NC Golf Panel Releases Best 100 Courses in North Carolina posted by Golf Fan

This week the North Carolina Golf Panel released their list with the Best 100 Golf Courses in North Carolina and it is not shocking that prestigious courses including the No.two course at Pinehurst Resort NC and the course at Grandfather Mountain Golf and Nation Club created the top rated spots. The list, which considers NC Golf Courses that are public, private, or resort for the Leading 100 list is published each year in the April issue of Business enterprise North Carolina. The North Carolina Golf Panel was designed in 1995 to rate and report on the state’s finest courses. Panelists that were asked to contribute score every course employing these deciding aspects: routing, style, conditioning, strategy, memorability, fairness, selection and aesthetics. We agree with all the folks at the NC Golf Panel. North Carolina is the greatest state within the country to appreciate golf! Here are some highlights from the list.

Just as final year, Pinehurst No. 2 remained as the #1, top rated position. Just as we’ve reported, the Pinehurst No. two Course not too long ago re-opened last month right after it was extensively restored. Not surprisingly, this course somehow has generally been listed as the top rated position because the list initial began. Other highlights to note are the Charlotte Country Club moved as much as the #6 position plus the Elk River Club in Banner Elk jumped two positions to 7th. Greensboro’s Farm Course at the Greensboro Nation Club produced an look on the best 100 list after receiving renovations this past year.

See the web site for the NC Golf Panel for the total list, for a regional best ten breakdown, and to see the list of holes that would make up their “Dream 18”. If you're planning on golfing in the Carolinas you should check out this list.

Tiger's swing coach opens up in a new book posted by Golf Fan

Tiger Woods' quest to break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 big championships weighed heavily on the former world No. 1 golfer, his former swing coach, Hank Haney, said in a book excerpt released Tuesday.

"There was a lot more urgency and much less entertaining. ... He never mentioned Nicklaus' record, but it began to weigh additional heavily at just about every significant," Hank Haney wrote in "The Significant Miss," his book about his time coaching Woods. "And Tiger's actions indicated he believed he had less time to do it than every person thought."

Inside the excerpt, Haney detailed Woods' extreme workouts and how they intersected with his fascination with the military.

"Tiger did two tandem parachute jumps, engaged in hand-to-hand combat exercises, went on four-mile runs wearing combat boots, and did drills in a wind tunnel," Haney wrote about 4 days Woods spent in special-ops coaching at Fort Bragg, N.C. "Tiger loved it, but his physical therapist, Keith Kleven, went a bit crazy worrying about the additional damage Tiger could be carrying out to his left knee.

"One morning I was within the kitchen when he came back from a extended run around [his Orlando-area dwelling at] Isleworth, and I noticed he was wearing Army boots. Tiger admitted that he'd worn the heavy shoes just before on precisely the same route. 'I beat my best time,' he mentioned."

Woods grew up inside a military family. His father, Earl Woods, was a Green Beret. According to Haney, Woods was seriously thinking about becoming a Navy SEAL, one of the military's most physically and mentally demanding units.

Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods and Billy Payne Are Not "Role Model(s)" posted by Colin Linneweber

Legendary basketball superstar Charles Barkley justifiably criticized the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club this week for negative comments he made about Tiger Woods and his serial philandering immediately prior to The Masters Tournament. 

“It is simply not the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here,” said Billy Payne, who replaced Hootie Johnson as Augusta’s presiding officer in 2006. “It is the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and grandkids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children.” 

Payne continued when a reporter asked him if Woods could potentially redeem himself. 

“Is there a way forward? I hope yes. I think yes. But certainly, his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change. I hope he realizes that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing but would settle for his smile.” 

Barkley is close friends with Woods and he harshly chastised Payne for his remarks. 

“I don’t know who the hell he thinks he is,” said Barkley, 47, an 11-time NBA All-Star selection. “That’s Tiger Woods personal life. That has nothing to do with golf.” 

After Barkley verbally pimp-slapped Payne, he stated that you’d have to have your “head in the sand” if you don’t think Woods is judged differently than other golfers because he is black. 

Lion's Paw Was A Roaring Good Time posted by Andy Johnson

This past summer I spent some time in Myrtle Beach and tried to tame the Lion's Paw golf course, with little to no success :-)  My buddy and I enjoyed the course very much.  It was a challenging course for us because we are beginners, but we enjoyed the nice landscape and beautiful views along the course.  We can't wait to come back next year with a little more golf experience under our belts.  If you're in the area and haven't given it a try, I definitely recommend it!  

Tiger Woods' Tiresome Tantrums posted by The Gripester

Some guy blogged about how Tiger Wood’s is a role model off the course, but he doesn’t have to be one on the course. Well, Tiger’s off course on the course. His actions are that of an ass. He owns the golf world, but acts like a spoiled kid on goofy golf course. I’m sick of it, and of him. Tiger’s not content with being the best at his sport. He wants to rule it with a nastiness that golf has always been averse to. His tantrums, and cursing, and throwing clubs, and berating the photographers and fans that cause his huge income, has gotten ridiculous. What is the message he is trying to send? He wants what the contact sports have. He wants to humiliate while he dominates.How else can one explain his recent insults of Ernie Els’ rehab practices? Now, he’s talking trash. What’s next, walking down the fairway shooting barbs like a basketball player running his mouth down the court?Basketball is physical and verbal. Football is physical and verbal. Hockey is physical and more physical. Baseball is the calm of the big four, though it has its moments. Golf is not the platform for his theatrics. From organizers, to players, to fans, and family, golf is a solo sport, mostly played in the mind. One’s own mind. Being upset with your play should be kept in your head, or taken out to the practice tees. We don’t pay to see Tiger heave clubs into the weeds or F-Bomb our kids, or threaContinue reading "Tiger Woods' Tiresome Tantrums"

Funny non-sport related videos!!!!! posted by Devin

I know these 3 clips have nothing to do with sports, but I thought that it would be entertaining because all you need to do is laugh sometimes.  I will probably post 3 videos every so often so stay tuned, I guess:

THEY GET BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT GETS EVEN BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STAY TUNED, THERE ARE MORE LAUGHS TO COME!!!!!!!!!

Devin

The year of the disappointing winner: Heath Slocum wins the Barclays over Tiger Woods posted by George Singeltary

After last week's Barclays, an analyst said something along the lines of "another week, another surprise winner in this year of the underdog."  What I would have said, and what he probably wanted to say, was: "another week, another random guy wins a big PGA Tour event in this year of the disappointing finish."  For the 3rd week in a row (and what seems like the millionth time this year) a little-known player won a big tournament (PGA=Yang, Wyndham=Ryan Moore, Barclays=Heath Slocum).  But does anyone really think these guys will be consistent winners?  Let's take Y.E. Yang for instance.  Yang took down Tiger at the PGA this summer.  He didn't just edge Tiger out, he beat him soundly.  Only minutes after winning the tournament Yang was already saying that he didn't want a rematch! 

I'm predicting that Yang will be just another example of the continuing trend on the PGA Tour: a guy wins, he looks impressive, then fades off into oblivion.  Adam Scott made it all the way to #3 in the world then totally fell off the map.  What about Sergio?  Last year about this time you were hearing: He won The Players! He learned how to putt and he's the #2 in the world he's going to take down Tiger!  Finally!  Next thing you know Sergio is steadily falling down the rankings and missing putts.  I for one am sick of the underdog story.  I'm still holding out hope that Tiger's Watson or Trevino will come along and challenge him just like those guys challenged Jack.

There was so much potential in the majors this year.  At the Masters you had Tiger, Phil, and Perry making a run down the stretch.  Guess who wins: Angel Cabrera!  Cabrera is the wildest one of them all!  He has won two huge tournaments: The U.S. Open and the Masters.  You never hear the guy's name at any other tournament!  Then the U.S. Open.  David Duval, the ex-#1 player who has fallen off the planet (again proving my point about players falling off) is so close to winning but comes up short.  Or you have Phil playing for Amy who is sick with breast cancer.  Who wins?  Lucas Glover.  Then comes the British.  You have potentially the biggest sports story of all time: "Tom Watson, winner of the British Open at age 59!"  He would finally get the credit he deserves!  But it wasn't to be.  Stewart Cink, the party pooper of the year gets the win.  Finally, the PGA comes around.  Tiger has the 54-hole lead and everyone is thinking: "finally we will have a big name guy win! Tiger will get his 15th major and everything will be right in the world.  Y.E. Yang wins the freaking tournament! 

Rest Easy, Jack; Top 5 Reasons Tiger Is Done posted by Greg Archuleta

Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major golf tournament victories is safe. Eldrick Woods will not catch him.

There, I said it. I was going to say it after he missed the cut at the British Open. Y.E. Yang's takedown of Eldrick at the PGA Championship on Sunday (The Win and the Yang? Choking Tiger, Hidden Dragon?) leaves no doubt in my mind.

Eldrick is finished.

At least as far as the all-time majors winner is concerned. Notice how I call him, "Eldrick?" That's because he's no longer the Tiger Woods that stormed to 14 majors by the age of 32.

Here are the top five reasons why "Eldrick" has replaced "Tiger" and will fall short of the still-Golden Bear.

No. 5: Fatherhood. Knowing Eldrick as well as I do ...  ... just waiting for the laughter ...I get the impression he's not a bad guy. He's never been accused of shooting himself in the leg at a club, making it rain at a strip club, taking female hormones, mistreating animals of any kind, doing anything improper in restaurants with patrons or in hotel rooms with hotel personnel. All he's done is curse ... and perhaps pass gas.

That means he's probably into being a dad. When that happens, your priorities change. You just don't spend as much time doing what you did before. You just want to be with your child. Therefore, he's probably just not spending as much time on the golf course. Doesn't make him a bad guy, either.

No. 4: His physical advantage is gone. Once upon a time, Tiger set the standard in physical conditioning for a golfer.

Nowadays, the majority of golfers spend a lot of time in the gym. How many Craig Stadlers and John Dalys are out on the tour. Take a look at the British Open and 59-year-old Tom Watson. He's a workout fiend. Everybody's doing it. The 37-year-old Yang took up golf at age 19. The guy matched Woods on the lenghts of his drives all afternoon.

Street Ballin' posted by Chris Strickland

Being a baller, I tend to play basketball a lot. The other day I was balling, and some other ballers challenged me and my baller bros to a game of full-court. FULL COURT. I suck at full court.

I can't dribble, so full-court makes me look like an even shitter dribbler. One of my favorite dribbling techniques is to get a rebound, then take a few steps and crouch down, protecting the ball. I'll try to pass it to a teammate, then it'll get stolen. That's how I work.

One of the things I've noticed about street-balling is that there are two kinds of defense: physical and voice. "Physical D" is obvious: that's you actually playing defense. "Voice D" is when you're too tired to get to the basket, so you scream something random at your man when he's trying to score.

(Guy drives to the basket, and defender just watches)

"I'll burn your church!"

"Nigga, I'm agnostic. But that's still fucked up."

By the time he's said agnostic, I've already stolen the ball. That's an example of "Voice Defense."

I like playing two-on-two, I think it's good having a teammate and working together. One thing I don't like is when your teammate creates a play, then dishes it out to you to hit an open shot. And after he does that, he screams "HIT THAT!" Dude, obviously. Thanks for taking the time to remind me of what I'm supposed to be doing, and on top of that, adding the pressure of "you better make this." That's like Tiger Woods' caddy screaming "MAKE IT!" right when he's about to sink a putt. Tiger would be like, "Okay, fuck you.....anyone else know how to caddy?"

With All Due Respect, Tiger, Federer Is Da Proverbial 'Man' posted by Greg Archuleta

Tiger Woods is the biggest icon in the sports world today.

No athlete has transcended his sport the way the man with the most famous fist pump ever has transcended the game of golf. Countless fans tune in to golf tournaments only to check Tiger's progress. His popularity has made several other golfers rich because of his appeal as a marketing instrument.

Sure, soccer start Cristiano Ronaldo can attract a crowd of 80,000 to Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu for his introduction as a member of Real Madrid, but no casual soccer fans (is there such a thing?) tune in just to watch Ronaldo or any other soccer player.

Kobe Bryant?  LeBron James? Though Kobe apparently is doing quite well as Yao Ming's replacement in China, he's about five more consecutive titles away from erasing his tarnished 2004.

The King? Not so regal these days. First, he disses the Orlando Magic after they bounced his Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Then he has a videotape confiscasted of Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford two-hand dunking on The Posterized One during a pickup basketball game earlier this week.

Manny Ramirez? Maybe for the first five innings, but ... no. Tom Brady? Not even with his super-model love life.

Only Jack Nicklaus' 18 Grand Slam titles is, for now, preventing Tiger from dominating the conversation as the all-time greatest golfer. Yet, for all Tiger's accomplishments, 68 titles, 14 majors at age 33, he's simply not the greatest athlete of his generation.

That honor belongs to Roger Federer.

American tennis fans, (all six of us) probably are asking, "Who?"

The Juice: Mike Trout homers, Angels get 12 hits, coach Mickey Hatcher gets fired (Big Leagu

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights. Hit the bricks: The Los Angeles Angels made batting coach Mickey Hatcher the scapegoat for one of the worst offenses in the major leagues by firing him Tuesday night.The team announced the switch to minor-league coach Jim Eppard about 90 minutes after a 4-0 victory against the Athletics . In a near-irony, Los Angeles produced 12 hits, including three from Albert Pujols for the first time in a month, in Hatcher's final game as coach after 12-plus seasons. Though comments about Pujols being behind the change might sound funny and even plausible given the disagreement he had with Hatcher earlier in the season, the change comes from owner Arte Moreno and GM Jerry Dipoto. Sometimes, the boss said, change is necessary when a team is next-to-last in runs scored in the AL: "Sometimes in the sports world a point is reached where perhaps a new voice is needed in order to attain the desired goals and objectives," Dipoto said in a statement. "Unfortunately we feel this is one of those times. Offensively we have underachieved and everyone shares in the responsibility of what has transpired thus far." Hatcher just gets a bigger share than everyone else. Upstream: Rookie outfielder Mike Trout hit his third homer (see above video) and had his sixth multi-hit game of the season. So he obviously wasn't tainted by Hatcher's influence. Neither was slugger Mark Trumbo, who spoke respectfully of his former instructor on Twitter . In the pitching universe, the Angels got nine strikeouts from Ervin Santana, who must have keeled over at all of that run support. It was the Mariners, but...: Josh Beckett says "Take that," you fried-chicken-and-beer, golfing-lat-muscle, and blister-obsessed media! No, he didn't really say that. But he pitched with authority against the Mariners, striking out nine and scattering five hits over seven innings in a 5-0 victory for the Boston Red Sox. Much better than the previous outing . His name is Wei-Yin Chen: Baltimore's rookie left-hander from Taiwan pitched seven innings of of four-hit ball against the New York Yankees, lowering his ERA to 2.45 and leading the Orioles to a 5-2 victory . This was Chen's second outing against the Yankees — and thank goodness for that, he said: [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

The Juice: Mike Trout homers, Angels get 12 hits, coach Mickey Hatcher gets fired (Big Leagu

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights. Hit the bricks: The Los Angeles Angels made batting coach Mickey Hatcher the scapegoat for one of the worst offenses in the major leagues by firing him Tuesday night. The team announced the switch to minor-league coach Jim Eppard about 90 minutes after a 4-0 victory against the Athletics . In a near-irony, Los Angeles produced 12 hits, including three from Albert Pujols for the first time in a month, in Hatcher's final game as coach after 12-plus seasons. Though comments about Pujols being behind the change might sound funny and even plausible given the disagreement he had with Hatcher earlier in the season, the change comes from owner Arte Moreno and GM Jerry Dipoto. Sometimes, the boss said, change is necessary when a team is next-to-last in runs scored in the AL: "Sometimes in the sports world a point is reached where perhaps a new voice is needed in order to attain the desired goals and objectives," Dipoto said in a statement. "Unfortunately we feel this is one of those times. Offensively we have underachieved and everyone shares in the responsibility of what has transpired thus far." Hatcher just gets a bigger share than everyone else. Upstream: Rookie outfielder Mike Trout hit his third homer (see above video) and had his sixth multi-hit game of the season. So he obviously wasn't tainted by Hatcher's influence. Neither was slugger Mark Trumbo, who spoke respectfully of his former instructor on Twitter . In the pitching universe, the Angels got nine strikeouts from Ervin Santana, who must have keeled over at all of that run support. It was the Mariners, but...: Josh Beckett says "Take that," you fried-chicken-and-beer, golfing-lat-muscle, and blister-obsessed media! No, he didn't really say that. But he pitched with authority against the Mariners, striking out nine and scattering five hits over seven innings in a 5-0 victory for the Boston Red Sox. Much better than the previous outing . His name is Wei-Yin Chen: Baltimore's rookie left-hander from Taiwan pitched seven innings of of four-hit ball against the New York Yankees, lowering his ERA to 2.45 and leading the Orioles to a 5-2 victory . This was Chen's second outing against the Yankees — and thank goodness for that, he said: [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Artifacts stolen from USGA Museum

The U.S. Amateur trophy is among the artifacts missing after aburglar broke into the U.S. Golf Association Museum in northern NewJersey. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for Golf

Slow play shows up at worst time

In more peaceful times, when Tiger Woods had gone six monthswithout losing and golf seemed to revolve around him, he ended amonthly newsletter with a rare trip to the soap box to complainabout the pace of play on the U.S. PGA Tour. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for Golf

World Match Play in Ryder Cup's shadow

With the Ryder Cup a little more than four months away, Europe'stop players couldn't pick a better tournament to impress teamcaptain Jose Maria Olazabal than this week's World Match PlayChampionship in southern Spain. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for Golf