President takes a bogey in a time of crisis

President takes a bogey in a time of crisis

I've figured out Barack Obama. He's not a Muslim; he's a golfer!That's a reference to Russell Kirk's semi-famous retort to the conspiratorial nuts who insisted that Dwight Eisenhower was a secret Commie. The revered conservative intellectual responded disdainfully golf players news, "Ike's not a Communist; he's a golfer."For the record, while I think the media's special standard for Democratic presidents' recreation is outrageous, I really don't care that Obama plays a lot of golf. And he does play a lot. In his first year in office, Obama played more rounds of golf than George W. Bush did in two full terms. He's now close to tripling Bush's eight-year total, though that's misleading since Bush vowed to stop golfing in 2003 because "playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signals."That clarifies the golf stats, but not exactly in Obama's favor since we're still at war and the president has been nothing if not abundantly clear that he considers himself a greater moral exemplar than his predecessor.Perhaps it's Obama's conspicuous duffing that inspired New York Times columnist and White House confidante David Brooks to write that we are in a new Ike Age."During the first two years," Brooks writes, the administration "hewed to Kennedy's seize-the-moment style. Now it seems to be copying the Eisenhower mood."Really? The "Eisenhower mood" is an awfully charitable way to describe a president who seems to be playing hooky when he's not hiding under his desk.The real problem for Obama is not that he likes his exercise. It's that he's acting like an employee who thinks he's too good for the job.Obama has always been offended by criticism, finding it somehow illegitimate to disagree with him. But his frustration is getting the better of him. The New York Times reports that "Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, 'No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao's words in

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.'"What an inconvenience it must be that the world looks to America for leadership when people are sacrificing their lives to fight tyranny. I don't remember reading that Eisenhower whined about Mao having it so much easier than he did.

Woodland comes up clutch to win at Innisbrook

Woodland comes up clutch to win at Innisbrook

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Gary Woodland, a pure athlete who only started serious golf competition eight years ago, figured out quickly that hitting the ball from here to the moon was not going to help him win tournaments.Perhaps it was only fitting that his biggest shot Sunday at the Transitions Championship came with his putter golf players news.The race to the finish at Innisbrook was so wild that Woodland didn't make a single par on the back nine until the last hole. He made a 10-foot par putt that proved to be the difference in a one-shot victory over Webb Simpson."I can't come out here and hit the golf ball 900 yards and win," said Woodland, exaggerating only slightly. "I was very conservative this week, laid back almost all day — all four days — and just tried to get the ball in the fairway, get it on the green and let the putter do the work. That's what I'm learning."The final par — his only par on a back nine that featured five birdies and three bogeys — gave Woodland a 4-under 67 and his first trip to Augusta National for the Masters.Simpson also flew long on the 18th green and faced the same scary shot as Woodland in the group ahead. He off the back of the green Try These Golf Driving Tips to Improve Your Game, chipped 20 feet by the hole and the par putt was the only bad stroke he made all day. The bogey gave him a 69 and a runner-up finish in an otherwise solid performance for his first time in serious contention."I just didn't hit a very good second shot," Simpson said.Woodland took only 23 putts in the final round — 10 on the back nine. According to the Shotlink data, he didn't miss a single putt inside 20 feet in the final round, with four of those 17 putts outside 10 feet.

Amputee offers golf lessons, to drive better prosthetics for all

Amputee offers golf lessons, to drive better prosthetics for all

TAMPA - The hills and slopes of a Florida golf course may not look daunting to most, but to someone playing with a prosthetic leg, approaching the greens can seem a mighty trek."That's one of the biggest challenges they face," says Mike Rieth, a licensed prosthetist at St. Petersburg Limb and Brace. "It can be quite difficult walking up and down the little hills."Still, he said, golf is the top sport among his clients, since it doesn't involve the pounding movements of other sports golf team.Now researchers at the University of South Florida want to help amputees get more out of the game. Scientists at the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences invited a group of amputee golfers to Tampa Palms Country Club recently to find out if there was enough interest to pursue additional research in the field.The answer was a clear yes.Golfers received coaching from pros and tips from prosthetics researchers to improve their game and make better use of their prostheses.Researchers from USF's School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation watched golf swings and listened in on conversations to learn of new challenges to study.Rudy Salas, a Marine veteran who lost a leg below the knee when he stepped on a mine in Vietnam in 1967, has been playing golf for about three years. Salas, 64, is president of the Amputee Veterans of America Support Team at James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, and brought several buddies to the course."The real benefit is that we get the prosthetic people paying attention to how we play the game," he said. That knowledge, he hopes, will lead to better prosthetic devices for all amputees Choi Donated $100,000 to Japan Earthquake.USF's is among the leading centers for prosthetic research in the country, not only conducting research, but also fitting patients with prosthetic devices. Jason Highsmith, a physical therapist and researcher, says the center studies new devices and what's on the market to make sure that what works in the lab works in real life. The goal is "to come up with the best device for all activities of daily living and recreation," he said.Highsmith's colleague, Jason Kahle, said it was useful, for instance, to learn that some above-the-knee amputees had a hard time locking their artificial knees so they can transfer their body weight while swinging a golf club."What if I could change a computer program for a microprocessor knee so the knee would lock only while playing golf? That would be something worth researching," Kahle said."We're always gathering ideas for the next venture. What do we need to look at next?"James Bond, 53, of St. Augustine, Fla., was riding a motorcycle when he was hit by a drunken driver in 1987 and lost a leg above the knee. He has been golfing for four years.His prosthesis swivels in the ankle, giving him good range of motion. But like many amputees, he hesitates to really test the limits of the device.The USF experts, he said, "will get us to use the prosthesis to its full potential.

Emporia High has announced its summer football camps

Emporia High has announced its summer football camps

 The varsity camp will be from May 31 to June 4. The camp will run from 5 to 9 p.m. May 31 through June 3 and from 9 to 11 a.m. on June 4. The middle school camp (seventh and eighth grade) will be from 9 to 11 a.m. from June 27 to July 1.The EHS freshman camp will be from 9 to 11 a.m. July 11-15. The Spartan fifth and sixth grade camp will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 3-6 and from 9 to 11 a.m. on Aug. 7. All camps will be on the turf practice field behind the high school. The Spartan summer strength and conditioning program begins June 13. Sessions begin at 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 7:30 p.m. in the high school weight room. 4. Myrna Taunton Memorial Junior Golf ProgramThe inaugural 2011 Myrna Taunton Memorial Junior Golf Program Award is $250. The award is eligible to any KWGA member or club member who supports or promotes junior golf in Kansas golf team. Examples could include program development, instruction, competition or taking part in rules seminars. Applicants must describe how and where the award funds will be used. Written applications are due April 1 for the inaugural year and thereafter the due date will be on or before March 4. Applications should be sent to Julie Hower, KWGA Scholarship Chairman,

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. Donations to the fund also can be mailed to the same address. Rec center baseball/softball The Emporia Recreation Commission will be offering baseball and softball leagues for children between the ages of 3-15, with various divisions depending on age..Rec center golf lessonsThe Emporia Recreation Commission is offering golf lessons for children 7-18. The lessons will begin June 7 and participants will meet each Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Lee Beran Recreation Center and return from the golf course at 3 p.m. The fee is $50 for residents of USD 253 and $55 for non-residents. Participants are asked to bring their own clubs if possible, though loaner clubs will be available.

Garcia searching for enthusiasm

Garcia searching for enthusiasm

Setting up over a shot, he slowly releases his fingers from the grip and carefully replaces them in just the right position, checking himself one last time before unleashing a swing that made him of the best ball-strikers in golf. But when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship last August, the 31-year-old Spaniard took a 10-week break to see if he could rediscover his enthusiasm for golf. Garcia returns to the PGA Tour for the first time in seven months at the Transitions Championship at Innisbrook, which starts Thursday. He played four times on the European Tour late last year after his break and had mixed results golf team. He played three times on the European Tour during its Middle East swing and had more of the same. “I definitely feel like I want to be out there,” Garcia said. “So that always helps.” He has a long road in front of him. It was only two years ago that Garcia rose to No. 2 in the world and had a chance to replace Tiger Woods atop the world ranking. Since then, it has been a steady drop all the way to No. 85. One reason he waited until the middle of March to play his first U.S. tour event was because of his ranking. He no longer was eligible for the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona for the top 64, or the Cadillac Championship last week at Doral for the top 50. He’s in the Masters from winning The Players Championship three years ago. Garcia attributes some of his malaise to splitting up two years ago with the daughter of Greg Norman, telling the Times of London later that year it was the first time he had ever truly been in love. That’s about as far as Garcia goes in analyzing his passion for golf Golf News about Golf Improvement of Women. “It was a mix of things,” he said Wednesday after his pro-am round on the Copperhead course. “A couple of things off the golf course didn’t help. And then I just started playing not great. Knowing how I can play and what I’m capable of doing, I don’t like to settle for less.

Bonita golfer, 95, relishes journey more than destination

Bonita golfer, 95, relishes journey more than destination

Schooled in the game as a childhood caddie at venerable St. Clair Country Club in Pittsburgh and later president of historic Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., Bonita Springs resident Fred Thompson didn’t give much thought to shooting his age the first time he accomplished the feat, in his early 90s. Nor does Thompson, who will be 96 in June, get carried away with what now is a regular occurrence for him at his winter home at Spanish Wells Country Club in Bonita Springs golf team. “The boys keep me informed about that,” Thompson said of his regular Friday group of 16 or 18 foursomes. “It’s fun.” Thompson, who owned his own company in New Jersey that supplied upholstery fabrics to furniture companies, takes more pride in his presidency at Ridgewood from 1983-1987 and successorship at the club by his son. “We’re the only father-son presidents in that club,” he said of the 1929 A.W. Tillinghast design founded in 1890 and home to such events as the 1935 Ryder Cup, 1974 U.S. Amateur, 1990 U.S. Senior Open and 2001 Senior PGA Championship Sean Foley Talked about News of Tiger Woods. “There’s been a lot of presidents, but we’re the only combination.” Once a mid-80s golfer and still playing three times a week, Thompson attributes his longevity in part to not smoking and eating properly. “That’s about the only thing I know,” he said. “I’ve got good genes. My mother lived to 91 or 92, and my father lived to 88.”

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tyler Thigpen to attend Monday After Masters

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tyler Thigpen to attend Monday After Masters

Miami Dolphins quarterback and Coastal Carolina graduate Tyler Thigpen and three-time PGA Tour winner Brian Gay are among recent commitments to the 17th annual Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am.Thigpen is among a handful of first-time participants, including PGA Tour members Blake Adams and Josh Teater, who each earned approximately $1 million on tour last year.NFL legend Dan Marino confirmed Sunday he was returning to the event, being played April 11 at Barefoot Resort's Dye Club Is Tiger Woods an Ordinary Golfer, and other celebrities scheduled to take part include: former Major League Baseball players Chuck Finley, Mickey Tettleton and Jaret Wright; wrestler Ric Flair; radio hosts Doug Gottlieb, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic; current or former NFL players Chris Redman, Jim McMahon, George Rogers and Sterling Sharpe; NASCAR drivers Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty; actors Tom Berenger, Gary Valentine and Kevin Sorbo; comedian Jackie Flynn; and caddie Fluff Cowan.Musicians scheduled to appear, in addition to Hootie's four members, are Edwin McCain, Eric Bass, Colt Ford, Jack Ingram, Josh Kelley, Johnny Lee, Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel, and Scott Phillips of Alter Bridge.Some celebrities, including Flair and Berenger, will be at the golf course and take part in some functions but won't be playing golf.Other pro golfers scheduled to attend include: Jim Furyk, Woody Austin, John Daly, Ricky Barnes, Chris DiMarco, Ken Duke, Tommy Gainey, Robert Gamez, Spencer Levin, Kristy McPherson, Ryan Palmer, Larry Rinker, Charlie Rymer, Darron Stiles, Kyle Thompson and D.J. Trahan golf team.Tournament organizers are continuing to recruit more players and other player announcements are likely forthcoming.Tournament director Paul Graham said more than 30 foursomes at approximately $5,000 per player have registered to play, and many more have inquired."It's about as slammed as it's ever been," Graham said. "We're basically turning away right now because we have to fulfill the commitments we already have. The demand is way bigger than we can actually accommodate."