When I told my wife i was asked to write a blog for a friend about golf the first thing she said was “oh what are you going to write about first how your wife won’t let you play much?” Not a bad idea I thought. I have told my wife many times when we retire, everyday I’m getting up playing 18, then lunch, a little “afternoon delight”, a nap, cocktails and figure out where we are going to dinner (not at 4:30 either). She has only really balked at one of those things, I’ll let you guess which one. However, I don’t think I will cover my begging and pleading to play right now.
As I sit here and watch Dustin Johnson tear up the Blue Monster of Doral I was thinking about I much I enjoy watching golf. Don’t get me wrong I like playing it much more than watching it. I guess what I’m saying is most all my friends and people I know, love playing golf but most of them don’t find watching it much fun. Many will watch the majors or possibly the Ryder Cup and let’s not forget when Tiger’s in contention. The word “boring” always seems to come up. “Too Slow” is something often heard
I really enjoy watching whatever tournaments on, even the “lesser” tournaments interests me. For the most part the coverage either by CBS or NBC is usually first rate. Johnny Miller can get a bit annoying at times. Johnny, tell me about the damn grain of the greens one more time! Miller does know the game and I do enjoy his candidness, not being afraid to criticize a player or situation. Jim Nantz is very good but really cracks me up with his broadcasting of the Masters. He is so reverent and Cheesy! Although, a Masters broadcast would not be complete with out Nantz’s trademarked “Welcome friends to the Butler Cabin”… I might be chessy too if I got to broadcast from the Mecca of golf.
What is even more enjoyable than watching a tournament on TV is actually going to an event. The first thing you notice is how nice the course is but quickly you are blown away at just how amazing these guys are. They make scratch golfers look like begginers. Television doesn’t do a great job of really showing the skill of these guys,
I have been to a few majors (US Open and a couple of PGA’s) and it was fantastic. I stood right by Tiger and saw Phil in his first round of his first major. I got a chance to talk with Larry Nelson (my favorite on tour at the time). The Majors were great but I think I actually had the best time at the John Deere Classic a couple of years ago,
My dad picked up a couple of tickets and we made the 2+ hour trip to Silvis, IL. I wasn’t expecting too much since this was one of those “lesser tournaments” with a “lesser field”. There was a strong chance of rain so, unfortunatlye for the tournament, the crowd was smaller than expected.
Right off the bat we were greeted warmly by a volunteer who gave us alot of usefull information. Because of the smaller crowd it was very easy to move around. My dad is a lefty so I told him we need to watch Bubba Watson. My dad said “Bubba who?”. After about 4 holes, my dad was saying he thought Bubba was his new favorite player.
We walked all around the course watching some of our favorite players. The field was actually strong with several major winners. One of our favorite moments was watching Rich Beem. Rich was analyzing his 2nd shot on a par 5. Beem was just barely on the fairway within 4-5 feet from the rope we were standing up against. It was “clean and place” that day and Beem wanted to move the ball on to the first cut of rough, what he referred to as the “Frog Hair”. He called over one of his playing partners to see if he could do that. His partner said he thought so. For some reason I opened my mouth and told Beem he’d better check with a rules official, Beem looked at me, nodded, and called a rules official over. He was granted the ruling. Beem was going to go for the green and was only a few feet from us. like I mentioned. He took a huge swing and pounded the ball. Even though I was watching him the whole time, the speed and power with which he hit it still took me by surprise and I let out a loud “Holy Crap!” Beem smiled and said “you liked that, huh?”
The rest of the day my dad and I walked some more, talked and laughed alot. The John Deere people did a wonderful job. I would encourage any golf fan to check it out. I don’t get to do stuff with my dad as much as would like. Looking back I guess it was my favorite tournament because I was with my dad. What can be better than to be on a golf course with your dad?
Bill Goehring
Golf Nut. Writer. A Savage Beast with a Putter.