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Forest Oaks has been hit by an infestation of beetles. No, not the goofy little retro cars. As Todd reports, about 90 trees have been removed from the golf course leading up to the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro because of "disease, beetle infestation and the lingering effects of last year's renovations."

Fortunately, it doesn't sound like the departed trees will affect the layout of the course a lot. But sounds like an aesthetic loss. Let us know if you agree -- or even notice they're gone.

My apologies to Matthew Hammond, a junior at High Point U. who had Thursday's second-lowest score at the U.S. Open qualifier at Pinehurst National. My lack of familiarity with HPU golf was revealed, as I failed to mention Hammond, from Clayton, fired a 66 to make the sectional qualifier. Fortunately, colleague Robert Bell has a neighbor who knows of him and pointed out the oversight.

Same thing happened last week, when we overlooked Kernersville's Jonathan Hill advancing from the Wallace local qualifier. The problem, for those of us not accustomed to covering area golfers, is that the USGA lists current residence on its tee times/result sheets, leaving it to us to make the hometown and college connections.

A full list of qualifiers to sectionals can be found at the USGA site here. Former Wake player Ryan Gioffre and UNCG player Jason Martin also made the final, 36-hole stage of Open qualifying, which will be June 6-7.

The crowds are already gathering in full force at Pinehurst No.2. For those driving down from Greensboro, prepare for lengthy stoppages this week at the Rt. 211 exit off U.S. 220 and at the big traffic circle in Pinehurst. The good news there is a couple of state troopers are helping space out the traffic in the roundabout.

Oh, and bring lots of water, or be prepared to buy lots of it at the course. But you probably were already figuring on that, what with the heat index hovering around 110 degrees in the Triad and Sandhills today. Seriously, for those with serious heat-stroke concerns, there are three medical tents set up here, each with an attending physician, two paramedics and two nurses. They pretty much did think of everything.

As for the course itself, the thick rough, whether 3 inches or 3.5 deep, is going to eat a lot of golf balls this weekend, players are predicting. Tiger Woods played 36 holes here last Monday. He said it was like, "What rough?"

"Now you're hoping to advance a 9-iron or wedge down the fairway so you can get it up-and-down," he said. "It's grown quite a bit in a week."

Retief Goosen, who won the Open last year at Shinnecock, says Pinehurst will likely play even tougher this week, especially if it stays hot and dry.

"I can't see that anything really below par could win this week if conditions stay the way they are now," Goosen said.

In Pinehurst, we're out of the sauna and into the U.S. Open. Temps are down into the 80s today, and the oppressive humidity has relented. That's good news for golfers, spectators and scribes alike.

It's still too early to say how the greens are going to hold up through the weekend, as there's no significant rain in the forecast.

Thus far, we've seen Aussie Rod Pampling bite the dust early. Playing the back 9 first, he made the turn at 42 (7-over). Four more bogeys on the front side, and we had the tournament's first 80. Ouch.

Rocco Mediate, on the other hand, sank a long putt on No. 10, where Pampling started with a bogey, for a nice eagle. He's one of a handful of players that have shown red numbers are possible at Pinehurst No.2.

No, I don't mean the course setup. I mean the media setup. Believe me, sports writers aren't used to country-club service when covering events. Nor do we deserve it, most would argue.

But at Pinehurst, we were treated to salmon for lunch today (pork barbecue yesterday to remind visitors we're in North Carolina, not Texas) and the finest portable bathrooms I've ever seen. Step into the trailer, and you'll see faux green marble, wood finishings, golf-related artwork and, yes, potpourri.

Most importantly, the mammoth media work tent is well air-conditioned.

By the way, who has Brandt Jobe in their U.S. Open office pools? Do you believe in miracles?

We may have a new course record at Pinehurst No.2 for fastest round. Omar Uresti, the first to tee off Saturday morning and playing by himself, didn't let seven bogeys slow him down. Going off at 8:10 am, he cruised through his round, going from 8-over to 13-over, in barely over 3 hours. He was in the clubhouse by 11:30.

Maybe he had a noon lunch reservation at Nina's. Our own Robert Bell is trying to find out such details now. It's not much fun being so far out of contention at the U.S. Open. But say this for Omar: He didn't have to linger on the greens waiting for his playing partner to putt out. And he always had honors at the next tee.

Incidentally, the group playing behind Uresti _ Irishman Graeme McDowell and Florida Gator Matt Every _ were still on the 16th when he finished.

Not Phil Mickelson, who fell out of contention at Pinehurst, anyway. Jason Gore isn't just a slightly overweight golfer struggling to make it in pro golf. He's the ultimate Every Man on the golf course. Just check out his caddie, Lewis Puller. The guy's wearing a mesh Pabst Blue Ribbon hat, PBR being one of the ultimate low-budget American beers of all time.

Through eight holes, Gore remains tied for the lead at 2-under. It's really hard to root against him, isn't it?

On the other hand, Rory Sabbatini doesn't only upset other players by playing too fast. He upsets the vertical hold on most TVs with his multi-colored striped pants. A third-round 76 might have been somewhat upsetting for him.

Sentimentality replaced cynicism in the pro-sports world for a good little while Friday, as Jack Nicklaus finished up at St. Andrews, playing his 38th and final British Open.

At 3-over for the tournament, it was clear he wasn't going to make the cut when he reached the old Swilcan Bridge at No. 18. So the patrons at the Old Course gave him a rousing sendoff. Jack stopped on the bridge, waved and posed for pictures with Steve, his caddy and son, as well as Tom Watson and Brit Luke Donald and their caddies. Corny, sure. But touching as all get out.

And Jack made a nice birdie putt to end his round at even-par 72. A nice final touch.

But imagine how tough it must have been for Donald, a contender, to keep his focus over those last few holes. I'd say he handled the swell of emotions all around him bloody well, although Tiger Woods was getting away from him (and most everyone else) several holes back.

The PGA Tour is going through some ground-shifting changes, and as was reported here by our Robert Bell late last week, Greensboro took the necessary steps to keep it from being left out in the cold. The Forest Oaks tournament's move to August in 2007 puts it in a coveted spot in the FedEx Cup schedule.

That's left other cities to be bitter about having tournament dates in the fall, when golf just won't matter as much. Take Tony Kornheiser's comical take in the Washington Post on the plight of Avenel, near D.C.:

Now we'll come after everything. We're so late in the season, they'll have already played all four majors, the tour championship -- and the Outback Bowl! Akron has a better date than us. Hartford has a better date than us.

Apparently, Greensboro doesn't bother him.

As Ireland's Padraig Harrington celebrates having his name chiseled into the Claret Jug, it's a good time to celebrate the British Open's playoff format. A four-hole playoff is in my opinion a much better way to decide a championship tied after four rounds than a sudden-death playoff (Masters) or 18-hole Monday round (US Open).

It gives a Match Play feel to the playoff. The tournament isn't decided by one player's blow-up or another's lucky hole-out chip shot on one sudden-death hole. And, unlike the US Open, you don't have the possibility of someone running away with it on one great round. No drama there.

What the four-hole playoff allowed Harrington was a chance to regroup after putting two balls in the creek and doubling 18 in the 4th round. Sergio, too, had a chance to rebound after missing his chance to win it at 18. Heck, in '99, Jean van de Velde even got a second chance after his historic triple-bogey collapse. Of course, the Frenchman couldn't shed the memory and lost to Paul Lawrie.

This time, Harrington birdied the first playoff hole and Sergio bogeyed. But the Spaniard gave himself a chance with two pars and by going for it with driver, 6-iron to within 18 feet of the hole on No. 18 -- a birdie putt -- while Harrington was playing it safe and putting from farther out on the same line -- for par. Sergio again just missed a long but makeable putt, strokes he'll remember for quite a while as he continues his pursuit of a major title. Harrington still needed to drain a 4-footer to keep it from going to -- egads -- a sudden-death situation. He made it. Redemption, tears and good entertainment for the spectators and TV viewers.

Bonus points to ABC (ESPN) from this viewer: Loved the music selections going into and out of commercial breaks. U2, Duran Duran, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Coldplay. All English and Irish acts. Fitting for the British Open. I didn't hear any Psychedelic Furs, unfortunately, but hey, I can't complain.