The HQ will admit first and foremost that some of us have played this particular track and chewed it up rather nicely for media daze...
But the course at the University of Georgia is one that combines having to play it straight because of the trees and a bit of a links-style as evidenced by the finishing greens at 9 and 18 ((pictured, thanks to me)).
As you see, if a shot goes wayward more than you're used to, you're playing from the other surface and creating some interesting shot choices to save par.
9-to-18: Get your parachute out...
18-to-9: Make sure you know where you're hitting the ball... the green has more slopes than normal...
There are false fronts, mounds, and very little room to work with if you're not paying attention... on both sides... and there are even people who use those earpiece-wireless-based cellphones while golfers are trying to get their work done.
The HQ would love to see real estate agents trying to close contracts in their offices while foursomes play through... that would be awesome...
For your Geoff Sisk Update: The HQ is now, officially, listed as a jinx.
Showing up just in time for a bunker shot and a par-saving putt on Sisk's 18th hole of the day ((the 9th)), Geoff is in another logjam at three-over par 74.
"The greens have improved a lot since Monday," Sisk admitted. "It's another great layout, another great track. There are subtle, little changes out here from years past. It's gotta be great for the Georgia golfers to learn from out here."
Sisk says the par-threes are either long and demanding or, well, short and demanding. In that Round One 75, he thought that he made some incorrect decisions on the course. He knows the joint can "be had"- as he says...
He had to save bogeys twice on the course... not something you want to do.
"I just lost it on the back," he said.
Geoff is paired with Josh Graham this year. Graham carried Troy Merritt's bag last season, and it's tough to get a player-caddie relationship down when you're in a first season together.
"You kinda have to go by feel instead of hard data," Sisk says. "In the end, I'm the ultimate decision-maker, and it's up to me not to make any mistakes out here. But things got so bad for me in the practice round, that I was just like 'Gimme a club.'"
And out here, in some situations, you just have to listen to the guy and the yardages he gives you. The shots you hit may be a little uncomfortable and stuff you're not used to doing on the course, but in the end everything works itself out... or, at least, you hope so...
For the record, though, Geoff thinks his Patriots getting Aaron Hernandez from Florida in the later rounds was a steal and he's looking forward to the Bruins-Flyers playoff series...
Old school hockey...
"I Knew I've Seen This Guy Before, Too..."
That's where "Two Gloves" Tommy Gainey fits in...
Gainey has played the PGA, the Nationwide, the Hooters, the Teardrop, the Grey Goose Gateway, the Tarheel, and the US Pro Golf Tours. The HQ knows him from the last one from exotic locales like: Anderson, South Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Fredericksburg, Virginia...
And since Gainey is from Bishopville, South Carolina, he had both family and family-to-be following him around the course to the tune of a gallery of nine. Gainey has been on Big Break and won- that's probably the place most of you remember him from, and he's looking to take that Big Break and make his own out on tour.
He's getting married in December after both Gamecocks football season and the golf season- he knows what he's doing. His fiancee, Erin, was part of the group. She had finished her day at work, raced over the state line, changed into her flip-flops, borrowed some of Tommy's SPF70 and was good to go- except for all the walking up and down the hills at UGA.
She and her Uncle Brian ((pictured artistically sporting "2Gloves" gear by the way,
thanks again to me)) told me how Tommy and Erin met. Tommy's friend David Robinson ((another golfer- the pride of Sandersville, Georgia)) married Erin's sister, and the two clicked from there. Off the tee, Tommy was crushing it all day- going as far as 360-yards out of the box, but the approaches were short and to the front of the green pretty consistently.
Tommy worked his way around the UGA course to the tune of three-over 74 and a tie for 97th in the field of 156.
Erin gets to see Tommy, on average, once a month. But she also tries to make her way out to events when she can.
"It's fun to go," she admits. "On the good days, it's great. On bad days, I'm still trying to figure it out sometimes. But everyone out here on tour is great."
From the HQ's experience, it's a tough balance. You try to say the right things, and the person you're talking to understands that you mean well with what you're trying to say to comfort them on rough days- like Gainey's round one.
"It's the best job in the world," Tommy says, "if you're good enough. There is no better job. But you have to work hard and you have to work hard at it. It's the best job out here."
And you can see as Gainey tells you what's running through his mind, that he is more than willing to pay the price to improve his 30th-place standing on the money list every chance he can.
"On the Nationwide Tour," he continues, "you can make, what...? 90-to-112,000 dollars a year. On the PGA Tour, it's a million or so. That's where you play for a million dollars a week.
"But you're the man out here. You've got to be the one that does it so you can make it..."
All that fire from the guy who has worn two gloves since he took up golf at the age of 9 or 10. His father started him on baseball, and the idea just transferred over.
Here's a "2 Gloves" PGA Flashback from the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic at Walt Disney World. Gainey finished second there...
((HT: PGATour/Golf Channel))
Oh, the gear Uncle Brian was wearing...
Go here...twogloves.com
Part of the proceeds go to the Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation- helping educational programs in South Carolina.
The HQ is partial to the camo representation ourselves...
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