On the Sunday morning of the US PGA Championship I woke up and smacked the bed hard with both hands.  There might even have been an expletive uttered from the prone position as I lay there, still rankled by what had happened the evening before.

It wasn’t Rory’s implosion (or whatever it was) in the third round at Southern Hills that annoyed me, though that was disappointing and frustrating enough for his fans as our hopes of another long-awaited major title faded into near nothingness.  After all there was still Seamus to cheer on, more Power to the pride of Tooraneena and Matt Fitzpatrick, a Yorkshireman who is, apparently, less dour than he looks and has the sense to have the sainted Billy Foster on the bag.

Some days you’d never have to putt if you were Matt’s foursomes partner, you’d spend your time picking the ball out of the hole or up as an increasingly demoralised opponent said, “That’s good; that’s a gimme; pick it up.”  So far, though, he’s lost all three of his Ryder Cup foursomes – partnering Henrik Stenson at Hazeltine and Lee Westwood twice at Whistling Straits – and both his singles.  Let’s hope he makes the home match next year at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome and all the Europeans bring their best stuff, with the Americans sticking to their role as home track bullies!

No, what was still pissing me off when I woke up was my failure to make a contract of 5H (five hearts for the non card players) early on in our keenly fought Zoom bridge game – once a week during lockdown but now down to once a month.  It was a slight tricky ask – you can only afford to lose two of the 13 tricks – but I failed to make it by one solely because of my ineptitude and, worse, idiocy.

As I opened my eyes on Sunday morning all I could see was the last card on the table, useless, irrelevant.  It was the ace of spades (the top banana) that I could still see sitting there, reproachful but mercifully silent – unlike my partner and our delighted opponents, who went on to smash us out of sight.

Goodness knows how Mito Pereira, the Chilean who led the PGA after 71 holes, felt when he woke up the day after the championship.  Of course, he might not have gone to sleep at all.  He needed a par 4 to win, a bogey 5 to be in a play-off.  He took 6.  SIX.

That really will take some getting over.

I have managed to play golf this week – 10 holes early on Wednesday – and it was lovely.  We started at the 8th, at 0800 and got the best of the weather, a bit blustery but no rain.  I played quite well, by my now not-too-demanding standards and there’s nothing like a few holes of golf to rattle you towards and beyond your 10,000 steps.

Later this year, at the beginning of August, plonk in the middle of the Commonwealth Games in Brum, some proper golfers will be playing – undoubtedly painfully slowly because that’s women professionals for you – at Muirfield, which is hosting the AIG Women’s British Open for the first time.  It’s a marvellous venue, one of the world’s great golf courses and home to The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, who joined the modern world not so long ago when they decided to admit women.

The club’s earliest written records date back to 1744 which really has nothing at all to do with what I’m about to say!  The current members, men and women, didn’t do themselves any favours when they sent out an invitation to their Women’s Open media day that included the following bit of dress code:  “…jacket or long-sleeved dress for women.”

Muirfield, Muirfield, woe is Muirfield.  Months and months of hard work and rehabilitation undone in a single, ill-chosen edict.  It had specified jacket and tie for men, still normal attire for the males of Muirfield when in the clubhouse, I’m reliably informed.   Not sure what kind of socks they’re allowed on the golf course but we won’t go there this time.

I don’t care who approved the long sleeves phrase but they couldn’t have been more WRONG.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

Hannah Holden, the long-suffering equipment editor of National Club Golfer, criticised the form of words on Twitter and has, of course, had abuse as well as support.  Well, I’m in Hannah’s corner.  It’s ridiculous.  Immediately, I toyed with the idea of going in a burka.  No, what about something with long sleeves and a very short skirt?  Or something long-sleeved and very see-through?  Plenty of ways to get creative and put two fingers up to the dress code.

Many of the smartest, most fashionable and elegant women I know go to summer dos in short-sleeved or sleeveless dresses.  You could take them anywhere but perhaps it’s particularly cold in the clubhouse at Muirfield?  It is a chilly part of the world, even in August.  Or perhaps they’re feeling the pinch because of these energy hikes?  After all, who wants to look at arms, however well honed, covered in goosebumps?

I had a little mooch round Lichfield yesterday morning, to see what was on offer, just window shopping, hence the reflections but it was all in the interests of research because I’m not going to the media day, or the dinner.  I wasn’t invited.  (And I don’t think Maureen was either.)  The blog just isn’t high enough up the pecking order.

To sum it all up (don’t forget the bridge, especially the bridge), using the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet:  Bravo, Oscar, Lima, Lima, Oscar, Charlie, Kilo, Sierra..

 

 

 

 

There’s a lot going on in the world of professional golf at the moment – and things are unlikely to ever be the same again.

In its simplest form a new fledgling tour, LIV Golf, fronted by Greg Norman (above) and funded by the bottomless pit that is Saudi money, has emerged stage left and is threatening the established PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour).  It is attempting to entice away members of said tours by literally throwing obscene amounts of money at them, promising 54-hole tournaments with small fields of 48 players, no cuts, $4million for first place and $120,000 for last.  The first of these LIV Golf Invitational Series events takes place next month at The Centurion Club outside London.

Let’s get some context here.  Next week is the second of the men’s majors, the PGA Championship, one of the four “holy grails” of the men’s game.  There will be 156 competitors with a cut to the top 70 and ties;  there will be a total purse of $20 million with $3.58 million to the winner and $41,000 to the player in 70th spot.  Along with a victory comes a five-year exemption into the other three majors and the Players’ Championship and a mass of world ranking points – important for access to future top events..

So, what’s the problem?  Professional golfers are self-employed, independent contractors and are entitled to play where they like.  Well, yes and no.  Once you become a member of a tour you agree to abide by the rules and regulations of that tour and that means if you wish to play somewhere else you need to request a release to do so – and there’s a limit to how many you’ll be granted in any given year.  Usually it’s two or three, tops.

Obviously, the established tours aren’t too happy with this interloper attempting to lure away their prize assets.  In the interests of keeping their members “loyal” the PGA Tour has responded with increased financial enticements for its players and not-so-subtle threats of litigation if they play in any events without the requisite release.

So far, those attracted to the LIV Golf model fall into three camps.  There are the players, mostly aged in their 40s, whose best playing days are behind them.  There are good, sound, money-making machine “journeymen” pros who are unlikely to break through in to the major-winning circle.  Lastly, there are top amateurs who can now accept financial rewards for use of their name, image or likeness.  The latter group is what worries me, but more of that in a minute.  As it stands those joining the new venture will have no access to those all important world ranking points that are the main gateway into the majors and they have been told they will forfeit their tour membership..

The very best players in the world are generally not attracted to LIV Golf.  They are the ones who march to the beat of the traditional drum.  They aspire to having their careers measured in terms of major wins and are usually comfortable enough with the millions they have already accrued.  Money is not their motivator, rather the history and traditions of the game and their place in it.

I am certainly not averse to the status quo in any walk of life being challenged.  I think it’s healthy and I can’t help but be amused by the PGA Tour’s reaction to the new propositions.  LIV Golf is only doing what the PGA Tour has done for years – bullying everyone else around them with money so they can assume the top place at the head of the table.

There is also another issue bothering the Americans.  Enter the Premier Golf League, once in bed with the Greg Norman venture but now a separate entity although with a similar operating model to LIV Golf.  PGL boss Andy Gardiner, however, wishes to work with the PGA Tour, not against it, and has outlined plans to issue shares that will benefit members of the PGA Tour, the secondary Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour.  He wishes to run his tournaments in tandem with the existing official schedule, co-sanctioning tournaments that will provide those participating with $2 million before a single shot is hit.  PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will surely come under severe pressure from his members to meet and discuss this possible fruitful income stream.

Back to LIV Golf.  The professional golfing world will not fall apart with the defection of the aforementioned groups of players to the Saudi scheme but, as I mentioned earlier, it is the amateur element that worries me.  The intention at the moment is to invite the top six amateurs in the world to play in the events.  They can be financially reimbursed for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) but can’t play for the prize money.  I wonder, though, if the NIL factor will carry a commitment to join LIV Golf upon turning professional?  Where will that leave the game in ten years’ time if the Saudis have hoovered up all the best of the emerging talent?  We will be left with a sport that is all about money and nothing else – and that is dispiriting, to say the least.

And we haven’t even mentioned sportswashing yet or got in to the morality of throwing your lot in with a regime that has one of the worst possible records when it comes to human rights – or the lack thereof.  That adds a whole other dimension to the debate.

In the last few days Greg Norman has announced an extra $2 billion of funding for the LIV series of events.  At a similar time the PGA Tour announced it would not be granting releases to its members who were wishing to play in the first event in Hertfordshire.  So, things are changing and we’re reaching a crossroads in the game and who knows which way it’ll go?

LIV Golf proclaims they exist “to supercharge the game of golf”.

I’d like to think that some of these monumental sums of money might filter out of the coffers of the various tours down to grass roots level, providing facilities for all sorts of people to get started in the game.  We need more putting greens, pitch and putts, renovation of rundown facilities – not more country clubs and “championship courses”.

Simple things – that’s my sort of supercharging..

On the plus side, thank goodness, there’s always a dose of normality, somewhere, from someone – this time from 25-year old  Robert MacIntyre, Oban and Scotland’s finest.  His response to being asked was he going to chase the $250 million of Saudi money was classic:-

“I’ve got a house, a home, my family is healthy. I’ve got a car I can drive. I have clothes I can put on and I can still treat myself and my family. What do I need? Just now, I’m as happy as I can be in the life of Robert MacIntyre.”

Don’t you just love him?

 

 

 

Last week was a bit of a watershed for me as it saw me make my first visit to my golf club Delamere Forest, above, in almost six months.  It’s not yet time for me to consider swinging a club again – it’ll be necessary to get some more miles in the ole legs before that happens – but I had wanted to pop along to the Cheshire County Championship and say hello to friends and fellow members.  Jackie Hesketh is this year’s county captain and the championship is always played at the captain’s home club, which I think is a lovely tradition.

As was to be expected, all was running on well ordered wheels and the weather was even co-operating, making it easier to steer the field round their two qualifying rounds in pretty good order.  There is undoubtedly some youthful talent in the county and the winner of the three-day event turned out to be the talented St Andrews student Lucy Jamieson who beat the host club’s Immy Williamson on the home green.  Lucy has won the title in the past but has benefitted from taking part in the R&A Student Tour Series which aims to provide high-quality competition to students outside of the States and Mexico.

Role models and inspiration are close at hand for the Cheshire players because Solheim Cup heroine Bronte Law, now full-time in America on the LPGA, was turning out in the same county colours only a few short years ago.  It’s always fun to follow the progress of some of the youngsters and I’m  reminded how golf gives great pleasure no matter where you are in your own golfing odyssey.

At one time the thrill for me was in competing and hitting the shots myself; then it was in helping pupils reach their potential; and now I just love seeing good young players hit good golf shots, enjoying the game and the cut and thrust of competition.

I couldn’t find any record of how long the Cheshire county championship for women has been on the fixture list but Mary McKenna sent me an interesting little note during the week.  She was invited out last Sunday to Hermitage Golf Club to be a guest at the 50th playing of the Hermitage Scratch Cup.  Mary was the first winner back in 1972 and throughout its fifty years the Scratch Cup has attracted a high pedigree of golfer, all keen to get their name on the honours board.

Alas, it wasn’t one I ever captured but, in my defence, I can only recall playing in it a couple of times – probably because it was perilously close to exam time, which seemed to govern my life for a number of years.  Congratulations to 18-year old Beth Coulter from Kirkistown Castle for recording an amazing ten under par total in spreadeagling the field. Beth is second reserve for the Curtis Cup next month, so she is firmly on the radar for the amateur game’s highest honours – and no wonder with performances like this.

I have just finished reading tennis player Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open”.  It had me captivated from the first page as he detailed his (mostly) hateful relationship with his sport.  He suffered from an overbearing, bullying father who had it all mapped out as to how his son would ascend to the No 1 spot in the world.  I knew golfing parents like this back in the day who put their children’s results above everything else.  I also knew players scared to ring home after a bad round.

It reminded me of something I’ve always known – how life dealt me a wonderful hand with my own parents.  Always supportive, but not averse to the odd good dose of constructive criticism, they introduced Patricia and me to a sport we both ended up making a living from.  Patricia had no interest in training on from being a good junior golfer but I immersed myself in playing and they were there every step of the way in my golfing journey, but never front and centre.

I rather surprised my husband the other day when I said I had spent a good deal of time not really liking golf.  You spend much more time losing than winning, despite the hours and hours of dedicated effort and disappointment can be a constant companion.  I was the one, however, who drove myself on, never Mum or Dad, and apart from wishing I’d been better I wouldn’t change a thing.  It’s a wonderful thing to be passionate about something and never stop learning.  It did, however, take me a long time to accept that my ambition outstripped my skill level!

I hope there aren’t too many Agassi-type fathers or mothers in the lives of the youngsters playing golf nowadays or, indeed, any sport.  Agassi has found peace and happiness in his marriage to Steffi Graf, who is herself a product of a bombastic, overbearing parent.  Quite telling, isn’t it, that these two former No 1 ranked players in the world have decided that their two children won’t play tennis?  Parents, take note.

I wonder where Shane Lowry is on the happiness scale of 1 – 10 right now?  He’s just deposited north of $1.2 million dollars into his bank account in the last couple of weeks which, let’s face it, would probably tip nearly all of us right out the top of the scale.  I suspect that Shane, however, is probably at about a 6, or maybe even a 7 on my arbitrary scale at the moment.

Let’s face it, we’re talking about a guy here who doesn’t have to worry about money or the rising cost of living.  He may have started his professional life with a keen eye on the finances but now Shane plays for titles, major titles, and for the satisfaction of beating the best in the world on a given week.  He hasn’t done that since July 2019 and for a competitor like Shane, who knows he’s in his prime, it’s been a long time between drinks.

He really fancied his chances at the Masters and admitted he hadn’t been so up for any tournament before in his life.  An untimely triple bogey 6 on the par 3 4th hole on Sunday effectively put paid to his hopes – and if they were still glimmering, albeit dimly, a bogey at the 12th didn’t help his cause.  At that point he bid a definite good night to the green jacket.

Seven days later he was in the final group on Sunday with Harold Varner III at Hilton Head in the RBC Heritage Classic.  He was one shot behind but there were ten players within a shot of the lead when that final pairing teed off.  After ten holes there were still nine players within a shot of the lead and there was some serious jostling for position.  When Shane birdied the 11th hole he took the outright lead and I, for one, was hoping he’d accelerate smoothly to the finish.  But there was another par 3 lying in wait to scupper his chances and a double bogey on the 14th meant that for the second week in succession he finished tied third – this time with six others.

Shane will be aware that two golden opportunities have slipped by but he’s in that part of the season when majors are around every corner – and he IS playing the best golf of his life.  If the genial Irishman can manage to shelve his frustrations, stay relaxed and not try to force things, I do believe there’s a 2022 major title with his name on it.  The prize money is incidental – it’s the title that would shoot him to the top of the happiness scale – and I, for one, would love to see him there.

It’s only nine months since the Curtis Cup match, normally a biennial contest, was played at Conwy Golf Club in Wales, but the pandemic has skewed timetables somewhat and the next edition is to be played in seven weeks’ time at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania, home state of perhaps the finest ever Curtis Cup player, Carol Semple Thompson.

Carol has an unparalleled amateur record and played 12 times in the Curtis Cup just pipping our own Mary McKenna who played for Great Britain and Ireland on nine occasions.

The US has just announced their team, with five of the winning 2021 side making a reappearance.  Seven of their eight players are inside the top 30 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking so it’ll be a tough task for GB&I captain Elaine Ratcliffe and her troops.  There will be many anxious players over this coming weekend as they wait for the nod from the selectors – the team is to be announced on Tuesday.

One thing is assured – it will be a treat for both sets of players to play the match over the venerable Merion golf course.  Here’s hoping it’ll be a keenly contested encounter with, perhaps, another away win on the cards?!  If they need inspiration, remember that Justin Rose won his US Open title at Merion..

Finally, congratulations to Mel Reid, who married her partner Carly Grenfell last Saturday in Florida.

Mel is a person who has suffered tragic personal loss and more ups and downs than most, often played out in the public eye, so it is great to see her well and truly at the top of the happiness scale.