National Championship Golf -- Free!

If you want to watch some great golf without spending a hundred bucks for a ticket, parking a hour away from the course and elbowing your way through 50,000 spectators, check out the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior Championships next week at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ. They're played concurrently over the two courses July 20-25. Admission is free, there's plenty of free parking, and the golf is guaranteed to be as good as you're going to see anywhere.

But these are kids, right? Yes they are--and fine golfers, too. Entrants must be 17 or under to play in these USGA events, but boys are required to have a handicap index no higher than 6.4 and the girls an 18.4. These may not match U.S. Open requirements, but some of the best players in the game compete in these tournaments. The Girls' Junior helped launch the careers of Mickey Wright, JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Nancy Lopez, Amy Alcott, and Hollis Stacy, who won three consecutive titles from 1969 to 1971. More recent winners include Michelle McGann (1987), Brandie Burton (1989), Aree (Wongluekiet) Song (1999), and 2008 US Women's Open Champion, Inbee Park.

Another three-time title holder is Tiger Woods, who took it in 1991-1993, then turned around and won the U.S. Amateur the next three years. Woods was 15 years, six months, and 28 days old when he won in 1991, making him the youngest champion so far. Other Junior winners include Johnny Miller (1964), Gary Koch (1970), David Duval (1989), and defending champion Kevin Tway (2005), son of professional golfer Bob Tway.

And here's a little bit of history: The first U.S. Junior Championship was played in 1948 and was won by Dean Lind of Rockford, IL, who defeated future U.S. Open champion and legendary golf commentator, Ken Venturi.

The Trump courses won't be baby-fied for these events. The Old Course will play at 7,100 yards and a 75.8 rating and 146 slope for the Junior Am while the New Course will clock in at 7,159 yards with a 74.3/144. They'll play at 6,203 yards (Old) and 6,294 yards (New) for the Girls' Junior. Both courses require accurate games off the tee and masterly putting.

The first two rounds will be played as stroke play, with match play beginning Wednesday, July 22. Two rounds of match play are scheduled for each day, Thursday through the Saturday final. Players will alternate courses, with the boys ending on the New Course and the girls on the Old. If you can't make it in person, the Golf Channel will carry the semifinals on July 24 and the finals on July 25. NBC will air highlights of the tournaments on August 1, 2-3 PM.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

A Swing In The Balance

Connecting your brain to your body sounds like a dangerous approach to the golf swing, especially if you're like me and try very hard to eliminate swing thoughts. But I recently experienced a brief demo of a workout regimen that promises to make that connection the right way--by using bio-mechanical feedback to increase your stability, strength, and flexibility--and I have to say it makes a lot of sense.

It's the Flexor Swing Training Method developed by sports physiologist Skip Latella. The system is based on a set of exercises and movements that train proper position and movement patterns to improve your balance, a key component in a solid golf swing.


In the demo, Latella had me take a few warm up swings, then take the club back to the top of my backswing and hold it for a moment while he touched me lightly on the back, almost knocking me over. It was a shock how tenuous my balance was at that key moment, although considering how erratic my driving has been lately, it shouldn't have come as any surprise.

Then he put me through three short exercises with a three-foot foam roll while standing on two inflatable balance disks. Each movement replicated the golf swing in increasingly difficult patterns, although the hardest part was staying steady on the balance disks. After just three reps of each movement, he had me take the driver back to the top again, then pushed me from behind. I stayed stable, which convinced me that the method has a lot of promise.

I could see how a longer workout would build strength and flexibility, too, since just staying upright on the balance disks is a chore. Latella's program consists of a minimum of six sessions with a certified trainer (several club pros offer it now), with practice workouts between to reinforce the lessons the body is learning. He's offering the program at Club 1133 in White Plains, NY, which is where I saw it.

I've fought an unfortunate sway in my swing for years. From just this brief demo, I can see how the Flexor training could help eliminate that problem while building a stable base for better control and greater distance.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Good Luck To Francella and Hill

Two women golfers I've followed for several years are competing in this week's U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem, PA. My best wishes for a successful tournament go to both of them.

Meaghan Francella of Port Chester, NY, came onto the LPGA Tour in 2007 with a bang by defeating defending champion Annika Sorenstam in a four-hole sudden death playoff at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico City, just her third tournament after moving up to the big show.

“I was a little intimidated when I first shook her hand on the tee,” she told me at the time. “But after that I just tried to stay in my game and play patient.”

It was an auspicious debut that led her to 29th on the money list that year. She also scored three other top-ten finishes in 25 events, taking home over $500,000 in winnings for the year.

Twenty-two-year-old Nan Hill qualified her way into the Open this year. Nan's no stranger to competition, having tied for sixth at the 2009 NCAA Division I Championship and finished fourth at the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. She also won the 2007 Landfall Tradition, leading Wake Forest to its first team title since 2004.

I talked to her the first time when she was a senior at Pelham (NY) High School, where she anchored the boys golf team. By that time, Nan had won the NY State Girls Amateur three times.

"I love the pressure. I love that it's just me out there. No matter whether it's golf or whatever sport I play, I think I would always try to be the best because that's always how I am."

She'll have a great chance to test her mettle this week at Saucon Valley.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Trump Waits For Economy In Scotland

I had an interesting conversation recently with real estate impresario Donald Trump, who uses "The Greatest" in a sentence more often than Muhammad Ali. "What's up with the project in Scotland?" I asked. Here's what he said:

"We have all the permits and everything is ready to go, but I'm not going to build anything until the depression is over."

That's too bad, since I was really looking forward to visiting Trump International Golf Links, which is scheduled to have two world-class golf courses and a luxury hotel sited on 1400 acres of sand dunes at Balmedie Beach in the northeast part of the country.

Martin Hawtree is to design the courses. He's known for his expertise in links courses and worked on Royal Birkdale, Portmarnock, Lahinch and Carnoustie to name but a few. Tom Fazio II, nephew of designer Tom Fazio, did some original routing work on the Aberdeen property, but Hawtree took over when Fazio turned his attention to the New Course at Trump Bedminster.

Trump went through some battles to get permission to build on the property, fighting farmers and others who want to preserve the property in its present state. The chance to bring new tourist dollars to the area--with the accompanying jobs in construction and resort operation, won the day, however, and Trump's project is now clear for takeoff as soon as the economy permits.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

Trump Bedminster New Course - Impressive Test

The rolling hills of New Jersey's Somerset County make not only great horse country, but great golf country as well. Among the gems in the area is Trump National Bedminster, just a few minutes off I-78. Donald Trump opened the New Course last year after receiving rave reviews for the Old Course that debuted on the property in 2004. Tom Fazio did the first one and his nephew, Tom Fazio II, designed the New Course. The two will host the 2009 USGA Junior Amateur Championship and Girls' Junior Championship concurrently July 20-25.

The New Course has six sets of tees, with the tips stretching a monstrous 7,534 yards, including a par three that plays 270 from the black tees. It's slightly downhill, but still..... That hole, like most of the others on the course, has a spacious green full of not-so-subtle (would you expect anything else from Trump?) humps, bumps, curls, and contours.

Another consistent feature of the design is really well-placed fairway bunkering that turns what could be mediocre short and medium-length par fours into strong tests of driving skill. The 17th and 18th holes are particularly challenging. The 17th is only 374 yards from the blue tees, but a nasty bunker intrudes from the left and cuts the fairway in half at the landing area about 210 yards out. It takes a 250-yard carry to clear it. The second shot is a tester, too, with a two-club elevated green protected by bunkers right front and left side. It's probably one of the smallest greens on the course.

The finishing hole is 420 yards from the blue tees and plays uphill all the way. There's a particularly deep swale in front of the severely-humped green, so many players are going to end up playing it as a three-shot hole whether they intended to or not.

Say what you will about Donald Trump, but the man builds good golf courses. The New Course at Trump National Bedminster is an impressive test of golf.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

U.S. Open Won By Qualifier Lucas Glover

One of the great but overlooked stories of the 2009 U.S. Open is that three of the top four finishers all got into the event through the sectional qualifying tournaments. Lucas Glover, the winner, played his way into the tournament by shooting 133 in the qualifier at Columbus, Ohio, as did runner-up Ricky Barnes.

Barnes, who led after the first two rounds, has been playing on the Nationwide Tour. David Duval, who tied for second, was also a qualifier, having rebuilt what looks to be a promising game after years in the cellar recouping from a precipitous drop from his British Open win in 2001.

The last time a qualifier won the tournament was New Zealander Michael Campbell in 2005. Steven Jones did it in 1996, which was the first time in 20 years. In other words, Glover is one of only three qualifiers to win the U.S. Open since about the time Tiger Woods was born.

A record number of golfers entered the U.S. Open this year, according to the USGA. 9,023 players entered the qualifying tournaments. Entries were received from golfers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 71 foreign countries.

The stellar performance by qualifiers is particularly apropos at Bethpage, where top tour pros and weekend hackers are equally welcome to play.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo

A U.S. Open Green With Teeth

Another significant change the USGA has made to the course setup for this year's U.S. Open is to strive for consistent green speeds over all four days of the tournament. In my opinion, this will improve scoring as well, since the players will not have to make daily adjustments as greens get faster during later rounds as has been the case in the past. The weather, of course, is going to make it harder for the goals to be achieved, but the principle remains the same.

Mike Davis, USGA senior director for Rules and Competitions, said this morning:

Last night, after six days of trying, we finally reached the lower end of our desired range – an average of 14 feet on the Stimpmeter. With the rain overnight and early Thursday, the greens have likely slowed to the low- to mid-13 range.

That's still pretty speedy. As a note of comparison, the faster greens at most private clubs will peak out around 11, with an occasional masochist greens committee chairman who presses the superintendent to push them up to 12 or 13. Most public and resort courses will register closer to 8 or 9.

Most of the greens at Bethpage aren't particularly severe. Unlike Winged Foot, they lack the huge undulations and steep slopes that make putting a hit-or-miss proposition much of the time. That's one reason the USGA is pushing the envelope with speed this year.

There are exceptions, however. The eighth hole slopes significantly from back to front and the extension of the green toward the pond in front, coupled with a shaved bank, will make putts above the hole a real test of nerves. Eleven has a substantial false front, too, and seventeen is split by a ridge that can keep things interesting.

Nothing compares with the fifteenth green, however. Without question it's already the toughest hole on the course, requiring a laser-accurate drive to stay in the fairway followed by a second shot to a blind putting surface perched fifty feet above the player's head. The green is brutal, with a six-foot drop from back to front exacerbated by tiering. According to the NY Times, only three percent of the green's surface is level enough for a hole. Check out their graphics for a great overview of the hole.

I've putted (and chipped) from above the hole under normal conditions and can guarantee it's no fun. Honestly, I can't imagine doing that at U.S. Open speeds.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo