Golfers, it seems, are creatures with conviction. For the September Blog Poll Question, I asked if you, Dear Readers, had ever walked off of a golf course because the pace of play was too painfully slow to continue. While I expected there to be a few curmudgeonly responses akin to the golf version of “Whippersnappers”…
I predominately play golf on daily fee and municipal golf courses. Every once in a while I’ll be fortunate to receive an invite to play a private course in our area, or I’ll take a golf trip a couple of times a year and play some really nice courses. Always, without fail, the greens are…
I’ve never been particularly good at answering these questions, “What do you want for (Christmas/Your Birthday/Anniversary/Father’s Day)?” I’m not much of a gadget guy: until this spring, I was still rocking a BlackBerry phone. If people want to buy me clothes, I usually ask for things that are tried and true and don’t require much…
On my several jaunts to Hilton Head Island (“HHI”), the fairly steep discounts offered by the off-island, Bluffton area golf courses are always intriguing. On the course websites and on GolfNow, 18 holes with a cart seems to go for half, or even less, of what the HHI-proper courses charged for greens and carts fees.…
Pace of Play issues are not a new phenomenon for the golfing masses. It’s hard to find a recent edition of almost any major golf publication that doesn’t include an acknowledgment of and possible solutions for slow play. The USGA and R&A websites are replete with “helpful” guidelines, course management resources, and results of scientific…
In honor of the United States Amateur kicking off this week, we present the second half of our interview with PGA Tour Pro and Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame member Steve Flesch, on the 30th anniversary of his 1986 Kentucky State Amateur win. For someone those of us who will never play golf at the…
On our recent Guys’ Getaway golf trip through the Indianapolis area, the four of us had a blast on our 36-holes a day, two-day trip. This was our 3rd edition of the Golf Trip, but our first with four players. While I was confident that the golf courses I’d selected would live up to their…
Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate Steve Flesch, a 2007 inductee to the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame, boasts an accomplished professional career resume, counting four wins on the PGA Tour among his seven worldwide professional wins. However, 2016 marks two special anniversaries for Steve for victories he scored a bit closer to his…
What if I told you that there was a golf practice aid that would provide entertainment for your entire family AND seriously help you improve your golf game? Sounds like something Billy Mays would have tried to sell you. Crazy, right? Well, not exactly. Birdie Balls are a product that I have come to swear…
Standing on the first tee of the golf course at Lincoln Homestead State Park in Springfield, Kentucky, is like stepping back in time, and it’s got almost nothing to do with the exhibits about Abe Lincoln’s childhood. Nonetheless, the course remains a reliable, easy-going, good times round of golf, even if golf technology in the…
Editor’s note: Old Silo Golf Club closed permanently in 2017. Today was an exceedingly disappointing and depressing day on the golf course at Old Silo Golf Club. Never mind that my struggles getting off the tee reared their ugly heads again, making it pointless to even try to keep score. Or that I didn’t make…
Golf is hard and every loss isn’t a choke Much will be made, in the coming days, weeks, months, and years, of Jordan Spieth’s “collapse” on the back nine at Augusta National Golf Club in the 2016 Masters Tournament. Words like “choke” and “meltdown” will be casually attached to Spieth’s performance. There will be debates…
Last month, I attended my second consecutive Louisville Golf Expo. While this regional golf show is far cry from the glitz and glamour of the PGA Merchandise Show held annually in Orlando, Florida, this year’s improvement over last year’s experience indicates that the Expo will be around for a while. Sure, there aren’t any elaborate…
Playing golf at Hidden Cove Golf Course at Grayson Lake State Park feels like one is trespassing against Mother Nature. The 2004 Brian T. Ault design, set in the remote Appalachian foothills of Carter County, Kentucky, is a beautiful tract so far from the hustle and bother of everyday life that it could easily pass…
I often wonder when was the last time some of the courses I play actually checked their yardage stakes, cart path markers, or sprinkler head yardages for accuracy to the center of the green. Though, honestly, the 100 & 150 yard markers are really the only ones I really concern myself with, as those are…
A few of you, Dear Readers, have spoken. Those that chimed in on January’s Poll Question about your level of commitment to walking the golf course appear at least as dedicated to walking as I am. That is, if given the opportunity by the course or management, you would prefer to walk. As the Poll…
I enjoy wearing sunglasses on the golf course. I don’t “need” them, in the sense of either I wear them or I don’t go outside during daylight hours, but I appreciate that they make life in the sun a bit more pleasant. I play a lot of late afternoon and twilight golf rounds, when the…
Madison County’s Gibson Bay Golf Course is my favorite public golf course in Central Kentucky, municipal or otherwise. In an area blessed with incredibly diverse, quality options, that should be all one needs to know. Don’t get me wrong, I love my home course, the Gay Brewer Golf Course at Picadome, with all its antiquity…
We don’t spend a lot of time writing about the PGA Tour here at OneBeardedGolfer.com, because, frankly, there are lots of professional journalists and media types with better access, more resources, and actual talent for writing. Everyone once in a while, a story jumps off the greens that grabs us and requires our two cents.…
It’s been kind of fun week here at OneBeardedGolfer.com for random acts of needless publicity. First, Matt Ginella answered a One Bearded Tweet on his #AskMattG mailbag segment on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive program, which was a complete hoot for The Wife and I. Now, ESPN Senior Golf Writer Michael Collins has chosen another…
We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading to bring you this breaking new report: The One Bearded Golfer got a shout-out this morning on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive program. Prior to the regular “Ask Matty G” segment, wherein Matt Ginella answers questions on golf trips and golf courses from his Twitter followers (@MattGinellaGC), my…
A fresh look at Scotland’s North Berwick West Links in our first column from our international correspondent, Cincinnati Slim, whom we let out of the OneBeardedGolfer.com research bunker beneath The Greenbrier for a brief leave in November: First of all, for an American visiting golf’s homeland for the first time, North Berwick Golf Club presents…
I’m an ardent golf course walker. I’m not a radical absolutist; I will ride a cart when necessary. However, when given the choice and opportunity, I prefer to walk, for a lot of the obvious reasons. I firmly believe that exercise is a critical component of my golfing experience, and nothing accentuates this like walking…
Call us sheep. Call us sycophants. Call us parishioners at the altar of the Top 100 lists. Just don’t forget to call us when you need a fourth member of your group at one of the world’s most celebrated golf courses. You have spoken, Dear Readers, and by an overwhelming two-thirds majority, you have thoroughly…
2015 was a mixed year on the golf course for us here at OneBeardedGolfer.com. There were plenty of highlights, laughs had, and memories made on some fantastic golf courses. But getting the ball from the tee to the hole efficiently continues to prove elusive. The Good Despite the arrival of the One Bearded Baby, I…