Congrats to Oshawa Ontario native Jon Mills for a great year on the Nationwide tour, where he finished 4th on the money list and won his 2008 tour card by finishing in the top 25.

He finished the year with one victory, and pocketed a nifty $366K for the year.

It will be the second trip to the “big show” for Jon, who played the 2006 season, but finished a disappointing 227th on the money list.

He’s certainly proven that he has plenty of “pre Tour” talent and experience, finishing 5th on the Nationwide money list in 2005, and also winning the Canadian PGA championship that year, including a third round 63 in the victory.

Bob Weeks conversed with Jon recently Jon had this to say :

Mills said that despite his high finish, he wasn’t sure what events he’d get entry to at the start of next season. The early ones on the West Coast were probably OK, but Nissan and Phoenix might be tough. He said he’d look at the player who finished in the same position as a year ago and see what events he was in to gauge his schedule.As opposed to his first trip to the PGA Tour, he’s much more confident in his abilities, that was clear in listening to him. He’ll also have some experience with the courses and the set ups, which can be somewhat nastier than on the Nationwide. While he wouldn’t reveal his goals, he stated that they are higher than just finishing in the top 125.

“Have to aim high,” he said.

Of his 2007 season, he listed missing the cut at the U.S. Open as the most disappointing moment. Angel Cabrera sank a downhill 25-footer to send him home for the weekend which was tough to take, especially since Mills now lives not far from Oakmont.

“I had to go back there on Sunday to catch a shuttle for an event I was doing on Monday and to sit and watch all the players coming in off the course was tough,” he said.

The highlight, of course, was winning the Albertsons Boise Open.

“I’d had a bunch of good finishes up to that point but I was still right around 25 and that made it tough,” he said. “The win definitely made it easier to play.”

His plan for the off-season is to train and hit some balls at Kent State. He’ll be in Toronto in early December for the Special Olympics dinner. And he’ll head to the south to begin preparing for the new season not long after that.

Post from: Green Posse

The context was, of course, Mike Weir’s place among them in the ranks of the greatest Canadians ever to pick up a golf club.

Player wasn’t having any of the Moe Norman argument.

“Yes, he could hit a ball perfectly straight … on a practice range,” Player said of golf’s Rain Man, over breakfast at Club de Golf Le Fontainebleau in suburban Montreal. “But what did he win?”

I guess as far as Gary is concerned, it’s the P.G.A. tour or nothing when it comes to golf accomplishments.

Moe Norman’s Record:

International: America’s Cup Canadian Team Member

National:
1955 Canadian Amateur Champion
1956 Canadian Amateur Champion
1957 Runner-Up Low Canadian in the Canadian Open

Professional:
1964 CPGA Millar Trophy Champion
1965 Runner-Up Canadian Professional Golfers Championship

1966 Canadian Professional Golfers Champion
1974 Professional Golfers Champion
1980 – 1985 & 1987 Canadian Professional Golfers Association Seniors Championship

Provincial:
1958 Ontario Open Champion
1963 Saskatchewan Open Champion
1963 Ontario Open Champion
1965 Manitoba Open Champion
1966 Alberta Open Champion
1966 Manitoba Open Champion
1967 Manitoba Open Champion
1968 Saskatchewan Open Champion
1971 Alberta Open Champion
1976 Alberta Open Champion

At MoeNorman.com Lee Trevino seemed to be much more a fan than Player : “I don’t know of any player, ever, who could strike a golf ball like Moe Norman, as far as hitting it solid, knowing where it is going and knowing what he wants to do with the ball. Moe Norman is a genius when it comes to playing the game of golf.”

As apparently also is Tiger Woods :
“Only two players have ever truly owned their swings Moe Norman and Ben Hogan,” Woods said. “I want to own mine. That’s where the satisfaction comes from.”

VJ Singh was asked this question: Who’s the best golfer you’ve ever seen?”

Singh’s answer: “Moe Norman. I’ve hit balls with him lots of times. He was incredible. Whatever he said he could do, he could do. If you talk to Lee Trevino and the other greats of the game, they’ll tell you how good he was. He could talk it, and he could do it. God gives people little gifts, and Moe had a gift for golf.“

Post from: Green Posse

At the time, I thought he was the only Canadian to advance, but I see that 6 more Canadians actually advanced.

I guess I just missed seeing Lee Curry, Adam Speirs and Dustin Risdon but James Love (Calgary, AB) was listed as being from Denver CO, and Graham DeLaet(Weyburn, SK) from Boise, ID.

In addition to the list posted on the scoregolf site, 9 other Canadians, also advanced during the second week of the first stage.

So here are the results for all fifteen of the Canadians :

The scores were quite a bit higher at the Lantana TX site, where the famous Texas winds were apparently in force.

Ben Ferguson Ancaster, Ont.
Peter Laws,Mississauga, Ont. T7 -13

Kevin Fortin-Simard, Quebec City
Bryn Parry, North Vancouver, B.C.
Stuart Anderson, Strathmore, Alta.
Bryan DeCorso, Guelph, Ont.
Richard Scott, Kingsville, ON T15 -6
Chris Baryla,Calgary, Alb T7 -1
Brad Fritsch, Edmonton, Alta. T24 +4
Lee Curry, Kemptville, Ont. 18th, -6
Adam Speirs, Winnipeg, Man. T5 -3
Dustin Risdon, Strathmore, AB T14 +2
James Love, Calgary, Alta. T17 -2
Graham DeLaet, Boise, ID T5 -11
Danny King, Milton, Ont.T10 -4

Post from: Green Posse

Dave Schultz, Fargo, ND was medallist at -12 276.

Twenty six spots were awarded with even par being the number for the last players to advance.

Post from: Green Posse

The Leaders Bob Estes, and Tommy Armour don’t have too much to worry about, with Estes at #118 and Armour at #113, but Steve Lowery and Michael Sim, both currently tied for fourth on the leader board and #148 and #177 respectively on the money list, would both dearly love a high finish, if not the victory (of course).

There are around thirty players within ten strokes of the lead, with about half the field, yet to start their second round after rain postponed the completion of the secound round Friday.

Many of the players in the field this week are high on the money list,(with, as with golf scores, high being not a good thing), as is typical of the last few tournaments of the year, with most of the “marquee” players having packed their clubs away for the season.

In fact there are only eight of the top fifty and twenty two of the top hundred on the money list in the field this week which is great for those players who are trying to improve their position, but not so great for any casual golf fan who might think they’re going to see Tiger Woods play this weekend

Post from: Green Posse

Congratulations to Mike Weir for winning the Frys’ Electronics Open, after he shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Australia’s Mark Hensby.

It’s  great to see Mike back on his game, and hopefully his  success will continue in 2008.

It was Mike’s first victory since he won the 2004 Nissan Open.

He finished at 14-under 266 for his eighth PGA TOUR victory, which ties him with George Knudson for most PGA tour victories by a Canadian.

The victory was worth $900,000 and moves him to 33rd on the 2007 PGA tour money list.

Carl Pettersson, who led after three rounds, and Sean O’Hair tied for fourth at
9 under. Pettersson shot a 74, and O’Hair had a 69.

Post from: Green Posse

The question was posed :

“What is the etiquette on relieving yourself on the course when playing in a
mixed foursome? With people you know, its obviously no problem. But today,
playing as a single, I was hooked up with a married couple and the situation
arose. I managed to hold out for a porta-potty this time, but what if next time I’m not so lucky?”

The variety of responses ranged from the (obvious) recommendations of “be as discreet as possible” to other opinions that were not quite as tolerant :

“FYI… if I see someone in my group heading the bushes; I’ll call the pro shop and tell them directly .. I didn’t come out on a beautiful golf course to watch some unsocialized bozo peeing the trees..

At my last club, we instituted a very serious fine, and a three strike rules.
First time a $1000 fine, next time 3 month suspension from the club, dues still required; third time ejected from the club permanently.”

Which prompted this response :

“Mind you this was an exclusive club”

That’s right, you have to be a particular variety of anal retentive, uptight jerk to become a member, apparently.

Now since, the original question was posted in the “instuctional” tips forum, rather than the “rules of golf” forum, I would have offered this instructional advice :

• Locate the nearest large tree or group of bushes.

• While maintaining a line between your ball and the tree, walk casually towards the tree, ensuring that you are not distracting any player who may be playing their shot.

• Keeping the tree between you and the other golfers, turn 180 degrees away from the other golfers

• Take note of the wind condtions before commencing the err. “act” (especially if you are wearing light colored pants, as any wind-induced “drift” will be much more obvious than if you were wearing dark pants.

• If the trees / woods/ bushes are not completely isolated, i.e. houses in near proximity to the course, then you have more of a challenge. In this case, your “stance” needs to be arranged in such a manner as to take advantage of whatever camouflage is available. This might require you to alter your stance from a traditional “stand up” method to a squatting position.

• If you are on a course where there are no nearby trees / bushes, etc, then the challenge becomes much greater, to say the least, though I can’t recall ever being in such a situation.

Post from: Green Posse

As I wrote in my comment on Mike’s site :

The “lack of improvement statistic” story, seems to have been around forever, and while it may in fact be true, there’s a saying about statistics can be interpreted any way you want, or some such variation.

IMO, the statistic would be more meaningful if it was applied to only those golfers who were actually TRYING to improve their games. “

From working at a private club, and also from just playing at public courses, and frequenting driving ranges, my observation is that only a small percentage of golfers vastly improve their games.

They are the “keeners”, and are probably the type of people who improve at any other activity they attempt as well. They seek out the correct information (instruction),then practice efficiently at whatever area of their game requires the most attention.

Then there are other golfers, who never learn the correct fundamentals, and groove a sometimes very unorthodox “swing”, with various degrees of success. Generally their results are inversely proportional to the amount their swing motion varies from the basic fundamentals.

Along with some basic talent (“hand/eye coordination”),that I believe almost everyone possesses to a degree, and some good basic instruction, after that, the amount of time a golfer dedicates to their improvement is going to be the biggest factor.

It’s the extremely rare golfer who never practices, plays once a week, and can break80, or even 90 regularly.

Post from: Green Posse

That phrase was uttered to me many years ago, by the head pro at the club I was working at.

Even though the club was private, they did have a limited number of “outside/company” tournaments each year, to generate revenue.

I was working in the pro-shop during one of those tournaments, when one of the players walked into the shop to check in and he requested a golf cart.

I asked him if he had reserved a cart beforehand, and he replied no. Well carts in a company tournament get reserved faster than … (insert your favorite metaphor here), so I politely informed him that all the carts had been reserved, and I would put him on the waiting list in case one became available.

His reaction was to start yelling at me, all kinds of things that I don’t remember now, but I still remember one thing he said as he stormed off to the locker room, “You couldn’t make office boy at my company”. I guess it was inconcievable for him not to get his own way in any situation, and he had reacted like any other two year old kid would.

I wandered outside and found my boss and related to him what had happened, and he said, “Yup, Mike, everyone’s a nice guy until they have a problem”.

I replied, “..and he said that I couldn’t make office boy at his company”.

Wouldn’t you know it, that just as was uttering the last syllable of those words, that Mr. Can’tGetACart,  walks around the corner, just in time to hear me repeat his words.

If I recall, he didn’t say anything, just gave me a “look”, and as he walked away, I said “That’s they guy”.

I wonder if he was ever able to find more “office boys” for his company.

Post from: Green Posse

The 32 year old 2007 Q-school medalist, fired a solid final round 67, with only one bogey, that coming on the last hole which he was playing with a 5 stroke lead.

Mike Weir finished tied for tenth after a final round 2 under 70, a round that included 5 birdies, but unfortunately also 3 bogeys.  While Mike was undoubtedly not pleased with the bogeys, he probably was not nearly as annoyed as Kent Jones who also tied for 10th place after making a triple bogey 8 on the par 5 16th hole.

For his victory, McNiel earns $720,000 and a two year exemption.

“I was trying not to think about all that stuff when I was out there playing,” McNeill said. “I don’t get too emotional.  I’m having fun with this. It hasn’t sunk in. … In a sense, I know I have a job for the next two years and it takes the pressure off.”

Post from: Green Posse