SOME THINGS GOLF AND OTHER TOPICS

Hi Golfers and Golf Fans,

Hi and welcome again if you have been here before. If you just want to see the latest blog post  (DAVE HILL)  please  scroll this page up a bit and the postings  will be there in order from the latest to the first. Thanks and enjoy, CC

For the newbies, WELCOME and thanks so very much for looking in. These postings are intended to entertain me and friends that are in touch in some way with the wonderful game of golf. Please let me know via the Contact Chuck line above or the Leave a Reply section below if there is anything you want to say to me or hear about. To enlarge the font size please simultaneously push Control+ on your PC or Command+ on your Mac. Thanks again.

The blog is going to be fairly free form, covering at some point almost everything involved in the game such as history, valuable tips, humor, analysis of courses, golf holes and players old and new. I may write of rules, LPGA, USGA, golf physics and engineering, amateur golf, junior golf, player comparisons/profiles, and possibly some personal things about what is happening with me. Likely there will be some reminiscing about the great people, exciting experiences, places and situations I have encountered because of golf.

I may post some pictures and accounts of my walking and wandering. Click on the “Wanderings” page on the header at the top to see that stuff. Where am I going with this? Hummm! I’m not exactly sure but it should be fun. I have seen a lot and some of it is pretty interesting, instructional, exciting and

Dave Hill–Marching to his own drum!

Hi everybody, Way back in February, I posted images of a very prominent player and Ryder Cup player from the era of the 60’s and 70’s. This player later had a very nice run on the Champions Tour. I challenged you to name him based on the photos I published and only one person figured it out. I also said I had a pretty interesting story to tell about this very high strung and extremely talented player.As you will see this guy was a real character.His name was Dave Hill (b May 20, 1937, d Sept 27, 2011) a 13 time winner on the PGA TOUR. Dave from Jackson, Michigan had a younger brother, Mike Hill, also a successful player, especially on the Champions Tour.Now I’ll tell you the amazing and true story about this true golfing “character” and free spirit.

Masters Controversy and My Opinion

TIGER WOODS

Augusta National GC bungled it, Big Time!

Tiger admitted in the post round interview that he stepped back a couple of yards and dropped. His explanation to the press confirmed beyond any doubt that he violated the rules. It is simple: He cannot go as far back as he wishes on that line because he was not keeping the place where the ball last crossed the hazard between where he dropped and the hole.

You have to figure he was mindlessly applying a non applicable option (Rule 26-1,b) because he was upset (read brain dead) by that really horrible piece of bad luck. An uncharacteristic slip on his part but nevertheless a slip.

Again, the place the ball last crossed the hazard was not “directly” (Rule 26-1,b) between where he dropped and the hole.  Therefore if he signs his card, DQ, period, end of tournament. He played from the wrong place and did not rectify the mistake.

So what “exceptional situation” (Rule 33-7) existed to warrant no DQ?

Answer:  ——-Viewership/ratings= $$$’s, big, big ones!

Augusta National GC compromised  their already slightly tarnished reputation for incompetence (anybody remember 1958) for the cash. And probably not that much cash as most everything is already paid for.

Based on what seems to be common knowledge they certainly don’t need the money.

And of course, what about Tiger? If he wins he loses and if he loses he loses. Tiger was not trying to cheat, he just fouled up because he was not thinking clearly. Tiger allowing a committee with an entirely different agenda than his decide for him what is right for him might not have been the wisest thing for him to do. He said it when the 14 year old Chinese was penalized for slow play, “The Rules are the Rules.”

Does he forget that this is not like all those other “If you aren’t cheating you aren’t trying” sports?

How do you see it?

Answer To The Question About Physical Similarities

A bunch of people responded. One person figured it out using the clue I mention below and two others also got it. Thanks to y’all. I appreciate your interest and responses. All of you.

There it is folks. It’s the hands. Large, I mean LARGE, MEATY, THICK hands.
Arnold and Sam were the only ones of these four that, in my experience, ever wore a glove. As you can plainly see, the gloves are not snapped in the back (That’s the clue.). Why? Because their hands were so thick and chunky that the back of the conventional glove would not span the back of their hand! Also, you can see in the photo that Lord Byron had those massive hands too.

These guys always hit their shots with the snap open until they got gloves custom made and then, later, adjustable Velcro came into vogue as a fastener. Seems like I remember the Velcro showed up on gloves between 1975 and 1980. Does anybody remember?
In the picture from the March 31 blog post you can see that Byron had huge hands too. Ben did too, although not very visible, and 35″ arms as well. Very long arms for a guy under 5’8″.

I still remember watching “The King” when I was a teen-ager. He had a beautiful classic grip and put those massive hands on the club with the open snap glove on his left hand. It looked like he could make the ball do anything he pleased. It looked the same a few years later when I had the privelege of seeing it up close and personal.

Thanks again,

Chuck
PS…….If you have a moment, please let me what you would would like to hear about relating to golf or anything else that is on this blog.

Four Legends

Hi Friends,  Above, a great shot of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead. Between them, almost 400 professional wins around the world including 29 “majors”. What physical characteristic do these guys and so many great players have in common? Before getting to that I want to acknowledge what a privilege it was for me to play a number of face to face rounds in PGA TOUR competition with these legends. I even played a few practice rounds with Arnold and Sam. Although I had only one competitive round with the delightful Byron Nelson he did gave me one of the best pieces of golfing wisdom ever. It was all pure serendipity ! For some reason I never felt particularly intimidated by Palmer, Snead and Nelson. But Hogan, OMG, I was nervous! He was always very nice, although taciturn. It was the late 1960’s and he was certainly way, way past his prime. Hogan’s very mediocre putting combined with flawless ball striking resulted in mediocre scores. I almost always posted a better number than he did. To punctuate the dissimilarity between Mr. Hogan’s game and mine, I’ll someday tell you a story about how the two of us played the long 3 par 4th at Colonial. It probably was embarrassing for both of us; I know it was for me! Hint: I had to ask the gallery to move for my second shot and again for my third shot while he waited patiently after a perfect tee shot to the middle of the green. The scenario with Hogan on #4 at Colonial reminds me of a great quote by three time Masters Champion, Jimmy Demaret. Demaret said of Hogan, “When I play with him, he talks to me on every green. He turns to me and says. “you’re away.”” Back to the question of physical similarities: The picture of the four, taken at an exhibition match in the early 60’s displays a very distinct trait shared by lots of great players. Hint: In this photo it is very evident in Nelson, Palmer and Snead and not quite as noticeable in Hogan although he certainly shared exactly the same characteristic. Hint: Sam and Arnold give us a strong clue in the picture. Check it out, make the picture larger. I bet you will see it. I will post the answer on the blog next week. Chuck Courtney’s World of Golf. If you think you see what I see please use the “Contact Chuck” form on the blog. Just click on the link, it will take you directly there. Ask about these guys or anyone or anything else. I would love to hear from you about this bit of opinion/trivia and anything else that you want me to write about or put on the blog. Please forward this to your golf buddies and take a look at the rest of the blog if you have time. Thanks Chuck PS……..For the great photo, thanks to my friend Tom Stewart PGA of Old Sport & Galleryin Pinehurst, NC. Don’t miss Tom’s shop when in the Sand Hill country. It is a fun place with great merchandise and nice people.

©2013 Chuck Courtney | 5827 Via de la Cumbre, Rancho Santa Fe, Ca, 92067

Tiger’s Torrey Pines–What’s not to like? No wonder he loves it!

 Tiger Woods has certain venues where he excels: Donald Trump’s Doral in Miami, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill in Orlando and others. One of his favorites has to be the spectacular Torrey Pines in San Diego (La Jolla), Ca.  At Torrey Pines he has won numerous San Diego Open events and the 2008 US Open Championship.

Above he is shown teenig off on the Par 3 third of South Torrey with the town of La Jolla on the point in the background. Also above he is walking with

The great Paul Runyan. My mentor, my idol, my friend.

Here showing Paul winning the 1934 Metropolitan  Open at Echo Lake in Westfield, N.J. The Met Open was a “Major” in those times.Paul Runyan was a two time winner of the PGA Championship in the 30’s, 1934 and 1938. Both times, in the match play finals, he defeated the extremely powerful players Sam Snead (1938) and Craig Wood (1934) with deadly accuracy and wizard like chipping and putting. Often outdriven by as much as 75 yards he doggedly played his own special game and was victorious.

Years later, when a teenager, I had the privilege of being a caddie in his group or playing with him at least 1oo times. It was an unusual day when he did not hole at least one shot from off the green and many times he holed out more than once in the round. His nickname “Little Poison” was well earned as he was deadly accurate with all shots.

As testimony to the rare longevity, drive, intestinal fortitude, heart and competitiveness of this man here is one very interesting fact about his career and attitude:

In 1961, at the age of  53, after being in  retirement from regular serious competition since 1946 Runyan entered the Open Championship (British Open), an event in which he competed previously only once, 1933! He had been laboring continuously in California, starting in 1946, as a club professional at the Annandale Country Club and subsequently at the La Jolla Country Club.

The Open Championship was played in 1961 at the long, difficult, cold and windswept venue, Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, hard by the Irish Sea. Runyan arrived in England the week before the event, survived the rigourous 36 hole pre-qualifying and finished in 18th place in the Championship. A remarkable feat for an older man that on his best day under perfect conditions was very hard pressed to hit a ball 2oo yards in the air. Just remarkable! The champion that year was another remarkable player of another era, Arnold D. Palmer.

For more insight into Paul Runyan, a very special man, click the blue hyper-links at the end.  Check out the stymie play in the first link.  It is pretty cool how he negotiates the stymie, flips the ball back to Snead, grabs his driver and is off to the next tee, all in one motion.

1938 PGA Championship     World Golf Hall of Fame    Wikipedia®

In the video, did you hear the commentator mention “niblick” ? Do you know what a niblick is?

Classic Chip (not a pitch)

Did it lip out or go in? My body language says the shot certainly had a chance to go in. Because of what Mr. Runyan taught me I did hole out frequently!

Notice the high lofted club I am using, probably a sand wedge. Please remember that, just as the great Paul Runyan taught me years ago, the chipping stroke set up and motion does not vary from shot to shot. All that changes is the force used and the club used. You will be using from a 6 iron through an L wedge. The club selection depending upon how much flight is necessary and how much roll is required after the ball lands on the green near the collar. Please check other videos and pictures on the blog and get in touch with me for help with your golf shots. Just like a long putt you should be holing out every now and then!

Rules of Golf–Do you know the correct answer?

LOOK BELOW FOR THE CORRECT ANSWER