A Wonderful Weekend of Golf

Darren Clarke shocked the golfing world by winning The Open Championship at Royal St. Georges by 3 shots.

The 140^th running of the Open Championship was nothing short of thrilling. We saw just a little bit of everything. 20-year-old Tom Lewis shot the lowest round by an amateur in Open Championship history (65) in round one. We saw possibly the greatest pre-round stretching routine ever seen by the public eye and a remarkable front-nine Sunday charge by Phil Mickelson. But none of those compare to the stellar play of Darren Clarke all week.

Heading into the week, all of the buzz was about a young Northern Irishman who was going to continue exploding up the world rankings. Instead, a wily veteran stole the show.

Darren Clarke was nothing short of spectacular all week. He hit a low, penetrating tee ball all week and was able to bump and run his way below the gale force winds. We haven’t seen Clarke on the world stage in quite some time. 11 years ago he went head-to-head with Tiger Woods (does he still play golf?) to win the WGC Match Play Championship. But 5 years ago, his world was turned upside down. His wife Heather battled hard, but lost her 2 year bout with cancer at the tender age of 39.

Clarke was left heartbroken and empty. His golf career lived on, but he was nowhere near the world stage. The 42 year old is now engaged to another woman. Ironically he met her through a blind date set up by fellow Irishman Graeme McDowell.

Staying on the topic of Ireland, they may be the new capital of the golf world. There have been three major champions from the area in the past year (McDowell at the 2010 US Open and Rory McIlroy four weeks ago also at the US Open). Before this domination commenced, the last golfer from Northern Ireland to win a major was Fred Daly at the 1947 Open Championship. Safe to say, there will be a pint (or 12) happily consumed tonight.

What makes this win so special is how Clarke is perceived amongst his peers. McIlroy, McDowell, Ian Poulter and even Tiger Woods (again, does he still play golf?) tweeted about Clarke’s performance. Before Darren was announced as the Champion Golfer of the year, several players went out of their way to congratulate him. Curtis Strange said it best, “He’s just a ‘man’s man’; he smokes, he has the odd (x3) pint, he drives fast cars. How can’t you root for a guy like him?”

Now, the play at Royal St. Georges wasn’t the only exciting golf going on this weekend.

Bryan Black and Robert Tonelli came from behind in shocking fashion to win the Men's Invitational at Bayview Golf and Country Club.

At my home course, Bayview Golf and Country Club, the Men’s Invitational concluded on Saturday. It’s an annual 3-day event, with teams of two partnering up in a net best ball format.

51 teams started the event with high hopes, but at the end, the team of Russell Godwin and Stuart Tidd seemed destined for victory. They had a two shot lead with two holes to go. That’s just when things started to get interesting.

Bryan “Blackie” Black was playing some of the best golf of his career. Before he stepped onto the par three 17^th tee, he still had hope.

“There was a voice in my head saying I can do this. I can go 2,3"

And he had the chance to do that. After a birdie on 17, Blackie had a putt on 18 to send the tournament to a playoff. Using his trustworthy long-putter, Blackie calmly dropped a slippery downhill curler on the 18^th. A little dance ensued.

The two teams battled through two playoff holes. But standing again on the 18^th, things didn’t seem so bright for Blackie and partner Robert Tonelli. Blackie pulled his drive into the gunk on the left. The rest of the players were safe and in the fairway. After Tonelli put his third shot onto the green, he had to sink a par putt, or else opponent Stuart Tidd could two putt for victory.

For those who don’t know the 18^th green at Bayview, it has more dips and curves than streets in Ireland. If a putt rolls too aggressively, it could easy dwindle off the green. Tonelli was first to putt, and drained it right in the heart. Tidd could make his putt for the win, two putt for the tie and a three putt would result in a loss. Tidd got a little too aggressive and eventually three-putted, giving Bryan Black and Robert Tonelli a victory at the Men’s Invitational.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing with Blackie on Sunday mornings and we’ve been quite successful as partners. Recently, I shot my career low -3 under 33 on the back nine while playing with him, resulting in a big pay day for the two of us.

As Blackie himself would say, “I’ve got two words for that…Wow.”

A True Role Model

Any player who has ever been traded or has requested a trade should try to model themselves after Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay

           We all love following professional sports. Players become our role models and fans try to emulate everything about their favourite athletes. As great as this is, time after time, professionals take advantage of their rights.

            Trades and free agency will always be apart of sports. Players seem to forget that their current team signed them to a multi-million dollar contract and invested much more into them. I understand that athletes want to play for a certain team, but the way they come about doing this has at times been disrespectful.

            Think back to The Decision. For those of you that didn’t watch this absolutely preposterous segment last summer, Lebron James decided that he wanted to broadcast his decision on where he was going to sign all over the world.  Instead of just signing with the club when the date came, he showed the world that his ego is stupidly big. On a side, he also took his talents towards another playoff failure.

            There’ve been so many other scenarios in regards to players leaving their teams on terrible terms. However, one situation that is the complete opposite and is relevant to this time is Roy Halladay.

            The Blue Jays showed a lot of class when they decided they were going to trade Roy Halladay. Toronto wanted to give ‘Doc’ an opportunity to win after giving the club 11 years of quality service. They traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies, one of the powerhouses of the National League on December 15, 2009. Instead of bad-mouthing Toronto, Halladay and his wife Brandy purchased an ad in a Toronto newspaper and thanked the fans for their support. Just recently Halladay made his official return to Toronto. He received a standing ovation from fans when he first walked onto the pitcher’s mound. I was in attendance at the game and it was simply incredible to hear this cheer.

            Professional athletes will always have the right to request a trade to a different team, but to Lebron James, Chris Bosh, Dany Heatley, Eric Lindros, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens: leave your respective city with class. All of these athletes can learn so much from Roy Halladay. As my former hockey coach and dear friend Louie used to say, "Don't only win with class, but lose with class too."