Home > Furman Bisher > Archives > 2008 > April > 12 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTrio does Panhandle proud
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Augusta — On the metropolitan scale, this may not knock your socks off. But if you came from a town where you got your mail by RFD (that’s rural free delivery) and milked the cow or cut the firewood, this is as unlikely as the story of the bootlegger’s daughter who became a movie queen. This story centers in what is known as the Florida Panhandle, that part of the state which some say Georgia and Alabama disowned.
No Hollywood stuff here, backwoods instead. Out of one small spot in that part of the world three professional golfers have come forth, and mind you, this is not a golf-devout area as is Pinehurst or Sea Island. Nor has the First Tee program ever had a hand in it, nor was that program even in existence when these three were breaking out. Milton is where the most of the buzz is, a town of 8,118. Bagdad has a population of 1,490 and Jay 579, and that comes to 10,187 Panhandle rednecks — and that’s not my term, it’s theirs.
In order, they are Heath Slocum, Boo Weekley and Bubba Watson, 34, 34 and 29, as their ages go. More famous golfers that you would guess come from RFD addresses. The game isn’t limited to the rich, only to the skilled. Heath comes from Milton, Boo from Jay and Bubba from Bagdad. Heath and Boo played on the golf team at Milton High School together, Bubba came along a couple of years later. Boo was born Thomas Brent and came by his nickname from watching Yogi Bear and his pal. Watson is a real, authentic Bubba. His daddy saw him and saw a Bubba. Heath, some say, was once Heathcliffe but shortened it, and has since vacated the old territory. When he goes home now, it’s to Alpharetta.
It seems they all grew up scuffling around the same golf course called Tanglewood. Slocum had the edge. His father, Jack, was pro there and Tanglewood was their playground. Boo and Bubba are pretty sizeable guys, but Heath is only 5-10 and about 150 pounds, and they excel in different ways. Slocum deals in course wisdom and straight-shooting. He was sixth in driving accuracy on the Tour last year. Watson led the Tour in driving distance, 315.2 yards, leaving John Daly and J.B. Holmes in his rear-view mirror. It’s common gossip, though, that he knows less about the golf swing than the other two. He just stands up and bombs it, following the philosophy Bobby Jones once shared with Louise Suggs.
“Just swing hard as hell,” he told the much-decorated star of the LPGA, “it’ll come down somewhere.”
As it turns out, these three stars of the Panhandle came down in Augusta. All three not only qualified for the Masters, all three made the cut. As unbelievable as a fairy tale. Boo chipped on the last two holes at Hilton Head and won the Heritage. Weekley and Slocum got here through consistent performances over the year, and Boo easily led in the unofficial Li’l Abner impersonation, being a natural rustic. He was a show-stopper at the PGA Championship with his “aw-shucks” press forums, speaking of his preference for hunting, fishing and the carefree life of the woods.
All had a fling at college. Slocum went to South Alabama, Watson to Faulkner College, then transferred to Georgia. The truth is, he was never able to cut through the wall of five Bulldog All-Americans in front of him and never made the team. Weekley, well, his indulgence in campus life was short-lived. He went to Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton to learn all about grasses and course culture, but when his scholarship was done away, he packed off for the Panhandle.
So here they were, the three of them, playing through the weekend at the Masters. Neither was a threat to the leaders, though as twilight fell on soggy Saturday, Boo was looking good with his round of 68, a good patch away from the front-runners. But a 68 on Saturday at Augusta National, beats hunting and fishing any day, I’d say.
Comments
By VanDSIRROM
April 13, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, you’re what makes reading the AJC worthwhile.
By JDW
April 14, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this
Nice job as always Furman, sorry I am about to use your space to vent on Terence. I notice that the “Fluke” piece of trash is still posted though the ablity to comment on his work was ended at 9:40 last night after a whopping 1 hour and 40 minutes. What’s the matter Terence? Can’t stand the rave reviews?