Par-3 event no vacation for old guys
The mere mention of playing golf on a par-3 course normally sends the big boys scurrying for the nearest driving range.
There is a stigma attached to par-3 golf.
It’s a good place to work on your short game, but you can’t grip it and rip it, as John Daly likes to say.
Low-handicap players know they can’t hit a driver, 3-wood or even a utility club on most holes, not to mention having to deal with the glacial pace of play that comes with 5-year-olds and 85-year-olds swinging and missing and four putting.
Well, the PGA Tour made an announcement Tuesday concerning a new Champions Tour tournament (for the 50 and older guys) that it hopes will put an end to the belief that playing a par-3 course is akin to being sent to the children’s table at Thanksgiving.
The event, which will be held in Branson, a vacation destination best known for family music shows, outlet malls and Silver Dollar City amusement park, is being called Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf, a two-man team competition conducted over 54 holes during the first week of June.
Players will compete on the regular-sized 18-hole Buffalo Ridge Course (formally Branson Creek Golf Course) as well as the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, with the final round coming at Top of the Rock.
The big news is that it will be the first PGA-sanctioned event to use a par-3 course in official competition.
The big question is why.
The answer came from Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who was in attendance, along with eight time major winner Tom Watson, who designed the 70,000-squarefoot Himalayan putting course at Top of the Rock.
“We believe the inclusion of this dramatic short course will demonstrate to a time crunched world that par-3 golf is fun, entertaining and a worthy alternative for golfers,” Finchem said.
“At Big Cedar Lodge you have all the elements to make the Legends of Golf a unique tournament and to show fans that golf, even for professionals at the highest level, doesn’t have to be played on long, 18-hole courses,” Watson said. “I’m proud to have lent a hand in the creation of such a special place and am enthusiastic about Top of the Rock and hope this innovative approach will inspire new golfers, who have limited time on their hands, to take up the game.
“Families and kids barely have time to consider golf, but a nine hole par-3 course is a perfect option to get started in the game.”
Learning French
Neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson, professional golf’s most popular players, competed at last week’s Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.
But Jason Day, a 26-year-old Australian, and Victor Dubuisson, a 23-year-old Frenchman, turned in a memorable 23-hole final that saw Day win and Dubuisson establish himself as a modern-day Seve Ballesteros, the late Spaniard who made a career out of recovering from impossible situations.
Dubuisson was 3 down with six holes to play, forced extra holes, then made par-saving recoveries from nearly unplayable lies under cactus to halve the first two extra holes before succumbing on the fifth extra hole.
Dubuisson caught the eye of World Hall of Famers Tom Watson and South African Gary Player.
Watson wrote on Twitter: “Two of the greatest up-and-downs I have ever seen Victor!!!” Player added: “This is simply fantastic stuff!! @Vdubush is Houdini.”
Who needs Woods when you got cactus?
Quote of the day
“We’re a dangerous basketball team. This is when you want to be playing some of your better basketball, and I think we’re going in that direction.” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson
Sports, Pages 20 on 02/26/2014