I think I know what you're saying by not saying it: "Golf’s over, bud. Give me a break. Take a rest. Go for a hike. Are you ready for some football?"

There must be a season, you’re saying. It’s as simple as that. To everything, even that thing that we love more than our own well being, even golf. How else do you keep track of it, measure it, remember it, compare it, anticipate it, endure it? How else do you know when to get ready? How else to make your predictions, organize your pools, pick your major winners, re-grip your clubs. Even golf must have a start and a stop.

Now, it’s great that there is a World Golf Championship in China. Great that there is an Asian Amateur that will send a player to the Masters. They will expand the game and make it better (see World Series, Hideki Matsui). They will make a season over there. But don’t expect us to live for every shot. It’s over, over here; that’s what you’re saying. David Owen wrote once that for the first golf game of the season to be as thrilling as it can be, there must be a last game of the season. After that, amid the football games and family get-togethers, there’s time for taking stock, naming Newsmakers, stocking the Hall of Fame, drawing it all to a close, dreaming of Augusta.

We have endured a period of great excess in our game. Too many fancy courses, too many overwrought clubhouses, obscene club initiation fees, extravagant purses, exotic equipment prices, and, well, a season that never ends. Enough. That’s what you’re saying.

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor,
Golf World's Oct. 19 cover photo of Tiger reacting to a shot during the Presidents Cup says it all. Jack Nicklaus beat them all with style and professionalism.
Showboating was not part of his act, and Tiger would do well to eliminate
it from his.

W.MacKimmie
Quebec,Canada

Dear Editor,
Taking a shot in the dark here. Do you have any idea where I could order a print of that picture of Tiger on the cover of your October 19,2009 issue?

I, of course, have the issue, but with my address and all on the cover, it would not frame up very well.

Thank you.

Jim Hutson
Corpus Christi, TX

Shot in the dark here. A, Golfers do things differently in Quebec and Texas and B, events and photos of those events look distinctly different depending on one's point of view--for example, if your team one or lost. I'm one of those "act like you've been there before" guys, but Tiger Woods didn't get where he is without passion. When Maurice Richard or Boom Boom Geoffrion would celebrate after slipping one by Terry Sawchuck, it pained me to no end. I felt a whole lot differently when it was Gordie Howe doing the celebrating.

We're working on the print.

--Bob Carney

I'll never forget that round and I doubt if any of them could remember it if you offered them cash. Which is the beauty of our sport. It's always about my game. Or yours, or Barack Obama's. Golf is enlightened in its self-centeredness, which means, in the end, it has the capacity to be all-inclusive. As long as your obsession doesn't mess with my obsession, we'll get along fine. Need a fourth? Seriously, you could put a foursome of Israelis in front of a foursome of Palestinians behind Belfast protestants following four Killarney Catholics --- male, female or undecided -- and peace would reign, provided they played at the same pace and weren't armed. Even guys who argue that the sexes need frequent vacations from one another and so belong to male-only clubs or take single-gender buddies trips, often play casual golf with their wives, in my experience. It's a different kind of golf, that's all. But fun, provided no one says, "What am I doing wrong?" or "Can I make a suggestion, Mr. President?"

Where was I? Oh yes. In our hearts, I believe, most golfers tolerate many kinds of playing companions. Updike said "many men are more faithful to their golf partners than to their wives and have stuck with them longer," but I bet most of us are more tolerant than that. Love golf? Play fast? Why don't you join us? Which is why I hope the point of the president's round this week is not that every foursome ought to include a female, but rather that the game belongs to all of us.

Hey, I'm glad Barack Obama plays golf and doesn't care who knows it. I'm glad he plays with men and I'm glad he played the other day with a woman. And I wish you could celebrate it, too. However, next to Steve Williams' caddy bib, nothing seems to bug you like Obama's golf. He has his defenders, occasionally, but most letter-writers refer to our coverage of the President as "politics" and "politics" doesn't belong in a golf magazine. You probably object to my noting here that the president with that round overtook the immediate past president in annual rounds played, 24 to 23. Or, in the view of their spouses, 48 and 46, our goal, Republican and Democrat alike, being to play half as many rounds as our spouses think we do.

But really, political philosophy aside, how can a golfing president be a bad thing? As a friend of mine said today, only in America would we criticize a President when he wins the Nobel Prize. And, I'll add, only in America will golfers -- golfers!-- get after a magazine for writing about a golfing president, or criticize a president for playing golf!

-- Bob Carney

My road trip took me to one of golf's most unforgettable places and to another very, very memorable one, both in Michigan.

When you write to us about our course rankings, you tend to focus on either the new entries or the old standbys and their place on the chart. How did Augusta National overtake Pine Valley? Why is Oakmont not higher? Lower? Pebble is the greatest ever; how can it not be No. 1?! And why is Bandon Trails so far behind Bandon Dunes?

No one mentions our No. 16 course, Crystal Downs Country Club. Some readers don't even know about it. Crystal Downs was designed by Alister Mackenzie within a few years of his work on Augusta National and Cypress Point, the zenith of his career. He spent two weeks there and then handed the job over to his associate, Perry Maxwell, who took a great site and an inspired design and made a masterpiece.

You'll find Crystal Downs up in the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula, on a strip of land where, if you liken Michigan to a mitten, the little finger and ring finger from a notch. It sits on a sandy bluff that overlooks pale blue Crystal Lake in one direction and oceanic Lake Michigan in the other. You can, on good days, see the Sleeping Bear Dunes, reminding you that a dune is what you're standing on. Having climbed to first tee from the road that hugs Crystal Lake through a birch, beech and evergreen forest that reveals only a couple of (relatively flat) holes, the view from the top is your first shock. What really floors you, though, is the golf course.

It is 6518 yards that, simply put, has never been messed with. It's playable, challenging, enduringly, rusticly beautiful. It gives you, on almost every tee, a feeling of hope and confidence, because there is usually plenty of room to play and beautiful views to match. But reality sets in as you approach greens that tilt, tip, buckle and fall away in every direction. You can score here. You'll enjoy your game here. If you have a caddy, you'll surely enjoy the walk. But, if you're not precise, you may also spend a great deal of time learning new short game shots. Crystal has only 79 bunkers, many of them behind greens (think of the 13th at Augusta) but they will find you, especially if you are approaching from a less-than-ideal direction. And if they don't, the the gathering depressions beside them will swallow you up.

The par-5 eighth is a perfect example. You know the nine will finish with this par 5 and a medium-length par 3, (542 yards and 175 years), with few bunkers to contend with. You're disappointed because you played two very short par 4s preceding it sloppily, and you have nothing to show for it. You're thinking, "I can make up some ground here." But if you haven't hugged the inside of the dog leg on the par 5, and placed your second shot up the right side, you're third shot will be just a bit longer and much more awkward than you'd planned. Your third will no doubt be off a less-than-level lie (they all are) and you know that a mis-hit will send your ball tumbling down the left front of the green (where the green seems to evaporate) or in a position on the putting surface where you're putting defensively. Get aggressive, lose it over the green, and you'll be happy to make bogey. So you fumble the 8th; now the 175-yard ninth looks like a real bear. And, oh, don't be above the hole.

And so it goes at Crystal Downs. Listen to Fred Muller, who's been pro there for 33 years--he's more like a curator, really--describe the 449-yard No. 1, which, he cheerfully points out, usually plays into the wind: "Sneak up on a wildly undulating green with a shot that lands short and pitches on. A miss to left is a bogie, a miss to the right is a disaster." The day I played, with the wind howling, I snuck up on No. 1 with a 2-rescue and a sand wedge. Not so sneaky.

But I spent a wonderful afternoon first chatting with Fred about the course and the club and then playing it in, admittedly, pretty rough conditions. The wind was blowing 35 miles an hour, raining off and on, playing long and walking longer. And yet was the round of my season. There are courses you play and think, "Great. I've done it. It's off the list. And there are others where you think, "Wow. May I come back tomorrow? Please?" That's Crystal Downs.

The following day I joined my brother and two other members at recently renovated Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor. Architect Ron Prichard has removed trees, added and restored bunkers, and made this very good course even better. Barton held the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur and it is, in my experience, one of the truly great members' courses in the country. It's now been made even more beautiful and, for better players, much sturdier. I hear that some members have complained that removing trees and adding bunkers has made Barton "easier." Not for me. It has made it perhaps more playable off the tee, but, as with Crystal Downs, more challenging than ever on the approach. Trees behind greens have been taken out, revealing the movement in those greens, and making one's shot selection even tougher.

It was, despite cold and wet weather, a most memorable weekend. No wonder Michiganders love golf so much.

--Bob Carney

(Photo by Dom Furore)

Dear Editor,
Even though you showed the results of the Turning Stone event, there was not a single paragraph about the playoff victory of Matt Kuchar over Vaughn Taylor. And you dare to call yourselves a "golf magazine"! Just more worship of the PGA's big guns and dribble about the lack luster President's Cup! Shame on you!

Ben Graves
Houston, TX

Dear Editor,
The competition at the Presidents Cup was compelling and many of the stars from both teams performed terrifically. Your coverage of the event was superb.  However, in all of the excitement, all of the media have overlooked one of the most amazing feats in the history of the game.

Commemorating his lifelong achievement is a cement bench near the new practice putting green. (Before the renovation it was at the first tee.) Ovid Seylor, a long time San Francisco amateur, over his lifetime of playing at Harding Park eagled every hole on the course. Yes, he made an eagle on every hole! Four holes-in-one, four eagles on the par fives, and eagle twos on all ten par fours.

Now that's a compelling performance.

Terry Smail
Seattle, WA

Thank you, gentlemen. My own view is that the stories by Morgan Pressel and about Missy Farr-Kaye are what made Golf World's "Pink" issue a keeper.

--Bob Carney

Barkley was asked what Romo should be asking Tiger "about being the best." On the way to answering that question, he addressed the Anthony Kim/Robert Allenby controversy as well:

I think to be really, really good that has to be your #1 priority. That foremost above everything. It is funny you talk about Tiger. I have become friends with Anthony Kim and I was talking to him the other day trying to tell him: Let this B.S. with Robert Allenby go. Nothing good is going to happen if you all are going back-and-forth. The one thing that I will say about Tiger is that when we go out, he can drink. He drinks but he never drinks when he has got a tournament. So I think you distinguish those two. If we are just going to Vegas to screw around or we are just going around, he might have a couple of beers or something. If he has got a tournament, he does not drink. I am just relaying the Anthony Kim story. Maybe Tony can learn that ok that there is certain things that I got to do when I play and everything else has got to be 2nd. You can have fun when you are off: Ok, I got a tournament this week. Tiger won’t even do caffeine the week of a tournament. He thought that it screwed up his putting stroke. You know how sometimes caffeine has got you jittery? I mean just simple stuff like that.

Q: What about sex?

A: I sure hope that nobody stops that. I hope nobody stops that.

A wise man, that Barkley, no matter what his golf swing looks like.

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor, Regarding  Mike Johnson’s article on left-handed golfers and their clubs, I have long suspected that lefties like myself did indeed swing differently than their right-handed counterparts and, therefore, needed altered club head designs. But how do I find out which manufacturers build their left-handed clubs accordingly? The next article should focus on the professional golf courses that favor lefties. Considering that, recently, both Weir and Mickelson have won at Augusta National, I would think this course leads the list.

Calvin J. Maestro Jr.
Farmington Hills, MI

Dear Editor,
At last! A long-needed snapshot review on left-handed equipment.

How could Golf World name left-handed PGA Tour winners, and fail to mention Sir Bob Charles, 1963 Open Champion, World Golf Hall of Fame Member, and Golf World subscriber since 1954?

Well, it's a start.

Burton R. Smith
Lansing, MI

Dear Burton, I hate to suggest that lefties read differently than some of us do, but here is a quote from Mike's story:

"Before Mickelson joined the tour in 1992, four lefties--Bob Charles, Ernie Gonzalez, Sam Adams and [Russ] Cochran--combined to win nine PGA Tour events. Since then Mickelson, Weir and Flesch have earned a total of 49 tour wins."

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor,
While I appreciate the fact that Tiger Woods is good for business, this week's cover of Golf World shows colossal disrespect for the rest of Team USA at the Presidents Cup. This was a team effort, not an individual feat. It has been noted that Tiger would not have won either of his Saturday matches on his own ball and not without the outstanding efforts of his partner, Steve Stricker. Also, it has been noted by no less than Michael Jordan that Phil Mickelson should receive the MVP award for the Cup for his efforts in bringing three different partners up to successful speed. You did not see Tiger offering to partner with anyone else. The bottom line is that the ENTIRE TEAM deserved the cover of this week's Golf World and shame on you for leaving everybody else out!

Sharon Hanson
Boise, ID

Dear Editor
What's going on with Johnny Miller? I love the guy and his historically wonderful, insightful and honest commentary. But he seems obsessed with establishing Phil as the "best golfer in the world." Where's the beef, Johnny? Whether this week, month, year, decade, or lifetime no objective observer could honestly suggest that Phil has overtaken Tiger as "the best in the world." Weird! Is Miller losing it? Maybe old age or not enough telecasts to stay sharp. Calm down, Johnny. Get a grip; you're starting to lose people like me who have always looked forward to your commentary.

Rick O'Rourke
Westlake, OH

Thank you both for those well-stated points of view. I shall not take sides, but I'm no Angel.

Go Yanks.

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor,
Call me a cynic, but I think I can understand why stroke play was decided upon as the official format for Olympic golf. The reason: Tiger Woods. While he has dominated in stroke play events, he hasn't been equally as dominant in Ryder Cup-like formats.

Here's a quote from Steve DeMeglio (USA Today):

John Strawn, president of the course design firm Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, expects the game's growth to continue for years. "The real impact here is that governments in China and India will now spend significant funds on the development of golfers, just as they spend on the development of gymnasts and field hockey players," he said. "In China, the creations of golf practice facilities alone--not to mention golf courses--will run into the billions of dollars."

Whatever happened to Dubai being the new promised land for golf?

Personally, I don't believe it's getting kids in Bolivia interested in golf to "grow the game" as it has been put. It's getting all these people in China and India interested. It's almost instant money! Which brings me to the reason why the Olympic format will be stroke play: What would happen if Tiger was bounced in the first or second round by some unknown, if it was match play or alternate shot? Would a non-gold by TW really have that much of a negative impact on the expected golf boom overseas?

Don't get me wrong. While I do sometimes suffer from "Tiger fatigue" he is the best thing to happen to golf in the last three decades (at least). It just seems too coincidental and convenient to have the run-of-the-mill stroke play format for something that's supposed to be special.

Justin Blair
Three Rivers, MI

The final format has not been decided, but that it will be stroke play. The money list will be a factor in qualifying for the event, which will award three medal prizes for men and thre for women, but there must be a way for other golfers to qualify. If not, as Mr. Blair argues, where is the grow-the-game benefit?

We tend to think only of the PGA Tour, however. As Golf Digest's Stina Sternberg has pointed, this is a huge opportunity for women's golf and especially for the LPGA tour.

Yes, it will be a "Tiger" event--and why wouldn't it--but there's a lot more going on with Olympics golf than that. There's also a lot yet to be decided about how we get there.

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor, For years I have been telling new acquaintances that I have not played golf since October of 1999. But for reasons I did not understand, I couldn't recall when, where, or any other details of that day; just that it was sometime in October. I didn't know at the time that it would be my last, but it still troubled me that I couldn't recall anything about the final round of a game that is still--and always will be--an important part of my life. Then the October 5, 2009 issue of Golf World arrived. The moment I saw the photo of Payne Stewart on the cover, the memories crashed over me like a winter wave over the seawall on Pebble's 18th fairway. My last round of golf was played on October 29, 1999; the day of Payne Stewart's funeral. As was my habit, I arrived early for a tournament but, instead of warming up, I teed up a ball next to the right tee marker on the first hole. Next to it I placed a photo of Stewart in the finish of what I still believe to be the most graceful swing I've ever seen. My tee time allowed me to go into the clubhouse and watch Paul Azinger's heart-wrenching and humorous eulogy in its entirety. I then returned to the first tee to stretch and settle my emotions. From behind the tee box, I watched as other players gave salutes, crossed themselves, or knelt in a moment of silent prayer at the little memorial. None of us knew Payne Stewart, but we were all touched by his life. I still don't recall the details of the round I played; I no longer care. What I do remember is that it was a beautiful day, I was on a golf course doing what I loved to do, and I spent it with several friends; all of whom are still dear to me. It was one of the best and worst days of my life. I thank you for helping me to remember it. Dustin Stinett San Juan Capistrano, CA

Dear Editor,
My heart stopped on 10-25-99. Thank you for Jim Moriarty's acticle. I have missed Payne for 10 years. And now, can feel the pain of so many others who miss him too!
 
Jon A. Roth
McKinney, TX

We're with you, Jon. It doesn't seem possible that it's been ten years. And the loss still feels fresh.

--Bob Carney

Dear Editor,
I used to take some credence in course rankings from all the golf publications, until I received the September 28, 2009 edition of Golf World. How some 46,000 readers and voters could put Tobacco Road as the 4th Best Public Course is unbelievable. I have to believe your polling sample was skewed. Tobacco Road is not even the fourth best public course in North Carolina.

Thomas Harmicar
Pinehurst, North Carolina

Dear Editor,
I can’t believe that Southern Hills in Tulsa, OK is not in the top 50 private golf course. Having played Winged Foot, Trump National, Baltusrol, Shinnecock Hills, etc.. Southern Hills is every bit as good in all categories (Condition, Reputation, Practice, Speed of Play, Clubhouse and Locker Room).

Richard Hariston
Member of Champions Golf Club
Houston, TX

Dear Editor, I have played about 40% of your top 50 courses in the Public and Resort catagories, plus a few of the Privates, as well as all the Scottish courses in the Open rota. Pebble Beach is, without question, the best I've ever played. For it to be ranked 28th in the Resort catagory renders your survey essentially meaningless in my opinion. I would suggest you re-evaluate your criteria and how they are weighted. Bart Robertson Torrance, CA

Dear Editor,
I reviewed your 2010 Rankings Guide with some confusion about the “Resort” category. Having played most of the courses in the category, for the life of me, I can’t quite understand how World Woods is even considered a resort.

As a resort World Woods has no hotels and no restaurants within 10 miles; the clubhouse is slightly bigger than a double wide and the “restaurant” is really little more than a snack bar. The courses are nice but not even the best in Brooksville.

If I made the trip to Brooksville to go to the “resort” at World Woods based upon your ranking, I’d probably cancel my subscription!!

Jerry Cullen
Brooksville, FL

Ryan Herrington, who oversaw the awards for Golf World, replies to reader Cullen's question: "Our understanding is in addition to golf package at various local hotels, World Worlds has golf villas near the course where people can stay. While, between you and me, our definition of resort is fairly loose, having those connections allows it to be classified in the resort category, which was their preference."

Because Golf World asked readers to weigh golf, value and amenities together, the list is an unusual collection. Some resorts score so high on golf and value that fair or even weak amenities--what we usually consider the heart of a resort experience--may not factor. Example: World Woods. At the other end of the spectrum is Pebble Beach (reader Robertson's letter), where price plays heavily into the calculation. Top Resort at Any Price? Pebble's right there at the top. But our voting readers obviously concluded that while it may be the best, it is not the best value. Finally, these lists are not based on a set "sample" of readers but rather on voluntary ballots of readers who want to take part. That makes all the difference.

--Bob Carney

Photo: North Carolina's Tobacco Road

"In his 30 seasons as commissioner, Pete Rozelle made the National Football League the most popular sport in America with a form of socialism (he used words such as 'revenue sharing' and 'parity' that might have made Rush Limbaugh red with rage--except it didn't because the radio host is a huge NFL fan..."

Sirak's unusual reference inspired a corrective email from Charlotte reader Scott Martin.

Dear Editor, Ron Sirak’s Bunker item about the LPGA commissioner search had the most bizarre introductory paragraph I have ever read in a golf publication. First, why mention Rush Limbaugh? If you’re going to bash Limbaugh, bash him in a political magazine. Second, writing that the NFL’s business model is a “form of socialism” is totally absurd: the NFL is profit-driven business where owners own franchises. Ron Sirak proves what I’ve always believed: Outside financial organs like The Wall Street Journal, very few journalists know anything about business and, indeed, socialism. Golf World is a golf magazine, so please stick to golf. If I want to know what the socialists are thinking, I can pick up my daily newspaper or listen to NPR.

Scott Martin
Charlotte, NC

Your reaction to Ron's introduction reminds me of something coach George Halas said once about San Francisco fans: "One time in Kezar Stadium they gave me a standing boo."

Thanks for the boo.

--Bob Carney

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of a charity event begun by former ATT employee Mike Marion and my wife, Julie, on the sad occasion of one of their colleagues, Steve Cox, becoming ill with a cancer usually found only in children. That first year, Mike, Julie and six friends, including Geoff Russell, the editor of Golf World, played a golf marathon to raise money for Steve’s home hospital bed. (Steve wrote a very funny note thanking the eight and noting what a tremendous sacrifice it must have been for all them to go out and play golf all day.)

And every fall they did it again, even after Steve had succumbed to cancer at the ungodly age of 32, the event at one point encompassing seven courses and some 700 golfers. (Yesterday, at New Jersey National, there were 128). Because so many of the supporters over the years were members of the media, the event always included—and did yesterday—a moving video about Steve that kept not only his memory, but his face, his personality, his spirit, alive. Steve’s Dad gave a talk yesterday that embodied the funny, upbeat, brave spirit of his son, proving that you can laugh even when you think you’re crying. I'm sure--because you write to us about them--that you have created or attended events like this one. It's what we do in golf.

In 20 years, the Steven A. Cox Classic, one of thousands and thousands of golf fundraisers, has generated almost $6.5 million for charities that fight cancer. For the past several years the contributions have gone to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for children and LIFE, the breast-cancer-awareness initiative begun by Val Skinner and other LPGAS players in memory of Heather Farr, who succumbed to breast cancer, also at 32.

During those 20 years, the Cox Classic grew to a huge event when ATT, radio personality Don Imus and WFAN got involved, and then shrunk a bit, when ATT fell on hard times and about five years ago Imus and the FAN no longer participated. But companies like the Hibbert Group, RR Donnelley, Asurion, the Christie Fundation and Eric Bergstol’s Empire Golf, the title sponsor, are still part of it and it thrives because. Steve’s buddies, work-mates and college roommates still come and because his old ATT colleagues--Mike and Susan Campbell among them--are still running things. The Cox Class has lost some of its size, but it has never lost its soul.

It’s also not lost Jack Szigety, thank God, although it came close one year I remember when Jack couldn’t play and we all prayed for him. We played with him yesterday, askinny teenager who loves the Yankees, loves golf and is called a Cox Classic Hero, meaning he’s one of the cancer-surviving kids who’s probably alive because of this event. Szigety saved our third-place finish yesterday with an up-down-birdied from 80 yards when the rest of his team had chunked or skulled their wedge shots into oblivion.

We also played with four LPGA players, Val Skinner, Christina Kim, Beth Bader and Rachel Herrington, who flew up from Alabama after Sunday’s tournament, and helped us make birdies on all of the par 3s. FYI, if you want professional golfers to participate in your event, call Skinner, because these four could not have been more involved, more fun or been better ambassadors for the LPGA and the game. Kim even bid on and won a Jeff Gordon jacket and four tickets to a race in the Poconos because the rest of us weren’t bidding high enough!

The event was one of hundreds, even thousands of golf fundraisers that took place yesterday. Some raised a few thousand dollars, some a half a million. A few years ago a study was done to capture golf's giving. You probably know the Tour contribution to charity is an incredible number--$125 million or something like that. But do you know what golf's total contribution is, when you add in all of the “little” events like the Steven Cox Classic and the thousands of scrambles, Ryder Cups, hole-in-one contests and other tournaments held in the name of friends and colleagues across the country?

It’s $3.5 billion.

Which is why yesterday was such a big deal. I hesitate to say that in the grand scheme of things it is more important than all the trophies, tournaments and “majors” that professionals play for and we make such a big deal about. I hesitate, but I will anyway. It’s bigger than all of that.

To the corporations that are wondering if the time’s right to be involved in an affluent sport like golf that might seem too upscale or exclusive in these recessionary times, let me refer you to yesterday.

--Bob Carney

(Photo: Steven A. Cox Classic supporters, with Jack Szigety, center)

Itanhanga Golf Club and Gavea Golf and Country Club. They lead the Golf Digest list of best courses in Brazil. Get a look at both golfworldmap.com.">Itanhanga and Gavea, on GolfWorldMap.com.

--Bob Carney