I have been involved with golf for a long time. I have played it most of my life. Maybe one day I will get good at it. Truth be told I doubt it highly. If anything I am on the downward side of having any hope. I am OK with it. I have enjoyed my time on the track. In fact I can't really play any more because of a bad foot. If I get in 2 or 3 rounds a year it's a lot.
I have also been a caddie on odd occasions. It is much harder than it looks and it is a very tough way to earn a dollar. I have known some great caddies, Admiral Eddie and Million Dollar Frankie come to mind, and I can say that I am not one. But it taught me quite a bit about dealing with people who were having a bad day. It also pointed out to me that I looked like a jerk when I acted that way.
Over the years my company, Tape-Rite (www.taperite.com) has been a major supplier of the special double-coated tape that is used for putting grips on the club shaft. We have expanded and we offer a complete line of tapes for the golf industry at www.golftape.com.
These days I get my golf fix by officiating at local tournaments and volunteering at USGA Championships. So far I have worked at 6 US Opens, 1 US Amateur and at the recently completed US Women's Open. I volunteered to act as a hole marshal. This involved crowd control and finding lost balls. Usually I work with scoreboards so this was a new experience for me. All I can say is that it was fabulous. I was as inside the ropes as you can get.
Being up close and personal with today's crop of women golfers is very exciting for an old fart like me. I mean who wouldn't want to be surrounded by groups of hot chicks with great bodies who can hit a high cut 3 iron. My mind is flush with fantasies. All I can say is that whomever is getting these women interested in golf is doing a fabulous job. More is better.
While I was working I noticed that there were several players named Park. This is directly due to golf becoming very popular among people of Korean background. If you haven't noticed, Korean women are starting to dominate the LPGA tour.
The eventual winner (and currently the world's best female golfer) was Inbee Park who had won the Open in 2008. She was the youngest person to ever win it, a record she still holds. Inbee crushed the field with a score of 8 under.
The other Parks included Annie who is a) from Long Island and a local favorite and b) the current NCAA Women's Golf Champion, Jane and He Young. Of the 3 only Jane made the cut finishing at 12 over par. That was good for a tie for 42 place. The way things are going I am sure there will be many more women named Park on the LPGA tour. Maybe one will be named Central Park. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
The course that the Open was held on is called Sebonack. It is located out in the Hamptons (Southampton to be exact) which is where the rich and famous people hang out every weekend with the same rich and famous people they hang out with in Manhattan the rest of the time.
Sebonack was opened in 2006 but it has neighbors that are the epitome of golf royalty. It's immediate neighbor is National Golf Links. National is very private and exclusive and the course always ranks in the 100 Best Courses in America as determined by Golf Digest magazine. Adjacent to National is Shinnecock, one of the truly great courses on the planet. Shinnecock has been the host of several US Opens and will be the host again in 2018. The course at Sebonack gives them both a run for their money.
Sebonack was developed by Michael Pascucci. By an interesting twist of fate I went to high school with his son Michael. I am a year older than he. They lived in a mansion that was once the home of Gil Hodges when he managed the NY Mets. Every summer they would have a big bash for all the kids from the area. The summer of my graduation (1973) Mr. P asked me to run into town to pick up the pizza for the party. He snapped off a hundred dollar bill and handed it to me and told me to keep any change. This may have been the first time I had actually held a hundred.
I was driving into town in my Mom's Mercedes and I was going a wee bit too fast. The next thing you know I am getting a ticket for doing 70 in a 40. It wound up costing a lot more than the change I kept from the hundred. The reason I bring this up? Maybe Michael will read this and offer me a round of golf. I would probably turn it down because of my foot but you never know.
"Golf is a good walk spoiled." -- Mark Twain
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