Letters to the MichiganGolf.com editor

One man's opinion

I again read an article about Stacy Snider winning the Michigan PGA Tournament this past summer. I can only say Political Correctness is well and good. The young lady, who appears to be a fine woman golfer, played from tees that were over 1100 yards shorter than the men. What would have happened if she played from the tips like the men or if the men had played from her tees? We would not have heard the name Stacy Snider.

Although we have many other important issues in the world I couldn't help but laugh over the gushing in the article over her "achievement." It really means nothing until the playing field is level for all. Women can't compete against men if it is indeed level because they don't have the strength. Please, Annika Sorenstam played well in the recent skins game but she would be an utter failure on the PGA tour because she would make few cuts, make little money and disappear. The skins game was a lark not a tournament in which players were battling for their
golfing survival.

I realize that most people won't actually write what they feel for fear of being bashed but I have yet to meet a sports enthusiast, including many women, who believe the hype involving women attempting to compete against men is little more than a bad joke because of the usual "tricked up" playing field. The media of course is duty-bound to play it up in order to make some people happy and not be labeled as insensitive. Common sense and logic loses every time.

I'd love to "compete" in a baseball game that allows one team only one out in their inning or allows one team to move the fences in 150 feet because women players just can't reach the seats while batting. The fences go back when the men are batting of course. We'll laud the women who hit home runs at the contrived distance and marvel at how they can compete with men. Rubbish.

Jim Bielaniec, via email

January 1, 2004