1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Running 2022 Golf Thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Neutral Corner, Jan 6, 2022.

  1. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    There's also something about this that doesn't pass the smell test. To even participate in a U.S. Open local as an amateur, you have to have a 1.4 index or less. There are six John Eckerts in GHIN with an active index, none of them are from Missouri or Kansas, and none have an index of 1.4 or lower. So he must have signed up as a professional, which means either the local PGA section completely fucked up or Central Links Golf, which ran the qualifier, didn't actually check his index, which I find hard to believe.
     
    poindexter, maumann and Tighthead like this.
  2. Tighthead

    Tighthead Well-Known Member

    This was what I was wondering. When I played in provincially sanctioned events I think we had to be a 6.2 or something. Easy to look up.

    There are always the stories of imposters sneaking in, or guys with fake indexes getting a letter afterwards banning them.
     
    maumann likes this.
  3. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    ESPN story has a few more details, including the note that amateurs must have a 1.4 handicap to play a qualifier. This guy got around that by declaring himself a pro, which would run afoul of USGA decorum if he was serious about competing.
    Point being, not only is the course difficult but these are some serious golfers playing these rounds. Former college golfers and even a few faded PGA Tour pros here and there. If you have dreams of going all Roy McAvoy you'd better have your shit together.

    Fantasy football flop leads to Open qualifying dud
     
    maumann likes this.
  4. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Today was a great day to be a lawyer. I'm sure LIV Golf already has suits ready to challenge the Tour on antitrust, their non-profit status, the $600 greens fee at Sawgrass and who knows what else. But in the meantime, some middling pros on the PGA Tour will go play anyway. At the end of the day here's why, as Bob Harig explained at Morning Read/SI.com:

    The winner of the Canadian Open will receive $1.368 million, while the winner of the LIV event gets $4 million. Perhaps more startling: if you finish 48th at the Canadian Open, the payout is approximately $20,000 and you have to make the 36-hole cut and beat a bunch of guys on the weekend to get it. Finishing 48th at the LIV event, which has no cut, is worth $120,000 – for beating no one.

    Plus maybe you got an appearance fee to be there, too.
     
  5. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    To close the loop on the fantasy football idiot, he did indeed sign up as a professional, which means he'll lose his amateur status. Not like he was playing in competitive events anyhow, but he won't be able to even play in anything at a club level because you need to have an index to play in things like your member-guest or member-member.
     
    Tighthead likes this.
  6. Noholesin1

    Noholesin1 Active Member

    All the details have long since faded, but I remember hearing a story many years ago of a guy who entered a USGA event . . . don't recall if it was a 36-hole qualifier for the Open or Amateur . . . who obviously didn't belong. He started with something like 12-11-7 and then WD'd.
     
  7. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    And more, after talking to someone from our competitions department at our U.S. Women's Open qualifier today.

    The AGAs don't handle any of the entries. It all goes through the USGA, so the USGA didn't vet anything about this cat before ramming it through. He paid his nominal entry fee ($150 or $200), checked the professional box, and was entered. So there was nothing that Central Golf Links could have done. The USGA sends the AGA the entry list, and I believe the USGA even goes as far as to set the starting times. We're just there to set up the course, grab the scores and hand out the medals afterward.

    All I know is if my 30-handicap ass had to play from 7,000 yards while having to count every shot by the rules, I'd shoot 180. No foot wedges or "I'll just drop up here and take my stroke" allowed. Ha.
     
    maumann likes this.
  8. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    I'm about a 9 (8.8 after yesterday's "in-the-money" round!) and while I would likely break 100 on a reasonably good course set up as a US Open qualifier, it wouldn't be a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination.
     
    misterbc and maumann like this.
  9. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Don't you think there's a few of these bogus entries that play every year? I would have to think so, but if they're shooting 95 without a backstory (or failing to sign an ugly scorecard) then it's not getting out like this story. I bet some people would fudge an entry as a way to play a private course.
     
  10. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    No one knows who those people are.

    Progressive TV Spot, 'Dr. Rick: Movies'
     
  11. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    BMW Championship (second-to-last FedEx playoff event), coming back to Colorado in 2024. They played it at Cherry Hills in 2014, but this time they're going to Castle Pines, home of The International from 1986 to 2006.
     
  12. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    Gotta bring back the Modified Stableford Scoring System. Them's the rules.

    In other news, sometimes I think Greg Norman deliberately tries to be unlikeable.

     
    MileHigh likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page