of snow left from the other day and now another inch or two coming down. That isn’t unusual for this area but…winter came in too fast and the withdrawal that comes with it for avid golfers.

                What is it Charlie Brown says when he gets frustrated? ARRRRG!  Well that’s what I have been feeling for the past couple weeks, today and I suppose for the next few months. My long time golfing partner was out west last week playing golf everyday and sending me texts with photos while I am here recalling all the new courses we played this past season and a career best round of 76 in the first round of my clubs Super Senior championship. And with sixes on three of the four par 5's. That's as close as I've gotten to my age at 70.

                The snow is pretty and Christmas is a week away and that is all nice and fuzzy. BUT… that only goes so far and when the holiday season is over it becomes just snow that has to be shoveled and navigated on the roads. I don’t mind driving in the snow but these days it seems more and more that people have no clue how to drive in it as they all seemed to when I was growing up. Maybe part of the driving exam should include taking a second driving test in the snow?

              Some people like the winter and winter sports and the snow and ice. I actually like snow but as the years pass clearing it away gets to be more of a chore than fun being out in it. As far as winter sports, those days are gone.

              I used to take my son sledding to a local golf course with lots of hills. I guess he is on the hook to take his girls now. I’d love to do that with the grand kids but I hate to think of what might happen should the sled flip over dumping me in the snow to roll the rest of the way down the hill. Forget about snapping on a pair of skies. One of the worst falls I ever had was on skies and I got up and walked away. Of course that was 40 or so years ago.

            Anyway, here is an avid golfer sitting inside watching a predicted couple inches of snow pile up on the lawn and driveway and no place to go. 

                    

 I have made the push cart winter ready or I can adapt the bag with equipment to play in the snow.

Remember that aforementioned career best 76 I told you about. Everything was working pretty well that day and it was great and even the guys I was playing with were happy (to a point) to see me have such a great round of golf. Well as much as I want to forget it I can’t put the second round of the 36 hole tournament to rest when the final tally was 92 where virtually nothing went right and it included an 8 (yes, a snowman) on a par three. Don’t ask. I finished second and was pretty bummed out for a day or two about that. Chalk it up to an opportunity missed.

On the bright side there is next year to tee it up and go for the trophy.

Also on the bright side are memories of other very good rounds I had this past season and a bevy of new courses played. My longtime golf partner and I are already thinking ahead to more new courses and golfing together when winter clears out.

I had a couple rounds in the 70’s which is just something to enjoy as that kind of scoring is anomalous to my GHIN handicap. Mostly I scored in the low to mid 80’s with a few rounds in the 90’s and…one round over 100 which came near the end of the season on a coldish windy day.

Working part time at a local golf course as a starter and marshal I get the benefit of off peak time free golf so needless to say I played a lot of my golf there, often without a scorecard and not always a full 18 holes. I just like to play golf and score is not always relevant to the enjoyment of being outside with a club in my hand trying to hit a little white ball into a 4 ½ inch hole in the ground.

Away from our home base my partner and I took road trips. Those road trips are getting longer and longer to play new courses as we’ve played all the local courses we like many times. Some were day trips and a couple required an overnight stay.

I’d have to say the highlight of the road trips was the Reading Country Club where Byron Nelson was once the club pro. It is a 94-year-old Alex Findlay design where the fairways follow the rolling terrain and the greens are pitched for natural drainage. Length wasn’t the challenge on most of the holes, putting your ball in good position on the fairways and greens was the test.

Conversely to the old school golf of Reading CC, my second favorite road trip was to The Links at Gettysburg. Lindsay Ervin designed this more modern layout that opened in 1999 and is as the name suggests, it is not far from the site of the epic three day battle in 1863 at Gettysburg during Americas Civil War. Here the challenge was avoiding a lot of water hazards along with some diabolical greens placed on hillsides or dug into the natural red rock of the area.

I played well at both courses and that of course goes a long way to liking a course after a first round.

Around those courses were trips to some old style courses like Hopewell Valley in Hopewell, NJ, Berkleigh in Lehigh County where LPGA Hall of Fame player Betsy King learned the craft, and return visits to old haunts like the historic Stockton Seaview Resort, host of the 1942 PGA Championship.

A great memory from Seaview this year was a scramble outing in early spring. It was on the Bay Course that annually hosts the LPGA ShopRite Classic.

They announced that anyone over 55 could play the forward senior tees. Well my partner and I just smiled as we were well qualified and within that guideline. The two other players we were paired with were no shows so we each got two shots on every hole. The forward tees on the Bay Course are something like 5200 yards. The bottom line is that with my driving and his wedge play we were rolling in putts all over the place (two for eagle) and turned in a winning score of 59. It’s always great to win, but what a fun day that was. More people should play the shorter tees.

Other road trips took me to Rock Manor in Delaware, Royal Oaks in Lebanon, PA, Royal Manchester in Mt. Wolf, PA, Inniscrone in Avondale, PA, Ramblewood in Mt. Laurel, NJ, The Architects Club in Phillipsburg, NJ, Mercer Oaks in West Windsor, NJ, Centerton in Elmer, NJ and return visits to a couple favorite courses we don't get to enough in Running Deer in Pittsgrove, NJ and River Winds in West Deptford, NJ.

That just scratches the surface of the golf we played that included rounds at old favorite places too numerous to name. They were all good times and the golf scores are mostly secondary.

It’s great to pull up the memories of those rounds on this snowy cold day and it just builds the anticipation of more to come next year. For the time being however the golf clubs are idle as I deal with the withdrawal. 

But wait…the weather girl on TV said that it’s going to be near 50 degrees in a couple days.

What is appropriate yardage for women players?

By Steve Gordon

      The USGA and PGA of America initiated the program of TEE IT FORWARD several years ago to get people to play golf courses from a set of tees most suitable for the ability and driving ability. The idea is that it makes the round of golf more enjoyable and it can significantly speed up play. Additionally, more people will gravitate to play golf, at a time when the game has seen a decline in participation.

      In the Summer 2015 issue of the Philadelphia Golf Association magazine, there was an article, “Don’t Be Afraid To Compete From Different Tees – Section 3-5 has you covered.” After reading it, I emailed Executive Director Mark Peterson and asked a simple question. “What tees to the woman players move forward to?”

       The specific issue is that the average woman player, who will play from the most forward set of tees has no option. Which might beg the question, if ladies play from the shortest tees on the golf course anyway, why is that a problem?

       Here is the problem comes out of a quote taken directly from the story: “Doesn’t grabbing a 7 iron for an approach shot feel more gratifying and less intimidating than a hybrid?” Anyone have a response?

       I recently played in an outing hosted by the USGA with an avid woman player and while this very highly rated course did make adjustments by making the longer par-4 holes into par 5’s for the women, it was just as the quote stated. Here were three low teen handicap senior players hitting say 7 irons and the woman player was hitting a hybrid. On some holes she didn’t even have a chance to hit her drive up to ours. She was playing on an uneven playing field.

      It's a problem because generally golf courses are not set up properly for the average woman player. The fact is that, for many women, tees set at 5,000 plus yards are too long. Here is what was written in a recent report (Setting up Golf Courses for Success) from the PGA of America:

      "At the majority of golf courses where the forward tees are positioned at 4,900-5,200 yards or more, women with shorter drives and slower swing speeds cannot reach greens in regulation. At 5,200 yards, we are asking her to play a course that is equivalent to a 7,500 yard course for the average male golfer."   

      Actually, too many men play from the wrong set of tees and don’t care much for the philosophy behind Tee It Forward concept, but that is by choice not design.

       While growing the game is a high priority to the PGA of America, since women golfers make up "close to 40% of the new golfers in the United States," some might argue that golf courses are still set up too long and too difficult for women players, which doesn’t translate to total enjoyment of the game for them.

       "There is a presumption that all women play the same game," says Jan Bel Jan, a female golf course architect, who began her design career working for Tom Fazio. Bel Jan continued to make the point that while a male player can move up from the blue to white or white to gold tees, etc., the woman players do not have that option.

       The USGA says the average woman bogey golfer will hit her drive 140 yards while the bogey male golfer would hit his drive 200 yards. While the 140-yard assumption might be on the short side, let’s still consider for a moment that the women a 60 yard disadvantage off the tee. So for our hypothetical example, let’s make up a short par 4 hole of 360 yards from the white tees and 300 yards from the forward tees.

      The woman hits her 140 yard drive down the fairway and is left with 160 yards to the green. The male golfer hits his 200 yard drive and he has 160 yards left to the green. But here is the issue. We are at an impasse again because the woman player would likely be hitting her 3 wood and can't reach the green while the male player has a more reasonable chance to do so with say a 5 or 6 iron.

       This is assuming there is no hazard to cross to get on the green. That's another issue. So let's put a water hazard in from of the green. Potentially the male player could still reach the green with a good second shot but the woman has a good chance of hitting into the hazard with her best shot.

       In addition to Bel Jan, I spoke with two other accomplished golf course designers, Rees Jones and Ron Garl. All three pretty much echoed each other on the hazard issue saying you can't put those kind of hazards in play for the average woman golfer. Most average woman golfers do not have the swing speed to hit the ball high for the carry and consequently very little chance of the ball stopping on the green if she does.

      Unfortunately, in golf there remains a lot of old school thinking. The traditional three sets of tees of blue (pros), white (men's) and red (women's) was supposed to go away years ago, but the colors remain and so does the mindset even as many (newer) courses have added tee boxes to accommodate all players.

      Here’s an interesting issue that is on the web page of the Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, PA just outside of Philadelphia:

      “As a golf architect, William Flynn was an innovator. He routinely installed three separate sets of tees as early as the 1920’s. He insisted the shortest be called the “forward tees”, rather than “ladies tees” so men would not be discouraged from using them.”

      "At my home course, Eaglebrooke, we don't have colored tees," Garl told me. He said they went away from the traditional colored tees to numbered tees to break stereotypes in order to get players to play the course best suited for them. "It has been a huge success," Garl said. It gives players 6 options of tees ranging from 7,030 to 4,783 yards.

      I asked Garl if a 300 yard hole was fair for the casual woman who drives the ball maybe 150 yards. He said the goal should be to make the holes play different and suggested that the forward tees should reflect par-4 holes varying from 250 to 350 yards. Bel Jan wasn't in complete agreement saying the 350 yards was still too long for a player who hits a 150-yard drive.

      I supposed it depends on the lay of the course because at my home course there is a 250-yard drivable par 4 from the white tees with the forward tees set at 190 yards. The distance of the hole exceeds what the USGA says the bogey golfer hits his or her drive, but with the lay of the hole both men and women players hit the green from the tee with good shots.

      Last year I played in an event with Le Ann Finger, a former college golfer and currently Director of Player Development with the Eastern Women's Golf Association. At Eaglebrooke for instance, she could step back to play a set of tees suitable for her game without some of the old timers grumbling that she should be playing from the (former) red tees while the average woman player has a more playable set of tees.

       The popular phrase is that all players should be hitting the same club into the greens, but is that realistic?  Finger said it isn't so much that, as it is for the women "to have a chance to reach the green in regulation, with shots that are a higher trajectory and will hopefully be held by the greens."

       Sue Delaney, co-head professional at the Basking Ridge Golf Club does not agree entirely with the premise that woman golfers are at a disadvantage. “Probably not enough thought was given to some of the women’s tee boxes at courses built years ago, but you really need to cater to the middle of the spectrum,” she said.

      She also doesn’t agree with the correlation of 5,200-yard tee boxes for women being equivalent to a 7,500 yard course for men. She does however think that for some higher handicap women (over 25) anything over 4,800-5,000 yards is a little too much golf course. And that brings us back to square one.            

      Delaney, who teaches “a nice sample of skill levels” at her club that boasts a sizeable amount of women players says, “You still want to keep it fun for everyone.  I might need to start my beginner golfers at the 200-yard blue stakes on some holes, but we have some more competitive ladies who want to play from the longer length courses. Remember, most of your competitions require a certain longer course setup.”

      The real issue comes down to how to achieve that “fun” goal for all golfers? We know it isn't as simple as just moving up tee boxes.  For anyone who has played golf for any period of time, you know that there are a "lot of variables," according to Rees Jones, the golf course architect perhaps best known as being the "Open Doctor"for his renovations US Open courses to make them competitive for major USGA tournaments so he knows a thing or two about the subject.

      “The concept actually isn't unlike his overall design philosophy of using angles. It’s easy to do on a new design but on an existing course it becomes more of a challenge where you have to find a compromise of tee placement and the features of the golf course. You have to put forward tees in with the proper angles, away from the cart paths if necessary.”  Jones added it might make the women walk a little farther to the tee, but you have to do it.

      A female golfer friend offered this assessment to me. "Courses that are designed in the past 10-20 years were more geared to getting women out to play, so the tee placement is much better." But…there is always a but…she added that older courses "are very difficult for most women and tee placements are generally not that great and the courses are still too long."

      Everyone agrees that there is no black and white answer to address this issue. As long as the golf industry is working in a positive direction, with the goal to make golf more enjoyable and to attract new players, we can hope for continued improvements down the road. Remember, “fun” is the name of the game.

Course Review - Royal Oaks Golf Club

By Steve Gordon

It was like a Field of Dreams driving on a road trip once off the turnpike through country roads bordered by tall green cornfields to get to the Royal Oaks golf club in Lebanon, PA. It certainly could be described as in the middle of nowhere sitting across the street from the Lebanon Country Club.

As my long time golf partner and I are always on the look for new courses we came up with Royal Oaks and courtesy of a GolfNow hot deal we were off.

This public golf course, a Ron Forse design, opened in 1990 didn't disappoint. It is a nice comfortable layout that doesn't come at you hard. The front nine was mostly open and extremely playable. There were a bunkers not easily visible on a couple holes so you need to pay attention to what you are seeing and it never hurts to walk or drive up the hole a little to take a look as long as you don't let it interfere with your pace of play.

We played behind a foursome and it was a four hour round. Very enjoyable on a picture perfect Chamber of Commerce weather day.

There are five tee areas at Royal Oaks but it doesn't follow traditional colors for tee placements. The Silver tees we played might be the traditional Blue tees at many courses. The back Gold tees stretch to 6521 yards while the Bronze tees are 5876 yards which would be a traditional White tee set. The Forward White and Black tees are listed at 5326 and 4751 yards.

A brief note of commentary is that I like seeing forward tees set at less than 5000 yards as it makes the course playable for everyone. You might say the 98 yard (from the most forward tee) par 3 11th hole is a short par 3, but it really isn't for some senior and women players.

The course opens with an S shaped par 5 of 534 yards from the 6153 yard Silver tees (565 from the longest tees and 402 from the shortest). It's the longest hole on the course. It is followed by the shortest par 4 on the layout (301 yards Silver tees). Driver needs to stay in the bag on the second hole as the fairway ends around 200 yards out. This is one of those holes where there is a bunker you really can't see from the teeing area.

As the front nine holes winds it's way around a large wetlands area I found the par 4 sixth hole, a 380 dogleg left, to be the most interesting hole on the opening nine.

Now that you are warmed up the real course shows itself on the back nine. Every hole has a character and challenge of its own with a creek that winds it's way into play on nearly every hole. Both par 3's are very good holes. One (11) is short at 129 yards from the Silver tees while the other (15) is 175 yards and throws water in your face to deal with. These would be good holes on any golf course.

Fourteen has a double fairway that didn't inspire me and I didn't even realize it until we had hit our tee shots and were down the fairway. I don't have issue with double fairways generally but in my amateur course designer opinion, there needs to be definition and one of them should present a risk reward challenge. That wasn't the case here. The feature on this hole that stood out was three boulders in a green side bunker.

There was only one par 5 on the back but it is the par 4 holes that make this nine. If I had to pick one or two that stood out perhaps I would nominate the 371 yard 10th hole that plays over the creek with the green set right behind it. But I also liked the short 16th and longer 17th, both with the creek very prominently in play.

A couple notes of interest: 1. A number of bunkers are being grassed over for maintenance purposes but there are still plenty of remaining bunkers to challenge all players; and 2. The name with "Royal" in it isn't because the Queen was there to anoint it a Royal course. The name comes from the road outside the golf course, Royal Oaks.

If you are looking to take a road trip for a nice day of golf, and a nice drive, I recommend Royal Oaks. It isn't going to host any national championships but it is a pleasure to play and a challenge to all level of players. As with any golf course you play, please be sure to play from the proper set of tees that suits your skill level.

To make a tee time you can phone them at 717-274-2212 or you can go online to www.golfatroyaloaks.com. Also as mentioned, Royal Oaks is part of  the GolfNow network of courses.

Photo gallery from my phone that I took while playing.

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Course Review - The Architects Golf Club

By Steve Gordon

On the way to the US Women's Open at Trump National in Bedminster a friend and I made a pit stop at The Architects Golf Club near Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

The names bears the intent of the course developers, to honor some of the legendary golf course designers. However it is not a course of replica holes as some assume. Each hole was built in the style of a particular famous golf course architect. That said, the 13th hole green complex is set up to somewhat mimic the 13th hole of Augusta National, home of The Masters. A stream similar to Rae's Creek diagonally fronts the green which is angled behind it and it even has two stone bridges for effect.

13th green from cart path left side approaching the green.

As the course was fashioned and laid out course architect Stephen Kay manufactured a wonderful mix of holes that flows from the first tee to the 18th green. An unsuspecting player, of which I don't imagine there are many that go there, might not even realize the concept.

The course starts of with none other than an Old Tom Morris hole. It is a par five that follows the lay of the land around pot bunkers leading to a traditional sod faced bunker fronting the green.

Pot bunker fronting the 1st green.

I came away with a handful of favorite holes. It was tough for me to single out just one hole. The above mentioned 13th hole is on that list along with the Walter Travis 5th hole, the Donald Ross 9th hole and the Stanley Thompson 17th.

The course stretches out to 6863 yards from the back Black tees. I played the 6172 yard Blue tees and it was all the golf course this 70-year-old could handle as the course plays long going up and down the rolling terrain. The color of the tees placements are not the norm. Between the Black and Blue tees are the 6532 Gold tees while the forward Red tees drop down to a still very challenging 5233 yards.

There is a stretch and three long par 4 holes on the back nine that will test the best of players. After the 13th, from the Blue tees come the Perry Maxwell 400 par four, the Donald Ross 405 yard 15th and the Dick Wilson 423 yard 16th. Don't let the yardage fool you because on all of these the tee shot is uphill and semi blind.

For the most part the greens are generous in size with the 18th green on the short Robert Trent Jones 355 yard par 4 being the largest and with the most undulations of any green. It is possible to have a putt of 100 feet in addition to the contours.

The par three holes were all very manageable but not similar in length except for the 145 yard (116 from the Blue tee). What separates them from each other is the terrain and the design of the green and bunkers. The par five holes were all likewise manageable with none being killer long that you would have a long shot into the green.

If I had to make a criticism of the course it would be that it is not well marked for yardages so an electronic devise would be a good thing to have when you go there. There are sprinkler heads with yardages but no traditional 200, 150 or 100 yard stakes, trees or bushes. Perhaps that was by design to get you to play by feel as would have been the case in the old days? It is also a course where local knowledge is extremely helpful first time around. The scorecard does not have a diagram of the course layout or the individual holes.

A big upside is that the course offers up stunning vistas and it isn't crowded around by houses. You actually feel like you are on a golf course that has been there for a while and not something built to accommodate a housing development. Take a camera or use your phone to take some photos to remember your visit.

The course is kind of in the middle of nowhere just across the Delaware from Easton, PA. However it is not hard to find and it is well worth the road trip and the greens fee. They are on GolfNow but you can also contact them through their web site at www.thearcchitectsclub.com or by phone at

(908) 213-3080.

Hole number 10.

The par 3 17th hole.

9th green.

Course - ReviewCenterton Golf Club

By Steve Gordon

Let's put one thing right up front about the Centerton Golf Club. It isn't a northern version of Augusta National as someone quipped in the club house when a friend and I paid our first visit there recently. However, this Ed Cameron design has been a staple of local public golf since 1962 in the South Jersey area.

A glance at the scorecard shows you that by the numbers it isn't a long track measuring a shade under 6300 yards from the back tees, but numbers don't tell the whole story. The course is a well thought out mix of long and short holes much like that of the early designers.

It winds it's way through the trees on the property that line the fairways on most every hole with straight holes, right to left holes and left to right holes. There isn't much in the way of water hazards but what there is can't be ignored.

The 7th hole is kind of an innocent looking 150 yard par 3 from the white tees but it's got some challenge to it. The first thing you notice is a small lake left of the green but what you don't readily notice at first glance with some bushes that line part of the water is that it borders the green.

If you take a harder look you will notice the green is long and narrow and it slopes right to left towards the water. What that means any shot towards the left side of the green is in danger of not staying on the green. If the pin is there my suggestion is not to go flag hunting. This turned out to be one of my favorite holes on the course even though it is the 18 handicap hole. It plays 184 yards from the back tee.

To transition to the top rated hole on the course I refer you to my opening statement that this is a course made up of long and short holes. Number 16 weighs in at 413 and 388 yards from the Blue and White tees respectfully. It is a dogleg left but you don't want to flirt with cutting it unless you are confident of how far and straight you can hit it. A miss left or short of finding the fairway isn't likely to leave you a shot to the green and if you get lucky the green is guarded by two bunkers from that angle.

The scorecard reveals that the 17th hole is a medium length par 3 of 156 yards (169 Blue tee). It is however all over water so a mishit or misclub results in your ball taking a bath. Be sure to read the wind direction correctly at the tree top level as well.

A short distance through the trees will bring you to the 427 yard (444 Blue tee) finishing hole. It is dead straight between the trees lining the generous fairway with one lone fairway bunker on the left that is in play.

Two of the par five holes are less than 500 yards but on the day we played with soft turf from overnight rain they both played as legitimate 3 shot holes while the other par 5 (number 11) was a beast from the 555 yard white tee (578 Blue tee).

The par 4 holes vary in length from 288 to 388 yards from the white tees (302 to 444 Blue tees). Much of the course is tree lined but it's fair and not confining for the most part. OK, the tee shot on the  sharp left dogleg 9th hole can be a tight fit with the wrong ball flight. There are a couple open links like holes on the course for a different look but those holes are within the design concept of the rest of the course, they just don't have a lot of trees on them.

Centerton is an affordable quality golf course in South Jersey. It is about an hour from Philadelphia and Atlantic City areas. For more information call 856-358-2220 or go to www.CentertonGolf.com.

Forward Tees

By Steve Gordon

I was in attendance at the Media Day for the ShopRite LPGA Classic. It is a scramble golf outing for the media people then a luncheon and press conference with the previous years tournament champion. This is all in advance of the tournament played on the Bay Course at the Stockton Seaview Resort in Absecon, NJ on June 2, 3 and 4th.

After all the media participants were rounded up they read the rules for the outing which were the normal for scramble play and they included the provision that anyone over 55 could play the forward gold tees. That's me folks.

The Bay Course is not a long course situated on the bay across from Atlantic City. Its defense is the always present wind, tall fescue grass and small fast undulating greens. It's a fun course to play and it is a test of shot making and that is why it attracts many of the big names to come play in it.

If the wind is up as it was in 2014 when Karie Webb won with a score of -1 the course is all you can handle. One commentator on the Golf Channel remarked on air that year that the players came to the ShopRite and a US Open broke out. The course was playing that tough. Last year the wind was moderate and the winning score by defending champion Anna Nordquist was -17.

Back to the scramble. Here were one playing partner and myself and the other two components of our scramble team didn't make it in for the early start time. You might think it would make for a long day and a disadvantage with only two guys playing in a four man team format. The rules allow for four balls so it meant we could each hit two shots. Advantage or disadvantage?

As both of us were upwards of 55 by more than a decade we did have the forward tees to look forward to. The course plays a shade over 6000 yards from the white tees that we normally play when we go there. The forward gold tees on this day would give us about 1000 less yards to play with on a mostly normal wind condition day.

We started on the 8th hole in the shotgun start. It was playing 288 yards from the forward tees and a good drive put us less than 100 yards from the green and we started with a birdie as my partner has a very good shot game. Moving on to the 411 yard par 5 ninth hole playing into the wind another birdie was the result.

This was fun.

The bottom line is that as we were putting our tee shots out there in good positions and didn't have to hit medium and long irons or hybrids to the greens there were birdies to be had. In the end we finished 12 under par with a score of 59 that included two eagles.

We did fudge a little however on the first hole where we crossed paths with Nordquist for a photo op and some light conversation. The defending champ was out and about around the course just greeting all the media people and hitting shots here and there. She didn't have her clubs but said if we gave her a club and a ball she'd hit a tee shot for us. Without a practice swing she roped one for us.

We equated ourselves well with solid shots in front of the pro from the 345 White tee box but guess whose tee shot we used there to make a par from about 80 yards away?

Where I am going with this is that the rules allow for senior and women players, who don't hit the ball as far as younger players, to play from a more reasonable distance. Both my partner and I still hit it OK, but playing with younger, more athletic and more agile players our tee shots are sitting on the turf looking up at their balls flying past in the air.

I see players various places I go who just put ego in front of reason and insist on playing golf courses from the wrong set of tees. Why not take what the rules give you and go out and have fun. For our round on the Media Day we had a blast and it was so much fun not to be standing out in the fairway wondering if we had enough club to reach greens in regulation or having to hit woods in where others were hitting medium irons.

The recommendation from this retired mind is move up to more forward tees from the traditional regular or White tees. Play a yardage that suits your game. I guarantee it'll be a more rewarding experience.

Steve Gordon, Anna Nordqvist and Bob Oliver

Viewer call in penalties

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(Bob is an occasional contributor to this blog)

By Bob Oliver

I called into Major League Baseball offices and let them know a ball called in yesterday's Washington National’s game was actually a strike. 

To my surprise, MLB didn't change the call.  

Interestingly enough, a wrong call was made on for holding in the Philadelphia Flyers-New York Rangers hockey game over the weekend on a play which led to a goal. I e-mailed the National Hockey League offices and let them know, but they too didn't change the call.

But some yahoo burro calls or writes the LPGA Tour and drops a dime on Lexi Thompson in the ANA Inspiration and before you can say “bingo” the LPGA penalized the tournament leader and ultimately cost her $154,509 in prize winnings as well as a championship.

What did Thompson do? Kick her ball out of the rough? Roll a putt by throwing instead of using a putter? Start handing out mulligans? Wear uncoordinated clothing colors?

Nope, none of the above.

The 22-year-old was: 1) given a two-shot penalty Sunday for incorrectly marking her golf ball on a green during Saturday’s round, and, 2) given a two-shot penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard. The penalties were given a day later.

Thompson did not knowingly replace her ball on the green incorrectly, her playing partners saw no violation, and rules officials walking with the players said nary a word. But a day later words like “ridiculous”, “unbelievable”, “wrong” and “stupid” were uttered by professional golfers when informed of the situation.

For years viewers have called in potential rules violations and the practice has got to stop.

Last year the blowhard callers nearly cost Dustin Johnson the U.S. Open Championship and may have cost Anna Nordqvist the U.S. Women’s Championship.

A couple years ago Mrs. LPGA, Juli Inkster, was in one of those endless waits on the tee (about 30 minutes) wanted to stay warmed up in an event. So she inserted a weighted attachment (a "doughnut" similar to what baseball players use in the on deck circle) and took some practice swings. That's it. She could just as easily lifted her golf bag 10 times, and that would have been perfectly legal.  

A television viewer contacts the LPGA, and Inkster, just a couple shots out of the lead, gets to leave the course on a walk of shame.

Give me a break. I know, I know, rules are rules. I know Dustin Johnson was in a phantom bunker at the PGA Championship and grounded his club (where was that rake, anyway?). I know that because after the tournament they took a picture of it, and sure enough, it was a bunker. But in the heat of battle, with people standing in the "hazard" all day, nobody could tell.

There was a rules official right there, watching the whole escapade, and he didn't think it appropriate to say anything to Johnson.

Give me a break.

Years ago a caller reached the PGA Tour office (don’t they have better things to do) and informed that Craig Stadler violated a rule by kneeling on a towel before hitting a shot from soggy ground. Maybe this was right after playing partner Judge Smails threw a ball onto the green, but it was Stadler who was penalized.

Say what?

Bottom line is that there are playing partners observing the play with the opportunity to question a situation. Rules officials generally travel alongside the leading groups to offer help and expertise. And the tours monitor the life feed from the event.  There is absolutely no reason for a Tour to be taking phone calls and e-mails from viewers of an event.

Lexi Thompson is an honorable, rules abiding, upstanding lady. If she broke the rules, she should be disciplined. But this idea that a random caller, a member of the armchair sitting television police, can simply call in and affect the outcome of a tournament is ridiculous. Incredible. It would never, ever happen in other major professional sports.

Golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s game, a gentlewoman’s game. There are rules officials all over the course, but none of them had problems with the above situations. No, some yahoo watching a TV or mobile device in their underwear becomes arbiter and drops a dime on a player. Have to call BS on that one.  

Players regularly call penalties on themselves. Bizarre calls and e-mails should not. Brian Davis did call a penalty on himself and it cost him victory at Hilton Head a couple year’s back. So it's not like players are cheating and getting away with it. They police themselves. By allowing callers, emailers, whatever to call the game is a sham. This is not American Idol, where you call in to an 800 number and make your feelings known. It is professional golf and it looks amateurish.

Here's an idea. Create a the new FWL: Fantasy Watchers League. Participants can watch sporting events and call in infractions. They get points for each time they uncovered a dastardly deed. At the end of the year the winner could pick his or her sport and actually wear an official's outfit and "work" a game. The comedy of that would be priceless.

Until then, shut up.

No other major league sport offers such a venue for millions of armchair rules officials to call in and change the outcome of a tournament. Period.

This boorish behavior has got to stop. Now.

Put viewers on a Do not call list. Don't answer e-mails. Establish a new rule that anyone calling in a violation be permanently barred from the game for a year and all e-mailing and telephoning privileges revoked. Stop the insanity!

2017 Masters

By Steve Gordon

I like underdogs. Always have. That is a big reason why I was happy to see Sergio Garcia put the green jacket on. I didn't have a favorite player of all the final round contenders so any of those guys would have been a fine champion for me. As the tournament unfolded however Garcia became my guy. Apparently the Patrons felt the same as they gave him a big roar when that last putt dropped making it official.

Because Sergio has been a very good player for so long, I guess you could make a case that it was just time to get his first Major. Was it a coincidence that it came on the day that would have been his idol Seve Ballesteros' 60th birthday? Was it a coincidence that the only other player to eagle 15 in the final round and win was another countryman Jose Maria Olazabal? I can't speak on that but it was pretty cool.

There is no question that there were a lot of very good players in contention as the final round started as each of them set up and propelled their opening shots from the first tee. It was game on as they began to duel it out on the manicured fairways at Augusta National.

The announcers were saying, anyone within a handful of shots, even 5 or 7 back, could get hot and win. As good as one single player was in past years and how he once dominated and how we marveled at his talent, it was great to see a field of players fight for the coveted trophy.

Now, as the final round unfolded, things did not go well for all of the top contenders and as opportunities were missed and shots were dropped one by one they fell out of contention. The tournament was boiling down to the final pair of Justin Rose and Garcia. Rose looked solid while Sergio had a few hiccups, but he was hanging in there.

And then...and then...they got to Amen Corner.

I was texting with a friend during the round and as things were playing out I admit I jumped the gun. When Sergio's tee shot hit that tree limb and kicked left and into the base of an azalea bush I thought that would be the end of his chances. I texted "He's done." I couldn't have been more wrong and I should have known better. I've been watching this tournament for more years then I'm going to admit to and...well...I just should have known better than to make that call.

Garcia did exactly what he should have done instead of letting the emotions of the moment take over. Besides had he attempted to hack at the ball in that bush, how would that sit with the grounds crew and members of that beautiful place? How dare he do that?

But seriously folks, there was no other realistic option because there was a minuscule chance he could have hit safely out of there even if he could have gotten a club on the ball. Why risk potentially dumping it into the hazard? That would have brought something like a nine into play. He smartly and coolly accepted the situation and he skillfully punch the ball out to the fairway and valiantly made a par out of nothing.

Generally par on the 13th hole in Amen Corner on Sunday at The Masters isn't going to help your cause when you are in contention.

The back nine on Sunday at The Masters rarely goes conservatively by the book and it is often said that the tournament doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday. Once you survive 10 and 11 the real fun starts at the par 3 12th hole. From there a whole scenario of things can happen between it and the par 3 16th, with a very accessible traditional final round pin placement.

So we had Garcia in the trees and taking an unplayable lie and Rose sitting pretty. It looked like a two shot swing for sure. Maybe that's what filtered through Roses mind, just for a fleeting second. As a top player you try not to let those things get into your head, but we are all human. You never want to take anything for granted playing this game but you have to agree that Rose was in a very good position to grab this tournament by the throat and take control.

With the two pars on thirteen I wonder that as they both walked to the 14th tee if one player had his spirits uplifted a bit and the other saw an opportunity missed? It could be that hole is where The Masters was decided this time around even before the eagle that just fell into the side of the cup on 15 for Sergio? Of course there was no question that leaving 15 the eventual winner was on adrenalin overload while Rose had to be back on his heals a little.

To his credit Rose didn't crack. Sixteen and Seventeen certainly didn't go as planned for either player but the result took the final pair to 18 tied. You all watched it unfold and the playoff and it was just fitting that Sergio drained the birdie putt to seal the deal.

Looking back at the tournament as a whole, who could maintain a dry eye with the Arnie tribute on the first tee for the ceremonial opening tee shots. And who didn't have a little voice inside hoping that 57-year-old Fred Couples could muster up some youthful energy and give us some real magic?

I also have to make a comment about the people who phoned in that they saw Garcia's ball move after his drop on the 13th hole. They are not golf fans in my opinion and I echo a comment I read from a story on another site that said they should be banned from watching golf.

All things considered this had to be one of the best Masters tournaments.

Course Review - Royal Manchester

By Bob Oliver

Well, there’s some controversy about the Royal in Manchester, but other than that nitpicking statement there isn’t much to dislike about this challenging, fun and eye-catching 18 near York, Pa. designed by Timothy Freeland.

There isn’t a tree which comes into play on the course, which is built upon Pennsylvania Power and Light land near the Susquehanna River along rolling hills. Wind is a hazard which can change day to day, and while the greens are sizeable being in the wrong position brings three-putting often into play.

The course winds over the countryside like it has been there for decades but it’s a relatively new course. It has as much teeth a player can want, and shorter tee boxes allow players of all abilities to accept the challenge.

Numbers 4 and 7 are drivable par four tests, and the par-5 ninth is as much a golf hole as you’d like. A perfect drive brings the green in play in two shots, but miss short or to the sides and water is in play, and a long shot gets one into a collection area that means nothing but trouble for a third shot.

Golf Advisor ranked Royal Manchester 42^nd as it’s places to play in America, so the golfing public clearly likes the course. At the most recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando the course received an award for its conditioning and playability. Why? Royal Manchester’s greens were destroyed in 2015 when a contaminated batch of fungicide was applied.

“It was awful,” explained General Manager/PGA Professional Kieron Moony, who closed the course on June 15, 2015. “Looking back, it was a terrible time, but I made the decision to close the course and take care of the problem full on rather than piecemeal. We had to flush out the bad chemical from the greens, using a charcoal liquid. Then we waited for it to work, and about a month later we cross slit the greens in two directions and dropped A1/A4 Bent grass seed.

“About ten days later we saw germination and we oversaw heavy irrigation schedule to give the grass a chance. It is obviously difficult to grow healthy grass in July and August, so we had to take great care. We continued to overseed until we had full grow in coverage by late October. It was a great deal of work, but the team did a great job and we reopened March 1, 2016.”

A stellar job was done, as the course is better than ever and one wouldn’t notice there had been a problem with the greens. They roll well, and are as dastardly as ever. The time off allowed a couple new tees to be built, adding even more challenge.

“From a design standpoint, our course flows so very well. There are no gimmicky holes, and we attempt to have the course in great shape” added Moony, who advised the York Open is held at the course through 2025. “I believe in stellar customer service, and we do our best to make the visitors happy.”

Visually, Royal Manchester is right there in front of you. There are a couple blind shots…if your tee shot doesn’t crest a hill for instance. But it is not some tricked up layout. The course rewards good shots, and what you see is what you get. An outstanding test worthy of a drive from Bucks County.

Royal Manchester is part of the Raspberry Golf Trail, a reasonable drive from Bucks County and a Must Play destination. It rated 4.2 stars on our 0-5 point scale. Details found at www.royalmanchestergolflinks.com

(Photos by Steve Gordon)

Clubhouse from eighteenth fairway behind the green

Iconic waterfall on the 18th hole