Local Jay Don Blake ends 20 year drought and wins Champions Tour event

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, September 19th, 2011
Categories: Champions Tour • Pro Golf
Tags: Champions Tour

I’d like to send a special congratulations to fellow Utahn Jay Don Blake. JDB won the Champions Tour’s Songdo IBD Championship in Korea after surviving a five hole playoff with John Cook, Peter Senior and Mark O’Meara.

Some Jay Don Blake History

Jay Don Blake attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah. He won the 1980 NCAA Championship and was the NCAA Player of the Year in 1981. He’s a resident of St. George, learning to play golf on the small Dixie Red Hills nine hole course.

Amazingly Jay Don, who I have yet to meet, hadn’t recorded a victory since his lone PGA Tour win back in 1991 when he won the Shearson Lehman Brothers Open by two shots.

Well Played

Once again, congratulations on the big win. Hope the next one comes quicker than 20 years!

Tour Championship Field Set – FedEx Cup Top 30

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, September 19th, 2011
Categories: PGA Tour • Pro Golf
Tags: FedEx Cup

Now that last week’s BMW Championship is completed, the top 30 players are set for this week’s Tour Championship. Which one of these 30 will win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize? The top five players on the list control their own destiny and are guaranteed the $10 mil if they win.

POS	Player	Points	Points Behind
1	Webb Simpson	5,261
2	Dustin Johnson	3,841	1,420
3	Justin Rose	3,748	1,513
4	Luke Donald	3,625	1,636
5	Matt Kuchar	3,349	1,912
6	Brandt Snedeker	3,094	2,167
7	Nick Watney	2,516	2,745
8	Chez Reavie	2,513	2,748
9	John Senden	2,474	2,787
10	Jason Day	2,459	2,802
11	Gary Woodland	2,228	3,033
12	Steve Stricker	2,205	3,056
13	K.J. Choi	2,134	3,127
14	Phil Mickelson	2,110	3,151
15	Mark Wilson	1,973	3,288
16	David Toms	1,958	3,303
17	Jonathan Byrd	1,945	3,316
18	Bubba Watson	1,927	3,334
19	Adam Scott	1,920	3,341
20	Keegan Bradley	1,883	3,378
21	Hunter Mahan	1,851	3,410
22	Jason Dufner	1,806	3,455
23	Vijay Singh	1,798	3,463
24	Geoff Ogilvy	1,789	3,472
25	Bill Haas	1,788	3,473
26	Charles Howell III	1,709	3,552
27	Aaron Baddeley	1,692	3,569
28	Y.E. Yang	1,663	3,598
29	Fredrik Jacobson	1,660	3,601
30	Bo Van Pelt	1,619	3,642

First Look: PING Scottsdale Shea Putter

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, September 16th, 2011
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear

Here is the 3rd and final preview post of the trio of PING Scottsdale putters I’m testing now. This is the “Shea” putter, a mini mallet which is simple in design like the previously mentioned PING ZB S putter.

PING Scottsdale Shea Putter - Click to zoom

Ping has a whole putting arc system called “Fit For Stroke” to match putters with player’s putting arcs, rather than trying to match putting strokes to putters. The Shea is designed for putters with a “slight arc” in their stroke.

PING Scottsdale Shea Putter - click to magnify

PING Scottsdale ZB S putter first look

PING Scottsdale Senita putter first look

Punched Greens Russian Roulette

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, September 16th, 2011
Categories: Golf • Hackers

Had a frustrating day yesterday in my Thursday money game, and left a few bucks short and a little sore. Despite the fact that the course we played is a beautiful track, the greens had recently been aerated. The previous week we played the same course before they punched and I basically crushed my opponents with my putter and a solid 74. This week was an entirely different story.

This time of year in northern Utah we play the game we call “punched greens Russian roulette.” We try to avoid courses which have punched and only play on the courses which haven’t. Yesterday’s round reminded me that I really need to stick to playing non punched or simply non crappy greens.

My Advantage Nullified

I was telling my golf buddy Arnie this yesterday, following my 2nd three putt on the front nine. In my group the players all have their strengths. Arnie’s is his short game–not long off the tee. Marius’s is his ball striking. Good, sound swing and hits his irons well. My strength is my putting, driving accuracy comes in 2nd. My weaknesses are greens in regulation and short game. One-putting saves my ass and compensates for my bad GIR and short game.

When our group plays a course with good or great greens, I feel like I have a great advantage on the greens as I’ll drain some bombs and won’t typically miss putts less than five feet. But on punched greens like yesterday, the ball bounces all over the place and goes off line. The speed is also messed up, usually slower because of the bouncing of the ball. For some reason I over compensate for that and blow it by five feet. Then the 2nd putt is a 5-footer which is a hit and hope.

I’m cruising along at even par when I had my first 3-putt about 4-5 holes in. Thinking the bouncy greens would be slow, I blew it by 6-7 feet. Then the come back 2nd putt bounced off line. Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t take 3-putting lightly. That anger spilled over onto the next hole, a par-3 where I gagged a 5-iron into the lake. From that point on it was a struggle to keep from breaking a club over my head.

So at this time of year when some courses here start punching greens, I feel I need to check and make sure they haven’t punched. Many courses unfortunately don’t disclose this information unless specifically asked, which I think is chickens**t.