Just making the turn

Summer is ending but season isn't

By Jim McCabe, Globe Staff, 9/14/2003

You may look at the calendar and think the golf season is on the back nine, but please don't rush things. There's still a lot of great golf to be played. And to accompany us, here's a casual outward nine:

1) His name is an afterthought when folks discuss PGA Tour Player of the Year, but Ernie Els is easily the worldwide Golfer of the Year. Sometimes it's tough to look beyond our provincial world, but consider what Els has done in 2003: In 22 starts, he was won six times in four countries, on two tours and on three continents. On the PGA Tour, he is 2 for 14, the wins coming in his first two tournaments (Mercedes Championship, Hawaiian Open); but in Europe, Els is 4 for 8. He has 12 wins in the last 21 months.

2) Last fall was cold and wet, then winter snow came early and stayed late. That was followed by a cold, wet spring, which was followed by a warm, wet summer. All in all, a pretty rotten year for golfers, course owners, and course superintendents. The last thing we needed was a turf fungus, but guess what? A turf fungus called anthracnose has hit many courses in recent weeks. You probably think all that rain had to be great for the grass, but in tandem with brutal humidity, it was a killer.

3) Michelle Wie plays tomorrow in a skins game against Hank Kuehne and John Daly, then tees it up Thursday in a Nationwide Tour stop. The things 13-year-olds will do to visit Idaho this time of year.

4) Laura Davies received an invitation to play against men in the Korean Open in early October. The last time she did something like this, she finished dead last, a whopping 39 shots behind the winner, Vijay Singh. The good news is, she has nowhere to go but up. The bad news is, she's not as good a player as she was then.

5) Brad Faxon knows what everyone is thinking, that he's supposed to be one of the world's greatest putters, but he hardly lived up to that reputation when he missed a 5-footer that could have won last Sunday's Bell Canadian Open. But missing that putt on the second playoff hole against Bob Tway isn't what pained him. "I was more bummed out about the circumstances that happened after that," said Faxon, referring to the double bogey at the third playoff hole, the par-4 18th, which allowed Tway to win with a bogey. As for the putt that could have won it, set up by a terrific bunker shot from about 55 yards? Well, Faxon was playing with some good friends a few days later, decent golfers all of them, and they kept talking about that putt. So Faxon found a spot on one of the greens and marked it. "It was 5 feet straight downhill with severe break, and all of them missed," said Faxon. "Two of them didn't even come near the hole. Then I told them, `Add in the $1 million that was riding on it, the thousands of people watching, and the fact that it was a national championship.' "

6) Unless the US can rally today, golfers from Europe will own the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup, and the Solheim Cup. I know that dampens a lot of spirits over here, but look at the bright side: They don't know how to make ice to put into any of those cups.

7) Another week, another PGA Tour event, another week of Singh pounding balls for hours, then shooting good numbers. He's at the John Deere Classic, and the fact that he's right in the middle of things is hardly a surprise. Whether you like him or not, you've got to appreciate his game.

8) Ben Curtis, the stunning winner of the British Open, finally got to go on his honeymoon with Candace. Not only that, he played in the Trophee Lancome at Saint-Nom-la-Breteche outside of Paris. Tell me things haven't changed, because more than 40 years ago, another promising golfer from the Columbus, Ohio, area spent his honeymoon playing golf -- only he had to go around Pine Valley in the rain while his wife sat in a car outside the gates.

9) The folks at Augusta National have added trees to the right side of the 11th fairway, putting even more of a premium on driving the ball straight. Mean-spirited, aren't they? Of course, the tournament organizers haven't ever sliced a penny out of the purse, so why don't the players ever offer praise for that?

Back to school days

If you didn't send in your application for the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, don't bother because you're too late. The deadline was 5 p.m. Friday. It will take a few days for the folks at headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to determine how many entries they have, though it will run into the thousands. There will be a dozen sites at first stage (Oct. 21-24; Oct. 28-31), then six more for second stage (Nov. 12-15; Nov. 19-22). The final stage will be Dec. 3-8 at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla. . . . Only 10 players made the cut in each of the four majors, and several of the names may surprise you. Don't look for Jim Furyk (he missed out at the British Open) or Davis Love (no weekend for him at either the US Open or PGA). Some of the usual suspects are there -- Els, Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir -- but the others were Kenny Perry, Charles Howell III, Fred Couples, Len Mattiace, and Angel Cabrera. Why is Perry a surprise? Consider that between 1988 and 2002, of the 60 majors played, he appeared in just 24 of them, made the cut in 17, and finished top 10 just twice. In other words, he was hardly a major force. Perry, Cabrera, Howell, and Mattiace made the cut in each of the four majors for the first time in their careers. As for how these players fared in aggregate: Weir 4 over; Els 7 over; Singh 13 over; Perry 16 over; Woods 18 over; Mickelson 25 over; Cabrera 27 over; Mattiace 32 over; Howell 33 over; and Couples 43 over . . . Three courts, three losses, and while the logical assumption would be that that equals a strikeout, the male leadership at Haverhill Country Club for the better part of the last eight years has rarely been logical. Taken to court by nine women who claimed discrimination, the club lost in Superior Court, then in Appeals Court, then a week ago Friday it lost again when the Supreme Judicial Court turned down a request for a review of the case. Could it finally be over? After eight long years? It would appear so, though there's always the chance that Haverhill CC could chase this to the Supreme Court. Most likely, club officials know they have exhausted all their legal avenues and it's time to pay up. No doubt, very soon there'll be a meeting at which members will be told how the club plans to come up with the $3.5 million-$4 million in damages, interest, and lawyers' fees. (The money is mind-boggling because at one time this probably could have been settled for about $20,000.) There will be some sort of loan, no doubt, and it can't be long before the members get their assessment notices. No member ever likes paying an assessment, but in this case it will be especially painful because it never should have gone this far.

Still going strong

Carol Semple Thompson, one of the great amateur golf icons of her generation, was halted in her bid for a fifth straight US Women's Senior Amateur Championship the other day, but she won't wait long to make another pitch for a national title. Thompson will represent Pennsylvania at the US State Team Matches that visit our area this week. Thompson and the rest of the women's field will play at Wellesley CC, while the men play at Charles River CC in Newton. Thompson, 54, is a seven-time national champion (1973 US Women's Amateur, two-time Women's Mid-Am winner, four senior titles) and has played on a record 12 Curtis Cup teams. But she got stopped by Nancy Fitzgerald, 1 up, in the semifinals, paving the way for another splendid story, Marlene Streit. Streit, 69, became the oldest USGA champion in history, going 24 holes to win her semifinal match, then prevailing on the 23d hole against Fitzgerald. Having won the US Women's Amateur in 1956, Streit went 47 years between US titles (she also won the senior title in 1994) . . . Perhaps the most compelling story at the US Senior Women's Amateur, however, involved Anne Carr of Seattle. Five days before the tournament, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, yet she made it to the quarterfinals, where for the third straight year she was ousted by Thompson. "You know," said Carr, "I haven't really had a chance for a good cry yet. Still, I came here to play golf and not worry about it because I don't know anything more than I did when I got here." . . . While the State Team Matches will be held Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the best pro golfers in New England -- and some of the best amateurs, too -- will be teeing it up in the New England Open at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton. Defending champ Todd Vernon will not be in the field . . . The recent Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston was clearly a success, and while there's no doubt the PGA Tour guys are the show, none of it would have been possible without a great many people behind the scenes. So a round of applause for tournament chairman Jay Monahan and his outstanding team: Eric Baldwin, Keith Driscoll, Michele Miller, and Jennifer Twomey. Equally unheralded but invaluable were the folks at TPC Boston, from general manager Jim O'Mara to superintendent Tom Brodeur to head professional Doug Errhalt . . . The Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation's Celebrity Golf Classic will be tomorrow on the Oaks Course at The International GC in Bolton. Among the celebrites in attendance will be actor Chris O'Donnell, PGA Tour stars Faxon, Billy Andrade, and Robert Gamez, and Boston sports legends Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Ray Bourque, and Antoine Walker. At last year's event, $140,000 was raised for children's charities.