PEBBLE BEACH, CA – Two-time defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka was his typical direct and terse self when asked if he’d bothered to learn anything about Willie Anderson, the golfer whose historic “three-peat” feat Koepka trying to equal. “No,” he said. He hadn’t even thought to Google him. You can bet the farm, however, that Tiger Woods knows exactly who...
PEBBLE BEACH, CA – It’s called June Gloom, that cold, grey mist that descends upon Monterey Peninsula that turns the otherwise green and golden Pebble Beach into a scene out of Hound of the Baskervilles. Under this chilly blanket of clouds, it’s easier to understand how our beloved Pebble, perhaps the shortest of America’s informal rotation of national championship...
CARMEL, CA – Take a moment to deeply savor the fragrant breeze off the Pacific Ocean. Close your eyes and listen to the gentle rustle of the waves, its somnambulant trance broken only by the mournful baying of the sea lions as they frolic on the beach. Take one last look at the cherry rays of the dying sunset over the Pacific as your legs dangle off the cliff edge...
Tournament coverage at GNN and JFDC is heating up. We’ll be at the 119th U.S. Open from sparkling Pebble Beach for the entire week, while also covering the 83rd Anderson Memorial from venerable Winged Foot. In between we’ll have articles on the Senior PGA, our Mt. Snow ski and golf trips, and a new piece on Golf Course Trades on N.J.’s Shackamaxon...
The USGA announced a dozen courses to host sectional qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. While the most groundbreaking part of the announcement was the revealing of the first ever Canadian venue, Rattlesnake Point Golf Club (Copperhead and Sidewinder Courses), Milton, Ontario, the courses that arouse the interest of well-traveled American golfers...
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – Brooks Koepka may have won the trophy again, and Tommy Fleetwood might have won the hearts of golfers everywhere with his tournament record-tying 63 and rock-star hair, but Shinnecock Hills won the 118th U.S. Open. As it should be; at a truly great U.S. Open, the course is always the star. Koepka became the first repeat U.S. Open Champion since...
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – Pre-eminent sports writer Rick Reilly’s hat said it all. “Pray For Birdies,” it blared in red, white and blue. It feels like an old-school U.S. Open even though the golf course is as wide as a weekend bogey golfer could wish for. Despite the widest fairways in modern tournament history, at the halfway point of the 118th U.S. Open at venerable...
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – I want to thank the great Dan Jenkins for today’s writing prompt. He published some of his favorite (and not so favorite Opens) and reminded me that it’s time for my annual U.S. Open history lesson for y’all. So here we go; class is in session. Take good notes. You never know when you’ll be quizzed. GREAT STORIES YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT, BUT NEED TO...
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – My colleague and friend Mike Vaccaro, a sparkling gem of the New York Post sports writing diadem, likes to collect datelines. I remember he was especially proud of “Beijing,” but lamented publicly that it couldn’t be “Peking” instead. Mike and I met writing the dateline “Mamaroneck” in 2006 at Winged Foot, and together we watched Phil Mickeson fall...
SOUTHAMPTON – “It’s a process, it’s a process, it’s a process.” If the old Tiger Woods – describing his swing changes – said it once, he said it a thousand times. It became a joke in the media center. I thought it was merely a combination of platitude and mantra; something to he chanted to himself as he worked the range that had the added benefit of...
Here are the tee times for the 118h U.S. Open. We’ll be live at Shinnecock Hills all week starting Tuesday morning. Thursday (June 14), hole #1 / Friday (June 15), hole #10 6:45 a.m. / 12:30 p.m. – Harold Varner, Gastonia, N.C.; TBD; Matthieu Pavon, France 6:56 a.m. / 12:41 p.m. – Michael Putnam, University Place, Wash.; Scott Gregory, England; Will Zalatoris...
So my U.S. Open preview is up at Golf News Net. (They always male it look fantastic!) Ryan Ballengee and I will have wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament all week long, with radio, video, and 1,500 words a day. Plus I’ll have three-day coverage of the Anderson Memorial at Winged Foot. Throw in a round at National Golf Links of America, and that’s a...
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – It’s the best golf design magic trick since Oakmont made 5,000 trees disappear. Now you see it, now you don’t – prest-o! change-o! – and with a wave of a wand, a whiff of diesel, and a crackerjack grounds crew, the fairways of 2018 U.S. Open host Shinnecock Hills narrowed pretty much overnight. Penn and Teller got nuthin’ on Shinnecock head super...
As always, Golf Course Trades did a phenomenal job with my preview for the U.S. Open. Super Jon Jennings leads an all-star cast of supers, meteorologists, and USGA brass in getting Shinnecock Hills ready for the pros and the National Championship. Jennings is a fascinating guy. as the articles states, “Golf is lucky to have gotten Jennings at all, actually. He...
The awful weather of this never-ending winter continued all across New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and into the Rust Belt and Heartland, crippling travel and causing multiple delays to the start of golf season. Even Shinnecock Hills, site of this year’s U.S. Open, has been affected. Erring on the side of caution (of course) the Club will Open one week later than...