Author Archives: C. Baker

Pinehurst #4

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My bucket list trip to Pinehurst Resort started with playing Pinehurst #4. Our tee time was at noon and we hired a caddie (Gary) and we were paired with a couple from Florida/Boston. It was perfect weather and I was excited because so many online reviewers said #4 was their favorite course (even placing it ahead of #2). You can read my comparison of the courses we played in my blog post “2023 Bucket List – Pinehurst” but for me #4 was my least favorite of the four courses we played (#2, #4, #8 and Tobacco Road); of course, #4 is a beautiful course but of the three we played at Pinehurst I rank it in third place.

Things that surprised me about Pinehurst #4: (1) Par 4 yardages were very long. (2) The waste area sand was softer/fluffier than I expected which made it more difficult to advance the ball a good distance. In comparison, the waste area at #2 was hard packed and easy to get a wood or hybrid on the ball to advance it. (3) I did not know the course had a lake and holes 13, 14, and 15 are the prettiest part of the course.

Tee to green I was hitting my clubs great and it was nice to feel so comfortable over the ball. I hit 86% of fairways and was only in sand twice during the round. Even with my game in great shape I was surprised how few greens I hit in regulation; but upon reflection, the length of individual holes were very long. My caddie told me on a number of par 4s, “these are long, you won’t get on in regulation,” and I was hitting my drives 170-180 yards and 3-wood 140. An interesting comparison – the USGA stated in a study that the average female bogey golfer (with a 24 handicap) will get on a green in regulation that is 250 to 280 yards long (assuming a drive of 150 yards). Pinehurst #4 has Par 4 yardages as long as 340, 356, etc. from the forward tees. Only two par 4 holes were less than 280 and Hole 3 was 278 yards.

Perhaps, the one thing I will remember most from Pinehurst #4 is that I left four par putts and one birdie putt on the lip of the hole! My putts were on line but I think I got it in my head that the greens would be really fast and perhaps gave the speed of the greens too much respect. It was also interesting that the holes I did have three-putts on were the hardest holes on the course (hole 5 -#1 handicap, hole 7- #3 handicap, and hole 18 – #2 handicap). I actually ended my round with three 3-putts (for a total of five 3-putts for my entire round) but some of these were very long putts (over 30 feet) so I didn’t expect to one putt but hoped for two putts on those holes.

Below are yardage book images of two of the three holes I parred playing Pinehurst #4.

Final thoughts on my game at Pinehurst #4 – Overall I was very happy with my game and I even felt good about my putting because I was rolling it on line to the holes but I just kept leaving putts short (a theme that will continue on #2 and #8). I will share that I worked very hard on my game this year to prepare for this trip and I am thrilled that my hard work paid off at Pinehurst. Scoring a 49 on the front and a 46 on the back for a total 95 which is four strokes over my target score of 91 (Par 72 plus 19 course handicap).

Gallery of Images from Pinehurst #4 – A selfie of me and my golf buddy (Donna), a shot of me hitting my approach on Hole 1 (I was actually in the fairway) but it shows the waste area with the clumps of “love grass” and the pine needles in the forefront. Shots of golfers on another hole, the area around holes 13, 14, 15 was the prettiest part of the course (Funny, everyone called it a lake but it looked more like a pond to me. Go to my Youtube channel to see a video and decide for yourself if it’s a lake or pond).

Pinehurst Trip: Non-Golf Tips

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If I had a friend planning a trip to the Pinehurst Resort these are the tips I would share:

Book Early: If you want to go during a peak time (spring or fall) book early. Especially if you have your heart set on staying at a specific hotel or want specific tee times. For example, we booked in July for October and there was not much choice in tee times. We had two early morning tee times at Pinehurst which turned out fine but getting up in the dark on vacation to play isn’t ideal.

Transportation: We had a car which was great because we wanted to play a course outside the Pinehurst Resort and we had a day that was a non-golf day and we went exploring. However, if you plan to just stay at the Resort (and Pinehurst Village), then a car isn’t necessary because they have a great shuttle service. All you do is call the shuttle and they will take you to any location on property or in the Village of Pinehurst. They advise you to call for a shuttle 15 mins in advance but we never waited that long. I asked a shuttle driver how it works and he said they have 50 shuttle vans and 200 drivers! The driver also said they do airport shuttles for guests.

Also, If you are playing multiple Pinehurst courses, the night before they use shuttle vans to take guest clubs from the main club house to the various courses and your clubs will be waiting for you when you arrive for your tee time. So you don’t need to worry about lugging your clubs back and forth to your hotel or condo every day during your stay.

Food: First, all the food was excellent. Our plan came with breakfast and dinner included. The breakfast buffet opens at 6 am and everything you could want to eat is available. The dinner plan included all the restaurants at the resort and some places in the Village of Pinehurst. The dinner plan includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert so it was a lot of food. Also, if you order ice tea that is included in your meal plan but wine/beer or other alcohol drinks are not included. By the last night my friend and I just did a “to go meal” of soup from The Deuces because we were so tied of eating so much food.

Also, they recommend you book dinner reservations before you arrive at the resort. If you really want to eat at a specific time then book early because we really could not make a dinner reservation (at a reasonable time) a day or two ahead. So, we ate early and found it easy to get a table.

There is a 18% gratuity added to every meal. Oddly, at Pinehurst #8, when we had lunch, the server said she did not get any of the “service charge fee” – which surprised us. We thought maybe a “service charge” was different from a gratuity charge. Anyway, I did some research for this blog post and the Pinehurst resort states that they have a 10% service charge, a resort fee, and if you go to a “dinning establishment” an 18% gratuity fee is automatically applied (which you see on the bill). And, they state the majority of the 18% gratuity does go to the server. So perhaps at Pinehurst #8 which is “off site” the grill is categorized differently? Either way, read the meal receipt carefully to see what fees are being charged.

Bottom line, I would definitely recommend you get the breakfast buffet in your plan but if its possible, I would ask the cost of a plan without dinner. Depending on the cost difference in plans with and without dinner, it may make sense to skip the dinner option (unless you are a big eater).

Lodging: There are a number of options and I assume many guests want to stay at the Carolina Hotel. Although I did see reviews that complained about the hotel rooms being old and needing to be updated. I spoke to the receptionist when we were at the Holly Inn (in the Village of Pinehurst and part of the Pinehurst Resort lodging options) and asked about the rooms. She said the hotel is a “historical site” so the rooms are older.

Anyway, we stayed in a condo on property, The Golf Terrace (perhaps built circa 1980s but very nice – didn’t feel new but didn’t feel “old”). I really liked staying in the condo. It had a kitchen, nice sitting room, balcony, and we each had our own bedroom and bathroom. Everything was clean and water pressure in the shower was great. Like a lot of Airbnb places, you could log into your apps (i.e. Netflix, YouTube) but it was hard to find local TV channels or the Golf Channel. The condo also does have maid service.

The only tip staying in an on-course condo is that it is very dark at night so if you are driving to your condo on the course, pay attention to where your are driving (or better yet, just take the shuttle). Also, driving during the day, you have to watch out for golfers teeing off or riding by in a golf cart.

Golf Terrace Balcony View

Condo view of golfers playing the hole outside (Hole 18, Pinehurst #5)
View of main clubhouse from condo balcony

Bring Some Cash: Most of the resort is credit card only (even the drinks cart on the golf course only takes credit card). However, If you use a caddie you need to pay the tip in cash; and it is good to have some cash to pay a tip at the bag drop when you arrive at the main club house or any other service person you want to tip; and of course, we left a cash tip for the cleaning staff at the end of our stay in the condo.

Statues at Pinehurst – just for fun!

Donal Ross (in Village of Pinehurst)
Butter Boy (by Thistle Dhu
Putting Course)
Payne Stuart (outside, back of
main club house)

It’s Here – Back to Back Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup in 2023

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We have the pandemic to thank for the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup being contested in the same year and back-to-back. If you love team competition and golf then this fall is your time to enjoy hours and hours of match play from across the pond.

Dates for each Cup: The official days of competition run Friday through Sunday.

Solheim Cup Competition days: Friday, September 22 – Saturday, September 23 – Sunday, September 24. Golf Channel coverage is from 2 am to 1 pm on Friday and Saturday and 5 am to 11 am on Sunday.

Ryder Cup Competition days: Friday, September 29 – Saturday, September 30 – Sunday, Oct 1. The Ryder Cup gets more TV coverage (including the Junior Ryder Cup and opening ceremony on Thursday). You can find all the times on How to Watch the Ryder Cup on the website.

I assume you will also be able to see replays on YouTube.

Note: When the 2020 Ryder Cup was moved to 2021 (due to Covid), it meant that the Ryder Cup would now be played on “odd” years and therefore be the same year as the Solheim Cup. The LPGA and LET decided to move from their traditional odd years to even so that do not have to “complete” every year with the Ryder Cup. They could not move the 2023 event so their only solution was to not wait 2 years to wait for the next Solheim Cup so there will be a 2024 Solheim cup, in the USA.

My thought was that it would be amazing if the men’s and women’s tours could work together to have one big “match play week” where they combine the events and also add some mixed match events into the event.

If you are interested in a bit of insight, read the overviews below.

SOLHEIM CUP OVERVIEW

The Solheim cup is much “younger” than the Ryder Cup since the first competition was in 1990. The record stands with the USA 10 wins and Europe 7 wins. Team Europe has won the last two cups.

The Solheim Cup is being contested in Andalucia, Spain at Finca Cortesin. The European Captain is Suzanne Petterson and the USA Captain is Stacy Lewis. Details can be found on the Solheim Cup website but let’s look at the players.

Team USA players: I would say that there were no really big surprises in the captain picks from Lewis. Rose Zhang is the new star on the LPGA (winning her first professional tournament her first week on the LPGA) and as a recent college graduate she has played a lot of match play. The other captain picks were all next in qualifying points.

The players earned points starting at the Portland Classic in 2021. The USA has the recent number one ranked player, Lilia Vu and the US Open Champion in Allisen Curpuz. Rose Zang is the new star on the LPGA and has a steller match play record from college. Watching the LPGA tournaments the last few weeks it appears most players are coming into Solheim in great form. For example, Megan Kang just won her first tournament on tour (the Canadian Open). The two players that are struggling are Jennifer Kupcho and Lexi Thompson. In fact, Lexi Thompson has had seven missed cuts in her last 9 tournaments and her best showing was a T31 at the Founders Cup in May. She is on the team because of all the Solheim cup points she accumulated in 2021. But both Kupcho and Thompson love match play and so hopefully they will rise to the occasion.

  • Lilia (automatic qualifier)
  • Nelly Korda (automatic qualifier)
  • Allisen Corpuz (automatic qualifier)
  • Megan Kang (automatic qualifier)
  • Jennifer Kupcho (automatic qualifier)
  • Danielle Kang (automatic qualifier)
  • Lexi Thompson (automatic qualifier)
  • Andrea Lee (automatic qualifier)
  • Rose Zhang (captain’s pick)
  • Alley Ewing (captain’s pick)
  • Angel Yin (captain’s pick)
  • Cheyenne Knight (captain’s pick)

Team Europe players: Suzanne Petersen has stated this is the best European team ever and that’s a big statement given the Europeans have won the last two Solheim Cups. Only time will tell if it is the best team “ever” but she does have a stellar list of players. Celine Boutier (#4 in the world who won back-to-back at Evian Championship and the Scottish Open), Charley Hull with an 11-5-3 Solheim Cup Record and Leona McGuire with a 4-0-1 record from 2021. It is interesting that there are five swedes on her team and three of them were captains picks. The big surprise was Carolina Hedwall because she’s not highly ranked but she is a fierce competitor and did well in past Solheim cups.

  • Celine Boutier (automatic qualifier)
  • Marja Stark (automatic qualifier)
  • Charlie Hull (automatic qualifier)
  • Leona McGuire (automatic qualifier)
  • Georgia Hall (automatic qualifier)
  • Linn Grant (automatic qualifier)
  • Carlota Ciganda (automatic qualifier)
  • Anna Nordquist (automatic qualifier)
  • Madelene Sagstrom (captain’s pick)
  • Gemma Dryburgh (captain’s pick)
  • Emily Pedersen (captain’s pick)
  • Carolina Hedwall (captain’s pick)

Morning Foursomes

The Morning Foursomes for Friday were announced today (Thursday) at the opening ceremony. I am a bit surprised to see Lexi going out first; and Rose Zhang, Lilia Vu are not playing. I’m not sure what Stacey Lewis is thinking. Let’s hope she sees something in the player stats that made these morning pairings make sense. On the European side, Suzanne Petterson has stacked her foursomes with Lin Grant, Celine Boutier, Leona Maguire, and Charley Hull.

RYDER CUP OVERVIEW

The Ryder Cup was first played in 1927 and the record stands as USA 27 wins and Europe 14 wins. If you love golf history you can read about every Ryder Cup on the Ryder Cup Website.

The Ryder Cup is being contested in Rome, Italy at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. The European Captain is Luke Donald and the USA Captain is Zach Johnson. Details can be found on the Ryder Cup Website but, as we did with the Solheim Cup, let’s look at the players.

Team USA Players: If you are a golf fan you know the most controversial pick was Justin Thompas (JT). He has played well below his normal standards this year but was picked because of his stellar match play record. Hopefully, JT plays well but I can’t imagine the pressure he must feel given so many feel he did not deserve to be on this team.

  • Scottie Scheffler (automatic qualifier)
  • Max Homa (automatic qualifier)
  • Brian Harman (automatic qualifier)
  • Patrick Cantlay (automatic qualifier)
  • Wyndham Clark (automatic qualifier)
  • Xander Schauffele (automatic qualifier)
  • Brooks Keopka (captains pick)
  • Sam Shepard (captain’s pick)
  • Rickie Fowler (captain’s pick)
  • Collin Morikawa (captain’s pick)
  • Jordan Spieth (captain’s pick)
  • Justin Thomas (captain’s pick)

Team Europe Players: The European team is solid and they have a few players that are coming into this Ryder Cup is exceptional form. There is Viktor Hovland who won the FedEx Cup and Ludvig Aberg who, like Rose Zhang, was a college star that came on tour and won quickly. I think the United States will face a very tough European team.

  • Viktor Hovland (automatic qualifier)
  • Rory McIIroy (automatic qualifier)
  • Jon Rahm (automatic qualifier)
  • Matt Fitzpatrick (automatic qualifier)
  • Tyrrell Hatton (automatic qualifier)
  • Robert MacIntyre (automatic qualifier)
  • Ludvig Aberg (captain’s pick)
  • Tommy Fleetwood (captain’s pick)
  • Nicolai Højgaard (captain’s pick)
  • Shane Lowry (captain’s pick)
  • Justin Rose (captain’s pick)
  • Sepp Straka (captain’s pick)

So grab your cup of morning coffee (or tea, in my case) and sit back and enjoy the golf. Hopefully the matches will be great battles and make each cup exciting and closely contested.

Tis’ the Season of Match Play

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If you love to watch match play then this is the time for you to make excuses to watch a lot of golf on TV. However to watch live you better be an early riser since all the events are in Europe in 2023. I assume the Golf Channel will have plenty of coverage leading up to the actual match play days but below is information on how to watch the actual match days (USA information only).

September 2 & 3: The Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is the amateur match play event with the top males amateur golfers from the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. It is organized by the USGA (the governing body of golf in the United States) and the R&A (the governing body of golf for the rest of the world and headquartered in St. Andrews, Scotland).

You can view the Walker Cup on the Golf Channel. The event is being contended at The Old Course at St. Andrews so that is a treat to see as a golf fan.

Day 1: Saturday, September 2 starting at 8 am (est) Also, it will be rebroadcasted Saturday night at 9 pm est.

Day 2: Sunday, September 3, starting at 8 am (est) to 2 pm on Golf Channel.

September 22 to 24: The Solheim Cup

The ladies take the stage at Finca Cortesín in Andalucía, Spain. The USA and Europe both have stellar teams so it should be an exiting event. The Solheim cup record is 10 USA and Europe 7 but Europe has won the last two meetings (2019 at Gleneagles in Scotland and 2021 at The Inverness Club in Ohio).

When to watch the coverage live on the Golf Channel

Day 1, Friday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 2, Saturday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 3, Sunday: 5 to 11 am (est)

My bet is that there will be replays later in the day if you don’t care about seeing it live.

September 29 to October 1: Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is being contested at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, Italy. This will be the 44th event with the USA leading in the series (27-14-2) but Europe has won nine of the last 13 editions of the Ryder Cup. The first 39 years the matches were between the USA and GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) but in 1979 the GB&I team was expanded to include all of Europe; thus making the matches more competitive.

It is early to confirm but here is the broadcast schedule I found online:

Friday, September 29 – USA Network, 1:30 am to Noon (est)

Saturday, September 30 – USA Network, 1:30 to 3 am (est) and NBC 3 am to Noon (est)

Sunday, October 1 – 5:30 am to 1 PM (est) on NBC

Side Bar: There is also the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup but they are not televised. You can follow the scoring online at the respective websites for the events.

Major Winners on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour – A Review of Their Play in All Majors in 2023

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We all can remember the winners of the majors but I was curious how a major winner plays in all the majors for a year. It doesn’t feel like we have had a dominant player in majors for a number of years. Will we see another like Tiger, Jack, Annika, or Inbee dominate their tour’s majors?

This year only one player won multiple majors, Lila Vu on the LPGA won the first (Chevron) and last (AIG Women’s Open) major of the 2023 for the ladies. So I was curious how did major winners fare in all majors in a given year.

Below are two charts showing the winners for each major and how they played the other majors.

After a player wins a major we often hear the golf analysts make statements about the golfer being the next “big thing” or will now win multiple majors but the charts shows how hard that is to do in the same year. Lilia Vu has added her name to a very special list. So who else is on the list of multiple major winners in a single year? Here are some recent (within 10 years) stats:

(1) On the PGA tour Jordan, Rory, and Brooks have won multiple majors in a year.

  • 2014, Rory McIlroy: British Open, PGA Championship
  • 2015, Jordan Spieth: Masters, U.S. Open
  • 2018, Brooks Koepka: U.S. Open, PGA Championship

(2) On the LPGA tour Inbee Park, Jin Young Ko and Lila Vu

  • 2013, Inbee Park: Kraft Nabisco Championship (now, Chevron), U.S. Women’s Open, LPGA Championship (Now LPGA/PGA Championship)
  • 2015, Inbee Park: LPGA/PGA Championship, Women’s British Open (Now AIG Women’s Open)
  • 2019, Jin Young Ko: ANA Championship (now Chevron), Evian Championship
  • 2023, Lilia Vu: Chevron and AIG Women’s Open

To see the lists of multiple winners (by year) go to Golfer Compendium which lists multiple major winners in a single year for LPGA since 1946 and multiple major winners in a single year since 1922 for the PGA tour.

Lilia Vu – a New World #1 on the LPGA

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Congratulations to Lilia Vu winning the AIG Women’s British Open by six strokes! An even more impressive feat given she was six back of the leader when she started her round on the weekend. Vu is now a two-time major champion in a single year and the new #1 player in women’s golf. Another way to think of it, Vu has three wins in eight months and two of those wins are majors.

I doubt many had Vu on their radar to win the last major of the season given she has played spotty since her win at Chevron in April but her record on the Epson tour and her top 10s in 2022 on the LPGA tour were clear indicators of her talent.

If you don’t know much about Vu, she is 25 years old, is American (born in California) but her family comes from Vietnam (Grandfather moved family to USA in 1982). She played her college golf at UCLA and was on the winning Curtis Cup team in 2018. She graduated in 2019 and started her rookie year on the LPGA. Her rookie year was a disaster with 7 missed cuts out of 8 tournaments; only making $3,830. She almost quit but her mother encouraged her to stay the course and so she went to the Epson tour in 2020 where her journey to outstanding golf started to take shape.

Lilia Vu was a standout on the Epson tour (feeder tour for LPGA) in 2021 with four wins and 10 top 10 finishes; then transitioned to the LPGA tour in 2022 and she recorded eight top ten finishes.

Vu appeared to be on the way to great things when she won the first major of the year, The Chevron. However, after Vu’s win at Chevron, she missed the cut at the next two majors (The KPMG PGA Championship and the US Women’s Open) and had a T42 at the Evian.

During various press conferences, when asked about her game, She mentioned she was struggling with some back issues; and she also was learning how to juggle demands after winning a major because so much more is expected of winners with the sponsors, etc. For instance, before her win at Chevron she didn’t even have an agent. Now she has an agent to deal with all the requests of her time outside the ropes.

Prior to the win at the AIG Women’s Open, Vu’s world golf rank was 6 (Race to CME rank 7). Vu is now ranked the #1 player in the world (Race to CME rank 1). This season on the LPGA, Vu has 4 top 10 finishes and 3 wins (including two majors). That’s a very impressive 2023.

While being interviewed after winning the AIG Women’s Open Vu said she had felt (at times) like her first two wins in 2023 were a fluke. When asked if she believed in herself after winning the AIG Women’s Open, she said “Yes. And she mentioned that “the only thing that get’s in her way of winning is herself.” The players on the LPGA should watch out for a Vu who now believes in herself.

She is a talented golfer and deserving of her wins. You can read all about Vu on the LPGA website Player Profile

Crazy Rules Issues at the Amundi Evian Major Championship

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First, Congratulations to Celine Boutier for winning a major in her home country of France. Boutier, is 29 years old, joined the LPGA in 2019. Winning the Evian she jumps from 15 to #4 in the world golf rankings. She became “well-known” with LPGA fans because of her performance at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland as a standout on the European team with a 4-0-0 record.

Set aside Boutier’s win by six strokes and what else was news worthy at the 4th major of the year for the LPGA – the crazy rules issues that happened.

Rules Issue – Slow Play and Signing an Incorrect Scorecard

Carlota Cinganda from Spain received a 2-stroke (general penalty) for slow play on Friday. Cinganda’s group was given a warning, then put on the clock (which is the standard procedure after a warning if the group doesn’t get back in position with the group in front of them). So she was well aware that she was being timed; and ultimately she was deemed to be over the allotted time. She protested the ruling stating the penalty was on her last hole, her last putt and there was no way she took as long as the rules official stated. Cinganda was denied a reversal and the 2-stroke penalty was final.

The big headlines on social media implied that she was disqualified (DQ) for slow play; which was very misleading. She was DQed because she chose not to add the 2-stroke penalty to her scorecard and signed her scorecard without the penalty; thus signed an incorrect scorecard, with a lower score, see Rule 3.3b(3), which is what triggered the disqualification.

This penalty had a big impact on Cingada because without the 2-stroke penalty she was on the cut line and probably would have made the weekend; but with the 2-stroke penalty she was clearly outside the cut and would miss the weekend.

Cindgada is known to be a slow player and has been assessed slow play penalties in the past. She indicated in a statement she felt she was being singled out. My opinion is that she was given a warning, then told she was on the clock and given her past experience I would have thought she would have been aware of how fast she needed to pick up her pace to guarantee she was under the time allotment.

Rule Issue – Unplayable Ball from a Bunker

On Saturday, Gabby Lopez decided to take an unplayable in a bunker which is allowed; however, she clearly did not know the relief options available to her because she just took relief outside the bunker but not with the stroke and distance option (for one stroke). The rule gives the player 4 options (see diagram below)

It’s clear that Lopez needed to go with Option#1 if she wanted to play outside the bunker for one stroke. She took the option that had a 2-stroke penalty because of where she played from outside the bunker. The television analysts were shocked that Lopez did not have a Rules Official come over and give her the options once she decided to take an unplayable. What I would love to know is if she didn’t know the rule or if she just had a “brain fart” during the competition.

I’m also surprised her caddie didn’t stop Lopez from picking up her ball until they got a rules official over to help discuss her options. The fact that he did not intervene meant either he also didn’t know the rule (and therefore didn’t know to correct what his player was about to do) or he felt his player knew what she was doing so he did not question her actions.

Most of the time, I find it amusing how professionals on the PGA and LPGA call over rules officials for the most common rules (which seems to add to the already long rounds of golf on tour); but if you have the option to have an official walk you through the rule, why not. I’m guessing Lopez will always use a rules official in the future.

Unlike the Cingada situation, Lopez just took her 2-stroke penalty (once informed of her error) and signed her card and moved on to Sunday. I actually think she was motivated to play her best golf. On Sunday Lopez shot a 68 (-3); finishing tied for 3rd with a total score of 277 (7 under par) winning $283,278. And, the T-3 was her best finish this year.

Overall Reaction to the Rules Issues

First, I am very glad the LPGA actually takes actions addressing slow play on tour. I wish the PGA Tour would time more players and have a 2-stroke penalty as the consequence on their tour.

Also, I know that Cingada was “making a stand” by not signing her card but later on social media she stated, “Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about, they only look at their stopwatch like if 20 seconds is going to make a difference.” Now that seems like a ridiculous statement given she clearly knew she was on the clock. She takes zero responsibility for her actions. Unfortunately, Cingada’s response does not reflect well on her.

As for Gabby Lopez, I bet she will never forget the options for taking an unplayable from a bunker again!

Five Things I Loved about the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach

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It goes without saying the significance of a women’s major at Pebble Beach. The media has discussed it at great length so that is not the focus of this blog post. This post is just a quick commentary on what I, as an avid golf fan, enjoyed about watching the U.S. Women’s Open this week.

  1. The Course – There is no more beautiful course than Pebble Beach. I always enjoy watching the AT&T Pro Am each year just to see the beautiful views as I sit in my home in the middle of winter on the east course. I think every golfer “knows” the course (even if they have never been to Pebble Beach) just from the broadcast of course for so many years. Here is a flyover of every hole from the USGA.
  2. Reliving My Golf Experience – I had my “bucket list” golf trip to Pebble Beach in 2021 and watching the women play the course and knowing each hole and how I played it made watching the championship that much more enjoyable and exciting for me. My best hole at Pebble Beach was a par on the 6th hole (Par 5) so that hole in particular was fun to watch. But I also remember my friend’s great play on hole #7, and can say with certainty that the cliff on hole 8 (or the Speith hole as it is now known) is really scary when standing by the edge.
  3. Charley Hull’s Charge on Sunday – Corpuz was an example of what many call boring golf meaning “fairways and greens.” Charley Hull gave us the excitement we want on the final day of a major. She was fearless and the number of long putts she made was amazing. Her final round of 66 was just awesome.
  4. The Steller Play of Allisen Corpuz – I do not enjoy seeing a player in the lead blow up. I want them to play their best golf and if someone beats them it’s because the other golfer player better (not because the leader fell apart in the final round). Corpuz played her best golf.
  5. Prime Time Golf – The bonus of having the U.S. Women’s Open on the west coast was that it was prime time coverage. Not only prime time but live coverage!

Overall I really enjoyed this U.S. Women’s Open and I am excited for “major season” to continue with the next golf major from across the pond; which will be the men playing The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club July 20 through 23. The Open is the final major for the men but we have two more majors for the women. The Evian Championship July 27 through 30 and the final major of the year will be the Women’s British Open at Walton Heath Golf Club August 10 through 13.

Scottie Scheffler Doesn’t Let the Media Get in His Head

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I’m always amused at how so many golf analysts focus on the bad. Even when they acknowledge the great aspects of a player’s game, they quickly pepper the player with questions about their weakness. Point in case was this past week when Scottie Scheffler finished in second place at the Memorial Tournament with the best tee to green play of any player in the field; and that is saying a lot given how hard Muirfield Village played.

There is so much data now in golf. You can look at your favorite golfer’s profile and see all the stats. For example, Scottie Scheffler (by the way is the #1 golfer in the world) has amazing stats when you review his profile on the PGA Tour site. Scheffler’s PGA Tour Stats (SG = Strokes Gained) include:

Scottie Scheffler’s Stats as of 6/7/2023

Now you would think with being #1 in strokes gained in Total, Tee-to-Green, and Off-the-Tee; as well as, #2 in Approach to the Green that he would win every week; but then you see his putting has been off. But overall his consistency is incredible. He has made every cut, has won twice, and has 11 top 10 finishes. See the screenshot below of his performance as of June 7,2023.

Scottie Scheffler’s record as of 6/7/2023

So when the golf media decides to focus on what’s not going right instead of what is amazing consistency; I love the fact that Scottie Scheffler basically ignores all the “talk” and just plays his game. And he doesn’t let the media get in his head. His reply to his poor putting “Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn’t.” Now he did go on to say it is frustrating but he then said “If I was putting my best this week, I would have won by a crazy amount.” He also said that he and Jon Rahm were joking about how the putts weren’t falling this week.

Even though he knows he has an issue with his putting. He has been asked about his putting every week for a few weeks; he acknowledges it but doesn’t let the media “poke the wound” and get upset about it.

I have admired Scottie Scheffler since his Master’s win not just because of his play but also because of his easy going personality with the media. Some of the players that show their irritation with the media (when the golf analysts question their weaknesses) need to take a lesson from Scheffler – don’t give the media fuel for the fire by letting them get into your head.

Rose Zhang and Sam Bennett make their Professional Debuts

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After the completion of the NCAA D1 Championships, two notable amateur golfers turned professional. Rose Zhang the #1 female amateur golfer in the world and Sam Bennett the #5 ranked male golfer in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Rose Zhang

You cannot call yourself a golf fan if you do not know about Rose Zhang. She won the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, she has been ranked the #1 female golfer in the world for a record 141 weeks, she has won the D1 Individual NCAA Championship title back-to-back (2022 and 2023). Other notable wins in her amateur career include the U.S. Girls Junior (2021) and the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020). Her other amateur accomplishments are too long to list.

She had all eyes on her at the LPGA’s Mizuho American Open (at Liberty National in New Jersey where the President’s Cup was held in 2017). How did she do? She WON!!!

It’s incredible that Rose Zhang won her 1st LPGA professional event. Her scores were:

Round One: Tied 12th at 2-under par

Round Two: Tied 4th at 5-under par

Round Three: Leader at 11-under par

Round Four: Tied 1st at 9-under. Won in playoff.

It was an exciting ending for fans (probably very stressful for Zhang) because she was in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho. Zhang won on the 2nd playoff hole.

It really is remarkable what she has accomplished. The last player to win in her debut on the LPGA was in 1951.

Sam Bennett

Although Sam Bennett was not the #1 amateur in the world; he became an amateur darling with his stellar performance at the 2023 Masters taking home the low amateur honors but more impressive was his T16 (2-under) finish. Of course, he was invited to the Masters as the reigning U.S. Amateur.

Bennett made his professional debut at the Memorial Tournament (notable for being hosted by Jack Nicklaus at his course at Muirfield Village in Ohio). So how did Bennett fare:

Round One: 1-under

Round Two: Even

Round Three: Even

Round Four: Tied 63rd, +12 (an 84 on the last day was not a great finish)

Final Thoughts

Sam Bennett had a very respectable showing for his first PGA Tour event. Just making the cut in your debut on tour would be considered a major accomplishment.

As for Rose Zhang – she has once again shown the golf world what a special golfer she truly is by winning her first professional tournament. Keep an eye on her at the U.S. Women’s Open because she holds the course record (63) at Pebble Beach. And even better is that she is now eligible for The Solheim Cup this fall. I would bet my house on Zhang being a captain’s pick by Stacey Lewis.