1. July 2009
21:40 Eurosport, US PGA Tour, Travelers Championship
22:40 Eurosport, European Tour, BMW International Open
23:10 Eurosport, Golf Club

Nor Retief Goosen neither Bernhard Langer could secure the trophy in Munich. Nick Dougherty claimed the victory in Munich-Eichenried. A fine 64 secured his win by one shot, in his round he his lead was sometimes as high as fou shots. But Argentines Rafale Echenique probably shot the best back nine of his career: 27 shots equaled the European Tour record, four birdies, one eagle and one albatros. His 243 yard three iron completed a round of 62. Fuck, 27 shots for 9 holes!!!!

But you seriously have to admire Bernhard Langer for his performance, not only does he rock the Champions Tour in the US, but at age 52 still manages to be in contention on the European Tour. He played rounds of 68-68-65 and 72, two bogeys on 17 and 18 moved him down from T4 to T9, but still a top 10 finish is great! As he once said: “There’s still plenty of good golf in this old body!”

Here’s some pleasant news from the LPGA Tour: Germany’s Sandra Gal leads in the first round of the Wegmans LPGA. She shot a bogey-free 64, a career best for her.

Play had to be suspendend due to rain, but keep an eye on the leaderboard when play continues!

Pressemiteilung des Royal Benzinger e.V.:

Das “4. ROYAL BENZINGER“ im Golfclub Prenden am 19. September 2009

Trotz Popkomm-Absage: das Golfturnier für Musik- und Medienschaffende findet (natürlich) statt!

Berlin, 24. Juni 2009 – Das 3. Royal Benzinger Golfturnier im letzten Jahr war ein voller Erfolg: über 120 begeisterte Mitspieler nahmen teil, 1.500.- Euro konnten für das Sage Hospital gespendet werden und alle Beteiligten waren sich einig: 2009 geht es weiter!
Und das tut es auch: unabhängig vom einmaligen Aussetzen der Musikmesse Popkomm in diesem Jahr treffen sich Musik- und Golfbegeisterte auch in diesem Sommer wieder auf der Wiese von Prenden Pines, einer der schönsten Golfanlagen Brandenburgs, nur 40 Minuten vom Alexanderplatz.

Ein großer Teil der 150 Startplätze für das vorgabewirksame 18-Lochturnier, für den Schnupperkurs und das 9-Loch-Rookieturnier sind bereits vergeben.
Martin Propp vom Royal Benzinger e.V. zeigt sich begeistert über den Zuspruch: „Die Pause der Popkomm wird unter den Benzinger-Spielern einhellig begrüßt, da es sich ohne Augenringe und Kopfschmerzen nach drei langen Messe-Nächten deutlich besser spielen und feiern lässt. Die Welle der bisherigen Anmeldungen macht große Vorfreude auf unseren 4. Feiertag für Golf, Musik und Lebensfreude.“

Carsten Stricker, Pressesprecher des Turniers: „Im Moment arbeiten wir mit unseren Partnern vom Intro-Magazin an einem spannenden musikalischen Rahmenprogramm für den Vorabend des Turniers, denn es ist gute Tradition, dass die Spieler des Benzingers leicht malad an den Kanonenstart gehen.“

Als weitere Partner unterstützen neben dem Musikmagazin Intro auch die Unternehmen ic!Berlin, Natural Born Golfers, MobileBizz und deutschrock.de, die PR-Agenturen ressourcenmangel und verstärker medienmarketing, die Konzertagenturen Handwerker Promotion und Goldrush Productions sowie der Musikverlag Scoop Music Entertainment den Wettkampf.

Das Royal Benzinger Golfturnier wurde von den Veranstaltern Martin Propp und Matthias Steur 2006 ins Leben gerufen und wird mittlerweile vom Royal Benzinger e.V. ausgerichtet. Sämtliche Überschüsse dieses außergewöhnlichen Events werden einem sozialen Projekt gespendet.

Parallel zum großen 18-Loch Turnier findet dies Jahr erstmals ein 9 Loch Rookie-Turnier statt, außerdem können sich Golf-Debütanten in einem Schnupperkurs von Trainern der Professional Golfers Association Tricks und Kniffe der Profis zeigen lassen.

Informationen zur Anmeldung und zum Ablauf des 4. Royal Benzinger Golfturniers gibt es unter www.royal-benzinger.de

Today, Martin Kaymer sets off to defend his title at the BMW International Open in München-Eichenried. I spent the last two days in Munich and if it continues to rain like that, they’ll have conditions like at Bethpage last week. Continuing downpours and 12° Celsius. At the end of June!

You’ll find coverage on the European Tour website and on the sponsors website. Here’s a video feature of Kaymer on the European Tour website.

In case you want to follow the action on site, entry is free of charge on thursday and friday. There will be plenty of german players that you can follow: besides Martin Kaymer, Bernhard Langer and Alex Cejka, the following players will be holding up the german colors:

• Marcel Siem
• Tino Schuster
• Sven Strüver
• Richard Porter
• Daniel Froreich
• Max Kramer
• Marcel Haremza
• Stephan Gross (am)
• Martin Keskari (am)

DSF has a one-hour daily wrap-up of the tournament (see my last post).

Wednesday, 24. June 2009
21:40 Eurosport, Golf
21:50 Eurosport, European Tour, St. Omer Open
22:20 Eurosport, Golf Club

Thursday, 25. June 2009
23:00 DSF, European Tour, BMW International Open: Day 1

Friday, 26. June 2009
23:15 DSF, European Tour, BMW International Open: Day 2

Saturday, 27. June 2009
20:30 DSF, European Tour, BMW International Open: Day 3

Sunday, 28. June 2009
23:00 DSF, European Tour, BMW International Open: Day 4

(Twitpic by Dave Pelz)

Ian Poulter already prepares himself for a longer stay at Bethpage:

Time for an afternoon sleep, rest is key this week its going to be a long 1. i think this could def go into monday maybe tuesday.

bye the way its still raining hard.. we might be here until next weekend if this keeps up. aaaaahhhhhhhh it doesnt matter if you win though

By the way, I love the live reporting via twitter by @usopengolf with nice pics and faster than the leaderboard.

Apart from that, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for @e13kiki as she is playing a 100 hole golf tournament today. More than the guys in Bethpag will play all weekend!

The Linksgolfer has done a very good job putting together all the links and resources the golf fan needs to follow the 2009 US Open. As there are:

• official Website with Leaderboard
• Live Streams via Internet
• ESPN Live Blog by Jason Sobel
• COurse changes since 2002
• Audio-Interview with tournament director Mike Davis
• US Open records

And there is the tour of Bethpage Black with Architect Reese Jones:

Link: www.youtube.com

So, you’re all set?

Oh, for all golf fans in and around Berlin: Hohmann Golf Sport offers public viewing of the 2009 US Open in their store in Franklinstrasse.

An Padraig still has his humour (follow him on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/harringtongolf):

… the last putt is in the cup!

Another wisdom we experienced yesterday playing a little matchplay over nine holes. My opponent sported a 10 HCP whilst I still am stuck with my 26 HCP. We played the front nine in Kallin, not too hard, but in matchplay the focus is more on the opponent than on the course.

After a shaky start I went one down at the second hole, losing my ball in the rough behind the left pond. But then came two of the best holes I played all year. On the 352 meter par 4 I left my second shot just inches short of the green, the following chip rolled perfectly towards the hole, rattled against the flag and bounced out of the cup. No birdie, but par was fine. Brought me back to all square. Then a par 3 with 140m, tee shot perfectly off the clubface on the upper tier of the green, some four meters left of the hole. A solid putt stroke, good roll, finds the cup with the last rotation of the ball. Birdie and one up.

On the following holes I struggled with my tee shots, losing holes six and seven and bringing my one down. We both fired our tee shot in the rough on eight, finding his ball but not mine. But then he fired his second shot in the rough and that one we didn’t find wo we were even again. The putting made the difference and was in favor of me, so we had a dream finish: the game was all square going into the final hole.

Again, both of us fire in the left and right rough, but find the balls and chip it back onto the fairway, leaving us 135 and 125 meters to the green. He makes his shot and it looks to have landed shortly in front of the green. Then I make my worst shot of the day, slicing my ball into the pond to the right. F****!

My then fifth shot makes the green, the we approach the green looking for his ball. And he is not on the pond but in a terrible lie in the slope towards the pond and needs to chip out to the side instead going for the green. Bringing me back into the game. At the end, I win the hole with a triple-bogey (!), not glamorous, but effective.

After shooting in the pond, I never thought fo winning this matchplay, but as I said, It ain’t over until…