The Golfer's Wife

Working Together

The world’s tough problems can be solved, if we all just work together. If we each solve a little piece of the problem before you know it the problem will cease to exist. Case in point. This.

As I pointed out Golfing Offspring #2 has done her bit and solved one part of the problem.

Via Golf Poet we find that some nuclear scientists turned their minds to the problem and came up with another part of the solution. Nuclear Scientists people! How far off can a complete solution be when nuclear scientists are looking at the problem?

Both of these solutions have one major flaw, they don’t deal with balls that get hit into water. But not to worry, someone else has stepped up to handle that part of the problem. Albus Golf has developed a fish food golf ball. That’s right. A golf ball that, when it gets wet, dissolves into fish food. This may lead to some very overweight fish in certain locations, but I’m sure someone else will come up with a way to slim them down again.

So you see? No problem is too difficult if we all just work together.

Next up lets try for something really useful. Like how to keep the tonic in the gin-and-tonic from going flat after only 4 holes. There never seems to be a beer wench around when you need a refresh, so it’s vitally important that the tonic stay fizzy until the turn, don’t you think? I’ll have GO#2 and her group  work on that as soon as they are finished with their latest project, jousting with a mouse trap car. The rest of you should get started on it right away. 

A Conundrum

First of all, so we are all on the same page, please read ( or re-read if you are a long time reader of this blog ) this.

Done?

You don’t have to agree with me. But at least you know the parameters for the discussion.

As I mentioned, we have been watching a lot of the Olympics here at The Household. Those of us who like Sports upstairs, and those who like Competition downstairs. Which pretty much translates into everything-except-ice-skating upstairs, and ice skating downstairs. Although we did watch the Snowboard Half-pipe competition and the Freestyle Skiing competition upstairs. Shaun White just defies gravity doesn’t he? Anyway. We also watched Nordic Combined. Do you know what that is? It is a combination of ski jumping and cross country skiing.

Here is how it works: first the competitors do one/two ski jumps ( depending on the event ) and their points in the jumping determines the order they start the cross country. 1 point equals 4 sec, 15 points equals 1 minute. For the cross-country race, the winner of the ski jumping starts first followed by the others, at the intervals related to their jumping points. The first competitor across the finish line is the winner.

So it’s obviously based on distance/time which makes it a Sport, right?

Not quite. Because ski jumping isn’t a true sport. Ski jumping is scored based on distance AND style. And guess how you get points for style? Judges of course. Which means it’s subjective, which means it’s a Competition. Or is it?

Here is a nice description of how Ski Jumping is scored. The distance points matter quite a bit more than the style points. Obviously your style could be perfect, but if you have a short jump you aren’t going to win. But still, there is a subjective element here. So, Sport or Competition?

And with Nordic Combined the subjective part is even less. It is a small part of what determines where you start the cross country. But theoretically, if the best jumper is a bad skier, and the worst jumper is a great skier, the worst jumper could win, based on the time of his cross country, which is a Sport.

Thus the conundrum. How do you decide?

We officially declared free style skiing a competition. But here is the way the mogul skiing is scored:

Mogul scoring is based on Turns (50% of score), Air (25% of score), and Speed (25% of score). Certain judges only score turns, while other judges score only the two Air jumps. Speed is electronically certified. The skier's final score is determined by adding the average of the two Air jump scores to the total of Turns and the Speed score.

So 25% of the score is objective. But 75% percent is subjective. And the other event in freestyle skiing, Aerial Skiing, is totally subjective, so it’s definitely a competition.

I don’t know the exact percentage of the Nordic Combined the style points on the jump make up. Lets just say it’s about 10%. Is that enough to it knock out of Sports and into Competition?  Is there some arbitrary percentage we could come up with that would be the dividing line?

Perhaps you have already made up your mind on this. Here at The Household we have decided it will take a bit more discussion, and of course quite a few more cocktails, before a decision can be made.


P.S. Let me just state that all competitors in the Nordic Combined, Freestyle Skiing, and yes, even the ice skating, are, absolutely, athletes.

Loudmouth branches out

What do the Norwegian Men's Curling Team .......

...and John Daly.....

.... have in common?

They both like Loudmouth Golf.

Roundtown Sadie

Scottish Terrier Champion Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot ( Sadie to her family and friends ) won Best in Show at Westminster last night. If I didn’t have a nasty head cold I’m sure I could come up with several pithy statements about how she is a Scottish Terrier and Scotland is the home of golf, so of course this information belongs on a golf blog. But any pithy statements are lost in the cotton that currently occupies the space where my brain used to be.

I liked this:

Rangel kidded that his relationship with Sadie was like a marriage. "I'm happily married," he said, "as long as I say, 'Yes, honey.'"

If you’ve ever known a Scottie you understand exactly what he was talking about.

In another article there was this:

Frei agreed, saying Sadie is a typical terrier. "It's her world and we're just living in it," he joked.

If you’ve ever own….ah, lived with a terrier you know exactly what HE was talking about.

I’ve lived with many. I live with one now. Scottie’s may be cute, but they are a bundle of sturdy determination and they don’t suffer fools. At All. As long as everything goes their way, life is good. When things don’t go their way you really have your hands full. It’s much easier on everyone if you just go along. The Irish Terrier ( which is what Jigger is ) is just as sure they rule the world, but they are a bit more patient and sneaky. They are very good at letting you think you are doing what you want, while making sure you are actually doing exactly what they want. As long as things are going their way they don’t see the need to actually point out to you that they are in charge. Scottie’s are much more direct in their attitude. They make sure everyone knows they are in charge.

Each terrier handles the I’m-in-charge-here issue a little differently. But the one thing they all have in common is the fact that they are in charge, and the sooner you figure that out, the happier everyone is.

Catching up

Posting has been a little light lately. But some times real life takes over and the extracurricular activities have to take a back seat. I think ( hope ) things have slowed down enough that some sort of regular posting can resume. But I’m not guaranteeing anything.
 
Anyway. To catch up:

Dustin Johnson won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this weekend. He won last year too. So good for him with the back to back wins. However, the really important thing, as far as The Household was concerned, was that David Duval tied for second. And actually there was a 3 way play off. So David had his chance at winning outright. I have mentioned before that we are very fond of David here in The Household, so we were very happy to see him do so well. We actually watched the entire final round, which we normally wouldn’t have done. But we really like seeing David do good. We hope this is just the start of a wonderful year.

Ping and the USGA met in Dallas on February 10th, and came to no decision. So the groove issue lives on.

New LPGA Commisioner Michael Whan hired PGA Tour executive Jon Podany as the LPGA’s chief marketing officer. Seems like a smart move, although time will tell. But maybe Mr. Whan will work out after all.

In other LPGA news, Michelle Wie signed an endorsement deal with Kia Motors and, perhaps more importantly, Kia has signed on as title sponsor for the tournament previously known as The LPGA Classic, which will be played March 25-28 at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.

The Ladies first tournament of the year is this weekend. In Thailand. Coverage will be on The Golf Channel. 

The Olympics started in Vancouver. We have been watching. The Golfer and I were upstairs, watching skiing and Nordic Combined ( which resulted in a little conundrum, more on that in another post ) and speed skating and Biathlon. Golfing Offspring #2 was downstairs watching the opening ceremonies and pairs figure skating. All I can say is, for the overall peace and well being of The Household at times like this, it’s a darn good thing that we have 2 TV’s hooked up to 2 different Tivo’s.

Unlike Vancouver ( and like the rest of the US ) we have had snow. Which means there hasn’t been any golf around here for awhile. Tempers are growing short. High School Girls Golf supposedly starts for Golfing Offspring #2 next week. I doubt it. Which will fray tempers even more.

And last, but certainly not least, Westminster starts tonight. Actually it started before tonight, but the TV coverage starts tonight. I, of course, checked the standings out in the Canine Chronicle and have been monitoring breed judging all day on the website. I have discussed my absolute fascination with Westminster before. I will be watching every minute. Which of course will cut into the Olympics. If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, Thank God for Tivo.

Groovy - Part II

Bit of controversy in the world of professional golf this past week. Having to do with grooves. We’ve discussed the groove issue here. And in that post, you remember, I pointed out that the rule takes effect in January 2010. Which means it is in effect now. I also mentioned that Ping and the USGA had reached a settlement. I didn’t get into the details of said settlement, but as it turns out I should have mentioned one particular part of it. The fact that the Ping Eye2 Irons were grandfathered in. Meaning the rule doesn’t apply to Ping Eye2’s. Which, the clubs are 20 years old now, so who would be using them, so why worry about that little grandfathering clause? Well as it turns out 20 years isn’t such a long time and there are plenty of the Eye2’s still around. And certain members of the PGA tour are using that little loophole, and playing with 20 year old square grooved clubs.

Phil Mickelson is one of those players. And other players have rather strong opinions about playing with the Eye2’s. In particular Scott McCarron. Who called it cheating. Which led Phil to say he had been slandered and threaten legal action. McCarron apologized and Phil accepted so that little crisis appears to be over. But the issue remains.

Here is a try at a brief explanation of the issue, which, as I pointed out in the previous post, really only effects about 10% of the golfers out there, professional or not. The rest of us don’t have the skills to take advantage of the groves, square or not. Anyway.

Ping is a company known for innovation in golf clubs. And, as would be expected, Ping considers any innovation it comes up with as good for the game. Not everyone agrees with Ping. The Eye2 club is not the first time Ping has run afoul of the USGA. In 1966 all of Pings putters except for one ( the Anser, which just happens to have been the most influential putter in golf. But that’s another post ) were banned because they had a certain bend in the shaft under the grip that it was felt gave players a special advantage in their putting stroke. In any case, Ping developed the square grooved Eye2 Irons. Here is a very good summary of the resulting dust up between Ping and the USGA that resulted in the lawsuit and it’s subsequent settlement, which included an exemption for the Eye2’s. But the problem of the advantage of the extra back spin remained, and thus, after much testing and discussion, the ban on square grooves was enacted. But while the USGA et. al. can set a rule, they can’t void a legal settlement. So the Eye2 exemption still stands. And the point Phil and the other players are trying to make is it was silly to put a rule in place when there was a glaring loophole like that. The USGA et. al. should have worked out the issues before enacting the rule. The USGA is saying ‘how could they have known that 20 year old clubs would cause a problem?’ Ping says they warned the USGA this would happen. So what we have now is an equipment company with a history of antagonism with golf’s ruling bodies, and a legal agreement saying their clubs are exempt on one side, and on the other, golf’s ruling bodies trying to implement a rule to bring the need for accuracy back to the game but who only have jurisdiction over the rules of golf, and can’t void a legal agreement that pretty much makes adoption of the rule dependent on the good will and fair mindedness of the players. Which leaves the players rather put out. Either a rule is a rule or it’s not, and if you can’t completely enforce it then you shouldn’t have made it, but it’s really not kosher to put them in the middle like that.

The way things stand as of this post is the players feel they have made their point and will take the Ping clubs out of their bags, for now. Ping and the USGA/PGA will sit down and try to iron out their differences. But the players have put them on notice. If they don’t come to some kind of agreement that leads to a fully enforceable rule, those 20 year old clubs will go right back into the players bags and the whole mess will start up again.

If you are really interested in what has happened in the world of professional golf since the rule went into effect here is a good summary by GolfWeek .

Meanwhile the rest of us plug along wishing our game was good enough that the shape of the grooves mattered, and a certain someone is breathing a small sigh of relief that something came along that managed to push him off the front page of golf news for at least a week or two.

Hoping

The Hope is being played this weekend ( or at least they are trying to play it. When Mother Nature permits. ) in Palm Springs. If you remember, The Hope has been discussed here previously.

Jigger made his first appearance on the blog voicing his ( strong ) opinions on the tournament. And last year we were wondering if it would even survive.

It has survived, after a fashion. But it still has it’s problems. And, as with the past several years around here, we would not be inclined to pay too much attention to it.

Except.

Except this year a local guy is a member of the field. As a tour member, not an amateur. AND he is currently in the lead. And he is very local. As in we belong to the same cc. Needless to say we, and indeed everyone at the cc ( except perhaps for the swans ), is paying quite a bit of attention to The Hope this year. And Hoping the rain stops and the local guy makes good.

Helpful

So as part of keeping your New Years resolution to learn to play golf, you read Greg Rowley's Golf, Naked. And now you are going to head to your local course for some lessons. The instructor is going to tell you lots of things. But sometimes a picture is much more helpful, don't you think? So here you are:

See? There really isn't much to it at all. You'll be tearing up the course in no time.

The Sorrows - Part VI

I think we should check in with The Calthorpes again before the year gets too old, don’t you?

When last we left them Jane had caught Jack sneaking a kiss from the governess behind a hedge. This, of course, caused a big fight which resulted in Jane spending the day shut in her bedroom in tears and Jack decamping for London with Sandy, saying he won’t come back until Jane calls for him. In short, there is no longer domestic bliss at Castle Calthorpe.

Into the unhappy household we go…..


Late in the afternoon Miss Lark knocks on Jane’s door and asks to talk to her. Jane is tired of lying around crying and feeling sorry for her self so she decides to let her in. Besides, she thinks she can get information from Miss Lark as to what was really going on between her and Jack.  Miss Lark has obviously spent the afternoon crying as well. She apologizes profusely and says she never meant to betray Jane, who has been so kind to her, or to bring unhappiness to the family. She isn’t even sure how it happened. Jane points out that she had a crush on Jack. Miss Lark says she realizes that now, but really didn’t understand it at the time. Jane says that she did, and would have said something to her about it, but she wasn’t sure how Miss Lark would take her advice on something like that, so she didn’t. Miss Lark wishes she would have. She didn’t realize herself until she was sitting under the hedge with Jack. Jane feels sorry for her and tells her that she behaved foolishly but ‘exonerates her of all evil intentions.’  This sets Miss Lark off on a new round of tears and she says she will be leaving the house as soon as possible.

Jane decides she is a good and brave girl and tells her she can’t bare the thought of her going out into the world alone all because of what Jack did. But Miss Lark says she must go, that she couldn’t bare seeing Jack again. Jane tells her Jack won’t be back anytime soon, and tries to talk her into staying. But her mind is made up and eventually Jane decides it’s probably best if she goes. But she makes her promise to come back if she ever decides she can comfortably be around Jack.

Jane tells her she can stay as long as she needs to, but Miss Lark says the sooner she is gone the sooner Jack will come back. Jane informs her that Jack won’t be back until Jane says he can come back. Miss Lark gets upset and tells Jane that the longer Jack is away the harder it will be on both he and Jane. Jane has forgiven her, and she must forgive Jack. Needless to say, Jane does not agree. Miss Lark tells her exactly what happened behind the hedge, and that Jack was just behaving like a man does when presented with a hedge and a pretty girl who obviously has a crush on him. He really wasn’t that forward, and wouldn’t have done anything if Miss Lark and refused him. But she didn’t. So he kissed her. She tells Jane ‘I was the temptress who put evil in his way. As far as he is capable that man cares for no one but you’.

( So. Between the two of them they don’t think much of Jack. He wouldn’t have had the gumption to do anything if it wasn’t for Miss Lark tempting him. And as far as he  - as a man – is capable of loving someone, he loves Jane. Good old thick headed Jack. But after all, he is only a man. 1890’s thinking there, but I have to say, there are times here in the 21st century, when I pretty much agree with them. )

Miss Lark tells Jane she mustn’t be so hard on Jack and makes her promise to write and tell him to come home. Jane says she will, but not until tomorrow, so she can think of what to say. The next day she sends the following off to Jack: 




The day after that Miss Lark leaves in the morning and Jane gets a telegram from Jack saying he will be home in the afternoon. Jane puts on one of her best dresses and plans to be the coldly civil wife, but once she sees Jack that goes out the window. He is obviously quite glad to see her as well. Much hugging and kissing ensues, and Jack calls Jane ‘Beloved’.

It appears all is well again at the Calthorpes. Except that we are only a little over half way through the book, so I assume it won’t stay that way for long.

And so it begins....

Today marks the start of the 2010 golf season. The first PGA tournament of the year, The SBS Championship, had it’s first round in Kapalua, Hawaii. The first LPGA tournament isn’t until next month.

I know it’s a little difficult to think about hitting a little white ball around on green grass when the ground is covered in white, and the high for the day didn’t get above 0. But this is a golf blog, so I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it.

It should be an interesting year. Golf’s biggest star is absent from the field and no one knows, probably least of all him, when he will return. Or what kind of reception he will receive when/if he does. The last time he was absent TV viewing fell by half. There are 10 tournament sponsorships up for renewal this year, and four have already said they are leaving. Fewer viewers and fewer sponsors means less prize money for everyone.

Over at the LPGA things aren’t any better. It starts its year in shaky financial shape, and with a new commissioner. There is a small ray of hope named Michelle Wie. Michelle won her first tournament last year. If she can finish in the top ten on a regular basis, and even win once or twice, interest in the Ladies tour would pick up and the LPGA could breathe a little easier. 

So we shall see what happens this year. Meanwhile we are putting on more sweaters and shoveling the snow in shifts to avoid frostbite. It’s a little hard to be too concerned about the fate of people who spend their time hitting a little white ball around in the sunshine for a living. And now if you’ll excuse me, there is a hot buttered rummmmm calling my name.

Naked Golf

One of the things The Golfer wanted for his birthday this year was a particular golf book ( go figure ) . The book is Golf, Naked by Greg Rowley. He didn’t really know what it was about, but with that title…well. The Offspring thought it was a funny title, so they bought it for him. To everyone’s disappointment there were no NSFW pictures inside. In spite of this The Golfer started reading the book, but put it down after about an hour and said it was well written but he didn’t need it. Although he did suggest I take a look at it. By Christmas I had finally read through enough books in my constantly growing pile to get down to Golf, Naked. As it turns out I don’t really need it either..now. But I sure could have used it all those years ago when I first picked up a club.

I have spent a fair amount of time on this blog explaining different parts of the game, and how to get started playing, and trying to convince any of you who don’t play golf that it is a great game and you should. And I am sure that any of you who don’t yet play the game have ‘Learn to play golf’ as one of your top New Years Resolutions. Right? So here is what you do as Step #1 – read Golf, Naked. I have added it to the side bar over there on the left under Recommended Reading. Just click on it and have Amazon ship it right to you.

Greg Rowley is a PGA Golf Pro. This doesn’t mean he plays on The Tour. It does mean he has worked at, taught at, and managed many a golf course. It takes a lot of work to a) become and b) actually work as, a Golf Pro. Mr. Rowley has seen a lot, and this book is his attempt to make your entry into the world of golf as easy as possible. And he does a very good job. There are 23 chapters, and only 2 of them deal with actually swinging the club. Mr. Rowley knows what anyone who starts the game quickly realizes - golf is more than just a game, it is a culture. And learning any new culture can be very intimidating. You can be a natural in lessons, totally confident in your swing and your ability, and still be paralyzed with fear when it comes to playing that first round. There are terms and jargon you’ve never heard, rules and etiquette, and the honor code, and a dress code. Not to mention navigating the bag drop, the pro shop and the starter. It’s enough to make you turn around and say ‘never mind, I’ll take up bowling’.

This is why you need Golf, Naked. Mr. Rowely covers all the ‘other stuff’. The culture stuff. He pretty much leaves your swing up to you and your teacher ( assuming you are taking lessons ), and concentrates on making sure you feel comfortable with everything else that will be going on. And he does it in a very friendly, easy to read manner. He covers everything from when you arrive in the parking lot, to protocol at the 19th hole. He even has a chapter on golf pranks.

I started playing before I started dating The Golfer. And by the time I was playing with him, I still wasn’t really all that comfortable on a golf course. No one ever really showed me around, I just picked things up by watching. I learned more about the game of golf in a couple of rounds with The Golfer ( who started playing when he was 8, so by the time we met he had the whole culture thing down pat ) than I had in several years of playing with friends. And how comfortable you are in the surroundings can make a huge difference in your game. And how much you enjoy yourself. You can be a good player, and not really enjoy playing because you don’t have the culture thing down so you never really relax. Or, you can be like me. I, as I have mentioned before, suck. But I know what to do at the course, and how to play a round and not make anyone else’s round miserable, and I have a great time.

So just think of Mr. Rowely as your own personal version of The Golfer, showing you the ins and outs of the culture of golf. Read Golf, Naked ( and then, of course, read all my posts on how to get started, and about the game ). And then you do your part and get off the couch and act on that resolution and LEARN TO PLAY GOLF.  

Kids These Days

Remember this?

Perhaps not the world’s most pressing problem, but enough of a problem to be a story at a major news outlet.

Well guess what? Problem solved!  At least partially anyway.

Titleist, Nike, Srixon etc., are you paying attention?

Golfing Offspring #2 is taking an engineering class. For their latest project they had to find a real world problem, and propose a solution. And it couldn’t be some ‘if I had all the time and the money in the world’ kind of solution. They had to be able to implement it with materials available, and they had to find market research that showed people would actually pay for it.

After some discussion with her teammates GO#2 and her group decided to solve the problem of littering golf balls. And after 4 weeks of research and design they came up with a solution. Here it is:

You embed an RFID chip in every golf ball, and sell RFID readers that will allow golfers to find their balls. 

There is actually a bit more to it than that. For instance did you know that RFID frequencies are heavily regulated? So you have to use a low frequency chip that operates in one of the frequencies that no government is using. Also the chip has to be able to withstand the repeated compression-decompression that happens when the golf ball is hit. It has to be able to transmit a strong enough frequency that it can be read through the coating on the ball. And it has to be able to withstand the temperatures used when the ball is manufactured, and the range of temperatures it could encounter on a golf course. And it had to meet lots of other criteria, which I forget. Anyway, GO#2’s team found just such a chip, commercially available, for 16 cents each. They estimated it would cost around an extra 20 cents a ball to add the chip. Their market research indicated golfers would be willing to pay up to 50 cents more per ball, for a ball fitted with such a chip. A ball that wouldn’t get lost.

Next there is the reader. You need a reader with probably at least a 20 – 50 yard range. It has t be easy to use. And it has to operate within a wide temperature range and be somewhat weather proof. And once again there was other criteria I forget. But GO#2’s team found a commercially available reader that met all their criteria. The only problem with it is it cost $1200. Their market research indicated that golfers wouldn’t pay much over $100 dollars for such a device. But here’s thing. ‘Reader’ is somewhat of a misnomer. Readers do a lot more than read. They store information, show it in tables and lists, and allow you to write information back onto the chip. And lots of other stuff that a golfer, who is looking for a ball that has disappeared into the deep rough, doesn’t need. So if you kept the features of this reader that golfers need, and get rid of the ones they don’t, you should be able to make a much cheaper reader. Hopefully somewhere around the $100 price point.

There are some issues of course. Most golfers play many different balls over the years. Changing when they think some other ball will suit their game better. This means it would be good if all the manufactures could agree on a single frequency so you wouldn’t have to buy a new reader every time you decided to switch balls. And this doesn’t help with balls that are hit into the water. And just because you find your ball in the deep rough doesn’t mean you will be able to hit it out of said rough.

Still, it’s a great idea. Wouldn’t it be nice not to ever have to invoke Rule 27-1 Ball Not Found Within 5 Minutes again? Oh, and there’s that whole littering problem they were solving in the first place. 

So, Titleist, Nike, Srixon etc. GO#2 and team would be more than happy to provide you with all their research and their presentation. And they won’t even mind if you don’t put them on the patent, as long as you agree to provide them ( and their nearest and dearest ) with a reader, and a lifetime supply of the new golf balls. Pretty good deal, doncha think? E-mail me. Seriously.

Still Around

Just popping in long enough to say I'm still around. But as mentioned previously things have been a little ( okay, a WHOLE LOT ) busy and blogging falls way at the bottom of the list of things-that-need-to-be-done. The worst of the craziness is over I think, just have to make it through Christmas now ( which, if I think Christmas is the easy part you KNOW things have been busy ). But it's all been good busy. Well, except for the bed bugs. And the trip to the oral surgeon. But other than that. It's been friends and family and graduation and birthday and parties. So hopefully I'll find the energy to work up a post in the next day or so. Meantime I'm sure you'll manage just fine without me.

All I'm going to say

So I  have been saying nothing exciting has been happening in the world of golf. Can’t say that anymore. Although I wouldn’t characterize the current headlines as ‘exciting’. And it’s not just the world of golf that’s paying attention.

The situation has been discussed/written about ad nauseum by both people who have more knowledge of the situation than I do, and by those who have the same knowledge of the situation as I do, which is nil. I have nothing to add that hasn’t been said by someone somewhere by now.

I will just say that I feel for all those involved. It may have been self inflicted, but it is still a very sad situation, made worse by the constant publicity. Painful discussions will take place and difficult decisions will be made, which will then be analyzed and second guessed to death by people who weren’t present during the gut wrenching process, but will still feel qualified to comment and voice their opinions on the out come. Such is the price of fame I guess.

Rather ironic that this entire situation, which pretty much goes against the entire ethos of the game of golf, is swirling around (arguably) the worlds greatest golfer.

Winter Golf

Okay, I know it's not quite Winter yet. But we are playing under Winter Rules.

We played golf on Black Friday. Temperature was 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. As you can see, SOME people felt it was warm enough to wear shorts. And in the background there you can see the reason for playing with orange balls. Which I forgot to bring. Lost two balls when they embedded themselves somewhere on the fairway and, in spite of following them all the way, we couldn't find them when we walked up. Ah well. That'll learn me. 

And for those of you who live someplace where you don't have to worry about orange balls and winter rules. It is treated as casual water. You move your ball to the closest piece of green grass that is no closer to the hole. Which in some cases actually means you have to back track 20 yards or more. Love that winter golf.

Sparse Coverage

So, as mentioned, things are slooow in the world of golf.

The weather here is somewhat iffy and the ground is somewhat hard/frozen, so golf here in The Household is sloooow also.

And it is the holiday season, to which usual craziness, this year we are adding a college graduation ( Golfing Offspring #1. Of whom we are extremely proud ).

All of which means posting will probably be sorta sparse for awhile. So I'm still around. Just more than a little busy.

Although we did make a tee time for Black Friday. Much rather knock an orange ball around the frozen tundra then brave the malls.

In any case. Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Back soon.

Lady Heathcoat-Amory

Today ( November 17th ) is the birthday of Joyce Wethered. You have probably never heard of Joyce Wethered, but in her prime she was considered the best golfer in the world by none other than Bobby Jones himself.

Joyce is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Here is their biography of her.

Notice that quote by Mr. Jones.

"I have not played golf with anyone, man or woman, amateur or professional, who made me feel so utterly outclassed,'' said Jones. "It was not so much the score she made as the way she made it. It was impossible to expect that Miss Wethered would ever miss a shot-and she never did."

Here is what Willie Wilson, a Scottish pro golfer and club maker said about Joyce:

"Good swing? My God, man, she could hit a ball 240 yards on the fly while standing barefoot on a cake of ice."

Here are pictures of Joyce swinging her driver.

Let me just point out here that Joyce hit not today’s modern ball, but a 1920’s pneumatic ball, and not with a nice graphite shafted club with a titanium head, but with a hickory shafted club with a wooden head. She hit that ball 240 yards with that equipment AND wearing a skirt that fell below her knees. Eat your heart out Tiger Woods. 

Here is a wonderful, and more complete, biography of Joyce from The Society of Hickory Golfers.

And here is her obituary. Lady Heathcoat-Amory lived to a ripe old age.

So the next time you are sitting around with a group of golfers, discussing who is/was the worlds best golfer, and the names Bobby, Jack and Tiger are being thrown around, you might speak up and say ‘For my money Joyce Wethered is the best there ever was’.

Weekend Update

As mentioned previously things are slooooow in the world of professional golf right now. But a few things worth noting did happen this weekend.

First off, huge congratulations to Michelle Wie on her first LPGA Tour win. She won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara Mexico. Hopefully this is the first of many. And as an aside can I just say ‘very nice’ to Lorena Ochoa on her choice for the trophy? Its not often you actually notice the trophy. It’s usually something tasteful, but bland, in silver or crystal. But Lorena chose something different enough that I actually noticed it. And I have to say I think it’s quite striking.

Next, Tiger won the Australian Masters down under. No big surprise there I know. But still worth noting. Great golf is still being played in some parts of the world.

And now a somewhat sad note. David Duval missed the cut at The Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney this weekend. The missed cut means he doesn’t automatically get his tour card for next year and has to go through qualifying school. He has paid his entry fee to Q School, but when asked about it said ‘Don’t expect to see me there’. He could show up anyway. Or he could play next year on sponsor’s exemptions. But the general feeling here at The Household is that he will hang up the putter for good. David has always been a particular favorite here at The Household, so if he is done we will miss him. David lives out here in The Wild West, and seems very happy just being a dad, and not spending most of the year away from home. So we can hardly blame him if he doesn’t think it’s worth it.

And last, linked to without comment, the story of Doug Barron. No opinion one way or the other on this one at the moment. However, I imagine there will be more such stories over the next few years, so just thought it was worth pointing out. 

Littering

Alright, I’m willing to concede that this may, in fact, be an issue. And if it is I admit that I have certainly contributed more than my fair share of little white round spheres to the problem. But in my defense let me just say, it’s not like I wanted to. I didn’t do it on purpose. I would be perfectly happy to still be playing with the first ball I ever teed up. I really don’t see how it’s my fault that course designers put ponds and creeks and nasty rough hazards in very inconvenient places on golf courses. I have tried, really I have, but as of yet I haven’t managed to find a brand of ball that isn’t attracted like a magnet to the most inaccessible places on a golf course when hit by one of my clubs. If they don’t want me to continue to lose balls and contribute to this problem, the solution is easy enough. Nice wide fairways, with no hazards except for the occasional sand trap.

Also, although I have ‘littered’ parts of Scotland, and indeed other parts of the world, I would like point out that, while I have been to Loch Ness, none of the balls in there are mine.

Fall in the Wild West

Remember this?  That was 12 days ago. And actually that was just day one. It didn't quit snowing for another 36 hours, and left almost 2 feet of the white stuff. But the course opened on Thursday ( 6 days after the last flake fell ), and we played today. This is what it looked like today.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, things seem to be going 'swimmingly'. 

The Sorrows - Part V

Since things are a little slow in the world golf I thought was probably time to get back in touch with The Calthorpes. Remember them?  I know it’s been awhile. But they have been there, in suspended animation, waiting for me to run out of other things to blog about, so they could re-emerge and Jane could continue her tale of woe.

Thus far we have a landed English man (Jack Calthorpe) who gets wounded in a hunting accident and, at the suggestion of a friend, takes up golf as part of his rehabilitation. And of course he catches the fever and golf takes over his life, much to his wife’s ( Jane Calthorpe ) chagrin. We learn that the Calthorpes have a neighbor, Mrs. Marshall, who had designs on Jack, and indeed had thought they were engaged, when Jane came along and stole his heart. Jane believes Mrs. Marshall still has designs on Jack. Jack turns a large portion of his acreage into an 18 hole course, and conscripts various servants to play with, and serve as his caddy and greens keepers. He discovers his butler has a drinking problem and fires him, and manages to replace him with a caddy from Scotland, once again, much to Jane’s chagrin. Jane tries to convince Jack that the caddy ( Sandy ) is no butler and needs to be let go, but since he is a wonderful caddy and, as it turns out, a pretty good instructor, Jack will have none of it. Things come to a head when Jane throws a dinner party and Sandy is not paying attention and pulls out a bowl of dirty golf balls to serve as dessert, instead of the intended sliced pineapple. The next day Jane puts her foot down and says Sandy must go, and Jack says No and they proceed to have the worst argument of their marriage. At the end of which Jane ‘flounces’ ( her word, not mine ) out of the room and slams the door.

And so we pick up the story in the stormy aftermath of the fight:

Jane had flounced off to her boudoir. Which, as it turns out, is just a small room off the main drawing room. She slams the door between the rooms, and promptly bursts into tears. And then she starts thinking things over. Jack had pretty much done whatever she wanted for so long that she found this new side of him ‘disagreeable’. It was, she decides, his own fault that she was in charge. Someone had to be and he wouldn’t. And while she held ‘the reigns of authority…I flattered myself that I never pulled them unduly taut.’. But the more she thinks about it the more she thinks maybe she had taken advantage of the situation. In fact she decides that she secretly admired Jack when he had spoken to her in ‘that determined manner’.  If only he had been that way from the time they were married things would have been much better. At this point she says

  

( Well. Certainly not. Not at 26. Not at 36. Not even at 46. I can tell you this from personal experience. At this point I figure ones youth is not entirely gone even at the age of 86. In fact at that point parts of it may even be staging a come back. Anyway. Back to Jane. )

In any case she decides that perhaps she had been a bit domineering and that if Jack wanted to take over that was certainly his right, and perhaps she could be a better wife. So she makes up her mind that in the future Jack would have no cause to complain about her. Things had definitely changed in the relationship, but she would treat him ‘civilly if coldly’. Because after all most marriages have no love at all and she had had the good fortune to have love for 9 years, so she could hardly complain if things were now at the same state as everyone else.

( Once again, vast difference between 1896 sensibilities and today. And it seems to me she is slightly over reacting to the situation. But I imagine that is central to the rest of the story. So on we go. )

It is a dreary rainy day, so she decides to spend the rest of the day in the boudoir catching up on her correspondence. She has been at it for a few hours when she hears a loud crash in the drawing room. She rushes in and finds Jack standing in the middle of the room surrounded by overturned curio tables with all their contents lying broken on the floor. He is looking very penitent. She asks if he has taken leave of his senses. He apologizes profusely and blames it all on one Horace Hutchinson. As it turns out Horace Hutchinson has written an article in a ‘periodical’ on improving your putting. In said article he suggests finding a straight line on a carpet, or in a wood floor and practice swinging your putter along the line, to maintain a straight smooth stroke. Jack had searched all over the house and the only straight lines he could find were the ones in the drawing room carpet. So he had been swinging his putter. With predictable results.

Jack is very sorry and says he will give Jane carte blanche to replace all the items he broke. Jane tells him that’s no good because they had sentimental value, being given to her by family and friends. He asks Jane to forgive him but she tells him she has nothing to forgive. As he just reminded her it is his house, she just lives there. He can practice wherever he pleases. But if he doesn’t mind, could she please have her boudoir, as it’s really too small to swing a club in anyway? Jack says he is sorry about what he said, and he doesn’t really think she is a tyrant and he really couldn’t get on with out her. And there is a nice little scene where they agree they love each other and it’s really not nice when married people argue.

So. Crisis averted, at least for the moment.

The Calthorpes two children. An 8 year old daughter named Dorothy her younger brother Little Jack. Jack and Jane decide it’s time to hire a governess to teach Dorothy. Jane goes off to London to hire someone and ends up with what she considers a nice lively, if somewhat plain, young daughter of a country vicar, named Miss Lark. When she gets back Jack tells her that Mrs. Marshall came by several times to learn golf and has declared herself enamoured with the game. Jack found the whole thing to be a nuisance. He reminds Jane that he doesn’t really like Mrs. Marshall all that much and he was bored and really wished she would go away.

Two days after Jane returns, Miss Lark shows up. Things go fine for the first two weeks. Dorothy likes Miss Lark and she settles into the daily routine. Then Jack discovers that Miss Lark is the sister of the four Lark brothers, who are famous golfers. And that Miss Lark plays golf too. Miss Lark has been getting Dorothy familiar with the game of golf, and after finding out she is from the famous Lark family of golfers, he talks her into helping him with his approach shots. At first it is all business between the two of them, but Jack flirts a little, and eventually Miss Lark develops a crush on him. Jane isn’t too upset about this. Miss Lark is still doing her job as governess, and she thinks it’s only natural that a young girl out on her own for the first time would get a crush on the master of the house. But as things go on she starts to get a little worried. She doesn’t blame Miss Lark. She actually likes her very much. She thinks it is up to Jack to make it clear she is just infatuated and that he doesn’t return her affections. But Jack is too involved with the golf end of things to notice.

Then one day Dorothy spends the day with a friend, which leaves Miss Lark with free time. Jack talks her into going out to the course and helping him with his approach shots again. Jane watches them for awhile from a window while writing some letters. Eventually she sees them go over a slight mound and behind a hedge. And they don’t come out. After a little bit she decides to go look for them. She feels like a sneak, but tells herself she is doing it to save Miss Lark from embarrassing herself. When she gets to the hedge she hears Jack suggesting to Miss Lark that they should do something besides playing golf. Miss Lark protests, saying that she could never betray Jane like that, she has been so kind to her. Jack says IF Jane finds out, he will ‘square it with her’.  At which point Jane pushes through the hedge, surprising them. She tells Miss Lark to go back to the house. Miss Lark bursts into tears and says how sorry she is, and how she would never do anything to hurt Jane, and heads off. Jane is not really mad at Miss Lark, but she is furious with Jack.

Jack does not help himself by telling her things really aren’t as bad as they seem, if she would just look at it from a mans point of view, because men and woman are different.  ( Hoooo Boy. I’m thinking that doesn’t go over so hot, even in the 1890’s. )  Jane accuses him of breaking his marriage vows, and that she would appreciate it if he wouldn’t insult her with the whole ‘men are different’ line. Jack says he is very sorry and only cares for her and she is the only woman in the world he really loves. Jane says she has been a fool to trust him. At which point Jack once again doesn’t help himself by saying that, as a man, it’s very hard to be indifferent to a young girl who has a crush on you. Jane says he has sunk to a new low by blaming what happened on Miss Lark. Jane tells him that she no longer trusts him, and wonders how many other women have ‘lain in your arms and been kissed by your lips.’ She says they’ll have to continue to live together, for the children, but she doesn’t think she can love him any more. Jack tells her she is over reacting. That lots of women don’t mind if their husbands happen to give a pretty girl a kiss. ( Boy, he just keeps digging himself deeper, doesn’t he? ) Jane says she is not ‘lots of women’. Then she says she is going back to the house, which used to be her home. If Jack would rather she now moves out, she will find somewhere else to live. And she marches off, leaving Jack standing there.

Jane shuts herself in her bedroom. Jack tries to talk to her but she tells him the least he could do under the circumstances is quit bothering her. A little while later he comes back to the door and says he won’t trouble her any more, he is going to London and won’t come back until he hears from her. And he asks her not to be to hard on Miss Lark since it really was his fault. He tells her he loves her and hopes that some days she will let him hold her again. Then he walks off down the hall. Jane waits a bit and then opens the door to call him back, but then she sees him and Sandy heading off for the station-with the golf clubs. She reminds herself that Jack hates a scene and disharmony on the domestic front. All he is doing by going to London is replacing her with golf and avoiding unpleasantness at home. He isn’t going to avoid causing her trouble at all. So she watches him leave and ‘good riddance’. 

****

Goodness. All is certainly not well at the Calthorpes. And I don’t really think the present circumstances can be blamed entirely on golf. I mean, a young governess with a crush on you is a young governess with a crush on you, whether she plays golf or not. Golf just gives you a reason to kiss her behind the hedge, instead of behind a closed door. Will Jane ever call Jack home? What will become of Miss Lark?  And does Mrs. Marshall really like golf, or is she just looking for a way to get Jack behind a hedge? The answers to these questions and more, in the next installment of The Sorrows of A Golfers Wife.

Not A Golfer

The LPGA has picked their new commissioner. And they didn’t listen to Jigger. His name is Michael Whan, and he is a marketing guy. He is slightly more qualified than Carolyn Bivens, in that he actually plays golf, and has done so since he was a kid. He has also worked for TaylorMade and Wilson Sporting Goods. So he has a modicum of experience in the world of sports. Whether or not this will help him as commissioner remains to be seen. The first thing he did as commissioner was fly to a meeting of tournament sponsors and hand out his cell phone number and e-mail. Which impressed the sponsors, since one of the big complaints about Bivens was her total unresponsiveness to sponsors.

Here is Ron Sirak on the selection. And here is Jim McCabe from GolfWeek.

Right now it seems that everyone is cautiously optimistic. I dunno. I tend to agree with Jigger. And it’s not like they didn’t have some Golfers to choose from. But here’s hoping Jigger and I are wrong and he turns out to be the best thing to hit the LPGA since Annika.

A View From The Back Door

Yeah. So. There won't be any golf around here for awhile.

An App For That

We are what is referred to as ‘early adapters’ here at The Household. This means that when a new gadget comes out that in any way relates to something in our lives, we have to have it. So when the first rangefinders came out The Golfer was all over them. After a certain amount of research he settled on one, and used it quite happily for years.

In order to use this particular rangefinder a course must be ‘mapped’. This means that some person has walked the entire course, picked certain attributes of each hole as markers ( like maybe a particular sand trap, or a tree, or the edge of a water hazard etc. And of course each tee box and the front, center and back of the green.) and plugged in the coordinates of said markers. Then GPS is used to figure the yardage between all the markers, which can give you the yardage from various points on the fairway to the green. When you are playing you bring up the hole on the rangefinder and you can see the yardage from where you are to all of the markers. You don’t get any kind of picture of the hole. It’s just a round green circle representing the green, with all the markers between the tee and green labeled ( tree on left, hazard on right, second sand trap on right, etc. ). If you happen to want to hit the ball and land someplace not by a marker ( like maybe you want to lay up ) you have to estimate the yardage, based on the yardage to the closest marker.

Over the years a great many of the worlds courses have been mapped. If you happen to play a course that has not been mapped you are more then welcome to do the mapping yourself. Which can take 6-8 hours, since you have to walk the course and pick out markers and type in coordinates. Not something you will do for a course unless you will be playing it a lot. In order to get access to the course maps you pay a yearly subscription fee. One price will get you all the courses in your state. A slightly higher price will get you all the courses in the US. An even higher fee will get you courses all over the world. The only caveat being that, no matter which subscription you choose, you can only have 10 courses on the rangefinder at any one time.

In spite of the flat picture maps, and the being SOL if you happened to play a course that wasn’t mapped, overall The Golfer was very happy with his rangefinder. It was the best thing available. Then he got an iPhone. Since there is an app for everything on an iPhone, there are of course, several rangefinder apps. He bought one for $10. No yearly subscription. Just a one time charge of $10 ( The soundness of the business plan for this particular app is a matter of some speculation here at The Household. But for now it’s available, so The Golfer bought it. ). It operates on much the same principle as the rangefinder. People have mapped courses and you can download any map you want. There are a couple of key differences however. You can download as many maps as your iPhone can hold. And when you download a map what you actually get is Google Maps pictures of each hole on the course. Not only do you get the yardage, but you can see every sand trap, every hidden pot bunker, and how maybe it’s better to miss right because that way lies another fairway, but left is a large patch of nasty rough. And as for the yardage, you can get it from any point on the hole to any other point on the hole. So if you hit your tee shot, and then are wondering if perhaps your second shot should be a lay up, you can get the yardage from where you are to the green, where you are to where you would lay up, and the yardage from where your lay up shot will land ( you hope ) to the green, and make a decision as to whether to lay up, or to go for the green. Quite an improvement on the previous range finder.

The number of available course maps with this app is actually pretty tiny. But more are constantly being added, and adding a new course is easy. There is a nifty web interface. Basically you have it do a Google Maps search for the course, then click on the tee box and the green for hole, and Google maps uses it’s GPS to pull up all the images it takes to get a complete picture of the hole. Do that for every hole, and voila, mapped course from the comfort of your home. The Golfer went on an out of town golfing trip with the guys a couple weeks ago, and it took him just 10 minutes to map the course they were playing, from his hotel room.

The one downside to this rangefinder app is that, to fully utilize all it’s awsomeness, the iPhone has to use it’s GPS constantly, which runs down the battery. Totally drains it in a little over 2 hours. Which really only gets you through the first 9. The Golfer solved this little problem by purchasing an auxiliary battery pack for his iPhone. Which meant he also had to buy a bigger holster. One that was made to hold an iPhone with the auxiliary battery pack attached. The extra battery pack lasts through an entire round, so when he’s done he still has a fully charged phone. At $10 for the app, $80 for the battery and $30 for the new holster, The Golfer figures it’s a bargain. Even if this particular app eventually disappears, there are others, and new ones show up everyday. And if he does end up paying a subscription fee at some point ( because one of these app developers not only writes the app, but comes up with a viable long term business plan ), better a subscription for a Google Maps version of the course, with the ability to add new ones in minutes, than the flat, markers only, maps his old rangefinder provided, and no way to add a new course on the fly. 

It is the opinion of us cool headed business types here in The Household that the current rangefinders are not long for this world, at least in their current form. In order to survive they will need to, at the very least be able to provide yardage from any point on a hole to any other, and an easy way to add new courses. And if they do that they are basically the same as the iPhone apps. And since you already have the iPhone, why exactly would you buy the rangefinder?

Rules

The yearly women’s leave-the-husbands-and-kids-at-home-and-go-somewhere-fun-and-eat-and-drink-and-shop trip was this past week, so I was without a computer. And even if I had brought it along I certainly had better things to drin.. uh, do than pay attention to golf. So this morning I logged on for the first time in days to see what exciting things I had missed. And you know what? I hadn’t missed a darn thing. This is the slow season. Actually it’s referred to as the ‘silly season’.  Really just not that much going on. The majors are all ancient history, the FedEx Cup has come and gone. And the Presidents Cup ( or the Ryder Cup, depending ) is over. As is the Solheim Cup, in the years when it is played. There are still tournaments, on both tours. But the name players have all gone home for the winter. The people playing are the ones trying to earn enough to keep their tour card for next year.

So, since there is nothing worth mentioning going on with the tours, lets talk rules. Not golf rules, cc rules. As I mentioned awhile back, we belong to a country club. Country clubs have a LOT of rules. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. There aren’t many places where you take offspring these days that have a rigid set of rules, that are enforced. I don’t think it harms their psycies at all to have to actually dress appropriately and behave themselves. And they seem to have managed to adapt, as we haven’t been thrown out yet.

Anyway. CC rules come in sets. There are the pool rules, the Upper clubhouse rules, the Lower clubhouse rules, course rules, etc. Recently, in Golf Digest, Jerry Tarde commented on course rules.

Rule #1 is not an actual rule at our cc. As in it’s not actually printed in black and white in the membership book. It is generally seen as BAD FORM to throw a club, but it’s certainly done. As in the recent club-up-in-the-L********’s-tree incident. And I’m sure when they drag the ponds they find a large number of clubs among the rest of the muck they pull up. And you all know what happens to The Offspring if they throw a club. But while it certainly isn’t condoned, there is no actual rule against it.

Rule #2 is also not a rule at our cc. Drive through the parking lot on any sunny day and you will see people changing their shoes.

Rule #3 is an ABSOLUTE at our cc. Along with collared shirts which are TUCKED IN. The rule used to be no denim of ANY kind was allowed anywhere on club grounds. There was some mumbling and grumbling about this a few years ago so they took a survey on general attitudes towards denim, and the up shot of that was a rule change. Denim is allowed in the Lower clubhouse ONLY. Meaning in the grill, bar, and casual dining room. But while nice denim pants, skirts, dresses, shirts etc. may be allowed, washed out, ripped up jeans are not. And denim is still not allowed in the Upper clubhouse, and don’t even THINK about wearing it out on the course. Not even pants of the 5 pocket design that aren’t made out of denim are allowed. We may let you eat some lunch wearing a pair of Levi’s, but we’ll be damned if we’ll even let you on the practice green in them. Which is actually fine with me. As I said, it doesn’t hurt anyone to have a little enforced decorum in some part of their lives.

Rule #4 is not a rule at our cc. But normal rules of etiquette pretty much apply. When you enter the room, remove your hat. That said, walk into the bar/grill at any time on a Saturday afternoon and half the people will be wearing hats.

Rule #5 is also not a rule at our cc. But once again, normal politeness and golf etiquette applies. You don’t make noise when someone is about to strike the ball. A cell phone going off definitely qualifies as noise. So while most players have their cell phone on them, they are set to silent. Mr. Tarde argues that the younger generation thinks of the cell phone as an appendage, and that banning it risks alienating whole generations of golfers. Mr. Tarde should hang out at our course. He would see that even the ‘older’ generations will give up their cell phones only when you pry it from their cold dead hands. I don’t foresee a rule banning cell phones on the course anywhere in our future.

And about the swearing, also no rule against that. Thank goodness. Not that I ever….well, okay, yes I do. Not a lot. Really. But sometimes….when the 4th putt, that was only 6 inches, lips out….well. If there was a rule I’d be in big trouble.

Golf and the Olympics...again

We had a dusting of snow today here in The Wild West. And the high was somewhere around 30. The baseball powers that be decided that was reason enough to postpone the Rockies/Phillies game scheduled for tonight. So instead of sitting at the ballpark freezing my a** off, I am sitting at home watching the Avs play the Blackhawks.

As long as I am sitting here I figured I may as well weigh in on the recent IOC decision to include golf in the 1916 Olympics.

This is what I had to say about it last year, during the Summer Olympics in Bejing. At the end I said:

So the golf-in-the-Olympics discussion around here usually consists of:
   
‘Lets hope they never manage to add golf to the Olympics’.

‘Yeah’.


So much for that.
  
My opinion hasn’t changed any. I still think it’s a silly idea. I imagine that a lot of the pros will play in 2016, just to show support, and for the novelty. But after that? I doubt you will see the worlds top players in the Olympics.

The over all reaction of the golfing world has been luke warm. The players have dutifully said how wonderful it is, but they aren’t exactly brimming with enthusiasm. Although I will admit, you can’t expect them to be too excited about something that is 7 years away. Half of them may be at least semi-retired by then.

Regardless of the players reactions, the rest of us still think pretty much what we did before. See here and here.

The only person who seems to think it’s a good idea is Ron Sirak. And I have to say, for all the reasons I mentioned before, I think he is being very optimistic on how much being in the Olympics will contribute to the growth of golf. With 27 other sports being contested at the same time, most of which aren’t played regularly, on television, by professionals, how much time will people really spend watching the golf?

In any case, it’s 7 years away, and a lot can happen in 7 years.

Meanwhile there are baseball playoffs and hockey games.

The Presidents Cup

This week is The Presidents Cup. I could just link to my Ryder Cup post and say ‘read this and just substitute Presidents Cup everywhere it says Ryder Cup’. But that’s not quite right.  As mentioned back in that post, the Ryder Cup is a team competition between a team made up of players from the US and a team made up of players from Europe, which was started back in 1927. It has a long and storied history, and lots of Tradition. And if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, Golf is nothing if not Tradition. And for decades this was fine, because 99.5% of professional golfers were either from the US or Europe. But golf was not immune from globalization. The game made inroads in other parts of the world, and people outside of the US and Europe became infected with the fever. Most notably people in South Africa and Australia. But if you look at the list of current PGA players you will see players from Japan, Korea, Argentina, Columbia, and Fiji, just to name a few. Which meant that every other year, while European and US players played the Ryder Cup, some of the best golfers in the world could only sit on the sidelines and watch.

In order to rectify this situation and, lets be honest here, in order to keep the TV revenue flowing in the off years when there wasn’t a Ryder Cup, in 1994 the PGA created The Presidents Cup. The format of which is the same as the Ryder Cup, but the two teams consist of the US and ‘the rest of the world except for Europe’.

The Presidents Cup is a good match play tournament, and it is great golf. But it’s not the Ryder Cup. To see how the golfing world feels about it all you have to do is look at the press coverage. Ryder Cup points are tabulated and re-tabulated and there is speculation for months before hand about the captain’s picks. And once the teams are known the possible match ups are discussed endlessly. There are months of articles leading up to it, and non-stop speculation as to the outcome of various matches. It is all the golfing world talks about for weeks leading up to the actual tournament.

For this years Presidents Cup the big stories are the fact that there was a fertilizer mishap on some of the greens at Harding Park ( the course where this Presidents Cup will be played ) and they got burned pretty bad, and would they be ready for play, and the fact that 2 weeks before the tournament the ‘rest of the world’ team captain Greg Norman announced that he and his wife of just 15 months, tennis star Chris Evert, were separated. Which was a bit of a shock since they had both left their previous spouses to marry each other. Even the staid world of golf has it’s little soap operas.

Anyway. Players do consider it an honor to be on the Presidents Cup team and, since the teams do consist of the worlds best players, it is, as I said, great golf. It’s main problem is that it just hasn’t been around long enough. In golf 15 years is not nearly long enough to have established Tradition. And without Tradition, it’s just another tournament. Give it another 50 years or so and it will have acquired enough Tradition that people will have totally forgotten it was originally created to grab TV revenue.

Meanwhile, here are the basic facts for this year, including team members, format, and TV times and stations. We will be watching it here in The Household. Well. Except for on Thursday and Saturday ( and hopefully on Sunday ) when it conflicts with Rockies playoff games. Playoffs over Presidents Cup any day.

Distractions

Believe it or not there are times when it’s not golf 24x7 around here. These past couple weeks it’s only been golf about 12x7. Lots of other things going on.

To start with there was the weather. We have absolutely beautiful falls out here in The Wild West, but every year, just as fall is starting, Mother Nature whaps us upside the head with a couple of days of cold wet weather, just to remind us what’s coming later. She did said whapping last week. Which was the signal to pick everything from the garden, clean up the flowerbeds, check the size and wearability of all coats/gloves/boots/ski-and-snowboard-gear and replace if needed, get out all the corduroy/jeans/long-sleeved-shirts/sweaters, and make sure every car has a scraper.

Then there are the Rockies ( the baseball team ). They were in a race for the NL wild card spot, which they finally managed to clinch today, but we were chewing fingernails for a week or so there. And there is even a chance ( somewhat slim since their remaining games are against the Dodgers  ) they might win their division. In any case there will be baseball around here well into October. Which means more nights at the ballpark instead of blogging.

And there are the actual Rockies. As in the mountains. The Aspen are turning, which requires the yearly trip to take in the green and gold hillsides ( notice please flatlanders…they are referred to as hillsides, not mountainsides. You ski down a mountainside, but you look at Aspen on hillsides. Don’t ask me why. That’s just the way things roll.).

There has been some golf. The cc had it’s yearly version of the Ryder Cup. The Golfer was the captain of Team USA this year. They were victorious over Team Europe. Which means he automatically qualifies for next years tournament, so he was happy.

Tonight the Avalanche start their season, which means we will now be adding hockey games to the mix. Tonight they are honoring Joe Sakic and retiring his number. Very bitter sweet. The Avs have never started a season without Super Joe. This is a ‘rebuilding’ year, so great things are not expected. But hopefully they can at least win this home opener for Joe.

The Presidents Cup is next week. And the weather is supposed to stay up in the 70’s. So I’m sure we will be back to golf around 20x7. At least until the first baseball playoff game.

I surf so you don't have to

Another linky post. Things found whilst wandering the web.

READ THIS. 

Seriously. I link to lots of things, and I would imagine that, in spite of the fact that if I link to it you KNOW it has to be good, you don't always click through. But I am telling you. Click. Even if you have never done it before, and you never plan on doing it again, click. 

You all know about my crush on Mr. Feherty. I also hold the man in extremely high esteem. His Troops First Foundation being one of several reasons. And for what he did here I will give Tiger a pass on a whole season of thrown clubs. And you know how I feel about throwing clubs. 

*****

In my continuing effort to keep you abreast of the next generation, I give you Charlie Reiter. Any kid who plays in plus-fours is destined to go far. 

*****

And last. The heck with the 'no two countries with McDonalds will ever go to war with each other' theory. What really matters is 'do they play golf'? Helping to solve the worlds geopolitical problems. Golf, is there anything it can't do? 

Checking in with the Pros

It’s been awhile since we’ve checked in with the goings on, on the pro tours. Here is an attempt to get you up to date, with lots of linky goodness( which means it’s a good work time waster post. Just sayin. )

Ladies first.

Since the Solheim Cup the women have had 4 tournaments.

1. The Safeway Classic. Which was won by M.J. Hur. I admit, until she won I had never heard of her either. If you are interested here is her bio.

2. The Canadian Open. Which was won by Suzann Petterson

3. P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. That’s a mouthful hunh? This was won by Jiyai Shin. Ms. Shin is on track to win both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. The first time any one has done that since Nancy Lopez in 1978. Here is a very nice write up on her by Stina Stenberg at Golf Digest.

4. The Samsung World Championship. This is an invite only event, which only had 16 competitors this year. It was won by Na Yeon Choi.

And while things are looking better for the LPGA since they removed Carolyn Bivens, they aren’t out of the woods yet. But it’s not for lack of a quality product and fan support. Here is a good write up on the state of things.

Next up for the Ladies is the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge in Danville, CA.

And now the men.

The men have been in the throes of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Here is what Jigger had to say about the FedEx Cup. Here is what I had to say about the FedEx Cup. Since it was pretty much a dud last year, as predicted the awarding of points underwent yet another revision for this year. Here is a nice explanation of how points were awarded this year. And here is an explanation of the whole ‘reset’ thingy.

Got all that?

The first playoff tournament was The Barclays, which Heath Slocum won. The second playoff tournament was the Deutche Bank Championship, won by Steve Stricker. The third playoff tournament was the BMW Championship, which Tiger won. So at the end of 3 here are the current standings. If you go to this page and look there where it says 2009 Playoffs and has a picture of Tiger holding a trophy, you will see wrap-ups of the 3 tournaments. If you are interested these wrap-ups give a nice summary of moved-up, moved-down, and was-eliminated.

Here at The Household we are still reserving judgment on this whole Playoffs thing. As has been noted before, we watch a lot of sports here at the household, which means we watch a lot of playoffs. And we have been watching golf for years. And we have never felt golf needed playoffs. But we could be wrong. We’ll see.

Anyway. Here is Jeff Rude on the FedEx Cup. And here is a write up from The New York Times.

This week is the final tournament, THE TOUR Championship ( and yes, for some reason THE TOUR is all caps ), which will be played at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

And now, if you followed all those links, you should be fully caught up with both tours, and have wasted at least ½ hour besides. A quick check on the EPSN and People web sites, and it will be time to go home.