About 20 months ago Jarrod Lyle, an Australian pro of considerable physical size and commensurate ability, was told that the leukemia he had battled to a draw as a teenager had returned.   Given the fact that historically a second bout with leukemia has a much lower chance of success, it had to seem to him very unlikely that he would ever play a professional golf tournament again.

Yet yesterday, standing on the first tee of the storied Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the first round of the Talisker Australian Masters he heard those cherished words, “From Victoria, please welcome back Jarrod Lyle”.  To Jarrod and the throngs of supporters who poured out for his homecoming return to professional golf it brought tears of joy to their eyes…….this is the feel good golf story of the year.

As you can read in Matt Murnane’s account in the Sydney Morning Herald Jarrod Lyle’s begins a new journey in his fight to regain his career after his successful second round of treatment has once again put his leukemia in check.

The pictures in the article say it all, his wife and young daughter and hundreds of others wearing the supportive yellow of the Challenge cancer network.  They had come to provide a cloud of support for a local golf hero, playing the course he holds dearer than any other, in one of the big three events on the Australian golf calendar.

His opening par-birdie start was as much a release of pent up emotion than golf skill but it set in his mind that he was back where he belonged.  The golf gods did not issue him any free passes though.  On the ninth hole he pulled his drive and his Titleist wedged itself into the fork of a tree down the left side of the fairway.  “I think it was the same tree we were under in the Heineken (Classic in 2005, when he came to prominence),” said his father John Lyle. “He knows that spot well.”

Showing the grit he is known for with a resurgence on the back side Jarrod shot a one-over-par 72 and has positioned himself to meet his goal of making the halfway cut after tonight’s second round.

You can follow his progress as the Talisker Australian Masters is being broadcast live on the Golf Channel late this evening.  Great coverage with a cast of Australian announcers handling the duties with full Aussie jargon.  Ian Baker Finch is on the crew and is by far the most understandable accent in the booth.  Go figure!

Needless to say half a country and plenty of interested bystanders around the world are pulling for him to do just that.

Round 2 Update:  Jarrod Lyle shot even par today to make the halfway cut at one-over.  Those yellow Challenge Hats will be sold out for the weekend.  Great Stuff!!

Round 3 Update:  Lyle had three birdies and two bogies on his way to a one-under 70 and and even par standing through three rounds.  He is currently 29th and positioned will for a top 25 finish with a sub par round on Sunday.

Final Round Update:  Rough day for Jarrod starting off double bogey, bogey, and other in the first four holes.  He did make three birdies on the way to 79 and and T-57 finish.  Great to make a check….great to see him back.

(Click to read Matt Murnane’s article on Jarrod Lyle return to pro golf)

Matt Murnane

Sydney Morning Herald

November, 2013

Mike Keiser continues to astonish with a simple rule prevailing at his properties in Bandon-just go out an enjoy golf.  Whether it is the 13-hole Bandon Preserve par 3 playground or his new mega putting facility Punchbowl he continues to break the mold of modern golf resorts by providing unique opportunities to enjoy the game.

In this article by Ron Bellamy for The Register-Guard you can read about one of Keiser’s most innovative concepts, one of the best kept secrets in Bandon, a DIY golf course that anyone can play-the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch.  No clubhouse, no golf shop, no practice facility, not even a bathroom with running water.  This is an unirrigated piece of kept golfing land with 13 greens where you can pretty much make your holes up as you go playing your own unique design.

Keiser’s business partner from the greeting card business, Phil Friedmann bought this land about a dozen years ago and had Tom Doak build him 13 greens on this piece of land he had purchased on the north border of Bandon Dunes.  It was basically his personal golf course and is not part of the Bandon Dunes Resort.

Yet it is totally accessible if you know the secret process for getting to play it.  Actually pretty simple, just call Bandon Golf Supply where they will put you in touch with the course superintendent.  He will arrange  a day and time to meet your group at the course, it is available weekdays between November and June, the course is closed during the hot summer months.  He will collect a fee of $100 a man hand you a scorecard and a suggestion for a routing and where to begin.  The rest is up to you.

This is a fantastic concept for any devout golfer with a strong opinion on course design. It is a golf equivalent to backwoods helicopter skiing without the chopper.  Imagine an open canvas of stellar golfing land overlooking an ocean where you decide where to tee it up and where the green will be on each hole.  No complaints about the design being unfair especially because the designer is looking back at you in the reflection of the glass face of your watch.  This is the ultimate in the Play It Forward concept.  Just decide what distance is comfortable and put a peg in the ground.

Don’t forget to bring a grill and plenty of refreshment….there will be no visits from a cart girl or a halfway house at the turn.  In fact there is no turn…..nor end to your round until you decide it is over.  What a concept…..leave it to Keiser and his buddies to break the mold once again.

(Click to read this fascinating article by Ron Bellamy’s about Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch)

Ron Bellamy

The Register-Guard

November, 2013

In this interview with Charlie Rose Sean Foley talks about his philosophy and the practical reality of coaching the best players in the world.  His classroom attendees include Tiger, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, and Hunter Mahan among others.

As he says in the conversation he teaches young kids how to play the game…..he coaches the best players in the world.  At this point in their athletic careers there is little new to teach them.  But like the great coaches in any sport observing their tendencies and relating to them the flaws these tendencies perpetuate he can help them get to a place of self-recognition where they can manage their flaws and produce better results.

In watching this 35-minute conversation you have to let go of the notion that somehow it is a referendum on his tutelage of Tiger and appreciate the accumulated genius of a guy who has studied the teachings of greatest instructors going back 100 years.

You won’t find any technical prescription for success in golf for his top ranked players or yourself for that matter.  But you will get an understanding of why these guys gravitate to this man and his ability to diagnose the problems that beset them at the current stage in their personal golf cycle and advise them on what to focus to maximize their competitive results.

This is a thoughtful guy who does not come across with the bravado of a Butch Harmon.  But it is evident to me that it is his intellect and his bedside manner, as he refers to it, that allow great athletes to trust him to guide them to a path of higher performance in their games.

Turn off the cell phone and shut the door to the study….this is a fascinating conversation best appreciated without interruption.

(Click here to view the Sean Foley Interview with Charlie Rose)

Charlie Rose

Bloomberg.com

October, 2013

It has been reported in a recent Washington Post article that the powers that be at the University of Maryland are considering a really bad idea of plowing under the university’s golf course as part of a $100 million mixed used redevelopment project.

The University of Maryland Golf Course sits on 150 heavily wooded acres adjacent to the campus and is a popular destination for students and Maryland residents.  Testimony to this is the fact that the course hosts over 35,000 golf rounds a year.  It also provides full practice and teaching facilities for the community.  Recent renovation of the course has improved it’s standard considerably and it has hosted Web.com professional golf events as a result.

The redevelopment plans would include a direct off ramp from the Capital Beltway to the College Park Campus, a slew of new box retail stores, some faculty housing, and a new, more appetizing entrance to the campus.  That is what we need in College Park more box retailers and housing tracts.

Serious opposition to this misguided idea is being spearheaded by local state senators and residents of P.G. County who understand the value of this asset to the students and local residents.

A website has been established as a clearing house for information on plan at

http://saveumdgolfcourse.com/

If you share in the misgivings about this plan please write an e-mail to university president Dr. Wallace Loh to express your opposition.

Dr. Wallace Loh    wdloh@umd.edu

If we don’t want this Terrapin to become extinct we have to speak up now before the developers have their way.

October, 2013

UPDATE: 

Rational minds have prevailed and the developer has abandoned plans for the redevelopment of the ground the University of Maryland Golf Course sits on.  Guess the grass roots movement was loud enough….

(Click to read the follow up article on this redevelopment plan)