Congratulations, Martin Trainer!
March 29, 2018
Somewhat in keeping with our tradition of a “Play of the week,” we’ll call this one a “Play of a lifetime.”
On March 11, 2018, Martin Trainer shoots -14 after SUNDAY QUALIFYING for the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova for his first win on the WEB.COM TOUR. He’s the first player on the TOUR to complete this feet since 2016, and went from no status at all to fully exempt on the WEB.COM TOUR through 2019. He’s also put himself in prime position to make it all the way to the PGA TOUR next year. Truly a life-changing weekend.
Congrats, buddy!
Play of the Week: AMTP
August 6, 2017
The PF solutes the Anonymous Mini-Tour Pro on his stellar performance at the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic event. Although we can’t tell you just who (since he’s anonymous), we wanted to make sure you knew–he’s out there and he’s doing well. Great job AMTP!
POTW: Flushing It
April 27, 2017
I’m not exactly sure how to write this kind of post, but it’s a good problem to have. This week’s (year’s?) POTW goes to me. Why would someone give himself an honor? Because I’m the king, and on Monday of this week, I earned my own throne.
On Monday I played in a 4-man scramble benefiting a local elementary school. Like most scrambles, the tournament featured close-to-the-pin contests and a long-drive competition.
However, the long-drive competition was unlike any I’d ever entered before. Not to brag, but I’ve won more than my fair share of long drive prizes, including one combo long + straight drive. But I had never won–or even entered–a challenge like the one presented on Monday. A donation to the school from a contractor prompted a special type of long drive competition, likely chosen by the donor. The challenge? See how far you can hit a ball–and here’s the important part–while sitting on a throne, and you win….
a throne.
A porcelain throne.
In other words… a toilet.
Yes, you read that right.
With installation.
In a scramble golf event, my long drive won me a toilet. On the par 4 tenth hole at Shadowridge Golf Club in Vista, California, I hit–from a partial squat position with my posterior resting on a plastic toilet seat–a *flushed* (see what I did there) driver of almost 250 yards up the middle of the fairway. As I took the long drive card from its prior position and moved it to my ball, I only wished that someone had gotten it on video, because if you weren’t there, you wouldn’t have believed it.
And now, I’m curious from our readership–what weird stuff have you won at a golf tournament? Feel free to comment below. I bet it’s not as crappy as my prize =).
Congrats, Jim Furyk! Mr. 58!
August 7, 2016
While we’ve recently written about the antics of Mr. 85, Jim Furyk showed us all exactly how to play the game on Sunday at the 2106 Travelers Championship by carding a ridiculous -12 par 58!!
Not only is Jim the first player to shoot 58 on the PGA TOUR, he’s also the first to break 60 twice!
Way to go, Jim!
Play of the Week #….?? (JK, let’s stop numbering them)
April 25, 2015
This err.. week’s… play of the week goes to…. the PowerFade!
Golf Top 18 recently named The PowerFade as one of the top 100 course reviewers online! Here’s what they had to say about the PowerFade specifically:
“The Power Fade Golf Blog by JK and LG. Fun golf blog written by friends LG, a California lawyer and JK, who just loves golf. The purpose of the blog is to share some new opinions with the golfing world– though we love the golf course reviews, some conversations they record on their main blog are highly entertaining as well.”
Honestly, JK and weren’t even sure anyone else read the blog. I was pretty sure people were just being misdirected here when they were trying to find a new putting tip. All kidding aside, we’re very humbled to receive this honor and hope that our blogging has been entertaining and useful for those of you who take the time to read our thoughts. If nothing else, this award has shamed JK and me into thinking of new items to post and into digging through old scorecards and iPhone pictures for courses to review.
Thank you, Golf Top 18, and to all of our readers.
Full article here: http://www.golftop18.com/golf-course-review-awards.html. Check out the other honorees, but don’t read their stuff instead of ours.
-LG and JK
Play of the Week 38
December 8, 2013
Back to posting.
I know it’s been awhile since LG and I gave you something of substance, but this one is worth it.
The 2013 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge commenced today in stunning fashion. Zach Johnson, appearing to be in control on the 18th hole at Sherwood Country Club, dunked a ball into the water hazard on the 18th hole. Rather than playing safe or behaving like a weekend hacker, ZJ did what champions do–he holed out the next shot to save par. Tiger Woods saved par as well from a greenside bunker leading to a playoff in which ZJ took the title. See video of the shot found at http://www.pgatour.com/daily-wrapup/2013/12/08/WorldChallenge-4.html
It seems that many of the outlets are forgetting–ZJ did this in 2011 as well, the last time he went toe-to-toe with Tiger at Sherwood (ultimately losing in Tiger’s return to the victory circle following his scandal). See video at http://losangeles.sbnation.com/2011/12/3/2608852/chevron-world-challenge-2011-zach-johnson-hole-out-video-tiger-woods. I guess when a certain hole works for you, it works for you. It’s no wonder they’re moving “Tiger’s Tournament” away from this course next year, which appears by all accounts to be ZJ’s course.
Well done ZJ. Congrats on the spectacular finish and win.
now enjoy that trophy with the name and logo of the dude you just beat on it….
they did not plan for ZJ to win this event
Play of the Week 37
December 5, 2012
This week’s POTW is LG.
I guess it’s really last week’s. LG made a special trip to Atlanta during his holiday vacation to put together a PF reunion at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, site of the Tour Championship by Coca Cola. Although neither PFer played worth a darn, it was still a great day. Many thanks to LG putting up with JK’s couch and making it work. Soon enough, there will be more of these types of things.
But no more Scotch ball…
Play of the Week 36
July 13, 2012
This week’s POTW is the John Deere. Normally, we wouldn’t be worried about a “grade B” tournament, but watching the coverage of the first two rounds, I’m brought back to my childhood.
But, not by the John Deere itself–by the players.
When I was young, I was a nerd. Being a nerd, I played golf as a kid (before Tiger Woods–I got cool really fast when he jumped on the scene). I enjoyed watching the tournaments. My favorite player at the time–Nick Price–was doing a great job cleaning up majors and dominating the tour with his Ram Zebra and Goldwin AVDP. Davis Love III was in his prime, and “the greatest player never to win a major.” Phil Mickelson was young…and skinny. Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book was the best seller for golf instruction.
I thought it was odd when I saw some Tour Balata and Professional 90 golf balls on sale earlier this week. But theres something to this nostalgia thing. It helps remind you of your past and gives you a flashback to some great memories. I remember the first time I hit a Tour Balata….pretty awesome.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only person to buy some of those Professional 90s, because the guys on the leaderboard this week at the John Deere sure are the ones who know to use ’em. Let’s look at it this way: If I told you that Jeff Maggert was T-2 going into the weekend after shooting 68-62, that Lee Janzen was T-7 at -10, and that Steve Stricker was going for his 4th win, your first reaction would probably be “where’s Greg Norman on the leaderboard” followed by “hey, did you hear what the president said at the deposition? ‘It depends on what the meaning of the words “is” is.'” Yet that’s the leaderboard at the John Deere classic this year.
Alas, it IS 2012. Davis Love III is all but forgotten on the PGA Tour. Nick Price is on the “Champions Tour” (back when I was growing up, we called it the Senior Tour). Phil Mickelson turned out to be every bit the player everyone thought he would be and more so the eater that no one thought he would be. Goldwin and Ram are no longer companies. And if you ask a playing competitor for his “little red book,” you better be ready for some funny looks and a quiet rest of the round. Still, I love when the Tour shows up at an “easy” course, and the old-timers (short hitters) come out and show these young kids how it’s done. Even Stewart Appleby has shown up at T-23, -7.
I’m sure some of the younger kids in their Puma Monolines and Cobra Amp driver are probably thinking “what is this guy talking about?” The golfers of today just are missing something. I won’t say class, but there’s a way the game used to be played that just doesn’t exist anymore. It’s nice to see a flashback of some of these guys–I wish them all the best.
Thanks, guys, for the trip down memory lane. Now go out there and show the young guns how it’s done.
Play of the Week 35
June 30, 2012
The letters:
L
G
Probably the play of the month, really. After years in the game, constant obsession, tireless effort, battling work for just enough time to practice….LG finally achieved that milestone, the big one, the ultimate. That’s right: 79. We all knew it would happen one day. The guy is way too into this game not to get better. But the results have been up and down for the last few months, and neither of us have been seeing much consistency.
But LG started showing signs. He shot 83 and 84 in the rounds preceding. We talked about it recently, and determined that LG had shot 84 with only 4 GIR. Not bad when you consider it that way.
I’m sure when LG started out today, he didn’t know it would be the day he broke through. Even playing the front 9, he probably felt he was playing well but not scoring. Then, this:
LOOK AT THAT BACK 9! I don’t think I’ve had a back 9 like that this year, and I’m a 1.5 handicap! An eagle (LG’s first), a two-putt birdie, and a -1 for the 9? Amazing. Plus, this guy shot 79 with 3 double bogeys AND three 3-putts. While it may look like he just passed the line, this is a huge breakthrough: clearly, he’s doing something he wasn’t before.
Way to go LG. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for it, but I’m really glad you finally got the monkey off your back. Enjoy being one of the few who’ve accomplished this feat, and enjoy making it an every day practice.
POTW: Mitch Lowe
June 28, 2012
This week’s POTW goes to Mitch Lowe. Mitch recently qualified to play in this year’s PGA Championship by way of placing T-7 in the PGA Professional National Championship held this week at Bayonet and Blackhorse. The top 20 in this incredibly difficult tournament qualify to play in the next PGA Championship. Mitch shot a strong final round of 70 closing with two birdies in the last three holes. We always appreciate a strong performance and a particularly solid finish here at the PowerFade, so we solute you, Mitch. Way to close strong. We look forward to watching you play at Kiawah Island this August!
Mitch was the subject of one of our earlier reviews: https://thepowerfade.com/2011/02/22/review-lesson-with-pga-professional-mitch-lowe-and-the-fleming-course-at-harding-park/. He now teaches at Half Moon Bay Golf Links in Half Moon Bay, CA. You’d do well to take a lesson from him. http://www.pga.com/professionals/mitch-lowe-pga. See our review of Bayonet as well: https://thepowerfade.com/2011/10/05/course-review-bayonet-seaside-ca/.
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