Allen Stanford Convicted In Ponzi Scheme Case
/The financier and one-time sponsor of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events was convicted on 13 out of 14 counts on a worldwide fraud scheme that lasted involved more than $7 billion in
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
"Golfer sues over handicap adjustment"
/Thanks to Lawrence Donegan for re-Tweeting Mark O'Regan's Independent story on "Irish pensioner" Thomas Talbot's multi-million dollar suit against the Hermitage Golf Club, which reduced his handicap by 7.8 shots between 1999 and 2004.
Read MoreThrowing Coach Equates Tebow Analysis To Golfing Peanut Gallery
/Our old friend Peter Yoon, former LA Times sometimes-golf writer and crack reporter for ESPNLosAngeles.com must have grinned when hearing Tim Tebow tutor and new UCLA Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone spin the obsession with the Bronco quarterback's unorthodox throwing style.
Read More"Golf's Strangest And Most Obscure Trophies"
/Thanks to reader Brian for Fraser Wilson's compilation of golf's strangest and most obscure trophies. Kind of makes you appreciate the big bucks the PGA Tour spends with Tiffany to create super-cool and classy trophies.
Read More"Play a game that you want to play."
/Dear Younger Me :
I can’t play golf anymore. I tried to swing the club the other day, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. The best I can do now is sometimes take walks on the course, but my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be so I don’t see much. I have a lot of time to sit and think now, and I often think about the game.
It was my favorite game. I played most of my adult life. Thousands of rounds, thousands of hours practicing. As I look back, I guess I had a pretty good time at it. But now that I can’t do it anymore, I wish I had done it differently.
It’s funny, but with all the time I spent playing golf, I never thought I was a real golfer. I never felt good enough to really belong out there. It doesn’t make much sense, since I scored better than average and a lot of people envied my game, but I always felt that if I was just a little better or a little more consistent, then I’d feel really good. I’d be satisfied with my game. But I never was. It was always “One of these days I’ll get it” or “One day I’ll get there” and now here I am. I can’t play anymore, and I never got there.
I met a whole lot of different people out on the course. That was one of the best things about the game. But aside from my regular partners and a few others, I don’t feel like I got to know many of those people very well. I know they didn’t really get to know me. At times they probably didn’t want to. I was pretty occupied with my own game most of the time and didn’t have much time for anyone else, especially if I wasn’t playing well.
So why am I writing you this letter anyway, just to complain? Not really. Like I said, my golfing experience wasn’t that bad. But it could have been so much better, and I see that so clearly now. I want to tell you, so you can learn from it. I don’t want you getting to my age and feeling the same regrets I’m feeling now.
I wish, I wish. Sad words, I suppose, but necessary. I wish I could have played the game with more joy, more freedom. I was always so concerned with “doing it right” that I never seemed to be able to enjoy just doing it at all. I was so hard on myself, never satisfied, always expecting more. Who was I trying to please? Certainly not myself, because I never did. If there were people whose opinions were important enough to justify all that self-criticism, I never met them.
I wish I could have been a better playing partner. I wasn’t a bad person to be with, really, but I wish I had been friendlier and gotten to know people better. I wish I could have laughed and joked more and given people more encouragement. I probably would have gotten more from them, and I would have loved that. There were a few bad apples over the years, but most of the people I played with were friendly, polite, and sincere. They really just wanted to make friends and have a good time. I wish I could have made more friends and had a better time.
I’m inside a lot now and I miss the beauty of the outdoors. For years when I was golfing I walked through some of the most beautiful places on earth, and yet I don’t feel I really saw them. Beautiful landscapes, trees, flowers, animals, the sky, and the ocean – how could I have missed so much? What was I thinking of that was so important – my grip, my backswing, my stance? Sure, I needed to think about those sometimes, but so often as to be oblivious to so much beauty? And all the green – the wonderful, deep, lush color of green! My eyes are starting to fail. I wish I had used them better so I would have more vivid memories now.
So what is it that I’m trying to say? I played the type of game that I thought I should play, to please the type of people that I thought I should please. But it didn’t work. My game was mine to play, but I gave it away. It’s a wonderful game. Please, don’t lose yours. Play a game that you want to play. Play a game that gives you joy and satisfaction and makes you a better person to your family and friends. Play with enthusiasm, play with freedom. Appreciate the beauty of nature and the people around you. Realize how lucky you are to be able to do it. All too soon your time will be up, and you won’t be able to play anymore. Play a game that enriches your life.
Best wishes . . . don't waste a minute of golf . . . someday it will be gone!
Signed,
Me
Read MoreI can’t play golf anymore. I tried to swing the club the other day, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. The best I can do now is sometimes take walks on the course, but my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be so I don’t see much. I have a lot of time to sit and think now, and I often think about the game.
It was my favorite game. I played most of my adult life. Thousands of rounds, thousands of hours practicing. As I look back, I guess I had a pretty good time at it. But now that I can’t do it anymore, I wish I had done it differently.
It’s funny, but with all the time I spent playing golf, I never thought I was a real golfer. I never felt good enough to really belong out there. It doesn’t make much sense, since I scored better than average and a lot of people envied my game, but I always felt that if I was just a little better or a little more consistent, then I’d feel really good. I’d be satisfied with my game. But I never was. It was always “One of these days I’ll get it” or “One day I’ll get there” and now here I am. I can’t play anymore, and I never got there.
I met a whole lot of different people out on the course. That was one of the best things about the game. But aside from my regular partners and a few others, I don’t feel like I got to know many of those people very well. I know they didn’t really get to know me. At times they probably didn’t want to. I was pretty occupied with my own game most of the time and didn’t have much time for anyone else, especially if I wasn’t playing well.
So why am I writing you this letter anyway, just to complain? Not really. Like I said, my golfing experience wasn’t that bad. But it could have been so much better, and I see that so clearly now. I want to tell you, so you can learn from it. I don’t want you getting to my age and feeling the same regrets I’m feeling now.
I wish, I wish. Sad words, I suppose, but necessary. I wish I could have played the game with more joy, more freedom. I was always so concerned with “doing it right” that I never seemed to be able to enjoy just doing it at all. I was so hard on myself, never satisfied, always expecting more. Who was I trying to please? Certainly not myself, because I never did. If there were people whose opinions were important enough to justify all that self-criticism, I never met them.
I wish I could have been a better playing partner. I wasn’t a bad person to be with, really, but I wish I had been friendlier and gotten to know people better. I wish I could have laughed and joked more and given people more encouragement. I probably would have gotten more from them, and I would have loved that. There were a few bad apples over the years, but most of the people I played with were friendly, polite, and sincere. They really just wanted to make friends and have a good time. I wish I could have made more friends and had a better time.
I’m inside a lot now and I miss the beauty of the outdoors. For years when I was golfing I walked through some of the most beautiful places on earth, and yet I don’t feel I really saw them. Beautiful landscapes, trees, flowers, animals, the sky, and the ocean – how could I have missed so much? What was I thinking of that was so important – my grip, my backswing, my stance? Sure, I needed to think about those sometimes, but so often as to be oblivious to so much beauty? And all the green – the wonderful, deep, lush color of green! My eyes are starting to fail. I wish I had used them better so I would have more vivid memories now.
So what is it that I’m trying to say? I played the type of game that I thought I should play, to please the type of people that I thought I should please. But it didn’t work. My game was mine to play, but I gave it away. It’s a wonderful game. Please, don’t lose yours. Play a game that you want to play. Play a game that gives you joy and satisfaction and makes you a better person to your family and friends. Play with enthusiasm, play with freedom. Appreciate the beauty of nature and the people around you. Realize how lucky you are to be able to do it. All too soon your time will be up, and you won’t be able to play anymore. Play a game that enriches your life.
Best wishes . . . don't waste a minute of golf . . . someday it will be gone!
Signed,
Me
"Players are asked to collect Bomb and Shrapnel splinters to save these causing damage to the mowing machines."
/Thanks to reader Jonathan for Shaun Usher's post on the "Lists of Note" blog of "Wartime Golf Rules".
Read More14 Y.O. Lydia Ko Wins New South Wales Open
/Chris Barkley reports that New Zealand's Lydia Ko became the youngest winner of a women's event sanctioned by one of the five women's tours.
Read MorePurple Heart Vet Goes Missing Diving For Golf Balls
/Allison Kropff of Tampa's 10 News with the ominous report on golf ball retriever and veteran David Voiles going missing at Sherman Hills Golf Course looking for balls.
"Equipment problems, breathing problems, with it being cold, even the gator could possibly be in here," says Shannon Baxter, a golf ball diver.
He says Voiles was a longtime diving enthusiast who just returned from a tour in the Middle East, awarded a purple heart, after surviving an IED attack that nearly cost him his life.
A friend told him about the diving job two years ago as a way to earn extra cash.
Update on 2012-01-03 20:27 by Geoff
Impressive Entry In Rory Trick Shot Challenge
/You can enter, watch and vote on entries here in the Rory McIlroy Trick Shot Challenge, sponsored by Santander. This entry by Myles Angell is mighty impressive. I'm assuming the minimalist production values are designed to show this is not edited, so patience is required. But it's worth it.
Read More"Trick-shot golfer determined to fight cancer"
/Jim Axelrod reports on trick shot specialist Ben Witter, who almost turned pro until a diagnosis of salivary gland cancer.
Chime In: "The 18 Most Annoying Golf Partners"
/I finally got to spend some quality time with GolfDigest.com's "18 Most Annoying Golf Partners" slideshow and while it's great fun, I've been a little disappointed at the reader nominations in the comments below. Maybe they did such a good job that no one could offer anything to top "Ball Retriever Guy," "Oblivious Guy," the "Air Counter" guy. I was however, slightly hurt by the Plumb Bobber, which hit a little close to home.
Read MoreThis Won't End Well Files: Vietnamese Shelter Savings In Club Memberships
/Joe Ogilvie tweeted that and I'd have to concur that it's hard to see the efforts of many Vietnamese to invest in club memberships as a good thing, particularly considering how fondly the government looks at golf these days.
Read MoreAllen Stanford Fit To Face Charges For Defrauding World Class Golfers...
/...and other people of means. Eileen O'Grady of Reuters reports the accused Ponzi schemer's "retrograde amnesia" claim didn't pass the smell test.
Read MoreKim Jong Il, Hole In One Specialist, Was 69
/With Kim Jong Il gone, there's only one serial, lying hole-in-one maker on the planet.
"Golf clubs getting some use, snowmobiles are not"
/Snowmobilers' frustration is golf's gain reports Scott Seroka of KARE 11 in Minneapolis where the lack of snowcover means golf is an option just days before Christmas.
Turns out we found an industry that didn't mind the proverbial lack of snow on the ground. "We'll do an 11 o'clock shotgun on Sunday," Riverwood Head Golf Pro Steve Fessler said. "The temps sound good. The phone's been ringing off the hook, so we're kind of excited."
Almost 100 golfers hit the links on Tuesday and Wednesday at the course. Down the street at Pro Power Sports in Ramsey, business was good, but the mood could be a little better. "The cup is half full. We're waiting for the snow to arrive and we know it will," Michael Kamrad said. "It's lurking in Canada right now, knocking on the border door."
Let's go to the videotape...
