Today is the final round of the Valero Texas Open, which means it's also the final day to finish out my four day volunteering commitment. I've shared my experience the last two days and if you've missed those posts you can check them out here: Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 1 Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 2 For the third round I was paired with a pretty solid group; Chesson Hadley, Jason Kokrak and Daniel Summerhays. In looking at the Valero Texas Open … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 2
Day 2 of my volunteering at the Valero Texas Open turned out to be quite uneventful, as the group I was paired with was way back when the day started and never made a real run up the leaderboard. In fact, the entire afternoon wave of players really got the short end of the stick. I was assigned to the group of Camilo Villegas and Charles Howell III, a two some who started the day at 8-over and 7-over, respectively. I was doing the same thing as I was doing on Thursday, walking with the … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Volunteer Experience: Day 1
Yesterday marked the start of my third year volunteering at the Valero Texas Open. I've been with the NCB/Golf Channel Broadcast committee for three years now and it's a really cool gig. While there are certainly some downsides, I think the positives certainly outweigh the negatives. I think you have to enjoy it especially since you're spending 40+ hours at the golf course over four days. What You Get With Volunteering at Valero Texas Open It costs $50 to volunteer, which gets you several … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: Valero Texas Open
The PGA Tour is in my hometown this week for he Valero Texas Open and I am ready to get out there and volunteer for my fourth year in a row. John Peterson tweeted out earlier today that TPC San Antonio is in the best shape out of any course they've played all year on Tour. That says A LOT after playing the likes of Pebble Beach, Riviera and Torrey Pines earlier this year. With the tournament in town I am going to do something CRAZY with my fantasy golf picks this week! I am going to … [Read more...]
2015 Valero Texas Open Field is Set
The 2015 Valero Texas Open field is set and some of the best players in the world will be in San Antonio as the tournament kicks off in my hometown. I couldn't be more stoked to be out all four days again this year. I will be volunteering again this year all four days starting on Thursday. I will be on the NBC/Golf Channel Broadcast team as I have done the last three years. I'm curious to see what the chatter among our team is this year. I have heard from people who have done it longer … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: WGC Cadillac Championship
The PGA Tour is at Trump National Doral this week for the WGC Cadillac Championship and once again I am making my fantasy golf picks on PGATour.com for the week. I've pretty much sucked it up for the entire year with my fantasy picks and there's no chance of ever getting near the top. This week I am going to do something different and pick all studs for my fantasy golf lineup. In the past, I've tried to pick a couple hot lesser known players who might pull out a victory and score me some … [Read more...]
It’s Official: Austin, Texas Will Play Host to WGC Dell Match Play
Welcome, y'all, to Austin, Texas! Over this past weekend, news broke of the World Golf Championships Match Play event moving to Austin in 2016 with Dell Computers reportedly signing on to become the title sponsor. If you didn't believe the news at that time, maybe you'll believe it now. Dell and the International Federation of PGA Tours announced a multi-year deal today to bring the WGC Dell Match Play to Austin through at least 2019, meaning this event will likely stay in Austin for the … [Read more...]
WGC Match Play Heading to Austin Country Club in 2016?
I couldn't help but get excited yesterday afternoon when several reports came out saying the WGC Match Play will be heading to Austin Country Club starting in 2016, with several of these reports saying Austin will be the host for at least two years. I'm a born and raised Texan, so anytime there's news about big time PGA Tour events coming to Texas I get excited. Austin, Texas is a great place to host an event of this magnitude and if they can lock down multiple years into the future it … [Read more...]
Valero Texas Open Announces Big Name Player Commitments
The Valero Texas Open is just about a month away and already some big name players have committed to teeing it up in my hometown this year. First, Phil Mickelson has decided to give TPC San Antonio another chance after pulling a muscle last year and withdrawing from the tournament in the third round. I've lost a lot of respect of Phil over the course of 2014. He didn't play very well throughout the year and his bad season was capped off with a horrible Ryder Cup experience where he let the … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: The Honda Classic
It's time to turn over a new leaf and start to take my fantasy golf picks to the next level. What does that mean? I really don't know. All I know is I need to pick the winner in every tournament for the rest of the year so I can make a move to the top. Last week at the Northern Trust Open, Sergio Garcia, Bill Haas, Robert Streb and Webb Simpson let me down. While Sergio had a decent week, (should've won) the others not so much. They all missed the cut. This week the PGA Tour jumps on … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: Northern Trust Open
Our fantasy golf picks take us to famed Riviera Country Club this week for the the Northern Trust Open. It's the last event of the "west coast swing" and next week the fellas will be teeing it up in Florida. I had a good set of horses for my fantasy picks last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Problem is, my dumbass-self failed to make the selections on PGATour.com. Needless to say, I received a big ZERO points on the one week I made good picks. The Course Playing at a … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
We're back again this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and it's officially turned into a fight to not come in last place in fantasy golf. Let's just say my fantasy golf picks have been straight crap lately. Last week, at the Farmer's Insurance Open, my fantasy golf picks consisted of three players who didn't even make the cut. My fourth, Jimmy Walker, kind of fell flat on Sunday and couldn't get anything going. Long story short, I scored a total of 83 points. The … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: Farmers Insurance Open
Well I have not been faring all too well with my fantasy golf picks recently. Last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, I only managed to score 174 points, good enough to drop again in the league standings. With my team of Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Hunter Mahan they managed to really let me down, so I am back this week to seek redemption and score some fantasy golf points. The Course The famed Torrey Pines is the host of this week's Farmers Insurance Open. I … [Read more...]
Is Honesty and Integrity in Golf Even Relevant Anymore?
Before we get real deep into the article today, let's start by taking a look at the Nine Core Values from The First Tee: Honesty Integrity Sportsmanship Respect Confidence Responsibility Perseverance Courtesy Judgement You might be wondering why I started with these Nine Core Values as taught by The First Tee. Well first off, they are pretty good values to live by, no matter what age you are. Second, these are the things that are being taught to the young people of this … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: Waste Management Phoenix Open
Alright folks, my fantasy golf picks have really been sucking lately. It's time to get this going in the right direction. Last week, I ended up with 243 points, good enough to actually fall in the league standings to 523rd place. The leader has 3,778 total points, while I only have 1,389. What does this mean? Well frankly I need all four of my players to win.!.!.!.! Okay so all four can't win, but I do need to at least try and pick the winner each week going forward so I can pick up the … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Fantasy Golf Picks: Humana Challenge
The Hawaii swing is in the books and my man Jimmy Walker picked me up some decent points with my fantasy golf picks at the Sony Open last week. The Tour is back on the mainland now in Southern California where Patrick Reed is defending this week and Phil Mickelson is slimmer and ready for a better 2015. This year I am on a mission to bash Phil Mickelson every time I get, because frankly he pissed me off last year with his habit of quitting in the middle of rounds. Phil Mickelson is no … [Read more...]
Robert Allenby Gets Kidnapped, Beaten In Hawaii. Does This Change PGA Tour Pros Mentality?
In a wacky story first reported on Golf Channel during the third round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, Robert Allenby was reportedly kidnapped, robbed and beaten while out on the town Friday night in Hawaii, hours after missing the cut at Waialae CC. Twitter exploded seconds after Steve Sands finished his report during live third-round coverage, with all sorts of reactions. Some people were sympathetic while others made fun of the situation. It was the typical reaction you'd expect from … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 PGA Tour Fantasy Golf Picks: Sony Open in Hawaii
Well I had a decent week last week with my PGA Tour fantasy golf picks for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. I scored 455 points which was good for 5,254 place overall. The first place winners scored 1,090 points, so now that I think about it, maybe I did't have a decent week. Maybe it was more of a crappy week. Either way, it's time to move on from last week and pick it up this week Waialae Country Club in Honolulu for the Sony Open. It's the first full field event of 2015 and … [Read more...]
Front9Back9 Golf Picks: Hyundai Tournament of Champions
Finally. The 2015 PGA Tour season is kicking off tomorrow in Hawaii and it's time to get my golf picks for this year off to a good start. Two things here. First, I hate this wrap-around season bull-crap. I've bitched about it for the last two years and I'll continue to bitching about it until they change it back. Second, the whole "34 players in the field" is a little ridiculous. I mean just drop the "Tournament of Champions" from the title and call it the Hyundai Open or something like … [Read more...]
In Celebration of Front9Back9’s Five Year Anniversary, I’m Giving Away $100
Happy Anniversary to me! It was November 30, 2009, just a couple days after some guy named Tiger ran into a tree with his Escalade, that Front9Back9 was born! The biggest scandal in golf history was just getting started and we would soon find out Tiger Woods had a different lady in every city across the world, all while the wife and kids were at home. (Okay, that's an exaggeration. I don't want Tiger to write about me on The Players Tribune.) There's been many other things happen in … [Read more...]