Oliver Dunn played in the U. S. Open local qualifier at Wilshire CC, in Los Angeles, finishing as one of the two alternates.   This was his fifth attempt to qualify for the Open; since turning pro in 2006, he has competed mostly on the Golden State Tour, a satellite Tour whose notable grads include Nick Watney and Brendan Steele.   At the age of 35, Ollie ... Read more

My first brush with Seve Ballesteros, the legendary Spanish golfer and five-time major champion who passed away on May 7,  occurred during a practice round at the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills CC. When I arrived at course on Tuesday the first player I sought out was the charismatic Ballesteros. Enthralled by his sand play wizardry, I was hoping to catch him working his ... Read more

All golfers interested in the history of the game, especially fans of Ben Hogan, should want to add “Miracle at Merion” to their library. Writer David Barrett did extensive research to provide a stirring story of Hogan’s amazing recovery from a near-fatal collision with a bus 16 months earlier to win the 1950 U.S. Open in a playoff. Vascular surgery saved his life following a problem ... Read more

In 1913, a soft-spoken and raw-boned 20-year-old named Francis Ouimet won a playoff over two British titans to claim the U.S. Open. American golf was permanently changed by that stunning victory, and the iconic image of Ouimet and caddie Eddie Lowery has imprinted itself on our golfing brains for the 98 years since. One of golf’s two leading caddie scholarship organizations, the Massachusetts-based Francis Ouimet ... Read more

If CBS is already running promos for the Masters, it’s time to line up some beers for the majors. So we’ve neatly set aside 20 days here, separated into five groups of four days when the pros go at it hammer and tongs, with nerves of steel or spaghetti, while we in the audience munch on a steady diet of fingernails. Who couldn’t use a ... Read more

A couple weeks ago I went to try a new local deli. I ordered the Grand Italian Hero, expecting a mouth-watering concoction of meats and cheeses and bread to delight the senses. Instead I got over-ripe salami, air-dried provolone, pasty mustard and limp lettuce on a roll so stale it hurt my teeth. We are talking about serious disappointment here. Last week the PGA of America served ... Read more

What are the most special places on the most historic courses in America?  Here are three that I challenge anyone to top.  If your blood isn’t pumping here, you’re not alive…and you haven’t gone to heaven. Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia...Magnolia Drive and Amen Corner (holes 11, 12, 13).  The Masters is gold standard of tournaments held at the same location.  As such, there is ... Read more

Whenever it starts raining ‘cats and dogs’ (and sheep) at a golf tournament, I think about course superintendents and the elements they’re battling. The 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black was a case in point. Craig Currier, the superintendent at that time for the Bethpage State Park courses and now the super at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., performed one of the most ... Read more

  In 2002, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park stood athwart history, challenging the premise that only posh clubs and exclusive resorts could host a U.S. Open. Wage-earners who pay green fees at Bethpage rooted for the government-owned, WPA-built course to prove itself a worthy test. Had the ’02 Open turned out to be a low-scoring cakewalk, their cause may have been lost. The notion ... Read more