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Showing posts from March, 2015

What's Up With Pro Golfers Giving the Finger(s) on the Green?

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A few years back I was chatting with a teaching professional who was interested in writing a golf instructional book. Those books are a dime a dozen, I reminded him, and unless you have some kind of great hook for one, it's unlikely yet another instructional book will make any money. Oh, I have a hook, he said: green reading. Green reading? Yes, the teaching pro replied: think about it - green reading is one of the most important facets of golf, yet it's never really taught. New golfers are just expected to pick it up as they go. Oh, they might hear very broad advice about methods of visualizing break, but nothing really specific, nothing really in-depth. I did think about it. And I had to admit, that was a good hook. Unfortunately for my friend, he never got around to writing a book explaining in-depth how to read greens. And somebody else beat him to it - probably, let's be honest, with a much better system anyway. What system? The one that has professional golfers

84-Year-Old Woman Uses Face-On Putting Style to Win Car on 'Price Is Right'

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You know how the game called Hole In One works on The Price Is Right , right? You sink a putt, you win the big prize. Today on the game show, and 84-year-old woman named Margaret sank a putt (actually her second try) and won herself a $16,000 car. But it's more the way she sank the putt that caught my eye: Yep, that's right, dear ol' Margaret went face-on for her putt attempts. Face-on putting is actually picking up some adherents around the golf world these days. Gary McCord is probably the best-known, and McCord swears by face-on. His buddy Peter Kostis - who learned face-on from Sam Snead back in the day (it was usually called sidesaddle back then) is also a fan. And 84-year-old Margaret is definitely a fan. Related: Paula Creamer on 'The Price is Right' Follow GSB* on Twitter - Like GSB* on Facebook

Watch: Phil Mickelson's Clubhead Flies Off on Sand Shot

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Well, that's something you don't see every day - especially on an iron shot. The head of Phil Mickelson's club just flew right off. Mickelson was playing a sand shot during the first round of the 2015 Texas Open. His club didn't even hit a bunker lip or anything. It struck the sand and the ball - and the clubhead - went flying. Watch: That look on Phil's face! Apparently Golf Channel also picked up some audio, aired later, of Mickelson muttering, "What the heck?" I feel your pain, Phil. Been there, done that. Except it happened to me with a driver. Brand new driver, too, about 20 years ago. I teed off on a par-5 I was hoping to reach in two; instead, my club broke in two. It snapped at the hosel and the clubhead went flying about 75 yards forward - right into a water hazard. Not a good feeling.

'Permanent' Masters Trophy Goes Up for Auction

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Every year at The Masters Tournament the winner is given a trophy - a replica of the Augusta National clubhouse that, around its base, has the names of all the Masters Champions engraved. The trophy the winner gets is a much smaller replica of the permanent Masters trophy that resides inside the Augusta National clubhouse and never leaves the grounds. So why is Green Jacket Auctions claiming it has the "Permanent" Masters Trophy up for auction right now? Because that's the nickname given to this particular rendition of the trophy, an intermediary size that was commissioned by Augusta National in 2000. This trophy is smaller than the real permanent trophy that is inside the Augusta clubhouse; but it's much bigger than the replicas given to Masters winners. So in collecting circles, it's become known as the "Permanent" Masters Trophy. So where does this trophy come from? According to Green Jacket Auctions, it was commissioned by Augusta National in

Don't Look Now But One of Lydia Ko's Age Records Has Already Fallen

Lydia Ko is still only 17 years old, and she's set a lot of age-related records in golf along her way to superstardom. But, believe it or not, one of Ko's age records has already been broken. Back in 2011, a 13-year-old Ko became the youngest-ever golfer to play in the Bing Lee NSW Women´s Open. That's a big tournament in Australia for golfers on the ALPG Tour. But at the 2015 Bing Lee Fujitsu NSW Women´s Open, an even younger golfer is in the field: a 12-year-old. Which makes 12-year-old amateur Belinda Ji the first person to break one of Ko's age-related records in a professional tournament. Don't get the idea that Ji is the next Ko, though. Although Ji is clearly a very talented golfer for her age, one who might have a bright future ahead in golf, she's farther away from reaching the pro level than Ko was at a similar age. Compare the results: Ji shot her age, in a manner of speaking - she's 12, she shot 12-over par 84 in the first round. When K

Photo: Otter On the Green at HSBC Women's Champions

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Golf and wildlife sometimes mix, and over the years we've seen birds carry off golf balls, as well as visits to (or at least near) the putting green by dogs, cats, alligators, snakes ... even bears. But we've never seen an otter on the green. Until today. Here's a photo that LPGA golfer Mirim Lee posted on Facebook: Lee, in charming broken English, wrote, "I saw the otter on golf course :) his so cute. I love it." The tournament was the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore. A 2014 article in the Singapore newspaper The Straits Times explained that otters were moving into the city: Wild otters have started breeding in the heart of the city, the first- ever known here to have done so. Now, experts are worrying about how to best protect them. Some researchers had considered Singapore's southern coast around Gardens by the Bay too built-up for these threatened native marine mammals that are often found at sea but need a source of fresh water near

So-Bad-It's-Good 'Urban Golf' Infomercial Parody

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Today's YouTube find is this phony infomercial that dates to 2004. The fella in the video purports to be an expert at Urban Golf, and wants to sell you a set of videos telling you everything you need to know about Urban Golf. Do not call the number, the product doesn't actually exist! My thought upon first watching this was: Wow, this is bad. My second thought was: This is intentionally bad. It's a parody, after all. It's a parody of golf infomercials, but it's also a parody of Urban Golf and the too-cool-for-school people who do it, believing themselves to be "expressing themselves creatively" or something. Your mileage may vary, of course, as with all thing humorous (or trying to be humorous). Even if you don't think it's intentionally bad, you'll at least think it's bad, which presents its own kind of comedy.

Did You Know Ernie Els Is a Restaurateur?

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Pro golfers owning restaurants is nothing new (we've written before about Graeme McDowell's restaurant , for example). But here's one we didn't know about until recently: Ernie Els owns a nascent chain of restaurants called the Big Easy Winebar & Grill . The first Big Easy restaurant opened in the South African university town of Stellenbosch inside an 18th-century Cape Dutch building. A second restaurant is now open in Dubai, inside The Els Club Dubai. A third Els restaurant, once again called The Big Easy, is being planned for Malaysia. Just like the man himself, Els' restaurants are found around the world. What does Ernie Els serve at The Big Easy Winebar & Grill? "The Big Easy places the utmost importance on serving great food and fantastic wine – all in a relaxed setting. ... dining at The Big Easy showcases the best the region offers with an emphasis is on using the finest, freshest ingredients to produce world-class food." The menu s