The Official Golf Thread

[heganboy]

Gmac says the only golf book he's read and will read while he's playing is rotella's "golf is not a game of perfect"

[Puckoon]

http://www.golfwrx.com/53307/usga-ra-propose-anchor-ban/

Jan 1 2016 will see the end of the belly putting. The clubs are not going to be banned, but any anchoring will be.

[Applesisapples]

I asked a while back about electric trollies. Can anyone recommend which would be best especially second hand?

[sans pessimism]

I asked a while back about electric trollies. Can anyone recommend which would be best especially second hand?

Mine-an' I'll throw in the clubs for nathin!

[laoislad]

I asked a while back about electric trollies. Can anyone recommend which would be best especially second hand?

I bought my Da a Mocad electric cart for christmas about 5years ago and its still going strong. He probably uses it twice a week.
Probably not the Rolls Royce of trollies but as I said its still working well for him.
Think it cost about €300 in Woodies DIY.

[Applesisapples]

I asked a while back about electric trollies. Can anyone recommend which would be best especially second hand?

I bought my Da a Mocad electric cart for christmas about 5years ago and its still going strong. He probably uses it twice a week.
Probably not the Rolls Royce of trollies but as I said its still working well for him.
Think it cost about €300 in Woodies DIY.

Thanks

[Puckoon]

Are you getting on in years apples?

[Applesisapples]

Are you getting on in years apples?

Definitely!

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Paul McGinley will captain Europe's Ryder Cup team in 2014

[laoislad]

Excellent news.Delighted for him.
I was sure Monty would worm his way back in again.

[sans pessimism]

The R&A almost got their wish-Anti Irish shower a pricks

[Minder]

I don't think Clarke was as popular as he thought.

[heganboy]

Clarke withdrew his name to get a clear shot at the one in Hazeltine next go around in 2016

[Minder]

Clarke withdrew his name to get a clear shot at the one in Hazeltine next go around in 2016

I read an article in Sunday Times at weekend and he had apparently started canvassing straight after Medinah and it allegedly pissed quite a lot of people off, I will see if I can post it. Didn't paint a very flattering picture of him. He saw the writing on the wall and withdrew according to that article.

EDIT - See below

McGinley takes the high road

Sunday Times 13 January 2013

Nick Pitt

Paul takes the high road

The quiet man will be asked to lead Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup after Darren Clarke ruled himself out of the running

McGinley will be asked to succeed Olazabal as Europe's Ryder Cup captain (Stuart Franklin)
DARREN CLARKE, who was once favourite to be appointed captain of Europe's Ryder Cup team for the 2014 match at Gleneagles, has essentially ruled himself out of the position. When the 15-man tournament committee of the European Tour meets in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to choose the captain, Clarke, who is a member of the committee, will announce he is not standing as a candidate.

"As much as I would dearly love to be captain, this may not be my time," Clarke said in Durban, South Africa, where he is playing in the Volvo Golf Champions event. "To be honest, it is something I have given a great deal of thought to because when I was initially mentioned I wasn't playing very well. It's a tough one for me but to be honest I want to play golf."

Clarke's supporters, who mounted a campaign promoting his candidature, will no doubt accept his explanation that he would prefer to concentrate on his own game. "I won one of the biggest prizes in golf, The Open, and I am exempt for three years from qualifying for tournaments in the United States," Clarke said. "If I was given the opportunity to do the captaincy I'd be throwing two of those years away." Those of a less charitable disposition may conclude that Clarke realised he was likely to lose out to his principal rival, Paul McGinley.

Clarke also appears to have ruled out the compromise solution in which McGinley would serve in 2014 and Clarke in 2016, when the match will be held at Hazeltine, Minnesota. "The committee will only be talking about this captaincy," he said. "I think it will be purely Gleneagles." Allotting the likely allegiances and votes of the committee is guesswork, but it appears that Clarke's position has been weakened by the election of two new members of the committee, Peter Lawrie and Francesco Molinari, who are both believed to support McGinley. Molinari's views could be especially important because he is the only committee member who played in last year's match at Medinah.

In any case, the Clarke campaign, which many in the game thought unseemly, has backfired. The hangovers from the last match at Medinah had hardly settled when the politicking began. At the outset, McGinley seemed best placed. He served with distinction as vice-captain to Montgomerie at Celtic Manor and Jose Maria Olazabal at Medinah.

He also twice captained Great Britain & Ireland to victory in the Seve Trophy. His meticulous and clear-thinking captaincy style was admired, particularly by his team members. As a player, he holed the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002 and played on three winning teams. He is noted for straightforwardness and high intelligence.

But long before Christmas, a rumour began to swirl that Clarke had been approached by a leading European Tour figure and virtually offered the job. Europe's top players began to be asked their opinions of Clarke as their next captain. Most enthusiastic was Lee Westwood, who is Clarke's close friend and a fellow client of the ISM management company run by Andrew "Chubby" Chandler. "If I were asked, it would be Darren," Westwood said.

Westwood's opinions carried weight but they were more than counter-balanced by support for McGinley from Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald, the top two players in the world rankings. The swelling acclamation Clarke's supporters hoped for did not materialise. With his bluff, larger-than-life persona, Clarke is a hugely popular public figure, but he is capable of high-handedness and harbouring grudges. He has a "black book" containing names of those be believes have slighted him and he is not universally popular among rank-and-file players and caddies.

It was also pointed out that Clarke's past criticism of the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, on which the 2014 match will be played, had not gone down well in Scotland. "It's unbelievable they chose to stage the 2014 Ryder Cup on this course," Clarke said during the Johnnie Walker championship in 2007.

The waters were further muddied after the Americans announced that their captain would be Tom Watson, the eight-time major winner and the last American captain to win on European soil. That was seen as a grand declaration, as if General Patton was being sent over to sort out matters, and some more excitable parties in the European camp, Clarke among them, urged a response in kind. "Whoever is standing on that stage opposite Tom Watson needs a huge presence," Clarke said.

That was clearly designed to undermine McGinley, but Clarke was careful not to be seen to be crudely promoting himself, suggesting that perhaps the recent European practice of selecting a new captain for each match should be altered. He hinted that the best man for the job might be Colin Montgomerie, Europe's captain at Celtic Manor in 2010.

It was a curve ball, and one Montgomerie could be relied upon to catch and run with. "I've always said we need the best man for the job, whoever that is," the Scot said last week. "I've never canvassed, as I didn't last time. But I've always thought if I was asked I would do it and that's still the case." Montgomerie was endorsing the view that a big beast is required, that charisma and inspiration should prevail over intellect and a studied approach to captaincy. But the alternative view is just as persuasive: Europe's finest captain in modern times was surely the cerebral and ultra-organised Bernhard Langer.

Throughout this banging of drums and parading of egos, McGinley has kept a dignified silence, which has done his cause no harm. The quiet man should win.

[Puckoon]

http://www.golfwrx.com/67969/oh-deer-singh-withdraws-in-phoenix/

Contemplated putting this in the WTF thread...

Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Waste Management Phoenix Open, one day after admitting to the use of deer antler spray, which contains a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping policy.

Deer antler spray contains the chemical IGF-1, a natural anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle growth.


"While I have used deer antler spray, at no time was I aware that it may contain a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy," Singh said in a statement Wednesday. "In fact, when I first received the product, I reviewed the list of ingredients and did not see any prohibited substances. I am absolutely shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry that I have put myself in this position."

Singh was recently named in a Sports Illustrated report about a sports supplement company, Sports With Alternatives to Steroids, in which the company claims to have provided products for athletes including Singh and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. According to the story, Singh paid $9,000 for the deer antler spray and other products in November.

In the SI interview, Singh said he "used the spray every couple hours ... every day."

Singh said that he has been in contact with the Tour about the matter and is fully cooperating. Tour Vice President Ty Votaw said the Tour is currently looking into the matter.