Fair Weathered Golfers

Have you heard the term “Fair – Weathered Golfer”? It seems that I have witnessed it more this year that previous ones. It may be that I am a bit more of a golf enthusiast than others; however a light misting or hot temperatures certainly does not keep me from playing. Canada = Cold weather, I don’t have to tell you, my fellow Canadians, that it is cool to freezing from October to April (7 months), cool –warmer May and September, and if we are lucky, awesome weather June, July August (3 MONTHS). This year we happen to be lucky, the temperatures have been consistently in the mid to high 20s. I realize that last week was an exception when we had almost record setting highs but we should be embracing the warmth. I can’t support the statement “it is too hot to play”, I think a new brand name is needed for such golfers. In this instance fair weather doesn’t seem to fit because in December we long for hot temperatures to play in. How about “Can’t make up my mind golfer”, or “Need any excuse not to play golfer” or even “Can’t call myself a golfer”. Come on people, everyone was looking forward to a long hot summer as predicted in April and May. Well the weather people have actually come through this time, so far it has been a hot one and I am going to enjoy it on the golf course with the rest of the golfers!

The first round of the British Open has proved to be an exciting one at Royal St. Georges in Sandwich, Scotland. Thomas Bjorn, a reserve, is currently leading at 5 under par. I was getting so sick of hearing the Rory vs Luke debate all week - it was so over done on the Golf Channel. I wish the analysts would just commit to someone already, I liken it to weathermen predicting the weather. I am very excited for Bjorn, because of his previous collapse in 2003 where he blew a 3 shot lead with 4 holes to play, ultimately losing to Ben Curtis. It occurred on the par 3 - 16 where he took 3 shots to get out of the bunker resulting in a double bogey. Bjorn had a small victory on the 16^th today with a birdie, but I have to wonder if he was thinking about his dreaded finish while standing on the tee.  Hole-16 provided even more excitement with Dustin Johnson’s HOLE IN ONE and his finish. He was +4 through 13 holes, finishing birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, bogey to finish at even par - so exciting to watch! Other notable reserves include Kyle Stanley (currently -2) who finished second at the John Deere last week allowing him an entry and Rickie Barnes (currently -2) who got in due to a freak scooter accident injuring Nicolas Colsaerts. I know that it is VERY VERY early in the tournament, there is still a lot of golf to be played and I am loving all of the coverage on TSN, especially since I started watching at 6 in the AM. We are always pulling for Bubba in any tournament, but it’s fun to see some of the underdogs throw up some red numbers!