2020 Big Dog interview – quarantine edition

Knuckleheadgolf.com: Congratulations  on your win. This is your seventh title which is now an all time record in knucklehead open history. How do you feel about that feat?

The win at Williamsburg was huge accomplishment.  The courses offered different obstacles like Royal New Kent’s intimidating layouts. My strategy was to keep the ball in play as much as possible even to the point of giving up distance off the tee. The Bermuda rough was punishing at times so I figured if I had a fairway lie then I should be around the green on my next shot. From there I should be able to two putt or at least get up and down for a bogey.  Stringing positive points was the key throughout and I finished 72 holes with no negative points on any holes and had only six holes with zero points.

Knuckleheadgolf.com: You won the OPEN in quite the dominating fashion. In fact you were the only knucklehead with positive points. what was your secret? Did you prepare for this any differently? Did you have a strategy  or did you have a Target score in mind?

I owe many thanks to my swing coach Greg Muolo who commented on my impact position when I shot a frustrating 89 at Gold Horseshoe on Monday.  Drives & irons were going left then right. I was hitting the ball all over the place & usually finding hazards. Based on Greg’s advice I made some adjustments at the range at Kingsmill Woods course during our 20 minute delay at the start.  Fortunately I was able to drive the ball straighter the next four days which kept my ball out of the rough for the most part. Plus my putting was spot on as I was able to negotiate the speedy greens over all four rounds.

Knuckleheadgolf.com:  As you know, covid 19 has impacted everyone, especially in the sports world. how did the pandemic affect this years OPEN? with many restaurants and bars closed or limited access, how were the social interaction/activities outside of competition?

The courses were in great shape so many thanks to Gill Nichols for his endless efforts in locating a place for the Knucklehead open during these covid times. We took advantage of the outdoor seating offered at most of the clubhouses after the round to settle payouts and bets. After grabbing dinner at a nearby restaurant we all gathered in the living room to talk about the day’s fortunes and mishaps and watched the baseball playoffs. The accommodations were great as basically we took all three floors of a townhouse so basically we were self-contained and had no need to venture outside the unit.  I want to give a shoutout to Tommy Stewart who was unable to attend this year’s Open which is the first one he missed in 43 years!  Wishing you well Tommy – woof-woof.

Knuckleheadgolf.com: Knucklehead open is known for controversies. there is always one. can you discuss any controversies this year with anyone or anything – such as rules or unruly behavior or etc.

One controversy that rose was the determination of  “lateral hazards” that are unmarked on the course. The knuckleheads implement a “lateral hazard” for any tall grass or woods area (excluding out of bounds) where if one cannot locate their ball then can treat the tall grass or woods area as a lateral hazard in an effort to speed up play.  Leave it up to Gary Boukis to find an isolated bush off the fairway and could not determine if that could be deemed as a lateral hazard or not.  Since the bush was taller than Gary and he was constantly talking behind the bush, it became known as the “talking bush”.  Hopefully we can find a better way to resolve rules & procedures as sometimes the discussions seem to get heated and dissuade guests and friends playing with the group for the first time.

Knuckleheadgolf.com: Well Bob congratulations again and we look forward to a covid free open next year in 2021. 

HEAR   HEAR !