Why David Toms Hits So Many Fairways and Greens

PETER KOSTIS I’M NOT. Kostis offered a swing analysis of David Toms during the final round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. The CBS commentator drew two lines that demonstrated Toms’ unchanging posture during the address, back swing, down swing, follow through and finish. It was a thing of beauty.

I stumbled across the photo at right of Toms that was snapped at the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills. I don’t think we need Kostis. Take a good look at it: the footwork, weight shift, extension and especially the head position. Goodness gracious. It’s all there, isn’t it?

(By the way, look at the two guys whose heads are sticking out sideways toward the right-hand side of the photo. I got a kick out of them. They sure were determined to get a look at that velvety Toms action.)

David Toms has a well-earned reputation as a sweet ball striker. Not long—about eight yards below average—but real straight. Another thing about him: tempo. It never seems to change, whether he has a driver or wedge in his hands.

At Colonial, Toms was something like second in both fairways hit and greens in regulation. Throw in some made putts and you can see how the 44-year-old veteran carded those unfathomable back-to-back 62s. But then it got tough on the weekend. It almost always does when you’ve gone five years without a win. A big part of that was due to a tough golf course with weekend pin locations, as well as windy conditions.

This time, Toms slipped by Charlie Wi and hung on. “That just took a lot of guts,” he said.

There were tears of joy for the Toms family in Fort Worth instead of the heartbreak of a playoff loss to K.J. Choi in Florida. CBS pointed the camera at 13-year-old son Carter as he hugged his dad on the 18th green. That was the money shot.

Well, that and the hole out for eagle at the 11th.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: James Marvin Phelps, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Sergio Garcia to Run for Office?

DONALD TRUMP MIGHT NOT BE running for president, but apparently Spanish golf star Sergio Garcia is running for mayor. He must be judging from the above banner. Would you vote for him?

OK, so Garcia is not really running for mayor. The signage was instead a friendly way for his Fort Worth fan base to say howdy and welcome to Colonial Country Club and the Crowne Plaza Invitational. The banner greeted him just outside of the club’s gates.

Maybe it pepped up Garcia’s game. On Thursday he opened with a dandy 4-under 66. Friday wasn’t as good. Sergio carded five bogeys against two birdies for a 3-over 73.

Politics can’t be that much harder than golf, can it?

−The Armchair Golfer

(Visor tip to Alan Bastable)

(Photo: Courtesy of @CrownePlazaInv)

Colonial Times: A Brief History of Hogan’s Alley

(Plucked and updated from the ARMCHAIR GOLF archives.)

COLONIAL COUNTRY CLUB, SITE of this week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational, ain’t what it used to be. Not by a long shot, or, you might say, a Bubba Watson drive.

The historic layout where Ben Hogan recorded five victories is 7204 yards and plays to a par of 70. That’s short by current PGA Tour standards. Today’s bombers can drive over the doglegs and spin their short irons on the small greens. Some pros hit wedges into greens to which Hogan hit 4-irons.

Yet when Colonial first opened in the early 1940s and later began hosting the Colonial Invitational, it was considered one of the toughest courses anywhere.

Texas native and Hall of Famer Jacke Burke Jr. once said, “If you’re told to just go out and shoot par on a golf course, Colonial is the last one you’d try it on.”

Colonial was the vision of business tycoon Marvin Leonard. Leonard thought Fort Worth should have a golf course with bentgrass greens, uncommon in the Texas heat and during an era when golf course agronomy was far more primitive. Designed by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell, Colonial opened with about 100 members in 1936. In 1941, it hosted the first U.S. Open played west of the Mississippi River.

Not coincidentally, Colonial was built for a fade, Hogan’s trademark ball flight. Of Colonial’s 14 par-4 holes, nine favored a controlled fade off the tee. “A straight ball will get you in more trouble at Colonial than any course I know,” Hogan once remarked.

One of the better players during Hogan’s heyday, 1951 winner Cary Middlecoff called Colonial the toughest par-70 in the world. This is how Middlecoff once described playing the 466-yard par-4 5th hole:

“First, I pull out two brand-new Wilson balls and throw them into the Trinity River. Then I throw up. Then I go ahead and hit my tee shot into the river.”

Strong, fit and armed with modern golf weapons, Colonial doesn’t frighten today’s tour pros. David Toms and Chez Reavie share the clubhouse lead after posting 8-under 62s. The first round is still in progress.

−The Armchair Golfer