Video: It Is Possible To Hit A Golf Ball Into Your Face?!

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I've hit the replay button too many times on this Golf Fail video linked by Luke Kerr-Dineen (and memorialized by him in a Vine). 

But even as steep as his backswing is, it's impossible not to question how someone could do what this poor lad pulls off in embarrassing (and painful) fashion.

Safe to say, he needs some better release point reps.

The full clip:

Will Normalizing Cuba Mean More Golf On The Island?

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As the United States and Cuba move to officially "normalize" relations, developers will understandably be looked to for their thoughts on bringing resort golf back to the country where there were once two Donald Ross courses.

But before everyone gets excited about the Bandons of the Caribbean, Golfweek's Bradley Klein says it'll take a while to get the infrastructure up to modern standards before any serious development takes place.

The one hopeful sign of development, now more than 15 years old, is Varadero Golf Club, which was designed by Canadian Les Furber. It was home to the European Challenge Tour Grand Finals in 1999 and 2000.

Varadero sits on a peninsula that is pinched by Cardenas Bay to the south and open waters to the north. It's land that would be the envy of any course architect, only 90 miles east of Havana. But access roads to Varadero still betray considerable neglect. They also reveal that the obstacle to development of such dramatic land is basic infrastructure – mainly highways and utilities. Eventually that will come. And when it does, the coastal region will become a haven for luxury-goers, mainly from Latin America – the same folks who have been parking their surplus capital and Rolls Royces in Miami.

This Explains Why Tiger's Going Into The Restaurant Business...

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SI's Michael Bamberger files a story subtitled "How Tiger's Brand Remains Lucrative" and considers how business off the course remains strong for Woods.

If I were his accountant I'd strongly recommend against starting a restaurant (they're a very tricky investment!), but Bamberger says that the upcoming venture strikes at one of Tiger's core values: hating when others make money off of his fame. You know, writers, caddies, teachers, broadcasters and even bars.

Woods’s website shows five courses in various stages of construction where he is involved as a designer. A massive bar and restaurant near his South Florida home called the Woods Jupiter is expected to open in 2015. It might be hard to imagine Woods as a backslapping restaurateur in the tradition of Mickey Mantle, but people who know him say he got tired of filling the Dirty Martini in Palm Beach Gardens and getting nothing out of it. When he arrives at the Martini, his presence gets tweeted out and within an hour the bar is packed by gawkers and drinkers, credit cards in hand.

Geoff Ogilvy's Perfect Course...

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He does not name an existing perfect course but I'm pretty sure North Berwick would be qualify based on the criteria if not for the weather.

A couple of highlights from his piece written with Brendan James and posted at Golf Australia's site, starting with this, which ought to irk the folks at some of the world's elite courses who think they've kept their courses up with the times.

For me then, the perfect course is probably a combination of all the best features of, say, the top courses on the rankings. Ideally, I’d amalgamate the common attributes of Pine Valley, Oakmont, the Old Course, Shinnecock Hills, Royal Melbourne, The National Golf Links, Augusta National and Cypress Point.

With one or two exceptions, these courses are not generally that difficult until the weather turns nasty or the pins are placed
in really tough spots. That makes them – again generally – playable for golfers of all standards.

There’s width to the fairways, and without any real difficulty found around the greens. Everybody can have fun.

Fun … that’s important. What the top professionals find difficult, the average amateur finds relatively easy. In other words, the further the average guy gets from the hole, the harder golf gets. For the pros, the game gets harder the closer we get to the hole, generally anyway.

As for the atmosphere...

My perfect course will also be part of a welcoming and friendly environment. There will be no cart girls, but there will be a Sunningdale-type halfway house where sausage sandwiches will be available. There will be a small range where you can hit a few 5-irons before you wander to the 1st tee, carrying your own bag. At the end of the round, you will be able to get your own car from the carpark and you will be able to walk around with your dog on a leash if you so wish. I don’t know why we don’t do that in Australia.

In other words, on my perfect course there will be no wasted manpower, no wasted energy and no wasted money.

Speaking of which, my perfect course will be playable with a half-set of clubs. Don’t get me wrong though, I want to be able to go out with my 14 clubs and have a great time. But I also want to be able to play in three hours with four clubs and have just as much fun. My perfect course will cater to whatever version of golf you want to play.

I'd concur, except for the leash. Let the hounds roam!