Dear Friends of Hooked on Golf
I have been invited by Mitch and John to write a piece from time to time on aspects of the game, its people, trends – whatever crosses my mind or yours.
I am looking forward very much to that assignment.
But I am taking up this task with the understanding that you, our “Friends”, will let me know what is on your minds. Thus, I dream that my communications with you will be a dialogue. Let me have your messages and thinking at:
You will soon learn that my overriding interest is in Amateur Golf, which appears to be alive and well. Sure the most skillful golf is by the pros. But nothing is more exciting than watching good amateurs compete. Those players set the tone, work hard at their games and jobs, and otherwise fulfill our expectations and admiration.
So, get out to wonderful Harding Park for the San Francisco City Championship on weekends from February 9 to March 4, 2007. I will see you there. What history! What beauty! What fine competitions – men and women! And what superb play.
And, of course, go to Olympic Club for the United State Amateur Championship, August 20 to 26th. Talk about history!
http://www.usga.org/championships/championship_info/us_amateur.html
Arnold Palmer once, in all seriousness and late in his career, told me that his victory in the US Amateur, 1954 in Detroit, a “major”, was his toughest and most demanding win – more pressure, more tiring, more challenging, more critical turning points, than any other event which he had won. Imagine that.
And from time to time, I will point to the sensational college golfers at our Universities. Stanford Men are ranked fourth nationally. Cal men won the NCAA not so long ago. San Jose State recently celebrated its many years of dominance and excellence. USF is an important participant in the scene. And the women’s golf is superb at those schools and elsewhere and has been for years. I love watching women play, in part because they typically get distance by the perfection of their swings and superb timing, as contrasted with the men muscling their shots.
Finally, the governing body of golf, the USGA, is holding its annual meeting here in San Francisco on February 3, at the Fairmont Hotel. It, in partnership with state associations like our Northern California Golf Association, is the primary protector of the amateur game and conducts ten National Amateur events. Drop in on your representatives who truly care about Amateur Golf.
Drop in on their deliberations. The election of officers and the full 15-member USGA Executive Committee will take place Feb. 3, 2007, at the USGA’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.
Why? They govern your game. Every aspect of it: rules, handicaps, conforming golf clubs and balls and national championships.
Is HOG a member of the USGA? If so, it is one of over 9000 clubs who are the “shareholders” of this nonprofit organization which goes back over one hundred years. (Not as old as its counterpart, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews – 18th century, believe it or not.)
