The Sports Dads Conquer Harding Park..Sort Of....

Our day at Harding Park has come and gone. Together we took over 200 strokes to complete the 18 holes from the blue tee's (but the white yardage - more on that in a bit). I hate to sound like a boxer, but now that I have had a week to digest the days event, I want a REMATCH!

Last Saturday could not have been a more picturesque day in San Francisco. 75 degrees without a could in the sky and a 10:15AM tee time, is a recipe for heaven and Harding Park was almost that. Instead of a rehearsed, well composed essay, I will just list the thoughts Steve-O and I had as we made our way around the hollowed grounds.

- What a terrible driving range. Where did the players in the Presidents Cup warm up? Not that astroturf covered goat pasture they were passing off as a driving range. That's fine, we came to play 18, not hammer balls on the range, but still the range was embarrassing for a course of this stature.

- Was the starter drunk? The guy has one job and didn't do that well. He couldn't keep the groups straight. There were probably 15 of us chomping at the bit ready to tee off. We got cut after the group in front of us passed the starter a couple of "double sawskies" as my father in law would say or ($20) to the lay person. Then, he yanked the group that was supposed to be in front of us off the tee and let us tee off. Easy come easy go.

- I love the wide fairways, the picture above is from the 1st tee box. Since both Steve-O and myself have small to moderate slices, this worked out well for us. I only lost 2 balls all day. Losing 2 balls at Pruneridge or Deep Cliff would make me happy, but 2 at Harding Park meant I was putting the ball in play off the tee.

- They moved the tee boxes up, probably due to high percentage of amateurs on the course. We played from the Blue Tee's, however they were at the white distances. The course was probably flooded with hackers after the Presidents Cup and they wanted to keep the speed of play at a brisk pace.

- The greens feature poana grass, something I have never played on. In the morning, while the dew was still drying out, it made putting extremely slow. As the day warmed up and the greens dried out, the greens sped up tremendously. Since I don't get a ton of height on my iron shots, it was nearly impossible to keep a shot on the green without rolling it off.

- Who came up with the idea of locating a skeet shooting facility right next to a golf course? Really? Incredibly odd to say the least. Plus the fact the course and the shooting range were separated by a lake made it even louder.

- Cart path only for the golf carts actually slows down play and probably cost me two to three shots. I didn't feel like running across the fairway to grab a different club if I had a weird lie. Not a huge deal, but if I play this course again I am going to walk it.

- The view from the tee boxes on some of the back 9 holes were amazing. Especially 13, next to Lake Merced with a view of the Olympic Club. You won't be able to see it on TV in 2012 (Home of the US Open), but what dramatic elevation changes across the lake at OC.

- Like most storied courses, Harding Park has a tremendous finishing hole. This is the picture I took from the Tee Box. (PS, I laced the drive about 235 in perfect position but couldn't seal the deal with the awkward diagonal green)

Summary: I notched a 103, narrowly missing my previously stated goal of breaking 100. However, my boy Steve-O did hit 100 right on the nose. We were nothing if not consistent. I had a 51 on the front and a 52 on the back. Steve-O had two 50's.

I would encourage all golf enthusiasts to make the trip to Harding Park, only $66 bucks for SF residents and $99 for Santa Clara County residents. However, it is very much a public course and everything that entails. Five to six hour rounds, good but not great course conditions, a few holes right next to major roadways and hackers galore. However, the scenic views, and signature holes more than make up for the few negatives. Overall, I would give my experience an A-. Next up for the "Sports Dads", the links style Pacific Grove Municipal lighthouse course.

Golf Finally Matters Again

Today, just after 8:30AM, the sport of golf got a shot of adrenaline to the heart just like a Mrs. Mia Wallace, in the film Pulp Fiction. Most of us serious golf fans had overdosed on Tiger Woods news that did not invovle him actually playing and today the clouds parted.

I do not own a Buick, nor did I want to when Woods was endorsing the product. I do not own any piece of Nike golf equipment or clothing. And really, unless you are riped like Tiger, the tight red shirt is not a good look for 90% of us dads. While many out there pointed to the fact that Tiger sold us a false image, I would argue that point. The image that was sold to us was that of excellence, determination, and mental toughness.

I have debated the Tiger Woods situation at many a dinner table over the last 5 months. My bottom line has always been, as soon as he is back out there on the course and winning tournaments, the TMZ'esque pursuit of skeletons in his closet with decease, and we will go back to charishing his immense skills. Aside from possibly taking a 9-iron to the temple, what illegal activity did Woods particiapate in? Sure his behavior was illict and immoral, but it was not illegal. Heck, 20 mistresses is like a road trip for NBA players.

When Tiger is teeing it up on the famed Par 3, 16th at Augusta National, we won't be thinkin of mistress #8 or #18. We will be wondering what he will do next, that every other golfer in the field is not physically capable of.


I am a HUGE golf fan, and Camillo Vigellas, Adam Scott, and Hunter Mahan just are not doing it for me. Phil Mickelson is 40 years old and will probably never consitantly win as much as we would like him to. Vijay, Ernie, Ratief, and Fred Couples are all on the downside of their career. The PGA tour needs Tiger more than Tiger needs golf. It's this point that has me most excited about his return. Not only seeing him play in the Masters, but his return to golf will legitimize every other tournament out there. We will understand that Tiger is choosing not to play in an event that the B squad has a chance to rack oversized checks and Fed-Ex Cup points (no offense Paul Gydos or Ryan Moore).


Will Tiger win #15? Probably not, but the Masters and golf are back in the spotlight for the right reasons.