July 2021 Ohio Golf Journal

July Means THE OPEN Championship FRED ALTVATER You are a Golfaholic if: You have more than five old scorecards in your golf bag, save old golf balls from a good round and still wear the same old dirty cap that you bought at the Masters in 1965. They call it GOLF because all the other four letter words were taken........... Except for a week or so of rainy weather, Ohio has been the perfect spot for golf in 2021. The ‘Golf Boom’ continues to keep tee sheets full and course operators happy. July means it is time for THE OPEN Championship, which this year will be held at Royal St. George’s. Ohio’s own Ben Curtis burst onto the International Golf Scene, when he won the Claret Jug in 2003 at Royal St George’s in his rookie season. Ben had several successful years on tour and now is an assistant golf coach for his Alma Mater, Kent State. Mike May spent his high school years in the South of England and has visited Royal St. George’s. He shares a list of items that golfers need to know when they are watching the television coverage of this year’s OPEN. Speaking of television, as Golfaholics, we spend a lot of time in front of our big screens listening to or tuning out the announcers and analysts. Ed Schmidt gives a quick rating of the good, the bad and not so entertaining. Ohio has over 600 golf courses and this month we want to recognize a few of the very best public courses in the state that everyone can play. We don’t dare to profess that our list is all encompassing, and we sincerely apologize to those left off the list. We will try to do better next time. We hope that the list may pique someone’s curiosity and they jump in their car and visit one of these home-grown favorites. As always, we are very busy, but we will look for you on the Back 9 the next time we get out. ~ Raymond Floyd Ohio Golf Journal