Category: HUFF’S STUFF Blog

From “Huff’s Stuff” Arizona Golf Blog by Bill Huffman at the Arizona Golf Authority

If you like women’s golf, the next month in the Valley of the Sun is going to shine when it comes to the ladies’ game.

First up is the VisitMesa.com Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club. They like to say that the road to the LPGA starts on the Symetra Tour, and for over 100 young women who’ve got game that is certainly true. Young up-and-comers like Tiffany Joh, Mallory Blackwelder and Tucson’s Sara Brown will be competing on what is the LPGA equivalent of the men’s Web.Com Tour. And the winner of the $100,000 event at Mesa’s Longbow Golf Club on Feb. 22-24 will get an exemption – the ultimate opportunity – at competing in the upcoming RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup.

The Founders Cup, which takes place March 14-17 at Wildfire Golf Club in northeast Phoenix, is the showcase of the best women players on the planet. And we literally mean everywhere on Earth. The LPGA tournament, which is dominated by international stars, the largest foreign contingent being from Korea, sports a $1.5 million purse and is being held in the Valley for a third consecutive year at the course associated with the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa.

In between the Symetra and the LPGA tournaments, fans of the female game also will have a chance to see some rising stars at a collegiate invitational known as the Clover Cup, which is being hosted by the University of Notre Dame in conjunction with Visit Mesa and also being held at Longbow on March 7-10. The 54-hole tournament, which tees off with a college am-am, features 16 schools including the Irish, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Texas and SMU, to name a few. Just as cool, the nation’s No. 1 women’s college player who just happens to be a freshman at Notre Dame, Scottsdale’s Lindsey Weaver – “Little Ms. 59” – will be in the field.

Such a flurry of female golf talent is unprecedented around these parts. And it comes none too soon, as along with juniors, the National Golf Foundation recently reported that the chief reason we’ve lost 5 million golfers in the last five years is that women and juniors are disappearing in record numbers –and that’s disturbing.

For those not familiar with the Symetra Tour, it once was called the Futures Tour, but changed its name two years ago when it added the new sponsor. What’s special about the Symetra is that the top 10 money winners each year get to earn playing cards for the upcoming season of the LPGA. Last year, Scottsdale’s Esther Choe was the leading money winner, meaning Choe will be a rookie playing in three weeks at the Founders Cup.

Of those playing the Symetra event at Longbow, Brown probably is the most well-known. Her claim to fame came on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Sandal Resort,” where her bubbly personality made her a Big Break favorite. In fact, she had such a big smile that the Golf Channel invited her back for its series from the Dominican Republic. She was a rookie on the LPGA in 2011, did not keep her card – something that is extremely tough for LPGA rookies to do these days with such a limited schedule – and won an event on the Symetra Tour last year. Unfortunately, Brown finished in 12th place on the Symetra’s money list, and is back on the fledging tour after having married her long-time swing coach, Derek Radley, who is now the assistant women’s golf coach at the University of Arizona.

Blackwelder, the daughter of former LPGA player Myra Blackwelder (1980-97). has played one season on the LPGA (2010) and is back on the Symetra after overcoming an elbow injury. She also might be best remembered for her role on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ireland,” and she, too, now calls Arizona home.

There are others in the VisitMesa.Com Gateway field that fans of women’s golf will recognize, including Birdie Kim, the winner of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open when it was played at famed Cherry Hills outside of Denver. Joh was a four-time All-American at UCLA who captured two U.S. Women’s Public Links Championships (2006, 2008). And Blair O’Neal, a former Arizona State player who almost won the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Prince Edward Island” series in 2010, although O’Neal might be better known for her several appearances on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendar.

As you might have noticed, two of these upcoming tournaments we’ve mentioned take place at Longbow, which has long been associated with women’s and junior golf. After all, one of Longbow’s biggest events every year is the AJGA Heather Farr Classic, which takes place at the East Mesa club on March 28-31.

But it goes even deeper than that, as Longbow also will host the WAC Conference Championship for women in April and the Women’s National Junior College Championship in May. And in the past, Longbow has been the host for the Women’s NCAA Division II Championship.

Asked why Longbow hosts so many women’s and kids’ events – it’s also a First Tee facility — the course’s owner, Bob McNichols, said it had a lot to do with the fact that “the people who play our golf course on a regular basis love to see these types of events, and they even volunteer to help us out with all of them.”

McNichols also noted that his Longbow “regulars” actually draw comparisons to their own games from the women’s game.

“The average guy, he probably can’t relate to the Phil Mickelsons and Tiger Woods and (Rory) McIlorys, who are driving it out there 350 yards. But he probably can relate to the women, who are watchable, approachable and are smooth and long with their swings.

“Like the other day, when Martha Blackwelder was out here for a practice round with her caddie. Now she has a great swing to watch.”

I’ve heard this before, and I can relate. Not just because my golf swing is only about 100 mph, but because the women are so much nicer and, as McNichols suggested, approachable when you play with them in pro-ams. That’s not to say that the guys are just ugly, surly, 800-pound gorillas. But if you’ve ever played in both types of pro-ams – with Tour guys or LPGA gals – you, too, probably know what we’re talking about.

I can still remember the late Karsten Solheim explaining to me why PING supported four different LPGA tournaments once upon a time – one in Phoenix, one in Tucson, one in Portland and the Solheim Cup. As the PING founder put it, the women didn’t get the prize money that the men did. And then he added with his affable, straightforward approach to common sense, “And the women are just a lot more fun to play golf with than the men.”

Exactly, and if you would like to find out for yourselves, play in the Symetra pro-am Feb. 21 or the Clover Cup college-am March 7 or the Founders Cup pro-am on March 13. It’s a guaranteed good time.

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It’s “All Things Arizona Golf” from the Arizona Golf Authority.

From Huff’s Stuff Arizona Golf Blog by Bill Huffman at the Arizona Golf Authority

They say you can learn a lot about a man by the confines of his office, and maybe that’s why I took the time to drive into Phoenix this week, to stir my memories of William “Bill’’ Dickey, one of golf’s great gentleman.

Mr. Dickey, a leader among black golfers and a champion of minority youngsters everywhere, died early Tuesday morning (Oct. 16). The news came via Facebook, where one of the hundreds of kids he had put his arms around over the past 30-some years, Andy Walker, had delivered this sad message: “RIP, Mr. Dickey. You did a lot for golf and minority participation in the greatest game ever. I hope to continue your legacy.’’

Mr. Dickey was 84. He will be buried next Friday (Oct. 26) following a celebration of his life at Chaparral Suites Scottsdale (5001 N. Scottsdale Road) from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. A prior visitation and viewing earlier in the day will be held at Universal Memorial Mortuary (1100 E. Jefferson Street) from 10 a.m. until noon.

The Facebook tribute by Walker, a long-time Phoenix resident and an All-American at Pepperdine University, where he helped the Waves win an NCAA title, got me thinking about those days I had spent with Mr. Dickey in his office off Washington Street. It was a special time with a special man in an office that once served as the “guard shack’’ at the entrance of a red brick building that sits on the edge of the city. And I smiled when I recalled the way he used to greet me at the door with a big smile and that deep, smooth voice that could have been in television or radio.

“Hello, Mr. William ‘Bill’ Huffman,’’ he would say. That we shared a similar name(s) was his way of making me feel comfortable. That he called me “Mr.’’ certainly was a courtesy that, unfortunately, is not spoken often enough these days.

But this time when I visited Mr. Dickey’s office there was no one to greet me so I just looked around in amazement at the photographs, plaques, crystal and other awards Mr. Dickey had collected through the years. There were pictures of him with other black pioneers of the game like Charlie Sifford, Ted Rhodes and Joe Louis (yes, the great boxer); a photo from 1948 of the Desert Mashies Golf Club, an organization of black golfers that Mr. Dickey had been the president of for eight terms; a photo with his arm around another Arizona golf icon, Karsten Solheim, and the PING founder’s wife, Louise; photos with former PGA Tour greats Chi Chi Rodriquez and Calvin Peete; and numerous shots of Mr. Dickey with his close friend Earl Woods and Earl’s son,Tiger.

There was a visor from the Masters with the lone signature of Jack Nicklaus on it; signed and sealed letters from Arnold Palmer and former presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush; plaques from the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, the Western States Golf Association Hall of Fame, and the National Black Golf Hall of Fame, all saying he was a member; and the highest honors you can receive from the PGA Tour (Card Walker Award, 1992), PGA of America (Distinguished Service Award, 1999) and USGA (Joseph C. Dey Jr. Award, 2003). In fact, Mr. Dickey is believed to be the only man ever honored with all three of those prestigious awards by the PGA, PGA Tour and USGA.

Also on Mr. Dickey’s office walls was the Golf Digest Junior Development Award he received in 1989, the Dr. Ed Updegraff Award from the Arizona Golf Association in 1991, the Sharing and Caring Award from the Tiger Woods Foundation in 1999, the Anser Award from the Southwest Section of the PGA in 2001, the Martin Luther King Jr. Sharing the Dream Award from 2005, and the Life Team Captain award from Jackson State University from 2005. And there were other accolades from several fraternities and other civic organizations, including one from the Pat Tillman Foundation.

As if that wasn’t enough, there also was an honorary doctor’s degree from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore on the wall, a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University, as well as several books he was featured in, including “Uneven Lies, The Heroic Story of African-Americans in Golf.’’ And the trophies he had won in various tournaments through the years, oh my! They were everywhere, as he had apparently cherished every single one of them.

Still, if Mr. Dickey were here today, he would probably tell you that all those accomplishments were very nice, but what he was most proud of during his life was helping to provide over 1,000 kids with over $3.1 million worth of scholarships. He did that through his National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association, which was later changed to the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association. And to think, Mr. Dickey never drew a salary from his foundation in all those years.

So I guess you could say with absolute resolve that Mr. Dickey’s life was devoted to kids, golf and education, and in many ways he was the first tee of Phoenix long before we had an organization called the First Tee of Phoenix. Mr. Dickey’s wife of over 50 years, Alice, said her husband had “three loves of his life’’ – family, golf and kids.

“Bill was a very soft-spoken person with stern principles,’’ Mrs. Dickey pointed out. “He was always very kind to kids, although he wanted them to earn his respect.

“In fact, I never heard him holler or cuss, although he might have done a little bit of that on the golf course. He was such a good person, and enjoyed his golf and life so much that I guess people, particularly kids, felt safe in his presence. And he had a great sense of humor and intelligence, which is why people were drawn to him.’’

Mr. Dickey founded two tournaments that grew in national stature and helped fund his scholarship ambitions for kids. One was the Bill Dickey East-West Golf Classic, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this spring with an appearance from Mr. Dickey, whose health had been on the decline since 2008, when he suffered a stroke while at that very same tournament. The second was the Bill Dickey Junior Invitational he founded in 2000 for the nation’s top high school minority golfers. Mr. Dickey also was the co-founder of the prestigious National Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, which most recently celebrated its 26th year.

Or as Mr. Dickey wrote in the program for this year’s East-West Classic: “I have had a love affair with the game of golf since the 1950s, when I made the move to Phoenix, and I picked up a club for the first time. I developed a desire over the years to provide opportunities for young people to learn the game because it helps develop character and integrity.’’

Those just happen to be some of the same values that are among the mission statement of The First Tee, an internationally respected youth program that promotes life skills and leadership through the game of golf. Hugh Smith, the executive director of the First Tee of Phoenix, was a disciple of Mr. Dickey’s going back to when Smith was a kid growing up in Seaside, Calif. It was Mr. Dickey, he said, who selected him for a scholarship to Jackson State.

According to Smith, the connection with Mr. Dickey came through his father, who picked up golf in the Army, and then formed a group with his military buddies in Northern California called the Ebony Seaview. Every time Mr. Dickey came to visit, Smith said, they would get to play special golf courses like Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Del Monte, the oldest continuously operated course west of the Mississippi River.

“I’ve known Bill most of my life, and it seemed he always was a profound part of it,’’ recalled Smith, who won the National Minority Collegiate Golf Championship during his senior year at Jackson State.

“Whenever he would visit us, back as far as when I was 7, 8, 9 years old, we’d play all these great golf courses like Pebble and Cypress and Del Monte, which was our favorite back then. The kids would either play right in back of the adults or out in front, but we always got to play, and that was what was important.

“Later, when I moved to Phoenix (in 2006), Bill and I reconnected. He was so inspirational in the lives of so many kids. That topic came up the other day when I was talking with (First Tee CEO) Joe Louis Barrow Jr., and he told me, ‘Bill Dickey had more impact on the game with young kids with diverse backgrounds than anybody else,’ and he was absolutely right about that. So I’ve always listened carefully to what Mr. Dickey had to say.’’

Mr. Dickey was born March, 29, 1928 in Darby, Pa., a small town just outside of Philadelphia. Mrs. Dickey said her husband attended an integrated school, and that his family believed deeply in education. The youngest of four children, Mr. Dickey also was an all-around athlete in high school who was good enough to earn a football scholarship to Virginia Union University, a historically black college located in Richmond, Va. Shortly after a brief stint at VUU, he entered the Air Force, where he spent three and a half years before being honorably discharged and moving to Phoenix.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but Bill got kicked out of his first college (VUU). It wasn’t that he was a bad kid, but his teachers could never find him — he just wasn’t in class!’’ said Mrs. Dickey, laughing at the thought.

“But when he got out of the Air Force his sister, Eleanor Dickey Ragsdale, who was an influential teacher and educator here in Phoenix, was waiting for him at the airport. She already had him enrolled in Phoenix College before he hit the ground, and he ended up graduating from ASU (economics and management). So Bill got a lot of help and a little ‘push’ from Eleanor and her husband, Lincoln Ragsdale, who was a very strong civil rights activist nationally as well as a civic leader here in the black community.’’

Shortly after graduating from college, Mr. Dickey took up golf. He was now 28 and apparently the game didn’t come quite as easy as other sports because he often told his friends that the first round he played, “I shot in the 150s.’’ Eventually he figured it out, as Mr. Dickey did get down to a 4 handicap before spending much of his later years as an 11. Mrs. Dickey said he became “a little depressed’’ when he couldn’t play the game in recent years like he once did.

For 25 years, Mr. Dickey sold insurance and real estate in the Valley, but in 1981 he retired early. Even though he had been quite successful in business and was a pillar of various golf groups, including the Mashies and the Western States Golf Association, Mr. Dickey’s big mission in life had not yet begun.

Or as Dickey told an early corporate sponsor shortly after his retirement and just before his life blossomed for a second time: “There are thousands of black golfers throughout this country who belong to organized golf clubs. My interest is to improve communications among those clubs. Eventually, I would like to see a national tournament with golfers from coast-to-coast. This could also lead to establishing a nationwide junior golf program for interested minority youths.’’

Three years later, it all came to fruition — the national tournament, the kids, the scholarships. Mrs. Dickey said it happened that way because her husband, “naturally leaned toward helping African-Americans, as well as other minorities.’’

In 1999, about midway through his diversity campaign for kids and shortly before he accepted his Distinguished Service Award from the PGA, Mr. Dickey gave this synopsis of why he did what he did: “Although the means is golf, our end is to help kids further their education. There are too many youngsters in the U.S. who don’t have the financial backing to realize their academic potential. Our goal is to make that happen.’’

Walker, who attended Scottsdale Community College before making the big move to Pepperdine, said that he was one of the “lucky ones who grew up under Mr. Dickey’s watch.’’

“I had known Mr. Dickey since I was a little kid,’’ said Walker, who not long ago was featured in the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Ireland.’’ “It all began when he invited my dad to join the Desert Mashies, and my dad introduced my brother and myself to the game.

“But through the years Mr. Dickey influenced hundreds of kids, and funded black golf in general through a lot of colleges. His generosity and philanthropic nature were simply amazing. In fact, he even impacted Tiger Woods’ career when he was coming up, as well as Tiger’s niece, Cheyenne, and just so many other kids. He was amazing.’’

Cheyenne Woods had twittered earlier this week: “I began my golf career as a member of Mr. Dickey’s Desert Mashie Golf Club when I was about 8. He had a huge influence on my golf career.’’ Later she added: “Rest in peace, Mr. Bill Dickey. This man opened so many doors and gave so many opportunities to minority golfers. Thank you, Mr. Dickey.’’

Those series of photos of Cheyenne’s famous uncle that adorn Mr. Dickey’s office walls began when Tiger was a 13-year-old. Mrs. Dickey said that her husband was so close to the family that they were invited to visit Tiger when he was at Stanford. The Dickeys also attended Tiger’s 21st birthday party, which was held here in Scottsdale at the Fairmont Princess.

“Bill delighted in being part of that, knowing Tiger Woods. But the reality was he took so much pride in every kid he could help,’’ Mrs. Dickey said. “And there were a bunch of them.’’

Two of those were the Crawford brothers, Daryl and Derek, who are now the general managers at the ASU Karsten Golf Course and Raven Golf Club-Phoenix, respectively.

“Mr. Dickey is the reason that Daryl and I are in golf,’’ said Derek Crawford, who like his twin brother played golf for ASU. “With his support and the support of the Desert Mashies, we were able to travel and play in golf events.

“I can still remember traveling with Bill, his wife Alice, and daughter Debbie, driving to California for a Desert Mashie tournament. As we all know, he loved golf and wanted to see all kids, no matter what color, be involved with this great game. It’s hard to believe he’s gone . . . he will be missed by so many.’’

Added Daryl: “Mr. Dickey was always there for us; literally, a second father figure. I have so much respect and love for him, and what he accomplished for others in his life.’’

That’s kind of what I was thinking as I scanned Mr. Dickey’s extremely full office for one final time. Mrs. Dickey told me that her husband had only been in the hospital for about a week, and that Mr. Dickey had left this world from Ryan’s House while under the care of Hospice of the Valley.

Maybe that’s why a small stack of letters on his desk caught my eye. All had been opened recently, as Mr. Dickey’s well-worn letter opener shaped like a miniature 5-iron was laying nearby. And all were in a neat little stack with his eyeglasses still opened up and centered atop the pile.

Those letters were probably his only piece of unfinished business. Everything else about the life and legacy of Mr. William “Bill’’ Dickey had been answered brilliantly.

From Huff’s Stuff Arizona Golf Blog by Bill Huffman at the Arizona Golf Authority

Kyung Kim wins U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinks Championship, Eyes U.S. Women’s Open

Kyung Kim only laughed when someone mispronounced her first name. She said she hears a lot of versions these days about how to pronounce “K-Young,’’ as it is correctly pronounced in Korea.

“But I like the way you just pronounced it, too,’’ said the good-natured, 18-year-old Chandler resident as she continued to giggle.

Kim was being kind, of course, which is what you might expect from someone whose first name means “honored’’ in Korean. And honored fits Kim perfectly after she captured last week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in a bit of a shocker.

“What a wild week it was,’’ said Kim, who defeated Georgia’s Ashlan Ramsey, 4 and 2, in their 36-hole championship match Sunday at Neshanic Valley Golf Course in New Jersey.

“First of all, I’ve never played so many rounds of golf in one week in my life (nine rounds). Looking back, it was a much bigger deal than I thought it would be, and much harder. But being a national champion, winning a national championship, I guess that’s the first really big thing I’ve won.’’

As Kim said, it didn’t come easy. She had qualified comfortably for match play with scores of 71-73. But the first four rounds of woman vs. woman were nail-biters for Kim as she prevailed, 1-up, 2 and 1, 2 and 1, and 1-up before she moved into the finals with a 3-and-2 win.

Even the 36-hole finale was a tightly contested duel, as Kim trailed Ramsey, 1-down, going into the ninth hole of the morning 18. But Kim caught fire with four straight birdies for a 2-up lead she never relinquished. For the day, Kim made 10 birdies to overcome Ramsey’s eight birdies, and only three bogeys for 34 holes.

Asked when the last time was she had rolled in 10 birdies in a single day, Kim laughed again.

“I wish! Truthfully, I had no idea that I had made that many. It never crossed my mind until they told me when I was finished,’’ she said. “But, hopefully, some day I’ll do it again because that was a lot of fun.’’

Kim, whose nickname is “Radar’’ because she hits so many fairways and greens in regulation, follows such past champs of the Women’s Publinks as Michelle Wie, Yani Tseng, Jennifer Song and Tiffany Joh. And Kim is hoping that as a proven national champ she’ll now have some momentum going into next week’s U.S. Women’s Open (July 5-8) at Black Wolf Run in Kohler, Wis.

Or at least better luck than last year, when she played in that national championship. To say there were extenuating circumstances at The Broadmoor in Colorado would be putting it mildly.

“That was my first Women’s Open, and I had been the medalist in local qualifying so I had some big hopes going in there of maybe making the cut,’’ Kim recalled. “But I only got one hole of play in the first day before the thunderstorms came, and then ended up playing 35 holes the next day.

“I remember being a few over par for my first 18, but the second round didn’t go too well and I shot in the 80s. I got pretty tired during the second 18 (holes), so this time maybe we’ll get better weather and I can just play 18 a day.’’

For the record, Kyung carded rounds of 75-80 at The Broadmoor, but her game is a lot more polished these days after last week’s career-changing victory. Kim is among an Arizona contingent at the Women’s Open that includes professionals Amanda Blumenherst, Jimin Kang, Cristie Kerr and Anna Nordqvist, as well as amateurs Lindsey Weaver and Cheyene Woods.

Believe it or not, Kim, Weaver and Woods are three of 25 amateurs playing in the Women’s Open. And Kim is one of six Kims among the field of 156 players.

One thing is certain: Kim is on a roll after vaulting from No. 1,174 in the Women’s World Amateur Rankings two weeks ago all the way to No. 84 this week – 1,090 spots in a single bound. But to say she came out of nowhere to win the Women’s Publinks wouldn’t exactly be correct.

Kim was born in Hawaii on the island of Maui in the small town of Kahului, where two courses – Maui Lani and Waiehu – were just a block away from her home. It was her dad who got Kyung started at the age of 8, and she was a proven champ by 9. After winning the biggest junior tournament on the Islands three straight times from ages 9 to 11, the family moved to Arizona in 2007 so Kim could face better competition year-round.

For most of her junior career, Kim had shown promise. She claimed three American Junior Golf Association titles, the first being the Heather Farr Classic at Longbow in Mesa when she was just 13, and the last being two years ago when she added the PING Phoenix Junior at Moon Valley. But over the years she also had 16 top-fives in AJGA competition, and was once ranked as high as No. 10 in the Polo Rankings.

At Hamilton High School in Chandler, Kim won the state title in 2010, the same year the Huskies won the team crown, and finished as the runner-up her senior season when Hamilton also took second.

But after winning the Women’s Publinks and soon playing in her second Women’s Open, most everyone is in agreement that the USC-bound Kim has arrived.

“I guess it’s been my hard work and patience,’’ Kim said of what’s lifted her to golf’s bigger stages. “My putting also has gotten a lot better, too, because I seem to be making a lot more of them.’’

As for why she picked USC over Arizona State and Arizona, two schools that also offered her a scholarship, Kim cited several factors.

“ASU and UA were still among my top choices (late in the recruiting process), but I took a second visit to USC and realized I liked everything about the school,’’ she said. “They have a great practice facility and campus, the coaches, the athletic department, just everything was really, really great, including the fact that they get to play at Trump National.’’

Kim also is guaranteed of making a team that is always among the nation’s elite, as USC only has five golfers on scholarship. Asked what happens when a player gets hurt, she laughed again.

“We play four . . . and every score counts,’’ said the witty Kim, who was a 4.0 honor student at Hamilton.

But first there’s a U.S. Women’s Open calling her, and Kim said she’s a little apprehensive of the Pete Dye-designed Black Wolf Run that veteran Juli Inkster called “the toughest course I ever played in a Women’s Open,’’ and Inkster has played in 30 of them. And that was before Blackwolf Run was increased to 6,812 yards to make it the longest venue in Women’s Open history.

“I hear it’s really hard and really long,’’ said Kim of the course where Se Ri Pak won the national championship in 1998 with a score of 6-over par.

“To me, that’s a little scary because everybody I’ve talked to says it’s so much harder than The Broadmoor, and I thought The Broadmoor was really hard. Hopefully, I’ll be better prepared this time around.’’

Chances are good that’s just what will happen after what’s gone on lately — even if “Radar’’ might not fly underneath it this time around.

Click Huff’s Arizona Golf Blog for Bill Huffman’s “insider’s take” on local and national golf news in his complete blog post archive at the Arizona Golf Authority.