Thank you Vaughn for your reflections on this horrible crime. While I think Terry is correct that this isn't so much about golf as it is about the shocking effect of random violence in our society, I think it is only natural that we who identify strongly in the golf community throughout the golf world take this personally to heart and feel a loss of a shining soul who loved the game and all that goes with it. It goes to the Harvey Pennick sentiment that "if you love golf, you are my friend".
However, I can't restrain myself not to comment on the reaction and effect this shocking crime has, and more depressingly, has not made on our social scene and overall awareness. As you know when we met in Duluth, I haven't been too active in golf lately due to my debilitation from injuries that has kept me away from the golf scene more than any time in the last 35 years of my life. Thus for better or worse, I have been doing more social media and watching news and commentary than ever before. And what I have observed is that this shocking crime barely made the news as compared to what I think it would have been front and center of our national consciousness only a few years ago. (I hope I am wrong, but from our nearby neighboring news and media market in Wisconsin, I didn't see but a brief blurb of coverage)
In my view this goes to the accelerating 'coarsening of America' and our society. The Iowa news had been literally drowned out by other occurrences including yesterday's mass shooting in Madison, the infant random shooting murder in Chicago, and now today in Maryland and even more murderous mass shooting event. Rains leading to flooding, and all the tumult and anger generated by our national political condition has seemingly stifled the horror of the sweet innocent Iowa State athletes murder. Any study and deeper inquiry into these random acts of violence often by similar roaming very mentally damaged individuals and armed criminals and what can be done to reduce their deranged activities seem to be a lost cause.
I honestly believe that had this happened in other parts of the world, far more focus and sustained attention to the cause and effects would have been given to the crime. Sadly, we are just bouncing from tragedy to horror, to shock and disgust on a daily basis, whether it is violent crime or political crime. We are on a desensitized overload. IMHO