I am not a sexist, by any means, but thought it inappropriate to have a woman play Pebble Beach on Father's Day in the "Break 100 challenge". Give the dads a moment in the sun on their special day. Were it a PGA Championship, or Mother's Day, it would be different.D. Graham, White Lake, MI
I am all for ladies playing golf with men however the U.S. Open Challenge should be for men only. You should have U.S. Open Challenge during the womens open as well. Just an idea to keep it fair for the person playing and enjoyable to watch.Dave I., Charlotte, NC
I just finished watching the Golf Digest US Open Challenge. I must say that I think the event had some merit with the (3) celebrity players, but the amateur player was a joke. She has a long way to go to stand up to her resume and I think that Golf Digest should do more research on the people they pick. As a matter of fact the final tally of score was displayed as, I think it was said she shot 118 and at one point during the match she was already +48 or plus +49 and had 2 holes left to play. Next time when this event takes place try to give someone a realistic chance of breaking 100, not just try to increase your readership with the NOW crowd. What a joke! Keep up the good work.Mark Dunn, New Hartford, NY
What a joke. Two things. Why embarrass a woman like that? Also, why ruin a neat challenge you had going? I will never watch again. She was so bad, you didn't even show her on the back 9. Wasn't this supposed to be about her? You really screwed hundreds of deserving contestants who actually had a chance. Why even consider a woman who can;t make the par 4 carry's? I'm very disappointed in you and we won't be renewing or subscriptions.Mike Schroeder, Waukesha, WI
Three points. First, We did not "choose" Peggy; we nominated her, one of 5 nominees we thought worthy and capable of taking on the Challenge. She was then voted by the public--you--to represent average golfers on the U.S. Open course. Two, if we had forgone the nomination process and chosen Peggy, she would have been perfectly reasonable choice, one we would have been proud of. She was, from the tees she played that day, a 12 handicap, certainly on the high end of 100-breaking potential, but not someone who had "no chance." You might recall that in year one John Atkinson, an 8 from the regular tees and an 11 from the back, played Torrey Pines. He shot 114. Three, it should be apparent by now, based on both the Challenge scores and the Open scores, that this was a brutally difficult setup. A colleague of mine, a 6.8 index, played the course two days prior to the Challenge round. He hit his tee shot about 250 yards. With no cameras and no pressure, he shot 95 and he needed a par on the final hole to do that. Peggy's problem was that on holes 2, 3, 9 and 13, even her best drive would not have cleared the rough and made the fairway. Therefore, she needed to play nearly perfect golf on the holes she could reach the fairway and, on those lengthy holes, from the point she did reach it. Peggy did not play well enough on the shots from the fairway or those around the green to threaten 100.
That said, remember that of the other amateurs, all strong and capable of reaching every fairway, only one broke 100, and he shot 97. I tend to think that the fact that three amateurs in the event the previous year broke 90 worked against this year's foursome. Perhaps the USGA had shown leniency in setting tees for the Challenge in 2009; they certainly did not in 2010. Indeed, the tees were set as long as they could be, in some cases longer than the tees played by Open competitors. What's more, the conditions, especially when the wind came up during a sudden drop in temperature on the back nine, made matters even tougher. Finally, the rough, fresh and untrodden, gave up fewer playable lies than did the rough during the Open itself. It was the most consistent, most difficult I've seen at a major championship, with the possible exception of Turnberry in 1986.
For Golf Digest to nominate one woman, a club champion and 4.5 index, among 14 finalists in the first three years of the event, is no joke. It's appropriate, especially given Peggy's essay, and her touching story about playing Pebble as a child with her Dad.
Folks, it was really, really, tough out there. I'm not sure that any of our five finalists would have broken 100; in fact, I'm quite sure they would not have.
Sometimes the bear wins, and in this case the bear, Pebble, did. It's nobody's fault. And while I appreciate your frustration that none of our winners in the three years of the contest has broken 100, we're happy with our nominees, and proud of our 2010 winner.
--Bob Carney
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