Chicago Public Golf

Have you noticed the new feature that ESPN 1000 rolled out in mornings? Marc Silverman and a few other personalities go on a little rant about current topics in sports during some of the commercial breaks during Mike & Mike. Well, today Marc Silverman (of The Show) went off on a golf rant. He was making fun of the Masters final round and the prodigious amounts of bogeys and apparent “choking” going on amongst the world’s best players.

I’m paraphrasing because, but here is what he concluded:

…if that’s the best the sport has to offer, then golf fans, you can have it!

Well Marc, I guess there’s nothing to complain about in the land of Cubs or Sox, so you might as well pick on golf. It’s clear that you’re ignorant of the intricacies of the game and you should limit your analysis to sports you’re familiar with; football, baseball, and basketball. Why showcase how little you know of the game of golf by even opening your claptrap? But, I guess that’s what you get paid to do.

If you were the least bit knowledgeable of the game, you would have a concept of pressure and what it does to the golf swing for even the most accomplished players. Pressure that is more prevalent because the Masters is the premier event in golf, on one of the greatest golf courses in the world, during a tournament steeped in tradition. This pressure actually makes it nearly impossible for a completely healthy and sane human to perform the complex action of the golf swing without a degradation in performance.

If you’ve ever engaged in a simple money game with your buddies, you would know what it’s like to have a 4 footer to tie the match on the 17th hole. But if you don’t play golf, or have any buddies, this bit of insight will escape you. In fact, I feel sorry for you because you are probably just a spectator for all of your sports. I doubt you can round up a weekend game of football or baseball. Basketball is one sport where you may be able to actually engage in the physical action against an opponent, but dealing with the mental aspects of pressure and choking don’t really enter into that foray.

Participating in sports that you are a fan of is a great way to get a truer understanding of them. That’s one of the beautiful things about golf, anyone can simulate the same type of pressure-packed conditions that our heroes in the PGA play under. It sets golf apart and is one of the reasons why I love it so much. I suggest you try playing it someday because it may save you from sounding like a idiot the next time you talk about it.

So I wonder, why would a guy that is so helpful to me in analyzing the Bears, Bulls, Sox, and Cubs, destroy all that goodwill with an ignorant tirade on a sport that he is so unfamiliar with. I’ve always been a big fan of you Silvy, and still am, so I say this only to help. Keep your piehole shut when it comes to golf and let Mac and Jurko talk about it (Harry doesn’t know jack about it either)!

Think of the most compelling micro-moments in all of sports; pitching with bases loaded late in the game with two outs and a small lead; a pivotal second set tiebreaker in a 5 set match; the football with less than a minute left in the second quarter-down by two touchdowns and wanting badly to go into the locker room down by only 7. These are pivotal, mid-game moments that provide great drama. Depending on how it plays out, someone is going to walk away with a big advantage.

However, nothing compares to that hour long period when the final group on Masters Sunday steps on to the 11th tee and begins the slog through Amen Corner. Whatever happens on the ensuing three holes usually has a huge influence on who puts on the Green Jacket a few hours later.

So let’s kick off a regular feature at the Chicago Golfcast and try and find Chicago’s Amen Corner somewhere amongst all of the daily fee courses around here. To aid in our effort, let’s first reflect on what makes the real Amen Corner so compelling.

I’ve never played them, but I have studied them. Holes 11, 12, and 13 at Augusta are three consecutive holes of such mind-boggling complexity, difficulty, and guile that when the player is done, the overriding feeling is simply, “thank God it’s over and I’m still alive.” Any joy is usually reserved for one or two humans that by force of will or dumb luck, escape with their wits intact. Let’s go through some more of the special traits of the real Amen Corner:

• The three holes are truly placed in a remote corner of the grounds at Augusta National about as far away from the clubhouse as you can get.
• They are situated in a V shape forming a perfect “corner.” If you drew a line from 13 green roughly down the fairway, it would be perpendicular to 11 fairway and hit just about at 11 green.
• They are three holes of great variability, each providing a distinctly different challenge. Hole 11 is a long, gentle dog leg right par 4 with a pond left of the green (505 yards). Hole 12 is a short, devious par 3 with a wide creek in front (155 yards). And hole 13 is a short, reachable, dog leg left par 5 with a narrow stream running down the left side of the fairway and crossing over over to the right, just short of the green (510 yards).
• Spectators and players can get a panoramic view of significant parts of all three holes from many points around the “bottom of the V.”
• They holes are basically in the middle of the round. Affording plenty of time to warm up and providing the ability to make a recovery if the player is only partially destroyed.
• Each hole is singular in it’s beauty and serenity. Each one landscaped like a work of art.

Arguably, it could be the greatest three consecutive holes ever placed on a golf course in the history of the world. If you’ve ever been there, you know it’s quite moving to see for the first time. I could not hold back the tears to be honest.

Here is the overhead shot from Google maps.

The tee on 11 is in the upper right corner back in the narrow shoot of trees. The 12 green and 13 tee are situated at the bottom center of the map, just below the brown, murky waters of Rae’s Creek (maybe they do color it for Masters week). The green on 13 is upper left, surrounded by bunkers left and long and the stream on the right. The holes peaking out below and bottom right are not part of Augusta National, they are actually part of the unaffiliated Augusta Country Club. Note that this shot was taken at least 24 months ago because Hootie and crew (Fazio I think) decided to plant a bunch of trees on the right side of 11 fairway which really toughens it up and makes it play more like a dog leg right.

So, given that build-up, do you have any ideas? I have proposed holes 11 to 13 at Prairie Landing as option before, but they’re not perfect. Submit an essay to chicagogolfcast@gmail.com with your Amen Corner. It has to be from a daily fee course in Chicago or the surrounding areas. I will pick a winner at the season’s end. The prize is a free round of golf for one paid for by the Chicago Golfcast valued at $75.

If you’re a Chicago golf fan and looking for some local blood to pull for, you have a few options. As usual, the core trio of Steve Stricker (U of I), Luke Donald (Evanston), and Jeff Sluman (Western ‘burbs I think) are all in.

You have already read my rant on why I’m discouraged that these guys aren’t highlighted in the local papers so I won’t belabor the point. I will make a couple of other points that may be interesting to you.

First, according to my sources (Ed Sherman), the Masters will begin inviting certain PGA tour winners from the previous year. Had this been implemented last year, we would be seeing our man Mark Wilson teeing it up today. Oh well, hopefully he wins again before next year’s Masters.

Second, keep in mind that we actually have a former Masters winner with a Chicago connection (somewhat). Bob Goalby, from Belleville, IL and a graduate of U of I, won the tournament back in 1968.

This wasn’t just an ordinary win and is recounted in detail by famous golf writer Curt Sampson in his book The Lost Masters: Grace and Disgrace in ‘68. Among other reasons, this Masters was famous for a simple scoring mistake. You see, Goalby ended regulation play tied with Roberto DeVicenzo and went on beat DeVicenzo in a playoff. However, DeVicenzo should have won outright. His playing partner marked an erroneous 4 on the scorecard on number 17 rather than a 3-the correct number. If scored correctly, DeVicenzo would have been shrugging on the green jacket that evening, but since he signed the scorecard, the erroneous score stood.

Hmm, I might have to add the Sampson book to my summer reading schedule. I played a Goalby-designed course a few years ago in southern Illinois called Far Oaks. Nice course. I wish I would have known some of this history when I played it.

The Chicago Tribune’s very own Ed Sherman is an Augusta this week so, once again, I’m going to give you the link to his blog so you can follow the action. Hopefully he posts daily.

This week is like the NCAA tournament, Super Bowl, and BCS Championship all rolled into one. Each of those individually pale in comparison, but taken collectively, they may be able to dig up enough excitement to match the four day event that is the Masters. There is no sporting event that consistently turns in the drama that the Masters does. It’s simply the best, period!

For Chicago golf fans, this is the only major championship that occurs during invariably poor weather. I’m happy that April is here, but I think we’re going to be in the 40s this weekend. Great for watching golf. I always find it difficult to watch the US Open (June), British Open (July), and PGA Championship (August) because I would rather be playing. That 100+ day period from June to mid-September is mostly DVR territory for golf viewing as far as I’m concerned.

This year is extra-special also because it is the first year that I’m going to be able to watch it in HD. Golf in HD is great, but Augusta in HD makes it even better.

Clear the decks, here is the TV Schedule.

Hey, the Sox open at home next Monday against the Cleveland Indians and I have a feeling that Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia will be on the mound at some point. Yes, it’s the same C.C. Sabathia that gave up golf this spring so he wouldn’t get injured again.

I’m serious. Harken back to last year when Urlacher quit golf to prevent injury. Well, it seems that football players aren’t the only ones bitten by the injury bug from the nasty sports and gaming pursuit known as golf. In the March 16, 2007 issue of GolfWorld, John Strege talked with Sabathia who says that his stint on the DL for the last two Aprils was because of golf. I quote:

“So I’m going to give up golfing, and let’s see if I can make it through April this year.” Sabathia, who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs in the vicinity of 300 pounds, presumably takes an aggressive swipe at the ball, claiming to hit it 300 yards. “I shoot in the 90s,” he told the paper. “It’s not worth it for me to go out and shoot 90 then go on the disabled list.”

Well, I can’t disagree with you tough guy. Good luck on getting better.

If these injuries start to accumulate, I may eventually have to start calling golf a sport (versus a sports and gaming pursuit). If danger and the physical toll of performing the action are any measure of whether a game graduates to a sport, golf would certainly qualify in this aspect as a sport.

When I discovered that I could look at overhead photographs of golf courses in Google maps, I was a happy guy. It makes the winters go by a lot faster if I can blow an evening here and there just checking out my favorite courses from a satellite view. Sometimes it’s even cooler checking out courses that I will never get on. In fact, Google maps is about as close as many of us will ever get to Medina or Butler National.

Pictured above, via Google maps, is one of my favorite holes in the region. This is the 5th at Village Links of Glen Ellyn and it’s a dastardly short par 4. So dastardly, that I often have nightmares that the pin is back left, every day, for the rest of my life.

If you can’t tell, the hole runs from right to left on this picture. It plays 400 yards from the black tees but I usually play the blue tees, so it measures 369 yards. If you look on the right side of the photo, the blue tees are at the back of the second tee box in, right where the cart path loops around.

You stand on the tee and the water looms large about 160 yards out on your left. The two bunkers straight away on the right side of the fairway are 271 yards out. You can’t see the water on the right.

What makes it so sinister is something that you don’t notice from this overhead shot; at the bend of the dog leg there is a large mound running all along the right side of the fairway. That means that everything is going to bounce left, right towards the water. It really thins the fairway out a lot. Fear. That’s all I’m feeling at this point.

Your eye is drawn towards those two fairway bunkers. I think the designers put those there hoping that you aim at them with a club that will leave you just short. But wait a second. Draw a line from the tee box to those bunkers. It skirts the edge of the water on the left. You already know the fairway slopes left, so unless you can carry it about 240 (from the blue tees), you are in the drink, even with a straight ball. Don’t fall for it. I think the best play is a three or four wood aimed out to the crest of the hill on the right. But don’t go too far right, because if you hit the top of hill and bound right, you have an uphill, blind approach, or your in the water.

Say you prevail, and you hit a nice 210 yard three wood and you have a six or seven iron left. You’re still not out of the woods, especially if the pin is back left. There is a big mound that roughly traverses the green diagonally, from that back bunker to the middle of those front bunkers. If you fly anything hot to the back half of the green you’re in trouble because it all slopes away from you. Just aim for the middle of the green and hope you get lucky. If the pin is in front, just play short, don’t risk dealing with the other slide of the mound.

I like this hole a lot. I don’t hit the driver 240 consistently, so it presents a significant challenge and I really enjoy matching wits with it. In fact, this whole course is great and my review will come out sometime this year.

Throughout 2007, we’ll be visiting great golf holes in the Chicago area. Tell me what some of your favorites are and the crack staff here at the Chicago Golfcast will put some analysis together.

I know, it’s beautiful out. My sources in Indianapolis tell me that not only is everything green and lush down there, but they’re actually cutting the greens and mowing fairways already. We may not be quite at that point in Chicago, but it looks like everything is better than playable.

I’m going to try and get out Thursday afternoon, which is the first day that us carriers of a USGA handicap can officially post a score. That’s right. Say you went out this weekend and blew up to 100+ and you’re drooling to post it because it’s going to knock off a low differential and start the ball rolling to some “handicap restoration.” Not so fast my friend (hey, when did Lee Corso show up?). You can’t do that. We are officially “out of season” until Thursday so you just wasted a blow-up round (hopefully you didn’t lose too much cash).

If this is news to you, or just confusing, go to the CDGA website and get the lowdown. I strongly encourage you city dwellers to get a handicap from one of the clubs that allows you to post online. I do it and post 100% of my scores online. I actually only play my home course (Schaumburg GC) about twice a year (which is not good, because it’s a great place). I think you can even register online now, but I’m not sure. I couldn’t figure it out from the website. Regardless, it’s now easier than ever to have a full-fledged USGA handicap. If you don’t, you’re cheating yourself.

If you care, here are the 14 dates that the CDGA recalculates your handicap, so get posting.

1. March 29
2. April 19
3. May 10
4. May 24
5. June 7
6. June 21
7. July 5
8. July 19
9. August 2
10. August 16
11. August 30
12. September 13
13. October 4
14. October 25

Erin Hills was on the short list for a golf road trip this summer, but Bradley Klein from Golf Week gave it a review so horrible that I might need to rethink my road trip plans.

I usually take one day trip up to Wisconsin to get a little golf in. Last year I went with a buddy to play Brown Deer Park about a month after the US Bank Championship. Awesome road trip. The course was still fast and hard from the tournament. It’s beautiful. It’s reasonably priced. And it’s very manageable for golfers of any playing level. Perfect for a day trip because you shouldn’t have to drive more than two hours unless you are coming from the far south side.

I was anticipating Erin Hills because the new course generated a lot of buzz. The project included the involvement of popular (and expensive) designers like Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, got some good early press (probably because Ron Whitten, editor of Golf Digest, co-designed also), and has some really cool pix on the web site. It looks like it’s only about 2.5 hours from Chicago so this place is right in my wheelhouse for a day trip.

However, in the 3.10.07 issue of Golfweek, Klein gave it an epic beatdown. Here are a few of the comments:

• …the routing is a mess, in large part because Whitten insisted on moving no dirt at all-thereby taking trendy “minimalism” to its absurd extreme.
• …much of the bunkering is overexcavated and unmaintainable.
• …and the completely blind par-3 seventh “Dell Hole” plays up and over to the bottom of a vast taco shell. They should have thought “inside the bun” on this one.

Wow, you know someone doesn’t like the design if they crack out the Taco Bell reference. Klein’s acidity is somewhat perplexing and probably over the top. Who knows. Maybe he is jealous of Whitten because he works for a larger and more popular golf publication and probably makes more money that Klein. But then again, maybe Klein is right.

I won’t know until I play it. I am still planning on getting to Erin Hills this summer. Even if I don’t like it, it will still give me some insight into golf course design. Plus, since when do I listen to the media? I am my own man, I am golf man, hear me roar.

It’s just not necessary to haul around 14 clubs. This chart should give you the framework to bring fewer clubs and enhance your golf life. By carefully culling out unneeded clubs in a systematic manner, you can do so with minimal impact on your handicap.

Think about all the benefits:

• You can walk 36 holes and not feel beat down for that final 9.
• You free up a lot of space in your trunk so you can pick up all your buddies for that road trip to a far off course.
• Air travel is much simpler. My wife and I only bring one travel bag for air travel, we put both of our clubs in one regular bag and then I just stuff an old Callaway Pencil Bag (I don’t think they make it anymore) in the travel bag. Piece of cake.
• Fewer clubs allows you to develop better feel because you are forced to hit the same club multiple distances.
• If you have to cross a creek or brook, you can just leap over it rather than finding a bridge because you are so nimble with the lighter bag. This makes you look like a bad-ass and intimidates your playing partners.
• It feels good to break the game down into the four components and attack it from that perspective. It doesn’t matter how many clubs you have, you still only need to be able to Drive, Approach, play the Short Game, and Putt. You just have to be more creative and strategic when you use fewer tools in those aspects. If you like puzzles, brain-teasers, and thinking your way around the course, this is for you.

It’s not something that you leap into quickly though. I would start with no less than 11 clubs then gradually make your way down to the seven club package. I don’t always play with this few clubs. I like to mix it up a lot so I will switch back and forth.

The benefits for a trunksmasher are evident. It’s easier to walk, easier to travel (road or air), and easier to manage out of your trunk. Later, we will get into how exactly this can be used to grow the game by making it “stickier.” You gotta stop back for that analysis.

I’m happy for SIU, yes, great. They are in the Sweet 16 and played some great ball this weekend as I understand it. You see, I didn’t watch much hoops over the weekend. My eyes were on the real tournament, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Yes, I saw Duke get beat and watched the end of the Ohio State vs Xavier game, but those did not collide with the golf. As a rule, if golf is in HD, it takes precedence over any other programming. That includes the NCAA tournament, it’s that simple. Those overhead shots of Bay Hill this weekend, especially the last three holes, were amazing. HD really makes the blimp shots shine. They had this blimp shot of Vijay hitting a wedge and you could see the ball sailing directly at the camera then arc towards the hole, beautiful.

However, even if the tournament was broadcast only in regular TV, it still would have been worth watching versus the hoops because of the dramatic shot Vijay pulled on the 12th. Did you see that? Let me see if I can recall it correctly.

Okay, so Sergio birdies 13 while Vijay is coming up the par 5 12th. That puts Sergio at -7 and Vijay is sitting at -8, so it’s getting tight. Vijay is right in the middle of the fairway on the 12th and decides to hit a driver off the deck. Johnny Miller just about has a cow. Johnny called the shot “kooky” or “nutty,” I can’t actually remember which. And it appeared that Johnny was right because Vijay yanked it left behind a tree. So here we are, Vijay behind a tree on the 12th with virtually no shot at the green. If he gets a bogey, it’s all tied up at -7, and Johnny Miller probably gets his ass kicked by Vijay after the round. Who would turn the channel?

Not me, thankfully.

Vijay eyeballs the situation and decides that he can’t go over the tree, he can’t go under the tree, and he can’t go to the left or the right of the tree; so, he goes through the tree. Yes! He has to execute this wedge so that the ball leaves the clubface at such an angle to go above a large branch about 10 feet off the ground and below some leafier branches about four feet above that branch. Piece of cake, huh? He executed it perfectly and left himself about a 20 footer for birdie. He runs it in, which basically won him the tournament, and the announcers start the Vijay love-fest. Even Johnny (I love Johnny) tossed Vijay some love. He said that Vijay “practices more than anybody in the history of the game.”

It was great drama. So this weekend, when in-state SIU is battling for some NCAA tournament glory and the sports bars are full, you will probably find me in front of my TV watching Doral. Because the Blue Monster won’t take a seat behind anything this weekend.