The recent murky details of Tour player Lucas Glover, his wife Krista and his mother was a tough read. Mainly because its something no one wants to go through and we tend to believe a pro golfer’s life is perfectly fine with swollen bank accounts and endless perks.

GolfWorld writer John Feinstein outlines the unfortunate experiences of several Tour players dealing with health and family issues to illustrate even a “blessed” pro golfer’s life is fraught with the same issues as us common folk.

“If Lucas was a lawyer and he came home after a bad day and the exact same thing had happened, it wouldn’t have been any kind of story,” Paul Goydos said. “But because he’s a professional athlete [and a U.S. Open champion], it’s all over the Internet and the news. Things happen in people’s private lives all the time. But when you’re a public figure, they tend not to be private.”

There is a tendency for those who watch great athletes perform to think the rest of their life is as easy as they make playing a sport appear to be. After all, those who succeed at the highest levels of sport make money that few people can even relate to.

“People think because you’re making a lot of money—whether it’s as an athlete or an actor or any other job where you perform in public—that you have a perfect life,” Goydos said. “In reality, that’s often far from the truth.”

Sometimes, as a reporter, you know things about an athlete’s personal life that you don’t report because it IS personal and it should be up to them whether to go public with the story.

But when there’s a police report involved—as with Glover two weeks ago; as with Woods nine years ago and again after his DUI stop last year—privacy is no longer an issue. Once a public figure is involved in a story that is in the public domain, any pleas for privacy will go unheeded.

Being an athlete—even the wealthiest and most successful of athletes—doesn’t protect you from loss or from unhappiness. Goydos remembers reading a story about a group of researchers who interviewed several lottery winners and several paraplegics and then going back to talk to the same people about their lives a year later.

“Almost without fail, the parapalegics were happier than the lottery winners,” Goydos said. “A lot of times life is about your expectations. You win the lottery, you expect to be happy. If you’re a paraplegic, you’re probably happy for anything good that happens in your life.

“When you’re a kid playing golf, you think that if you make it to the PGA Tour and make millions you’re going to be happy because that’s your dream. Sometimes, when the dream comes true, you find out it isn’t all you’d thought it would be. And that can make you very unhappy.”

The post Lucas Glover’s Private Struggle Is A Reminder That Tour Players Are Human appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

BMW Charity Pro-Am winner Michael Arnaud was the hottest player on the planet last weekend. He not only won the event by five shots, but was nine under par after his first seven holes on Friday.

These scores have been confirmed.@michael_arnaud is 2-under on birdie golf today @BMWCharityProAm @Thornbladeclub. pic.twitter.com/dd3hEVdNcU

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 18, 2018

His week got even better as Kyle Porter reports on cbssports.com.

Can you imagine making a bogey over nine holes of golf? Congratulations, you’re just like the rest of us. Now, can you imagine shooting a combined 55 over the same nine holes with a bogey over the course of two days? That’s what Web.com Tour player Michael Arnaud did en route to his victory at the BMW Charity Pro-Am this week in Greenville, South Carolina.

Arnaud’s scorecards have to be seen to be believed. Because of the field size with so many amateurs playing, the tournament is broken up over three different courses. Arnaud played the Thornblade Club on Friday and dropped a 60 which included a 27 on the front nine (with that bogey). A 27 with a bogey! Arnaud started birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie and shot 60 on the day.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done that to start a round. I think I’ve had a few times back home where I’ve done it in the middle of the round but never to start the round off,” Arnaud told PGATour.com. “I thought I put a cheat code in for a video game. It almost got laughable.”

Again, these scores have been confirmed.@michael_arnaud has recorded scores of 27-28 on @Thornbladeclub‘s front nine this week @BMWCharityProAm.

He leads by two as he chases his first #WebTour title. pic.twitter.com/lUtwkK1YvA

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 20, 2018

Arnaud nearly matched his 27 with a bogey-free 28 on the front nine. That’s 55 on the front nine at Thornblade the two times he played it on the week. He went on to shoot 63 in the final round and won by five over Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Robby Shelton.

Even more incredibly, Arnaud almost didn’t get into the field and has only played six Web.com Tour events in the last two years to go with his one (!) PGA Tour event in his entire career. As Golf Digest noted, Arnaud plays the APT Tour and has yet to crack $8,500 this year. He’s ranked No. 1,993 in the world, which is essentially the same as not being ranked.

Now he’s probably going to be on the PGA Tour in 2019 as the top 25 money earners from the Web.com Tour get their cards. Arnaud, age 36, will likely be among them after taking home $126,000 (which is $4,000 shy of his career earnings total on the Web.com Tour and $126,000 more than he’s earned all year on the Web.com Tour).

“It was great,” said Arnaud of closing the tournament with a huge lead at the final hole. “I have so many people telling me to keep grinding, keep grinding,” he said. “They knew I had the talent to make it out there. My wife just tells me to keep working at it. And that’s what I’ve done. And finally the fruits of my labor have just paid off.

Last man in the field
Ties #WebTour nine-hole scoring record (27) Friday
Flirts with 59 Friday
Season earnings of $0 to 13th in #The25
1st win breaks @BMWCharityProAm record by TWO

What a week for @michael_arnaud pic.twitter.com/9nvQEAfTd0

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) May 20, 2018

The post Tour Player Posts A Ridiculous 55 On Two Front Nines Last Week appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Trick shots are fun to try. Except when the execution goes poorly. Such is the case when a Dad allows his kids to attempt hitting a ball off his head.

Trickshot gone wrong…AGAIN #golf #golfer #golfgods #trickshot #fail #failarmy #fatherandson #woodchopping @golfgods @golfballed @golfchannel

A post shared by SAM BLEWETT (@sam_blewett) on May 21, 2018 at 2:26pm PDT

So beware all you proud fathers. Trick shots are great, but maybe do a trial run or two first.

The post This Trick Shot Did Not End Well For Dad appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

21-year old Aaron Wise won the AT&T Byron Nelson in terrific fashion. In fact, as GeoffShackelford.com reports, Wise had the highest Greens in Regulation percentage over four rounds by a winner in 21-years. Even with Trinity Forest’s humongous greens, its still an impressive ball-striking clinic for the young lad.

By the way, runner-up Marc Leishman hit 77.78% of his greens. Wise moves onto Colonial this week to attempt a never-achieved feat of winning the Nelson and Colonial back-t0-back.

Wise Guy gets the win!

21-year-old Aaron Wise dominates tee-to-green to capture first #PGATOUR victory @attbyronnelson #RogueDriver #ChromeSoftX pic.twitter.com/XoB3gPUtyi

— Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) May 21, 2018

PGATour.com’s Mike McAllister reports that Aaron’s Mom apparently gave too much giddy advice before her son “asked” her to leave the room before the round.

You’re at the gym on Sunday morning when you get a text saying your tee time is being pushed back because of inclement weather. A four-hour delay.

You don’t know what to do. Your routine is all out of whack. And now your mother, who arrived in town the night before to offer support, is telling you all the benefits that come with a win, or at least a high finish. Her heart’s in the right place, but it’s not what you need to hear at that moment.

“You’ve got to go,” Aaron Wise told his mother Karla.

So she left the hotel room, giving you a chance to chill out. It was the right call. Eighteen holes later in the gloom of a very long day, the task was successfully completed – a bogey-free 65 for a three-shot win over playing partner Marc Leishman at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

At age 21, Wise becomes the second-youngest winner of the event, eclipsed only by Tiger Woods.

As for Mom? Don’t worry, she’ll understand.

“I kind of made her leave the room,” Wise said. “She went and did her own thing for a little bit. I was able to kind of stop thinking about it, get back into the zone … it was kind of business for me after that.”

The post Aaron Wise Achieves The Best GIR Percentage For Winner Since 1997 appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Tiger Woods still is the straw that stirs the PGA Tour interest. So, if you could bid on the opportunity to caddie for TW, what’s your price point?

One guy at last week’s Tiger Jam won with a $50,000 bid.

That’s $50 large to caddie for Woods for one day.

Anyway, for devout Woods’ fans, lets boil it down to how many month’s salary you’d be willing to cough up.

“Joe, take the day off.” @TGRFound supporter to caddie for Woods Wednesday at #HeroWorldChallenge for $50,000 donation in the #TigerJam live auction. – TGRhttps://t.co/EjoJ2bpRh4 pic.twitter.com/yu2MY2dUGV

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 21, 2018

Of the course, the money will be headed for the TGR Foundation, which aims to “equip underserved students with the resources to ensure lifelong success.”

The 2018 Hero World Challenge will take place in Albany, Bahamas, Nov. 29-Dec. 2. The Pro-Am is set for Wed., Nov. 28.

The post Would You Pay $50,000 To Caddie For Tiger Woods? appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

I’m guessing your typical Mid-Am event doesn’t include calling the cops because one competitor punched another in the parking lot?

GolfChannel’s Ryan Lavner has the details.

Florida State Golf Association declared Marc Dull the winner of the 37th Mid-Amateur Championship on May 13 after his opponent – in a tie match with two holes to go – was unable to return because of an “unfortunate injury” sustained during a lengthy weather delay.

According to a police report (see below) obtained by GolfChannel.com, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office received a call that afternoon from Dull’s opponent, Jeff Golden, who claimed that he’d been assaulted in the parking lot at Coral Creek Club, the tournament host site in Placida. In a statement provided to police, Golden said that he was sucker-punched in the face by Dull’s caddie, Brandon Hibbs.

Both in his statement to police and in a subsequent phone interview afterward, Golden, 33, said that the alleged incident stemmed from a rules dispute on the ninth hole during the championship match. As he surveyed his putt, Golden asked Dull whether the cup was damaged or if there was loose debris around the edge.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hibbs reportedly told Golden. “If you’re going to make it, you’re going around it.”

With tensions already running high because of what he perceived as breaches of etiquette by his opponents, Golden informed the rules official in the group that he believed Hibbs’ statement constituted advice. The penalty was a loss of hole, giving Golden a 2-up lead at the turn.

At that point, Hibbs told police, he recused himself and returned to the clubhouse. Dull and Golden continued their match, heading to the 17th hole all square when they were pulled off the course because of inclement weather.

Golden told police that he headed to the parking lot at 2:45 p.m. to retrieve some dry clothes from his car when Hibbs “approached him, apologized, then punched him on the left side of the face,” causing him to fall to the ground.

“I had a moment where I was happy to see him, because the first thing he said to me was, ‘I want to apologize,’” Golden said last week in a phone interview. “By the time he finished I was being punched.”

Asked why he believed Hibbs would strike him, Golden said: “It was from the earlier ruling, 100 percent. He had anger toward me because I called him out on a ruling.”

In a statement given to police, Hibbs, 36, said that he had “been in the clubhouse the entire time and did not batter [Golden], nor was he in the parking lot.” Hibbs, who caddies with Dull at Streamsong Resort in Central Florida, did not return a message seeking comment.

Police wrote in the report that there were no witnesses to the alleged attack, nor was there any surveillance video from the parking lot. While observing Golden the officer noted “no swelling or abrasions to the face,” but there was “some redness on the inside of [Golden’s] lip.” Hibbs’ hands and knuckles showed “no scrapes or abrasions.”

Golden, however, said that there were three bloodstains on his shirt and punctures inside his mouth that proved he’d been struck. He also described himself afterward as “dizzy” and seeing “weird shades of colors,” and that the area between his wrist and thumb was “very sensitive” from catching his fall. Still feeling woozy, he met with his doctor the day after the alleged incident and also underwent a CT scan on Friday.

“I was extremely shaken up,” he said. “I had concussion symptoms.”

Golden declined to press charges – he said later that he wasn’t given the option, because of a lack of physical evidence – and refused medical attention.

Reached by phone last week, Dull said that he had no knowledge of the alleged attack and was only made aware once the police arrived. He said he had waited out the delay in a storm shelter.

“It was shocking,” he said. “[Hibbs] said to me, ‘I didn’t touch the guy.’”

The post Cops Called Due To Punched Player At Florida Mid-Am appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Adam Scott has played well his last few events after struggling to regain a worthy putting stroke. Yet, he had to finish better than his T-9 at the AT&T Byron Nelson to bypass sectional qualifying. The good news; it was Adam’s first top-10 in over a year.

That finish left him at 61st in World Rankings. He needed to be 60th or better to bypass the sectional qualifying. Thus, Adam’s 2nd longest consecutive major streak ends at 67. Sergio Garcia has the longest mark at 75 and counting. The record is 154 straight by Jack Nicklaus.

GolfWorld’s Ryan Herrington reports.

All is not lost for Scott. There is another cutoff for players inside the top 60 in the world after the FedEx St. Jude Classic (June 11), just as U.S. Open week begins.

He’ll also be competing at this week’s Fort Worth Invitational and is prepared to play the Memorial and the FedEx St. Jude Classic if needed to earn his trip. He is not, however, scheduled to compete in sectional qualifying.

“I’ll play next week and hopefully play really well, and give myself a bit of cushion so I can take a week or so off and try to prepare the best I can for the U.S. Open,” Scott said.

Scott’s major streak began in 2001 at the Open Championship. During his run, he has one win (2013 Masters), eight top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and just 15 missed cuts.

The post Adam Scott Major Streak In Jeopardy appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Among all the hang-wringing over what the Tour pros thought of Trinity Forest GC, outside of the golfers that didn’t play well (no surprise there) most said the course’s unique layout was a breath of fresh air from the Groundhog’s Day sameness each week on typical Tour stops.

There’s much to like about it although hopefully there are some improvements on the horizon.

1. Figure out better gallery access on holes so it doesn’t look like a Tuesday practice round on TV. Even marquee Jordan Spieth’s threesome had nearly zero followers on various tee boxes.
2. Provide more video graphics to display to viewers the undulating terrain on fairways and greens. TV flattens out every course (even Augusta National), so giving better visual details is a good viewing bonus. In addition, how about a long drive graphic on a par-5 to show how long the rollouts are. Spieth hit a few drives over 350-yards.
3. More shade for the gallery. While officials mentioned stationing shade and misting tents around to provide relief from the blazing heat, it appeared more gallery members huddled near hospitality suites to find shade.

Okay, onto what the pros thought via the Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington.

Mark Leishman: “I think if we were to get a bit of wind, it’s going to change this place completely,” said Leishman, who hit every fairway Thursday. “I think you’re going to see some years where 20 under will win the tournament, some years 5, 6 under will win it. All weather-dependent. “When I got here and saw instantly, I was happy that we’re here and it’s just a cool spot, something that we don’t play all the time,” he said. “I think it’s a good change.”

Spieth: “It was about as easy tee to green as I’ve ever seen this place. Not surprised to see low scores. Wish I got more out of it, honestly.”

Sam Saunders: “I fell in love with this golf course,” he said. “I think it’s really good. I think it’s a very fair test of golf. As you can see by the names on the leaderboard, it suits all types of players.”

Keith Mitchell: “There’s so many different ways to play it you can get lost and end up playing the wrong shot.”

Matt Kuchar: “I think best said under the lesson, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. “I really liked Las Colinas. That place was great. I really, really enjoyed Las Colinas.”

Sergio Garcia: “Course played great. Firming up a little bit, but the weather was beautiful. Wasn’t a lot of wind. I don’t know, just wasn’t able to get it close to the pin.”

There will no doubt be more accolades and slams as the tournament goes forward. Not many players like change (and they’re an ultra-conservative bunch anyway), so allow for some common sense patience and I believe the course will adapt and find its sweet spot.

The post Initial Feedback Fairly Positive After 1st Round At Trinity Forest GC appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

There are some very pricey exotic golf shafts on the market (can you stomach $1,200 per?), but these filled with cocaine might trump them all. Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier has the details.

According to police in Western Australia, a suspected drug smuggler was nabbed at Perth Airport with a set of golf clubs allegedly loaded with a kilo of cocaine.

Police said they they noticed the man “acting strangely” while holding a set of clubs. When they checked his sticks, they found something surprising: the 55-year-old was allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine in the shafts.​ Police did not provide the make or model of the set, but did provide photos of one shaft cut open and another that had been x-rayed.

X-ray of shaft and blow.

The almost one kilogram of cocaine being smuggled in a set of golf clubs was among illegal drugs netted by WA police as part of a recent nationwide crackdown.

Street value is about $24,000-$27,000 in the states.

The post Why These Are Probably The Most Expensive Golf Shafts appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Golf rules are at best good for the game but not when a rules official makes a mistake and then doesn’t admit it. Such was the case at an Oregon state high school golf tournament. 12 players were told by an official to play from the wrong set of tees. Cue the chaos when those players (and their coaches) were disqualified.

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall has the bummer details.

According to students, coaches and school administrators, a rules official directed some of the players to hit from the markers that ultimately led to their dismissal—and then denied it.

The first group—comprised of players from Rogue River, Columbia Christian and Grant Union—arrived at the 13th hole at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks, Ore., during the first round of the state tournament and noticed the blue tees, which were the official markers, were 40 yards further back than the stated 172 yards on the scorecard. Spotting the discrepancy, the players asked a Rogue River assistant coach who was walking with the group what they should do. The assistant noticed a rules official nearby and went to receive clarification.

“My assistant didn’t know what to do, so he asked the official, who pointed towards the red tees and said, ‘Looks like we’re hitting from here today, boys,’ ” says Rob Isom, head coach of Rogue River. The assistant told the boys they were good to hit from the red.

Bart Valentine, athletic director for Columbia Christian, said his coach, Todd Hamilton, also immediately recognized a problem. According to Valentine, the rules official failed to provide any help.

“My coach said, ‘You need to figure this out,’ ” Valentine says. “Well, [the rules official] didn’t.” The second group followed by playing from the red tees as well.

The third pairing did not leave anything up to chance, approaching the official for the ruling.

“After we had finished the 12th, we walked to the the next hole, towards the blue tees,” says James Gordon of Rogue River. “After checking the scorecard and seeing that the yardage didn’t match up, we asked the marshal.”

Rogue River’s Isom was at the 13th hole when this occurred.

“[Gordon’s] playing partners started at the blue markers when the official said, ‘Hey, you guys are down here,’ motioning to the reds,” Isom says.

“My kid and the Grant Union kid heard this, too,” AD Valentine affirms.

Members of the fourth group noticed the error as well, but were similarly instructed to go off the red tee. Joe Lafever of Red River thought nothing of their tee shots. That is, until he was on the green, when a different marshal in a cart approached.

“After putting I’m asked from a cart, ‘What tee time are you guys?’ To which I replied, ‘7:57,’ ” Lafever recalls. “He then asks what tees we played from on 13, and I said, ‘We played from the reds because it was 172.’ He then writes something down and begins to drive away. I said, ‘Excuse me sir, is there an issue? We were told to play [the reds] on that hole.’ And he does not say a word, he just keeps driving. I then said, ‘Excuse me sir!’ And he turns and replies very abruptly, ‘Stick to the blue tees for the rest of your game.’ And he drives away.”

According to Jason Miller, dean of students and athletic director at Grant Union, after the fourth group went through, a course official notified the groups behind that they were to hit from the blue tees, despite the wrong distance on the scorecard.

“If [the rules official] knew they were supposed to be teeing off from the blue [tee], why did he watch four groups hit from the red and not say anything? That’s nonsense,” AD Valentine says. “So he’s saying, ‘No guys, you’re supposed to tee off from the blue,’ and that he let them hit from the wrong tees? That didn’t happen.”

The players were dumbfounded.

“He flat out lied. There are the three kids who are in the group that heard him say it, plus a coach was standing right there who confirmed it.” Lafever says. “Did the kids just see a marshal and decide as a group, ‘Oh, he’s right there, let’s just say he told us too.’ … No, no!! Why on earth would they do that?”

Best to read the entire confusing account. Bottom line is the DQ was not rescinded and those boys are left with some unfair rotten memories.

The post Crazy Story Where A Rules Official Allegedly DQ’d High School Team Due To His Mistake appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.