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Fathers’ Day “Plan B”:  A Round of Golf and the U.S. Open

This is a tale of two friends, neighbors, fathers, and avid golfers who just happened to be home without their wives and children on Fathers’ Day.  Before you get the wrong impression, let me clarify the situation!  My friend Jeff Masten, a fellow GolfShadow blogger, came home Saturday from a week in Gulf Shores with his family.  His wife and children were staying longer to visit his wife’s parents, but Jeff had to be home and get ready for a business trip first thing Monday am.

My wife and kids always go to FL with my wife’s parents around this time every year.  They have a Marriott Timeshare and therefore the dates are not always flexible during peak season in Fort Lauderdale. This year just so happened to fall over Fathers’ Day and I could not get away due to business commitments.

So there were Jeff and I without our families on Sunday, so what do you think we did?  We came up with a plan B, and started the day off with a round of golf early Sunday morning at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, TN.  This course is our favorite, always in immaculate shape and very scenic. We planned to get lunch afterwards, and then head back to my house to watch 6 hours of the U.S.Open. Yes, all 6 hours.

The wager was lunch on the loser, and it was a close battle all day long.  Jeff and I’s golf games are very similar, both in handicap, scores, and our shot types. We are both very competitive, so even a small wager of lunch was enough to fuel our desire to beat each other from hole to hole.  I started out the first 4 holes pretty solid at even par and led Jeff by a few shots.  Then I fell into a mental divot and had 3 double-bogeys finishing the front nine with a sluggish and sloppy 43. I watched Jeff take a 2 shot lead with 41 by avoiding the dreaded double-bogeys I had so eloquently displayed. Wow, what a way to finish the front nine strong Stanko!  I was frustrated, and knew I needed to shoot even par on the back nine just to stay in the 70′s.  For Jeff and I, a bad round is 80, anything in the 70′s is “satisfactory”, 75 and under is a solid round, and the goal is always Even Par.  I had a tough task ahead of me to to finish in “Satisfactory!

To make a long story short, We battled it out on the back punch by punch and elevated each others’ games.  Jeff is a tough player to catch from behind, since he’s a conservative course manager with a solid, fundamental swing that produces consistent shots.  With his recent Driver and 3-Wood upgrade he blogged about with glee a few weeks ago, (Is There Ever A Right Time To Buy A New Club) his confidence has increased and my previous 25 yard distance advantage off the tee has been diminished.  I thought about employing some mental gamesmanship to try and get in his head and run around, but it’s Fathers’ Day!

I managed to gain focus, turn things around, and played even par 36 on the back for a  ”satisfactory” 79.   I had gained some ground on Jeff and was only down 1 heading into 17.  Jeff turned it up a notch and birdies 18 for an impressive one under par 35 on the back for a 76 total.  He earned it!!    It was an extremely enjoyable round of golf, and though I was on the hook for lunch, I was proud we finished strong despite the outcome.  We even called the clubhouse from 17 tee to get a replay time to consider heading right back out for another 18.  We had Dvr’d the Open so we did not have to worry about getting back in time.  Ahhhh, don’t you love it when a plan comes together?  After mulling it over, we decided to head back to the house and forgo the second round. We ended up getting home just in time for Justin Rose and the other contenders started to tee off.  What a finish at Merion Golf Club on Fathers’ Day with Justin Rose pointing to the sky in remembrance of his late father.

Despite missing our families on Fathers’ Day, we made the most of it with everything golf:Sometimes you have to come up with a Plan B.

I hope all of you made the most of Fathers’ Day, no matter the circumstances!  Justin Rose sure did.

Send me your Fathers’ Day golf experiences to kevin@golfshadow.com, I would love to share them with our followers!

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Father’s Day is a special day for so many Golfers.

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there today! The old cliche is that many fathers receive another tie for their gift, and that is great if we receive one. To most golfers though, Father’s day is more about family and golf.

Most of us would love to get a round in over the holiday weekend, and I was fortunate to get one in the day before our day. Anything golf related makes for a great gift. New tees, golf balls, books, lessons, a club, or anything else for father’s day is bound to bring a smile.

I look forward to my two kids growing into playing golf and creating an awesome foursome for playing on future father’s days.My six year old son just got a new putter this weekend and he can’t wait to get out there and practice soon. My eight year old daughter already hits the ball pretty well, but she is slower with the “bug” to play as she hasn’t decided if it is cool to play yet. My wife is very interested in learning and I am sure she will be starting some lessons in the near future.

Whatever the day brings for golfer fathers today, the father’s day afternoons are special as we watch the drama unfold at the US Open. So many great finishes at what is always a true test of the greatest players in golf. Who is going to prevail? Who is going to fold under pressure?

This year is no exception. Phil Mickelson has the background story with his daughter’s eighth grade graduation, yet has played so strong so far. Is this Stricker’s time finally to win a Major? The Europeans haven’t won this championship in a long time, but there are several in serious contention going into Sunday.

I can’t wait to see how the afternoon plays out as my family will be getting together for great food and fun with the golf on tv of course!

Who do you think wins today???

Happy Father’s Day!

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Majors like the U.S. Open put pressure on the pros so we can enjoy watching them struggle on the course like we do.

From a non-golfer’s perspective, people may be wondering, “What’s the big deal about the U.S. Open?”  These guys are professionals.  They ought to be accustomed to playing on big stages.  What makes this tournament different from any of the others?

First of all, an “open” tournament means anyone can play their way into the tourney.  Naturally, there are entry requirements, but if you think you’re able, then plunk down your money and play through the various qualifying rounds and prove you belong out there with the best of them.  Most PGA Tour events are exclusive to card-holding tour members plus a very small and select few others.

Secondly, the U.S. Open isn’t put on by the PGA Tour but by the USGA – the organization that governs the rules of golf in the United States.  As such, they enjoy making the pros face challenges they don’t normally encounter on a regular basis – exceptionally long holes, very narrow fairways, high roughs and extremely fast greens they sometimes make even harder up by rolling them with heavy metal rollers so no one can simply shoot straight at the pin and expect their ball to stop quickly.

But, most importantly, the U.S. Open, along with the Master’s, British Open and the PGA Championship are “majors” (not so much with the PGA Championship, but that’s just my opinion).  Winning one of the first three of those will definitely put your name and career up in lights.  The winner’s purse is huge, but the money from endorsements may be even larger.  Besides, no one is really considered a “great player” until he/she wins one of them.

The pressure all those factors collectively produce will tighten up anyone.  That’s why the pros make shots during those tournaments that look more like the ordinary weekender than a touring expert.  I may not watch tournaments week in, week out, but I rarely miss watching a major.  It comforts me, somehow, to see such skilled players hacking it around and falling prey to their own fears/nerves.  Hmmm, that reminds me of someone I know all too well.

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Solid US Open start for Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson doesn’t have the Tiger sized entourages we see each week, but he definitely has one of the largest fan bases. Ironically, a great deal of his support base is your blue collar and “bogey” golfer crowds.

Every week, you just don’t know what you will get with Phil, but one thing for sure, it is going to be interesting. Phil seems to have no regard for “conservative” aggressiveness, and gets in and out of trouble more than anyone. Everyone had the “what are you thinking” mindset when he lined up to hit his shot off the pine straw at Augusta’s 13th hole in 2010.

That may be his most famous shot, but the US Open has to be the most impactful Major that he is tied to. In the 1999 US Open, Phil’s wife was expecting their first child and debated playing. He wore a pager the entire tournament, and made it clear that he was leaving if the pager went off regardless of standing on the leaderboard. In one of the most famous US Open contests, Payne Stewart one putts five of the last seven holes to beat Phil by one stroke. Even in his excitement, Payne immediately congratulates a young, stunned,disappointed Phil Mickelson and puts the fact that he is going to be a father in perspective versus a golf tournament.

Phil has since finished second in four more US Opens, with several exciting highlights.

This year’s US Open is no different in terms of Phil Mickelson storylines already. He went to Merion to get some practice time in, but when the rains came in he decided to go back to California and practice at his home course. When he announced that he was staying home to attend his daughter’s eighth grade graduation, it made the media coverage. He subsequently flies overnight back to Merion with a 5 AM arrival for an early morning tee time. He then goes out and shoots 3 under for the round.

Phil appears to be on track for contention again this year, and I wish him the best. Even if he does win, I will remember his actions to attend an important milestone event for his daughter no matter the consequences. Phil is clearly a strong family man, and you have to wonder how much influence Payne’s actions to Phil were when he won in 1999.

The US Open is one of my favorite parts of Father’s Day, as it is with many golf enthusiasts out there. It seems that a family priority statement like Phil Mickelson did has this US Open starting off with another great storyline!

What do you think about Phil and the US Open?