US Open Gear you can purchase whether you are there or not!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Have you ever been to a US Open Championship? It is quite a spectacle, and if you wish to purchase some US Open memorabilia for Fathers Day, or anyone else, you need a plan. Andrew Tursky of Golf Wrx lays it out in a very neat and concise manner. If you are at Oakmont, make a list before you leave home and visit the merchandise tent at the end of your day, so you’re not burdened with swag all day! If you don’t get a chance to go, there is a link in the article below to head to their online store! Happy Shopping!
Happy Fathers Day!
The Players Championship is a celebration of Mother’s Day, while the U.S. Open is a celebration of Father’s Day As such, the best possible Father’s Day gifts (that aren’t on this list, of course), are in this order:
Winning the U.S. Open.
Having your father caddie for you while you play in the U.S. Open.
Attending the U.S. Open with your father.
Buying your father a gift from the U.S. Open.
Anything else.
The merchandise tent stands tall on top of the perch of the temporary U.S. Open town of pavilions.
Let’s assume you’ll be going with option No. 4 this year, and that’s where we come in. The merchandising situation can be a little overwhelming at the U.S. Open because of the sheer size of the tent, the number of choices to make and the ridiculous amount of people. Luckily, there are some standout candidates for purchase, whether they’re for your pops or not.
There are also plenty of options for women and children, which you should be sure to check out while in the tent. And if you’re NOT attending the U.S. Open, click here to browse the online store.
US Open Gear you can purchase whether you are there or not!
10 Necessary gadgets.
What’s something you use on nearly every hole of golf you play? A ball marker. Most golfers use a quarter or a type of coin. Why not use something unique, like these markers with the awesome Oakmont-U.S. Open logo on them.
Even if your dad doesn’t hit many greens in regulation, the divot repair tool can still help him repair the ball marks in his putting line from golfers who do. The repair tool sets are available for $32.
9 Coasters.
Dads drink beverages. Whether it’s coffee, tea, water, or something cold and frosty, they’ll want a coaster to keep from ruining their table. For only $13 dollars, these coasters are a steal, and they’ll always be put to good use.
8 Man Cave.
While the furry squirrels are cool, and so are the metallic U.S. Open at Oakmont signs, the star here is the hanging bottle opener with a bottle cap catcher. It’s well worth the $52.
7 Dad’s stomach is growling… for beers.
These are the most awesome growlers I’ve ever seen. The U.S. Open-Oakmont logo is on the front, and U.S. Open winners from Oakmont are listed on the back. They’re available for $75, while the Steins (bottom) sell for $22 each.
6 Hats, hats, and more hats.
There’s an entire corner of the merchandise tent dedicated to just hats. It’s a lot to handle, especially if you’re shopping for someone else. I’ve picked out my favorite, and what I believe to be the most unique, but you might be on your own trying to judge what dad will like best.
Are you a betting man – Here are tempting odds for the US Open.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Joel Beall of Golf Digest has put together an interesting list of sleeper picks and the Under/Over for possible bets for the US Open. I think it will be fun to get a group of buddies together and take a shot at predicting these outcomes. Something to talk about on Monday morning!
OAKMONT, Pa. — We’ve produced our U.S. Open favorites and sleeper picks, but how about a list of side bets and wagers for the degenerate gambler in us all? Using odds from Top Bet Sportsbook, here are the 10 best props, wagers and odds for the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club:
What will the winner make on the first hole on Sunday? Par or better (-105), Bogey or worse (-130)
The 482-yard par 4 is one of the most challenging opening holes in the game. At the 2007 U.S. Open, the field averaged a 4.515 score on Oakmont’s first, the third-highest mark on the course behind the 18th and 10th holes. Figures like that would seem to indicate bogey is the prefered route.
However, there were more pars and birdies (230) than bogeys and higher (207) in 2007. Moreover, Angel Cabrera, the winner that year, recorded a par in his victory march, which is why we are going par or better for this bet.
Winning Nationality: American (-115), European (+220), Rest of the World (+275)
For those scoring at home, that “rest of the world” umbrella covers tournament favorite Jason Day (7-1), as well as Adam Scott (30-1), Hideki Matsuyama (30-1, and a guy a lot of people like this week) and Louis Oosthuizen (50-1). If you’re booking with Day or the aforementioned trio, include this prop as a parlay.
Will Jordan Spieth finish in the top 5? Yes (+125), No (-200)
Well, here are his last five finishes in majors: 1st, 1st, T-4th, 2nd, T-2nd. It’s an absurd streak, one that doesn’t seem sustainable…but I’m sure as hell not going against the Golden Child.
Will there be a hole-in-one? Yes (+240), No (-320)
There’s a 300-yard par 3, basically rendering the field to just three opportunities, and the last par 3 is a 231-yard bear. Wet weather on Thursday and Friday will give players a fighter’s chance, but Oakmont and the USGA have too much pride in this layout to bestow an ace. Circle “no.”
Winning margin: 1 stroke (+250), 2 strokes (+375), 3 strokes (+475), 4 strokes or more (+300), Playoff (+260)
Jason Day said Oakmont’s set-up could lead to a runaway victor. Far be it from me to question 1) The world’s best player and 2) An Aussie. Four strokes or more is our pick.
Will Rickie Fowler finish in the top 10? Yes (+220), No (-300)
Fowler’s 2014 campaign, one in which he finished in the top five in every major, seems long ago. Fowler’s best performance last season was a T-12 at Augusta. Worse, Fowler is not bringing his “A” game into Oakmont, missing the cut at the Masters, Players Championship and Memorial.
Fowler thrives on longer courses, but Oakmont is one of the few major venues that doesn’t cater to bombers. Add it up and the answer is “no” for Fowler this week.
Hole by hole flyover of the US Open venue Oakmont CC.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Today is the start of the United States Open Golf Championship.
In my opinion, along with the British Open, these are the top two Championships in Professional and amateur golf! I say amateur because the word “Open” means that anybody can try and play and possibly win these prestigious tournaments! Yes, the Masters is a fantastic tournament, but it is an elitist group by invitation only. And the other major, the PGA Championship, is only for professional golfers. No amateurs allowed. So I hold these two Open Championships in high esteem. The US Open is run by the USGA, and it amazes me each year how they can set up the course so that even par is a good score. The competitors know they are in for a battle when they step to the first tee, and they had better be mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared, or the course will chew them up and spit them out like a bad-tasting lemon! Below is a hole-by-hole flyover of the Oakmont CC, host of this year’s tournament, to give you a good idea of what the players are about to face. Thank you so much to Golfweek for providing these superb videos of the course. Enjoy!
5 Things you do not know about the incoming USGA President.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Diana M. Murphy, of St. Simons Island, Ga., has become only the second female President of the USGA, following in Judy Bell’s footsteps.
A huge congratulations must go out to her from my blog, as I think she truly deserves the honor. She was treasurer in 2013 and vice president in 2014 and 2015. With the face of golf changing at the speed of light due to new technology, Murphy will have a challenge reigning to ensure that current golf courses remain playable for Pro competition. I think she will do a fantastic job. Thanks to Golfweek Mag for sharing!
USGA president, Diana Murphy, reveals a few things you may not know about her. She’s only the second woman named as USGA president.
USGA has more meetings to help speed up play – Is it helping?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
My dad used to have a saying that I totally agree with. “If you want to get nothing done, form a committee.”
The USGA has put forth various efforts to speed up play, and I think the last one, which was the “While we’re young” campaign was an absolute disaster! It did absolutely nothing to speed up play! People will not return to a course that takes too long to play. Hire more rangers, charge a slightly higher green fee, and people will play if they know they will be off the course in under 4 1/2 hours! I played Pasatiempo in CA a few years ago, and it took 6 hours. If they gave me free green fees for the rest of my life, I would never go back there!
The USGA can learn from the busiest course in the world – The Old Course at St Andrew’s.
The course is busy every day, and yet I have never had a round over 4 1/2 hours there. In my first round there, we teed off at 7.40 am. As we were walking off the first green, the ranger rode up to us on his little scooter and said, “Gentleman, the group in front of you has been instructed to play at a 4-hour pace. You should finish in 4 hours if you keep up. If not, I will ask you to leave the course.” Guess what, we finished in 4 hours! The first group is told to play at a certain pace, and everyone is instructed to keep pace with the group in front of them. The last group should play at the same pace as the first group!
Thanks to Golf World for addressing this pressing issue!
The deliberate push from the USGA to speed up the game moved west to Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, Calif., for the association’s third Pace of Play Symposium.
Data revealed during the two-day session will help the USGA’s smart team target ways tournaments and facilities can get faster. Research at the seminar showed definitively that better tee-time spacing will eliminate bottlenecks, whether on the LPGA Tour (where rounds were shortened by as much as 22 minutes) or at the everyday golf facility. To counter the view of course operators who want as many players as possible, speakers revealed findings that showed younger golfers are willing to pay more if they feel a course has taken measures to keep players moving.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Continuing our series of “Women at the Helm.” we are happy to announce that #4 is the future President of the USGA, Diana Murphy.
She will officially take over the post in February 2016. Diana joins Molly Soloman, Condoleezza Rice, and Suzy Waley (who incidentally is now Secretary of the USGA and could be a future President in 2019) as another honoree to our “Women at the Helm” list! Thanks to Chris Chaney, Wrong Fairway of the Back9Network, for this interesting report!
Murphy has a long and encompassing résumé that includes her current role as a USGA vice president and Executive Committee member. She chairs the Championship and Compensation committees and serves on the USGA’s Audit and Corporate Partners committees. Murphy will be the second female to lead the governing body, joining Judy Bell, who served her term as president in 1996-97.
Murphy’s husband, Reg, served as USGA president in 1994-95.
Is the USGA Rulebook Only for Competitive Golfers?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Did you know that the golf rules were drawn up in 1894 to determine the top golfers in the world at the time?
Along with national golf competitions in both the USA and Scotland came a request ‘for the formation of a governing body to run a universally recognized national championship.’ Thus, the rules of golf were born to govern the best golfers of the period.
Today, because most golfers are recreational and not professional, why not have a separate rule book? As in little league or weekend softball teams, players should adhere to a less stringent playbook than MLB players.
The U.S. Recreational Golf Association has moved forward with this idea, but where is the USGA on this?
Can all those USGA rules be hurting golf? (photo by USGA Publications)
Believe it or not, the USGA doesn’t govern all of golf. And it certainly doesn’t preside over recreational golfers like you and I. The USGA, along with its rulebook, does have a place in golf. But the idea it’s the supreme ruler of all things golf is a rather widespread misconception (this goes for the R&A as well). That being said, I outline below why most recreational golfers should cast-aside the USGA rules in favor of something written more for, well…recreational golfers.
1) The USGA rules weren’t really written for recreational golfers
Let me begin by stating in no way, shape or form am I advocating we throw-out the USGA rulebook. Those rules are absolutely necessary to achieve the USGA’s founding mission: To determine the best golfers in the world. This history is clearly told on their website:
“1894 – In September, William G. Lawrence wins a ‘national amateur championship’ at Newport (R.I.) Golf Club. In October, Laurence B. Stoddard wins a ‘national amateur championship’ at St. Andrew’s Golf Club. C.B. Macdonald, runner-up in both events, calls for the formation of a governing body to run a universally recognized national championship.” – USGA.org
Today, the USGA is basically still doing the same thing for the top amateurs. In addition, the PGA has adopted the USGA rulebook too. This all makes sense for determining the best golfers in the world.
But what about the rest of us?
All golfers – from the youngest to the oldest; the worst to the greatest; are forced encouraged to play by the USGA rules. This notion is foreign to many of the other major sports that also have youth and recreational participation. Think about your son or daughter’s little league; or your work softball team – do those strictly adhere to the rules of Major League Baseball? Of course not. The rules have been made simpler to encourage new players and promote fun.
Why isn’t there a separate set of rules for recreational golfers? For all that the USGA rules have done for the elite players in the game, the reality is the complexity of those same rules have hindered golf’s growth over the years – in particular with regards to recreational golfers (the vast majority of the game’s participants).
Let me also point out that while the USGA has been around for over 120 years, the game of golf was around for about 5 centuries before that. Makes you wonder how all those recreational golfers ever got by without the USGA rulebook.
