Trevor Immelman characteristically sober on US Open prospects

News24.com reports today on comments by South African, Trevor Immelman on his prospects of winning the US Open (enroute to a possible 'grand slam'), at a press conference leading up to the tournament. Since winning the first (golf) major of 2008, the US Masters, in mid-April 2008, Immelman has been flung into a different tier of attention in the golfing world. (More on his Masters win here).

Immelman showed typical humility (as most South African players tend to) and realism when asked about his chances of winning a 'grand slam' in 2008:

I would be the happiest guy on earth if I did it over the span of a career ... We can safely say that if I do it this year I will retire, okay? There's no chance of that...
(news24.com article)

On the Torrey Pines Golf Course, where the US Open will be played June 12-15, Immelman had this to say:

It reminds me a lot of Cape Town where I grew up and where I'm from. The coast line, the vegetation, everything is similar to where I grew up. I love it here.
(news24.com article)

Immelman downplays his chances of winning the US Open, but relishes the idea. He also gained confidence from making it into a three-way playoff at the St. Jude tournament last week. That was after some disappointing performances following his US Masters win. Who knows, maybe he hit form just in time (again) for another major win? His win at the US Masters was also preceded by less impressive form.

In the press conference he did acknowledge that in winning the US Masters "...I proved to myself that if I play my best golf I can win any tournament". I and many others believe that as well Trevor!

Other notable South Africans teeing off in this year's US Open include Ernie Els (winner in 1994 & 1997), Retief Goosen (winner in 2001 & 2004), Richard Sterne, Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini.

Trevor Immelman - YOU'RE THE MAN!

Two nights ago I spent a late night at my parents' house. It was serious business, we stayed up until two in the morning and got really stressed along the way... However, at roughly 02:00 suspense turned to extreme joy. Trevor Immelman, A PROUD SOUTH AFRICAN, did it - he beat the best of the world -leading on all four days of the tournament- to take the US Masters 2008 title. He got a rather shabby green jacket for his effort, oh, and a little over a million Dollars in cash...

Gary Player, another in South Africa's long list of golfing greats, has been saying for years that Immelman has it in him to beat the best in the business. On Sunday he proved this beyond any doubt.

We're all waiting with bated breath for Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini or any of the other South Africans playing the European and/or American Tours to hit some long overdue form. In the meanwhile Trevor has delivered the goods. It also reminds one that Ernie, Retief and the others -as great as they are-, are not the only South Africans with the ability to win the big tournaments - even the majors.

It bodes well for our golfing future.

Official PGA website - post victory & other interviews

See interview (& other clips) here.

YouTube clips
(If you're reading this post outside of my blog, YouTube clips will probably not show)



Presentation of green jacket and gracious acceptance speech by Trevor Immelman. I'm glad to notice that our players tend to be excellent ambassadors for the country - displaying humility whenever they're victorious.



The top 10 ways in which Trevor Immelman's life has changed - David Letterman Show. Quite funny, although you can see Trevor's not 100% at ease on a stage :-).

More YouTube clips:

• Trevor Immelman avoids disaster on the 15th (3d round) - here.
• A few highlights from Trevor's final round - here.
• A great bunker shot by Trevor and the 15th hole again - here.
• Trevor's swing in slow motion on 'Swingvision". A pre-Masters clip. here.
  

New York Times

• Article: Immelman Survives Pressure to win Masters - here.
• Slide show: Immelman Wins Masters - here.

Hello World!

Here we go... This is a very short introductory posting to summarise who I am and what I hope to do in this space.

I'm currently (April 2008) 37, turning 38 in a week or so (born 70/04/24...). I've been playing golf on and off for approx. 3 years. One of my new year's resolutions for 2008 is to try and play a weekly round of golf - so far I'm managing to average a round every two weeks. I've already reaped some reward for the more regular golf as two weeks ago I broke 100 for the first time in my short golfing career. Which tells you something about the level of my game :-). However, I've managed to dip below 100 two consecutive weeks (98 & 99), which is encouraging.

Officially my handicap stands at 30. Ouch! That means that I play from the maximum allowed handicap of 23 (as I understand it). That is I'm allowed to double bogey all the holes on the course and triple bogey the five most difficult ones - after which I ring. Stableford = zero for a ring, 1 for my maximum score without ringing, 2 for one shot better and so forth. For my latest handicap info and last couple of scores click here.

I have a very dynamic collection of golfing buddies. Dynamic as in sometimes we play together and other times not! In the course of my blogging you will be introduced to Sven, Attie, my dad (also Mike), Christoph (a 5-6 handicapper) and some other buddies, family and friends of friends. Attie recently vowed never to play golf again after two particularly bad rounds, but following on Trevor Immelman's victory in the US Masters (2008) last night (our time) he seems to have rekindled some of his spirit for the game.

I started playing golf after a friend of mine and his wife (Jaco -a.k.a. 'Flaps' and Amanda) visited us in our very idyllic coastal village. They've just started playing at the time and dragged me along for a round. I was 'converted'. Before I thought of golf as a snobbish game of people dressing funny!

My dad passed his old clubs on to me, which he got second hand to start with. I suspect the clubs are older than I am... I think I actually did him a favour as it gave him an excuse to buy new ones. I'll expand on what I have (and haven't) got in my bag, but it is basically irons 3-9, a pitching wedge, sand wedge, fairway 3-wood and cheap 1-wood (which I currently avoid at all cost). Then there's the 'ping' putter to round off the collection. ((For an update on my new clubs, click here))

In addition to playing more often (last year I only handed in about four or five score cards), the other element that greatly improved my score is called Eric. That's Eric as in a caddy at Royal Port Alfred. Slightly rough around the edges but extremely good at reading putting lines. He's worth his weight in gold as far as I'm concerned.

By the way my home club is Royal Port Alfred Golf Club, we had our centenary celebrations last year (2007).

What I really want to do right now is sing Immelman's praises, hopefully later this evening or tomorrow morning. Staying up 'till two in the morning was all worth it!

Oh... so what do I want to do in this space. Well, as I see it at present I'll pass along trivia about golf and blog about my own (golfing) pain and suffering. If our (South African) golfers keep on performing you'll be bombarded with posts on that as well.

Until later, enjoy your golf!