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Post by philknj on Jun 5, 2023 3:57:03 GMT
I'll explain how to avoid the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes!
Aside from the constant costly and increasing expense, traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bucks and Montgomery Counties is a barbaric experience not to be repeated in my lifetime. This road system was allegedly opened in 1956, but it is always under construction!
When I did my "iron triangle" last year between Central NJ, the Seaview and Merion GC, the only toll I paid was $5 going over the Commodore Barry Bridge, which is still old-school enough to accept cash. I don't know what I'd do if Route 202 didn't exist between King of Prussia and the western edge of New Hope ... oh, and the bridge from New Hope to Lambertville is free both ways.  I went to Lancaster in 2015 taking Rte. 202 and Rte. 30 only and will do so again next year for the USWO. Hitting the 2016 USWA at Rolling Green GC was a creative endeavor ... crossed the Delaware taking Rte. 295 South (free both ways), took Rte. 95 South to circle Philly and then jumped on the Blue Route north so I could get off at Springfield. I think I took the same roads going home, except for the Rte. 1 bridge in Trenton which is free going north. 
Going to the Seaview this week is a snap ... I can get there more directly without taking the GSP ... I also know which sections of the GSP are free. I never get on the AC Parkway when Rte. 322 and Rte. 30 go in the same directions.
In 2034, I can take Rte. 202 to the King of Prussia/Norristown area and then jump on the light rail that has a stop about 100 feet from Merion's entrance ... so I can see The Zhangster gunning for her 4th USWO championship.   |
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Post by haneymademedoit on Jun 5, 2023 5:26:31 GMT
One hundred forty-six yards from the middle of the fairway and make bogey. Jennifer gave out a Christmas gift way to early, she lost some points from me. I was conflicted; actually, no, I was probably the only person cheering for Jennifer. Although I didn't want the Rose Zhang feel good story to be derailed at the end, Kupcho is among my favorite Americans and probably my very favorite American who is non-Asian-American. After a very successful run right around the time that she got married, "the Jennifer Kupcho era has begun," then the honeymoon ended on the golf courses as well... She's American but unless she's in strong contention then she seems to get ignored almost as much as the sisters. I can say that here in SW Michigan the local media continue to hype her as the defending Meijer champion.
Brooke also gets a lot of hype around here, I think that she may have won the Meijer twice? You have to realize that as strange as it seems to us Michiganders, in most of the rest of the US, people treat Canada as if it is a foreign country... 
Let that not subtract from my congratulations to Rose Zhang. Hope that she goes on to have a great career.
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Post by haneymademedoit on Jun 5, 2023 5:58:45 GMT
I'll explain how to avoid the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes!
Aside from the constant costly and increasing expense, traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bucks and Montgomery Counties is a barbaric experience not to be repeated in my lifetime. This road system was allegedly opened in 1956, but it is always under construction!
When I did my "iron triangle" last year between Central NJ, the Seaview and Merion GC, the only toll I paid was $5 going over the Commodore Barry Bridge, which is still old-school enough to accept cash. I don't know what I'd do if Route 202 didn't exist between King of Prussia and the western edge of New Hope ... oh, and the bridge from New Hope to Lambertville is free both ways. I went to Lancaster in 2015 taking Rte. 202 and Rte. 30 only and will do so again next year for the USWO. Hitting the 2016 USWA at Rolling Green GC was a creative endeavor ... crossed the Delaware taking Rte. 295 South (free both ways), took Rte. 95 South to circle Philly and then jumped on the Blue Route north so I could get off at Springfield. I think I took the same roads going home, except for the Rte. 1 bridge in Trenton which is free going north.
Going to the Seaview this week is a snap ... I can get there more directly without taking the GSP ... I also know which sections of the GSP are free. I never get on the AC Parkway when Rte. 322 and Rte. 30 go in the same directions.
In 2034, I can take Rte. 202 to the King of Prussia/Norristown area and then jump on the light rail that has a stop about 100 feet from Merion's entrance ... so I can see The Zhangster gunning for her 4th USWO championship. Phil, I don't need to tell you anything, you already know exactly what to do! Even the Commodore Barry, it's a better route than any of the other major bridges 'across the river.' And yes, I frequently used the New Hope-Lambertville bridge as well, both by car and on foot. I moved out of the Philly metro area 25 years ago but your description of the 'alternate,' i.e., free routes is totally on target with what I remember. Don't ever spend money on the tpk to go to Lancaster, take 202 and 30 which are both freeways or expressways with the exception of the last few miles of 30 to Lancaster. It's also possible to go up to 430 through Bird-In-Hand and Intercourse. True fact when I lived there, maybe it's still true, there was a hotel near Intercourse called the "Best Western Intercourse Village." Only in Lancaster County!
You probably know this already, but don't ever pronounce it "Lang-CAS-ter" or "Lank-AS-ter," like most Americans would, say "LANK-uh-ster" and you will have total cred as a local. Not just in Lancaster city or county, but anywhere in SE PA, I lived in the western suburbs of Philly, one block from US 30 Lancaster Avenue or as many locals called it, "the Pike" or "Lancaster Pike." Pronounced "LANK-uh-ster" of course!
Had to have a PA beer after this conversation; I'm drinking a Troeg's Grand Cacao from Hershey, PA. Not quite Lancaster County, Dauphin County but very close...
This is long already; maybe I'll add another reply to comment on the Merion GC.
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Post by HappyFan on Jun 5, 2023 6:23:50 GMT
It was hard to get too into this even though there were two Sisters in the hunt, because I absolutely knew Zhang was going to win, as I predicted yesterday. Especially once I realized that Jin Young was just having one of her off weeks and wasn't going to be able to make a charge. Too bad. She got up to 7 under early, and since 9 under was the winning score, she totally could have won this had she been in Founders Cup mode on this day. Ah well, I'd rather she saves it for Pebble Beach anyways. Hae Ran and Eun Hee were surprisingly in this for a long time, but any slight hope I had that they would pull this out evaporated when Hae Ran not only didn't reach the green in two on the one par five but actually made bogey, and when, shortly after that, Ji hit that terrible tee shot on the tough par 3. I called it a day at that point. Still, great to see two top fives from those ladies, a mediocre but OK t-13th for Jin Young, and made cuts for folks like Inky, Sung Hyun, etc. Also interesting that almost all the top name players struggled, even Thitikul, Henderson, Minjee, and Lydia. Jin Young's so-so week looks a little better in that light. Hwaiting! |
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Post by haneymademedoit on Jun 5, 2023 6:39:48 GMT
When I did my "iron triangle" last year between Central NJ, the Seaview and Merion GC...
In 2034, I can take Rte. 202 to the King of Prussia/Norristown area and then jump on the light rail that has a stop about 100 feet from Merion's entrance ... so I can see The Zhangster gunning for her 4th USWO championship. My fondest memories of Merion are from the 2013 men's US Open. These are the words that I wrote to my (late, deceased in 2020) brother at the time. He and would sometimes watch golf coverage on tv together...
Brother,
Did you watch any of the US Open golf tournament this weekend? Although I have not never taken up golf in order to spare myself the aggravation, as you know I do occasionally watch some of the TV coverage until it makes me fall asleep. I really am enjoying this course that they are using for the US Open this year. Actually, although I have never golfed I am somewhat familiar with the course as it is located about 1.5 miles from where I used to live in the Philadelphia area. I frequently drove on the road (Ardmore Avenue) that divides the two parts of the course as it was part of the most direct route to my house when taking a certain freeway. What I am especially enjoying is that all the so-called EXPERTS were criticizing this golf course prior to the tournament. They said it was obsolete and too short and said that modern players with modern equipment would eat up the course and make a mockery of golf with scores way under par. So far I have seen only 2 players under par after 1 round, at -3 and -1, then after the second round there were still only two players under par, tied at -1, and now after 3 rounds there is only one player under par at -1. Tonight I watched all but one member of the last groups (the best 6 golfers still remaining in the tournament) make no better than bogey on each of the last two holes. This is real golf like they play in Britain at the British Open and not like the sanitized version seen on 99%+ of the golf courses in the US. I wish that the USGA would put this course back into the regular rotation for the US Open (it was last used in 1981).
Tiger Woods bogeyed 7 holes today and Sergio Garcia shot a 10 on the 15th hole. Garcia's first 3 shots went out of bounds. He had already shot an 8 on the same hole in the 1st round. You would think he would have figured out that he was not playing the hole correctly by now!
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Post by HappyFan on Jun 5, 2023 6:44:51 GMT
It will be interesting to see how much coverage this story actually gets in the mainstream press. Let's face it, Zhang is no Michelle Wie; Wie got her coverage by playing against the men, a surefire way to get attention outside the ghetto of golf sportswriters. She also was a long hitter, had charisma, and was doing it all as a young teen. Hyping that Zhang is special cause she has beaten Tiger Woods' records hasn't been much of a winning strategy for Jin Young when she has beaten Woods, but maybe it will work for another mild mannered Asian?
Apparently Beth seems to think so. I suspect she might be a bit disappointed, but she's already setting up the story to fall back on if so: that the LPGA dropped the ball by not "shouting from the rooftops" about Zhang.
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Post by philknj on Jun 5, 2023 13:25:21 GMT
The Zhangster came into this one at # 482 on Rolex with 5.81 total points. If they give out 62 points for a win (like they did for Cognizant), then it's 67.81 divided by 35 equaling 1.94 average points, which would mover her up to #49 if no one else changed.
UPDATE: Rolex gave out 53 points for winning (I guess because the pro field was only 120?), so her new ranking is #62.
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Post by don on Jun 5, 2023 15:20:48 GMT
The GIC is going to try to make the Rose emoji happen. Rose is 20. She should be on the downside of a long LPGA career by now.
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Post by philknj on Jun 5, 2023 15:53:58 GMT
My fondest memories of Merion are from the 2013 men's US Open.
All I remember was Justin Rose hitting an iron into the par-4 18th on Sunday and watching the ball roll off the back of the green.  Talk about getting punished for a good shot. I was living in the SEPA area in 1981 and remember how big the media was playing up David Graham's radar-like performance on Sunday to win ... only because baseball was on strike, some people were saying. 
In case you missed it, some words and pics regarding my two visits to Merion:
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Post by verdantgarden on Jun 5, 2023 19:21:12 GMT
Pretty amazing stuff. I was not certain Rose would win this and indeed she went birdie-free. But she kept her composure, unlike her closest pursuers, enough to pull out the victory. And just in time as darkness was descending. Welcome to the LPGA, Rose! See you at Pebble Beach.
Kupcho and Eun Hee Ji were the only players to shoot all four rounds under par.
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I went to Lancaster in 2015 taking Rte. 202 and Rte. 30 only and will do so again next year for the USWO. Hitting the 2016 USWA at Rolling Green GC was a creative endeavor ... crossed the Delaware taking Rte. 295 South (free both ways), took Rte. 95 South to circle Philly and then jumped on the Blue Route north so I could get off at Springfield. I think I took the same roads going home, except for the Rte. 1 bridge in Trenton which is free going north. 
Talk about getting punished for a good shot. I was living in the SEPA area in 1981 and remember how big the media was playing up David Graham's radar-like performance on Sunday to win ... only because baseball was on strike, some people were saying. 
