Ko'Olina is a beautiful golf course. Its grooming is immaculate. It has pretty water features. The service is what you'd expect from a nice resort. It smells good. It's in Hawaii. All reasons tourists and casual golfers - myself included - enjoy playing there. But I just don't get why the LPGA would select it for a tournament.

It's flat. It's wide open. The greens are almost as friendly as the service. A championship golf course? I think they're getting fast and loose with that classification, informal though it may be. Professional golfers should mop up that course like janitors on speed, and many of them did, especially Paula Creamer, who won the Fields Open this weekend (a three day event) at 16 under.

The women played from 6,519 yards. That's behind the "regular" tees (6,450), which have a course rating of 70.5 for men. The "championship" tees play to a maximum 6,867 yards and are rated 72.3 for men. For those of you who don't know, that is the number of strokes it should take a scratch golfer to complete the course. It's usually a couple strokes higher for women's ratings. So if we take the "regular" tees rating, add 2 for the gender difference and, oh, let's say .2 for the extra yardage, that's a rating of 72.7.* Par is 72. In the Fields Open, you have to go down to 58th place to see a golfer shoot even par. And I'd guess some of those women would actually be playing off a single digit handicap if they weren't pros. That's a lot of numbers and even a little math (I think I violated a restraining order there and probably argued against my point) but my point is, the course is too easy for pros.

*One little twist that could explain some of the higher numbers at the bottom of the pack is that these ratings are for scratch players, not pros. This makes a difference because they hit it farther and that can either eliminate or bring into play obstacles that were rated differently for the scratch player.

You won't catch the men playing a course like that. Heck, even from its maximum 6,867 yards, Tiger could probably go 'round it in 53 strokes. And just to throw a few more numbers while I'm feeling frisky, I'll conservatively estimate that Tiger would play to a +10. The USGA doesn't calculate handicaps to that level, but at their max of 3.5, they add another .5 for the 135 slope rating. So, 72.3 - 10.5 = 61.8. Yikes.

A little real-life perspective: I played Ko'Olina when I was a fresh beginner of 6 months with a 28.8 index. I played from the forward tees (71.8/126) which gave me a course handicap of 32, so my target score to play exactly to it was 104. I played it twice the same day and shot 100, then 95 (-4 and -9 net). Yes, I posted them both! From an article by Ross Goodner (Golf Digest) I found on the Pope of Slope:

The average golfer beats his handicap by only 2.7 strokes as his BEST score in 20 rounds. Fewer than nine percent of golfers ever beat their handicap by six strokes, and only two percent have ever beat it by nine strokes.

So I had two improbable rounds because of my stellar concentration (check it out -  that's just a practice swing!) or this course needs to be re-rated. And the pros need to leave it to the amateurs. And I need to play like I did when I was a beginner, but that's another story.

I still love the ladybug!

www.thegolfchick.com

You know the saying: "Behind every great man there is a great woman."

Well, behind every great golfer there is a great team, and the players take the time to recognize that whenever they win a tournament. This weekend, I watched as Phil Mickelson beat out most of the top golfers of the world (glaring exception noted) and proceeded to thank his troops as he claimed his prize on the 18th green at Riviera.

After all, being number 2 in the world doesn't mean you always win when number 1 isn't around. But it all came together for Phil at the Northern Trust Open.

Of course there are his coaches, trainers, "Bones" and family to thank, but at this tournament, he threw in a little someone extra. Oh, just a little Hall of Fame golfer who walked the course with him on Wednesday and gave him pointers, with particular regards to the greens. So with the same breath he used to thank his beautiful wife, Amy, he thanked his secret weapon, Amy Alcott.

Phil thanks the two Amys.

Amy Alcott knows Rivera Country Club well. It has been her home course since the age of 13. And with her history of professional wins (32 -- same as Phil) including five majors (Phil has time to catch up), along with her reputation for creative shot making (just like Phil), she definitely has the credentials to counsel an already great golfer. That he ultimately won is a testament to her skills and knowledge. Having so much in common with each other must make for a pretty smooth relationship, which can't hurt either.

I can only hope that in her upcoming book, set to come out this spring (Spiked Shoes: Golf Lessons, Life Lessons) she will share some tidbits to help the rest of us.

Meanwhile, she's got some articles out there (linked from her official site) with great tips like this GFW piece on chipping.

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson. It was great to see him win. I get teased for being a Phil fan, but I can't help it. I'm a sucker for a great smile.

Check it out - I think Amy's looking at me like she knows I could've been a contender.

www.thegolfchick.com

A lot of women are looking forward to this Thursday, February 14th, but instead of hearts and flowers, they'll be seeking birdies in Hawaii.

Yes, Valentine's Day marks the official start of the LPGA 2008 season. The ladies will be battling it out at the SBS Open on the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay, a beautiful and romantic backdrop for their endeavor. The impressive field includes most of the 2007 top money earners with a notable exception of No. 1  -- Lorena Ochoa. But last year's winner, Paula Creamer, still has her work cut out for her in defending her title.

Not that I'm rooting against Paula, per se, but it sure would be nice to see Annika Sorenstam get off to a strong start toward what I'd like to be able to define at the end of the year as a dominant, if not magical, season.

There are plenty of other golfers who aim to get in their way, including Suzann Petterson, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Natalie Gulbis, Jeong Jang, and much of the rest of the 2007 Solheim Cup teams. This should be a compelling competition to watch.

I also enjoy watching this tournament simply because of the golf course. I've played it, and it really is breathtaking, not to mention quite a challenge. I even have fond romantic memories from certain locations on the course. Ahem. Prime spots aren't difficult to find when you're out there. And the air in Hawaii is conducive to passion a warm, fuzzy feeling. Although when you rip that 5-iron for your approach shot, you might curse that air for gusting and diverting your ball into a bunker. Then you'll shake it off, remember you're not competing for a $1.1 million dollar purse, and just enjoy where you are.

Speaking of the purse, it kind of sounds impressive at first, until you realize that money is split between 85 players with the winner receiving a paltry $165,000. For a quick disparity check, the first event of 2008 on the PGA Tour had a $5.5 million purse and the winner -- Daniel Chopra -- received $1.1 million: notice that's the entire purse for the LPGA's first event.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, my excitement about the event, the competition and the golf course.

The absence of a certain player whose home is in Hawaii hasn't escaped my attention either. I think I heard something about Michele Wie taking a break from college already to play some events this year, but she's not on the field list so evidently this isn't one of them. And I can't be bothered to pay much attention to her schedule or look it up.

My DVR will capture all the action the Golf Channel will allow (that's a whole 2.5 hours per day) so if I'm not playing locally or attending the nearby Northern Trust, I'll be rapt in this season opener. And I'm sure we can count on Paula Creamer to sport something pink to celebrate and remind us of the simultaneous Hallmark occasion as she tries to defend her title.

Go, Annika!

www.thegolfchick.com