The Golfer's Wife

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.

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. 

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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. 

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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? 

Many Happy Returns of the Day

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Arrrrnnnnold
Happy Birthday to you

And many moooorre.

Today (September 10th) is Arnold Palmer's 80th birthday. There are Golfers, and then there is Arnie. Much has been written, and I’m sure much more will be. It is hard to overstate Arnie’s impact on the game. So take a moment today and lift an Arnold Palmer to The King.

Numbers

Some person with too much time on their hands did the math, and determined that, for the 2008 season, Tiger Woods earned $100,000 for every 11.2 holes he played. Which works out to $2300 each time he swung the club. And remember, he missed most of the 2008 season with that little knee problem. I would imagine the numbers will be considerably higher this year.

And now for some numbers that us mere mortals can relate to. A Swedish study found that the death rate for golfers, both men and women, aged 40-79, was 40% lower than for other people of the same age, sex and socioeconomic status.

Golf is a low-intensity form of exercise that people can participate in well into old age. Of course to get maximum benefit you should ditch the cart and carry your bag. But even riding, teeing off on a regular basis can add 5 years to your life.

So to all of you who have been sitting around saying 'Someday I'll take up golf. When I have the time', this just blew that excuse out of the water. Turns out you'll actually have more time ( you know, in the long run ) the sooner you get out there and play a round.

It's science people, and you can't argue with science. Facts are facts. And the fact is that someday all old people will play golf, because all us golfers will outlive the rest of you and we'll be the only old people left. Well into our 90's and still cursing the thick rough and looking for the beer wench*.

* Most courses have a roaming food cart that is driven around the course during the day. When it happens to end up at the hole they are at, players can purchase anything from water, pretzels and beer, to fancy wraps and cocktails, depending on the course. But regardless of the toniness of the course and the contents of the food cart, it is ALWAYS driven by  a 'cute young thing'. I don't know what they refer to this as in your neck of the woods, but out here in The Wild West it is invariably referred to as The Beer Wench. Totally not PC I know. If it bothers you don't buy anything from her. Personally I never let a little political incorrectness stand between me and a cocktail for the back 9.

Update

Because I know you are interested, even though you may not have been following him as closely as we have been here at The Household, here is a Zach Olsen update.

Zach finished 12th at the Junior PGA. He is now the 99th ranked junior in the US, and ranked 3rd in his class. He is ranked 69th on the Junior Scoreboard. His father has been told he is on the watch list for the 2010 and 2012 Jr. Ryder Cup.

Oh, and he has received his first ( of what I’m sure will be many ) college recruitment letter. From Oklahoma State.

The Calendar...again

First I found it funny. Then I was slightly miffed. This time I am just shaking my head.

Here are two recent entries.

Seriously?

First off I’m thinking that if a golf course butts up next to a graveyard with a fence around it, the graveyard is definitely out of bounds. So while it may be nice not to loose your ball, it’s not like you can play it from where it landed. Perhaps the sensible thing to do in this situation is just leave the ball there and take your drop. Hmmm?  Maybe the fence is there for a reason. Like people don’t want golfers traipsing all over their loved ones. It may not be exactly sacred ground, but if they didn’t mind golfers making divots next to grave stones they wouldn’t have put up the fence.

But graveyard, backyard, open space, whatever it’s around, lets talk about the fence. You ‘climb’ a fence. You do not scale a fence. Who the heck scales a fence? I spent a lot of time with fences in my youth. I climbed them every day, and used to walk along them to get between yards. I mean why take the sidewalk when you can take the fence? We all used the fences. And we all ‘climbed’ the fences. No kid I knew ever ‘scaled’ a fence.

Even worse though, climb it or scale it, you need INSTRUCTIONS? I admit to being a bit of a tom-boy, but even the girls who spent their days in dresses playing with dolls could climb a stupid fence. All types. Chain link, slated, 6 foot privacy. We had them all in my neighborhood, and we climbed them all. Gates were a waste of time.

So once again I must wonder about the editor of this calendar. What kind of a childhood did he ( and I think we firmly established in the previous calendar post that it must be a he ) have that he felt the need for an entire calendar day of instructions on how to climb a fence? Were there no fences where he lived? Did he grow up in an apartment in downtown Manhattan or something? Even there, aren’t there fences around things? What kid in their right mind sees a fence and says ‘Oh, better not climb that. Obviously they are trying to keep me out.’? Or maybe he was one of those kids whose mom kept him inside practicing his violin while the rest of us were busy climbing the fences to see what they were trying to keep us away from. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

So let us take away two things from these two days. First of all, if your ball lands in a graveyard behind a fence, have the common courtesy to just let it lie.

Second of all, if you ever see a kid staring at a fence, help him climb it. Don’t let him grow into an adult who needs instructions on how to get to the interesting stuff on the other side.

Short Putts

So while most of the golf world was watching Tiger win yet again this weekend, the women played the Woman’s British Open. It was won by a 39 year old Scot named Catriona Matthew. Who happens to be a new mother. As in she gave birth to her second daughter 11 weeks ago. Let’s see Tiger do THAT, then win a major. 

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This years Solheim Cup team has been chosen. It will be played Aug 21-23 at Sugar Grove, Ill.

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After writing this post, I can only shake my head and worry at this story. And generally agree with the title here at ForePlay. I hope someone is watching out for this kid. Someone who will take him out for ice cream when he needs it.

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Do you ever click on the Golf Course of Rhymes link over there on the right hand side?  You should. It’s a very interesting golf blog. I particularly liked this poem and agree whole heartedly with the sentiments expressed in the last stanza.

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This made everyone here at the household laugh out loud this weekend. We cut it out and it has a position of prominence on the fridge. So much power I have. The power to decide which dreams to grant and which to squash. Bwaaahaaahaaahaaa( she laughed evilly, rubbing her hands together).  ( Although having spent 6 months backpacking around Europe myself, that is one dream I would definitely grant. )

Skeet Shoot

Your sense of humor may have to be at a somewhat less then lofty level for you to think this is funny. I'm not to proud to say that mine is several levels below what is necessary. I LOL'd.

The Kids

I know that general golf attention is directed elsewhere at the moment. And people are marveling over the fact that the Golf Gods didn’t cause the surface of the earth to split and swallow Turnberry whole when Tiger didn’t make the cut. But I’d like to bring your attention back to the future for a moment.

The World Junior Golf Championships finished up yesterday in and around San Diego. Here is the web site. Go check out the scores.

More importantly, scroll through the player lists and check out the names and countries. It truly is a World championship.

Somewhere in all those names are the ones that will be on top of leaderboards around the world in the next 10 years or so. See if there’s a kid on those lists that lives somewhere near you. Go watch them in a junior tournament. Who knows. Someday that kid might be raising a trophy at the end of an Open and you can say ‘I saw them when they were 13. I knew they’d be a winner even back then’.

I am offended

As mentioned previously, with the Goolie Emergency, I have a day-by-day calendar which provides me with various golf trivia and helpful hints. Here is yesterday’s page:

You may find this mildly helpful. I find it mildly offensive.

It is July 7th. We are more than halfway through the year. The calendar has been just full of helpful advice. How to survive a bird attack. How to stop a fire you started when your cigar ash fell in dry rough. What to do if you run into a rabid animal on the course. How to treat a sprained ankle, and how to get a fellow player who has said sprained ankle back to the clubhouse if you were walking. How to start a stalled golf cart. Even what to do if you are on the course and a tornado is headed your way.

In all of these cases you and your fellow player/s are mentioned and in all of these cases the fellow players were referred to with ‘he’ and ‘his’.

Do you see the issue now?

If you are in a ‘situation’ on a golf course where, with a little helpful advice, you and your fellow players can get yourself out of a jam, the assumption is the players are all male.

But when it comes to cheating, all of a sudden your fellow player is referred to with ‘she’ and ‘her’.

To be fair, 80% ( maybe more ) of all golfers out there are male. And I certainly can’t have a Goolie Emergency. So I didn’t really mind that up until now the calendar has been very male centric. But why the sudden shift in genders when it comes to cheating? Cheaters come in both sexes, but statistically speaking there are far more male cheaters than female cheaters in the game of golf. So why not just continue with the overall male bias of the entries? Why is the cheater all of the sudden female? Hmmmm?

Somewhere there is a male who edited this calendar and let this go by without a second thought. He is lucky I don’t know who he is, or he might find himself having a little Goolie Emergency of his own.