The Greenbrier Classic

I'm sure you've all been wondering why this West Virginian hasn't weighed in on the Greenbrier Classic yet. Truthfully, I haven't been watching the Golf Channel leading up to the tournament, and the newspapers I've read all say the same things. It seems the articles are just copied from one paper to the other (and one website to another on the web). But I guess I can offer some opinions:

1. People were saying the course was too easy. It looked to me like the golfers were working pretty hard today. DA Points and Jeff Overton were fighting for every drive, every iron shot, every bunker shot, every putt. If the course was so easy, why then didn't Stuart Appleby shoot a 58? Or a 57? Or that hypothetical 54 that Annika Sorenstam always thought was achievable? Yes the scores were low, but the golfers played their butts off too.

2. Where were the clowns and face painting booths? With all of the attractions and concerts, you would expect clowns, balloons, face painting etc. I'm not sure I like all of the extra stuff. Although I do support a fun hole in one prize. We need more fun on the PGA Tour. And I love the 18th hole being a par 3. After stretching things out for 17 holes and all of those shots, it's cool to have it all come down to one swing and one putt.

3. They should have done a special about how the course had been reconstructed from decades old pictures. Nick Faldo was downright giddy over the process and it sounds like it would be fascinating to learn about.

4. I'm reserving judgment on Jim Justice. As a West Virginian, I have to be suspicious of coal barons. Time will tell what he's like.

5. West Virginia papers need to try a little harder in the accuracy department. They misidentified Davis Love in a picture earlier this week. And for some reason, one of the papers thinks it's supposed to put the author's name as the jump head when putting the rest of the golf article on a different page. The article was about Paul Goydos, the jump head was the writer's name. Obviously, since I didn't know who the writer was, I missed the second half of the article on Paul Goydos. Lucky for me, I saw the whole Paul Goydos 59 thing a few weeks ago on the Golf Channel. I'm sure the local paper hadn't added any new information.

6. It's good that Sergio Garcia joined Kenny Perry in donating money to the miners' fund. I don't care what people say about Sergio's commitment to the sport, or his attitude, or his technique. His heart is in the right place and you really can't argue with that.

I'll be attending the Bridgestone Invitational this coming week. I'm taking my iPod Touch so hopefully I can check in and post a few little things on the blog, twitter, and Facebook. Not too much, though, because it's very difficult typing on those little buttons. And of course, the iPod stays away from the course. Not only is that a rule, but I'd probably lose it in the rough on 16 as well.