The Common Golfer

Turnberry Golf Course in Pickerington, Ohio is a links style course designed by Arthur Hills.  It also one of seven municipal courses maintained by the city of Columbus.

Layout

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The layout at Turnberry tested a lot of different shot types.  On two holes I found myself having to hit something other than driver off the tee.  The greens were very well protected, and often not easily accessible.  The course was a bit on the short side though – I am not very long off the tee, and was still able to reach the par 5’s on my second shot with a 4-iron.  For claiming to be a links course, I would like to have seen more heather and rolling terrain.

Fairways

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The fairways were in fairly good condition.  They were cut at a good length, and provided a good amount of roll for a well struck tee shot.  There were small amounts of crabgrass, but generally only grass.  Unfortunately, divots and dead clumps of grass littered the fairway in places.

Greens

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The greens were the low point of the golf course.  A lot of putts were unable to have a true roll because of the bumpiness of the greens.  It was also hard sometimes to find my ball mark on the greens because there were so many old ones to choose from.  I hate to penalize a golf course for having ball marks all over the greens, because for the most part they have no control over the number of discourteous golfers that play their course.  But a bad green is still bad, regardless of the reason.

Condition  

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Short of the greens, the course was in pretty good condition.  The bunkers had fairly decent sand in them.  Occasionally there were patches of dirt in the rough.  The tee boxes were also average, an occasionally not level.

Overall Rating

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Overall, the course was mediocre.  I can’t find a lot of negative things to say about the course, and I also can’t find a lot of positive things to say.  For $39 with a cart on weekends, and $33 during the week, the course is an average value.

During the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, prior to teeing off on the 16th hole, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington were “put on the clock” for playing too slowly.  Players are given 40 seconds, with an additional 20 seconds going to the first player, to hit each shot.  Not doing so, and falling behind the pace of the group in front of you, gets your group a warning.  After the warning, if slow play continues the penalty is $5,000 and 1 stroke added to the score.  After being warned on the tee, Harrington went on to post an 8 on the hole compared to Woods’ 4.  That 4-stroke swing went on to be Woods’ margin of victory, and immediately after the round Woods apologized to Harrington for what he felt was the rules official “getting in the way of a great battle.”

Harrington conceded that after hitting his tee shot way offline, that he was rushed in making his next few shots, but he came up short of blaming the slow play warning on why he lost.  “It’s an awkward situation,” he said. “There are rules, and the players make the rules and we’ve got to apply them. If you’re put on the clock, you always want to be nicely in position so you’re not having to think too much. I got out of position with my tee shot, my second shot and my third short. I got out of position and just got myself out of the zone.”

I am in no way suggesting that Harrington lost because of the warning, but isn’t it a bit absurd that you would warn the final pairing of the tournament with 3 holes left to play – especially when Tiger Woods is in that pairing?  They weren’t holding up any groups behind them, and every extra minute of television coverage with Tiger in the lead is more money for the PGA!

On the other hand, every player should have to play by the same rules.  And for the people out there that claim Tiger gets preferential treatment on tour, maybe this will shut them up for a few minutes.  It’s also worth keeping in mind that while groups of players are warned nearly every week on tour, the last time a player got more than a warning was back in 1982!  So it’s not like the rules officials were going to turn around and penalize one of the leaders with 1 or 2 holes to play.

Either way you look at the issue, I think the only thing we can all agree on is what a class-act Tiger Woods is.  He was humble after winning on Sunday, and didn’t have to say what he did.  I’ve also had the privilege of meeting Tiger in person, and he’s equally as humble and polite around us “commoners.”

Maybe the USGA should consider adopting this slowplay rule, as well.  If I could penalize slow golfers $5,000 every time I’m held up on the golf course, I’d be a freakin’ millionaire.

Golf’s biggest names are all joining in a global effort to make golf an Olympic sport for the first time in 105 years.  On Thursday, August 13, the executive board of International Olympic Committee will vote on which two sports they will recommend be added to the Olympics as soon as 2016.  The full committee will then later vote to make the recommendations final.  Seven sports are being considered for two available spots, the other sports being rugby, softball, baseball, karate, roller sports, and squash.

A 4 1/2 minute video was sent to the IOC last month, presenting why golf should be an Olympic Sport.  The video featured Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, and Paula Creamer spoke on the video on behalf of American golf.  In addition, to present a “global front” for what is a global game, some of golf’s biggest international stars also spoke, including Annika Sorenstam, Ernie Els, Camilo Villegas, Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, Sergio Garcia, Mike Weir, and K.J. Choi.

First off, I’m not even sure what the hell “roller sports” are, but I’d be shocked if they were voted in.  The same can be said for squash, rugby, and karate.  However, given that softball and baseball have recently been in the Olympics, it seems that three sports are vying for two spots.  It’s odd, though, that softball and baseball are considered separate sports, when softball is basically women’s baseball.  Golf, on the other hand is one sport.  It will be very disappointing if golf doesn’t make it, and it seems the IOC could satisfy more people if they grouped baseball and softball as one.  Regardless of if golf returns to the Olympic rotation or not, it’s definitely absurd that it’s been out of the rotation for so long when you look at other summer Olympic sports (like table tennis, and beach volleyball to name a few).

Check back here soon for an ongoing ranking of all public courses in Columbus, Ohio. I’m also looking for anyone living in other cities across the country, who would be interested in contributing rankings for where they live. I’ve always enjoyed the lists that Golf Digest puts out each year ranking public courses, resort courses, etc., but I feel like their state rankings fall a bit short if you live in a large state. I love an occasional road trip, but seeing a list of the best courses in your state doesn’t always lay out your options locally. My goal is to have constantly updated rankings and reviews for golf courses in each major city across the country. At least for Columbus, there aren’t any sites where you can go to read the positives and negatives about different courses.

Please email me at jon.blackburn16@gmail.com if you’d be interested in contributing to The Common Golfer.