One California reader (and Cypress Point archivist) writes to correct a statement by Gary Koch during the weekend's broadcast. In discussing Royal Melbourne's designer, Alister MacKenzie, Koch, according to the reader, noted that MacKenzie also designed Cypress Point, but that MacKenzie never saw Cypress in its finished state.
"That statement is wrong. Dr MacKenzie played innumerable rounds at Cypress Point, and the club has many photos to prove that point. He did not see Augusta National completed..."
Koch no doubt meant Augusta, which MacKenzie also designed, but did not see complete, as he died about the time the course opened and the same year it hosted the inaugural invitational that would become The Masters.
Our World Monday coverage of the matches prompted this complaint/suggestion from Louisiana reader William Young:
I wonder why David Toms is not mentioned in your Top 10. He was ignored in the press conference and now in your article. I know that Tiger gets all the notice, but a little bit of recognition for a clean-cut, 44-year-old would be nice. I have known David since he played high school golf in Bossier City, LA, and wonder why he is constantly ignored. His performance at the Presidents Cup was outstanding as usual and his points helped the American team much more than the points by Tiger.
Hard to argue that Toms got insufficient mention in the telecast either, based on the hours I watched. David is amazing. Talk about a quiet assassin. Thanks, William.
We also got a couple of questions, suggesting that both our coverage and the networks', may assume that readers/viewers know more about match play than we think. California reader James Peters asks:
As a long time Golf Digest subscriber, I have a question. After watching the first day and referring to Tiger's first match, what does the "the International team won by 7 and 6" mean?
It means that the International team of Adam Scott and KJ Choi were 7 holes ahead of the Steve Stricker/Tiger Woods team with only 6 holes to play. So the match goes to the Internationals. At that point in the match, after the 12th hole, the Scott/Choi team had won 7 holes and lost none.
A Mississippi reader, Fletcher Coker, asks a good question about Foursomes, the alternate-shot format, where two players play one ball, hitting every other shot.
In alternate shot, "A" and "B" are partners. "A" putts and misses, and the remaining putt is conceded to "B." On the next tee, who tees off?
Whoever did not tee off the previous hole. In Foursomes partners tee off on either the even holes or the odd ones. That does not change, regardless of who putts out on a given hole. So, even if "B" is responsible for the final putt, if "A" teed off on that hole, "B" tees off on the next one.
More letters to come, I'm sure. I trust they'll say that the play was exciting, the course wonderful and the competitive tone just right. We'll see.
Bob Carney
