Photo Credits: Dawn Mannix, Ray Matthew and David Kerr
It has taken me over a week to come to grips with the loss
of Ryder Cup Team USA at Gleneagles. At this point I should be accustomed to
rooting for a heartbreaking team because I am also a lifelong Mets’ fan. I
suppose I expect more out of Team USA because the individual stats do not
predict that they are most likely to lose. Going into this Ryder Cup the US
Team actually had a lower average world rank of individual players. It’s baffling.
Additionally, drama has ensued post Ryder Cup akin to Days
of Our Lives regarding what transpired in the US team room on Saturday evening.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I am Team Phil because when
questioned in the press conference, he actually was frank about what had
transpired. I respect the fact that he is vocal and forthcoming. Being a legend
does not give you carte blanche to behave poorly. A strong team has strong
leadership and a plan of action. If you are willing to draw the conclusion that
Paul McGinley captained Team Europe in an exceptional manner to a win, than the
US loss is not entirely on the players. Yes, they have the responsibility of
playing well when they are out there but strategy also plays a huge role in
winning. Perhaps, benching Keegan and Phil all of Saturday was not a brilliant
idea. Now, as a fan I am left questioning whether the strategy employed was a
true plan to win or the result of in fighting among Team USA.
Furthermore, I have never noticed a PGA of America President
love the spotlight as much as Ted Bishop garbed head to toe in Team USA Attire
at the event, making regular appearances on Matt Adams’ show Fairway’s of Life
on Sirius XM. The omnipresence of Ted Bishop leading up to and at this Ryder
Cup was simply overkill. The Europeans have the European Tour and three prior Ryder
Cup Captains elect their Team Captain. The PGA Tour and its players are not
involved in the selection process for the US Captain. Perhaps, it is time for
the PGA of America to relinquish control.
Ironically, Ted Bishop is now advocating for a panel to
select a Ryder Cup Captain for the US Team. Paul Azinger who captained the
winning Team USA in 2008 had suggested a similar idea, a Ryder Cup committee to
expedite all matters Ryder Cup. This latest move by Mr. Bishop appears less
like a novel original idea with the intent to win and more about reading the
writing on the wall and attempting to maintain control.
So, I traversed roughly 3700 miles to support the team that
I believe so much in and I would love to share some of my experiences from my
trip to Scotland with you. The
week before I was leaving I developed a lovely sinus infection and had my dog
suffering from a stomach ailment. The morning of my trip my garage door decided
to break, imagine all 115lbs of me attempting to manually lift a double garage
door. I made it to the airport with the intent to only check my clubs and carry
on all of my clothing, which was neatly rolled into my small luggage. I was
confronted by a United Airline’s employee that insisted that I put my underwear
in my handbag because my luggage appeared stuffed, I obliged. I knew that
because I had a layover in New York something would definitely get lost and I
was right. When I arrived in Edinburgh, my clubs were on another plane bound
for Scotland. The airline reassured me that my clubs would be delivered to the
residence that I was staying, later in the day. (They had better arrive since I
was playing the Old Course at St. Andrews the following morning with three
friends.)
Off I went to nervously collect my rental car, and follow
the non-in dash shit GPS that the rental car company so kindly furnished. As I
was attempting to find my way out of the maze that is the area surrounding the
Edinburgh Airport, there was suddenly a maintenance cone in the middle of the
roadway, which I promptly clipped with the passenger side mirror of the car.
That’s right, jetlagged moments from leaving the airport I had 400 pounds worth
of damage to my rental vehicle. Off I continued on my way to Stirling.
Upon arrival at the residence where I had leased a room for
the week, no address was visible and I stood outside deliberating if I was in
the right place. The front door was plastered with promotional posters
advocating a “No Vote” on the Scottish Secession referendum. I rang the
doorbell of this magnificent massive grey-stone Victorian and a lovely older
couple answered the door. The gentleman exclaimed, “what, are you 18?” They
were apparently expecting me to be much older since I was travelling alone. I
reassured them that I was in fact 20 years older than I apparently appeared. My
Host and Hostess were exceedingly kind; they accompanied me to a mechanic and
the rental car company to get estimates to repair the damage to the car mirror.
It turned out that the gentleman was very involved in local politics hence all
of the referendum posters, and he was more than willing to regale me with
political talk and his loathing of organized religion. I surmised that this was
not the time to ask where the nearest Catholic Church was so that I could
attend mass on Sunday to pray for Team USA.
After my car drama I was terrified to drive to St. Andrews
at 5 in the morning on Wednesday, as I had planned. Lucky for me, I have an
incredibly gracious friend in Dave, who was willing to do the driving and
collect Kieran, one of the other members of our foursome. Kieran put our names
into the Monday Ballot and we managed to miraculously get drawn. St. Andrews is
just as mythical as it appears on TV as you make the drive into the town. I was
awestruck. We met up with Ray, our fourth at the new clubhouse. At this point I
want to inform you that it is thanks to Twitter that I have made these three
friends. We have conversed for several years about all things golf and everyday
life. I consider myself privileged to know these three gentlemen. I have had
the honor now of golfing with several people that I have met via Twitter. It is
special to connect with people that love the game as much as I do and enjoy a
round of golf.
As I was standing on the first tee attired in my IJP Design tartans, I was in shock, having the most surreal golfing experience of my life. I was at the home of golf, the most storied course in the world on the verge of hitting a tee shot aimed toward a gorse bush, with a readily made audience milling around. Breath, Dawn, just breathe, all I could think and with that I rose to the occasion and hit a good tee shot. We were off and I promptly managed to find trouble on the first hole. The magnitude of the occasion got to me and I promptly ended up taking my max on the first hole. The day held missed birdie putts, pars, bogies and bigger numbers. I’m proud to say that I bogeyed 17. Overall, it was an amazing round, in ideal weather conditions with incredible people. One of the members of our group had a career round and I am so happy that I was there to witness such a round of golf. This round of golf was the absolute highlight of my trip to Scotland. I flopped out of cavernous bunkers. On one occasion I had some major issues navigating my visit to the sand. I have photos galore to share with you from my experience, that I have incorporated into the slideshow at the beginning of the blog.
Me teeing off,photo credit: Dave Kerr
When I arrived back in Stirling, my host was kind enough to
come outside and interrogate my poor friend and attempt to lure him into the
house for a Scotch. This series of
events seemed to replay itself daily for the duration of my visit. Every friend
that I made plans with for the duration of my stay in Scotland was subject to
questioning. There was a great deal of discussion about whether I was a pro
golfer, a celebrity and why I had all of these friendships, among my hosts and
the other guests inhabiting the house. I attempted to reassure everyone that I
was simply a golf enthusiast and no more, to no avail. I spent most of my visit
with a red face due to the degree of speculation and if I am being entirely
honest it made me feel a little awkward. One night I was out at dinner with two
friends and had a few glasses of wine, I went directly to bedroom to avoid an
inquisition tipsy and that created more speculation. The prevalent theory was
that I never returned to the house that evening. Meanwhile, I was slumbering in
my bed above the boisterous dining room in anticipation of being ready to leave
for Gleneagles at 5:30 am to watch the golf.
Dave Kerr, Kieran Clark, Ray Matthew and Myself
Although the setting of Gleneagles is stunning, I was not
impressed with the overall layout of the Jack Nicklaus designed Centenary
Course. The 18th Dun Roamin’ had a fairway and green complex that, in
particular I found to be a bit ridiculous. See the accompanying photo, if
watching the televised event did not give you a good perspective. In contrast,
I loved the 16th hole, Lochlan Loup that played 543 yard, Par 5 and
was a risk reward with your second shot. There was water short of the green. On
Thursday I watched the US Team practicing and going at the green. It was a
great hole for up close golf observation.
The 18th Hole of the Centenary Course
There were so many people decked out in fine fashion and
costumed at the tourney. This is one of the things that make the Ryder Cup such
a unique golf experience. In addition to the singing European flag behind the
first tee, I saw men dressed as Old Tom Morris, in American Flag kilts and as panda
bears at Gleneagles. I had
patriotic attire for every day of the event, unfortunately I was unable to
“Fashion Update” due to issues with the international data plan that I paid for
and this was frustrating. I love being able to share everything in real time
via social media and this situation was a bit of an impediment.
Thursday through Sunday I walked every inch of the golf
course repeatedly. If you were at the Ryder Cup, I do not need to tell you
about Mount Everest that one needed to scale to go from the second to the third
hole. My legs sustained quite a workout, particularly the day that I opted for
Wellies due to the possibility of rain. When you reached the summit that was
the third hole, the mountain-view was spectacular. It was breathtaking, and
relatively quiet in contrast to the pandemonium occurring on hole one.
Since I was on the course from darkness until dusk, I
consumed a substantial amount of food on the golf course. I came to love the
Jamie Oliver pork sandwiches that were available in the spectator village. At
present, I am abstaining from bacon due to what I will refer to as a misuse of
bacon in bland sandwiches on the golf course. I attempted to order an egg and
sausage sandwich at one point and was handed a hot dog with a fried egg on top
of it. Thursday I had lunch in the Argyle Pavilion with a good friend, it was
quite posh inside that tent. It was all Champagne and berries with crème fraiche.
As I was checking in to board my flight home, I realized
that American Ryder Cup Attendees surrounded me. In fact, my flight was full of
Americans who had travelled to support Team USA, excitedly talking about
Hazeltine in 2016 and making the trip to Chaska, Minnesota. This served as a
reminder that the American sporting spirit is one of resilience too. The display that I witnessed out of Ryder Cup Rookies, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker was proof that the best is yet to come.
In spite of the US loss, and my auto mishap, I intend to
return to Scotland to golf again in the future. The Scottish people are warm
and friendly. The scenery is enthralling and well, it is the birthplace of the
game that I adore. Upon my return visit, I hope to not be confronted with that
damn Ole Ole soccer chant which has somehow morphed into a European battle cry.
