Some assorted numbers and statistics concerning last week’s U.S. Open at Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago.

The fact that the average driving distance for the Open was 288 yards did not automatically translate to scoring. The average score for the field was 72.38, a little over two-over par. More numbers on driving distance: In Sunday’s final round when the course had started to firm up, the driving distance went up to 295.8 yards but so did the scores, to 73. Twenty players averaged over 300 yards in driving distance. Four of those finished in the top 10 in scoring. Eleven of those finished between 33rd and 66th in scoring. A few more important statistics: Jim Furyk, the Open champion, finished 25th in driving distance, averaging 295 yards. He was second in driving accuracy (70 percent of fairways hit) and first in greens in regulation (74 percent). What does all of this mean• Well, who’s to know for sure with statistics, but you can make the assumption that while driving the ball long distances is the very chic thing to do, keeping it on the short grass (fairways and greens) is the way to win a U.S. Open. NOT THIS TIME Maybe Pumpkin Ridge just isn’t in the cards for venerable amateur Carol Semple Thompson. Thompson has played in 32 U.S. Women’s Opens, but she has failed to qualify for each of the national championships held at Pumpkin Ridge (1997 and 2003). The 54-year-old four-time defending USGA Senior Women’s Amateur champion had rounds of 83-77 at Canoe Brook to miss by six strokes. QUALIFYING AMATEURS Eight players from western Pennsylvania earned spots in the Pennsylvania State Amateur this week in a qualifier at Grove City Country Club. Chip Zimmerman (68), Roy King (70), Donald Lewis (70), David Vallina (72), Michael Van Sickle (72), Jack Cline (74), Jeffrey Riems (74) and Patrick Knipple (75) made their way into the tournament, which will be held July 28-30 at the Country Club of Scranton. A total of six qualifiers will be held to determine the field. WHAT DO YOU REALLY THINK? Pete Dye, the world-famous golf architect who has a course named after him in Clarksburg, W.Va. — the Pete Dye Club — has never been shy about expressing an opinion. When he was on hand for the opening of the John Daly Learning Center at Nemacolin Woodlands Spa & Resort, Dye was asked whether his Mystic Rock course there could stand up to the barrage of the PGA Tour. “The USGA, Royal & Ancient and the PGA have the sum total of a brain of a weed,” he said. “They are going to ruin the game for the recreational golfer. In 1992, the statistics showed that the pros were driving the ball 262 yards on the average. In 2002, that’s up to 290 yards. Something’s got to be done. I don’t see why they can’t play the 1992 ball across the board. “Every daily-fee course in the country is losing tee times because players have to wait for 300 (yards) to clear (from the tee). If that’s an extra 10 minutes they wait, that’s 20 percent of the times they’re losing per hour. The extra length only helps the golf professional and nobody else. They have to do something for the tournament players. Other than that, I got nothing to say about it.” GETTING READY IN STYLE While Nemacolin Woodlands and Resort gets ready to host the 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania Sept. 15-21, the resort itself recently has been receiving high praise. Conde Nast Traveler has voted Nemacolin Woodlands in the top 10 Golf Resorts in the country; Departures magazine voted it as a “top luxury resort”; Nemacolin Woodlands head doorman Keith DeBiase has been named the Outstanding Lodging Employee of the Year and the Royal Reception has been voted as the Ongoing Special Event of the Year by the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Stars of the Industry Awards. THE LONELIEST FEELING You’ve no doubt seen the television commercial of the youngster who’s all alone on the golf course, takes a swing at a par three and watches as his tee shot hops into the cup for a hole-in-one. The look on his face is priceless, as he scans the horizon for someone, anyone who was a witness to his feat. In the commercial, a maintenance worker happened to drive up just as the event unfolded and the kid had to buy … a soft drink for both. Paul Haurilesko of Level Green knows the feeling. The long-time starter at Manor Valley Golf Course near Export was out playing alone the other day and, sure enough, his 5-wood on the 171-yard fourth hole found the cup. “We could all just see him standing up on the tee looking for somebody that might have seen it,” Gary Frye of Manor Valley said. “It was his first hole-in-one, and everybody is very happy for him.” SUCCESSFUL EVENT The three-day Best of the Best Golf Classic held at Totteridge Golf Club in Greensburg raised more than $80,000 for Westmoreland Regional Hospital Care Services as well as providing scholarships for four area high schools. The scholarships went to schools of high school golfers who played their way into the highlight finale of the event, the pro-am. YOU’RE AWAY, MARIO For $25, you can be entered into a raffle to win a chance for you and two friends to play 18 holes of golf with Mario Lemieux at a date and location to be announced later. The raffle, which is limited to 1,000 tickets, will raise funds in the fight against Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, a rare illness with no known cure. Pulmonary Hypertension causes high blood pressure in the lungs, which produces progressive breathlessness and ultimately becomes life-threatening. Fourteen-year-old David Rocco, a student at Seneca Valley Intermediate School and Cranberry Twp. resident, was diagnosed with the disease last August. The winning number will be based on the July 31 Daily Number, and all money raised will be donated to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association for research purposes. Interested persons can email Tom Meinert at tmein@sgi.net or call him at 412-366-2223.

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