It was exciting to watch last week's come-from-behind British Open victory by Ernie Els over Adam Scott at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's.
It was also interesting to see the differences in playing conditions between British links courses and many of the courses we play here in the U.S. - especially the sand traps.
Top PGA pros can get up and down from our perfectly manicured bunker 70 percent of the time, but the small, steep-faced bunkers golfers faced last week were true hazards.
On the sixth hole of the final round, Tiger Woods needed a couple of shots to extricate his ball. Woods' second swing was actually an amazing shot from his knees - something you would hardly ever see on any course on this side of the Atlantic.
Iron Masters focus
A full field of 120+ teams will be competing in eight flights this weekend at Iron Masters Country Club near Roaring Spring.
Golfers will be starting their rounds off of holes No. 1 and No. 12 - something new for this year.
Defending champion Cameron Sprowles will be returning this year, but he'll be without partner Dan Ott, his winning teammate from last year.
This week he will be teaming with another Wilmington University teammate - Andrew Baldo. Other championship flight teams include Artie Fink Jr. and Josh Leibfried, Frank Frontino and Bernie DiLoreto, Ben DelBaggio III and Jimmy Ferguson and J.P. Stultz and John Handrigan.
No seeds, please
I had the pleasure of golfing in the same foursome as Huntingdon's Ed Strickler this weekend. Strickler has been one of the best golfers in our area for decades, and it's always a treat to watch him strategically work his way around a golf course.
At one point during the round though, Strickler became colorful, to say the least, when he shared a pet-peeve of his - golfers who leave behind 'spent' sunflower seed shells.
After removing several from his putting line on more than one hole, the usually mild mannered Huntingdon Country Club Champion could hardly contain himself.
"It's the most disgusting habit I've seen on a golf course - you can quote me on that," he said.
Love covers area golf for the Mirror. His column runs on Fridays.
