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Glenross Golf Course
Author: ohiogolf
Was it any surprise?
Derek took on Blair in The Big Break final. Blair got off to an early birdie and a one shot lead on the first hole but quickly surrendered that lead. She fell to three shots behind with three holes to go and never threatened Derek.
Derek managed to not get in too much trouble off the tee (which had been his weakness in earlier shows) and Blair’s putter never got going. In the end, the difference appeared to be Derek’s iron play. He stuck it close time after time and Blair (who was often left with the shorter approach) couldn’t get inside of him.
The rest of the Big Breakers were on hand to cheer them on. They all seemed overly sedate. Robert didn’t say a thing throughout the show and seemed to still be stewing over his early departure. Nicole was none too happy either and good ol’ Brenda was the first to run up and hug Derek when he finished (at least that’s what The Golf Channel chose to show). The budding romance between Derek and Nicole must have got deep-sixed by Derek soon after it started. Gerina was pulling for Derek so she wouldn’t feel so bad about being eliminated before the final. No quotes were offered from Eugene. Brian only had one pithy comment.
Blair was awarded a nominal second place prize – a 5 night stay at the golf course. I doubt she’ll ever come back.
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Live Blog from US Open Final Round
Mickelson just misses birdie on 18. Oh man!
Could be a three way playoff at -2. Who knows?
Duval bogies 17. Ouch!
Mickelson’s last chance – needs to birdie. Hits it way past.
Ok, here comes the tournament. Glover for birdie on 16 – he got it.
Mickelson bombs drive on 18. Barnes misses birdie on 16.
Duval on 17 – short of green as well. Fisher hits to right side of green.
Mahan bogies 17. With Glover close on 16, Phil has to make par putt at 17. Here goes – missed it. That could be it.
Mahan blows his by on 17. Barnes from 178 away on 16 – needs a birdie – 25+ feet away. Glover’s approach from just closer – puts it to within 5 feet. Huge shot!
Phil Mickelson: Secrets of the Short Game (2009)
Being a fan of Phil, I had to get a copy. Luckily there are sellers on Amazon that don’t charge retail and I picked it up for $23.
6-29-09 – Ok, finally got my copy of Phil’s DVD – Secrets of the Short Game. It’s a two DVD set and I’m working my way through some of the sections on the first DVD for a second time. I started watching the putting section and shouldn’t have been surprised to see a plug for a Dave Pelz putting alignment gadget, the putting tutor. This looks to be the best putting device that I’ve seen from Pelz. Of course, it begs the question, “How damn much?”
Appears to be about $43. Looks like it could be worth it.
I was most interested in the chipping section. Phil demonstrates his hinge and hold method which was easy enough to duplicate on a regular chip shot with the face of the club fairly neutral. I then tried it by opening the club fully. My initial results were a bunch of nasty shanks. I came back and re-watched that portion of the video. Once you open the club fully, you then have to re-align the club face so that it is aimed at the target. You do this by turning your body towards the left. Next, you take your grip. It’s really odd because when you fully open the club face, your grip will be way behind you. The ball also seems like it is quite a ways forward in your stance. Gripping the club in this position seems very odd. But after making these adjustments, I was able to hit the shot no problem. Distance control will take a lot of practice. Now the question is do I really need this shot out on the course. We will find out.
I also really enjoyed his three foot putting drill section. Not sure if I want to spend the time to try and make a hundie in a row. Phil’s point is to build a foundation with the three foot drill. If you can get your chip or your first putt to within three foot, odds are you will make that 3 footer or less 97-100% of the time. His three foot drill also allows him to deal with pressure. If he’s out on the course and has a critical three foot putt, he steps to the side and pretends to make one. In his mind, he goes back to the drill and picks a number. “Eighty-eight putts in a row.” Then he steps over the ball and strokes it in for 89 in a row. Just like he did in practice. Of course, as he gets closer to 100 in a row in practice, the pressure is building. In essence, he’s simulating the pressure that you would feel in a tournament through his practice drill.
– more later
Lori Atsedes – 36th on money list with $6433 with best finish of T5
Kim Welch – 46th on money list with $5310 and best finish T7
Caroline Larrson – 48th with $4883 and best finish T12
Gerina Mendoza – 52nd with $4,537 and best finish T14
Briana Vega – 99th on money list with $2,162 and best finish T30
James Oborny – please don’t steal my content.
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Tina Miller Twitters
Yes that’s right, the hottest golfer to ever grace The Big Break (according to the readers out there and thanks in part to Tina Miller’s fan club) twitters.
Personally, Kim “Kitty” Welch gets my me – effin’ – ow but I’ll put Tina in a tie for second with that red hot Columbian Valeria Ochoa.
Which all reminds me – should I have another Big Break hotness poll? We’ve got Nicole, Blair, Gerina and many other new faces to add to the mix. Perhaps I should throw in several of the men as well? Ooo, sounds like a good idea.
James Oborny please don’t steal my content.
Here’s the par 4 first hole at Blacklick Woods Golf Course. From the white, it measures 367 yards. I crushed one over the right bunker, and the ball hit the cart path and almost made it to the first green on the Green course. I could have just taken it over the pond and the trees and cut the dogleg. By the way, Blacklick is now $20 to walk 18 on weekdays. Still a bargain but I remember paying $15 for the privilege a few years back.
Even if you bomb one way right, you can still have an opening to the green. The fairways were extremely lush and the greens were in good shape and much faster than they looked to be.
I haven’t written about The Big Break Prince Edward Island in a while but I have been keeping up with the episodes. Let’s sum up what’s happened and get up to date.
Three episodes ago, Eugene found himself in the elimination round with Derek and Gerina. Eugene went into total meltdown mode after hitting a couple bad shots and just started castigating himself. It got so bad that he still couldn’t snap out of it even after Gerina fluffed one out of the sand and left the door wide open for him. Eugene should be the poster boy for the power of positive thinking or maybe the drastic effects of negative thinking.
Two episodes ago, Aaron departed the Big Break PEI. This may have been the episode where Blair drained a 50 foot putt to drive a nail in Aaron’s coffin. After looking extremely shakey early on, Blair is playing her best golf at the right time.
In the most recent episode, Brenda and Gerina went head to head as did Derek and Blair. Gerina had Brenda on the ropes twice but couldn’t close the deal as Brenda made a timely putt to save her ass.
“Dude, Like that was huge!” said Brenda. Where did an Irish chick learn to talk like a valley girl?
If you recall, I questioned Derek’s ability to drive the ball straight. Sure enough, Blair smoked him when he couldn’t hit one in the fairway.
Derek and Gerina went into the elimination. Again, Derek hits his tee ball into the woods and has to chip out. Gerina has him on the ropes but leaves her approach 30 feet away. From about a hundie, Derek, stiffs it to a few feet and saves par.
“Dude, Like that was huge!” said Brenda.
Gerina two putts for par.
Next hole, Gerina is 100+ from the green. She smacks it 30 feet plus past the hole. Derek is 72 yards away and stiffs another to a few feet and birdie to survive to the next show.
“Dude, Like that was huge!” said Brenda.
and James Oborny please don’t steal my content.
Well we’ve got another edition of Big Break Prince Edward Island coming on tonight so might as well update the player rankings. But first a quote from Brian – now departed –
“If I played half as much as they have they couldn’t hold my underwear in their hands.” Not sure what he meant on that one but it was worth quoting.
6. Derek 11.5 points – Hit probably the most amazing shot in Big Break history on episode 6. Got to sit back and watch elimination again. Jury’s still out on Derek.
5. Brenda 12 points – Had one of her worst shows during episode 6. Gerina was able to strap her one her back and push her through the show.
4. Blair 13 points – Played fine in the individual competition but melted when teamed with Eugene. Episode 7 promises to test her mettle. Will she survive?
3. Eugene 13 points – Pulled Blair through and kept her out of elimination. Getting stronger with each show.
2. Aaron – 18 points – Was a complete disaster and put himself and Brian in the elimination. Was able to pick up his game but definitely not deserving of 2nd ranked status.
1. Gerina – 18.5 points – Stayed out of the fire and carried Brenda’s weight right out of the elimination.
At this point, I like Gerina, Eugene and Brenda to be in the final. Stay tuned.
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Brian next to depart The Big Break
It all comes down to putting in the end. Brian and Aaron found themselves in the most recent episode of The Big Break Prince Edward Island. Brian and Aaron had teamed up in the flop wall challenge. As part of that challenge, the losing team would go to elimination and compete against each other. Aaron’s poor execution put them in the elimination as he hit the flop wall on his first attempt and then failed to sink a 4-5 foot putt.
The elimination consisted of three holes of golf and each competitor got to choose one hole. Aaron chose a 358 yard par 4 that required a drive over water with a carry of 245 yards to clear the water. Brian chose a par 5. The competitors finished up on the downhill #18.
Aaron, of course, believed that Brian couldn’t carry the water on the 14th hole. Brian got up and ripped one over the water easily. In fact, he probably hit it around 270. I was amazed as he managed to hit three only around 215 in the driving grid challenge earlier. Aaron lost his drive right but managed to still have a shot from about 82 yards. He stuck that about 6 feet from the pin. This must have flustered Brian because he crushed his short approach to the back of the green and three putted for bogey. Aaron had a chance to take a 2 shot lead after one hole but missed his short putt.
Aaron teed off first on the next hole and, as seems to be customary on this show, lost his drive in the woods way left. Despite his claims of using strategy, Brian blindly stepped up to the tee with a driver as well and promptly lost his drive in the woods to the right. What are these idiots thinking? Take a three wood and hit it down the middle.
Aaron had no shot and left his second in the woods and finally managed to chip out on his third. Brian was able to advance his shot out of the woods and down the fairway for a simple approach of less than 100 yards. Aaron had just over 150 left for his fourth shot. He hit it way short and had a 35+ foot uphill putt for par. The door was wide open for Brian who also hit his short. Instead of rolling back down the hill, Brian’s ball checked and stopped. He had about 15 feet for birdie.
Aaron then hit a great putt for a tap in bogey. He went to tap in and missed that putt as well and finished with a double bogey.
So here we are, if Brian makes the birdie he goes to the final hole with a two shot lead. If he makes par, he still has a one shot advantage. His birdie putt lips out and he has 3-4 feet for par. What does he do? He blows the par putt and settles for bogey. They go into the last hole tied.
On 18, the Golf Channel shows Aaron teeing off first which may have been the result of some editing. Brian had the honor. Aaron finally rips a huge drive down the middle. Brian flares his out to the right and is left with 150+ into the green.
Here we go again. Brian rips his approach over the green and into the back bunker. He gets a fried egg lie on a downhill slope to a green that runs away from him.
Door wide open for Aaron who slams the door on his hand as he cranks his to the back of the green. Brian makes a great escape out of the bunker but is left with a long putt for par. He runs it by the hole and taps in for bogey. Aaron finally exhibits some putting skill and two putts for the win.
It was a poor exhibition of golf. Are these guys any good at all?