United States Archives - Hal Phillips

Thai Golf: The Buddy Trip Writ Large and Bawdy

Hal Phillips — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 08:41:09 +0000

Strolling down the main drag in Pattaya, Thailand, the local clocks ticking toward 11 p.m., I am reminded of the golf destinations we North Americans regard as desirable. Front and center is the golf component, of course. Normally this is the primary factor in determining quality or desirability. But there’s no denying that packs of […]

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Welsh golf exceeds the hype, in unexpected ways

Hal Phillips — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 18:36:26 +0000

The British Open is nearly underway, and naturally there are myriad reasons to visit the U.K. with your golf clubs and, well, none of them have much to do with the British Open or any of the courses that host the Open Championship. Look at Wales, which is right next door to Birkdale (to all of […]

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Coats, Ties and Foursomes: Collegiate Golf in the UK

Hal Phillips — Fri, 05 May 2017 07:39:57 +0000

For all the trans-Atlantic DNA we share with our British golfing brethren, it’s easy and, I daresay, somewhat natural to assume that college golf here in the U.S. is pretty much the same as it is over there. Not so. Top players from the U.K. (and mainland Europe) routinely travel stateside to hone their games at American […]

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B-listed by the USGA, Riviera Ponders What Might Have Been

Hal Phillips — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 07:51:27 +0000

[This piece was first posted in 2011. It seemed a good time to revisit, with the U.S. Open visiting yet another public course this June… hp] I suppose we should count our blessings that a magnificent course like Riviera — a 1926 George Thomas design firmly ensconced in all the Top 100 lists that […]

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Hal Phillips, A Fine Golfing Ambassador: 1936-2011

Hal Phillips — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:30:42 +0000

My father and namesake, Harold G. Phillips Jr., passed away Saturday, Aug. 27, after a 15-month battle with lymphoma, and so I’ve been thinking and writing a lot about him this past week. Most of this bittersweet rumination has nothing to do with golf but some of it surely does. He’s the guy who introduced […]

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USA v. Mexico: Americans exposed at the back

Hal Phillips — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:31:26 +0000

Behold, the Unsightly American Soccer Podcast for the week of June 27, 2011. The Gold Cup has concluded, and the Mexicans, by virtue of their 4-2 victory, have laid claim to biannual honors as top dog in CONCACAF. This is our Federation, of course, the agglomeration of North American, Central American and Caribbean […]

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World Cup Nostalgia: Ultimately, it was televised

Hal Phillips — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:20:26 +0000

Like the Olympic Games, the World Cup comes round but once every four years. Unlike the modern Olympiad, the World Cup has only recently attracted the exhaustive attention of television programmers, a fact driven home to me by my friend and colleague, Dieter Schmidt, in his debut column at halphillips.net. There was indeed no international […]

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A Tale of Two Soccer Melting Pots

Hal Phillips — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:11:58 +0000

By Dee Schmidt One of the things you need to know about me is that while I’m counter-cultural and an American through and through (you can be both, my brothers and sisters), my paternal ancestry is seriously Teutonic. Dig: My dad was Austrian and because the heyday of Austrian football came in the 1930s […]

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Defrosted Retromensch serves up pre-WC punditry

Hal Phillips — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:09:50 +0000

By Dee Schmidt Hello, world. I’m from the ‘70s and if you’re reading this, you’re probably not. So bear with me, future dudes. I’ve spent 32 of the last 36 years frozen solid, biding my time at the bottom of an ever-expanding trash heap on the snow-white shores of Hudson Bay. I’m from Encinitas, […]

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Soccer’s own Encinitas Man to contribute WC 2010 reports

Hal Phillips — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:02:05 +0000

The curious, inspirational story of Dieter “Dee” Schmidt first came to the soccer world’s attention some four ago when his frozen but otherwise well preserved body — clad in nothing but a vintage Paul Breitner Bayern Munich jersey, impossibly bell-bottomed jeans and a pair of antique adidas Sambas — was recovered, thanks to a […]

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