Josh Leyes of Waterloo, Ontario read our list of America's Fifty Greatest Teachers in the March issue, noticed a couple of absences and seized on it to make a point:

I was reading the most recent issue of GD when I noticed your rankings of America's top 50 instructors. I saw the usual top 10-15 teachers up there, with one glaring omission - Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, the Stack and Tilt gurus, didn't even crack the top FIFTY! Maybe there is a logical explanation as to why they were left out, but could it be that the "hottest swing on tour" isn't really that hot?

I know you have had several letters praising the Stack and Tilt method for its merits. In my humble opinion, Bennett and Plummer are teaching a "feeling" of staying on top of the ball but that feeling isn't actually true. if you take any of their tour pros (Baddeley, Weir, etc.) and put them on a weight plate device through their full swing you would probably see most of the weight on their right heel at the top of the swing, evidence that they are indeed loaded into their right hip. I think you guys actually did an article on that "weight shift" move a in David Leadbetter's "Swing Chi" piece, which I really enjoyed.

Josh, without getting into the merits of your argument--I know that Plummer and Bennett strongly believe that stacking and tilting is more than a feeling--let me explain why they may have not made the list. The list was compiled early last year, prior to Stack & Tilt's popularity. Plummer and Bennett asked not to be on the "seeded" list of instructors nationally on which the other instructors vote. My sense is they will do very well on the next ballot if the opt to be included. They were included on state lists and Plummer finished high on the Pennsylvania list, Bennett high on the New Jersey list. On a recent poll we did of tour players, they also ranked high.

--Bob Carney

John Van Keulen loved the recent "release" tip from Annika. And I love the fact that he's still playing golf at this time of year...

Annika's 3 keys / "Release for distance" tip was the most helpful tip I've been able to incorporate into my weekly practice sessions. As a 50-year-old-golfer of 40 + years the release has always been a major weakness in my 12 handicap, especially under a little NASA pressure. I could HANG ON TO THE BALL so long it would be OB left before it ever left the tee box on tight par 3s. The index finger on top immediately made sense and gave me a true feel of complete release at last. My playing partners are no longer a subject to my pre-swing vocals of the song "PLEASE RELEASE, ME LET ME GO". I’m sure they’ll be pleased to miss this treat.

 

Annika says, nice work! And here are some more tips you might like....

--Bob Carney

Dr. Pauling Chang of Palo Alto takes great exception to our use of a cigar as a prop in the March Breaking 100, 90, 80 section. It's hard to argue with him:

A few issues ago, you had a profile of the actor Jack Wagner, and the picture in the article was of him standing on his roof, swinging a golf club, with a cigar in his mouth.

In the current March 2008 issue, one of the drills in the article for "Breaking 100" shows a golfer with a cigar in his mouth, and the cigar plays an important role in improving your swing.

Shame on you people for repetitive promotion of an activity that is dangerous to our health. Smoking has been shown to directly increase the risk of many cancers, including those of the mouth, throat, lung, esophagus, stomach, and bladder, just to name a few. In addition, smoking directly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, which are the number 1 and number 2 killers of people in this country.

The cost of health care in this country is rising at a dramatic rate, and it is possible this country will not be able to afford to provide the state of the art health care which we all deserve. If everyone in this country took better care of themselves, which includes not smoking and fitness to avoid obesity, we would all be better off.

Shame on your magazine for promoting unhealthy activity. Golf is a wonderful sport which I highly enjoy and can be very healthy too. Healthy if we avoid smoking and golf carts. Promote this instead.

My subscription to your magazine was a gift, if it were not I would ask you to cancel my subscription. With our knowledge of fitness and the dangers of smoking in the 21st century, I can not believe that you people still promote smoking. I wonder if the tobacco industry has any influence on you people.

Thanks, doctor. You're right; we could have made the same point with anothe prop.

--Bob Carney

Kentuckian Ed Radjunas declares an unnecessary roughness penalty on Roger Maltbie for his post-round interview with Stewart Cink at the Match Play.

"Rude / discourteous" are the words that best describe Roger Maltbie's interview with Stewart Cink following the final round of the Accenture Tournament this Sunday p.m.

RM: "How does it feel to be on the #1 tee with the #1 player in the world and know he is better than you and playing better golf than you?"

Very un-professional, condescending and rude for an amateur announcer; not to mention embarrassing for Cink!!

Ed, I didn't see it, having abandoned the match when Tiger got nine up. (Be interested in the views of those who did). But I think the defeat itself hurt Cink more than any interview, rude or otherwise. There's only one way to avoid this kind of pain while earning--what was it, $800,000? Play better.

--Bob Carney

Veteran Don Dice of Cibolo, Texas, also writes in response to the Johnny Miller comment in March comparing the tour pro's travel, and time away from family, with that of the military.

In the March 2008 issue, I take some offense to Johnny Miller's comments about ”the hard part was leaving his family to go play golf.” He mentions the troops going to Iraq. The big difference he failed to mention is, if he misses a few putts he doesn't get paid. If the troops aren't paying attention, they come home in a bag. The gallery may be a distraction, but at least they aren't shooting at you. And by the way, the pay isn't quite the same.

When I left my family going to Korea in '53 and Viet Nam in '65, those were sad moments in our lives, but Thank God he got us though it.

Poster andybrown and reader John Gregory Vincent have also commented.

--Bob Carney

Californian John Kaufman writes seeking advice. He wants to know how to cope with slow play delays:

I am an avid golfer but have a unique question to ask you. I have what I consider a very difficult problem with waiting on the tee box to hit my next tee shot due to a delay in play in front. I seem to lose my focus and the momentum when waiting on the tee to hit for a extended period of time. The longer I wait the worse I seem to get in my focus and momentum and as a result usually hit a bad shot when the time comes for me to hit.

I would REALLY appreciate any help or advise in overcoming this problem which I am sure I am not alone in with this dilemma. This would make a great article in a future article for Golf Digest, since this is an on going problem we all face from time to time.

Great question, John. Besides avoiding the situation in the first place by playing at times when play moves quickly, here's what our mental-side experts have said over the years.

Don't try to concentrate throughout the wait. Use it as a lesson in how to move your focus from broad to narrow and back again. That is, see if you can turn it on during the time you're hitting shots and off during the long waits. In your "down" time, move your attention elsewhere:

--Converse with your playing partners about something other than what a pain it is to wait on the golf course.

--Get into nature; observe the flora and fauna. (My friend Gene Westmoreland at the Metropolitan Golf Association, I recall, told me about the Great Blue Heron and a number of other birds we observed during one particularly slow round).

--Make it a practice session by chipping and putting to targets around the tee.

--Memorize golf jokes and practice telling them during the delays.

Love to hear other suggestions from readers on how they cope with these annoying delays....

--Bob Carney

I'm glad Bill Hyeck of Evanston, Illinois, wrote this letter. I get similar comments from readers all the time and, in fact, could make the same one about one of our assistant professionals at Brooklawn CC in Connecticut, Sean Busca, a terrific teacher. We love to get your feedback on lists such as America's 50 Greatest Teachers:

I'm writing in reference to the list of America's 50 Greatest Teachers in the March 2008 issue. I'm sure all of these folks are fine teachers; certainly they are famous. But you are making a big mistake by omitting Jeff Mory, head pro at Conway Farms Golf Club, in Lake Forest, Illinois. Jeff is a brilliant diagnostician of what ails a golf swing, and as one who learned much from Dr. Jim Suttie, he tailors his teaching to the physical capacities of the individual. He has done wonders for golfers of all ages and skill levels in the northern Illinois area. I hope you will give him careful consideration for your list in the future.

Bill, as you know, the list is based on the voting of other teachers. But we'll put Jeff's name in the mix. To other readers who might have a nominee, please send it along or add it with a post to this blog.

--Bob Carney

South Carolina reader John Gregory Vincent has a problem with Johnny Miller's March Column in which he compares the leaves of absence that tour players take from their families with those of military personnel.  Miller wrote:

As a tour player, by far the toughest moment was when I was packing my suitcase to head off to a tournament and my youngest son, Todd, was pulling at my pants leg, pleading, "Daddy, please don't go. Can you stay so we can go fishing?" He followed me to the car, and to this day I can still see him in my rearview mirror trotting after the car, reaching out with his hands, crying. The thought of that still makes me cry.

Many people in different walks of life go through the same thing; the thousands of soldiers in Iraq with families at home come to mind....

John Gregory Vincent thought the comparison was inapt, to say the least.

Johnny Miller's "Lesson Tee" page in the March issue caused me to write my first EVER editorial comment in my 46 years. As a retired Navy Command Master Chief and avid golfer I took exception with Mr. Miller's direct comparison of the impact on the family of the tour player heading out for the week and those of our armed service members ESPECIALLY those today, heading to war. I will concede to a 3 or 4 year-old, gone is gone, but I can assure you that even the little one's quickly learn the difference between 10 days and 10 months. As for the impact on the older children, spouses, friends and family, please. It's golf Mr. Miller. There is ZERO comparison to golf and what our service men and woman and their families are experiencing.

--Bob Carney

You win some and you lose more.

Texas Golf World reader Curtis Carter liked the David Graham Backspin in the February 15 issue by Jim Moriarty.

    Thanks, Jim, for a great article on a great guy, David Graham. During the 1983 Houston Open, I posted players' hole-by-hole scores on the (indoor) Press Room scoreboard at The Woodlands Country Club. Before the tournament began, I remember surveying my domain of 18 little squares per player, per round, then looking at my broad felt-tip pens and wondering, "What if someone makes a 10 or higher on one hole? Can I squeeze double-digits into one of these little squares?"

    No one made a double-digit; however, the highest single-hole score I posted was a "9," by the winner, David Graham, on hole No. 1, a 515 yard par 5, beginning (I believe) his third round, when he was near the top of the leader board. I remember the collective groans from the assembled reporters as they probably sensed his doom.

    David played the remaining 17 holes that day 3 under par, then fired a 64 on Sunday and won the tournament by 5 strokes. Following the trophy presentation and TV appearances outside, he came back to the Press Room, followed by a waiter pushing a bus cart of champagne on ice for the thirsty scribes (and scorekeeper). He visited with us for 15 or 20 minutes, shaking hands, clinking glasses, and being a genuinely pleasant gentleman.

Bob Minno of Akron wasn't quite so high on Tom Pernice, and his "Five Faves" in the previous issue:

    I read, with yawning surprise, Mr. Pernice's cliché ridden comments regarding his "five faves" political talk-show hosts. One, who publicly mocked a Parkinson's sufferer, and another, widows of 9/11 victims; pretty tuned in fellow that Tom. When I want to read politically polarizing dogma I turn to Mother Jones or the Wall Street Journal's editorial page. Please, stick to golf.

    Bob, you'd be interested, I'm sure, in Tom's practice-range divot pattern, too, as documented by Geoff Shackelford.

--Bob Carney

Jerry Eberhardt of Qunicy, IL, writes in response to Dave Kindred's March story on the foursome that lost three of their members in a plane crash:

From Kindred's story:

On hundreds of Saturday and Sunday mornings before the sorrow of April 4, 2007, the four buddies came smiling into the grillroom at Mahopac Golf Club, a small club on the north shore of Lake Mahopac, about 60 miles north of New York City...

When I spoke to [Joe Massaro] in December 2007, he didn't want to talk about his friends. He said it hurt too much. But even as he said he didn't want to talk, he talked....

From Eberhardt's letter:

Just read the story, A weekly foursome that ended too soon, by Dave Kindred. Enjoyed the story, reminds me of my golf group. We enjoy each other and we play in all kinds of weather, if our course is open we are out playing , a lot of times we are the only ones on the course because it's too cold for other golfers. We take a lot of grief from our friends and the pro at our club but we all enjoy it. We have our own handicap system and we change partners every week. Again, thank you for a great article.

Thanks, Jerry. I've been struck while reading the thousands of essays we've got for the US Open Contest how much the game, often played with the same guys week in and week out, means to us, especially to us men, if I might say that. My wife Julie reminds me often that I don't "share" very well. But I share experiences with my golfing friends and that's another way to know someone, to be close. I can hear Garyhard, who posts on this blog, accusing me of playing in the Universal Open again, but it's true. It's the way we communicate with one another.

In a few weeks a group of us who've been traveling to play a winter trip for 25 years, will meet up again at Amelia Island, where we began back in 1984. There's a connection to those guys I don't have to anyone else. It would be devastating to experience what Joe Massaro has. Kindred's piece really reminded me of how much I appreciate that trip, those guys.

--Bob Carney

It's good to hear again from Dave Riffey of Shell Lake, WI. He's taken a break from shoveling snow and wants to talk about the endless comparisons of today's players (especially Tiger) with those of years gone by:

Every week it is the same old thing. someone comparing Tiger and the current players to the old guys and gals.   Why hasn't anyone set up a tour for the current players that required them to use the old wooden headed clubs. Call it the 60's & 70's tour. Each pro would be required to use clubs, balls, and putters only available from that era. Put the greens at the same speed, the distance the same as back then.

This would really be an interesting test to see how good the NEW players on the PGA and women of the LPGA tours would react and play.

Send them to Pebble, Augusta, the Old Course, Doral, Wing Foot etc. If the old players had the technology of today, back then, they would be  better than the players of today.
 

Dave, we were just talking about that today after someone mentioned Mark Frost's book, The Match, the new book about the great match among Hogan, Nelson, Venturi and Ward, that Bo Links wrote about in Golf World recently. How would those guys fare with all of this new equipment?

My thought: Tiger could play with bamboo and win and so could Hogan, Nelson, Nicklaus and a few others. Just how far down the list you'd go is why it's a great question.

By the way, I'm not wishing for the old days. We have one of those throwback events at the club from time to time. Man, golf gets hard when you're playing persimmon and balata!

--Bob Carney

Lee Giles of Sedona writes in response to our consistency package in March--with a tip of his own. Worth a read if you struggle with bunker play, as I do:

In reference to your March 2008 issue, and section on "How to play consistent golf":

I've only seen the Natalie Gulbis TV show once. As a part of that show, a commercial with Lee Trevino, Dan Jenkins, Alice Cooper, and others was being filmed. As they were setting up, in the background
you could see Trevino, holding a club, talking to Gulbis. I could hear him say "all the great bunker players I've seen played the ball back here (Lee puts the club well back in his stance) instead of up here (Lee moves the club forward in his stance).

I thought, "Wow! I have always been a fair bunker player, never afraid of the sand, but at times inconsistent. I tried Trevino's advice and noticeably improved my bunker play. With all due respect
to Todd Anderson (page 104, referenced article), I think I'll keep doing it the Trevino way. I've tried the Anderson way - too
inconsistent.

Thanks, Lee. If it's good enough for that other Lee, it's good enough for me.

--Bob Carney

Randy Roth of Des Moines, now buried under two feet of snow, nonetheless kicks off Stack & Tilt, Season II, with this gusher. That's not making fun. I love it when golfers "find it." And he has:

I'm guessing you are receiving many testimonials on the "Stack and Tilt" swing as promoted by Andy Plummer and Michael Bennett. Here's mine. I've played golf fairly casually for decades (I'm 51) but have been working at it much harder with books, magazines, videos, lessons and range sessions for last several years. In the last two years I started breaking 100 consistently. However, my full swing still felt maddeningly inconsistent (my short game is decent).

After reading your June and September 2007 issues, I decided to give "S & T" a try. After four range sessions I headed to Florida for Christmas break. Playing the Bobby Jones British course in Sarasota on a windy December 30th, I shot a 91 - my lowest score ever by 5 shots! (Some credit to my new Callaway Big Bertha 460 driver as well). The swing still feels new and a bit unnatural but I'm hoping for even better results this spring after more range time.

My request? More "S & T" coverage of course! I'd love to see your normal fold out, with multiple views in many positions, of some player who uses "S & T." Another article by Plummer and Bennett would be great, especially one with more pix, tips, swing thoughts and DRILLS. I'd also be interested in a comparison of clubhead speed between "S & T" and "modern" swing players or any other comparison data.

Kudos for stirring the pot by running those two articles.......

Randy, thanks. There's a lot of news to come from the Stack & Tilt camp in the next couple of months, and, I expect, more players to adopt it. You'll also see more in Golf Digest.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: J.D Cuban)

It's interesting, day after day, to see how differently readers view the same event, newsmaker or issue. We have golf in common, but sometimes not so much else. Here are two letters in response to our story on Casey Martin My Shot in March. First, from Jack Boyet of Tampa:

From the article in the March 2008 edition, it's obvious Casey Martin still doesn't get it. The PGA's rule about walking was wasn't about him. It was about the integrity of the game and the PGA's ability to establish rules making the tour difficult but fair to all. Even in that story, he acknowledged that walking is the best way to play the game. Too bad he didn't come to that realization some years back. His comments regarding Democrats "being for the little guy" are ridiculous. This was not a "little" versus "big" guy battle. It was about someone who thought they deserved special treatment, and the PGA Tour disagreed. That the Supreme Court agreed with him was a travesty, but to imply that [Anthony] Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas betrayed their moralist and Christian beliefs in voting "No" is missing the point altogether. They voted to uphold legitimate rules. Has he ever heard of The Ten Commandments? And to suggest that Jack Nicklaus was pressured into testifying on behalf of the PGA is ludicrous. I doubt you pressure Jack Nicklaus into much at all. Get over it, Casey. And I hope your Oregon team wins the NCAA one day soon.

And then from Russ McCubbins of Lanesville, Indiana.

As I was reading your article "My Shot" on Casey Martin, I was thinking how I wish I could just get in touch with him and encourage him to go ahead with the surgery to amputate.  I can only imagine how he must feel with the idea of losing a part of himself, but I would like to implore him to see what he would be gaining in the process if he did.  Not only would he eventually be able to eliminate his own pain, he could potentially do the same by inspiring those who live with similar hardships, especially children.  They could see him competing on the highest level and realize that their own dreams may not be that impossible to achieve.  Every now and then you see  someone running a marathon with one of those hi-tech prosthetics (like the one that the young woman in the Lincoln MKZ ad in the beginning of this very magazine).  Although it would obviously require a lot of hard work, it would seem conceivable that Mr. Martin might live a more active lifestyle if he could be fitted with a similar device... However, even if he chooses not to, he will still have my respect and admiration for the courage and determination that he has previously exuded in his career and his life. 

Wherever one stands on the Casey Martin the litigant, it's hard not to stand with Casey Martin the human being. Go Oregon golf!

--Bob Carney

Lots of mail already on one of the most popular players ever to play the game, most popular certainly with our readers. Here are a couple different takes on Jaime Diaz's piece on Couples in March:

From Art Markey of Stuart, Fl.:

Late on a Sunday afternoon in 1991 shortly after the closing ceremonies of that year's Ryder Cup played at Kiawah, my wife and I and two friends from England were walking to the beach for one last swim in the ocean when we came upon a small gathering of perhaps a dozen fans who were waiting around outside the building where the players were all staying. Just as we got there, a courtesy car pulled up and three U. S. players got out. They ignored the fans who politely asked for autographs and hustled inside without saying a word or signing a single autograph. A few seconds later another courtesy car pulled up and Fred Couples, Chip Beck and Mark O'Meara got out. Each of them graciously signed autographs for several minutes. One woman who nearly fainted at the sight of Couples somehow got up the courage to ask him if he would mind if her husband took her picture with him. He cheerily obliged, putting his arm around her waist and asking her name. That woman is my wife and she treasures that memory and that picture to this day. We're both BIG Fred Couples fans.

And Lee Merrick of Newport Beach:

After reading the article about Fred Couples, I was left with an impression that I would never have imagined about him. No family, no home, a waning career, friends held at arms length...very sad.

In other words, it's not so easy being Fred. Though he's made it easy for us to love the pro game.

--Bob Carney

(Photo by Dom Furore)

It's my theory that February is the cruelest month. That is, it makes you cruel, I'm guessing because most of you haven't played golf in a while and are ornery as hell. As support for this theory, I present the following collection of letters to Golf World:

After viewing the AT&T Pro-am I believe that Chris Berman has one of the worst swings in golf, worse than Charles Barkley. And if Berman's handicap is really 18, then the USGA has a serious problem with handicapping. John J. Connolly

I always thought Tom Pernice Jr. was a nice guy. Then I read in your February 8 issue one of his faves is Ann Coulter. Just goes to show you how wrong you can be. Agreeing with her politics is one thing, having her as afave considering her style is anything but nice. Chuck Anderson, Orlando.

Well, you just can't help yourselves. You just 'had to' put Woods on the cover of February 8th issue of Golf World. Can't you just let someone else have the cover honour by themselves? A whole lot of us are sick and tired of the constant ramming down our throats of Woods. Please, give us all a break. Also, Karrie Webb wins her fourth Australian Women's Open and you give her a couple of lines, in passing...Ron Field, Morton. Wa.

--Bob Carney

(Photo by Andrew Redington, Getty)

If our U.S. Open Contest has done nothing else, it's produced some wonderful stories and "toasts" to fellow golfers, among the 56,000 entries. This one came in too late for the contest, but is worth your time. It's from Tony Selden of Akron.

Let me tell you about my best friend Bob.

I received my January edition of Golf Digest today, I immediately was drawn to your US Open "What would you shoot" contest. To my disappointment, I discovered on the web site that I was too late to enter...but not because I wouldn't win.

I was disappointed because I missed a chance to tell you about my best friend Bob (in 100 words or less). When I met Bob, it was playing him in Firestone Tire's engineering golf league. It was 1973 in our Tuesday night 9 hole match, we came down to the last hole where I miraculously tied him with a challenging up and down. As the sun was setting, we stayed at that hole - in a 30 minute chipping competition. I don't remember who won except I ended up with a best friend...and I remember hearing the phrase for the first time "...you can get up and down from a garbage can..."

Five years later in one of regular EVERY Saturday morning rounds at the company's Firestone Country Club, I saw Bob make what I think was one of the best up and downs on the toughest par 4 holes on Firestone South. He holed out a 7 iron from the trees lining the right of the fairway from 195 yards...for a two. This was 1978, a steel shafted 7 iron (so he could clear a tree in his way) and definitely before Pro V-1's! I've been playing there for over 30 years. To my knowledge its the only eagle ever recorded on that hole, including among the thousands of pro rounds played there in annual PGA tournaments.

Bob died, too soon, in January 2002, about a month after he and I had played a typical Saturday round in freezing cold of a northeast Ohio winter...just a year short of our 30th year of friendship competing on a golf course. Our mutual friend Paul, a 50 year fixture working at Firestone Country Club, helped me dig up a little bit of turf from the place on the 13th where Bob made the miracle deuce. I placed it on Bob's grave in a little ceremony with a few more of our old friends who were members of the engineers golf league at Firestone.

Last year I had one of those miracle rounds that was guided by special hands. As a career 6 to 8 handicapper, I always wished for but never achieved a score in the 60's. On that remarkable day at Firestone, on Fazio West course, nothing remarkable was going on, and then I made a very tough sand save on the 3rd...then I made a miracle par four save, too bizarre to even describe, on the 8th. I finished the front nine under par.

Now it starts to get interesting. My cart partner is the aforementioned Paul (who had caddied on the PGA tour in his youth). A couple birdies and the rest pars on the back nine, until the my tee shot is in the trap on the par three 14th. Instead of coming back to earth, I holed out the sand shot. Where did that come from?

All I could think of was Bob telling me "you can get up and down from a garbage can."

Three under, four to go. The rest is a blur, but the final score...69.

While I'd love playing at Torrey Pines - a guy who can get up and down from a garbage can will break 100 anywhere - I'd still rather have one more round on a Saturday morning at Firestone with Bob.

If you read my story, thanks for listening. I started typing, so I could tell someone else, but turns out, I wrote to remember it myself.

Thanks Tony, can't think of another essay that's more in keeping with the contest's spirit.

--Bob Carney

Nice letter on Bill Fields' Bruce Crampton Backspin from former senior tour caddie Quinn Jerriey, now in Florida. Crampton won 20 times on that tour, seven as a rookie. Fields wrote, in part:

Of his stern expression, Crampton once said, "I just look like I'm going to chew somebody's ass out."

Once in a while, he did.

But existing beneath the outward edge was a battle with depression, made worse by the tournament

I was wondering when you would locate Bruce Crampton for your section.

Bruce was the best player of that era never to win a major. No one ever bothers to look at who finished second. How many times did Bruce finish second besides Jack?

I had the pleasure to caddie for Bruce on the Senior Tour for two years. He was misunderstood. When he walked on the range, this was like his day “at the office” and it was just getting started. It was “work”. No conversation except the business at hand. He had a very strong work ethic. He would work on his game after his round until dark. He played to win for both he and his caddie. He apologized when he handed you a lower check than others.

The one thing that many people didn’t know is that he always had a “bag” full of jokes that he would share at the Pro Am’s with corporate sponsors and other amateurs playing with him. He enjoyed those rounds!

--Bob Carney

I'm frankly surprised we didn't get more letters like this one from David Marbach of Thousand Oaks, CA. We got tons of mail on how pricey some of the Hot List products are, but few commenting on the lack of "winner" in each category:

I was surprised and disappointed to see that the 2008 "Hot List" did not include an editor's choice in each of the club categories, rather ranking the top five, six or seven "gold" club choices alphabetically. This is particularly disappointing for those of us who look to your magazine for expert guidance in selecting the best of the best equipment each year.
In this election year, I was hoping that a great magazine such as Golf Digest would be above pandering to the interests of it's benefactors.

Please bring back the Editor's Choice Hot List clubs -- your in-depth analysis deserves a clear winner and your readers deserve clear guidance.

Glad someone missed it, Dave. I won't argue it one way or another, but will give you our reasoning. Basically, we know that you'll probably narrow your search to 3 or 4 brands and then try those products out. Research tells us that. It also tells us that your comfort with a brand and your budget will help you do the winnowing. So will the products' scores in our various criteria--technology, value, etc. Given the closeness in score of the Gold-level products on the Hot List and the fact that most consumers are looking for a few, not just one, to test, we thought this was better way to go. But we certainly get your point of view on it.

By the way, check into the site next week for a tool that will allow you to assemble your "dream" bag. Not a bad list to send as a suggestion to your Valentine.

--Bob Carney

John Hawkins' column on the tribulations of John Daly has moved many of you to write. "Let up!" says California reader Ruth Wasserman:

I think that John Hawkins ought to get off his high horse and give John Daly a break.

Big John was doing okay until, aftera good round of golf at one of the Florida events, Jimmy Roberts began his post-round interview by asking how Daly felt about his wife going to prison. John looked like a deer caught in headlights and his game hasn't been the same since.

Big John doesn't belong on the Ryder Cup Team but he's fun for a lot of us to watch. Jimmy Roberts should go to Hard Copy.

Holyoke subscriber Fred King feels even more strongly.

John Hawkins comments...about John Daly shocked me. He quotes an unamed golf tournament promoter as saying of Daly "The Nascar crowd, whatever you want to call it, is why 80 to 90 percent of the events will give him an exemption...." Then Hawkins in his own words says Daly has a "grease monkey's sensibilities."

If those comments were about anyone other than a White American, you'd be in the same boat as Kelly Tilghman and she was joking, you're serious...implying that John Daly and all of us who follow him faithfully are a bunch of "grease monkeys". That reminds me of the monkey line uttered by Howard Cosell...You ought to be called into the boss' office along with the editors who let that get through.
                ... and hypocritical: Your magazine, in the same issue,  has a picture plus two stories on Daly.  I guess you're giving him an exemption to sell copies. I don't blame you. I'd like to see more stories on Daly.

I do believe that Commissioner Tim Finchem hates Daly being on the Tour. He should love it !   Tim, as I admit Hawkins points out, nobody comes to see John Senden or even Stewart Cink. Daly puts people at tournaments and raises the TV ratings...

I have a lot of friends who range from factory workers to presidents of multi million dollar companies and we all like Daly. We like him because he says and does such outrageous things and because many of us smoke cigarettes and drink beer and have pot bellies, we can identify with him more than Kevin Sutherland...

Fred goes on, but his point's made. I'm not sure I buy the "grease monkey" argument, but I agree that Daly is tremendous draw, a guy with a big heart and a player lots of us love to follow. But that doesn't stop some of us from being worried about Big John. Entertaining us isn't his only job; taking care of himself (and  his talent) would be No. 1.

--Bob Carney
               

With the Tour season now in full swing and Northern golfers starting to dream of spring, we're getting more letters about Stack & Tilt again. Here's a rather succinct one from Bud Ormond in Hickory, N.C.:

Still very interested in stack/tilt, (Peter) Finch success, back problems, short shots traditional or stack/tilt procedure? Enough of how the pros do it, we’re amateurs in the senior mode. More stack and tilt!

Bud, the Stack & Tilt instructors, Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, are hard at work at a schedule of schools as well as a DVD and, separately, a book about the method. I'll keep you posted on timing.

As for editor Finch, he responds to your question about his progress with S&T:

It’s working great — especially for my irons. I’m not doing it off the tee at the moment. I found that it often produced a shot that went hard left (and short). A pro told me I was swaying a bit on my tee shots. I find it much easier to stay still with my irons for some reason. Fairway woods and hybrids — same deal. Hitting down on them, with the stack and tilt, seems to work nicely. Occasionally I’ll pull my three wood a bit, but nothing like I was doing with my driver.

I like the crispness of the stack and tilt shot ... and the lower, more boring trajectory. Definitely getting a little extra distance on the irons. I also notice I get a lot more spin on my wedge, which is cool.

I like the simplicity of it all. Just a very easy move—with a nice short backswing. My missed shots feel like they are much more manageable than they used to be.

Am I scoring any better? Sadly, no. My putter is giving me fits, naturally. But that will be my next project!

Hope this helps. More to come.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Brett Flashnick)

David Owen's piece on golf dreams hit home with Jamie Thould of Winnepeg. Here's David:

My friend Jim has a recurring nightmare. "I've had it a bunch of times," he told me recently. "I'm a guest at a very fancy club, the only guest in the foursome. They ask me to tee off. I put my ball on the tee, but when I address it, I'm in the club's grillroom, which is full of people eating and drinking. At the very end of the room, there's a door that opens to the first fairway. I'm supposed to thread my tee shot through all the people and furniture and out that door. When I hesitate, for fear of killing someone, the other three guys and most of the others in the grillroom laugh. I stand there paralyzed, just like [name withheld] with the full-swing yips."

And Jim:

I have had variations on the same dream over the past few years. I thought that I was really losing it until one day I casually described one of these dreams to my regular playing partners and they informed me that they too had experienced this phenomenon. I have since discovered that Alice Cooper has been "tortured" by this dream as well. It would be interesting to hear if there any Tour players out there who have suffered from the same affliction!

--Bob Carney

(Illustration by Lou Beach)

From Edwin Monteiro Sr. of Cape Cod comes another letter on Al Barkow's cover story on Bill Spiller in the Jan 18 issue.

As a person who loves golf and is of mixed-raced parents, I was inspired by your great article.... Mr. Spiller's revealing words expressing his love of golf and his method of showing his deserved resentment of golf's "Caucasian-only" restricting clause of the governing P.G.A, was powerful, admirable, determined and courageous....

This article made me wonder how many other of great men and women, in all types of human endeavors, the world has missed because of unfounded fear and discriminatory rules/laws and its enforcement. Someday, all aspects of all human achievements will follow golf's new rules. To view others as not opponents but rather fellow competitors, striving to be the best we can be....

That thought gives one pause, Edwin. Consider, for example, that there's a fellow named Woods who would be lost to us if such a policy still existed.

--Bob Carney

Reader Bill Rucker is the latest to complain about the reduced type size of the Golf World re-design.

I have loved your magazine for many years. I am 70 with good eyesight. Your remodeled publication has missed the green with font size and colored print. Both are difficult to read. We all know what we do with things that are difficult to read! pls advise you will make changes. If none occur,Iwill regretfully cancel my subscription. Thanks for your understanding.

We've heard from a lot of you. The type size will be enlarged. Stay tuned and thanks for your loyalty and patience.

--Bob Carney