Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
PARKER McLACHLIN
You've got to be in the top 125 on the PGA Tour to keep your playing privileges or, as it's called, your PGA Tour card. Parker McLachlin started the final 7 events of the 2007 PGA Tour golf season sitting at 156th on the money list. That makes him one of the top 156 golfers in the world, but still in danger of having to go back to Q school to keep his card.
So this October we've got an assignment. Think very positive thoughts for this very talented young man.
Parker McLachlin showed up with his swing intact at the Turning Stone Resort Championship at the Atunyote Golf Course in Verona, New York.
He finished tied for 5th after four days of great golf. McLachlin started Thursday with a two under par 70, with five birdies and two bogeys. Friday he scared us on the second hole with a double bogey after his opening birdie. But he pulled it back together again with 7 birdies plus one bogey for a 4 under 68. Saturday he was on fire. 7 birdies and the rest pars for beautiful 65. And he proved he learned from his experience at National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic - he kept steady on Sunday with 13 pars, three birdies and two bogies to finish tied for 2nd for the number of birdies shot in the tournament.
Way to go, Parker, with 23 birdies, we are liking your swing.
McLachlin moved up from 156th to 133rd with 6 more events to get into the top 125.
Since he didn't finish in the top 144 positions, McLaughlin didn't play in the inaugural Fed Ex Cup. But he was just getting some of his swing changes "programmed" into his muscle memory and he wasn't ready to put his game on hold for a month. What happened next was the golf headline going into the weekend of the Pete Dye Classic.
McLachlin shot an opening round 63. He followed that with great rounds and went to bed Saturday night for the third night with the lead to protect. McLachlin finished Saturday going into the final round on Sunday an amazing 7 shots ahead of the second place player. A 7-stroke lead is amazing on any level. It's hardly ever accomplished by anyone, including Tiger Woods. But it still doesn't guarantee a win.
Remember in golf you are not only playing against the other competitors and the architect of the course, you've got yourself to contend with. "Yourself" is probably your biggest problem.
McLachlin ran into himself on Sunday and lost that 7 shot cushion and then some. He did not win what seemed so certain.
What went wrong? McLachlin says if he had kept on playing against the course instead of playing against the men in his final group, he probably wouldn't have lost his "game" and the event.
McLachlin says it's a strange feeling being in the lead. He found himself the hunted instead of the hunter in the field. He also says he may have lost
some of his edge sitting with that huge lead.
We also were talking on "The Golf Club" about his decision to change his swing in the middle of the season. McLachlin said he simply couldn't continue playing knowing he could play better if he made improvements to his game.
McLachlin went back into the "Fall Finish" of the PGA Tour season after a two week break at Waikoloa, one of his sponsors.
NATIONWIDE NEWS AND PLAYING TIP!
On the Nationwide Tour, Aussie Nick Flanagan is moving on up to the big time, the PGA Tour, with his three victories this season including the Xerox Classic where he shot a 63 in his final round. Flanagan says he believes his new attitude with "less aggro" was the key to his success. "Attitude is a big part of how I've been successful this year. I've changed that around and got more professional on the golf course. I've looked at the way those top guys handle themselves on and off the course." Flanagan says he pretended he already was on the PGA Tour, pretended he was good enough to be there. Remind me of the saying "Fake it til you make it!"
Flanagan adds: "I haven't been as hard on myself this year as in the past. I've clamped down in that respect and I give myself a break. I don't expect to hit every shot perfectly." Something to keep in mind while you're playing.
TADD FUJIKAWA
He had a hole in one in his first round but with the cut at four under par, Tadd Fujikawa missed the cut at his fourth appearance as a professional at the Nationwide Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho. The ace came in round one, on the 17th, his eighth hole of the day. But the field was shooting 63's and a 64 at the top of the leader board and there was no room for the double bogey Fujikawa scored on his 13th. Fujikawa had opportunities to shoot lower but missed three birdie putts in the 10- to 15-foot range and another from about 3 feet on the 12th (par-5 No. 3). He followed his opening round with a respectable 71.
Fujikawa says his game is tough right now. "I either get too excited or I'm trying to force it or something. My game wasn't good in Switzerland."
But he came home with something very special, an Omega watch, designed and made only for a player who scores a double eagle at the Omega European Masters at the Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf Course in Canton Valais, Switzerland.
The double eagle, also known as the albatross, is much rarer than the hole-in-one. To make a double-eagle requires acing a par-4 hole or scoring 2 on a par-5 hole. But are exact double-eagle odds known? No, at least not definitively. However, the figure of 6-million-to-1 is commonly quoted on the Web. A 2004 article in Golf World magazine quoted Dean Knuth, inventor of the USGA's slope rating system for golf courses and handicaps, as saying the 6-million-to-1 figure was a little too high. Knuth put the odds at 1-million-to-1.
Regardless, it's clear that the double-eagle is a much rarer feat on the golf course than the ace: hole-in-one odds are in the neighborhood of 13,000-to-1 for the average golfer.
Among those facts are:
Between 1983 to 2003, there were 631 aces on the PGA Tour but just 56 double-eagles - and never more than 6 albatrosses in one year.
From 1971 to 2003, there were 24 double-eagles on the LPGA Tour.
Approximately 40,000 aces a year are made in the U.S., compared to just a couple hundred double-eagles.
How about the odds of a hole in one?
In 1999, Golf Digest reported, "One insurance company puts a PGA Tour pro's chances at 1 in 3,756 and an amateur's at 1 in 12,750." That same issue reported that the "odds of an amateur making two holes-in-one in a round are 9,222,500 to 1."
Ireland's National Hole in One Club puts the odds a little lower for one ace: "The estimated odds of acing a hole with any given swing are one in 33,000."
What about the insurance companies that sell "hole-in-one insurance" to tournament promoters? SCA Promotions says the odds of a golfer holing out from 150 yards is somewhere from 10,000 to 15,000 to 1.
"Golf Digest" has provided "ace odds" since the 1950s, and in the year 2000 hired Francis Scheid, Ph.D., the retired chairman of the math department at Boston University, to calculate the odds using the latest and best information available. The odds Scheid came up with were lower than any others cited above: 5,000 to 1 for a "low-handicapper," 12,000 to 1 for an "average player." If you are a low-handicapper and play 1,000 rounds in your life, according to Scheid, you have a 20-percent chance of recording an ace. If you play 5,000 rounds, your odds are 1:1.
The Golf Digest study broke it down like this:
Tour player making an ace: 3,000 to 1
Low-handicapper making an ace: 5,000 to 1
Average player making an ace: 12,000 to 1
Some other highlights from Scheid's calculations:
Average player acing a 200-yard hole: 150,000 to 1
Two players from the same foursome acing the same hole: 17 million to 1
One player making two holes-in-one in the same round: 67 million to 1
EMME TOMINBANG
Thank you to Emme for producing two "With Island Roots" featuring two of Hawaii's golfers so far this year.
The first featured Dean Wilson and the second Tadd Fujikawa.
FEDEX CUP
| Audio Clip (.wma) |
| Tiger says he really enjoyed the final round |
As for Tiger Woods missing the first "chalice" in the four event FedEx Cup, I think he did the inaugural event more good than bad for not playing. There was so much press about him taking off to rest after winning back-to-back events and the hype was underway giving the event even more attention.
Following Woods' much maligned decision to skip that first event, and with a Woods loss to Phil Mickleson, things really began to heat up.
Follow that with Mickleson pulling out of the third event and Woods blowing everyone away in the final 30-man field Tour Championship, it made for lots of fodder for writers and great golf television. Sounds like success for the inaugural event.
But there were flaws, as PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem conceded there could be, when he first announced this end of the season FedEx Cup "championship". Finchem made the announcement at the Mercedes Benz Championship at Kapalua on Maui at the beginning of this year.
The biggest problem I had with the format was knowing that hardly anybody had a chance of winning the Fed Ex Cup by the final event, the Tour Championship.
I didn't like the TV announcers coming out with their "analysis" for how a player might win. They'd put up their graphics, saying something like: "This guy can win the Fed Ex Cup ONLY, if he wins this event, Tiger comes in 70th and Mickleson drops out."
That's an exaggeration but you get the picture.
If there is truly going to be a playoff, decide who makes it into the event through the standings and then restart the points at 0 for everybody.
Then there is the next question. Why did 144 guys get to start at the first Fed Ex Cup event when only 125 are guaranteed to keep their PGA Tour card at the end of the season?
So in the end, Tiger Woods squashed the competition, both the players and East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, with what some described as his best golf swing ever. (That was Butch Harmon, by the way, and Woods is staying with Hank Haney.)
That's another million plus in Woods' bank account plus ten million in his PGA Tour retirement fund. Small change compared to the $100 million Gatorade is reportedly willing to spend to have Woods promote the drink.
Tiger Woods birdied three of the last six holes to clinch a commanding eight-shot victory at the Tour Championship and inaugural FedEx Cup honors on Sunday.
Three strokes ahead overnight, the world number one fired a four-under-par 66 at East Lake Golf Club for a tournament record total of 23-under 257.
After bogeying the par-three second, Woods rattled up six birdies and one more bogey to seal his 61st PGA Tour title and a $10 million bonus as the first FedEx Cup champion.
His playing partner and good friend Mark Calcavecchia closed with a 71 to share second place at 15 under with U.S. Masters champion Zach Johnson (68).
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem may not make dramatic changes to the Fed Ex Cup playoff but he is making a huge concession announcing a new era in golf:
The ERA OF DRUG TESTING.
Players on the European Tour, where an educational drugs program has been in place for a year, will be tested from the start of the 2008 season. The U.S. players will be granted a year's grace so they can take the class. The big question is testing for HGH, human growth hormone. The PGA Tour doesn't want that on the list because the test for it isn't perfected. But the leaders of the anti doping international agency say that's the one drug perfect for golfers.
The statement from Gary Player who claimed at this year's Open Championship at Carnoustie "at least 10 players and maybe more are on something" set fire to the drug testing issue. Player wouldn't name names and he was criticized for being an attention seeker but it's also believed he helped move the representatives of all the golf Tours to the table faster. The part of this testing program that I find "undoable" is keeping track of all the competitors. What if he is needed for out-of-competition testing?
In November the World Anti-Doping Association is expected to adopt a strict regime that will require all athletes to provide their whereabouts for one hour a day, seven days a week, to the drug-testing authorities.
SOLHEIM CUP
The U.S. Solheim Cup team finished off the European Team in fine fashion in the singles matches in Bastad Sweden last month. The victory, pulled off in the singles matches on the last day, didn't come without controversy. With her microphone still live, although she thought she was off the air, television commentator Dottie Pepper called two players on the U.S. team who halved their matches "choking freaking dogs". That didn't go over well with her compatriots but Pepper said she would not apologize and stood by her assessment.
PING JUNIOR SOLHEIM CUP
Stephanie Kono won her singles match but lost both her team matches, and Kimberly Kim went 0-3 in her second Ping Junior Solheim Cup appearance. The European team beat the United States, 14-10, to re-capture the Cup in Bastad, Sweden.
The Europeans won seven of Wednesday's 12 singles matches to clinch it. It was the fourth Ping Junior and the home team has won each time, with the series now tied 2-2.
Patterned after the Solheim Cup, the Ping Junior Solheim Cup features the top 12 girls from the United States against those from Europe. Past U.S. Junior Solheim Cup participants include Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.
Kono, a Punahou senior, is currently fourth in the Polo Junior Golf Rankings. She and Kim, a former Hilo resident who moved to Arizona last year, lost their Foursome match Tuesday morning. They were beaten by Spain's Marta Silva and England's Florentyna Parker, 5 and 4.
The Cup score stood 3-3 after the morning matches. Europe won four of the six afternoon Four-Ball matches to take a 7-5 advantage going into Wednesday's singles. Kono and Jane Rah fell to Silva and Carlota Ciganda, also from Spain, 4 and 2, in the afternoon. Kim, second in the Polo rankings, played with Brianna Do. They were defeated, 3 and 2, by Swedish twins Caroline and Jacqueline Hedwall. Kono rallied Wednesday to win her singles match, 1-up, over Silva. Kim lost, 1-up, to Parker. Kim went 2-1 in her first Ping Junior appearance, at age 14, in 2005. The next Junior Solheim Cup will be in 2009 at Aurora Country Club, in Illinois.
ALOHA SECTION PGA
The TaylorMade-adidas Golf Aloha Section PGA Assistant Professional Championship was played at Ko Olina last month.
Shane Abe of Oahu Country Club, who won the title back in 1993 and 1995, shot a final round 1-under par 37-34-71 for a tournament total of 143 to capture this year's event.
There were three tied for second place four shots back at 147 - defending champion Scott Carroll (75-72) of Kapalua Plantation, Jay Taise (73-74) of Mauna Kea Resort and Alva Wendland (72-75) of Waikoloa Kings' Course. There was a three-way playoff for second place and the final spot in the national event. Taise pared, Wendland bogeyed and Carroll double bogeyed after hitting his tee shot OB on the first playoff hole which gave the national qualifying spot to Taise.
Eric Yasunaga of TaylorMade, Wendell Tom of adidas, Shane Abe, Jay Taise
and Host Professional Travis Joerger
Two Qualifiers: Shane Abe and Jay Taise
This event is a 36-hole qualifier to determine two (2) spots representing the Aloha Section in the 2007 TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship to be held October 25 - 28, 2007 at The PGA Golf Club South Course in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Abe and Taise earned the two allotted spots in the National Championship as well as a $500 travel bonus.
McGLADREY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Hawai'i's team, from Makena Golf Club, was in 10th after the first round and finished 33rd at 432. The pro was Kirk Nelson, with amateurs Mike Morris, Jay Wisthoff and Rick Smith. They won $2,400 in cash and gift certificates. The first grassroots nationwide best-ball championship was sanctioned by The PGA of America and featured 41 PGA Section teams from 32 states.
HAWAII STATE JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION
Kaanapali Golf Resort hosted the inaugural HSJGA's Match- Play Tournament and tested the skills of forty-six junior golfers on the demanding championship Royal Kaanapali Course. With several upsets in both the boys and girls' divisions, patience and stamina proved to be a true test this weekend. Honolulu's John-David Nako's win was the biggest surprise (seeded 8th), beating out first seed Bradley Shigezawa on Saturday and then David Fink (4th seed) in the semi-finals and Maui's Kelii Dias (6th seed) in the final match today for the Boys' 15-18 Division.
John-David Nako stated, "I came into this tournament to have fun - Bradley and I play together all the time so it (Saturday's round) was just like practice." He adds, "But then today I had to get serious - I hadn't played at Kaanapali until Saturday, so I took what I learned and I adapted - the course was in great shape."
The friendly rivalry between Honolulu's Anna Jang and Kahului's Kelcie Kawano continued this weekend with Jang pulling through in the end to take the win in the Girls' 15-18 age Division. Jang and Kawano have gone donw to the wire before. At this year's David Ishii Foundation HHSAA State Championship, Jang and Kawano went into playoffs before Jang won. They were all square at this Kaanapali event until the 17th when Jang went 1-up on Kawano on 17 and won on the 18th.
Jang comments, "I tried to concentrate on my own game - each hole (in match-play) is like a new round and so I approached each hole as a new challenge." She adds, "The key to my match was placement of my tee shot so that I'd have a good angle on my approach - the greens were perfect."
Anna Jang sticks a bunker shot to within four feet on the #5 signature hole
on the Royal Kaanapali Course.
Kawano and Jang have a great relationship. "Yeah, we have a pretty fun rivalry between us - Anna is a lot of fun to play with." About her play this weekend Kawano said, "I've been lucky to be able to get in a few rounds over the last month at Kaanapali - I felt really comfortable with my knowledge of the course and I tried to focus on staying in the moment this weekend."
Justin Keiley of Haiku and Kelli Oride of Lihue took the championship for the Boys' and Girls 13-14 age Division, respectively. Justin in this winner's speech thanked the parents for all of their support and, "the course was in excellent shape - great tournament layout."
Kelli Oride and Cassy Isagawa were all square through 17 holes and both landed in greenside bunkers. Isagawa landed her shot on the green and unfortunately it rolled off the green and into the water hazard. Oride went one up to finish the round.
Jameson Keiley of Haiku (brother of Justin) and Alexandra Kaui of Kapolei were the winners of the 11-12 age Division this weekend. Jameson was another low seed (8th) to win his Division in this match-play tournament this weekend.
"Kaanapali is proud to continue the 45-year tradition of top level tournament play in hosting this championship event for the Hawaii State Juniors," comments Ed Kageyama, Kaanapali's PGA general manager and 2007 ILH Coach of the Year (Punahou).
2007 U.S. ARMY JR. CLASSIC
The Hawaii State Junior Golf Association held the 3rd Annual U.S. Army Junior Classic at the Walter J. Nagorski G.C. at the end of August.
Par for the 11-12 Age Division is 72 (approximately 5,452 yards), and 68 for the 13-18 Age Division (approximately 5,674 yards).
A field of 68 juniors (ages 11-18) teed it up in hopes of becoming the 2007
Champion. Winners in all age divisions will get an invitation to play in the 2007 Tournament of Champions to be held at Wailea G.C. on December 1-2.
Lorens Chan of Honolulu captured the 13-14 Boys Title with rounds of 69-69 (138). In the Boys 11-12 Age Division, John Oda won with rounds of 71-72 (143).
Kelli Oride of Lihue shot rounds of 70-71 (141) to take home the 13-14 Age Division.
This event is sponsored by Cedric Chun, Paul Yamashige, Terry Smith, Lou Merkle and Ken Inafuku and conducted by the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association.
FREE JUNIOR CLINICS
The Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association and Aloha Section PGA announced a series of introductory and developmental junior clinics. The goal is to introduce players to the game and develop the skills of HSJGA members. A minimum of two introductory clinics and two developmental clinics will be on each island. At least six PGA professionals will be at each clinic.
"We are so pleased to be working alongside the Aloha Section PGA in creating a statewide introductory and developmental program to make golf available to all children in Hawai'i," said HSJGA President Mary Bea Porter-King. "Without the expertise of the PGA members, an endeavor such as this would not be possible."
Introductory clinics will be free for juniors ages 7 to 18. The focus will be to help juniors and their parents understand golf and its benefits. Information will be available about all junior programs, educational and competitive, available on the island. Teaching stations will be set up for putting, short game and full swing. Practice clubs will be provided.
Clinics will be on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, unless noted. The initial schedule:
Oct. 13 at Kahili, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Oct. 20 at Ko'olau and Kona Country Club;
Nov. 3 at Princeville Makai, Hilo Municipal and Elleaire;
Nov. 10 at Hawai'i Kai;
Nov. 17 at Ko Olina, Waikoloa Village and Kaua'i Lagoons.
Registration is by phone (532-0559) or online (hsjga.org).
POIPU GOLF COURSE KAMA'AINA SPECIAL
Poipu Bay Golf Course presents players with a Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course that has consistently left players satisfied and mesmerized by its beauty. Just how well respected is this unbelievably scenic run? Well, the PGA Tour thought enough of it to have it host the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, open only to the winners of that season's four Major championships, from 1994 to 2006. For the rest of the year, Kama'aina can take advantage of the "Four for the price of Three" deal!
MAYOR'S CUP
2007 MAYORS' Challenge Cup will be played at the Ala Wai Golf Course, November 10 & 11. But first we need the two teams, one from Oahu and the other from Kauai. Oahu Team qualifying is October 6 & 7 at the Ala Wai and Kauai Team qualifying Sept 28 to Oct 14 at Wailua Golf Course.
HAWAII STATE WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Championship flight at the 29th annual Hawaii State Women's Golf Association Senior Championship featured six golfers in their 80s. They are among the 90 players, ranging from age 50 to 84, competing at Barbers Point the last weekend in September.
Championship flight ranges from age 73 to 84, with Annette Kono, Cathy Kobayashi, Barbara Hamamoto, Flo Miyasaki, Elaine Lee and Marian Williams all in their 80s. The youngest flight ÷ E ÷ is made up of players ages 50 to 57. Marcie Rudich has won two of the last four senior titles, including last year. Mona Kim-Lee has won three times since 2001 and Ku'ulei Ka'ae won in 2005, days after turning 50.
PATRIOTS DAY
Thank you to all of the golf courses in Hawaii and golfers participating in the Patriots Day on September 1. The $1 donations to Wounded Warriors,
Inc. will also benefit the Fallen Heroes Foundation to support families of those who have become disabled or lost their lives in the line of military duty.
Thank you to Dan Rooney for taking his idea and making it a reality with a lot of hard work and time, including the time he spent on "The Golf Club" to talk about this now annual event.
Daniel Rooney is an F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard and a PGA member. Captain Rooney, call-sign Noonan, has served two tours in Iraq.
My Ohana just said "Aloha" to our soldier, Cain Hennings, who spent two weeks in Hawaii on R & R from Iraq. Now he is serving the remainder of his 16 month tour. I am happy the Army gave him the time to be here for his son's fourth birthday and first days of school.
TIPS FOR YOUR MAKEOVER
A tip for ladies who like to look their best on the golf course but don't want that "made up" make up look, check out Avi P. Cosmetics. The foundation has both sun damage protection agents in it, so you're protected from the sun's burning and its aging rays plus the look is natural.
The best place to go check out Avi P. Cosmetics is "Permanent Elegance". You can see all of the colors, beautiful smooth, silky foundation and the best concealer.
Here is a link to Avi P. Cosmetics: www.naturalcolor.biz/store, or contact Gigi: gigi@avipcosmetics.com
"Permanent Elegance" is in the University area, 2570 So. Beretania, between Burger King and Jiffy Lube, with parking in the front of the building. The number is 808 944 8881.
"Permanent Elegance" also specializes in permanent makeup. Gigi is the person to ask for. She is a master at the art.
"Permanent Elegance" isn't just for women. Men would benefit from a little eyebrow grooming with Gigi at "Permanent Elegance". I know it sounds weird, guys, but you'll be surprised how much of a difference it'll make in your overall look. Believe me, some of THE well-known men in town and country trust their eyebrows to Gigi at "Permanent Elegance"!
Now for your hair and nails, visit Avance. Gale has been known for her perfect hair cuts for men and women for many years. Her first Avance salon was in the Honolulu Club. She is now near the new Nordstrom store. It's about a block down with plenty of free parking on the first floor up from street level.
Call 942 4005 for your appointment.
"The Golf Club" radio show in on Saturday morning at 7 AM on four radio stations and streaming live at http://www.radiogolfclub.com/ Log on for the station on your island!
Thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time!
Aloha,
Danielle
