Golfers sure do have it tough. I arrived on the practice green this afternoon to find more loafing than short-game practice. That includes the PGA’s Steve Marino, who was sprawled out and laying on the turf chatting away with a fellow tour player all the while looking as if he was lost in the few clouds that happened to dot the pristine-blue sky.
Who can blame him? The weather was about as good as it gets today. Expect a lot of the same throughout the rest of the week—highs around 74, lows about 60. That’s code for: get yourself out to “Sun Dress City” on this weekend. That advice comes from Harbour Town Director of Golf John Farrell. Sun Dress City is the junction where holes No. 10 and 16 meet up. It’s the place to be and to be seen.
Marino and his colleagues enjoy the good life. Let’s dissect an average, un-Tiger-like PGA player:
Monday: Roll into town, check in with the tournament. If you won the tourney last year, you may be asked to come in on Monday to help in the opening ceremonies. See Boo Weekley firing a drive with a replica 1700s, Scottish driver into the Calibogue Sound as a men dressed as ominous-looking Minute Men blasted a canon on Harbour Town’s 18th fairway. When a reporter asks if you get to keep the earplugs, tell them they don’t want they back because you haven’t cleaned your ears in some time. Again, see Boo Weekley.
Tuesday: Play a practice round in the morning. Ride bikes through dangling Spanish Moss with your wife and kids during the afternoon.
Wednesday: Get paired up with a local, hot shot with deep wallets who shelled out a couple of grand to be paired up with you in a Pro-Am. Make small talk. Snap a few photos before meeting the some friends at the Quarterdeck for peel-n-eat shrimp.
Thursday-Friday: Tournament play begins. Hope to survive the cut.
Saturday-Sunday: If you’re lucky enough to survive both the cut and the sharp winds of Harbour Town, perhaps you find yourself with a chance to win. Winning would be nice. Here in Sea Pines, stuff your wallet with 990,000 $1 bills. Plus, you get a hideously red jacket that you’ll probably bust out as a lark during dinner parties with friends during the off-season. Weekley likely hunts and fishes while wearing the two jackets he won in 2007 and last year.
Don’t worry if you finished tied for dead-last, as Matt Jones and Greg Kraft did last year (T-73, 11-over, 295). The PGA will find $10,615 in its overall purse to pay you.
Move on to next venue and repeat.
ALMOST CUT MY HAIR
Who says hard-hitting journalism is a dinosaur? Tough questions were flying in the media tent this afternoon and Aaron Baddeley was caught in the storm. Here’s how it went down:
Q: A bit of a shaggier look this year, does your wife like that or is that your doing?
Aaron Baddeley: Richelle does like it long. It’s just getting a little bit too long. It’s starting to get a little annoying, so I’ll get a bit of a trim next week. I’ve had it short for a time, so I’m going to go longer.
Man, this tournament could really use Tiger. Think anyone ever asked Tiger about his haircut?
QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER
Jupiter (Florida not the planet) native Brett Quigley found himself fighting the gods of golf last weekend, but not in Augusta at the Masters with many of his peers.
Q: What did you do last week?
Brett Quigley: I was in Rhode Island actually and played in the snow on Wednesday of last week. I quit playing after 12 holes because it was snowing too hard. I watched a bunch (of the Masters) on Sunday. It was great to watch. It is tough to watch. It is definitely motivating.
We can only assume he meant motivation enough to get out of Rhode Island and into the warm climate of the Palmetto State. Plus, Quigley should know better. After all, he went to college in Columbia at the University of South Carolina.
SHARING THE LOVE
Perhaps Quigley consulted with Davis Love III before heading for the Mason Dixon Line. DL3 has won the Verizon Heritage a record five times. Harbour Town seems to bring out the best in the 45-year-old, Sea Island, Ga., resident. And Love III isn’t afraid to admit it.
Davis Love III: “I’ve been putting a little too much pressure on myself to get results. I need to relax and play, which usually I do well this time of year doing that. I get to Harbour Town and I tend to realize it’s time to calm down and just enjoy yourself and play. This course usually puts me in the mood for that. I’ve said it a lot.
Thanks for saying it again, Davis.
GRAB A CLUB
If you find yourself in need of a respite from watching golf on Thursday, head over to Bridgestone Fan Tent located along the 18th tee box. There you can test all the different types of golf balls. Kids get to play mini-golf. That makes me slightly jealous.
Who can blame him? The weather was about as good as it gets today. Expect a lot of the same throughout the rest of the week—highs around 74, lows about 60. That’s code for: get yourself out to “Sun Dress City” on this weekend. That advice comes from Harbour Town Director of Golf John Farrell. Sun Dress City is the junction where holes No. 10 and 16 meet up. It’s the place to be and to be seen.
Marino and his colleagues enjoy the good life. Let’s dissect an average, un-Tiger-like PGA player:
Monday: Roll into town, check in with the tournament. If you won the tourney last year, you may be asked to come in on Monday to help in the opening ceremonies. See Boo Weekley firing a drive with a replica 1700s, Scottish driver into the Calibogue Sound as a men dressed as ominous-looking Minute Men blasted a canon on Harbour Town’s 18th fairway. When a reporter asks if you get to keep the earplugs, tell them they don’t want they back because you haven’t cleaned your ears in some time. Again, see Boo Weekley.
Tuesday: Play a practice round in the morning. Ride bikes through dangling Spanish Moss with your wife and kids during the afternoon.
Wednesday: Get paired up with a local, hot shot with deep wallets who shelled out a couple of grand to be paired up with you in a Pro-Am. Make small talk. Snap a few photos before meeting the some friends at the Quarterdeck for peel-n-eat shrimp.
Thursday-Friday: Tournament play begins. Hope to survive the cut.
Saturday-Sunday: If you’re lucky enough to survive both the cut and the sharp winds of Harbour Town, perhaps you find yourself with a chance to win. Winning would be nice. Here in Sea Pines, stuff your wallet with 990,000 $1 bills. Plus, you get a hideously red jacket that you’ll probably bust out as a lark during dinner parties with friends during the off-season. Weekley likely hunts and fishes while wearing the two jackets he won in 2007 and last year.
Don’t worry if you finished tied for dead-last, as Matt Jones and Greg Kraft did last year (T-73, 11-over, 295). The PGA will find $10,615 in its overall purse to pay you.
Move on to next venue and repeat.
ALMOST CUT MY HAIR
Who says hard-hitting journalism is a dinosaur? Tough questions were flying in the media tent this afternoon and Aaron Baddeley was caught in the storm. Here’s how it went down:
Q: A bit of a shaggier look this year, does your wife like that or is that your doing?
Aaron Baddeley: Richelle does like it long. It’s just getting a little bit too long. It’s starting to get a little annoying, so I’ll get a bit of a trim next week. I’ve had it short for a time, so I’m going to go longer.
Man, this tournament could really use Tiger. Think anyone ever asked Tiger about his haircut?
QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER
Jupiter (Florida not the planet) native Brett Quigley found himself fighting the gods of golf last weekend, but not in Augusta at the Masters with many of his peers.
Q: What did you do last week?
Brett Quigley: I was in Rhode Island actually and played in the snow on Wednesday of last week. I quit playing after 12 holes because it was snowing too hard. I watched a bunch (of the Masters) on Sunday. It was great to watch. It is tough to watch. It is definitely motivating.
We can only assume he meant motivation enough to get out of Rhode Island and into the warm climate of the Palmetto State. Plus, Quigley should know better. After all, he went to college in Columbia at the University of South Carolina.
SHARING THE LOVE
Perhaps Quigley consulted with Davis Love III before heading for the Mason Dixon Line. DL3 has won the Verizon Heritage a record five times. Harbour Town seems to bring out the best in the 45-year-old, Sea Island, Ga., resident. And Love III isn’t afraid to admit it.
Davis Love III: “I’ve been putting a little too much pressure on myself to get results. I need to relax and play, which usually I do well this time of year doing that. I get to Harbour Town and I tend to realize it’s time to calm down and just enjoy yourself and play. This course usually puts me in the mood for that. I’ve said it a lot.
Thanks for saying it again, Davis.
GRAB A CLUB
If you find yourself in need of a respite from watching golf on Thursday, head over to Bridgestone Fan Tent located along the 18th tee box. There you can test all the different types of golf balls. Kids get to play mini-golf. That makes me slightly jealous.
No comments:
Post a Comment