Tee Time, by Jim Anderson
June 28, 2009,
in the Abbotsford News

So much has been written about Nick Taylor’s fabulous talent of late, there’s really nothing I can add here… or is there?

Nick shot 73-65-75-75 at Bethpage Black (par 70), which left him tied for 36th place, ahead of luminaries such as Kenny Perry, Geoff Ogilvy, and Angel Cabrera.

The USGA sets up the Open courses to make play as difficult as possible and the weather (wet) created a brutal test. Nick’s average score for the four rounds was 72.

On June 10, Nick played a round at Ledgeview on Men’s Night. The course (par70) was set up in “Ironman” mode with the tees back and every pin tucked and/or on a slope. Word has it Nick shot 73, his brother Josh shot 75, and Ledgeview pro Jason Smith shot 71.

I have, therefore, reached the following rather obvious conclusions:

• Ledgeview is a harder course than Bethpage Black (even though 1200 yards shorter).
• Jason Smith should abandon his club job and immediately go to “Q’ school” where he would easily qualify for the PGA tour and win several majors.
• Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Fred Funk, Paddy Harrington, etc. would be unlikely to break 80 at Ledgeview.

We are fortunate to have a golf course like Ledgeview, which is such a tremendous training ground for young golfers. If you can play at Ledgeview, you can play anywhere.
...........Jim