Opinion & Analysis

The Weather Delay

Published

9 years ago

Jul 23, 2015

The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms across the area and the clouds were already building from the south when we teed off at 8:30 in the morning.

By the time we’d played four holes, the sunshine had disappeared, the wind had picked up a bit and, while watching Jacob’s wedge shot fly to the fifth green, I thought the clouds looked angrily dark as though I were looking at them through deeply tinted sunglasses.

“Yep, it’s coming,” Alex said, apparently reading my mind. “But we can use the moisture.”

Even more than many others in southern California, golfers are acutely aware of the area’s drought and the steps being taken to ameliorate the now four-year water shortage.

“Yeah, but why can’t it rain on Monday, or Friday?” Jose asked on the sixth tee. “Why’s it have to be the day I can play golf?”

=====

By the time we reached the sixth fairway, the wind was a full club, maybe two clubs, in our faces and we heard the first faint, though distinct, rumbles of far-off thunder. Jose pulled an umbrella out of the side of his bag and put it unopened in the cart.

[quote_box_center]“I carry this for insurance,” he said. “It only ever rains when I don’t have it with me.”[/quote_box_center]

Standing on the seventh tee waiting for the fairway to clear, we saw the first unmistakable lightening flash across the sky, quite a distance away.

“We’ll get nine in before it gets here,” Alex said.

Two heartbeats later there was another flash, closer, much-too-much closer, and then two seconds after that a thunderous boom shattered the morning quiet and rain began to fall softly.

“That’s it,” Alex said. “Back to the clubhouse.”

=====

Instantly, it seemed, the front nine cleared as golfers melted off the course crossing fairways and rough in carts heading toward the safety of the clubhouse.

I saw two walkers climb on the back of another twosome’s cart. They balanced unsteadily, one holding his bag by the handle strap, the other dragging his bouncing pull cart behind the speeding electric cart.

======

Not everyone stopped playing.

As we drove by the eighth green, a fivesome was putting out there while a group was teeing off on No. 9.

“You saw the lightning, right?” Jose yelled to the group on nine.

“I have graphite shafts,” one of them answered while I heard someone else say something about holding his one-iron as they walked down the fairway.

“You don’t even have a one-iron,” his buddy said.

======

The area around the clubhouse was crowded with golf carts parked at every angle, bags were being manhandled out of the straps and hustled under protection. Most guys were hurrying, but a few were moving slowly, the water pouring off the front of their caps.

[quote_box_center]“It’s only rain,” I heard one wet 40-year-old say.[/quote_box_center]

Another blast of lightning, looking like it touched down somewhere on the back nine, sent everyone scurrying quickly under the awning outside the halfway house, or into the protection of the pro shop as the thunder went off almost instantly after the lightning flashed.

Now the last guys were driving in, or in some cases running, maneuvering their three-wheeled push-carts through the parked cart confusion while they held on to their golf hats with one hand.

======

At most golf courses in southern California there is no lightning detection or early warning system. Most don’t have sirens or any other way of telling reluctant golfers that they need to come in out of the rain.

[quote_box_center]“We don’t need it,” Jim behind the pro shop counter explained the lack of weather warnings to me. “Well, maybe a few times a year we could use it, but we’re not required to have it and, besides, most golfers are smart enough to come in when there’s lightning obviously in the vicinity.”[/quote_box_center]

“There are still guys out there right now playing, I’ll bet,” someone I didn’t know said to us.

“I said ‘most golfers,’” Jim answered, “not all golfers.”

=======

After about 40 minutes of rain, wind, occasional lightning and recurrent thunder, the sky started to lighten a bit.

A few guys walked the 30 yards to the practice green to see how the water affected the speed of their putts. Or maybe they were just tired of listening to everyone else’s bad jokes and old stories.

By then quite a number of would-be golfers had given up and gone home knowing that with the rain and lightning at least they wouldn’t have yard work waiting for them.

Another guy I didn’t know walked by on his way to the practice chipping green carrying a half-bucket of yellow range balls. He strode behind the deep practice sand trap and flipped the basket forward with both hands like he was emptying a bucket filled with water. The dozen balls flew into the bottom of the bunker.

He dropped the bucket and climbed into the trap holding his sand wedge.

In the still-steady rain, he took two or three practice swings, the club staying nicely above the sand as he worked into a perfectly balanced follow-through.

Then he took a swipe at a ball and it flew out of the bunker, over the practice flag, and over the practice green before finally landing near a tree some 40 yards away.

He took another swing and a ball rose to the top of the bunker, hit the lip and rolled back down to his feet. He took another swing; this ball ran up the sand, hit the lip, popped in the air and fell back in.

He took two more swings and I saw sand fly, but no balls move. He took another swing, a ball squirted sideways out of the bunker and hit the driving range netting off to the right.

Once more he stood over a black-striped yellow range ball in the bunker. He went back and through, the ball flew out, barely cresting the lip. It bounced once, twice, and rolled onto the green at the flag. It stopped about six inches short of the pin.

The practicer reached down and in a quick motion threw about six balls out of the sand and into the grass at the side of the trap. Then he climbed out of the bunker, his work there accomplished.

======

The thunder had died away, the wind had calmed down and the rain had diminished to drizzle when Jose came over to the table where I was sitting with Alex and three others.

[quote_box_center]“It’s pretty much stopping out there, I think we should head back out,” he said. “Unless you don’t want to play anymore?”[/quote_box_center]

“If I went home now,” Alex said, “my wife might expect me home when the weather isn’t good. That wouldn’t work.”

Five minutes later three of us were back in our carts heading out to the seventh tee.

“Lift, clean and place from here, boys,” Jose yelled from his cart. “This course is ours today!”

Do you have a rain delay experience? Let us know in the comments section below. And check out the inspirational story of one golfer trying to shoot the round of his life at 7-ironpress.com. The book is called A Perfect Lie – The Hole Truth and you can get free shipping on the paperback with the code GOLFWRX, or $4 off the e-book when you enter the code GOLFWRX1 at check-out.

Your Reaction?

LIKE7
LEGIT1
WOW1
LOL2
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK10

19th Hole

Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again

Published

5 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.

Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.

Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”

Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.

“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.

Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.

“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”

“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”

As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.

In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.

“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”

Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.

Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:

Fairways Hit

1.) Louis Oosthuizen

2.) Anirban Lahiri

3.) Jon Rahm

4.) Brendan Steele

5.) Cameron Tringale

Greens in Regulation

1.) Brooks Koepka

2.) Brendan Steele

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Cameron Tringale

5.) Anirban Lahiri

Birdies Made

1.) Brendan Steele

2.) Dean Burmester

3.) Thomas Pieters

4.) Patrick Reed

5.) Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf Individual Standings:

1.) Joaquin Niemann

2.) Jon Rahm

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Louis Oosthuizen

5.) Abraham Ancer

LIV Golf Team Standings:

1.) Crushers

2.) Legion XIII

3.) Torque

4.) Stinger GC

5.) Ripper GC

LIV Golf Singapore Picks

Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)

Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.

This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.

Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)

Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.

This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.

It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.

Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)

Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.

Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.

Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.

Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)

Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.

Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.

If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.

Your Reaction?

LIKE3
LEGIT3
WOW1
LOL2
IDHT0
FLOP2
OB0
SHANK0

Opinion & Analysis

Ryan: Lessons from the worst golf instructor in America

Published

5 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Brendan Ryan

In Tampa, there is a golf course that boasts carts that do not work, a water range, and a group of players none of which have any chance to break 80. The course is overseen by a staff of crusty men who have succeeded at nothing in life but ending up at the worst-run course in America. However, this place is no failure. With several other local courses going out of business — and boasting outstanding greens — the place is booked full.

While I came for the great greens, I stayed to watch our resident instructor; a poor-tempered, method teacher who caters to the hopeless. At first, it was simply hilarious. However, after months of listening and watching, something clicked. I realized I had a front-row seat to the worst golf instructor in America.

Here are some of my key takeaways.

Method Teacher

It is widely accepted that there are three types of golf instructors: system teachers, non-system teachers, and method teachers. Method teachers prescribe the same antidote for each student based on a preamble which teachers can learn in a couple day certification.

Method teaching allows anyone to be certified. This process caters to the lowest caliber instructor, creating the illusion of competency. This empowers these underqualified instructors with the moniker of “certified” to prey on the innocent and uninformed.

The Cult of Stack and Jilt

The Stack and Tilt website proudly boasts, “A golfer swings his hands inward in the backswing as opposed to straight back to 1) create power, similar to a field goal kicker moving his leg in an arc and 2) to promote a swing that is in-to-out, which produces a draw (and eliminates a slice).”

Now, let me tell you something, there is this law of the universe which says “energy can either be created or destroyed,” so either these guys are defying physics or they have no idea what they are taking about. Further, the idea that the first move of the backswing determines impact is conjecture with a splash of utter fantasy.

These are the pontifications of a method — a set of prescriptions applied to everyone with the hope of some success through the placebo effect. It is one thing for a naive student to believe, for a golf instructor to drink and then dispel this Kool-Aid is malpractice.

Fooled by Randomness

In flipping a coin, or even a March Madness bet, there is a 50-50 chance of success. In golf, especially for new players, results are asymmetric. Simply put: Anything can happen. The problem is that when bad instructors work with high handicappers, each and every shot gets its own diagnosis and prescription. Soon the student is overwhelmed.

Now here’s the sinister thing: The overwhelming information is by design. In this case, the coach is not trying to make you better, they are trying to make you reliant on them for information. A quasi Stockholm syndrome of codependency.

Practice

One of the most important scientists of the 20th century was Ivan Pavlov. As you might recall, he found that animals, including humans, could be conditioned into biological responses. In golf, the idea of practice has made millions of hackers salivate that they are one lesson or practice session from “the secret.”

Sunk Cost

The idea for the worst golf instructor is to create control and dependency so that clients ignore the sunk cost of not getting better. Instead, they are held hostage by the idea that they are one lesson or tip away from unlocking their potential.

Cliches

Cliches have the effect of terminating thoughts. However, they are the weapon of choice for this instructor. Add some hyperbole and students actually get no information. As a result, these players couldn’t play golf. When they did, they had no real scheme. With no idea what they are doing, they would descend into a spiral of no idea what to do, bad results, lower confidence, and running back to the lesson tee from more cliches.

The fact is that poor instruction is about conditioning players to become reliant members of your cult. To take away autonomy. To use practice as a form of control. To sell more golf lessons not by making people better but through the guise that without the teacher, the student can never reach their full potential. All under the umbrella of being “certified” (in a 2-day course!) and a melee of cliches.

This of course is not just happening at my muni but is a systemic problem around the country and around the world, the consequences of which are giving people a great reason to stop playing golf. But hey, at least it’s selling a lot of golf balls…

Your Reaction?

LIKE17
LEGIT2
WOW0
LOL4
IDHT1
FLOP4
OB1
SHANK23

19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

2 weeks ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

Your Reaction?