Category: Op-Ed

It is Ryder Cup week, this time from Rome Italy. Europe will be looking to bounce back after getting dominated by the U.S. in 2021, the U.S. winning 19-9.

According to our Power Rankings, both teams have their top-10 players all currently ranked in the top-100. This means pretty much all players are coming in to the matches in good form. It looks like for Europe to win it will be 14.5 – 13.5, but I will predict the U.S. will hold the cup after a 14-14 tie. Every point will be critical for both teams.

The 2022 Presidents Cup is here, taking place the Quail Hollow in Charlotte North Carolina.

We have done an analysis of the two teams, and based on our Power Rankings we are predicting a pretty easy win for the United States team.  You can see the comparison for yourself in the table below.

As you can see, the American team has 5 players currently ranked inside the top-20, whereas the Internationals have only one in the top-20. This might be the most lopsided event in the very lopsided history of this competition.

I was looking through some old files in my computer and found a few pictures from the old Tillsonburg Golf & Country Club (now known as The Bridges at Tillsonburg). Back when these pictures were taken the course was still just a nice little 9-hole course, however it was about to start work on a second nine (actually 10 new holes, as the original first hole was not part of the 18 hole layout).

I think Tillsonburg G&CC opened up in 1925.  For many years the course record was held by the legendary Moe Norman, and if memory serves the record was 59, which is a pretty solid 9-under par (the course was 9 holes, but so you did two loops, first from the white tees and the second time around from the red tees). Moe would have shot his score in a tournament sometime in the early or mid 1950s. My dad says he worked as a caddy that day. I believe Andrew Corner shot the first 58, back around 1995, in fact he might have shot 56.

Unfortunately 2021 was the last year for this course to be 18 holes. The members used to own the course, but the town and investors paid for the expansion. They all sold to a single investor, who then sold to the current owners (You might get a sense of the moral quality of the current owner from his actions during the province’s Covid lockdown). The course will become a 12-hole course, with at least 3 of the holes from the original design becoming a housing development.

So sad.

I miss the old 9-hole course.  All of the members all knew each other, and on a good day you could play 18-holes in just over 3 hours.

For those who remember Tillsonburg G&CC, I hope you like the couple of pictures I found and they bring back some nice memories.

The 2020 Ryder Cup will finally get played starting Sept 24, 2021, and so it’s time to compare the teams based on our Power Rankings to see which is most on-form coming into the competition.

Just about every time they play, Team USA is the stronger team on paper but somehow Team Europe ends up coming away with the victory.  This year both teams are full of great players, but based on the current Power Rankings, Team USA should take the cup with ease*.

*I don’t think I have ever picked correctly.

The 2021 Solheim Cup competition kicks off September 3rd at Inverness Golf Club in Toledo Ohio.  As usual for these team competitions we list the participants and their current rankings from our Power Rankings.

Here is the comparison.

Based on current form, it should be a pretty close match but I would expect the Americans to be the victors in the end.

Back when I first started this site there was a section called “Brush with Greatness” where people could submit a story of an encounter with a famous golfer.  Here is one of the entries.

I was looking up something on Youtube, seemingly unrelated, when this popped up in the list of “related” videos.

The Little Rascals, or Our Gang, were a bunch of kids having great adventures, putting on shows, fighting fires, foiling criminals, etc.

I vaguely remember watching “Divot Diggers” episode when I was a kid back when there were Saturday morning cartoons. Overall I would say this is pretty terrible. Enjoy!