By: Pro From Dover

The last time out seven weeks ago, if we counted all the strokes, we wouldn’t have broken 100. This by a player who started learning the game 50 years ago, was as low as a five handicap at one point and entered this season playing to an eight.

It was not a pretty sight. Worse, the rest of the foursome quickly tired of our incessant whining.

We’ve praised golf in many ways over many years but the core attribute of the game comes down to one word: fun. Golf offers a challenging sport on a beautiful venue alongside people with whom we want to spend time. It’s great exercise when walking. It’s healthy. It gets the competitive juices flowing. But most of all it’s fun.

Struggling to break 100 when accustomed to occasional rounds in the 70’s and the majority in the 80’s is like sticking needles under ones’ fingernails. We were angry, frustrated, confused but most of all, we were unhappy and we were lousy company. The game ceased to be fun. We began looking for reasons to not play.

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By: Pro From Dover

Dry mouthed, hand twitching, sphincter tightening, palm sweating, brain lock inducing terror is just around the corner. Nope, it’s not the Salem Halloween fright extravaganza. It’s PGA Tour Qualifying Tournaments.

Q School!

Oh, the horror! Hide the women and children! Torture may violate the Geneva Conventions but it’s alive and well in professional golf.

Contrary to popular wisdom, there are now four stages. The PGA Tour held what is called ”pre qualifying” tournaments in September at several locations. Just over two hundred players emerged from that hoard and are entered in the first of the three “real” stages beginning next week at eleven courses across the country.

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By: Pro From Dover

It may be a unique American gene in our national DNA. When we find something appealing, we replicate, duplicate, masticate and imitate it until the specialness is gone.

It wasn’t good enough that “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” got great ratings. Nope, the network decided to put it on three nights a week.  And “Deal or no Deal” is another.

How about reality TV? “American Idol” begets “America’s Got Talent” begets “Dancing with the Stars” begets “So You Think You Can Dance?” and on and on. We can only imagine the show concepts that have been presented and mercifully euthanized in a producer’s office. As P.T. Barnum allegedly said, “Give ‘em what they want.”

So, here’s the Presidents Cup this week, spawn of the Ryder Cup. It’s the eighth iteration of this team competition being played on a wonderful public course in San Francisco, Harding Park Golf Club. It’s contested in alternate years as the counterpoint to the Ryder Cup.

The US captain is Fred Couples, Mr. Smooth. The International captain is Greg Norman, Mr. Alimony. Actually come to think if it, Couples and Norman may have more divorces between them than majors. Maybe not.

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By: Pro From Dover

The Fed Ex Cup is not working!

Here are a few of the problems:

• No one, including the players involved, completely understands it.
• It gives the appearance of a contrived event.
• Many fans see it as just another very fat payday for millionaires.
• Did we mention no one understands it?
• The prestige associated with the majors just doesn’t transfer.

We applaud the PGA Tour for making an effort to overcome their late season doldrums. It has been a creative attempt to maintain interest while folks are busy getting ready for the real New Year’s Day: Labor Day.

The Tour understands that with football starting, baseball races getting interesting, kids returning to school and parents becoming taxi services they need something extraordinary to maintain interest.

The Tour has been receptive to constructive criticism and they have tried mightily to produce a series that is riveting. It just hasn’t happened and we’re not sure it can be fixed.

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By: Pro From Dover

Autumn arrived this week. We got the feel of it over the past couple of weeks but the sun made it official by crossing the equator on Tuesday.

We have a love hate relationship with this time of year. We love it for a lot of reasons.

• Cool, crisp, fresh morning air.
• Wisps of fog draped on fairways just after dawn.
• Courses have healed from the ravages of aerating and are back in first class condition.
• The trees are staging on their annual light show.
• Crowds have diminished. Casual players are back at work, watching football and doing other things.
• Great deals on equipment are everywhere. Retailers need to move inventory and get cash for next year.
• Greens fees are reduced at most public access clubs. Check out WEEI Country Club!
• We savor each round because it may be the last in warm weather.

We hate it because of all that follows. We’ve become much less tolerant of cold weather with age.

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