http://torsmangolf.com Great Golf and Travel Writing Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:22:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I’m one of these guys that places big hardware over how much money is stuffed into a golf bag. Meaning? I judge a player’s greatness not on how many money titles he wins, or even how many Texas Valero Opens he captures. For me, it’s about Majors and that means the four big events of the year, the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open (or, ahem, The Open Championship) and the PGA Championship. Win one of those ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/personalities/381/luke-donald-almost-a-great-player The Magical 11th at Crystal Springs (Photo by Mark Eucalitto) This is a little tale about golfing guts, glory, disappointment, screaming schoolgirls, and bad manners. Yes, a lot can happen on a par-three. The wandering Fearsome Foursome of myself, Mark Eucalitto, Dana Mosher and Vin Serella were enjoying a round at the Crystal Springs golf course, which is part of a fab lineup of tracks at the resort of the same name in northwest New Jersey. We ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/372/the-intimidating-par-three-11th-at-crystal-springs-in-new-jersey To say the Grand Strand of South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach has lots of great golf courses would, of course, be an understatement. But Classic Golf Group is taking excellence to a new level. In business since 1986, Classic Golf Group arranges play at several of the area’s top rated courses, including the Founder’s Club at Pawley’s Island, which earned this year’s Myrtle Beach Golf Course Owners Association Course of the Year honors. “Classic Golf Group offers an ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/365/classic-golf-group-offers-up-some-of-myrtle-beachs-best-courses It has always hit me as quite remarkable that two of the best new courses built in New England during the past decade are located about a five minutes crow’s flight from one another, Bulls Bridge Golf Club in Kent and The Golf Club at River Oaks on the Sherman/New Milford town line in western Connecticut. I had the opportunity to play both of these private gems this year and it is difficult for me to ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/360/connecticuts-golf-club-at-river-oaks-one-fine-layout When our daughter was young we always headed to Cape Cod during the summer for a week or more of serious R and R and fun. Once she grew up and went on her own, my wife and I decided to change our visits to the Cape to early autumn, when the crowds are one-fourth the size, the beaches quiet, the daylight air still mild, the nights crisp, and the seafood as good as ever. The ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/356/autumn-golf-on-cape-cod-a-sweet-experience We laid my father to rest last week on a brilliantly clear morning in a quiet cemetery in the town where he lived much of his life. Surrounded by a few of my close friends and family and an Army honor guard that saluted dad for his service in Europe during World War II in tear-jerking fashion, Armond Torsiello was put into the ground next to my mom, who had passed away almost 17 years ago. ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/346/saying-goodbye-to-lifes-caddy-my-dad Lexi Thompson is the coolest thing to hit professional golf since a fresh-faced Tiger Woods burst onto the scene and into our living rooms 15 years ago and made everyone fall in love with the game. Seems so long ago, doesn’t it? But Ms. Thompson has a chance to reenergize a sport that needs new energy. The LPGA did the right thing in granting her playing status in 2012 even though she hasn’t yet had a ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/personalities/342/lexi-thompson-golfs-new-savior It isn’t often that a teaching professional gets to design his own golf course.  It happens at times. Rick Smith has laid out several very good tracks, including Shenandoah Golf Club at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, N.Y. (you gotta play this one) and there have been others. So David Glenz had some precedent when he got to lay out his dream 18 in Long Valley, N.J. The finishing touches are being put on Glenz’s Black ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/personalities/186/noted-teaching-pro-david-glenz-gets-to-design-his-dream-course-in-new-jersey Lexi ThompsonLexi Thompson is the coolest thing to hit professional golf since a fresh-faced Tiger Woods burst onto the scene and into our living rooms 15 years ago and made everyone fall in love with the game. Seems so long ago, doesn’t it? But Ms. Thompson has a chance to reenergize a sport that needs new energy. The LPGA did the right thing in granting her playing status in 2012 even though she hasn’t yet had ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/personalities/335/lexi-thompson-can-pump-new-life-into-the-game Salem, New Hampshire has been home to Dennco, makers and distributors of the Sonocaddie GPS system and the Club Champ brand of golf travel covers, practice and training devices, games, gifts and accessories, since 1981. Quite remarkably, the company began as a small family operation with a single product--a hand-held pad printer for golf balls. Jim Dennesen, president of Dennco, told me that the company started in New England because it was 'home'. It grew from that ... ]]> http://torsmangolf.com/golf/golf/equipment/331/dencco-at-home-in-new-hampshire