Monday, August 20, 2007

Doak pokes



If you saw Michael Bamberger's article about Tom Doak in Sports Ill last week, you're probably dying to know of the cruel and unusual comments the outspoken architect made about Philadelphia area courses in his controversial book The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses.

As it happens, I have a copy of the hard-to-find tome. So, without further ado, here are snippets from a couple of his mini-reviews:

Huntingdon Valley CC
Set in a wooded bowl that bottoms out just a bit too abruptly, the front nine goes around the exterior of the property like it was routed by Richard Petty -- all left turns with high right-to-left banks.


Gulph Mills GC
The premier old-money clulb in Philadelphia...There are some excellent holes -- the short 4th over a deep valley, and the 6th and 11th with their distinctive greens...but some of the supporting cast are fairly dull, and a couple are radically overdone (the 10th in particular)

Philadelphia Cricket
Some observers favor this course as one of Philadelphia's top five, but only to break up William Flynn's monopoly. It wouldn't make a list of Tillinghast's best work...

Stone Harbor
Without a doubt, this is the most ridiculous golf course I have seen to date...

...more to come

Who cares if Tiger skips The Barclays


I've been trying to work myself up into an indignant lather over Tiger Woods blowing off the first of the four FedEx Cup play-off tournaments, this week's The Barclay's. Can't do it.

I know the PGA Tour is seething over the news. For crying out loud they've spent millions trying to get fans interested in the FedEx Cup. A few readers have sent me angry emails, accusing Tiger of being a lazy lout.

I don't see it that way. Tiger's absence is bad news for The Barclay's tournament organizers who are trying to sell tickets, and it's bad news for the Golf Channel and CBS, who draft off his popularity. But bad news for me and you? Why? I don't see it.

The way I figure it, Tiger is just spotting the field a one-tournament head start and making it a little more interesting for himself. You know, while the cat's away, the mice will play. Let Phil and Vijay and a few others grab a few early freebie points while Tiger is sleeping. Let the golf puditocracy wring its hands over whether Tiger can come back from this points hole he has dug for himself.

I'm betting he can. I'm betting Tiger returns to action at the Deutche Bank Championship next week, win's that, maybe finishes Top 10 at the BMW Championship the week after at Cog Hill outside Chicago, then wins the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

Game over. Tiger wins the first FedEx Cup. What else is new?