The Year of Number 34

The Star-Tribune is running a four-part series on Kirby Puckett's life after he left baseball. First two installments were sad, I'm guessing it only gets worse. Here's the link for installment #1 in Sunday's paper.


http://www.startribune.com/10126/story/771325.html

Another view of #5

Hole of the Week #10 - Deacon's #5

This is a tremendous hole. It takes a good poke off the tee to have a mid-iron shot to a huge and tricky green. The trick with the green is not hitting it; but rather putting it close to the hole. Any decent shot toward the green will make you feel great because the large bowl collects everythig toward the green. The green is huge. You can be on the dance floor and be in a different zip code than the pin.

Meanwhile, you have this beautiful view of the lake on the right side. The loons usually make their appearance during the evening round. Some Cahoonas get a particularly good view of the lake on the right as the trees on the right have a magnetic feel to them off the box.

Then there is the wonderful cabin overlooking the green. On several occasions, I can remember looking up through the cigar smoke rings to find we have an audience sitting in the swing by the cabin above the green. About the time I become melancholy, some Cahoona misses a 40-footer and lets out a thunderous "f-bomb" and brings me back to earth. What a hole!

Cahoona Betting Games

You may have seen these in Golf Digest. I'm not sure some of the Cahoonas would ever make "the Train"! Scan is a bit small. (Just click on it then increase the size.)

Picture Perfect Golf Holes

The Devil's Cauldron, Banff Springs Canada

Slide show on MSNBC's website today: Nice!

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15333888/from/ET/

Something to Aspire to

Kurt Cobain topples Elvis as top dead earner
for the London Times

Kurt Cobain is now the world's top-earning dead celebrity after beating Elvis Presley into second place.

The estate of the former Nirvana frontman, who committed suicide in 1994, brought in an estimated £26 million last year, beating The King by over £4 million, according to a study by Forbes magazine.

Hole of the Week #9 - The Preserve #2

This has always seemed like a rather simple par 3 - not too long and big green. However, misss long and/or right and you fall off about 60 feet to another hole. Miss left and you get swallowed up by the Sahara Desert. Miss short right and you get stranded on the Sahara South. If you are fortunate to hit the green, there are snakes everywhere crying out for your 3+ putt on this huge, undulating (always wanted to use that word!!!) green.

The other problem is that the teebox is usually littered with birdie beers from the prior hole. I don't know that I've seen a birdie here. Make a par and smile your wy to the next teebox.

Hole of the Week #8 - Pines Lakes #9

This has always been an intriguing and rather difficult hole. I only remember a couple of times that the pin has been on the right. The left pin is not only longer by 30 yards, it does not play to any left to right ball movement (which some Cahoonas have exhibited). A left pin has not prevented the Cahoonas from playing/putting from the right green. Dr. Emo took a nice divot from the right green in August.

We used to be able to order a burger or brat from the teebox and pick it up after the hole. I believe that an extended call from a Cahoona to his golf pro finally convinced management to pull the plug on the phone.

This is a great hole and it certainly has offered a challenge to the Cahoonas over the years.

Tiger story in ESPN

this is a long story but well worth the read.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/061012

Flags of Our Fathers

I don't know if any of you read the book "Flags of Our Fathers" (I know Casey did), but most veterans of WWII will tell you that it is one of the better books written about the War. Judy's father served as a navy medical corpsman, like the author's father, on Ieshima, which is an island right next to Iwo Jima. After I recommended the book to him, he opened up to me with some awesome war stories, some of which I was able to capture on video. These men were incredibly brave.

The movie is to be released next week and was directed by Clint Eastwood. I am looking forward to seeing it. I highly recommend the book. The site for the movie with trailers and some promotional featurettes can be found here. Variety magazine has a favorable review of the movie.

I probably won't see this movie for several weeks so if you see it, give a shout back here with a review.

Mulligans

Rick Reilly has some ideas about how to get the Americans back in the Ryder Cup:

Jack Nicklaus, do you care about golf?

If you do, hear my plea: You saved the Ryder Cup once. We need you to save it again.

Almost 30 years ago, when the U.S. was winning all the time, you went to Ryder Cup officials and begged them to add the rest of Europe to the Great Britain and Ireland team. You said if they didn't, the Cup might die of one-sided boredom. They listened, and it became a thrilling event.

Uh, Jack? It isn't thrilling anymore. It's as one-sided as a hanging. These guys couldn't win Big Break IX. The Euros fricasseed us again, last weekend at the K Club in Ireland, 18 1/2-9 1/2, which is exactly how badly they fricasseed us last time. Europe has won five of the last six Cups, and the one U.S. win was the Miracle in Bad Shirts at Brookline in 1999.

We lose with knucklehead captains (Hal Sutton) and organized ones (Tom Lehman). We lose as favorites (2002 and '04) and underdogs (this year). We lose with Tiger not into it (1997, 2002, '04) and Tiger not into it ('06). At this point, choosing the American team is like picking towel colors on the Hindenburg.

It's getting so bad, even the Euros are a little embarrassed about it. An hour after the outcome had been decided on Sunday, their captain, Ian (Boozy Woozy) Woosnam, still didn't have a drink in his hand.

So, Jack, it's time to come to the aid of your country again. All you have to do is go to the Ryder Cup honchos and demand the following rule changes.

• Give us reinforcements. They did it for Europe. They can do it for us. Numberswise, we're the trailer and they're the tornado. Europe's population is 728 million. Ours is 300 million. That's 428 million more people they get to choose from. "We could've had two teams up here," Colin Montgomerie said at the winner's press conference. That's not right. We need a get-even. Tell them we'll take:

a. South Africa (47 million). That nets us Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

b. Canada (33 million). That gives us Mike Weir.

c. Australia (21 million). We'll take Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy. Hell, we'll take any Ogilvy.

d. Fiji (one million). Screw team chemistry, give us Vijay.

• Institute a draft. When the Houston Texans are horrible, they get the first pick in the next draft. O.K., with our No. 1, we'll take Sergio García.

• We want mulligans. Not on shots, on players. From now on, our captain gets to swap a guy out halfway through if he's stinking up the joint like garlic-scented Glade. Last week it would've been a tough choice: Phil Mickelson (zero wins, four losses, one tie)? Chris DiMarco (0-3-1)? Or Stevie Williams, Woods's caddie (one dropped nine-iron on Sunday, into the deep pond on number 7 and not recovered until a diver fished it out when Tiger was on number 15)? You know it's over when your caddies start drowning clubs.

• No more folderol. Opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, galas, mixed-team dinners? What is this, the Oscars? You think Tiger wants to sit through a two-hour ceremony while the mayor's daughter sings And They Called It Ireland? Send him the video.

• Cancel the hotel reservations. One reason Americans do so badly in this thing is that they get thrown out of their routines. The Europeans may have better chemistry because they all stay in the same hotels on their tour, but we don't. American golfers are like mini corporations. Their "team" is their jet, wife, two nannies, agent, sports psychologist, swing coach and Pilates instructor. They rent 10,000-square-foot homes, not hotel rooms. So they don't want to play Foosball with the gang at 3 a.m. Get over it.

• No more uniforms. Our guys love their endorsements. They need their endorsements. Without all those patches on their shirts, maybe our guys feel like they're swinging in a Donna Karan blouse. So no more matching everybody up in the Sears Johnny Miller collection.

• Pay 'em. The Ryder Cup is a cash machine for the networks, the PGA of America, the European tour, the concessionaires, the host club -- everybody. The reason the tournament went to the K Club is because it was payback to the owner from the European tour. The only people not cashing in are the only people that matter -- the players. One catch: Make it winner-take-all. Let's see if the boys get into it then.

After the matches on Sunday, with the victors gathered on the balcony of the clubhouse, thousands of giddy and drunken European fans gathered below and serenaded their heroes with Cockles and Mussels ... "Alive, alive, ohhh-ohhh."

But if something doesn't change soon, Jack, this thing is dead.

Issue date: October 2, 2006

Next week on NBC - Cupcake Tech at Notre Dame!!!!

 

Hole of the Week 7: Deacon's Lodge - #9

This is a great hole for so many reasons. It is very forgiving with my "power fade" - on at least two shots! If I power fade too much off the tee - I get a chance to trek over to the Tiger Woods cabin to pinch one. It offers a great risk/reward on your second shot. And it's birdie-able (is that a word).

I remember watching that pileated woodpecker rip that tree up two years ago on this hole. There was bark flying every direction.

It reminds me how playing this course is like a nature walk. What a golf course!!!