[PThomas]

some of you should be thrilled by one of his thoughts today about the Road Hole:""Par is just a number"

i think he does  a good job....why they dont ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling

[Jud_T]

I think he makes some interesting points, but listening to his mumbled drawl is simply too painful.

[Tom_Doak]

"T" is a very good golf commentator, which is funny since he hated them all so much in his playing days.

It was kind of funny to hear him talk about how much he loves St. Andrews, since he builds the flattest greens of any architect working today.  [Tom or Gary Player.]  But he clearly has more of a feel for architecture than most of the guys who ever make the broadcast booth.

[PThomas]

I think he makes some intersting points, but listening to his mumbled drawl is simply too painful.

i'm not being a smart ass Jud, but you sure you got the right guy?  Weiskopf a drawl, from an Ohio guy??

[Peter Pallotta]

Paul - I've always liked TW because in his playing days he seemed like a head-case, and I can relate.  But also, he should be in the golf broadcasting hall of fame for just that one, off-the-cuff and brilliantly timed riff on Jack before JN hit his tee shot on 16 in 1986.  And that he could manage to say  "Your destiny is right here" without making it sound like a pre-planned cliche is remarkable.  He seems to me a more interesting person, and so a more interesting boradcaster, than most every other former athlete I've ever heard.  Henry Longhurst had the bottle; TW had his demons.

Peter  

[Dan Herrmann]

"T" did a great job on the special Road Hole channel explaining every nuance of the hole and its history.  IIRC, he called 17 the greatest par 4 in the world.

(This was one of those DirecTV channels for The Open).

[PThomas]

Paul - I've always liked TW because in his playing days he seemed like a head-case, and I can relate.  But also, he should be in the golf broadcasting hall of fame for just that one, off-the-cuff and brilliantly timed riff on Jack before JN hit his tee shot on 16 in 1986.  And that he could manage to say  "Your destiny is right here" without making it sound like a pre-planned cliche is remarkable.  He seems to me a more interesting person, and so a more interesting boradcaster, than most every other former athlete I've ever heard.  Henry Longhurst had the bottle; TW had his demons.

Peter  

Peter, i thought one he made seconds earlier was even better...Nantz asked him what was going thru Jack's mind, and TW said"If i knew that I'd have won this golf tournament!"..he was 2nd 4 times at Augusta

Geoff S has an interview with TW posted this weekend....he has gotten remarried, which i didnt know...

[Dan Herrmann]

Would TW get more "press" here if he had more courses built in the Eastern USA?

[Adam Clayman]

Dan, I doubt it. As Tom eludes to, his greens are his downfall. Besides flattish, they are usually so big, negatng any strategic importance to fairway positioning.
(admittedly a general statement based on only a sampling of his work)
 
It's not hard to see why his designs are liked by player and housing developer alike. ten years ago his  resale numbers are one of the best in the Biz.

[Chris Buie]

I was spared the charmless, bland commentary of the ABC/ESPN boys until today.  Azinger and Strange have got to go.  I don't like saying someone should be put out to pasture but they definitely need to find better commentators.

[Dan Herrmann]

I thought Tom Watson was masterful. 

The 6:30AM ET piece on Watson at last year's Open got an A+ from me.

[Matt_Ward]

It's really amusing that people throw a generalized tagline on what TW has done with his designs -- especially a number of them since splitting with Jay M.

Don't know if people have played the likes of Silverleaf in AZ or Lahontan in the greater Reno area -- the greens have plenty of contours and do pitch in a few directions.

The sad reality is that one doesn't need greens that look like a winter day's on the Atlantic Ocean to be effective.

[Mark Arata]

the only watchable par of the entire espn broadcast was the masterful ian mcshane opening essay and video of the open and it's history......the rest of it was bad......rocco had a few decent off the cuff lines and TW was ok, the rest, not good.....thank god they didnt use berman....listening to him try to work up nicknames for Louie would have had me picking up the pieces of my broken tv screen........

[Carl Johnson]

some of you should be thrilled by one of his thoughts today about the Road Hole:""Par is just a number"

Spot on

i think he does  a good job....why they dont ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling

First, I'm not a big fan or T. Weiskopf.  Do I know him?  No.  Just what I've read about him.  That having been said, "Why [don't they] ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling?"

Stating the obvious, it's popular TV.  Who among the millions or so, if that, watching the telecast, gives a ______ about architectural features?  The producers and directors know their audience

[Bill_McBride]

some of you should be thrilled by one of his thoughts today about the Road Hole:""Par is just a number"

Spot on.
i think he does  a good job....why they dont ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling

First, I'm not a big fan or T. Weiskopf.  Do I know him?  No.  Just what I've read about him.  That having been said, "Why [don't they] ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling?"

Stating the obvious, it's popular TV.  Who among the millions or so, if that, watching the telecast, gives a ______ about architectural features?  The producers and directors know their audience.

Jeez, Carl, have you heard from Pat Mucci's attorneys yet?  He has a patent on that green typeface!

[paul cowley]

Paul - I've always liked TW because in his playing days he seemed like a head-case, and I can relate.  But also, he should be in the golf broadcasting hall of fame for just that one, off-the-cuff and brilliantly timed riff on Jack before JN hit his tee shot on 16 in 1986.  And that he could manage to say  "Your destiny is right here" without making it sound like a pre-planned cliche is remarkable.  He seems to me a more interesting person, and so a more interesting boradcaster, than most every other former athlete I've ever heard.  Henry Longhurst had the bottle; TW had his demons.

Peter  

great post peter....!

[paul cowley]

some of you should be thrilled by one of his thoughts today about the Road Hole:""Par is just a number"

Spot on.
i think he does  a good job....why they dont ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling

First, I'm not a big fan or T. Weiskopf.  Do I know him?  No.  Just what I've read about him.  That having been said, "Why [don't they] ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling?"

Stating the obvious, it's popular TV.  Who among the millions or so, if that, watching the telecast, gives a ______ about architectural features?  The producers and directors know their audience.

I don't agree with you carl.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Actually, TW did a piece on architecture. It aired Thursday and Saturday. I was about 2 or 3 minutes. He started out with features of the Old Course and suggested that have been used by architects in other courses- Pinehurst 2 was mentioned.

[Greg Tallman]

Tom is a great story teller and I am surprised to hear the comments about the greens on his courses. Our resort has a Weiskopf course and the greens are anything but flat. By and large they are full of contour and a couple of greens are rather wild.

During one of his site visits a few years back he was talking about green design and quoted MacKenzie saying "greens should be like melted chocolate" so interesting that he apparently has not put that belief into practice on many of his deigns.  

[TEPaul]

This is an interesting thread.

I'm generally very very uncritical of golf commentators over the years. But even though Weiskopf did and does offer some very incisive comments about the mind and mentality of champion golfers, and about golf architecture, I still think the guy is basically a lug, a bore, a bit too egocentric, and definitely prone to rudeness when not on air.

Matter of fact, most of the commentator crew at The Open this week, Weiskopf, Azinger and Strange, I feel are a bit too egocentric on air, generally telling us and reminding us too often that they are the champions and they are the only ones who can even remotely explain us what all that is all about.

That's why I think Tom Watson was such a welcome addition in the booth this week. Somehow he manages to offer remarkably incisive commentary while at the same time somehow taking himself and any ego out of his commentary, which is pretty interesting considering he's won more of those championships than all the rest of his fellow commentators this week combined!  

[Carl Johnson]

some of you should be thrilled by one of his thoughts today about the Road Hole:""Par is just a number"

Spot on.
i think he does  a good job....why they dont ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling

First, I'm not a big fan or T. Weiskopf.  Do I know him?  No.  Just what I've read about him.  That having been said, "Why [don't they] ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling?"

Stating the obvious, it's popular TV.  Who among the millions or so, if that, watching the telecast, gives a ______ about architectural features?  The producers and directors know their audience.

Jeez, Carl, have you heard from Pat Mucci's attorneys yet?  He has a patent on that green typeface!

Hoping to avoid protracted litigation over the "color" issue, I've modified my post from green to purple and hereby give my sincere apology to Pat and ask his forgiveness.

[paul cowley]

carl....the color is less interesting as opposed to the the content of your post....or is it the other way around?

[Greg Tallman]

This is an interesting thread.

I'm generally very very uncritical of golf commentators over the years. But even though Weiskopf did and does offer some very incisive comments about the mind and mentality of champion golfers, and about golf architecture, I still think the guy is basically a lug, a bore, a bit too egocentric, and definitely prone to rudeness when not on air.

Matter of fact, most of the commentator crew at The Open this week, Weiskopf, Azinger and Strange, I feel are a bit too egocentric on air, generally telling us and reminding us too often that they are the champions and they are the only ones who can even remotely explain us what all that is all about.

That's why I think Tom Watson was such a welcome addition in the booth this week. Somehow he manages to offer remarkably incisive commentary while at the same time somehow taking himself and any ego out of his commentary, which is pretty interesting considering he's won more of those championships than all the rest of his fellow commentators this week combined!  

Tom, I do not find TW egocentric in the booth. Do you have a particular comment to point to or just his general style of delivery?

[Tom Yost]

...  That having been said, "Why [don't they] ask him to do short bits on architecture during the 3000 or so hours of telecast this weekend is puzzling?"

From what I heard through the weekend, he did make quite a bit of commentary regarding the architecture of TOC.   Although it wasn't prefaced with an announcement "Here's Tom Weiskopf with a comment about golf course architecture..."  he did offer a lot of insight including the aforementioned comment about par value on 17 (I think he said something like " you make the best score you can on the hole...").  He also frequently mentioned features that are not seen on modern courses.  I don't think he use "crucified," but he did say something about not being able to build greens like that anymore.

[TEPaul]

Greg:

Not really. It's just that I've been around a long time and I remember everything about Tom Weiskopf over all the years of his entire career.

And in my life I have studied at least four things intensely---eg golf, golf architecture, the Rules of golf, particularly its history, and physiognomy.

Of them all physiognomy has been by far the most important!

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