--- Joyce Ellis is back in rehab at Grace Living Center in Clinton, OK. Grace had an infection after a recent surgery. Give her a call at (580) 323-1110 or visit her. She is in room 403. When we visited with her, she was giving information to a nurse, and other than the infection, she looked and seemed to feel well otherwise. Nonetheless, she may be up to six weeks there, alone!, so... GIVE HER A CALL!
--- Rory wins.. again. His last win with Titleist clubs and balls. How long do you think it will take him to get adjusted to new clubs and balls. Check the poll on the far right under "Specials".
--- Amateur teenager from Australia, Jake Higginbottom, wins New Zeland Open. If you watch all these tournaments around the world, all but one (the win of Jose Angel Jimenez, 49), the winners are very young (Rory, #1 in the world is only 23), and over 70% in their 20's. It looks like our Ryder Cup captain for 2014 should look into "rookies" with poise instead of "experience" (look at the last Ryder Cup, most of us were wrong, I know I was).
--- Anya Alvarez starts her first round of the LPGA Q'School finals tomorrow (Wednesday, Nov. 28) in Daytona Beach, FL. She will tee off at 8:00 at the Champions Club. 160 players will play 72 holes, 36 at Champions and 36 at Legends. The top 40 will play an additional 18 at Champions on Saturday to compete for 20 LPGA Tour cards. If interested in her progress, live, click here (then hit the appropriate link for pairings or results). Regardless of the results, Anya will be fully exempt in the Symetra Tour, however, I believe she has what it takes to compete in the biggest stage of women's golf. Go Anya!
--- Two players in Australia, make consecutive Holes in One in front of many local members (Hole #9). ready story here.
--- Thumbs Down... I truly do not understand the decision of the PGA Tour to not count Q-School for the PGA Tour anymore (as of 2103 Q-School), and instead, winners will be sent to the buy.com tour. Here is the thing, you have many players in the Board -including Davis Love III and latest Ryder Cup captain-, who are not competitive anymore, and want to use this move to stay there and not give a chance, or make it more difficult for new players, to reach the Tour. My question to them: If you were an upcoming player, and jack Nicklaus made it difficult for you to come up, would you approve of him? Bad, very bad move for golf!! No wonder we lost the Ryder Cup!
--- Thumbs Up: Martin Kymer, the 2009 PGA Champion, will join the PGA Tour for 2013. Good!
--- This is funny (if you have the money to replace an expensive golf simulator): Jamie Sadlowski, 2009 Long Drive Champion, breaks simulator during indoor long driving contest... click here.
--- 2013 Tournament Calendar is just about finished. Click the link in our "Favorites" on the right of the page.
WATCH BEDLAM GAME AT THE CLUB
NOTE: IT WAS A GREAT GAME (O.U. WON IN OVERTIME 51-48), WE ALL HAD A GOOD TIME... BUT ONE THING WAS MISSING... MANY OF YOU!!
JOIN OTHER MEMBERS AND FOOTBALL FANS TO WATCH THE 2012 BEDLAM GAME AT THE CLUB.
JOIN OTHER MEMBERS AND FOOTBALL FANS TO WATCH THE 2012 BEDLAM GAME AT THE CLUB.
TWO OF THE TOP 20 TEAMS IN THE NATION, BOTH FROM OKLAHOMA BATTLE IT UP FOR "STATE'S HONORS" AT 2:30 CENTRAL TIME.
FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED. NO HOST COCKTAIL BAR.
CHEER FOR YOUR FAVORITE IN THE COMPANY OF FELLOW GOLFERS-FOOTBALL FANS!
NOTES FROM ELK CITY & ALL OVER...
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| Roberta Gray: "Does this mean that I don't need to pick up balls for him every afternoon?" YES! |
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- Joyce Ellis underwent knee surgery and is recovering at the Grace Living Center in Clinton, OK. She will spend Christmas with her daughter Janice in Missouri... but meanwhile, give her a call and cheer her up!
- Did you know??? Have you noticed that our greens are faster now, smoother as well? It is because Ed Hughes, our superintendent now "rolls" the greens three times a week. So you can expect to have smoother, faster and truer greens from now on.
- FYI: Pro-Shop hours of operation are 9:00 a.m. to sundown, except on Mondays which are 11:00 a.m. to sundown. We will be closed Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
- Saturday, Nov. 24, come and watch the Bedlam Game at the club! OU will host OSU and it promises to be a big matchup. That day as well, we will be drawing for the 60" FlatScreen TV that was displayed at the pro-shop for a few days. Bring a dish to share with other members...
- STARTING THIS COMING SPRING, TWO PROJECTS FOR OUR GOLFERS:
1) LET'S GET FIT! WE WILL ENCOURAGE WALKING THE COURSE, AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK.
2) WE WILL HAVE A SUNDAY AFTERNOON LEAGUE, OPEN TO ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE COMPETITION, SKINS, "RABBIT GAME", SNACKS, ETC. I PROMISE, IT WILL BE FUN AND COMPETITIVE.
We'll keep you posted.
FROM ALL OVER
- Rory McIlroy is leaving Titleist for a lucrative contract with Nike becoming the best paid golfer at the equipment and sports clothing giant... at least on paper. Why? Tiger Woods doesn't like to be second to no one, and word is out that he will still be making more than the $25,000,000 Rory will be making. Rory recently won both, the PGA Tour's and the European tour's money titles. As far as getting used to the equipment, times have changed, and as I explained in the previous blog, technology is such that professionals will not have much problem getting used to a slightly new different feel. Titleist continues to adhere to their policy that no golfer is bigger than the brand, and we should appreciate that.
- Lee Westwood will part ways with long tome caddie and friend, Billy Foster. This coming spring, at the Masters, it will be Westwood's 60th attempt at a major. Caddies are very important, but it is the player who hits the shots. My take is that Lee will stay "major-less".
- Remember what many used to call the "silly season"? Skins, Skills Challenge and small invitation tournaments? Here this out: Two weeks ago, there were 4 major tournaments going on at the same time, Rory was playing in one of them, Tiger in another, Phil Mickelson in another. This week, you have the Hong Kong Open, the Australian Masters, and South African Open. It is said that Rory, Phil, Ernie and Tiger make more money in appearance fees than if they win the tournament. Silly season? It is beyond silly!
DRIVE FOR SHOW, PUTT FOR $DOUGH$...
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As we approach the end of 2012, there is one thing that has been on the minds of the rulers of the game: EQUIPMENT, specifically, THE LONG PUTTER.
It seems that it was just yesterday (actually it was about 2 years ago) that Mike Davis, Executive Director of the USGA said that he "didn't see the use of long putters as a big trend", then, just as fast as his words came out, Kegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship in 2011, then Webb Simpson wins the U.S. Open and Ernie Els wins the Open Championship (most commonly known as the "British Open") in 2012. And now, the two ruling bodies, USGA and Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews are talking about "doing something about it". Why?
I don't know about you, but I used to consider myself a "traditionalist" of the game, but I now play with an adjustable driver and fairway "woods", cavity back irons, graphite shaft on my driver and yes, Pro-v1 balls and still consider myself a traditionalist, but am I?
When Callaway's "Big Bertha" (much bigger than a traditional wooden driver) and then, the first Taylor Made's Burners came on the market, I refused to play them and continued playing my old MacGregor persimmon woods for a long time. Then titanium came along, and wound balata balls were slowly, but totally replaced by 2-Piece, 3-Piece, 4-Piece and now 5-Piece balls. |
| This style was once "illegal", Hogan didn't play the British Open until it was legal... the won it in his only appearance in '53 |
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| "Ugly" but effective |
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| Originally, Sam Snead putted "straddling" the ball between his legs. |
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| His putting style was made illegal, so he did the same thing from the side... still won over 80 times |
New courses across the country start at 7,200 yards and 300 acres. In comparison, Elk City -so you can have a starting point where to compare-, is built on about 160 acres or less! At 6,200 yards from the tips, our golf course is truly a "par-67" by modern standards. We have a high school boy, Logan Gore, who soaking wet, may weigh 145 lbs., but he can consistently hit it longer (280 yards and more) than all the tour pros of the 70's! Even women now days have powerful swings that propels the ball over 260 yards!
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| Old Bernard Langer's putting style |
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| Langer's new putting style. He has had at least 6 different styles |
For instance, there was a time in which a center shafted putter was not allowed (remember the old "bulls-eye" still used by Corey Pavin?), it was not allowed until the late 40's or early 50's. Sam Snead's stroke (straddling the line of the ball) was banned, but he still won tournaments by facing the hole, and putting from his side.
Some professionals used to cut their putters to 25-28 inches, to make a shorter stroke, then came Bernard Langer, who, with the yips, who began using different strokes, one of them made famous with his win at The Masters: bracing the putter against his left forearm, then a longer putter under his arm pit. Then someone began bracing a long putter under their chin or on the chest, and then, the "belly-putter" (heck, with my belly, I can make a "belly-putter" out of any putter of 34" and up!). A number of players use the long putter because it is easy on their backs, not necessarily because they can putt better. And now, the USGA, wants to ban long putters, or a "braced stroke" because Bradley, Simpson and Els won majors with a belly putter? |
| Anya's tee shots average 260+, certainly above average, but far from the longer women. |
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| Logan Gore hits the ball easily over 280 yards! The average drive on tour in the 70's was |
Heck, if he USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews want to change something about equipment... START WITH THE GOLF BALL, OTHERWISE, LET'S ALL GO BACK TO HICKORY !