EPEric's Blog

Hot balls, hot drivers, hybrids, today's modern equipment makes most courses almost too tame for PGA tour pros.  Worried Sedgefield will be overpowered by the guys during the Wyndham Championship?  Defending champ Brandt Snedecker doesn't think so.  He told us a score around 8 under par for the 72 holes might be good enough to win it if the course is hard and fast tournament week.  Snedecker believes Sedgefield will be considered one of the top 10 courses on the tour. 

Sedgefield is a throwback (a NASCAR comparison might be Darlington).  Players will not be able to just grab the driver, tee it high and let it fly.  You have to get the ball in the right positions to attack pins on greens that have a lot of humps and bumps.  Pins can be set in many different places.  Our round on media day included a few that had Sunday, final round potential.  I had a couple of 3 putts to show for it.    I hope golf fans get out to support the tournament.  We'll be putting out more information about the tournament and the course both on FOX8 and here on myfoxwghp.com in the coming days.

By the way, a while back, we compiled a list of some of the Donald Ross designs in the area.  Here is the link.

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Ohio State and LSU fans rejoice!

Va Tech, Georgia, Oklahoma,  USC fans gripe!

Missouri, Kansas and West Virginia fans wonder "what if."

Illinois' 3 losses come up smelling roses.

Hawaii is unbeaten, but won't win the title (remember when BYU did).

Such is life in the era of the BCS.  Now we're left with argument after argument after argument about who the best college football team is.

If Ohio State wins, it's hard to argue against them, or is it.  The Big Ten is a joke (and I grew up in the Midwest, so if anything I might be an apologist), and LSU would be their only legitimate win (sorry Michigan and Penn State fans).  Wins against Youngstown State, Akron and Kent State hardly make a national champ to me.

If LSU wins,  at least they can claim a whuppin of Virginia Tech (sorry Cindy Farmer) and wins over Florida and Auburn, but only two two loss teams have ever been national champs.

Everybody else is flawed too.  So let's have a playoff.  All the other sports do it, ah but here's the catch.  The pros have a handful of teams.  The BCS is supposed to help major college football narrow the focus to a few elite leagues, but as long as "big time" programs schedule cupcakes, you won't be able to narrow the BCS to 8 teams very often.  11 or 12 have arguments this year.  Wanna play Florida in a bowl game?  The Gators aren't even in the BCS.

We'll give a national champion a big crystal trophy right here on FOX January 7th.  Trophies make things seem real, but to me it's still a mythical champ.  We'll argue some more after Virginia Tech or USC or Georgia thumps somebody in their bowl game.  We'll argue a playoff is what we need.  All the other sports do it.  Really?  Oh wait, March Madness is coming.  Bubbles will be burst.  Teams will complain, "why were we left out when (name your mid-major or 6th place major conference team) is in?"  College fans across the country will get in a whole new set of arguments.

Anyone on your block arguing someone is better than the Patriots?  Anyone on your block argue over who's best in the NBA, MLB or NHL?  Following college sports isn't so bad after all is it!

 

 

There's something about The Masters that just gives the feel that golf season is starting.  I've already played a few times already this year, and the chance to play just about all year is sure one of the things I like about moving from the Midwest to NC.  I stay pretty much around Alamance and Guilford counties to play these days, but here are a few of my favorite holes in no particular order.   Feel free to add yours.

Crooked Tree in Guilford County (used to be Monticello)  Number 11 will eat your lunch if you don't hit a solid iron shot to this par 3 over water.

Number 10 at the Preserve at Jordan Lake is a long tough par 4.. you've really got to bomb a drive on that hole.... plus there's a big ravine short of the green.

Some people think number 11 at Quaker Creek in Mebane is tough because it's an island green.   I think number 8 is tougher.

Four pure maddening fun, number 18 at Brookwood.  I've driven this Par 4 more than once, and four putted it more than once.  Very tough green if you get above the hole.

Number 12 at Indian Valley in Burlington is a challenging Par 5 with a tee shot you have to carve around trees and creek running just short of the green to challenge lay-ups.

Just a few to start with.. again in no particular order.

Enjoy The Masters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I originally looked at the tournament.. I saw maybe the chalk running the table with nothing but 1 or 2 seeds in the Final Four.  Upon further review.. I'm going on a limb.

Give me Florida, UCLA, Texas (sorry Heels fans) and Texas A&M.  Crown the Gators with a second straight National Championship over Texas A&M.

Who do you have?

 

 

I love the Kentucky Derby. I've been to several and even picked the winner a few times. I didn't pick Barbaro last May (too long a story to explain here), but I've been rooting for him like no other horse since. In about two minutes, Barbaro became a Kentucky Derby winner and a household name. He had even the most cynical handicappers (and they are cynical) thinking this was the horse to capture the elusive Triple Crown. In The Preakness, we waited for his next steps along a road to greatness. A few steps into it, the road to greatness became the fight for survival. Barbaro once again proved his greatness, living 8 months after that horrific moment in Baltimore. His owners, the Jacksons, did all they could. They were stubborn, like many of you have been with a family pet, getting him the best treatment possible before finally realizing it was too much to overcome and it was time to let go. Whether it's Barbaro or a talented horse like Pine Island who had to be euthanized during The Breeders Cup, tragedies point out the dangers of racing. I'm sure in the coming days, the industry leaders will face some tough questions about safety, and they should. I hope it leads to safer racing because watching these magnificent horses run, especially in person, is something to see. It's too bad in Barbaro's case, the fairy tale ending was not meant to be.

Could we have seen two more amazing performances this weekend? Tiger Woods proved why he may be the best ever with his 5th win in a row over the weekend, and in case you missed it, Annika Sorenstam shot 62 to come from 5 shots back Sunday in the LPGA event. How's this for one of the those made for TV events, Tiger vs. Annika, give Annika the benefit of front tees. Who wins? I bet it would be more competitve than some of the runaways Tiger has had on tour this year.