Stateman/Argus Column

Ah, the Home of Golf. Every summer a lot of golfers travel to the United Kingdom to golf. I've been twice, once on holiday and once competing.

I've enjoyed the experience both times. But there are some challenges.

A double room means one double bed. I went with my friend and sometimes caddie Steve Brown and we were gladly sharing a room, but not a bed! It is no wonder the girl at the registration desk looked at us funny when we asked for a double room.

The travel time from Idaho is about 18 hours from start to finish. Leave Boise at 8 a.m., and land at 8 a.m. the next day. Your body says it's midnight, and your eyes will not stay open.

Luckily, the adrenaline from the fear of driving will keep you awake, so the fatigue from the flight is now the least of your problems.

The rental car has the steering wheel on the wrong side and you drive on the wrong side of the road. And a standard car has a manual transmission that you shift with your left hand. The roads were built in the 16th century, wide enough for a horse-drawn cart but not a car.

In addition, there are huge roundabouts and you go through them clockwise. So, yes driving is a bit of a challenge.

I don't normally buy the collision insurance on a rental car, but I do in Scotland. I've heard stories of some vans being brought back looking like the vehicle from the movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." Torn-off doors, mirrors or bumpers. Just a shell and an engine.

Oh, I'm supposed to be writing about golf? Sorry. There are no golf carts and the locals play 18 holes in three hours. In others words, you better get to your ball and hit it.

And they don't irrigate the fairways, but it pours rain every hour, so the grass can grow. And when it isn't pouring rain, the wind is blowing 30 mph, it's cold and it's getting ready to rain again.

The greens are as hard as a rock, the bunkers are like coffins and the rough can be either bare ground or grass a foot deep.

All that, and I still love it. Can't wait to go again.

Ryan

TVCC hires Masingill as women's soccer coach

RAY RODRIGUEZ | ARGUS OBSERVER

ONTARIO

Masingill

At every level he has competed or coached, Ryan Masingill has been a part of a winning tradition.

Now he is coming back home to the Treasure Valley to coach the Treasure Valley Community College women's soccer team. The college also recently hired Rick Latham to coach the men's soccer team.

“It took all of five days for the deal to come through,” Masingill said. “They have something I wanted, and I had something they wanted, so we ran into each other at the perfect time. You can call it a win-win situation. I played soccer with Rick (Latham), and I am looking forward to this.”

Masingill, Payette, has been playing soccer for 20 years and was part of a Payette High School soccer program that won four-straight state championships from 1994 through his senior year in 1997.

At Albertson College of Idaho, where he graduated in 2002, Masingill won all-conference honors at three different positions and was named team captain of his soccer team. Masingill earned honors for his standout play at goalkeeper, forward and center-midfielder. In his sophomore season, Masingill tallied eight goals and scored a goal against all of his team's conference opponents.

In his junior year at Albertson, Masingill and his teammates set firsts in the upstart program by earning conference and regional championship honors. That same team also played in the NAIA National championships, losing 3-1 to a team hailing from Mobile, Ala.

Masingill said his team accomplished a landmark feat for a sport that is not heralded in the Treasure Valley area.

“That's what I want to bring to TVCC,” Masingill said. “I want to bring the experience of an underdog picture. From that experience, I know what the final product needs to look like. I want to set the standard at that height.”

The 2006 soccer season looks to be a successful one at TVCC, and athletic director Lisa Del Re is convinced Masingill and men's head coach Rick Latham will bring soccer prominence to the Treasure Valley.

“We begin a new chapter in our soccer program here at TVCC,” Del Re said. “We have great expectations as to what our soccer programs will accomplish in the next couple of years. With these coaches, we are bringing in camaraderie and success to TVCC soccer. The sky is the limit.”

This year Masingill said he looks to adjust his style of play to the current roster but also wants to recruit aggressive players in the future.

“My philosophy is dependent on the players I have,” Masingill said. “I like to play speed game with fast players, or if I have a bigger team, I like to play more physical. In a perfect world, I like to go directly at the other team and put the defense on their heels.”

For the past few years, Masingill has lived in Chicago where he has been head coach of the girls Chicago Magic Soccer Club.

The soccer club has won 10 national championships in the past 10 years with athletes that span from ages 8 to 19. The Chicago club squad also has been voted No.1 in the nation by “Soccer of America Magazine” for the past two years.

Masingill has also dabbled as goalkeeper coach at the professional level with the Chicago Fire Premier, which is an affiliate of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire.

One of his pupils, Ray Burse Jr., attended Ohio State University and is currently a goalkeeper for FC Dallas.

Masingill has also coached three Division I players from Indiana University, University of Michigan and Villanova University.

With his strong coaching and athletic pedigree in tow, Masingill decided a move out to the Northwest was a better fit in more ways than one.

“What piqued my interest was the opportunity to come back home,” Masingill said. “This is the type of position I have been looking for since I graduated college. I was looking to come back to the area, so the timing and location were perfect. It makes me feel good because this is a step forward in my profession.

“It will be nice to have the college and community work together, to get the kids in and get after them.”

Since the recruit-signing period has ended, Masingill enters his first season at TVCC with an inherited roster.

“It is too late to get the players I want,” Masingill said. “I'm going to a team that is already made for me. I have known they have a fairly decent soccer program, so I think the roster will be solid.”

Scotland

Been home for a week or so and have decided not to go to the British Senior Open.  The travel is really expensive and I'm not exempt so would have to play in a Monday qualifier.  Even though there will be 50 spots or so, I just don't think it would be worth it.

Prairie Dunes

Photos from Prairie Dunes.

US Senior Open

made the cut a 6 over par.  this golf course is really interesting and tough.  i'd doing a decent job of keeping the ball in play, and if i can just clean up a mess or two, could get it under par......

jay haas shot a 75 today and spent the first 10 minutes of his practice on the putting green hitting 6 foot putts 15 feet by the hole.  he was furious with himself.  so golf does it to everyone.  he had 4 putted #14 from 12 feet.

 

Hutchinson, KS

good practice round today.  played with peter jacobsen and fred haney, two guys that i played with in college. they went to oregon while i was at oregon state and scott spence a real nice guy from rhode island. 

jim hardy followed us around, he grew up in hutchinson on this course, and i learned some things from him today also.

hardy is an instructor that works with peter and a number of other tour players and an interesting guy.

there are so many people at this event, i can't believe it.  don't know where they are coming from, but i've signed more autographs this week than all the other weeks combined.  a load of fun.

 

Kansas CIty

Greater Kansas City Classic

 

Had a good week in Kansas City.  My parents came out to watch and Robert Low the owner of Prime, Inc and Palace Casino in Biloxi, MS was my partner in the Pro Am on Friday and Saturday.  The tournament format is like the ATT at Pebble Beach in that each professional has an amateur partner the first two days and there is a secondary competition.  And my Dad got a chance to caddy for Robert, so he was inside the ropes with Ryan and I the first two days. 

 

Robert and I didn't do too well in the tournament, but had a great time and he and my Dad beat Ryan and I out of $2 on Thursday.  Robert made a bomb on the last hole to beat us.

 

My game is showing some signs of life.  I started Sunday eagle-birdie then birdied my 5th hole to get for 5 under for the tournament.  I wasn’t able to hold it together but actually played pretty well coming in just didn’t get the ball in the hole.  I finished at 2 under, tied for 31st and my best finish by far.  I drove the ball better than I ever have, and hit a lot of putts that looked like they could go in.

 

My parents headed home and Ryan and I are in Hutchinson, KS this week at Prairie Dunes www.PrairieDunes.com for the Senior US Open.  The golf course is rated in the top 20 in the world and I can see why.  It is unbelievable; the feeling is Scotland without freezing to death.  Perry Maxwell, who designed Southern Hills in Tulsa, OK, which has hosted three US Opens, designed this course.  This is the course that Juli Inkster beat Annika for the Women’s US Open a couple of years ago.  The greens are wildly undulating and the rough is really deep.  Going to be an interesting week. 

 

I will try and take some pictures tomorrow and post them on the journal.

 

They are expecting 100,000 people this week.  Really fun, I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.