In this edition, The R-Dog revisits a conversation he had with “River Ringer” Cal Coolidge, who has played golf all over the world, and had some great stories to tell, as the Ringers get ready for the Cars Changing Lives tournament at Shenandoah Valley!
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In this edition, The R-Dog revisits a conversation he had with “River Ringer” Cal Coolidge, who has played golf all over the world, and had some great stories to tell, as the Ringers get ready for the Cars Changing Lives tournament at Shenandoah Valley! Brought to you by Energy Windows LLC. Call Dave for a free estimate TODAY, at 540-671-9243, or visit https://energywindowsllc.com
(posted 4-1-26)
Greetings from The Booth!
It’s hard to chase a Bear with a Monkey on your back…
Some thoughts about Tiger Woods as we approach the Masters next week in Augusta, Georgia. By now, after incessant 24/7 coverage, everyone is aware of Tiger’s recent vehicle escapade in Jupiter, Florida, where he rolled his SUV and was subsequently charged with DUI (he has pleaded not guilty to the charge). Although he registered a 0.0 on a breathalyzer test, Woods refused to take a urine test, which raised a red flag to the possibility of having taken painkillers. His litany of injuries is well documented, so this would not be a stretch, but as is always the case, the justice system will need to run its course.
As of this writing, Tiger Woods has released a statement that he will not be playing in the Masters, instead focusing on his health and well-being. Until last week’s car crash, Tiger was in the process of yet another comeback and was going to play in the Masters (past winners have a lifetime exemption at Augusta), and had recently returned to the golf scene in a Team Golf League event. In my very humble opinion, Woods now needs to focus entirely on getting better. If he does indeed have a problem with painkillers, Tiger needs to deal with that. Golf should be nowhere in the conversation at this point.
Tiger Woods may have to come to grips with the possibility that he may never play competitive golf again. In addition to the multiple injuries, Woods is now 50. Jack Nicklaus, the man Tiger is trying to catch for all-time major wins, won his last “major” at age 46. As the saying goes, Father Time is undefeated and catches up with us all. I don’t think we appreciate how difficult it is to walk 4 consecutive days of a PGA Tour event, especially Augusta National. One can’t fully appreciate the hilly nature of Augusta by watching the TV coverage of The Masters. With back and knee issues, just one day of walking Augusta can be excruciating. There has been some talk about granting Woods an exemption and allowing him to ride a cart in Tour events. Tiger has, in the past, said he would not use a golf cart, and I don’t think his pride would allow him to.
Most athletes do not get to go out on their own terms. To paraphrase a line from the movie Top Gun, the mind writes checks the body can’t cash. We all think of Tiger Woods as that unbeatable golf machine, piling up major wins, fist-pumping, and often lapping the field. That Tiger does not exist anymore. Although his competitive fires may still burn hot and bright, there may be no more checks left in the checkbook. It might have to be enough for Tiger to exorcise whatever demons are within him and become a great ambassador of the game. That would be a “major” win for Tiger Woods.
Until the next visit from The Booth, enjoy The Masters!
RW
Looking for the perfect way to celebrate Father’s Day?
Head to Warren County this Sunday, June 16th, and make memories with Dad doing what he loves most!
Whether he’s an outdoor adventurer, a golf enthusiast, or a thrill-seeker ready to jump from the sky, Warren County has it all.
Hike the trails in Shenandoah National Park, kayak or fish the scenic Shenandoah River, or enjoy a mouthwatering meal with mountain views at a local eatery.
And if Dad’s more of a treasure hunter? Explore antique shops and local markets for unique finds.
This Father’s Day give Dad more than a gift. Make memories, right here in Warren County.
Greetings From The Booth!
With golf’s final major in the books, and Xander Schauffele crowned “Champion Golfer Of The Year” after his win at the 152nd Open Championship, it’s time to weigh in on a few items that may have slipped under your golf radar this past week. Tiger Woods is no longer the dominant force he was in his prime, but does his best to stay relevant. And the press always seems to oblige by keeping his name in the forefront.
Tiger recently drew some ire by declining an invitation to captain the USA Ryder Cup Team, which will be trying to take back the Cup next year against the European squad. Tiger claimed that he was “too busy” to accept the honor. He’s certainly not busy winning golf tournaments, as his best days are in the rear-view mirror. What a boost it would be to the American team to have arguably the best player ever casting his intimidating shadow over the Europeans. The Ryder Cup is about country and patriotism–not money, and I sincerely hope that the mighty dollar (or lack of) is not the reason for Tiger Woods turning down the invitation. Keegan Bradley, now the captain of the USA squad, is a great lover of the Ryder Cup and America, but he is no Tiger Woods. I’m giving Woods a Double Bogey on this one. It wouldn’t be the only “double” on his card this year.
The other piece of Tiger Woods news this past week was his comments at the Open Championship concerning his participation in the majors and his ability to still play competitive golf. Woods got into a war of words with former European Tour and current Champions Tour player Colin Montgomerie. “Monty” was asked whether Tiger should step away from the game, and long story short, basically said that Woods should have retired a few years ago. Tiger offered a sharp rebuttal to Montgomerie, and added that he felt he could still win major tournaments.
During his playing days, Colin Montgomerie was anything but a fan favorite, but who’s to say he isn’t right? At the Open this past week, Woods posted a 14 over par score, missed the cut, and was nowhere near competitive. Yes, the conditions were brutal and many of golf’s top players like Rory McIlroy were brought to their knees at Royal Troon. But this is becoming a familiar story with Tiger Woods. The injuries have piled up and Father Time has taken his toll. If you do the “eye test,” it doesn’t even appear that Tiger is enjoying himself on the golf course. Instead, he looks like he’s chasing a man he’ll never catch–Jack Nicklaus.
We all lose our fastball. But it’s a hard thing for a competitive athlete to admit that day is here. There was no sadder sight than a past-his-prime Joe Namath in a Rams uniform, or Willie Mays playing his final games as a New York Met. Equally sad is Tiger Woods shooting 14 over par at a major championship, when he could serve the game much better as, say, captain of the American Ryder Cup Team. For Tiger Woods, it’s time for some serious soul searching.
That’s another “View From The Booth.”
RW
Greetings from The Booth!
Well, I’ve had a little more than 48 hours to digest the European rout of the USA in the 44th Ryder Cup. After a 19-9 shellacking in the 2021 Ryder Cup, the American squad was trying to win (retain) the cup on foriegn soil, something they haven’t done since 1993. There have been many theories as to why we can’t win overseas, along with lots of blame and finger pointing over the last 30 years. In truth, our lives will pretty much go on as normal this week, and outside of the golf world, most do not care about the Ryder Cup. I care, so here are a few quick thoughts on what went wrong.
I think the Europeans, with their soccer DNA, embrace the team concept more than the Americans. Yes, the Europeans play on various tours as individuals like we do, but there’s something intangible that bonds them at Ryder Cup time. The Americans just don’t have whatever that is. Along with that goes the huge “home field advantage” the Europeans have on their side of the pond. With colorful costumes and creative chants and songs, the European gallery can be intimidating to Americans playing in the Ryder Cup overseas for the first time.
That “home field advantage” also applied to the Marco Simone course outside of Rome. Many of the European players were familiar with the course, while many of the Americans were not. In addition, many players from Team USA took five weeks off prior to the Ryder Cup, while most on the European side did not. That may partially explain the absolute drubbing the USA took on Day One, including the 4-0 sweep in the morning session.
That makes a nice segueway into the format. The Americans seem to struggle with the alternate-shot format. That may speak to the aforementioned point about the individual nature of the American golfers. We do a little better in the four-ball sessions, but the USA always seems to put it’s eggs in the Sunday singles matches. This time, it was too late by the time Sunday rolled around.
As for the players themselves, the American stars didn’t step up. On paper it appeared the top to bottom, the USA had the stronger squad. The Europeans did have some of the top players in the world, like Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, but the Americans had more depth. But matches aren’t played on paper, and the European stars rose to the top, while Americans like Jordan Speith, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele all underperformed. While we’re on the subject of players, why was Koepka the only LIV golfer on the American squad? Couldn’t we have used a Dustin Johnson or Bryson DeChambeau, both long hitters who were stars in 2021 at Whistling Straits?
Finally, there is Captain Zach Johnson, who has all the personality of a paper clip. More importantly, he made many bad decisions throughout the Ryder Cup (as he freely admitted), too numerous to list here. We needed someone with fire, and Johnson was not that someone. A Tiger or Phil might have been what the USA needed this past weekend.
I’m not sure if we need another Ryder Cup Task Force, but the planning needs to begin now if the Americans want to take back the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in 2025! Until then, there’s always the President’s Cup.
Until the next visit from The Booth…GO USA!
RW
Greetings From The Booth!
Before I get to this week’s main topic…a note to the Washington Nationals: SCORE A RUN, PLEASE! The 5-13 Nats were shut out by the Baltimore Orioles in back-to-back games this week. In one of the games, Oriole starter Dean Kremer entered the game with an ERA near 10! Washington hard-luck pitcher Josiah Gray, who deserved a better fate in that 1-0 loss, needs to “lawyer up” and sue for non-support. He is now 0-4, with a respectable ERA of 3.74, but has received little help this year from an offense that is near the bottom of most NL categories.
This past Sunday, I finally got the golf clubs out of cold storage and played my first round of the year. It was a perfect morning as we stepped up to the first tee of the Boulder Course of Rock Harbor Golf Club. The 7:40 tee time meant that my twosome would get out ahead of the pack and be able to play at a nice pace. I now play the orange tees (no longer called the “senior tees”) and at 63, this has made the game more enjoyable for me. I decided to try something different and hit a nice 3-wood from the tee box instead of the usual driver, and nailed it right down the center to within 100 yards. A well-struck pitching wedge rolled just off the green, and my chip for birdie came up just 2 inches short. The tap-in par was a great way to start the golf season. The rest of the way was filled with some good shots, and some not-so-good ones, and a solid 41 on the back nine allowed me to break 90 by a couple of shots, which is in my wheelhouse of 85-92.
I’ve made some resolutions this year about golf, and I hope I can keep them until at least June. This is what I’m going to tell myself this year:
You’re not a pro. You don’t practice on the range and putting green for 10 hours a day, so lower the bar of expectation. Enjoy the round, the green grass and blue skies, the songbirds, the companionship, and don’t focus so much on score. Everyone, and I mean, everyone (even the touring pros) hit bad shots. Have a beverage or two, laugh at the duffs, dribbles, and slices, and revel in the occasional pars and the elusive birdies. No one will remember what your score was last week, but they will remember the good time they had with you on the golf course and at the 19th hole.
So there you are. My approach to golf this season. The slow play, three-putt greens, and snowmen (8’s on the card) will still upset me a bit, but not as much. Remember the old saying, “a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work.” There are worse places to be.
And one other thing: if you have a tee time on your favorite course this Earth Day weekend, remember to take care of the planet and replace your divots…
Until the next visit from The Booth…FORE!
RW
Join “The River Ringers” on Saturday, August 20th, 8:30am at Rock Harbor Golf Club in Winchester for the 3rd annual “Fore The Kitties” Golf Tournament. The event benefits Dakota’s Dream, a small non-profit animal shelter in Winchester. Teams and sponsors are still needed, so be a part of what should be a fun day! Deadline is August 1st, so don’t wait! Registration and Sponsor forms are attached (see below)
Golfer Registration Form 2022 Fillable
Greetings from The Booth!
A golf buddy said after our usual weekend round that this was a “nothing” time in the sports world, and there probably is some truth to that. Did anyone really care about the USFL after the first few games? Sure, Wimbledon is happening, and the Tour de France is certainly an acquired taste (although I like the event and will watch). NFL training camps are still a few weeks from opening. And then there are your Washington Nationals, who are on pace for a 100-loss season. How many of you would have thought that possible after their World Series title in 2019?
If you’re a golf fan, the sport’s final major, The 150th Open Championship, a.k.a. The British Open, happens next week at the Old Course at St. Andrews. St. Andrews is hallowed ground in the golf world, and I love the British Open, because it’s golf the way it was meant to be played: low to the ground, in the elements. When I think of The Open Championship, I think of cold, wind, and rain. I also think of 59 year-old Tom Watson almost winning the Claret Jug in 2009, as a bunch of us geezers were gathered around the TV at Rock Harbor cheering him on. Moments like that can only happen at the Open.
Speaking of golf, this time of year takes me back to what might have been the greatest golf prank ever played. It happened during a beach trip to Nags Head with a group of friends around 1987. It was a great week of beachin’, night life, and a round of golf during which the aforementioned prank took place. The group included longtime friend Kevin Funkhouser, who would be my best man 4 years later when I tied the knot. The foil of the prank was Todd Lyons, another member of our Martinsburg circle of friends and participant in the annual “Turkey Bowl” Thanksgiving football game at Rosemont School, among other things.
The round of golf started, as you might expect, with drink flowing freely, and somewhere on the front 9, Funkhouser was victim of the old “exploding golf ball” prank. If you’re unfamiliar, these are joke golf balls that explode on impact, and are good for a laugh. As we moved on to the back 9, no other gags were played as the laughs and libation continued. Late in the round, Lyons hit a beautiful approach shot within 3 feet of the pin. As we drove to the green, Funkhouser got out of the cart, walked onto the green to survey Lyons’ shot and said, “Hey Todd, is this your ball…great shot!” He then …well, let’s just say, proceeded to water Lyons’ golf ball, if you get my drift. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard on a golf course.
They say revenge is a meal best served cold. In this case…best served wet.
I look forward to being back in the Booth the week of the 18th! FORE!
RW
The Golf season is underway, and in this edition of the SDPC, we chat with Louis Nicholls of the Front Royal Golf Club, who updates you on the condition of the course, as well as other recreational activities are available to the general public. Grab your clubs, and play a few rounds this year at Front Royal Golf Club!!!
