GOLFERAZZI

I write this column on my 55th birthday, an occasion with cause to reflect back to simpler times when if I was seeking golf information, I would actually pick up a golf publication instead of clicking on to TMZ or scanning the supermarket tabloids.

Usually, I only looked at the tabloids to identify this week’s alien and I always suspected golf personalities such as John Daly for his ghastly pants or Duffy Waldorf and GolfScene publisher Norm Woods for their loud shirts, but I digress.

The age of information and 24-hour news and sports channels has changed the rules of engagement to a point where the private lives of celebrities are public and mainstream media is operating with the same sensational philosophies as the tabloid rags of yesteryear.

In the steamy saga of Tiger Woods, columnists with no insight at all into golf or the world’s No. 1 player suddenly became experts, some even criticizing the golf media for not picking up on this story before the infamous accident on American Thanksgiving blew the lid off this scandal.

When did I sign up to peek in windows?

In a way, I get the pressure that media outlets are under these days to break sensational stories and every Tiger column or blog I did write were usually followed by comments that protested the way the media was milking this story.

Thou doth protest too much.

If readers were truly tired of hearing about the scandal, they wouldn’t have bothered with another Tiger column, but they knew every details of what was said. I also suspect those whopping television ratings from the Masters were more about Tiger’s return than the urge to view picturesque vistas from Augusta.

The audience was there for the lurid details, leading to columnists, who have nothing, commenting that the scandal was an affront to women when the women were just as much a part of this as Tiger.

Apparently, covering golf is a novel concept for a golf writer, but it’s the job description that still applies now that the know-it-all columnists are getting bored and the sex therapists are going away.

In a society in which the bad boys and girls get the attention, count on voyeurs from outside of golf to ignore a story such as Brian Davis calling a two-stroke penalty against himself in a playoff at the Verizon Heritage to hand the tournament to Jim Furyk a week after the Masters.

That kind of stuff is boring and hardly fuels the gravy train, but it’s the stuff we’ll have to get used to as golf transitions back into, well, golf. In case you hadn’t noticed in all the uproar, here are some of the things you’ll hear about in the coming months and it’s all family-oriented and likely boring to those who don’t get the game, but who cares about them?

Here in Southern Ontario, we’re off to an early start to the golf season, which will not only put smiles on to the faces of golfers, but also those who have rolled out the green carpet for them so early in the year after several years of inclement weather.

The only potential black cloud for golfers and course operators at this point is on the distant horizon and when it gets here, the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will make golf a more expensive game through no fault of the golf courses themselves. For now, let’s just enjoy the early start to the season.

With all of the noise going on about Woods and the Masters, it wasn’t difficult to overlook the tie for third at the Shell Houston Open by Canadian rookie Graham DeLaet, of Weyburn, Sask. DeLaet says his putting contributed to that stellar finish that gave his confidence a serious boost and put him in good shape to keep his card for next year instead of concerning himself with Q-School.

Now, instead of just making cuts, DeLaet can concentrate on loftier goals.

It’s still too early to call DeLaet the next outstanding Canadian on the PGA Tour, but it does appear that he is moving in that direction.

If David Hearn of Brantford and Jon Mills of Belleville can hang on for the rest of the season, the Canadian count on the PGA Tour could swell considerably after the recent Fresh Express Classic in Hayward, Calif., where they finished second and third, respectively, at that Nationwide Tour event.

Their strong finishes planted them solidly in the top 25 on the money list that get their PGA Tour cards for next year and steady play throughout the rest of the schedule will get them there.

There are a couple of other Canadians looking to join DeLaet on tour down the road, including Matt Hill of Bright’s Grove and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., who have both indicated that they’ll turn pro this year. Hill plans the move right after defending the NCAA championship in June, with Taylor, the low amateur at last year’s U.S. Open, making the move later this year.

There were way too many compelling stories at the Masters to focus solely on Tiger. You had to love the performance of Fred Couples and Tom Watson, the show-stopper from last year’s British Open, at Augusta. Hopefully, both will be at the Montreal Championship, the new Champions Tour event in July.

However, the compelling stories don’t end with the geezers as players of all ages made their marks, including eventual champion Phil Mickelson, with all the personal things he’s been through, Ricky Barnes, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, to name a few.

It may be boring, but watching young players take the next step in their careers, old guys delivering show-stopping performances, memories of a beautiful spring day on the golf course and pure and simple honesty even at the risk of personal gain are memories with longevity over the titillation of a steamy sex scandal.

The thoughts above are the ones that stand out going forward into 2010 and may find a place in the memory banks for when I reflect on my 65th birthday.

With those in mind, who would ever want to retire?

• from The SPRING 2010 Magazine | talking in your backSwing : Ian Hutchinson