Massachusetts Open! Shaping up to be a great one!

The Mass Open is, once again, shaping up to be a great and exciting tournament! It is being held at Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg, MA. The final round is scheduled for today.

In round one, the scoring was very low. George Zolotas, from Peobody, MA, led the field with a very solid 66. There were several others close to the lead including Michael Welch from Furnace Brook CC, and Adam Rainaud from South Hadley, with a 67.

Day two, proved to be the same. Scoring was fairly low again, as people tried to improve their position on the leader board in preparation for the final round. Welch, continued his solid play and shot a 69. He is now tied for the lead going into the last day with Kyle Gallo and amateur Brian Higgins.

Higgins is trying to become the first amateur since 1999 to win the Mass Open.

Some notable winners of the Open include Walter Hagan, Francis Ouimet, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Bob Toski as well as famed course designer, Donald Ross.

It should be exciting to watch today. If you can't get out to see it, you can follow the tournament coverage here MGA Links

Hope everyone has a great day!

Chris

2011 Heath Open - A great family event for a great cause!

Every year in June, my good friend's family holds their annual golf tournament at Beaver Brook Golf Course in Haydenville, MA. The Heath Open, always has a great turn out, awesome raffle gifts and the money always benefits a wonderful cause. This year was no exception. 

Unfortunately, my friend Jonathan lost both his grandparents this past year due to Cancer. They were the heart and soul of the Heath crew. I only had the chance to meet them a few times, but I remember them being very special people who played all sorts of roles in the family from doctors and therapists, to teachers and protectors. This made this year's tournament that much more important. 

The tournament went off without a hitch and all the proceeds were donated to the American Cancer Society. Please do your part and make a donation or any contribution you can to the cause. There are almost 1.6 million cancer cases in the United States alone. With the technology we have now, it can be detected earlier and hopefully prevented. 

Get involved! Do your part to fight Cancer!

Chris

 

Travelers Championship - Course Caddy's Picks

Hey guys! Another week of great golf is upon us. This week the tour travels to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. Here are my picks for the week...


1) Hunter Mahan. Hunter has consistently been in the top five at TPC River Highlands. He missed the cut last year and struggled at the US Open, but look for him to turn things around this week!


2) Padraig Harrington. He played pretty solid last year. His experience and his solid swing should help him go low in Connecticut. 


3) Nick Watney and/or Bill Haas. Haas is kind of a long shot it seems, but I feel like he is always lurking around the top of the leaderboard at events like this. Watney is just an all around great player who has been in pressure situations before and has no fear. If I wasn't going with Mahan to win this week, I would put my money on Watney. 


Let's not forget about Bubba Watson. He won this event last year is geared up and ready to defend his title. Hope he does. 


Enjoy the tournament!


Chris

Robert Garrigus, a great story from the US Open!

The big story in golf over the weekend was Rory McIlroy winning his first major championship. He made Congressional look a pitch-and-putt course. It was great for both the game of golf, and for his own personal game. Who knows what kind of fire this will spark inside Rory? It will be fun to watch that's for sure!

Not to take away from Rory's historic win, but watching Robert Garrigus make some clutch shots and some key putts was another great part of the 2011 US Open. For those of you who don't know, Garrigus has battled many personal demons in the past on his way to the PGA Tour including drug and alcohol abuse. When Robert made that birdie putt on the last hole on Sunday, the emotions that poured out of him were something special. If you watch, you can almost see the weight lifted off his shoulders. He fist pumped that putt and had a huge smile on his face. He thanked the crowd. He thanked his playing partners. He was genuinely happy to playing. This is what golf is all about. This is why the fans show up. This is why Robert Garrigus will soon be a household name, and grown men all around the world will be cutting their putters down to 28 inches. 

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend! Love you dad!

Chris

The First Tee and Junior Golf....

Course Caddy is a big supporter of The First Tee program and Junior Golf in general. The kids are the future of our sport. They will soon be our new members, club champions, and even future golf professionals.

The First Tee program's mission is as follows - "To impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf"

The core of the program is Honesty, Integrity, and Sportsmanship. These are very important values to instill in our children.

Please do your part in supporting The First Tee. Participate, donate, and volunteer! It means the world to the kids and will make a difference in our own lives as well!

Enjoy the weekend watching the US Open!

Chris

Rory McIlroy deserves an apology....

I have to start by apologizing to Rory McIlroy. I made my picks, for fun of course, for my top five players to win the US Open this week. I studied the players, their stats, their Open history, and even their personal backgrounds. I did not however, include Rory McIlroy in my picks. I did not do it intentionally. I simply bypassed this great player. It may have been because of his historic collapse at The Masters, or his recent absence from the news, but for whatever reason, my brain completely skipped over Rory.

This is not fair to him. He deserves more than that. We have all been in a situation where we have been playing great and then the wheels fall off. It happens. It's part of the game. 

Rory McIlroy is a great player, and to see him bounce back from his Augusta performance and shoot an opening 65 at The US Open, was fantastic for both the game of golf, and for Rory's own personal game. 

I hope he continues his great play, and I wouldn't argue if he absolutely ran away with the golf tournament. It would be good for the game!

Enjoy the second round today!

Chris

Things are heating up at the US Open! Should be exciting!

All of the players are now on the grounds at Congressional. The pairing are all set. Mike Davis, the Executive Director of the USGA, is out on the course, making it as challenging as ever. How can it get any better?

Are there any predictions out there as to who will win? I think that Luke Donald will have a solid week. He always seems to be in the top ten, no matter what tournament he is playing in.

I'm curious to see how the big hitters will do this week. Distance is a key at Congressional, but accuracy is a key in any US Open. Do you guys think that any of the big bombers, like Bubba Watson or Dustin Johnson will win this week?

You guys know how much I love watching Bubba play, he makes the tournaments fun. I hope he does well. Dustin Johnson's former Coastal Carolina teammate Zack Byrd is in the field this week and having a good friend like that around him, may help to ease the nerves a bit and take Dustin to the top!

I can't wait for Thursday and the first round! Should be exciting!

Chris

Tiger's longtime friend and caddie, Steve Williams, will be on the bag for Adam Scott at the US OPEN

While Tiger is out with injuries, Steve Williams will caddie for Adam Scott at this year's US Open Championship. I can't blame him. He has to keep busy as well. Adam Scott and Tiger have a lot of similarities. This should be a very easy transition for Williams.

Already, the critics are starting to talk about how "Tiger and Stevie are splitting up" or that they are getting a "divorce." I don't think this is fair to either one of them.  I'm almost sure the two of them have discussed this in full, and have both come to the conclusion that this is a good thing for Steve. It will keep him sharp and focused on the game of golf, while at the same time helping out another top ranked golfer.

Adam Scott has always had the talent to win a US Open and maybe this year with Williams on the bag, he will do just that. How can you not cheer the two of them on?

Should be an exciting championship!

Chris

GOLF TIP: "In the bucket drill" By Justin Bush, PGA

Here is a great drill to practice your lag or long putting. Too often, people leave their long putts too far out of range, making it very difficult to two-putt. Try this tip, it will improve your lag putting almost instantly!


"In The Bucket Drill"
By Justin Bush, PGA


Are you three putting greens because of poor lag putts? If so, I have the perfect drill to improve your pace on long putts and get a better understanding of the speed of the greens. To begin, set up a semi-circle of tees one club length behind a hole. This forms the "bucket." Place ten golf balls twenty feet away so you will be putting into the bucket of tees. Try to get each putt past the hole but not past the tees. Reset and redo the drill when it is completed. Be sure to practice this drill on uphill and downhill putts. With some practice, you will be well on your way to reducing your three-putt greens. 


Hope everyone gets a chance to get out and play this weekend!


Chris

Tiger Woods announces he will NOT play in the US Open Championship!

Tiger Woods has announced that he will not participate in this year's US Open Championship at Congressional. He has cited injuries as the reason. This will be the first year since the 1995 Open that he has not played. 


In 2008, he ruptured his Achilles Tendon and endured a stress fracture to his tibia. He continued to play in that year's tournament, being told that the injuries would not make his leg worse. One has to believe that the damage he did over those five days in June, have taken a toll on his body permanently.


He still claims that this is a "short term frustration for long-term gain," according to his Twitter post today. 


We will have to wait and see what plays out for the former number one player in the world. For now, we will just have to watch it without him. People can say what they want about Tiger, but he makes our sport more exciting to watch and he attracts people to the game who may not have been attracted to it in the past. He will be missed by this writer, but this will only fuel the fire for the anti-tiger people out there!


The US Open is still on tap to be one of the best golf events of the season. Spend Father's Day weekend watching some great golf action!


Chris

US Open Sectionals - Follow up on who is advancing!

Here is a link to Golf Week's update on the US Open Sectional qualifying. Follow your favorite players or keep up on who is making it into the Open! 

US Open Sectionals - Live Updates And Results

Chris

Steve Stricker...Can he hold off the field at The Memorial!?

Steve Stricker holds a three shot lead going into the final round of The Memorial. Can he hold the rest of the field off? I think he can. Unlike some of the younger guys, Stricker has much more experience being in this situation and his game really favors the extreme pressure. 


I feel like Rory McIlroy could make a charge, but he is five shots off the lead. This may be too much of a gap, unless Stricker were to drop a few shots from the start. 


We can not forget about Jonathan Byrd, who is one of the most consistent players on tour. He is only three shots back. He could sneak up to the top rather quickly.


The Memorial is being held again at Muirfield Village Golf Club, in Dublin, Ohio. Murifield is a Nicklaus design that constantly ranks among the nation's top courses. 


It should be an exciting final round. Enjoy!


Chris

Good time this past Wednesday with Glenn Wong and his son....

On Wednesday of this past week, I was presented with the opportunity to play with one of the most influential people in sports education, Glenn Wong and his son, Glenn Jr. A close friend of mine, Al Wolejko had mentioned that they were interested in geting together, and I jumped at the chance. They are two of the nicest people I have ever played with. We talked a little about the business of sports, but for the most part, I think they were able to forget about work and their busy schedules and focus on playing our great golf course.

I have only met Glenn a few other times, but I am confident that I could run any business ideas or questions by him and recieve an honest answer in return.

I have an appreciation for people like Glenn and his son, and they inspire me to work hard and stay focused and never let people tell me I can't do something!

Thank you guys! Better work on those golf games before New Seabury, because we're coming for you again!

Chris