Rules? What Rules?

"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf."  ~Bob Hope

     Hello again to today's GET SOME Golf post dedicated to the many and weird rules of golf. As mentioned in the last post, golf has been around for centuries and has millions of people playing the game every single day. However, with good things come responsibilities and possibly also some consequences. In golf terms, a good shot can be greatly rewarded and a bad shot can ruin a round in a flash. This is where the Rules of Golf come in to be the official in keeping a golfer in his sanity and still wanting to continue to play the game.

     The Rules of Golf have originated since the humble beginning of golf and have lasted throughout the years for decades and even centuries. With recent advancements and the improvement of technology, the Rules of Golf have been altered ever so slightly so that it can be interpreted in almost any situation a golfer can put themselves in. These rules have come into play several times throughout the past championships and tournaments and because of them, they have even declared a different winner of a competition.  Some of the most notorious rulings have come within the past few years; below is an incident that came about because of situations regarding the rules.

     In the 2010 PGA Championship, the last major tournament of the year held this year at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, Dustin Johnson stepped onto the last hole of the last day leading the tournament by one shot over Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. After hitting his tee shot way right into what he thought was a waste area trampled by the gallery, ended up being a sand trap/bunker; because of this, he grounded his club and finished the hole with a bogey. However, according to the Rule 13-2: a player cannot improve the lie of the golf ball or ground the club in a hazard (bunker included); the penalty for a breach of this rule is two strokes. Johnson finished tied for fifth and lost the tournament.

     This just goes to show that the Rules of Golf are fair however can change history. For the full rules book, questions regarding the latest rules of golf, and decisions made by the USGA in previous tournaments, please visit: www.usga.org.

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Squeezing in a Quick Round: Part 2

"Achievements on the golf course are not what matters, decency and honesty are what matter"  ~Tiger Woods

     Hello and welcome back to GET SOME Golf! This post is a continuation of the previous post regarding my favorite courses of all time. At the end, if you would like to list what your favorite golf courses are, please leave them in the comments below.


The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass

     The silver medal goes to: The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. I have always admired the work of Pete Dye and the history behind the 17th hole is amazing. Dye intentionally wanted to the hole to consist of a tee box, a green, and nothing but sand in between. His wife made the comment about saving money on sand by filling it with water and he fulfilled his wife's idea. Now it is one of the toughest holes on the PGA Tour during the Players Championship and if you don't believe me, you can look up statistics about it. If you would like any other information about this course, or want to view some of the beautiful holes please visit: http://www.tpc.com/sawgrass-the-players-stadium-course.

The 12th hole (Amen Corner) at Augusta National

     And finally, my all-time favorite course and dream course that I would love to play is: Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National has been around since the 1930s and has hosted some of the biggest names in the world of golf. Since 1934, this course has hosted the Masters tournament where the first winner of the tournament was Horton Smith. Ever since then, it has grown to be one of the most iconic and beautiful places in the world to play. The only way to play the course is if you are a member there, have been invited to play, or you have been inducted as a member of the course. If you would like to know more about the history of the course, view some of the holes and course layout, or find more information regarding the Masters tournament please go to: http://www.masters.com/en_US/index.html for more details.

     I have dreamed about playing these courses and wish I could on some of them, but time and money will tell if that will come true or not. As mentioned, I would like to extend this similar idea out to anyone: if you would like to tell me your favorite golf courses, please let me know! I will say there are some spectacular courses throughout the United States and it would be amazing to see what people love and want to play.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Squeezing in a Quick Round: Part 1

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."  ~Mark Twain

     Welcome to another rendition of GET SOME Golf! In today's post, I would like to focus in on something that could be quite controversial: the best courses in the United States. Given there are over thousands of courses to choose from, there are some courses that golfers alike will not forget when the play there. So for today's topic, I'm going to list what my favorite courses are (whether I have played them or not).

The 18th Hole at The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier.

     I have five courses that I know of that are truly by far my favorite and my dream places to play. Kicking it off on number five would be: The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier. I originally grew up in West Virginia and I have played at the Greenbrier. It was remarkable, the people were very friendly and made you feel at home on the golf course! The views on the Old White are amazing and is definitely worth the time to squeeze in a quick round. For more information, please visit their site at: http://www.greenbrier.com/Golf/The-Golf-Club/The-Old-White-TPC.aspx

The 9th hole at Pinehurst #2

     My fourth favorite course is: Pinehurst #2. Pinehurst is a resort in North Carolina that has 8 courses all built by different renowned architects of the previous centuries. The second course was originally constructed by Donald Ross, but was later modified and extensively restored by Ben Coore and Ben Crenshaw to make the course to the way it originally was meant. I almost had the opportunity to play there right before the pros get there for the 2014 US Open Championship, but because of the dates that the course was going to be closed and I would be on spring break from college, I sadly can not play there. None the less, the course is still immaculate and is truly the home of architect Donald Ross. For more information about the course, please visit: http://www.pinehurst.com/nc-golf-courses.php



The 9th Hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

     In third place for my favorite courses is: Pebble Beach Golf Links. I love the landscape of the course and wish I could play it everyday! There is so much valuable history behind this course and thinking that anyone has the opportunity to play where the professional golfers did is quite a different feeling if I made add. It is one of the top public courses in America and is even played on simulators and video games everywhere. Please visit: http://www.pebblebeach.com/golf/pebble-beach-golf-links for more information.

     Please read the next post for my top two favorite golf courses and the opportunity to comment on your favorite courses of all time.

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Living the Dream

"Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps."  ~Tiger Woods

     Hello and welcome to this post of "GET SOME Golf." Today, I am discussing about the different tours around the golf realm including the Professional Golfers Association (PGA Tour) and the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA Tour). As anyone can tell, these are professional golfers, so they are not your average everyday amateur that goes out every three months to play a round. They have trained nearly their whole life to get on the tour and have dedicated themselves to more practice to become the best that they can; a true athlete if you ask me!

     The Professional Golfers Association, or PGA Tour, is a tax-exempt organization of professional golfers that are trying to expand domestically and internationally while benefiting the players financially and maintaining the commitment to the integrity of the game of golf. The Tour is also dedicated to generating revenue for charitable causes in local communities. The players on the PGA Tour can choose how many tournaments out of 51 tournaments they want to play in a year, including the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Several branches of the PGA Tour have become renowned over the past years as well: the most popular being the Champions Tour, a group specifically for senior players who have won tournaments in previous years, and the Web.com Tour, a group of potential PGA Tour players if they qualify and meet the standards.

     The Ladies Professional Golf Association, or LPGA Tour, was founded in 1950 and is one of the longest-running women's professional sports associations in the world. The organization has grown tremendously over the years for not only playing the game of golf, but for also donating to charities of the player's choosing. Still today, the LPGA is performing at its highest level of competition and charity work, just like the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, and the Web.com Tour.

     In honor of these tours, I would like to ask everyone out there to tell me your favorite golf shot in the history of golf. Some of my favorites are: Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters on the tee shot of the 16th hole, Phil Mickelson at the 2010 Masters on the 13th hole out of the trees, and Bubba Watson at the 2012 Masters out of the trees in a playoff. Please let me know what you think underneath in the comments.

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History in the Making

"Golf is a game where you yell 'fore,' shoot six, and write down five." ~Paul Harvey

     Hello everyone to GET SOME Golf! In today's post, I'm focusing in on the history of golf and how it has impacted people today (including me!).

     Picture yourself in an open field: the air is thick, the grass is fairly tall, and you can hear the distant roar of the ocean waves as they thump against the shoreline. You have a staff and a small ball lying on the ground; to the far distant you see a target and you think, "I can hit that target in four shots." This is true determination and relaxation, golf in a nut shell.

     It is unclear who started the game that we know today but one thing is for sure: throughout history, it has been played for centuries by Kings and everyday people alike. In the pre-1400's in rural Scotland, Parliament created an act to stop play of golf on Sunday's but still preserve the qualities of Archery. So shortly after that on the sandy hills of Eastern Scotland, came the first true marvel around the world: the first golf course ever and "the birthplace of golf," St. Andrews.

     Through very humble beginnings, golf was starting to come onto the global scene when new technologies (such as the gutty ball and new golf club materials) and railways were stopping by St. Andrews. With these advancements, St. Andrews was the main stop due to the Universities there (Oxford and Cambridge) and because of the golf course, which was being played multiple times throughout the year by several no matter what kind of weather was produced. When others heard and saw the beauty of St. Andrews, golf fanatics and spectators alike flocked to there where "the first stroke heard around the world" occurred.

     After everyone was playing the same place over and over again, there came a monotonous feeling over the golfers. It was in the mid-17th century when Old Tom Morris, the first true winning icon in golf, set to build another golf course for a different challenge. As golf kept progressing throughout the ages, more and more courses were built, as well as different tournaments/competitions, different ball materials, and different club materials. Today, golf has become such a renowned sport that it is in the Olympics, there are thousands of courses in the United States alone, there are millions of golfers around the world, and several different types of club and ball manufactures. So golf has evolved to be so difficult, yet relaxing; all thanks to a mysterious someone hitting a ball around in the grass one day, we have the luxury to play this game anytime we want.

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Just Tap It In: Part 2

"If you are caught on a golf course and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron.  Not even God can hit a 1-iron."  ~Lee Trevino

     Hello again to this post finishing the fall golf tournaments for my inaugural and Muskingum University's collegiate season.  So far, I have mentioned about two of the previous tournaments and will be discussing the last two today.

     After the last tournament, Coach Kirby decided to have a qualifier for those who did not shoot "the magic number: a two day total of 160."  Sadly to say in those two days, I shot a 161 so I had to play in the one day, 18 hole qualifier for two spots on the varsity team at this upcoming tournament.  At the qualifier I shot an 82 and a playing partner shot a 69 and someone else beat me out by shooting an 80; so I did not go to this tournament but I did have several teammates and even a good high school buddy of mine play in the tournament and they informed me how conditions played.  The first day of the Kenyon College Invitational hosted by Kenyon College was played at Apple Valley Golf Course outside of Mount Vernon, Ohio.  According to my teammates and my high school teammate, Apple Valley was a very nice public course and several low scores were shot there.  It is a par 72 and is 6,946 yards from the tips.  (For more information about the course, please visit: www.applevalleygolfcourse.com)  

     The second day of the tournament was held at Mount Vernon Country Club in Mount Vernon, Ohio; this beautiful course is a par 72 and is 6,493 yards from the tips.  According to my teammates, this course was tough in previous years and by the sound and looks of things, it still held true to that statement.  The thing that they discussed the most was about the greens at Mount Vernon CC; they mentioned about how it is like "putting on concrete, yet soft."  Personally, I like a challenge so I would have enjoyed playing that course if I had made the qualifier.  (If anyone would want any more information about this course, please visit: www.mtvcountryclub.com)  Muskingum University finished 5th out of 8 teams with a 649 team score; my high school teammate's team beat us with a 631 and they placed 4th.  So needless to say, he and I are competitive and I won't hear the end of this for a while...

     Muskingum's final fall collegiate tournament was an interesting one; after five years of deliberation, Coach Kirby was able to work in this tournament to be like a Ryder Cup style tournament.  Muskingum University competed against Heidelberg University in an overall match play event.  On the first day, the team was split up into several groups, half of the team would play alternate shot (or four ball) and the other half would play best ball (or foursomes).  On the second day, twelve of the team members from each college would go head to head in match play.  Everyone on the team was able to play in the tournament and everyone's score helped out in the total.  Muskingum University overall came away with the win against Heidelberg University 14.5 points to 2.5 points; this gave Muskingum the inaugural River Greens Collegiate Cup.  It was a nice feeling on my part because I won both of my matches both days to help with the win.

     So now I have a question for any golfer out there.  Do you have any memorable tournament memories or just something funny that happened on the golf course?  Feel free to tell me under the comments, not only will it entertain me of your golfing experience, but it might help someone else too losing that desire to play...

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!"  Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Just Tap It In: Part 1

     "The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course."  ~Billy Graham

     As I mentioned in the previous GET SOME Golf post, I am a member of the Muskingum University varsity golf team; our fall season started in early September and lasted through this past weekend.  So this post is dedicated solely on collegiate golf and the experiences from that.

     My first collegiate and the team's first tournament that we played was at the Country Club of Meadville in Meadville, Pennsylvania hosted by Allegheny College.  This beautiful course located on the outskirts of Meadville is a par 72 and is 6,808 yards from the tips.  The course has several places there where if the ball is not placed in a very strategic and aggressive position, the best score possibly made would be a bogey or worse.  Play at this tournament was made difficult for every golfer alike: greens were rolling at a 14 on the stint meter, it was somewhat cold, and several scores were in the upper 70s and 80s.  (If anyone would like more information about the course please visit: www.meadvillecc.com)  As a team, we placed 12th out of 17 teams firing a 2 day total of 657; we did not play our best but thankfully we beat a few teams!  After this tournament, Coach Kirby seemed disappointed by our results and was looking forward to a top 10 finish, so he kept hope alive at our next event, a pre-conference season tournament.

     Coach Kirby decided for the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Fall Conference Invitational to keep the same players that he did at the last tournament.  This tournament was hosted by Baldwin Wallace College and held at Columbia Hills Country Club just outside of Strongsville, Ohio.  This course is proud to proclaim that Jason Dufner played at this course during his childhood before his professional career; it is a par 71 and is 6,404 yards from the tips.  It is a relatively short course but some holes can create a difficult challenge for any golfer.  (For more information about this course, please visit: www.columbiahills.org)  A friend and teammate whose home course was Columbia Hills was unfortunate enough to miss the tournament; so to help the team out and possibly give us a winning advantage, he loaned us helpful advice about the course.  As a team, we placed 7th out of 8 teams firing a 631; Coach Kirby was not a very happy camper after seeing where we placed, but thankfully this was a pre-conference season tournament.

     To get the details of our final two tournaments of the fall season, please read the next post.

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