Jordan Spieth knows how to mix business with pleasure. His business is playing great golf. His pleasure is playing great golf courses.
Spieth leaves this week for Down Under, where he defends his title Nov. 26-29 in Sydney at the Australian Open. The first stop is Melbourne and a chance to play the fabled sand belt courses. He has games lined up at Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath.
“I’ve heard Kingston Heath is unbelievable,” Spieth said. “And then Royal Melbourne, I hear you get on the first tee and think, ‘Piece of cake,’ and then watch your tee shot bounce in the air. There and then Long Island, the courses there are on my bucket list of courses I haven’t played yet.”
Spieth surely has a long list. He’s only 22 and just completed his third year as a pro.
What intrigues him about Melbourne’s sand belt and Long Island (Shinnecock, National Golf Links) is “that style of golf was meant for that area.”
He missed his chance at Long Island in August during The Barclays, although that was never the plan even before he missed the cut. He was supposed to play with Justin Thomas at Pine Valley the Monday after the tournament. When he missed the cut and had an extra day on his hands, Spieth chose to play Baltusrol with Rickie Fowler (who also missed the cut) to see it ahead of next year’s PGA Championship, and then headed to Boston to work on his game.
Not to worry. That’s an easy trip to plan.
After that?
“I’ve done pretty much everything I want to do,” Spieth said. “I still haven’t played Oakmont (next year’s U.S. Open). We have Royal Troon coming up. I haven’t played Carnoustie. But sought after? Sand Hills in Nebraska, the Coore-Crenshaw. I’ve heard it’s supposed to be that good, from Crenshaw and everyone down there.”
Bang the drum
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay paid $2.1 million for a drum once owned by the Beatles’ Ringo Starr.
“That seems like a lot,” wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind., “but it’s the first Colts acquisition in a year that has shown any sort of rhythm.”
All you can eat
“David Ortiz says he will retire after the 2016 season,” wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com. “Other teams are hoping Pablo Sandoval doesn’t say he will make the same decision – they couldn’t afford the farewell tour banquets.”
No more Fighting Sioux
University of North Dakota backers have selected Fighting Hawks as the school’s new nickname.
The predatory bird mascot was declared the winner after receiving 57 percent of the vote compared to 43 percent for Roughriders in the two-nickname runoff. The vote was open to people with UND ties, including students, staff and alums, and 27,378 votes were cast. The new nickname replaces the Fighting Sioux name that was retired by the state Board of Higher Education in 2012 because the NCAA deemed it “hostile and abusive.”
The school did not release vote totals among the stakeholders, but the UND student body president has said many students prefer Fighting Hawks because it retains some elements of the old nickname and logo.
Three other names considered were: the Nodaks, the Sundogs and the North Stars.
Sports quiz
What is North Dakota State’s mascot?
Sports answer
The Bison or “Thundering Herd”