- So renegade upstart Canadian golf architect (and my good friend) Ian Andrew has started a golf blog called “The Caddy Shack.” So far Ian has gone blog crazy, writing about taking his father to Ireland on their last golf trip (I was on the trip which was remarkable), the problems with green speeds, his logo and other things. Given that he’s the most notable restoration architect in Canada (no one in this country is really a close second), I’m sure he’ll have plenty of interesting posts on his work. Hopefully he’ll give people a sense of how golf architects really work and some of the details on courses they’ve never even considered. Ian is thoughtful, but with strong opinions. It should be fun to see how the site develops. You can find it at thecaddyshack.blogspot.com.
- I forgot to mention the appointment of Kevin Poole to the job at Ridge at Manitou. That’s been corrected. Interestingly, apparently the demise of high-end golf in the Toronto area is not forthcoming for all courses. During a conversation yesterday with Chris Neale, the director of golf at Copper Creek, he noted the club is essentially packed full of corporate events from June through September. Maybe business is still strong or maybe Copper Creek just does a better job than other clubs…
- Golf’s premier contrarian and blogger, Geoff Shackelford, has a nice round up of the week in review and mentions my comments on the whole LPGA versus Associated Press situation. The situation has now been resolved, not a surprising move given the power of AP. The only surprising fact is that the LPGA tried to pull such a ridiculous move off on the first place.
- Been a bad week for Canadians at the matchplay. First there was “9 and 8” Ames, and followed by Mike Weir’s precedent setting meltdown against Geoff Ogilvy. Already one paper is calling Ogilvy’s recovery, down four holes with four to play, as one of the great comebacks in sports. Or maybe it is one of the great choke jobs on Weir’s part. Surely Canada’s best golfer can’t be faulted for Ogilvy’s remarkable eagle on the final playoff hole, but there’s no way the Aussie should have been in the position to make the eagle in the first place. It is called “close him out,” something Mike should have done on the 15th hole.
WOW so many links and so little time. I just wish I had come here yesterday. Thanks for the links.
It is not a lost cause for Canadian goilfers this past week. Jim Rutledge won the New Zealand PGA Championship. With some luck the rest of the year, Rutledge can possibly make it to the PGA after trying so many years. He will be pushing 50 if he does make it, and might not be able to make a mark. But it will be a great story for Canada golf.
It is not a lost cause for Canadian goilfers this past week. Jim Rutledge won the New Zealand PGA Championship. With some luck the rest of the year, Rutledge can possibly make it to the PGA after trying so many years. He will be pushing 50 if he does make it, and might not be able to make a mark. But it will be a great story for Canada golf.
I was somewhat ‘shocked’ on Saturday morning to turn to the matchplay on tv and see Ogilvy playing Howell. My thought was, “What is he doing here?” I remember seeing some of the action on Friday afternoon and noting to a co-worker that Weir was 4up and all was in hand. Yikes, that isn’t a comeback, that is a give away, especially with two of those holes being bogeys. I could see if Ogilvy outright won the holes, as with his birdie on 16, but he shouldn’t be getting away with pars to continue the match. I know Weir had done well to get ahead, being 2down at one point early in the match. No knock against Ogilvy as he did well to get by everyone he did, but ultimately I think this looks bad on Weir. Doesn’t help that he also looked poor at Pebble in the last round.
It is nice to see Rutledge win, but the real question Canadians are asking, is whether Weir has returned to form.
The jury seems to still be out….