My Favorite Course: Dave Shedloski
Journalist and author Dave Shedloski has been writing about golf since 1986, first as a daily newspaper reporter and later as a freelance writer for various magazines and websites. He helped found the Golf Press Association, a news service for the golf world. Shedloski has won 23 national writing awards, including 20 for golf coverage.
The prolific golf writer has authored three books, including Golden Twilight, about Jack Nicklaus's final year on the PGA Tour. He also contributed to the second edition of Golf For Dummies, with CBS Sports analyst Gary McCord.
Shedloski grew up in Troy, Ohio, and played junior golf at the nearby Miami Shores Golf Course. This Donald Ross-designed course, which dates back to the late 1940s, features a classic layout with straight fairways that seem to play a little short. Shedloski graduated from Miami (Ohio) University.
Shedloski is currently a contributing writer for Golf World and GolfDigest.com. His work also appears on CBS Local Sports and the CBS Local family of sites. He serves as editorial director for The Memorial, the official magazine of the Memorial Tournament. An annual event on the PGA Tour, the Memorial is played each spring at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on a course designed by Jack Nicklaus.
Having covered over 400 tournaments, Shedloski has seen -- and played -- his fair share of golf courses. CBS Local asked him about some of his favorites, and what first attracted him to the game of golf.
CBS Local Sports: What's your favorite golf course and why?
Shedloski: Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst, N.C. I enjoy the rugged beauty of the layout and the exacting precision required to score well. Then there are the various short-game shots needed around those famous greens, which are fun to try.
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CBS Local Sports: What golf course do you most want to play that you haven't yet?
Shedloski: Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, California.
CBS Local Sports: What is your go-to club on the golf course and why?
Shedloski: Every club is my go-to club. Okay, well, that's what a professional would say. I have to agree with Kevin Costner in the movie Tin Cup. His character, Roy McAvoy, had it right when he said he never miss-hits the 7-iron. I find that to be true and a great comfort.
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CBS Local Sports: What first got you interested in golf?
Shedloski: As a kid growing up in Ohio, I naturally became a great fan of Jack Nicklaus and loved watching golf on TV. But I never tried the game until a friend at school asked me to go play at the local course, Miami Shores, in Troy, Ohio. I hit a couple of memorable shots. I still can recall the great feel of hitting it flush. I suppose it's no coincidence that those shots were with a 7-iron. See above for the resulting effects.
CBS Local Sports: What is your most memorable moment on the golf course?
Shedloski: Easy. Played 18 holes at Pebble Beach with Gary McCord in an outing set up by CBS with selected media after the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This was 1995. Can't believe he needed the money, but McCord wanted to play a $5 Nassau with automatic 2-down presses. Easy money for him. Standing on the tee at the famous par-4 eighth hole, I was 7 down. McCord had birdied four of those seven and he was rubbing it in pretty good. I hit a perfect drive and a 4-iron to two feet to win the eighth hole. McCord couldn't have been more complimentary of the shot. (Lucky.) We kept it square the rest of the way, so I lost 6 and 5. But I played Pebble Beach with one of the great broadcasters in golf for $30. I'd say it was a good bargain.
