There's a lull in the action--they've just called off the second-to-the-last PGA Tour event due to weather--and your letters are lulling as well. But every once in a while two land on almost the same day that express perfectly beautifully diverse our game or, in this case, its fan base.

Dear Editor,
Golf World's Oct. 19 cover photo of Tiger reacting to a shot during the Presidents Cup says it all. Jack Nicklaus beat them all with style and professionalism.
Showboating was not part of his act, and Tiger would do well to eliminate
it from his.

W.MacKimmie
Quebec,Canada

Dear Editor,
Taking a shot in the dark here. Do you have any idea where I could order a print of that picture of Tiger on the cover of your October 19,2009 issue?

I, of course, have the issue, but with my address and all on the cover, it would not frame up very well.

Thank you.

Jim Hutson
Corpus Christi, TX

Shot in the dark here. A, Golfers do things differently in Quebec and Texas and B, events and photos of those events look distinctly different depending on one's point of view--for example, if your team one or lost. I'm one of those "act like you've been there before" guys, but Tiger Woods didn't get where he is without passion. When Maurice Richard or Boom Boom Geoffrion would celebrate after slipping one by Terry Sawchuck, it pained me to no end. I felt a whole lot differently when it was Gordie Howe doing the celebrating.

We're working on the print.

--Bob Carney

Barack Obama's politically correct round of golf with a female this week gives me an excuse to talk about the best round of golf I ever played. There was Roger, Bill and our hostess, Sissy, all from the magazine. It was a half-day Friday in August and before the round we celebrated our hostess's birthday with Kristol. We practiced nothing. It was not the kind of golf we recommend here at Golf Digest. We drank, drove (with a designated driver) and hustled from the parking lot to first tee. Sissy shot 138, giggling all the way. Roger shot 88. Bill shot 79. I shot 68, also giggling a lot. It took us all of three-and-a-half hours to play, walking.

I'll never forget that round and I doubt if any of them could remember it if you offered them cash. Which is the beauty of our sport. It's always about my game. Or yours, or Barack Obama's. Golf is enlightened in its self-centeredness, which means, in the end, it has the capacity to be all-inclusive. As long as your obsession doesn't mess with my obsession, we'll get along fine. Need a fourth? Seriously, you could put a foursome of Israelis in front of a foursome of Palestinians behind Belfast protestants following four Killarney Catholics --- male, female or undecided -- and peace would reign, provided they played at the same pace and weren't armed. Even guys who argue that the sexes need frequent vacations from one another and so belong to male-only clubs or take single-gender buddies trips, often play casual golf with their wives, in my experience. It's a different kind of golf, that's all. But fun, provided no one says, "What am I doing wrong?" or "Can I make a suggestion, Mr. President?"

Where was I? Oh yes. In our hearts, I believe, most golfers tolerate many kinds of playing companions. Updike said "many men are more faithful to their golf partners than to their wives and have stuck with them longer," but I bet most of us are more tolerant than that. Love golf? Play fast? Why don't you join us? Which is why I hope the point of the president's round this week is not that every foursome ought to include a female, but rather that the game belongs to all of us.

Hey, I'm glad Barack Obama plays golf and doesn't care who knows it. I'm glad he plays with men and I'm glad he played the other day with a woman. And I wish you could celebrate it, too. However, next to Steve Williams' caddy bib, nothing seems to bug you like Obama's golf. He has his defenders, occasionally, but most letter-writers refer to our coverage of the President as "politics" and "politics" doesn't belong in a golf magazine. You probably object to my noting here that the president with that round overtook the immediate past president in annual rounds played, 24 to 23. Or, in the view of their spouses, 48 and 46, our goal, Republican and Democrat alike, being to play half as many rounds as our spouses think we do.

But really, political philosophy aside, how can a golfing president be a bad thing? As a friend of mine said today, only in America would we criticize a President when he wins the Nobel Prize. And, I'll add, only in America will golfers -- golfers!-- get after a magazine for writing about a golfing president, or criticize a president for playing golf!

-- Bob Carney

They let the editor in charge of the Editors' Blog out once in a while and last week was one of those whiles. Your letters were dwindling and it was time for field work; hence my silence. No harm, though, because as Calvin Coolidge said, "I have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm." In this case, it did me good.

My road trip took me to one of golf's most unforgettable places and to another very, very memorable one, both in Michigan.

When you write to us about our course rankings, you tend to focus on either the new entries or the old standbys and their place on the chart. How did Augusta National overtake Pine Valley? Why is Oakmont not higher? Lower? Pebble is the greatest ever; how can it not be No. 1?! And why is Bandon Trails so far behind Bandon Dunes?

No one mentions our No. 16 course, Crystal Downs Country Club. Some readers don't even know about it. Crystal Downs was designed by Alister Mackenzie within a few years of his work on Augusta National and Cypress Point, the zenith of his career. He spent two weeks there and then handed the job over to his associate, Perry Maxwell, who took a great site and an inspired design and made a masterpiece.

You'll find Crystal Downs up in the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula, on a strip of land where, if you liken Michigan to a mitten, the little finger and ring finger from a notch. It sits on a sandy bluff that overlooks pale blue Crystal Lake in one direction and oceanic Lake Michigan in the other. You can, on good days, see the Sleeping Bear Dunes, reminding you that a dune is what you're standing on. Having climbed to first tee from the road that hugs Crystal Lake through a birch, beech and evergreen forest that reveals only a couple of (relatively flat) holes, the view from the top is your first shock. What really floors you, though, is the golf course.

It is 6518 yards that, simply put, has never been messed with. It's playable, challenging, enduringly, rusticly beautiful. It gives you, on almost every tee, a feeling of hope and confidence, because there is usually plenty of room to play and beautiful views to match. But reality sets in as you approach greens that tilt, tip, buckle and fall away in every direction. You can score here. You'll enjoy your game here. If you have a caddy, you'll surely enjoy the walk. But, if you're not precise, you may also spend a great deal of time learning new short game shots. Crystal has only 79 bunkers, many of them behind greens (think of the 13th at Augusta) but they will find you, especially if you are approaching from a less-than-ideal direction. And if they don't, the the gathering depressions beside them will swallow you up.

The par-5 eighth is a perfect example. You know the nine will finish with this par 5 and a medium-length par 3, (542 yards and 175 years), with few bunkers to contend with. You're disappointed because you played two very short par 4s preceding it sloppily, and you have nothing to show for it. You're thinking, "I can make up some ground here." But if you haven't hugged the inside of the dog leg on the par 5, and placed your second shot up the right side, you're third shot will be just a bit longer and much more awkward than you'd planned. Your third will no doubt be off a less-than-level lie (they all are) and you know that a mis-hit will send your ball tumbling down the left front of the green (where the green seems to evaporate) or in a position on the putting surface where you're putting defensively. Get aggressive, lose it over the green, and you'll be happy to make bogey. So you fumble the 8th; now the 175-yard ninth looks like a real bear. And, oh, don't be above the hole.

And so it goes at Crystal Downs. Listen to Fred Muller, who's been pro there for 33 years--he's more like a curator, really--describe the 449-yard No. 1, which, he cheerfully points out, usually plays into the wind: "Sneak up on a wildly undulating green with a shot that lands short and pitches on. A miss to left is a bogie, a miss to the right is a disaster." The day I played, with the wind howling, I snuck up on No. 1 with a 2-rescue and a sand wedge. Not so sneaky.

But I spent a wonderful afternoon first chatting with Fred about the course and the club and then playing it in, admittedly, pretty rough conditions. The wind was blowing 35 miles an hour, raining off and on, playing long and walking longer. And yet was the round of my season. There are courses you play and think, "Great. I've done it. It's off the list. And there are others where you think, "Wow. May I come back tomorrow? Please?" That's Crystal Downs.

The following day I joined my brother and two other members at recently renovated Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor. Architect Ron Prichard has removed trees, added and restored bunkers, and made this very good course even better. Barton held the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur and it is, in my experience, one of the truly great members' courses in the country. It's now been made even more beautiful and, for better players, much sturdier. I hear that some members have complained that removing trees and adding bunkers has made Barton "easier." Not for me. It has made it perhaps more playable off the tee, but, as with Crystal Downs, more challenging than ever on the approach. Trees behind greens have been taken out, revealing the movement in those greens, and making one's shot selection even tougher.

It was, despite cold and wet weather, a most memorable weekend. No wonder Michiganders love golf so much.

--Bob Carney

(Photo by Dom Furore)

Dear Editor,
Even though you showed the results of the Turning Stone event, there was not a single paragraph about the playoff victory of Matt Kuchar over Vaughn Taylor. And you dare to call yourselves a "golf magazine"! Just more worship of the PGA's big guns and dribble about the lack luster President's Cup! Shame on you!

Ben Graves
Houston, TX

Dear Editor,
The competition at the Presidents Cup was compelling and many of the stars from both teams performed terrifically. Your coverage of the event was superb.  However, in all of the excitement, all of the media have overlooked one of the most amazing feats in the history of the game.

Commemorating his lifelong achievement is a cement bench near the new practice putting green. (Before the renovation it was at the first tee.) Ovid Seylor, a long time San Francisco amateur, over his lifetime of playing at Harding Park eagled every hole on the course. Yes, he made an eagle on every hole! Four holes-in-one, four eagles on the par fives, and eagle twos on all ten par fours.

Now that's a compelling performance.

Terry Smail
Seattle, WA

Thank you, gentlemen. My own view is that the stories by Morgan Pressel and about Missy Farr-Kaye are what made Golf World's "Pink" issue a keeper.

--Bob Carney

A dearth of letters today, but an interesting interview with Sir Charles Barkley on ESPN Radio Dallas in which Barkley, who entertained us with his efforts to learn from Tiger Woods' coach, Hank Haney, advises Dallas quarterback Tony Romo on what he might learn from Tiger.

Barkley was asked what Romo should be asking Tiger "about being the best." On the way to answering that question, he addressed the Anthony Kim/Robert Allenby controversy as well:

I think to be really, really good that has to be your #1 priority. That foremost above everything. It is funny you talk about Tiger. I have become friends with Anthony Kim and I was talking to him the other day trying to tell him: Let this B.S. with Robert Allenby go. Nothing good is going to happen if you all are going back-and-forth. The one thing that I will say about Tiger is that when we go out, he can drink. He drinks but he never drinks when he has got a tournament. So I think you distinguish those two. If we are just going to Vegas to screw around or we are just going around, he might have a couple of beers or something. If he has got a tournament, he does not drink. I am just relaying the Anthony Kim story. Maybe Tony can learn that ok that there is certain things that I got to do when I play and everything else has got to be 2nd. You can have fun when you are off: Ok, I got a tournament this week. Tiger won’t even do caffeine the week of a tournament. He thought that it screwed up his putting stroke. You know how sometimes caffeine has got you jittery? I mean just simple stuff like that.

Q: What about sex?

A: I sure hope that nobody stops that. I hope nobody stops that.

A wise man, that Barkley, no matter what his golf swing looks like.

--Bob Carney

Mike Johnson's recent equipment column in Golf World on left-handed equipment drew two letters from Michigan, both asking for more.

Dear Editor, Regarding  Mike Johnson’s article on left-handed golfers and their clubs, I have long suspected that lefties like myself did indeed swing differently than their right-handed counterparts and, therefore, needed altered club head designs. But how do I find out which manufacturers build their left-handed clubs accordingly? The next article should focus on the professional golf courses that favor lefties. Considering that, recently, both Weir and Mickelson have won at Augusta National, I would think this course leads the list.

Calvin J. Maestro Jr.
Farmington Hills, MI

Dear Editor,
At last! A long-needed snapshot review on left-handed equipment.

How could Golf World name left-handed PGA Tour winners, and fail to mention Sir Bob Charles, 1963 Open Champion, World Golf Hall of Fame Member, and Golf World subscriber since 1954?

Well, it's a start.

Burton R. Smith
Lansing, MI

Dear Burton, I hate to suggest that lefties read differently than some of us do, but here is a quote from Mike's story:

"Before Mickelson joined the tour in 1992, four lefties--Bob Charles, Ernie Gonzalez, Sam Adams and [Russ] Cochran--combined to win nine PGA Tour events. Since then Mickelson, Weir and Flesch have earned a total of 49 tour wins."

--Bob Carney

In this part of the country, not-quite-Boston-not-quite-New-York New England, everyone's red or blue, Sawx or Yanks. Based on your mail to us, I believe the Golf Nation possesses a similar fault line: Tiger or Phil. Evidence, the last few pieces of mail we've received on the Presidents Cup:

Dear Editor,
While I appreciate the fact that Tiger Woods is good for business, this week's cover of Golf World shows colossal disrespect for the rest of Team USA at the Presidents Cup. This was a team effort, not an individual feat. It has been noted that Tiger would not have won either of his Saturday matches on his own ball and not without the outstanding efforts of his partner, Steve Stricker. Also, it has been noted by no less than Michael Jordan that Phil Mickelson should receive the MVP award for the Cup for his efforts in bringing three different partners up to successful speed. You did not see Tiger offering to partner with anyone else. The bottom line is that the ENTIRE TEAM deserved the cover of this week's Golf World and shame on you for leaving everybody else out!

Sharon Hanson
Boise, ID

Dear Editor
What's going on with Johnny Miller? I love the guy and his historically wonderful, insightful and honest commentary. But he seems obsessed with establishing Phil as the "best golfer in the world." Where's the beef, Johnny? Whether this week, month, year, decade, or lifetime no objective observer could honestly suggest that Phil has overtaken Tiger as "the best in the world." Weird! Is Miller losing it? Maybe old age or not enough telecasts to stay sharp. Calm down, Johnny. Get a grip; you're starting to lose people like me who have always looked forward to your commentary.

Rick O'Rourke
Westlake, OH

Thank you both for those well-stated points of view. I shall not take sides, but I'm no Angel.

Go Yanks.

--Bob Carney

Our friend Justin Blair weighs in on the subject of golf in the Olympics, and especially on the question of what format will be used. As usual, he makes sense.

Dear Editor,
Call me a cynic, but I think I can understand why stroke play was decided upon as the official format for Olympic golf. The reason: Tiger Woods. While he has dominated in stroke play events, he hasn't been equally as dominant in Ryder Cup-like formats.

Here's a quote from Steve DeMeglio (USA Today):

John Strawn, president of the course design firm Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, expects the game's growth to continue for years. "The real impact here is that governments in China and India will now spend significant funds on the development of golfers, just as they spend on the development of gymnasts and field hockey players," he said. "In China, the creations of golf practice facilities alone--not to mention golf courses--will run into the billions of dollars."

Whatever happened to Dubai being the new promised land for golf?

Personally, I don't believe it's getting kids in Bolivia interested in golf to "grow the game" as it has been put. It's getting all these people in China and India interested. It's almost instant money! Which brings me to the reason why the Olympic format will be stroke play: What would happen if Tiger was bounced in the first or second round by some unknown, if it was match play or alternate shot? Would a non-gold by TW really have that much of a negative impact on the expected golf boom overseas?

Don't get me wrong. While I do sometimes suffer from "Tiger fatigue" he is the best thing to happen to golf in the last three decades (at least). It just seems too coincidental and convenient to have the run-of-the-mill stroke play format for something that's supposed to be special.

Justin Blair
Three Rivers, MI

The final format has not been decided, but that it will be stroke play. The money list will be a factor in qualifying for the event, which will award three medal prizes for men and thre for women, but there must be a way for other golfers to qualify. If not, as Mr. Blair argues, where is the grow-the-game benefit?

We tend to think only of the PGA Tour, however. As Golf Digest's Stina Sternberg has pointed, this is a huge opportunity for women's golf and especially for the LPGA tour.

Yes, it will be a "Tiger" event--and why wouldn't it--but there's a lot more going on with Olympics golf than that. There's also a lot yet to be decided about how we get there.

--Bob Carney

Jim Moriarty's moving Golf World story on the death of Payne Stewart brought back bittersweet memories for many of you.

Dear Editor, For years I have been telling new acquaintances that I have not played golf since October of 1999. But for reasons I did not understand, I couldn't recall when, where, or any other details of that day; just that it was sometime in October. I didn't know at the time that it would be my last, but it still troubled me that I couldn't recall anything about the final round of a game that is still--and always will be--an important part of my life. Then the October 5, 2009 issue of Golf World arrived. The moment I saw the photo of Payne Stewart on the cover, the memories crashed over me like a winter wave over the seawall on Pebble's 18th fairway. My last round of golf was played on October 29, 1999; the day of Payne Stewart's funeral. As was my habit, I arrived early for a tournament but, instead of warming up, I teed up a ball next to the right tee marker on the first hole. Next to it I placed a photo of Stewart in the finish of what I still believe to be the most graceful swing I've ever seen. My tee time allowed me to go into the clubhouse and watch Paul Azinger's heart-wrenching and humorous eulogy in its entirety. I then returned to the first tee to stretch and settle my emotions. From behind the tee box, I watched as other players gave salutes, crossed themselves, or knelt in a moment of silent prayer at the little memorial. None of us knew Payne Stewart, but we were all touched by his life. I still don't recall the details of the round I played; I no longer care. What I do remember is that it was a beautiful day, I was on a golf course doing what I loved to do, and I spent it with several friends; all of whom are still dear to me. It was one of the best and worst days of my life. I thank you for helping me to remember it. Dustin Stinett San Juan Capistrano, CA

Dear Editor,
My heart stopped on 10-25-99. Thank you for Jim Moriarty's acticle. I have missed Payne for 10 years. And now, can feel the pain of so many others who miss him too!
 
Jon A. Roth
McKinney, TX

We're with you, Jon. It doesn't seem possible that it's been ten years. And the loss still feels fresh.

--Bob Carney