Rymer Bites: Solheim Cup, Joaquin Niemann, and a Special Place in Golf History

Charlie checks in today from one of golf’s historic venues, and weighs in on Suzann Pettersen’s heroic Solheim Cup performance, Joaquin Niemann’s first PGA TOUR victory, and more.

 

 

All right, folks. Guess where I am? That windmill there in the background, that’s a little bit of a clue. I’ll get back to that in a minute, but I will tell you that I’m about to head out this afternoon and play my favorite golf course on this planet, but first let me talk a little bit about what we saw in professional golf over the weekend.

First and foremost, how about Team Europe and the Solheim Cup? Wow, what a unbelievable performance they had beating Team USA and Suzann Pettersen, who was a bit of a controversial pick, actually very controversial, going out birdieing the last hole to win the match for Team Europe, and then saying, “Mic drop, I’m out of here.” That’s a really cool moment. Suzann Pettersen is now a mom. What a great way to end what’s been an unbelievable career for her.

And the other end of that spectrum, someone beginning a career, Joaquin Niemann, former number one-ranked amateur in the world, going out and winning the first-event of the brand-new PGA TOUR season, and doing it in style at The Greenbrier, closing with a 64 and a six-shot win. Now he’s in a pretty neat club. There’s only been three non-US players win at 21 or younger. The other two? Seve Ballesteros and Roy Mcllroy. Man does that young player have an amazing career ahead of him. He’s got a lot of length. He’s not real big physically, but he hits it a long way. It’s going to be interesting to see how many wins he ends up with in that career.

Okay. Back to where I am. That’s the windmill at National Golf Links of America, my favorite golf course on the planet. When C.B. Mac Donald designed it, no one knew really what golf was in the United States. He came in and built this golf course, said, “Folks, look at it, be inspired by it. Copy it, go out and build other golf courses. It’s a great game. Let it grow. This is what it is, this game of golf.” He has copies of what he thought were the greatest holes in the world at the time. Built right here on the tip end of Long Island. It’s like putting golf in a living, breathing museum. I love it. No matter where you play, odds are the architect that built that golf course, in one way or another was inspired by National Golf Links of America. I’ve got to go, because my tee time’s sneaking up on me!