Zach Johnson narrowly avoided being disqualified

Johnson moved his ball marker at No. 18 to allow Dufner to putt out. He then failed to return the marker to its original spot before taking his final 5-foot putt. The error cost him a two-shot penalty, reducing his margin of victory to a single stroke yesterday at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Had Johnson, the 2007 Masters Tournament winner, signed for a score of even-par 70, he would have been disqualified. Had he missed his final putt, Johnson would have dropped into a playoff with discount golf clubs Dufner. As it turned out, the champion finished at 12- under-par 268 following a 2-over 72.

Johnson extended his advantage to four shots with three holes to play after Dufner hit his second shot from a fairway sand trap into a water hazard at No. 15. The error led to a triple-bogey seven, dropping Dufner to 11-under.

It was Johnson’s eighth win on the U.S. PGA Tour and first since his win at Colonial in 2010. Johnson’s victory, his fourth in Texas, prevented Dufner from winning two weeks in a row and securing his third title since April 29.

Dufner beat Ernie Els in a playoff at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his maiden title on the tour before getting married and winning seven days ago at the Byron Nelson Championship in nearby Irving.

“One, I got lucky because it was a two-shot penalty; two, I got lucky because they told me before I signed my TaylorMade RocketBallZ Driver score card,” Johnson, wearing the champion’s red plaid jacket, said in a news conference. “I’m just lucky that they mentioned it to me before I signed my score card and left the building.”

Dufner was 11-under after a 74, four shots ahead of Tommy Gainey, who was third.

The tour now moves to Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament. Tiger Woods is scheduled to play in the May 31 to June 3 event that’s hosted by Jack Nicklaus. Woods won the title three straight years through 2001 and again in 2009.

Dufner began yesterday with a one-shot lead over Johnson at 15-under par. The duo exchanged the lead several times TaylorMade RocketBallZ fairway wood during the final round before Johnson took a one-shot advantage with a 10-foot (3 meter) birdie putt at the 14th hole.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dex McLuskey in Dallas at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net

“What he’s done the last month is beyond impressive,” Johnson said of Dufner. “I feel like I somewhat unseated a king, because he’s been on top for four weeks.”

Johnson’s lead proved just enough to withstand a three-putt bogey at the par-3 16th and his error at No. 18.

Duke women’s golf team carded an opening-round of one-over-par

Duncan came up short on No. 8 and holed a key five-footer for par to remain at even par heading into the 455-yard, par five ninth hole.  She bombed a drive and had only 210 yards to the green.  Duncan hit her hybrid to the front of the green and rolled to within 15 feet.  She went on to drain her fifth eagle of the season to give her a two-under-par, 70, on the day.  On the morning, she hit nine fairways, 12 greens and had a team-best 29 putts.

“Well, let me tell you, when TaylorMade RocketBallZ Driver Lindy [Duncan] made that putt [on No. 9 for eagle], that was key.  We had a lot of good things that happened, but we needed some putts to fall,” said Brooks. “This is the national championship and you cannot afford to miss a lot of those little putts. That was pretty important to get us in position tomorrow.”

She struggled over the next six holes with three bogeys and three pars to drop to one-over-par.  All three of her bogeys were off three-putts.  Cangrejo closed strong with five consecutive pars before hitting her approach shot on No. 9 to three feet and sinking the birdie putt.  On the day, she featured a team-high 34 putts, while hitting a team-best 16 greens and 10 fairways.  Her 16 greens in regulation is a career-best for the sophomore.

Leading the Duke charge in the first round was the top-ranked golfer in the nation Lindy Duncan, who carded a two-under-par, 70, and is tied for ninth overall.  A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan got off to a shaky start with two bogeys over her first seven holes.  She started to get things going after draining a six-foot birdie putt on No. 17 as she went on to make the turn at one-over, 37. 

Immediately following Tuesday’s round, Virginia held a six-under-par, 282, team ledger but Elizabeth Brightwell of the Cavaliers signed for the wrong score and was disqualified.  This dropped Virginia’s score to an even-par, 288. 

After having to withdraw from the NCAA East Regional with an elbow injury, Alejandra Cangrejo returned to the TaylorMade RocketBallZ fairway wood lineup on Tuesday and continued her solid play with an even-par, 72.  She featured Duke’s best start on the day as she was two-under-par through six with birdies on the 11th and 15 holes.  Cangrejo, who is from Bogota, Colombia, sank a nine-footer for birdie on the 11th hole and rolled in a 25-footer on No. 15. 

After making a bogey on the 384-yard, par four first hole, Duncan started dialing it in.  She drained a two-inch birdie putt on No. 2 and then registered four straight pars.  On the second hole, she hit her wedge from 70-yards to inches from cup.  Duncan, who is a two-time first team All-America and three-time ACC Player of the Year selection, then hit her drive on the 504-yard, par five seventh hole near the trees on the right and was forced to punch out down the fairway.  She stuck her approach to within two feet and sank her third birdie of the day. 

“She is out there playing with an injury that really, really hurt,” said Brooks.  “The doctor said it was like hitting your funny bone with a hammer. She is out there with the courage to play. That is really tough.”

“I hope so,” said Duncan on the finishing giving her momentum going into tomorrow.  “It was kind of a struggle, a little shaky in the beginning.  But I did a good job of hanging in there.  Anytime you can score well is really exciting.”

A native of Blacksburg, Va., Ellenbogen regrouped and played her final 11 holes at one-under-par to close with a 75.  She sank her only birdie of the day on the 324-yard, par four second discount golf clubs hole as she rolled in a 14-footer.  Ellenbogen hit 11 greens, eight fairways and had 31 putts on the day.  Prior to the NCAA East Regional, Ellenbogen featured a 77.48 stroke average, but over the last four rounds has dialed in a 74.25 average.  

Disc golf is easy

The course officially opened in mid-April, he said, with plenty of help from the local disc golf community and disc golfer Ryan Lane. “They provided all the labor to really clear the park, clear the tee areas, clear the landing areas,” Duarte said. “They did some really good stuff.”

The official site of the PDGA, www.pdga.com, explains the game “shares with 'ball golf' the object of completing Titleist 712 AP1 Irons each hole in the fewest number of strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest number of throws). A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target which is the 'hole.' The hole can be one of a number of disc golf targets; the most common is called a Pole Hole, an elevated metal basket.”

Rather than follow someone who knew the course, I had the genius idea of finding the first hole. Except we didn't find it. So we hiked back again to eight, played that, then found nine and one no problem.

Then again, disc golf can be moderate to difficult if it's windy or you haven't hucked a disc in a while. I've seen people get so frustrated they've had tantrums worthy of real golf. Disc golf can even be dangerous, sort of. A few years ago at Central Oregon Community College's nine-hole course, I was nearly hit in the skull with an errant disc when a thrower in the party behind ours lacked the presence of mind — or possibly the presence of courtesy — to shout, “Fore!”

There are public courses all over Central Oregon, including Madras and Sisters. Mt. Bachelor put in a seasonal course on the mountain, and a new nine-hole course is in the works in Dry Canyon in Redmond. Baskets Don't Grow on Trees, a fundraiser for the new course, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in Redmond. Details are available at www.redmonddiscgolf.com.

If you're one of those people who still call the game “Frolf” — an ear-displeasing portmanteau of Frisbee and golf — you may be surprised to learn there's a PDGA, or that people play with Titleist 712 AP2 Irons brands of discs specially made for disc golf. They are weighted and shaped for various purposes — distance, putting — just like golf clubs.

We'd parked at the large lot for the softball fields and followed a couple of guys who had the telltale shoulder bags full of discs that indicated they were there for the same reasons we were. Then they told us they were starting at the eighth hole, which would have led us to ninth and then the nearby tee for the first hole.

Despite how well-organized it is — there are competitions and leagues and a pro tour — the sport is also fantastic, at the neighborhood park level, for lazier people. Which is how my colleague Ben Salmon and I found ourselves driving north on Purcell Boulevard last week to Pine Nursery Community Park.

In other words, it's your standard east-side landscape of junipers, rocks and moon dust. From there, we found our way along the course, which is bordered by an irrigation canal to the south, Purcell Boulevard to the west, Ponderosa Elementary School to the north and those softball fields to the east.

Improvements are coming, including an informational discount golf clubs kiosk, signs at each tee, concrete tee boxes and possibly benches and practice baskets, according to Mike Duarte, landscape manager for Bend Park & Recreation District.

Learn to control wedge distance

The key is, like many things in golf, practice. I've seen Luke Donald - often cited as one of the best wedge players in the world - devout great time and patience into hitting wedge shots at the practice range to designated distances, getting a feel for the mechanics and the sensations needed to know how to hit to those targets. Very deliberately and carefully, he'd find a target at 100 yards, hit a number of shots to that distance, then 90 yards, then 80 yards, and so on. I would say that most Tour players devout well over half of their practice time on the range to these precision shots rather than hitting drivers - a ratio that would probably reverse for most amateur players.

Of course the Tour players can bomb it off the tee, that's the most obvious. Most amateurs will never hit one 320 Taylormade Rocketballz Irons yards down the fairway (or in the case of Rory McIlroy, 325 with a 3 wood!). But the real difference is the ability to control their distances with their scoring clubs - in particular, their wedges.

So from a distance that almost all players can hit, and often with the same clubs, what separates the professionals? How can you improve your wedge distance control?

1.) Choke down on the club. This will allow you to take your normal full swing and the shorter swing radius will fly the ball a little less distance.
2.) Shorten the backswing: Many teachers recommend a "clock" system, bringing your hands back to nine, ten or eleven o'clock to determine the distance your wedge shot will fly.
3.) Slow your tempo down: Obviously, a slower swing will not send the ball as far.

It will be up to you to find which of discount golf clubs these methods is most effective for you. I am more of a "feel" player than a "mechanics" player and thus, use a combination of all three at times.

But the most important lesson for all of us from this past week is: Controlling the distance on your wedges will give your more makeable putts (birdie or par) and help you avoid three putts and tough chips. It is something almost any player can improve on and will make a bigger difference to your score than adding a few yards to your drive off the tee.

There are three ways to control your distance better on your wedge shots.

You saw Rickie Fowler take a gap wedge in the first playoff hole and dial it in, leaving him a four foot TaylorMade RocketBallZ fairway wood birdie for his first win on the PGA Tour. I encountered a number of times where I, and all the players playing this week, were faced with incredibly precise distance needs - where a little short could mean being in a bunker or the water and being a little long would mean an extremely difficult putt or chip back towards the trouble.

sisterhood teen golfers do golf as a family

The Bengal golfing sisterhood is rooted in the family of sisters Angie and Teresa Rizzo, the first pair of golfing sisters to grace the links for Blaine High School.

Angie occasionally returns to her high school alma mater to offer tips and reminisce about the sisterhood. You see, her sister Teresa followed her on to the golf course, golfing with the Bengals until she graduated in 2005.

Not to say it comes without diligent repetition and days of determined practice, but for these girls golfing is a welcome way of everyday life – and they’re good at it.

“These girls are really good Titleist 712 AP1 Irons kids. We’ve got the best kids in the world out here,” said Davids, who shares head coach duties with Maribeth Suter.

Two more Bengal girl golfers, Morgan Wolfe and Olivia (Ole) Landborg, are also part of the sisterhood of golfers, but their sisters, Bailey and Cassie, have graduated and gone on to golf on the collegiate links.

“My dad got me out playing when I was just a little kid. I just kind of grew on it,” Jenna said.

“When you live on the golf course, you just can’t ignore it,” she said. “It’s right out the front door, so it’s something we do all the time.”

Her older sister, Bailey (BHS class of 2009), is currently a student at the University of Minnesota, but during her high school golfing career, Bailey was all-conference her eighth-grade through senior years, went to state each of those years and was named all-state her senior year.

“We’re having a great year. We’re undefeated in the conference. This is our best start ever,” said Blaine girls’ golf co-head coach Bill Davids.

“I commute here from Bethel every day for practice. It’s a long way, but it’s worth it,” Karie said. “It’s worth it because it’s so fun. I love these girls. I love my coaches. I could have played Titleist 712 AP2 Irons for Bethel, but I chose to play for Blaine because of the girls, the coaches, my sister.”

“Being out here is so great. Something we share that we both really love,” Jenna said.

When asked why they love golf, the sisterhood answers, almost in unison, “It’s a family thing.”

Hannah, one of the captains of the Bengal girls’ golf team along with Karie and Morgan, said what she loves about the game is its precision.

While Karie is a senior at Blaine High School she is also a full-time PSEO student, attending classes at Bethel University and living on the St. Paul campus.

“I’m so analytical and that’s what I love: I can analyze everything – every stroke, every lie, every putt, every hazard,” said Hannah, who does a great job of analysis, diagnosing her game and perfecting it.

Hannah, a junior, and her discount golf clubs sister, Caroline, a freshman, are the Bengals’ first and second golfers, Davids said. Both girls have played in the junior PGA league, and so has Morgan.

While the sisterhood of golfers tees up and strokes their way through their high school careers, Hannah predicts that her younger sisters will extend that sisterhood. Her three-year old sister already “loves golf and wants to be out here all the time,” Hannah said, adding that her nine-year old sister likes to golf, too.