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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
August 15, 2000
I’m still trying to figure out the PGA of America’s
infatuation with Valhalla Golf Club, site of this week’s PGA
Championship. I’m sure it’s a great golf course—Valhalla
checks in at No. 68 on Golf Digest’s list of 100 greatest courses—but
the PGA was just there in 1996. Sorry, but I’m a classic course
guy, even though technology has made some of those marvelous old
venues obsolete. I’d much rather see a Winged Foot or Oak Hill
play host to a major championship.
Not that majors should be limited to classic courses. I’d love
to see The Honors Course host one, not that it will ever happen. But
I’m just wondering why the PGA doesn’t distribute the wealth a
little bit. Valhalla has already been awarded the 2007 Ryder Cup.
Why so much gravy in such a short amount of time?
Enough grousing about the venue. The PGA is still a major
championship, and I’m fired up. Who am I picking to win? The same
man everyone else is. Tiger Woods comes to Kentucky on the top of
his game and ready to add to his growing list of major titles. The
PGA would be Woods’ fifth major and fourth in a calendar year. If
that’s not domination, I don’t know what is.
Who will be around at the end if Woods falters? Ernie Els is a
popular bridesmaid pick, considering he’s finished second in all
three majors this year. That’s an incredible feat in itself, but I’m
sure Els would package them all up and trade them in for a green
jacket or another U.S. Open trophy.
For some reason, I keep hearing the name Hal Sutton in my head.
Sutton hasn’t played as well toward the middle and latter half of
the PGA Tour season as he did early, but he’s got the perfect game
for a major. That he’s only won a single one of them—the PGA,
coincidentally enough—is one of golf’s great mysteries. Few
people drive the ball straighter or have better control of their
irons.
Sutton did lose his way for a few year as he dabbled—inexplicably—with
swing changes. But he found his way back and is always a threat in a
big tournament. If it’s not Tiger Woods this week, my pick is Hal
Sutton.
More on Black Creek: Black Creek Club is progressing as expected,
even though the back nine won’t be open until the club’s Founder’s
Day, on Sept. 2. The club’s owners reasoned, and correctly so,
that it would be disastrous to open the course before it was ready.
So they’ve waited.
Trust me, the members are eager to test the course’s daunting
back nine, but everyone respected the decision to keep it closed
until September. The course, which has a definite links feel to it,
is unlike anything in town.
LASIK growing in popularity: If you saw the USA Today article
last week about LASIK surgery, you know the procedure to correct
vision is becoming the rage among golfers.
I’m researching a story on LASIK for Tennessee Golfer magazine,
and thus far into my work, I’m convinced that the procedure would
benefit 90 percent of those who play golf.
In fact, after talking to several respected doctors from around
the state, I’ll no doubt get the procedure done in time. The cost
is a little steep, but the golfers I’ve spoken with say it’s
well worth it.
I’m a classic candidate for the surgery—I’m nearsighted,
but don’t have to wear glasses all the time. That means my vision
could easily be corrected. I haven’t seen a drive land in years,
so now might be a good time to have the surgery.
There are several qualified doctors around the state, including
here in Chattanooga, where Deborah DiStefano has more than 4,000
procedures behind her. Experts suggest that if you consider the
surgery, make sure your doctor has done the surgery at least 3,000
times.
More on LASIK after I finish the Tennessee Golfer story.
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