Author Archives: Jay

About Jay

Weekend golfer whose goal is to always break 80.

Latest Power Rankings for 2014 Ryder Cup Teams

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Now that the “playoffs” are over, here are the current numbers for the 2014 Ryder Cup Teams according to our Power Rankings.

The table below has all of the players on each team. Each player has their current power index number followed by their power ranking position in parentheses, as of Sept. 14.

 Europe  USA
 Rory McIlroy 21.71 (2) Jim Furyk 20.21 (4)
 Sergio Garcia 15.17 (15)  Rickie Fowler 18.58 (5)
Jamie Donaldson 12.17 (24)  Matt Kuchar 10.50 (39)
Stephen Gallacher 11.00 (33) Bubba Watson 10.00 (44)
Justin Rose 10.54 (38) Jimmy Walker 9.58 (48)
Victor Dubuisson 7.58 (73) Hunter Mahan 8.00 (66)
Martin Kaymer 6.00 (96) Webb Simpson 6.13 (95)
Graeme McDowell 5.83 (101) Phil Mickelson 5.50 (108)
Henrik Stenson 5.71 (104) Patrick Reed 5.42 (111)
Thomas Bjorn 3.45 (193) Keegan Bradley 4.71 (134)
 Lee Westwood 2.54 (236) Zach Johnson 4.54 (142)
 Ian Poulter -1.08 (691) Jordan Spieth 4.54 (142)

It looks like it should be a pretty close match.

Cambridge Golf Club Review

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I have decided that this could probably use its own posting. It is an excerpt from the post I did back in June called “Wie Wins U.S. Womens Open, Streelman Makes History and Cambridge Golf Club” (I guess I like long titles)

Here is the excerpt from that post that was about Cambridge Golf Club.

The 2nd hole at Cambridge Golf Club in Cambridge Ontario.

The 2nd hole at Cambridge Golf Club in Cambridge Ontario.

As for myself, I played on Saturday at Cambridge Golf Club located in Cambridge Ontario.  Cambridge is an old style course, not overly long but plenty of mature trees and a few VERY narrow holes.

Last week I had 39 putts with a bunch of three-putts, but at Cambridge I had 31 putts (good for me) with zero three-putts.

Last week I shot 8-over, and this week with eight fewer putts I shot even par.  Go figure.

The 18th hole at Cambridge Golf Club in Cambridge Ontario from about 170 yards out.

The 18th hole at Cambridge Golf Club in Cambridge Ontario from about 170 yards out.

I like Cambridge Golf Course. It was an easy walk (I prefer walking and carrying my clubs). The only complaint was it was a little on the short side. You’ll feel good about your game because you’ll be able to either hit or come close to hitting all of the par-5s in two shots (I hit it about 250 to 265 and was usually close to 200 to 235 yards out on each par 5). The par-3s vary in length, but the par-4s are all pretty short (drivers and nine irons or wedges), except for the 17th where a good drive still left about 170 yards to go to a green that sloped from front to back (so if you hit the green you end up right at the back). The key Cambridge is to hit it straight off the tee.

A Couple of Different Approaches to Greenside Bunkers

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You’d think there would be a lot of good videos about how to play bunkers, but there really isn’t.

This is a pretty good video of how to play out of greenside bunkers, and it shows two different approaches to playing the same type of shot.

Both techniques are good, and I personally approach how to play sand shots like the first approach (but like the guys in the videos say, neither technique is really better or worse than the other).

Remember the main goals of green side bunker play in order of importance:

  1. Get the ball out of the bunker
  2. Get the ball on the green
  3. Get the ball close to the hole

Hopefully this helps.

Baby Bear Plays Thru In BC

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Last week there was a baby bear doing a little dance around the flagstick on a green at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in BC.

I think he was trying to figure out a way to steal the flag off of the pin.  Once he gave up on that, he decided to just take a golf ball.

I think according to the rules, a baby bear is considered an outside agency.

2014 Ryder Cup Teams Comparisons

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The two teams for the 2014 Ryder Cup have now been announced.  How do the teams stack up? That question will be answered by all of the talking heads over the next few weeks.  In the meantime, we will compare the two teams by how players rate on our Power Rankings.

The table below has all of the players on each team. Each player has their current power index number followed by their power ranking position in parentheses, as of Sept. 2.

 Europe  USA
 Rory McIlroy 21.00 (3)  Rickie Fowler 16.79 (5)
 Sergio Garcia 11.75 (21)  Jim Furyk 15.63 (7)
 Stephen Gallacher 11.00 (26)  Matt Kuchar 11.83 (20)
 Victor Dubuisson 9.88 (37) Hunter Mahan 11.42 (24)
 Graeme McDowell 9.75 (38) Jimmy Walker 8.38 (50)
 Justin Rose 9.75 (38) Phil Mickelson 7.83 (60)
 Thomas Bjorn 8.41 (49) Keegan Bradley 7.75 (63)
 Jamie Donaldson 8.25 (52) Webb Simpson 7.75 (63)
 Henrik Stenson 6.96 (84) Patrick Reed 7.21 (77)
 Martin Kaymer 4.63 (144) Zach Johnson 5.83 (106)
 Lee Westwood 2.54 (241)  Jordan Spieth 0.75 (345)
 Ian Poulter -1.08 (710)  Bubba Watson -0.21 (636)

Looking at the current Power Rankings for the two teams, I would give the edge to the US team, even though all discussion throughout the summer has been that the Euros’ team will be stacked and that the US team will be lucky to not be blown out.

Let the endless hours of pointless analysis begin.

Mickelson Enjoys Hospitality At 2014 Barclays

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In the second round on the short par-4 5th hole at the Barclays, Mickelson hit his tee shot into the hospitality tent and then proceeded to play the ball as it lies.

And then in the third round, he did the same thing, although he knew how to play it from the astroturf this time.

The most amazing part of this is that he was able to hit the cart path both days. That is consistent golf, and I wonder if Mickelson will play the hole the same way next year.