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A Look at Baseball Batting Gloves
The first baseball gloves to hit the field were created sometime in the late 1800s. These gloves were simplistic compared to today's models. Early gloves were usually made of thin pieces of leather and were precursors to the advanced baseball gloves...
Churning The Kern - Rafting California's Sierra
Churning The Kern in California’s Sierra Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature FREE with photos at: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/raft/kern/kern.html There I was, peering down...
Golf Fitness Equipment For Your In-Home Program
Golf fitness equipment can be a variety of pieces; but what truly is golf fitness equipment?
You'd be surprised to find out it is not expensive; and is not necessarily in a gym or health club either.
Yes...there are golf "machines" for...
Women And Horses – A Powerful Synergy
Horseback riding is a sport at which women excel. One can try to explain their success because they are lighter than men and have obvious anatomical advantages for the saddle. This is certainly not everything. After 70 years of riding and close...
Women's Golf Equality
Women have been trying for years to be viewed as equal competition for men, especially in sports. Unfortunately, society fails to measure women's abilities on the same scale as men's abilities. Golf is one of few sports that show great potential for...
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Mercedes Championships: PGA 2006 Begins
Right, Max. Hawaii, Max.
It`s not just that California`s had a run of really wet weather
lately (possibly forecasting the rain-delayed 2005 West Coast
swing that revivified the age-old debate about indoor golf),
it`s that the famous line from Annie Hall---"California, Max",
as in, "if we lived in California, we could play outdoors every
day, in the sun"---doesn`t apply this week because the PGA Tour
kicks off the 2006 season with the Mercedes Championships at the
Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii, where the usual weather
event comes in the form of trade winds, not steady drenching
rains.
Every year I talk about what a great tournament this is: TV
cutaways to and fro, commercial breaks of beautiful vistas, sun
and sea from the course`s tall hills; a solid field of last
year`s Tour winners; 400-plus yard drives on the last hole; and
the possibility of long money on quality golfers in a small
field. Because Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and
Padraig Harrington are not playing (or Ernie Els, by the way,
who didn`t win in his injury-shortened 2005) and because there
were so many low-ranked winners on Tour last year, this week`s
Mercedes is a smaller (28-player), more bargain-filled field
than normal. Mickelson and Goosen didn`t do the Silly Season
tour like Woods and Harrington, and the latter`s decision to not
play in Kapalua is curious as he`s never played in the
tournament. Hawaii`s a long flight from anywhere, fine,
but it`s
a guaranteed paycheck. And I have to figure the islands are
sunnier than Ireland this time of year. Hawaii, Padraig.
There`s always the flipside to the strength-of-field approach.
Maybe the favorites---Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, David Toms and
Sergio Garcia---do look more likely to win than 50-1 shots like
Jason Bohn, Jason Gore and Ted Purdy. But given that there`s no
cut, the pressure is off slightly, and so is the intimidation
factor, which is significantly less a factor anyway because
Tiger isn`t playing. Even if the world #1 was playing, though,
I`d still look at other golfers. Bart Bryant, an unknown, won
twice last year: the Memorial and season-ending Tour
Championship where he held off guess who? Purdy won the Byron
Nelson last May, fending off Singh.
As for the course, there are the peaks and valleys of Kapalua,
and those trade winds (which are almost always at the players`
backs on the last hole, yielding those 400-500-yard drives). The
greens can be slick, which might be a factor for the favorite,
Singh. Two months doesn`t account for much of an offseason; who
can say if Vijay`s come to a happy place with his putter?
Jeremy Church covers Nascar for Brian Gabrielle Sports
About the author:
Jeremy Church is a documented member of the Professional
Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at www.procappers
.com/Jeremy_Church.htm
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