Tom,

I meant none of this as disrespect to Michele.  From what the people I know told me, she acted with a ton of class and was a treat to watch.  She also is simply a better golfer than I am.  It was strictly meant to show the sillyness of the LPGA statistic that showed a person with a 148 ball speed hitting it 306.5 on average.

Shivas -

Congrats on your 52 on Sat.  What Men's Club in Chicago?  I think my Uncle's a member there.

You proved yourself right as you were too tired to type.  I love the fact that you logged onto the site from your death bed.

Only 18 per day this weekend at a Willie Park, Jr.   Kids wanting to play with Dad and all that.  Kinda fun actually.

Club Championship this weekend - Match Play.  36-18-36.  Those #'s would bring a smile to my face.

KLP

George:

I will say this:  I played with Pavin a LONG time ago (early 1981) and compared to everyone else there (my HS team, his college team-mates), he was plenty long.  It was a very casual event and he had no reason to hold back...

That's what has always made me believe that the pros can do whatever they want, depending on the situation.  Sure, Pavin seems to be Billy Barty-short compared to the really big bombers today, but compared to me, well... I just know I'd expect to hit first all day if I played with him today, as I did back then.  I've also played with Shivas and Wigler plenty enough and I'd guess if Pavin wanted to keep up with them he could... I could be wrong there, but anyway I believe your question is a good one!

TH

 

Anyway, she missed the cut and now must go back to 8th grade.. wait till she develops her short game!

I watched a relaxed Maggert once at the WCC Palmer Course range and then 1st tee.. he isn't "really long" ~285 ish officially but it sure was impressive..

Catch Wie & Daly together in upcoming made for TV trash match!

John,

I watched her as well.  She shot 79 in the second round.  She is a good golfer and might become a great golfer.  She would beat me, although I doubt by much more than 4&3.  As for the driving distance, it is simple physics.  My ball speed is 16mph more than hers on average, therefore I will hit it between 10 - 20 yards longer.  She absolutely does not carry a ball 275.  It is pure fiction.

Dave:

Her club sequence at Heathrow matched that of long amateurs from our area.  D-9 on the 425 yard 14th, up around the green in two on the 520 yard 11th.  Fairways were wet; no roll.

It was the only time I saw her, but nothing she did made it seem like the other tales I've heard weren't legit.

As for her only being an okay golfer, she regularly shoots in the 60s from men's (ladies' tournament) tees.  Sometimes as low as 66 or 67.  That's where I get a +2 for her on a men's handicap system.  (79 on a course probably rated 74 gets tossed out.  I didn't check, but she may have a dot or two.)

"She is a good golfer..."  C'mon Dave.  If she's good, what does it take for a female to be great?  She's an incredible golfer, as evidenced by her win at the USAPL, Top 10 in a Major, and Top 3 finish in the medal portion of the Am.  I'm pretty sure she beats any 13-year-old boy you can find.

Shiv:

D-9 with no roll on a 425 is about 280 + 135 or so.  I play with guys who are carrying 9 irons 160 with the new bent-down lofts, but her irons didn't seem to rocket.  Maybe that means lower swing speed on the irons.  She showed exceptional distance control.  In fact, that's the aspect of her game that was most impressive.  You don't have to hit it dead-on to be close if you're able to dial in the distance.

As for your continued untested theories about money attracting the better "athletes" (which you believe solely means size), did you check a gander of the guys at the U.S. Am?  I'm still waiting for these big guys you talk about to show up.  And, yes, Tim Clark is beating Brent Schwarzrock most weeks.

Your basketball analogy about Bob Cousy fails to take into account that the things that separated him from the rest in his prime would still work today.  He displayed excellent court vision and an excellent feel for the game.  He could just as easily have grown up today and learned more modern ball handling techniques (read: flashier dribbling) and become John Stockton.  Looking at the rest of the positions on a basketball court, the increase of about 2 inches or so mirrors the general population.  Also, as I've stated before, there is a TREMENDOUS advantage to being tall in basketball, where you want to be close to the basket.  Not so in golf, where you want to be close to the ball.

I still contend that there are people who are just better athletes (which I contend includes coordination and timing as well as size and strength) that will always excel.  When Jose Juan Barea makes the NBA, which I predicted over a year ago, I'll be LMAO at guys like you that think he's "just lucky to be there".  Believe me, I heard that argument all the time about Scotty Brooks.  No, Scotty Brooks was in the NBA for as long as he was because he was BETTER than everyone who wasn't.

Show me the tall golfers that excel and I'll change my story.  You still are clinging to an unconfirmed theory.

Shiv:

I could be wrong.  However, I'm content to go with the "approval" of two of the tall golfers I know.  One has won multiple time on Tour and the other made cuts out there back in his day.  Both say they never felt an advantage in golf, with one caveat...  It is easier to see the hole without a tended flag on long putts.

Many people share your view and spout out that you'll have to be big to play the Tour as though it is fact.  Hardly fact.  In reality, speculation with not much to fuel it.  I'm still waiting to see the abundance of tall golfers at any level.

"great Dad (HE started talking to my wife as we walked along with them)."

redanman:

I guess you didn't realize that doing something like that could've got you (and your wife) thrown in the penitentary at Far Hills NJ for at least a year. Talking to the competitors or their caddies at the Women's US Amateur was strictly verboten!

The reason I know that is I was following the Wie/Martinez match and on hole #14 Mr Wie planted Michelle's bag directly in Martinez's line to the green about 50 yds ahead of Martinez as she attempted to come out of the rough. Neither Martinez nor her Dad caddie said anything but on the way up to the green I was walking along side Mr Wie and I asked him if he was aware Michelle's bag was right in Martinez's line and all and that that probably wasn't the best thing to have happen. He said he didn't notice or wasn't thinking about that or something so that was the end of my conversation with Mr Wie.

At that point a couple of marshals in USGA garb came up to me and said under no circumstances was anyone allowed to talk to the players or their caddies.

At which point I said to that lady; "Did you or the officials here happen to notice what Mr Wie did with that bag?" They  said they did. So I asked them if they were out there to observe potential problems like that and help the competitors not have problems or were they there just to watch problems occur and then figure out what to do about it? Of course they looked at me like I just arrived from the moon. And I said it's not like Michelle and her Dad have knowingly or unknowingly not already had a highly publicized occurence such as this (Ammanacapane) and is that something they'd prefer to have happen again.

Obviously the idea of having a rules official actually help competitors avoid problems within the structure of the rules must have  been a very foreign concept to them.

But I feel very fortunate to be able to go to Scotland and England in a few days instead of spending the next year or so in the USGA penitentary at Far Hills NJ for speaking to a competitor's caddie.