Spending More Time in the Sand Than David Hasselhoff

Ran across an truly outstanding post about Phil Mickelson today by Ben Alberstadt at The Sand Trap. By definition, an outstanding post is one that agrees 100% with me, and a truly outstanding post not only agrees with me, but goes against conventional wisdom.

Philly Mick

For those of you too busy to follow the link and read the article, here are my personal highlights from it:

“I am tired of the Mickelson family swarming the green, the visor, the haircut, the style of play, and the unnecessarily small shirt. I don’t respect the way in which he sold out Titleist right before a Ryder Cup or his apparent lack of a killer instinct.”

“Phil Mickelson has been blessed with incredible natural abilities which, if filtered through a sieve of prudent course management, would not be so routinely wasted. In a real way, I think he has an obligation to do so rather than simply “having fun” on the golf course (or at the casino, another favorite Mickelson institution).”

“Phil seems to not only enjoy, but in some sense need, the adoration of the masses. “He’s just like us,” Phil fans cheer. Why is this, because he’s overweight and likes blondes? Phil is nothing like you, unless you’re raking in about $62M this year, wear $2,000 belts, and sport a Rolex on the golf course (actually, if you wear any watch on the golf course, please tell me why for, truly, I am mystified by this practice).”

Well done!

Tags: PGA Tour by
No Comments »

Sunday afternoon was turning into a great day on the PGA Tour from my viewpoint.  In the midst of the final round at Riviera, Philly Mick was choking like a dog (I am not a big Phil phan), and the tour’s number one Cheesehead, Steve Stricker had roared into the lead on the wave of a great round.

Then, Stevie left a birdie at 17 two inches short.

Phil found his mojo and began pounding his dastardly driver and 3 wood off the tee – into the middle of the fairway (previously unknown territory for the Philmeister).

And Steve pulled a drive on 18, put his approach short right, chipped up – and missed the putt for par.

Phil still had a chance to choke, but hit two clutch putts on 17 and 18 to hang on to the win.

Life changes so fast, you know?

My only hope is that Phil loses 9 and 8 in the first round of the match play tomorrow. Or, even better, he gets to the semis, meets Tiger, and can’t show up to the first tee due to a severe case of the Shakes, also known as Tiger Scratch Fever.

Tags: PGA Tour by
No Comments »

So Tiger is coming back. As much as I love the idea of seeing the Striped One prowling the fairways again – without wincing in pain – I’m concerned.

The hype tidal wave is building.

I just don’t want the breathless excitement of the Kelly Tilghmans of the world, let alone the non-Kelly Tilghmans, every minute of every day, anxiously awaiting Tiger’s first swing. The over-analysis of every move, starting days before he even hits a shot in competition  (is he limping in that practice round?; he looks great in red, doesn’t he?; is he thinking of his new baby?; oh no, not a sidehill lie with that bad knee;  etc. etc. . . . add my nauseum).

He’s back. That is great. The Tour is better for it. And the directors of the Match Play in Tucson have to be ecstatic, and justifiably so. But for the rest of us – we knew he was coming back, right? I mean, your basic knee surgery doesn’t often lead to death or loss of leg, in most orthopaedist’s hands anyway. So let’s pretend like we’re mature adults and accept it for what it is – the return of a great athlete to the sport he and we love. Avoid the overblown, please. Remember, the millions of people without jobs probably aren’t that excited about Tiger right now, nor are the folks (barely) working for GM – or Saab, or Ford or . . .

Thinking of Tiger?

Settle, people.

Tags: PGA Tour, Tiger Woods by
No Comments »

This just in – Tiger is back in competition and, best news of all, winning again!

Unfortunately for golf fans, it isn’t on the Tour. It is at the Westminster Dog Show. A Scottish deerhound, Ch. Gayleward’s Tiger Woods dominated the  Hound Group last night at Westminster and is on to the Best in Show competition.

Any bets on how he does? I mean, according to reports, this young hound has 4 stress fractures, two torn ACL’s – and a world of pride and competitive spirit. Not to mention the stunningly attractive Brussels griffon he has been associating with at all of New York’s finest places to be seen.

This cat is a winner!

Tiger Woods - the other

Tags: PGA, PGA Tour, Tiger Woods by
No Comments »

Very good article on Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness journal on why there are fewer golf blogs than in other sports, written by Jon Show. Couple of interesting points:

There is less controversy in golf, unlike in team sports where crazed Packer fans (for example) wanted the heads of the entire defensive coaching staff after the Pack’s miserable performance on D the second half of 2008. Who are you going to fire in golf – the caddy? You can see the absolute biggest that can get when Steve Williams, Tiger’s bagman, made his inappropriate comments about Lefty earlier this year.

Lack of passion. The so-called “motor” for online sports blogging and activity is passion about a sport and golf is, at best, quietly passionate. I think in this case that the word “passion” isn’t used correctly. It should be “psychotic” in reference to some of the talk radio and blogging goofballs who populate MLB, NBA, and NFL fandom. Bloggers need to be crazy to attract big audiences. Those of us who write about golf maybe don’t care so much about the big audience – or we’d write about NASCAR.

Interesting to me, as a blogger. I get the arguments, but if there are blogs about every topic under the sun (politics being a prime example, the history of economic theory being another – yes, I’ve listened to a podcast and seen a blog about that), shouldn’t there be several about a topic like golf, that people really enjoy?

Tags: Golf Business, Uncategorized by
No Comments »

I got a club fitting at GolfTec last weekend and have tried to find some clubs to fit the fitting, as it were.

Found out my clubs are: too whippy, too long, too wrong. I hit best some Project X 5.5 Rifle shafted irons, which are cool looking shafts. I was originally thinking of some Mizuno MP 57’s but am leaning toward a set of Callaway X forged on Ebay for a substantial discount – I am cheap, after all.

My driver shaft was good for me, according to the pro, but the head was wrong. I found last year’s model Titleist D2 on ebay (again, I am cheap) and might have discovered a matching 3 wood from Titleist with the same shaft.

Now, what magic will happen next? Champions Tour, per chance?

Tags: Equipment by
No Comments »

My golf fitness business, Cutting Edge Golf Fitness, has had a few cool developments lately.

First, I’ve got my three junior golf customers running. I was at a tournament with my son last weekend and the three of them were talking with me on the putting green before their rounds about the exercises they were doing, what was tough for them, and how they liked the workouts. Good feedback for me.

Second, Cutting Edge will be sponsoring a junior tournament this month. The Tarheel Golf Foundation has given me a “presenting” status for their next junior tournament at Finley GC in Chapel Hill. The official name is the Tarheel Golf Classic presented by Cutting Edge Golf Fitness. I’ll hang around before the players start their rounds, do some simple physical evals, and talk up the program with the kids and their parents. The Tarheel Golf Foundation’s founders, Eric Murray and Bob Gerard, have been tremendous supporters of my business and I am very, very grateful. I’ve also enlisted the help of the original, one and only Claydog, Clay Garland, to help out. Another TPI certified golf fitness instructor and PGA pro, Clay is a good friend and will be great to have around at the tournament and to help out with kids who need evals and workouts.

Finally, I got a hit from our website from a local courses’ director of junior instruction about helping with their club’s juniors’ fitness. We’re going to talk about setting up some type of program.

All this is exciting stuff. Let alone the fact that my offiicially logoed golf bag, hat and shirt are on their way. I’ll give you a sneak peek when they hit the door.

Tags: Fitness by
No Comments »