April 2006

You’ve got to feel good for Chris Couch. A winner on the Nationwide Tour 5 times and not a lot of success on the PGA Tour. Two shot lead, couple of holes to go and he has to use that funky left hand low stroke that he uses for chipping and sand shots … B-o-g-e-y.

One hole to go. Tries a pitching wedge from about 153 ? Long and right, downhille lie in a bunker, with his legs wider than a human should have to spread. Skunky contact, leaves it short and still not on the green. I’m screamin’ at the TV, begging the Heavens to help the poor boy. Please let him get a bogey and at least make a playoff. Please don’t let him double bogey, please don’t…. what ? Did he just hole that chip ? Yes ! Yes ! You go boy !

Finally a winner on the PGA Tour. Congrats to Chris !

The other big winner was the city of New Orleans. Not only did Zurich make sure there was a sporting event finally held in New Orleans, not only do they get to keep all the dollars that a PGA Tour event leaves behind, but they get an extra quarter million dollars from Phil Mickelson.

Sure, I’ve been tough on Phil here on these pages before, but I’ve got to give him his props. He has 999 Gazillion dollars, so he won’t miss the $80,000 or so he won and he won’t miss the other $170,000 he’ll have to add to his donation to get it up to $250,000, but he didn’t have to do this.

I didn’t hear of anybody matching his donation and I’m sure there were other guys there who could have and maybe will donate their winnings, but I did hear Phil say he wishes he could have won so he could have giver the over $1 million dollars the winner gets to the city of New Orleans.

That’s a big heart from a big time talent. Those don’t always go together. Thank you Mr. Mickelson, from the city of New Orleans and all of us who watch you do what you do as well as anybody out there today.

The only losers out there was those of us who thank CBS for cutting away before we got to hear Peter Kostis talk to Chris. Now I’ll have to wait for Golf Central on The Golf Channel to hear the boy tell us how he had it under control and was laying up for that chip shot !

CBS, do us a favor and let a real golf network do real golf telecasts. I’m sick of you little timers telling us all about what’s going to be on 60 Minutes, but can’t stick around long enough for a 15 second interview.

Here’s another addition to our series of posts that will help you find the best golg, best food and best side trips when you come to Louisville for Derby week.

It’s down to a few hours until Derby week begins, so let’s get to it !

I recently did a review of Chariot Run Golf Course and I highly recommend that you call now and make a tee time. There’s no better public golfing experience in the metro area. There are some fine Country Club golf courses out there, but it won’t be easy to get in, so we’ll not go into those here.

Just in case you get a chance, Valhalla, Hurstbourne and several other are great tracks, but it’s who you know and not easy to go.

There’s plenty to see and there’s plenty to eat in downtown Louisville. I’m gonna link here to a review of 4th Street Live.

You can eat, drink, be merry and never get wet if it rains ! Click thru and see all that awaits you if you go.

Time for another installment of the best series going in the world of golf blogs…even if I do say so myself.

The 132nd running of The Kentucky Derby is coming up on May 6th. If you’re coming to Louisville, you gotta be ready to play golf, eat some great food and see some great sights. That’s what I’m here for. To help you. You’re welcome.

First and foremost is the golf and today I’m here to tell you…..

I’ve already done a review of Covered Bridge, so there’s no sense doing anything but giving you a link to this review of Covered Bridge Golf Club, in Sellersburg (IN).

If you come this close and don’t see the need to play golf at the course Fuzzy Zoeller built, well there ain’t much I can do for you.

Between the worlds best golf course restaurant food, great carts, friendly people and the beautiful rolling land of the Ohio River Valley, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Click the link, read the review, make the phone call, enjoy the round. Need a player ? Email me !

The absolute best steakhouse in town. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Bar none. Quit lookin’. The place to go. No need to argue. Don’t even try to go anywhere else.

Located at 4107 Oechsli Ave, in St Matthews, (502) 897-7077, Del frisco’s is a long time top of the mountain kinda place.

Here’s all you need to know. The most sizzling in butter, on a sizzling platter, humongus filets you’ve ever seen…WITH the best sides in the world. Get the Green Phunk. Get the Mushrooms. Get the Broccoli Au Gratin. Get the Potatoes. Get the Del Frisco Salad. Then get ready to live !

If this isn’t the best service, the best atmosphere, the best fine dining you’ve ever seen…..well, you must have been to more than 2 county fairs and one state fair like I have !

Call ‘em up, make a reservation and email me so I can meet you there !

How can you not want to see a piece of Americana like The Belle ?

” The Belle of Louisville, a National Historic Landmark and the most beloved symbol of our city, continues to grace us with her presence at the very site she visited so often throughout the early nineteen hundreds.

With the playing of her calliope, the Belle, now in her 92nd year, continues to beckon one and all to join her on a journey back to the time when she carried passengers and goods to ports all along the beautiful Ohio River.

The majestic Ohio River, the major link between the bustling cities of the East Coast and the mighty Mississippi River, was greatly instrumental in shaping the future of the city of Louisville and to this day still captures the imagination of all who visit. ”

Nothing more I can say except here’s a link to the Belle of Louiville site !

I don’t know if you normally cruise ESPN’s website like I do, but if not, you’re missing a great weekly roundup done by Jason Sobel.

Here’s a link to this weeks Weekly 18. Drop by and check it out and maybe you can bookmark it or check back every week so Jason can keep his job !

Time for the third installment of this series. Today we’re gonna turn it up a notch and add an element, a You Gotta Go See tip.

Like they say at Churchill Downs, ” And they’re off ! ”

We’ve been talking about where to go for great food, where to play some fine golf and today we’re gonna add a place you have to see. First and foremost is the golf, or I’d be posting on the wrong blog.

Quail Chase is located on the south side of Metro Louisville ( I refuse to call it Louisville Metro ) at 7000 Cooper Chapel Road, (502) 239-2110 or (877) 239-2110. It’s a 27 hole facility and is considered one of the best public facilities in Kentucky. The 3 nines, East, West and South are all completely different. It has a lake for a backdrop, McNeely and winds thru some of the finest thickets of Pine, Ash, Maple, Oak and Dogwood you’ll ever see. It’s a little tight in places and then it’s wide open in others. Has some great par 3’s and at least one par 5 that I’ve never been able to get on in two.

The East has one of the toughest holes in the state, #1 and is the best of the 3 nines. I birdied that hole the first time I played it and double bogied it the next 7 times !

The South is my second favorite, with the west coming in third.

Drop by and give ‘em a try if you come to town for the 132nd Run for The Roses. You’ll be glad you came.

The Buckhead Mountain Grill on the river, across the 2nd Street Bridge into Jeffersonville ( IN ) is one of the must eat places in the metro area. I was just there for dinner last week and the 2 pork chop dinner with house salad and lima beans was as good as any meal I’ve ever had outside of my wife’s home cooking. I regularly dine there and have enjoyed every entree they have. Good Montana Meatloaf, good chicken, fine beef, great appetizers, especially the fried green tomatoes ! And the blue cheese cole slaw is so good it should be illegal ! And the fresh bread and cinnamon butter is the stuff of sweet dreams !

There’s several Buckhead’s around Louisville, but only the one in Jeffersonville has a view of the big, muddy Ohio River. And the outside patio is a great place on a mild, Kentucky evening after some fine golf or a day of big winnings at Churchill Downs !

The Louisville Slugger Museum has got to be on your list of places to go while you’re in town.

If a giant bat doesn’t entice you to visit, ain’t none of my poor English, or my Kentuckian words gonna do it.

” It takes a special place to craft the Official Bat of Major League Baseball. Since 1884, Louisville Slugger has put prime lumber in the hands of the greatest players of the game. A visit to the museum shows you how the sport has changed a bit between then and now, but the “crack of the bat” remains one of the sporting world’s most thrilling moments. ”

The exhibits are worth the price of admission, watching a bat being made is worth even more, but getting a bat made with your name on it….priceless !

Here’s another rendition of great food and good golf for those of you lucky enough to be going to Louisville for the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. That includes Nick Lachey, now not needlessly encumbered by that blond bimbo…er, whatever her name was. Yo Nick ! If you need a coupla friends for golf, me and Chris Pearson are available !

There’s no words in my simple brain to get you to understand how good the food is at Baxter Station. Located downtown, basically, this rather eclectic mid-level mix of fine freakin’ food and funky flavors will make your trip to Louisville memorable. I’ve been there about 102 times, but I’m always looking for another reason to go. My friend Roger Hughes, of Hughes Architecture, and his wife Candace love it too. If you can satisfy the picky palate of a world class architect, you can please anybody !

Click the link and visit their site and see all the tempting, delicious dishes awaiting you when you get here.

Whether you try the Black & Bleu Burger, the Chipotle & Citrus Chicken Sandwich or the Grilled Tuna, you’re gonna love it. The sides are like you see Emeril or Tyler Florence do on The Food Network. Maybe even Bobby Lay !

Trust me on this one, I didn’t get to 6′2″ and 255 by not knowing good food. Believe. Trust. Food.

There no better rendition of American links style golf in or around Louisville than Nevel Meade. Located at 3221 Nevel Meade Drive, which is just over in Prospect, ( 502-228-9522 ), this golf course features an open Scottish style with 63 sand bunkers, heavy mounding and tall grasses. It’s an 18 hole complex, with a driving range, plays to a par 72, about 7000 yards. Oh yeah, it has lots and lots of wind. It also drains well, if the weather turns wet, as it tends to do around Derby time, this jewel dries faster than any course in the Metro area.

I can’t find a website for them, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Yo ! Nick ! Let’s do some links golf and maybe it’ll help you forget about…whoever she was.

Since I’m the most famous ( and only ) golf blogger with a Louisville connection, I guess it’s my duty to help all of you find some places to play golf, indulge in some great food, find an off the beaten path side trip and tell you where to stay and play.

If you happen to be coming to Louisville for the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby, you have to do several things. I’ll be going over and over and over them for the next several weeks.

Located at 909 Swan St, the Come Back Inn is one of my favorite spots in the city. Their Chicago Italian Beef sandwich is the bomb ! The Linguine with the clam sauce is so good that we once put a bowl on a guys head and his tongue beat his brains out trying to get to it ! Serious good !

Here’s a link to a review and if you’re going, shoot me an email and I’ll meet you there !

Located at 300 Pee Wee Reese Road, 502-458-9298, this city owned gem features rolling hills with grass mounds around the greens, fairway bunkers and some water holes. Zoysia fairways and bent grass greens. The Championship tees are a whopping 7196 yards and are as hard as any golf couse anywhere any price any time !

Gary Player won his 1st U.S. pro tournament at Seneca, back in the 1960’s and the wind is still in your face on #14, a 438 yard par 4 that never, ever plays downwind. Never. Don’t believe me ? Call the club pro Kevin Greenwell and ask him.

Just like Churchill Downs, you have to be tough to win here because it’s long, flat and hard.

There’s a million dollar hole in one contest there on the Tuesday of Derby Week and they have never had a winner. Ever.

Holler at me if you’re going and want to play. If you par the first hole, dinner’s on me at the Come Back Inn.

That’s all for today. More to come. Fine dning, fine golf and lotsa fun !

I made it over to Chariot Run on Friday, April 14th. It was Good Friday, but it was a tough Friday for golf. At about 5:30 AM a storm blew thru and the winds stayed with us all day. Was about 20 mph at all times and gusts to 30 + were common. Even though we didn’t play til noonish, it was still tough to play a links style, albeit an American links style, golf course in those kinds of winds.

I had a tough time on the front, with a 44. Having never been there and not being sure of where to hit it, I was uncomfortable enough to have a bogey-double bogey for holes 2 & 3. Holes 4, 5 and 7 also got me.

I found my game on the back and shot a 40, for an 84 round. About 6 strokes more than I should need.

It didn’t help that they had aerated the greens about a week ago, so they were a bit like a Chinese Checkerboard. Better than almost every other set of aerated greens I’ve played this year, but still tough to putt. The only place I’ve ever putted aerated greens that were smooth and slick is the Jeffersonville ( IN ) Elks Club. My friend Bob Burgan lives there and they know how to do it better than anyone else.

The course there at Chariot Run is still fairly new, about 3 years old, so the grass isn’t as full and lush as it will be in a few years. They need about 2 more years to get it to where it will be THE place to play in southern Indiana.

As for the service, there were more maintenance people on the course than there were golfers. I’m sure Caesars has more than enough dollars to make sure there are plenty of bodies to go around. I doubt if they need for the course to pay for itself right away.

The Bag Drop boys were very courteous and the Pro Shop employees were outstandingly nice.

The Starter had a very nice script, which he kept reading, even though we told him we’d be good. He read it all the way thru 2 of us trying to hit. Must have gotten points for reading it all the way thru, otherwise he’d have hushed so we could play. First they tell you to be fast, you’re on the clock, we’re watching you and then they read you a bedtime story. That part they can cut out for my part.

The course was really well marked, as almost every sprinkler head had a yardage to the middle of the green and the sheet in your cart gave you a plus or minus yardage to the pin that day. This should be done everywhere and done this well. These were the easiest yardages I’ve found in a long, long time.

I really don’t like hitting into every landing zone with maintenance workers out there either, but every fairway had a little green vehicle and two or three people in it. Kind of disconcerting for those of us who hit the ball a long way.

Of course, I didn’t hit it that far INTO THE WIND. I had one drive I nailed go a whopping 225 yards. About 50 less than my average drive.

The greens were well built and well thought out by the architect. They were generous in size and had enough slope to make you work hard, but felt like they were fair.

Same with the fairways, generous and well maintained. Just not as mature and full as they will be in a couple more years.

The turf under the bent grass fairways was the best I’d ever seen. Really well built and my visors off to the maintenance staff.

There’s more than enough sand to make your life a living heck and there’s some water to get you if you aren’t careful.

That’s the one element that we Americans overdo when we try and design a links style course. Too much water. Too much Pete Dye trickery. When the dang wind is gonna be as strong as it will be on this course, with no trees to slow it down, you don’t need as much water as they have.

If I’m not mistaken, there’s water on 9 holes and that goes against links courses as far as I’m concerned. You’ll really have to flight your golf ball well, if the breeze picks up and that may be a little too much to ask of the casino goers who’ll be paying top dollar to play this gem.

The rolling Indiana farmland, and this dude is WAY BACK IN THE BOONIES, is beautiful and the scenery will calm you down in a Hoosire minute.

I’m looking forward to playing it again. I’ll know more about where to hit it and where not to. I’ll know when to go long and when to go short. The greens will be really good in about 2 weeks and the fairways will be even better than they were. There were a quite a few scraggly spots and that’s not something I expect when it costs this much to play golf.

I’ll keep you posted about this course and how it develops thru the year.

If you do go, make sure and spend some time in the casino. I’m sure they are using the gambling dollars to make the course into one of the best in southern Indiana.

And if you happen to be going to Louisville for The Kentucky Derby, bookmark this site or subscribe to the RSS feed, as I will be giving out some gems for those heading to Louisville.

Dining, golfing and lodging tips galore, coming up !

Here’s a great shot from this years Masters. It’s one of many that were taken by Patrick Micheletti, my blog friend from One Day One Shot.

Here’s another link to take you to some great photos from Augusta National. Many are from the Par 3 Contest, so they will not be seen anywhere else.

Please enjoy and leave Patrick a comment to thank him, as I thank him for sharing with us !

Looking for a stay and play golf package ? Like casinos and golf ? Like riverboats and pirates ? Well, alright, there ain’t no pirates. But there is a really large riverboat ! And there’s a Par 72 golf course with bent grass greens, fairways and tees, a full-time PGA professional on staff, a Pro Shop, a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse with locker room and facilities and lastly a deli and lounge.

Did I mention that I’ll be playing there on Friday ? I’ll give you a full run down soon after.

” Caesars Indiana’s spectacular equestrian-themed golf course adds 18 holes and over 7,000 yards of exciting golf to Southern Indiana. It features bent grass greens, fairways and tees, and sparkling lakes. Both the serious player and the novice will appreciate Chariot Run’s stirring beauty and unique challenges. And of course, you’ll find the luxurious amenities and superb service you expect from Caesars. Come revel in the thrill of the game at Chariot Run ! “

Click thru and see if maybe Chariot Run and Caesars Indiana is a trip you’ve been waiting to make !