Back In Black

Rain or no rain Bethpage is going to be a brute this week. I was fortunate to spend Sunday and Monday at the golf course and it was a sight to behold. MGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Jesse Menachem, Jesse Menachem, and I met up Sunday morning and drove straight to the golf course. I got some badges that allowed us to go wherever the staff could go which was basically 'all access'. Being the day before spectators were allowed, security was not as tight although there was still a big security presence with both local police and state troopers.

Jesse and I had the luxury of driving our cars right to the clubhouse. We parked and walked straight to the Rules Committee trailer. Hard at work in front of their laptops were several of the Rules staff. I've known Mike Davis, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions, for many years and he is just a gracious, nice person. Jesse had a chance to meet Mike as well as several other senior Rules staff. Everyone was too busy to show us around, but Mike basically gave us carte blanche to walk around the course and go wherever we liked. He was disappointed about all the rain and the wet forecast, and how the course wouldn't play quite how they wanted. He admitted that the last several Opens have been relatively dry so they were probably due. The good thing is that the long-range forecast called for just rain without lightning so hopefully suspensions of play would be kept to a minimum.

Jesse and I checked out the clubhouse which is a beautiful, old structure - much nicer and more stately than I expected. As we walked down the hallway Angel Cabrera strolled by. 'Guess we're in the right place,' I thought. We chatted with Ron Read, USGA Regional Affairs staff, who is the 1st tee announcer all four days. He was stationed outside the player check-in room. We also walked by Jim Furyk and David Duval who were checking in, too. Next we strolled into the press tent which is absolutely enormous, the size of an indoor soccer field. People were unpacking boxes and generally getting ready for the onslaught.

Out to the Course

Having visited Bethpage in 2002 for a practice round I knew the best thing to do was check out the course. The place was buzzing with workers and USGA staff, but it was otherwise eerily quiet. No spectators and only a few players. We started on the 1st tee and began trudging outside the ropes in the thick, wet rough. Since Mike Davis had pretty much given us the green light I suggested we hop out onto the fairway. We walked the first few holes right down the middle of every fairway. The most amazing thing about Bethpage Black is the conditioning given that it is a public access golf course. The place is absolutely mint. The fairways are so pure and cut so tight it looks like you can eat off them. The rough is thick and juicy even if it's not the long, laying-over kind of rough that people typically associate with a US Open.

There was a lone player teeing off #1 with his caddy when we started our walk - not anyone we recognized - and we quickly jumped ahead of him. We walked a few holes marveling at the conditions and commenting on how tough the course will play. We eventually spotted a group up ahead which looked liked a foursome of players with their caddies. 'Must be some guys playing a casual money game while they get familiar with the course,' I suggested to Jesse. They were a hole and a half away. We eventually caught up.

Hey Rocco

We caught up to the group on a green. I think it was #5, but I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention when Jesse said, 'Look who it is'. I scanned the group and it was none other than Rocco Mediate playing alongside Matt Bettencourt (T4 at Memorial) and a local pro who'd qualified. All three three players of course had their caddies and Rocco's girlfriend was also along for the walk. Rocco was wearing a black sleeveless vest with a red golf shirt underneath. The best part, though, was the cargo shorts he was sporting. He was talking a mile a minute to the other players, putting to different spots, explaining where certain hole locations might be. Jesse and I figured we's hang with this group for a few holes.

We walked right next to the tee on the next hole and watched them tee off. We let the players and caddies exit first and then we followed right behind. Rocco was last off the tee and as we started down the walking path basically shoulder to shoulder with him he turned and said, 'Hey guys.' I think I asked him something about the course set-up and he said, 'If I shoot four rounds of 70 I can win this thing.' He was alluding to the difficulty of the course. Then I mentioned what a great job Mike Davis has been doing setting up the Open courses since he took over. 'Mike's the best,' said Rocco. 'He just gets it right.' Then I alluded to some of the more unfortunate set-ups like Shinnecock that got away from them. Rocco was quick to defend Tom Meeks, then the set-up man for the Open. 'Oh, I liked a lot of Tom's work, too,' Rocco offered. 'They just had a few problems with the weather.'

Rocco embraces the U.S. Open. He loves it. He likes the tough conditions. Obviously Rocco is a great player, but to succeed at an Open you have to embrace the tough conditions. Like his comment about shooting four 70's. He knows it's not going to be a birdie-fest. He knows par is a great score. Rocco offered up another comments about the players who complain about the conditions: 'Too bad, it's supposed to be tough.' That's why I pick Rocco to do well again this year. He's not moanning and groaning like a lot of these pampered pros. The guys who complain might as well go home now because it'll just be a Friday night plane ride for them anyway. Rock on, Rocco!

Jesse and I walked a few more holes and then decided to walk ahead lest Rocco and company think we were getting a little stalker-ish. I wanted to snap a picture of Rocco and Jesse, but I didn't want to invade his space that much. We were having such a nice time and I didn't want to hear later that Rocco went up to Mike Davis and said, 'Who were these two clowns wearing the USGA badges following me around snapping pictures?' Not that Rocco would do that - he's pretty loose - but I figured I'd just play it cool.

That was the highlight of the day, I suppose. Later, Jesse and I walked into the merchandise tent which is absolutely massive, like a huge department store. Who did we bump into shopping with his girlfriend? Yes, it was Rocco shopping like everyone else in there right before he was scheduled to sign copies of his new book about last year's Open entitled Are You Kidding Me? Jesse and I couldn't stop laughing at the title. Pure Rocco.

We caught up with Jim Farrell, USGA New England Regional Director, a good friend of mine and a friend to all the golf associations in New England. He was in the Rules trailer working on the PowerPoint presentation that Mike Davis will deliver to all the Rules officials prior to the championship. Jim has been doing this for several years, and he typically will shoot about 1,000 photos around the golf course and then cull the most appropriate ones to highlight situations or potential Rules scenarios. And then there are all the photos of the TV towers and other structures that can come into play - in Rules-speak they are called 'TIO's', Temporary Immovable Obstructions. But that's a whole other conversation. Jim treated us to lunch in the USGA hospitality area and then Jesse and I headed to the driving range. Not much action there so we called it a day.

Monday at the Open

On Monday security was much tighter. No driving to the clubhouse this time. I didn't want to park at Jones Beach and be shuttled so I parked in a supermarket parking lot about a mile away and walked to the course. Getting onto the grounds was like getting through security aat an airport. Cameras were allowed but absolutely no cell phones. Empty your pockets and put coins and keys into the little dish as you walk through the metal detector.

I finally got in and made it to the driving range around 9:00. A few players who I'd sorta heard of were hitting balls. One was European Tour player Raphael Jacquelin. He was absolutely striping the ball. So many good players who can all hit it. Just comes down to 100 yards and in and that area from the neck up. Jesse arrived a short while later as we's agreed to meet at the range. We watched players hit balls for about an hour and then headed to the main scoreboard short distance away. There we were scheduled to meet our RIGA compadres who'd taken a very early ferry from New London and driven. Bob Ward (executiv director), Jim McKenna (dir. R&C), Rob Eaton (USGA intern) and Joe Koziarek (rules official) all arrived more or less on time. We had a few laughs and snapped a couple of pictures. Jesse and I had had a long enough walk on Sunday and weren't figuring to do another loop. I told those guys they were on their own. We walked down to the Trophy Club tent where we parted ways.

Jesse and I had some lunch and then went in search of Mike Welch and Kevin Silva, twwo Mass pros who'd qualified. They were plaaying a practice round together and we caught up with them as they came off #16 green. We had to wait for them to finish signing autographs - one woman even had Mike Welch sign a golf ball - before we could say hello. They were all smiles and obviously loving the moment. We wished them good luck for the week and then I told Jesse that I was packing it in. 'See you at the office tomorrow,' we said to each other. I trekked back to the supermarket hoping my car wasn't towed. Thankfully it wasn't and I headed down the road to the ferry thinking what a great Open it's going to be. Rain or no rain it's sure to be memorable. And I'm pulling for Rocco.

Foggy Notion

As I was driving back east on the Mass Pike this past Tuesday it was pretty ironic when an old song by The Velvet Underground popped up on my iPod, "Foggy Notion." I had just left Tekoa Country Club and one of the final Mass Amateur qualifying rounds in cold, drizzly weather. Typcially that wouldn't have been a big deal - golf is an outdoor sport and we're used to the elements. What made the day unusual is that we started the day off at The Blandford Club in Blandford, MA.

Blandford is a 9-hole private club that is celebrating its centennial this year and they were looking forward to hosting Mass Amateur qualifying. When heavy rain forced played to be suspended around mid-morning all the officials were hopeful that the rain would pass and we would get the players back onto the golf course. That's when the fogged rolled in. We've probably all experienced fog at a call course one time or another, but this fog just kept rolling in and out. You couldn't see 100 yards at its worst. As a one-hour delay got closer to two-hours it became apparent that we might not be able to get this round in. We couldn't possibly ask players to play when they couldn't see their ball, even though it had stopped raining.

MGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Jesse Menachem, was very quick on his feet, though. He had noticed Tekoa Country Club in Westfield on his drive to Blandford. Tekoa was only about 10 minutes away and not at the same elevation. He called head pro E.J. Altobello who immediately agreed to accommodate the full field of stranded Mass Amateur hopefuls.

The players were gathered and announcements were made, and just like that, 40 players and another 10 or so officials drove down the road where new times were assigned and the field got off at Tekoa without incident. There were five happy qualifiers at the end of the day, but a real hat's off to E.J. and new Tekoa owner Dan Burack for bailing us out. This is my 18th year in golf administration and I have to say that this was a first. I've experienced plenty of rain-outs and a fog delay or two. I was even at the 2006 US Women's Open at Newport CC when an entire day was cancelled due to fog. But this was the first time that a weather event forced the move from one site to another on the same day.

I also want to thank the President of The Blandford Club, Steve Delnickas, for being so understanding of our predicament and realizing we had no other chioce but to move when given the option. I toured the course with him after all the players and officials had left. It's a nice 9-holes and they are all very proud of their club and were looking forward to hosting qualifying for the Mass Am. Congrats to them on their Centennial. We'll be back. Next time hopefully no fog.

In Full Swing

It almost seems like it happens overnight: preparing for the season, then the Four-Ball and all of a sudden - Boom! - we're shot out of a cannon and we're in full swing. We;ve had our weather issues, especially at the Four-Ball, but the Open qualifiers went well and we have a nice field set for Belmont CC in a couple of weeks highlighted with defending champion, Jim Renner.

Amateur qualifiers are underway. We were praying for nice weather last Wednesday (June 3) when we had five qualifiers going on. Needless to say we were stretched a bit thin that day, but the weather was on our side and we made it through. We have a total of 12 qualifying sights - no surprise that we filled all of them with a chance to play The Country Club on the line.

How about Tiger Woods yesterday? He must be chuckling after all the media and armchair quarterbacks analyzing his every swing since he's returned. How he's not the same Tiger, the knee's not healed, he's had to make too many changes in his swing, he can't clear his left side like he used to. Hey, it's not like the guy's been chopping. He won Arnold's tournament and had four other top-10's in six events. And then yesterday he authored another highlight reel of a round to shut the door on his 67th career victory.

I didn't get to see the one-handed chip-in for eagle live, but I did see the replay once I finally tuned in. And then I was locked in for the finish as player after player seemed to melt under the pressure. For the other players it seems like there's pressure and then there's Tiger pressure. Even Jim Furyk couldn't handle it. And I think his performance at Muirfield Village sends a pretty strong message in the run-up to Bethpage. Should be fun to watch in a couple of weeks.

A Great Day On Tour For Mass

I was glued to the TV on Sunday watching James Driscoll polish off a sparkling 62 that put him leader in the clubhouse at 15 under at the Valero Texas Open. It was nice to see James play so well since he's been struggling since last year. As a player not fully exempt on Tour, he has to take advantage of the limited opportunities he has and he certainly did. When he coolly rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole I was hoping that might be good enough. But when you've got a Masters champion with several holes to play and only one back I'm sure James was mentally preparing for a play-off.

James looks to be in phenomenal shape and his swing looks better than ever. Ian Baker-Finch and Jim Nantz were very complimentary of Charles River's favorite son. I thought James' swing looked very free and rhythmic compared to the more deliberate, mechanical swing I'd been used to seeing. A few of his drives were absolute bombs - frozen ropes.

It didn't go his way in the play-off against Zach Johnson, but James has to be brimming with confidence. And the $658,000 payday wasn't too bad either - that ought to pay a few bills. I know James has a big following in these parts and here's to hoping this is just the start of more great things.

Another favorite son played great yesterday on the Nationwide Tour. Five-time Mass Open Champion, Geoff Sisk finished T7 and collected nearly $23,000 in the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Alabama to move up 10 spots on the money list from 28 to 18. Geoff is off to a very nice start this year. The top-25 at the end of the year automatically earn their PGA Tour cards.

Already In Full Swing

OK, so I have to do a little better than once a month. The Masters has come and gone and I think most of us felt a little badly for Kenny Perry.

April was a busy month at the MGA as we prepared for the start of the season. The Ouimet Banquet in Boston was another huge success. No doubt people came out for Tom Watson, but even in this economy the Ouimet Fund still has such strong support across the state. It was heartwarming really and it speaks both to the passion that people have for the game and for the Fund.

A group of about 20 MGA committee members and officials visited the USGA Museum last month for a day or so. Everyone went down on their own dime and were treated to a tour of the test center and the museum. If you haven't visited the USGA Museum before it is worth the trip. Last year the Museum reopened after a $22 million renovation which included an addition to the main building. The new wing is named after Arnold Palmer and features and entire room dedicated to The King. The focal point of the new wing is the Hall of Champions, a large wood-paneled room with plaques on the walls listed by year and all the champions for each year beginning in 1895. Of course, there were only two championships in 1895 - the US Amateur and US Open. In the middle of the Hall of Champions sits all the USGA Championship trophies, all proudly dsiplayed in glass cases. It's an impressive sight. If you haven't been, you need to go - www.usgamuseum.com.

The Four-Ball was not exactly the perfect start to the season that we'd hoped. After an uneventful day-1 at both Crestwood and Ledgemont the weather turned bad last Tuesday. We tried to play on and all the players were great sports about it, but the courses became unplayable. We ended up declaring co-champions for the event, the second time this has been done in several years. Let's hope the weather cooperates a little better from here on out.

Cut Day At The Masters

I'm here working at the office but I have the Masters web site in the background on my computer. Live at Amen Corner is a great feature for those of us at work who want to keep track of the action. It was nice to see the good scoring on Thursday. Mother Nature is cooperating and the Masters officials are setting the course up (so far) so that the players can play.

Can't wait to relax a bit on the weekend and take it all in. There are numerous storylines, but everyone will have their eyes on Tiger to see if he can make a weekend move. I read an article published Monday on Golfchannel.com which talked about how many of the Masters legend's are Tiger fans.
http://www.thegolfchannel.com/tour-insider/legends-watch-admire-tiger-woods-28970/

Everyone from Sam Snead who could hardly see towards the end of his life but would sit just a few feet from the TV when Tiger played to Bob Goalby, Doug Ford and Larry Mize. Just like the rest of us golfing mortals, these giants of the game marvel at what Tiger has been doing and what he is likely to do. I'm not much of a collector of golf memorabilia, but I have to admit that I've saved every issue of Golf World in which Tiger has apeared on the cover from his amateur days to the present - it's a lot. I don't feel like as much of a geek when I hear Masters champions gush about him

I hope the Masters folks continue to make it a user friendly set-up so we can have some back nine fireworks around 5pm Sunday. I know where I'll be.

Ahh, The Masters

I know many of you are just as jazzed about Masters week as I am. For me it's a toss up between the Masters and US Open, but the Masters probably wins out as my favorite tournament. It's such a special week and for us golfers in New England it definitely marks the beginning of spring. The forecast in Augusta is for iunseasonably cool weather the early part of the week with the temps not reaching the 70's until Thursday. With the wind blowing early in the week, hopefully the course will be playing fast for the players. At 7,400 yards they'll need all the help they can get.

I checked out the Masters web site www.masters.org last night for the first time. You know it's a different era when the Masters is on Facebook and Twitter. I'm not on Facebok and I hardly even know what Twitter is. I hope Mr. Roberts and Mr. Jones aren't rolling over in their graves. The Masters has always embraced change which is a good thing with technology and for us television "patrons" being allowed to watch all 18 holes unlike the old days when the telecast didn't come on the air until 4:00. I know I'm not alone in thinking that they've overcooked the golf course, though. The back nine excitement has been stifled with the course now more characteristic os US Open survival than old-time Masters charges. It seems almost impossible to think that a player could should 30 or 32 on the back nine to mount a charge - which is too bad. But it's still the Masters and I'll be watching.

Every few years or so Masters Sunday falls on Easter and when I found out that that was the case this year I immediately lobbied my family for an early dinner. My sister who lives in Providence is hosting so I called her up and said, "How does a 1:00 dinner sound to you?" After I explained my ulterior motive she agreed. She was probably rolling her eyes on her end of the phone, but that's OK. I'll be back in front of my 40-inch screen in time for the leaders to make the turn.

Is Tiger Woods unbelievable? The media has run out of superlatives and who can blame them. I thought there was no way he makes that but on the 72nd at Bay Hill. Absolutely unreal. So good for the game that he's back. He may well be putting on another green jacket come Sunday. Either way I can't wait.