The Starting Five

Chris Bushey’s goal as he completed his front nine today at the Maryland state golf tournament was to end higher than his 8th place finish from a year ago.
Bushey was 3-over par through his first nine holes today at Potomac Ridge.
Co-leaders Alex Hoffman, of Middletown and Bart George, of Broadneck, were in a battle thru the first 9 with Hoffman holding a 1-stroke advantange, going 1-under on his front 9.

Only four Washington County golfers qualified for the second round of the Maryland state tournament which concludes with the second round on Wednesday.
Smithsburg’s Chris Bushey and A.J. Minnich, North Hagerstown’s Aaron Staley and Williamsport’s Zach Weber all made the cut.
Bushey had the third-best score on Tuesday with his 6-over par-79, but that leaves him 5 strokes behind the co-leaders. Bart George, of Broadneck, shot his 74 on Monday in the 4A/3A portion and Middletown’s Alex Hoffman shot a 74 on Tuesday.
Others ahead of Bushey are Linganore freshman Ryan Cole (76), Andrew Yakubik of Damascus and Ryan Triller of North Harford (77) and Randy Callahan of C.M. Wright (78).
It’s not unheard of to come from 5 strokes behind… We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
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The weather was fabulous on Tuesday and the forecast for Wednesday is for more of the same — a sunny sky, gentle breeze and temps that will top out at 70 as the players move thru the middle part of their round.
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As Smithsburg coach Dan Neff said in our golf preview, the Leopards needed to get scoring from the No. 3 and 4 players in order to contend for a team title, but it didn’t happen. Matt Snowden shot 113 and Kyle Huntzberry a 102. It was the first state competition for Huntzberry as a freshman and he figures to do in the future what A.J. Minnich did.
Last year, Minnich shot a 100 in his first state showing and shaved 17 strokes off that number on Tuesday to qualify. My guess is Huntzberry will plug along at the game and do the same.
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There is no official word yet on the state tournament returning to The University of Maryland next year. It has been held at Potomac Ridge here in Waldorf the past two seasons while the Terps’ course has undergone rennovations.
There is also a discussion on several adjustments being made to the qualifying procedures and possibly a change of the district date and addition of a regional. In this case, it would likely get my endorsement. Changes need to be made.

Grrr and Brrr!!! It was a beautiful morning for golf on Tuesday at Beaver Creek Country Club (yeah right).

Today was the first round of our 36-hole MISGA Senior championship and it didn’t take long for me to shoot myself right out of contention, and on a morning when I actually hit the ball darned well off the tee (as opposed to some other rounds). Problem was, it was the rest of the game that was in shambles.

Couldn’t chip, couldn’t putt … I’ll have nightmares over No. 7 after being in the greenside bunker in two and finishing with a (you fill in the blank). Yep, it was that bad!

But I have a legitimate excuse and it is one I am actually going to stick with (haha). It’s not too much fun with a sore right elbow that has been treated for a bursa sac and you are taking antibiotics. That’s my reasoning for a lackluster short game that left me scurrying all around the greens on Tuesday.

When you hit drives that leave your second shot anywhere from 50 to 80 yards for an approach and you can’t figure out how to get birdies, then it’s time to re-tool. Can I have a new golf body????

There are 18 more holes of golf left in this tournament. I swear, I am better off sticking to the notepad these days when it comes to golf.

Lee Trevino recently signed on with Bridgestone to promote one of its new golf balls. Fred Couples has been a longtime spokesperson for Bridgestone and the two formed to do a recent commercial at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Manassas, Va. in July.
Here’s the interesting part of the commercial: Jim Ward, a Beaver Creek Country Club member, is also in the commercial. He is seen handing Trevino a golf ball.
Check it out

Well, it’s been 24 hours since the British Open has been concluded and Retief Goosen briefly knocked on the door to make my prediction look good.

What nary a soul counted on was Tom Watson and anyone who place a pound or two on the 1,000-to-1 shot almost went home with some heavy pockets.

Watson is revered by the United Kingdon. I can remember of trips to Scotland and Ireland and a couple of specific instances where I was headed to play and Watson had just been at that particular club having just been made an honorary captain. That’s what a love for links golf and five Open championships will get you.

Depending on your age, you’ve been able to witness Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino and others perform magically with the stick.  Of those players I have watched in my lifetime, it is my opinion that along with Palmer, there is no greater golf ambassador than Tom Watson.

We had the Duel in the Sun at Turnberry in 1977. This weekend, we nearly had one of the greatest golf accomplishments and memories ever, and I mean ever.  I just wish Watson woould have scaled back to a 9-iron instead of nuking that 8-iron thru the green on the 72nd hole — he would have made par and written the greatest golf story ever.

When the playoff started one of the TV announcers said: It was like the plug was pulled from the socket and all the electricity ran out.

I wish I were at Watson’s first Champions Tour event when he returns to the states. I’d be there leading the 18-holes of cheers. In the meantime, I hope he has enough left in the tank to clean up this weekend at the British Seniors.

The British Open kicks off Thursday and of course, all the ga-ga is about Tiger Woods. How will Tiger do at Turnberry? How will the course stand up to him?

I fondly remember playing Turnberry nearly a decade ago … it’s along the Irish Sea … the Firth of Clyde … just another of the great courses in Scotland. Of course, I didn’t play it to the yardage it is now — extended some 300 yards to nearly 7,200 yards. I remember playing it from markers that measured about 6,400-plus.

As a golfer, you can’t forget about the great “duel in the sun” back in 1977 — the very first time Turnberry hosted the Open. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were the only two golfers on the planet and Watson ended up winning the claret jug. They were something like 10 strokes ahead of the field. It’s hard to believe Watson is nearing his 60th birthday.

Turnberry itself is not much of a town. The Ailsa Course starts in town and ends in town. There isn’t even a post office. At one time, the course was an airbase during World War II.

But enough for the little history lesson — now on to the big show starting Thursday.

I don’t think Tiger will win this one. I think he’s been a little off with the driver and if he is this week, he’ll pay dearly in the high stuff. There’s a little bug in my head that tells me the winner will be Retief Goosen. He can keep the ball straight — as you need at Turnberry — and he has been playing well of late. I would also give some serious consideration to Steve Stricker. And, as a darkhorse you can think about 20-year-old Rory McIlroy. But I’m picking Goosen.

Have fun watching!

Oops ….. my apologies to Brian Boggs …. the assistant golf pro at Fountain Head Country Club.

In my Divots today in the Herald-Mail, I stated there was a contingent of four that would begin play Monday in the Maryland Open at Hillendale ….. It should have been FIVE.

Boggs had exempt status from last year’s Open playing 54 holes at Fountain Head.

Sorry Brian …. I simply missed and overlooked you in the pairings ……..

The LPGA invades Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, Pa., this week for the Women’s U.S. Open and it’s not without some potential internal problems that are starting to surface.

On Monday, Golfweek Magazine reported that such players as Paula Creamer, Lorena Ochoa, Christie Kerr, Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel were cited in a letter suggesting that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens should resign.

Golfweek was reporting players are not blaming the loss of tournaments on the economy, but on the leadership of Bivens.

The LPGA has lost several tournaments on its schedule in recent months, most recently the Kapalua Classic, although the LPGA is planning legal action to keep that tournament on the schedule as part of its four-year contract. The Tour has already lost the Corning Classic and the Michelob Ultra in Virginia might be the next on the chopping block.

And the current LPGA schedule is also a puzzler. After the U.S. Open the LPGA will NOT have another event played in the United States until the last week in August.

That, my golf friends, doesn’t make for popularity in women’s pro golf.

Dirk Schultz had a great start to the final round of the 42nd PGA Professional National Championship but in the end, it must have felt like the back nine on a sunday at the Masters.

Schultz had a pair of early birdies and only one bogey thru the front nine that left him at 2-under for the tournament. However, the wheels fell off on the back nine. schultz had bogeys on 11, 12, 13 and 15 and a double bogey on the 16th, followed with a birdie on the 17th. He finished the back nine with a 41 that knocked him out of the top 20.

He finished the day at 4-over-par 75 and 3-over-par 287 for the 72-hole tournament. Players were still on the course to determine the exact finish. He was 40th when he ended. He needed to finished in the top 20 for a berth in the PGA Championship in August.

Beaver Creek pro Dirk Schultz has teed off this morning in the third round of the PGA Pro National Championship in New Mexico.

Right now he is at level-par through the first 12 holes of his round today and remains at par for the tournament. He is playing the monster 7,500-yard Twin Warriors Club.

Today,  unlike the first two rounds, Schultz started with all pars. In the first two rounds he had been starting with two bogeys.  He has one bogey and one birdie so far thru 12 holes. Schultz really needs to get about 3 birdies along the way to move up the leaderboard.  He is 29th right now.

DIRK JUST BIRDIED THE 14TH AND 16TH HOLES TO GO TO 2-UNDER AND INTO 15TH PLACE.

TODAY’S FINAL — DIRK bogeyed the 17th hole and finished with a par to go 1-under 70 …. He stands at 1-under for the tournament and is currently in 20th place …. Half of the field is still out on the course so his official standing for the day is yet to be determined and his tee time for Wednesday.

He was also the only player from the PGA Mid-Atlantic region that made the cut on Monday.