Interesting, golf-friendly condiment -- but there's a problem

By David Owen

We had 30 guys on Sunday, if you count the 8 who were playing quarterfinal matches in the Governors Cup (I was one of them). Fritz won two skins, out of four. The group decided not to pay out the day's money-hole money ($44) but to donate it to the beer-keg fund. (That's an example -- and I could name others -- of the Sunday Morning Group's community-mindedness.)

Peter A. brought lunch, and he included a condiment that may become a staple: Captain Thom's Slappin' Fat Bacon Ketchup. (The label explains, perhaps helpfully for some: "Use like ketchup.") I have just two hesitations in recommending it: the company's website no longer exists, suggesting that Captain Thom has gone out of business; and -- surprisingly, for a product of that name -- Captain Thom's Bacon Ketchup contains no bacon.

An easy solution to both problems might be for the Sunday Morning Group to make its own bacon ketchup, by frying bacon and adding it to *ketchup *-- a manageable kitchen project even for guys whose wives don't write cookbooks. And hardly any cleanup!

Meanwhile, our pro, Corey Harris, is trying to qualify for the U.S. Open. He got past the first stage a couple of weeks ago, and is playing in the 36-hole sectional today -- along with Lee Janzen, who won the Open in 1993 and 1998 but now has to claw his way in like guys who play most of their golf with the Sunday Morning Group. Which Janzen is welcome to join if things don't work out for him the way he hopes they will.