womens golf -oh dear!

[birdieman]

Watched a couple of hours of the Womens British Open at St Andrews on BBC this afternoon - I can only say the standard of play was abysmal and the spectators rather thin on the ground. Peter Alliss was being his usual tactless self after the zillionth 8 footer slid by the hole. They kept going on about the conditions(sunny and a little breezy in my book). To break the boredom they were discussing how Tigers and Lorena Ochoas handicaps would differ. Karen Stupples reckoned they'd be about the same (I choked on my doritos!) before explaining that would be Lorena playing from the ladies tees. The Old course is one of the easier links courses but only one player in the hole field id under par after 3 rounds -fairly unimpressive stuff and not really changung the public perception that womens golf is very much average sporting fare! What do you think??

 

[shanker]

Have to agree with you Birdieman. But at least you don't get the same situation as at Wimbledon, where they play alongside the guys for a fraction of the time but walk off with the same money!
Imagine if ''The Open'' had a men's and women's side.

 

[swingstar1]

again difficult to argue with any of the comments

Without wishing to offer excuses I expect most of the field will never have played anything like the old course

just watching report on breakfast TV and saw Wendy Ward hit a proper top trying to hit it out of the rough

PS another good tournament for Michelle Wie...

 

[John_Findlay]

Thought it was amazing to see so many of the women score in the 80's in basically what was a light breeze for the area. I imagine the men would be around or under par in the same conditions.

Was tempted to go up to St Andrews to watch the final round today but not after watching yesterday's performance.

Congratulations go to Michelle Wie once again for being the best paid 9 handicap golfer on the planet.

 

[imanhacker]

Just wondering whether you've ever been to watch these girls play in the Ladies British Open. I've been on a number of occasions and believe me they play some fantastic golf. As for St Andrew's being easy - when has golf ever been easy on a links course in a breeze?

 

[thebelgie24]

was very surprised to here that laura davis had never played the old course before,dont think she'll be back in a hurry !

 

[Junior]

Annika has said it is the windiest conditions she has played a major in !

The only thing that annoys me about ladies golf is the way a lot of the caddies have to line up all the iron shots and putts !!

 

[John_Findlay]

Annika has said it is the windiest conditions she has played a major in !

Not at all surprised! The ladies have only had a British Major since 2001. It wasn't that windy on Saturday and the other days were normal east coast Scottish wind.

 

[John_Findlay]

Also, given that the women were playing the Old Course as a par 73 as opposed to a 72 you could argue that there was only one competitor under the true par of the course - Ochoa.

When the men played there in 2005 there were 51 under true par for the 4 days (including 2 amateurs).

I'm not saying women's golf is rubbish. It's clearly not. There are great players. They just can't compete with the best men yet.

 

[Teetotal]

Karen Stupples commented that because the wind was sweeping across the course rather than straight down the fairway that made things rather tricky, however I thought it was the ladies short game which let them down. I am by no means a good putter but I reckon I could have taken them on. Seeing Catriona Matthews miss three putts in four holes was cringeworthy, esp. when one was only about 1 ft away. Ochoa was amazing though - that girl can play! She was fearless.

 

[shanker]

I thought it was the ladies short game which let them down.

I've never understood why the ladies seem to chip and putt so badly. Obviously they can't hit it as far as us but watching them around the greens is like watching a ladies darts match.

 

[Teetotal]

It would be interesting to see some stats comparing the women's short game to the mens.

 

[Dave3498]

Can't agree with a lot of what is said here. I watch a lot of ladies golf on the Golf Channel where they sometimes cover the LPGA events live, (or nearly) and I am always amazed at how good the ladies play. The average drive on the LPGA tour is 260 yards. How many of us men would like a drive of that length? You also have to note that many of the ladies are less than 5'-3" tall and some even under 5'. You can't but be impressed when you look at their stats on GIR and putting on their own tour. I agree that they didn't handle The Old Course greens very well, which are difficult by anyone's standards. Also note that the pin positions were un-approachable on every day, so they were having to go for the 'fat' part and were left with 65' approach putts.

Of course they talk to their caddies, of course the caddies line them up. Isn't that what caddies are for? Didn't Sunason line-up Faldo, and isn't he now the greatest English post-war golfer?

I thought Lorena was in a different class, as was proved in the end. The only disappointment for me was the presentation ceremony shown on BBC. I hope that one was only done for the BBC and there was another proper ceremony later where the amateur salver was also presented.

All-in-all I found it a fascinating golf presentation and I watched every minute I could, with admiration.

 

[birdieman]

I think they needed a closer contest to get people into it - at least when Tiger's 6 ahead we can marvel at his swing. Think of the recent gents Open at Carnoustie by comparison. Crappy weather on the last day didn't help tv coverage either in it's attempt to create some kind of atmosphere. I do like Ochoa's attitude however, she seems very relaxed, something I could do with adopting on the course!
Dave has some valid points but I can't help wondering that the LPGA we see on the golf Channel is on courses set up for easy birdies, you just dont get pins stuck in awkward places for th eladies events. At St Andrews (in defending the course in anticipation of low scoring) when they did set the pins in tricky spots the ladies cant flight the ball high enough to get at them. Old Course made the best female golfers look like 4 or 5 handicap gents players.

 

[thebelgie24]

wish i looked like a 4 or 5 handicap player,reckon the girl that came in last could still whip my ass...mmm theirs a thought!

 

[robtee]

I think that the high scores reflect that the womens tour plays a lot on very similar courses and playing on links was very different for the majority. The thing that struck me was how slow the play was!

 

[madandra]

Dave 3498, When you watch the golf channel it is more often than not some redkneck drug company sponsored event from Florida where it has been 4 months since they last saw rain and 2 years since the wind was more than a breeze. The LPGA is all about TARGET GOLF where you aim and hit.


Wumins golf is GUFF.

I watched some of the ´LADIES´Open and they a´looked like blokes ... Who were not that good at the game.

 

[thebelgie24]

must be ma new telly but some looked ok to me !

 

[Junior]

I can't watch all the ladies golfers, but you have to admit Madandra, The likes of Annika, Se Ri Pak, Lorena Ochoa are good too watch.

Annika's record is awesome and she would whoop my ass on the course.

 

[clubchamp07]

Lady golfers are great to watch I find them very skillful. Some of the ladies though are more into looking good than playing good. I cant remember her name but she looked as though she was only out from a photo shoot rather than getting ready to play in the women's open. I think Lorena should take on Tiger for chairty. I know who I would want to win. Some big company should put up £1 million for it and stage it somewhere nice. I think Tiger would be under presure. on the down side of women's golf is there any chance of Ms Davies going on a diet. I'm glad I have a wide screen tv. Phewwwwwwwwww