Given the unsightly weather the past few days that has swept through most of Ontario, the Toronto Golf & Travel Show – beginning tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre – will be a more welcome sight than in years past.

For those unable to make it anywhere warm through the winter, the Toronto Golf & Travel Show has been a long-time reminder for golf enthusiasts – and likely girlfriends or wives who get dragged along – that yes, spring is just around the corner.

And with spring of course, comes golf.

The exhibitor list is long (no surprise there) but it has also been interesting to see as the years have past that the ‘travel’ aspect of the show has really been ramped up.

Although it does not have the same panache as the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, the Toronto Golf & Travel Show will likely be the place where many will get to see or hit new product offerings from all of the major manufacturers for 2013.

The Golf Town-sponsored hitting area will likely be the busiest section of the entire building for the duration of the weekend.

In it’s 24th year, the show is showing no signs of slowing down. And for golf enthusiasts in the GTA, this is a good thing.

It especially beats a weekend of shoveling snow.

GOOD TO KNOW FOR THE SHOW:

Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre (North Building)

Dates: Friday March 1 – Sunday March 3

Hours: Friday; 12-7pm, Saturday; 10am-6pm, Sunday; 10am-5pm

Costs: General; $16, Seniors (65+); $12, Kids under 12; FREE (w/adult)

Specials: The Golf Association of Ontario is offering a $3 off coupon, or, the show has a ‘twilight rate’ where if you attend Friday after 4pm, Saturday after 3pm, or Sunday after 2pm a ticket is only $10.

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Hitting the Links – 

Chicken & Waffles? Bubba teases Masters menu (Golf.com)

Don’t hear much about this, but really good Michael Bamberger column on the PGA Tour’s drug testing program (Golf.com)

Another Bubba-at-The-Masters piece. This is just a good story (Associated Press)

Rory McIlroy & Tiger Woods are friendly rivals, and it’s a good thing. Just ask Jack & Arnie (Golf Channel)

Tiger Woods walks on water. Again (Yahoo!)

The Great Lakes Tour has a new owner (Fairways Magazine)

Rory McIlroy is pretty good (YouTube)

Presented without comment. Guys with the most (and least) amount of ‘Golf Swag’ (Bleacher Report)

Angus Glen announces some architectural changes (Canadian Golfer)

No post today, but some nice stories in the ‘Hitting the Links’ section below –

Hitting the Links – 

The Presidential treatment: Tim Rosaforte gives the details on Tiger Woods & Barack Obama’s round together (Golf Digest)

On the range with Rube:  Lorne Rubenstein hits the range at the Honda Classic (Globe & Mail)

Jeff Brooke’s Short Game blog keeps us up-to-date on Canadian golfers around the world (Globe & Mail)

Chalk and Cheese! Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods host private match play final (ESPN)

Haven’t heard much since his big Amateur win, but here’s an interesting post on The Masters-bound 14-year-old Guan Tianlang (Al Jazeera)

Love these kinds of stories. Here’s one about a 90-year-old golfer who shot 80(!) yesterday (Twin Cities)

For years, the PGA Tour’s slogan has been,  “these guys are good.” And, it could not be more true.

Legions of people aspire to swing, look, and play just like their touring idols. And why not?

They get to play a game they love all year round, at the greatest golf courses in the world, and, if they’re good enough, they can become financially set for the rest of their lives.

Call it what you wish: a dream, a hope, or an aspiration. They’re good, and they get to play golf for a living. But, at the end of the day, they’re still human.

For the rest of us, Twitter has become an excellent way to connect with our athletic heroes on a one-to-one, real time level. Sure, you could always appear at a tournament and hope to get your cap signed by a pro, and perhaps catch a couple of seconds of conversation.

But, Twitter has allowed – in either a good way or bad – for fans to become more immersed in the lives of professional athletes than ever. And that’s just it, they have lives.

Why now, for a post like this?

Earlier today, I noticed that Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker, and Tom Watson were shooting a commercial for MasterCard together and, quite frankly, their social banter was hilarious.

It was likely part of a social campaign by MasterCard to have the men include #Priceless into their tweets – which makes sense. Whenever a brand has socially-active assets at its disposal, they would be wise to use them – but, given each man’s natural gift of the gab, it made for some entertainment nonetheless.

A few selections of the best tweets are below, but I don’t think that anyone could top Poulter’s – one of the best athletes on Twitter, let alone golfers – where he mentions that Tom Watson just asked him to join the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

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In Touch –

[audio https://adamstanley.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/podcast-no3.mp3 ]

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Hitting the Links – 

On anchoring. The PGA Tour vs. the rest of golf (ESPN UK)

Giving back, through golf. Nice story here (Toronto Observer)

Inbee Park wins LPGA event in Thailand after a disastrous final hole for Ariya Jutanugarn (Golf Channel)

The Ryder Cup signs it’s first global sponsor (Global Golf Post)

In honour of the Oscars, Golf Digest pulled together the top-15 golf scenes in movies of all time. My favourite is here (Golf Digest)

Who is the best American golfer without a major? Just a hint, it’s not Matt Kuchar (Yahoo! Devil Ball)

The LPGA: the most fan-friendly sports league in the world (Golf.com)

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Photo of the Week – 

A lot of golf contests have popped up this last week – likely in anticipation of the imminent season and the official kick-off to spring.

This is a welcome sight for many Canadians who haven’t had the opportunity to escape anywhere warm this winter.

See below for a round-up. Click on the hyperlinks for your chance to enter, or find out more.

FootJoy

An opportunity to win a pair of its new M-Project golf shoes.

Cabot Links

The acclaimed layout in Inverness, N.S. is rebuilding its pub/restaurant and is giving away a $100 voucher – and eternal bragging rights –  to the person who comes up with the winner.

Flagstick Golf Magazine

Flagstick will be running a contest in two weeks for a chance to win one of five pairs of tickets to the Ottawa-Gatineau Golf Expo, happening March 8-9 at the EY Centre in Ottawa. For more details on how to enter, follow @Flagstick on Twitter.

Prior to the Ottawa-Gatineau Golf Expo ticket giveaway, they are also giving away a Golf Channel ‘Morning Drive’ prize package this week. More details on how to enter  here.

Harry Rosen

Harry Rosen, in partnership with TaylorMade and Porter Airlines are giving Canadians a chance to play & travel to Myrtle Beach in style in their “Dressed for the Nines” contest.

Toronto Golf & Travel Show

Toronto.com is giving away four pairs of tickets to the Toronto Golf & Travel Show happening March 1-3.

Modern Golf

On the Toronto Golf Nuts forum, the guys at Modern Golf are offering a chance to join their 2013 equipment review panel. This would be an awesome opportunity for any big club geeks out there. It’s happening next Sunday.

There has been a lot of discussion of late – specifically since the anchored putter debate has come to the forefront – about the rules of golf. Who should follow which set, why are there different governing bodies, and will specific changes cause golf to lose participants are just some of the queries being raised. I have some thoughts on this, but, to come in a later post. For now, check out this piece written for Golf.com by the CEO of Achushnet Wally Uihlen. An interesting perspective: http://bit.ly/XODlSB

The Tom Doak & Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw designed Streamsong Resort in Florida garnered a ton of buzz in late 2012 and early 2013 in the lead up to it’s grand opening. From early reports, the layout is nothing short of spectacular. I’d love to get down there as part of a tantalizing triangle of pure golf – Cabot Links, Bandon Dunes, and Streamsong – but alas, a bucket list item it will stay (for the immediate future at least). In the meantime, there were two great pieces on the destination written this week. One from ScoreGolf’s Rick Young, and the other from Sports Illustrated’s Michael Bamberger. Check out the ScoreGolf piece here: http://bit.ly/YMDiHO and the Sports Illustrated piece here: http://bit.ly/UgdAyx

Given the ridiculous weather in the Arizona desert which caused the first round of the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship to be postponed – a snow storm(!) – it should come as no surprise that there was criticism for the Tour’s venue choice. This is the second time in three years that there has been a snow delay in what was supposed to be the friendly confines of the southern United States. Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard has a nice take on where and why to change the venue: http://bit.ly/15w4Vvf

We’ll be ‘in touch’ again on Monday. Keep ’em straight.

Oh, and here’s Graeme McDowell doing his best Scott-Smalls-from-The-Sandlot impression –

The world we live in has become increasingly – almost entirely – digital and for better or worse, publishers of the written word have had to adapt to this fact.

There are saddening stories of bookshops going out of business, and printed novels, magazines, and newspapers being eliminated completely; however, with this comes exciting new formats for people to engage with content of their choosing.

The world of golf has not been immune to this change, and a very recent example of an intriguing digital-only publication is Golf Digest’s weekly online update, appropriately called STIX.

STIX made its debut in late January, and has already gained a lot of successful traction in the golf world.

It features content from both Golf Digest and Golf World’s contributors and focuses on golf equipment, gadgets, fashion, and apparel. Simply put, the kind of golfer who would be active in the digital space, would likely be interested with these kinds of stories.

No long-reads here.

Quarter page stories, vibrant photography, videos, and shareable content reigns supreme here. It’s simple, mobile format is perfect for the golfer on-the-go.

STIX has regular features including “Winner’s Bag” (from the previous Sunday), style suggestions from Golf Digest fashion editor Marty Hackel, reviews of new equipment and breakdowns of equipment trends, video segments of industry insiders (this week’s was on Callaway CEO Chip Brewer), and debates on equipment rules.

It’s a great way to connect with a youthful, high-tech demographic that golf has struggled with.

“This is the first time we’ve had a platform like this to showcase the vast knowledge of our equipment and fashion editors on a weekly basis,” said Golf Digest Senior Editor Peter Finch in a release.

“We have the best equipment and fashion editors in the industry, and it’s great to have a place where all this information can converge.”

From a Canadian publication perspective, there have been a lot of digital inroads  in recent years – many publications are offering online versions of their print issues, smartphone or tablet applications,  and mobile websites – but, it will be interesting to see if any publications will try to go the route of Golf Digest and build another digital-only property.

Golf Digest regularly updates its website, and continues to put out a monthly printed edition. I would argue, though, it’s their digital prowess that sets them apart from other golf publications.

Their tablet application is wonderfully interactive. Users are not just reading anymore, they are experiencing. Content is king, as they say. But the vehicle that content is delivered is becoming more frequently in the digital kingdom, and we’re the subjects.

If you’re interesting in subscribing to Golf Digest STIX, click here

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Hitting the Links –

Day 1 of the WGC-Accenture World Match Play finally got underway today after a snowstorm delay yesterday. This is what happened to my bracket after the matches completed. That’s golf.

Ian Poulter makes an appearance in this month’s British GQ (GQ UK)

Cabot Links wants you to name its renovated pub. My submission? “Shots” (Cabot  Links Facebook)

Harry Rosen, in partnership with Porter Airlines & TaylorMade, want to sent you golfing in Myrtle Beach in style (Harry Rosen)

Stacy Lewis keeps up her strong play in 2012. Leads the LPGA event in Thailand (Golf Channel)

The newest edition of The Haney Project – featuring Olympian Michael Phelps – is set to debut Feb 25 (CTV News)

One more Brad Fritsch profile. This one from Farhan Devji (Carleton J-School Grad!) (Ottawa Citizen)

On this chilly late-February day, it is odd to be commenting on the kind of winter weather that is usually reserved for Canada in context of the Arizona-based WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship.

But, as it goes, for the second time in three years, there a cold front swept through Dove Mountain, causing the first round of the Match Play Championship to be cancelled earlier Wednesday because of a myriad of poor weather – hail, freezing rain, and snow.

This caused toques to be strapped on, rain gear to be worn, and Martin Kaymer’s infamous buff (or ‘snood’) to make a return.

The buff first debuted at the 2011 Match Play Championship. Kaymer donned one during his quarter, semi, and final matches.

Kaymer, who was on the cusp of becoming the no.1 player in the world after winning the 2010 PGA Championship, went on to lose the final to Luke Donald 3 & 2. 

It caused quite a fashion-forward discussion among the khaki-clad broadcasting contingent, before the resident style expert for golf Marty Hackel was brought in and set the world straight via a tweet – “Kaymer’s scarf is called a Buff and was designed by Vaughn Cochran at Black Fly Outfitters,” he said.

Immediately, hundreds of clicks hit the website, and according to some reports, Black Fly Outfitters claimed over 1,000 new orders on the buff in a 24-hour time span, at $23 a piece.

Black Fly Outfitters, according to its website, is the brain child of husband and wife team Vaughn and Jean Cochran, located in northern Florida. It’s a specialty fly-fishing shop, and a buff is cylindrical piece of cloth that can be rolled up into any variety of configurations depending on your activity and weather conditions.

The particular buff that Kaymer wore in 2011 is the Tarpon Fly UV Fishing Buff, made with a fabric called Coolmax Extreme, meant to help block 95% of UV rays and wick away sweat.

The point of one in Arizona this week (and 2011) – which seems ironic, given the normal desert conditions – would be to keep a player warm.

Although not wearing the more recognizable ‘Blackfly’ design from 2011, Kaymer’s 2013 selection appears to also be another Cochran version.

A photo – attributed to GolfWRX – shows Kaymer clearly wearing the buff, and considering the day’s weather and predicted forecast the next few days,  it might prove to be a valuable piece of Kaymer’s wardrobe.

Kaymer, the elegant German sponsored by Hugo Boss, sporting a fisherman’s neck-piece at a World Golf Championship event. Why not? If it works, it works.

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Hitting the Links – 

A buff may come in handy for us Canadian golfers. If you’re interested in purchasing one, you can from Black Fly’s website

If the snow keeps up, the PGA Tour should just rename this tournament the WGC-Instagram Match Play Championship. Check out the feeds of Ian Poulter, Keegan Bradley, and Rickie Fowler for on-site pictures of today’s storm.

Another nice profile on Brad Fritsch, who will be dropping the puck at the Ottawa Senators game tomorrow night (CBC)

Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk comment on the proposed anchored putting ban (Yahoo!)

Lorne Rubenstein with his own take on the matter as well (Globe & Mail)

Really fun interview with Lee Trevino here by Kyle Porter (CBS Sports)

A legal despuite is ongoing for the land on which the golf course for the 2016 Olympics will be built in Rio (Canadian Press)

PGA Tour Canada announces the opening of its Q-School registration. 40 cards up for grabs (PGA Tour Canada)

 

It seemed at the outset that the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship was to be positioned as golf’s version of March Madness.

Cinderella stories, office bracket pools, major upsets, and dynasty champions were set to be the norm.

It hasn’t worked out necessarily this way for the PGA Tour, but match play golf seems to bring out the best in golfers, and brings the game back to a simpler time.

And for the fans, the only thing predictable about the Match Play Championship is that it’s unpredictable.

As the top 64 players in the world get set to tee off at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ritz-Carlton Club in Dove Mountain, each man arguably has just as good a shot to win as the other.

The only reason why there are numbers separating them is because of world ranking. Even that means very little.

The lowest-ranked seed to ever win the event was Kevin Sutherland, who dusted the field in 2002 as the 62nd-ranked player in the field – right in the heart of the prime Tiger Woods era – prior to Woods winning the event twice in a row.

When Golf.com published a list of their top 10 Match-Play golfers of all-time, it’s hard not to notice that eight of the ten photos are black and white. Many tournaments, including majors, were once contested in a match play format.

That’s since been abolished save for once a year in a regular tournament, and then annually in the Presidents and Ryder Cups.

There’s a simple reason for why this has occurred. Sometimes, the best players don’t win. Ratings drop. It’s exciting golf, without a doubt. But there are 64 men who at any point could emerge victorious and, no offense to most of the field, for a golf tournament that is so singularly-focused on one match as the rounds go on, it could become a ratings nightmare.

That said, there is also a chance that the Match Play Championship could come down to a clash of titans. Rory vs. Tiger. Keegan Bradley vs. Ian Poulter.

Compelling golf and compelling characters.

But the days of Hogan, Nelson, Snead, and Hagen are behind us.  Dominance, as I touched on yesterday, is of a collective nature now. The lower-ranked seeds have just as good an opportunity to win as the higher-ranked seeds.

This is good for golf. But is it bad for golf?

The Match Play Championship is an anomaly on the PGA Tour season because one man needs only to beat five other men to win the title, not 100+, as is usually the case week in and week out on the PGA Tour.

Your best one day still couldn’t be better than your opponents. Or, your worst could be better than your opponents’ worst and you’d be victorious.

It’s this unpredictability that makes this week in Arizona an intriguing one. The golf will be exciting, no matter who is playing. 

A match gets lit with a spark, and despite a good start to the PGA Tour season thus far, the Match Play Championship is the spark this season needs.

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Hitting the Links –

The fourth annual Joe Carter Golf Classic returns to Toronto’s Eagle’s Nest (CNW)

Oops. Cricket star breaks is ‘bat’ on a buddies golf trip (The Sun)

Callaway Golf Canada names it’s new GM (Golf News Now)

Viral video of the day. But wait, is that cup regulation size or what?! (Digital Spy)

Britney Spears hits Sherwood for a round with her new golf-nut boyfriend. Golf’s becoming so TMZ-relevant (Entertainment Wise)

An oldy, but this is Martin Kaymer’s buff from the 2011  final against Luke Donald.The coolest fashion trend to come out of Dove Mountain. And I want one (BlackFly Outfitters)

Man blinded in one eye sues golfer. That’s about the story (BBC)

There’s more to Orlando than just Disney. Plus, you might see Arnold Palmer (Globe & Mail)

In fairytale fashion, local California kid John Merrick was victorious yesterday at the Northern Trust Open.

With Bill Haas primed to join elusive company as a back-to-back winner at Riviera, it was Merrick who closed with a 2-under 69 and overtook Haas, the overnight leader.

Merrick needed extra holes to do so, and ended up beating 2012 PGA Tour winner Charlie Beljan in a playoff.

After the round, Merrick explained how much winning this tournament meant to him: “growing up as a kid I went to a lot of these tournaments and played a lot of rounds at UCLA and to win in my hometown it’s amazing. It’s a dream come true. I can’t believe it – it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Certainly, it was a win with meaning for the 30-year-old Merrick.

However, it was Beljan who stole the headlines with his post round comments, going so far as to compare the 10^th hole at Riviera – where they played the second playoff hole, and Beljan succumbed to Merrick – to a local mini-putt layout.

“It’s just a tough hole to have a playoff on. We might as well go and put a windmill out there and hit some putts.”

Riviera is revered. It’s considered one of the greatest courses in the world. The par 4 tenth, the hole subject to Beljan’s comment, is consistently ranked as one of the best golf holes on tour.

Beljan is of course entitled to his own opinion about the layout and any other subject matter he so chooses – America and Canada are free countries and freedom of speech is allowed, if not encouraged.

But, this is not the first time that Beljan will have got in some hot water for his comments. Just last year his time on Twitter was cut short (he’s since returned) after calling American President Barak Obama “the biggest D Bag this country has ever seen.”

Beljan has had personal struggles in the past – his dealings with anxiety and panic attacks are well documented – but he’s managed to overcome them and become a winner on the PGA Tour.

As a professional athlete – although his previous diet suggested otherwise; apparently he disliked food and ate Subway once a day – his statements on politics and putting surfaces got put into a brighter spotlight than normal.

For Beljan, it will be a long RV ride to his next tournament in Florida, and perhaps some time to think about his comments.

But he did leave with a nice consolation gift from Riviera. After playing on Saturday with Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, he got their autographs.

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In Touch –

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Hitting the Links –

David Hueber has written a PhD dissertation on what is being called ‘the most comprehensive analysis of U.S. golf course development ever produced’ (Global Golf Post)

Tiger Woods joins Barack Obama for a round of golf in Florida (National Post)

David Feherty appeared on The Late Show (Golf Channel)

Bernhard Langer goes wire-to-wire at the Champions Tour ACE Group Classic (Golf Channel)

Lydia Ko finishes third at the LPGA season opener. Will not turn pro (South China Morning Post)

Any suggestions? Dude has 15,000 golf balls and doesn’t know what to do with them. Obviously, he asks the internet (Reddit)

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Picture of the Week – 

If you’ve not yet read this profile by Sports Illustrated golf write John Garrity yet, you’re missing out. It’s an absolutely fantastic piece of writing on David Feherty, and it’s well worth a look: http://bit.ly/ZaW3dR

A nice piece here from PGATOUR.com contributor Fred Albers on Mike Weir. He’s got quite a lot of support to get back to his form of old, and not just from Canadians: http://bit.ly/YsVhTB

Finally, Jason Logan (editor for ScoreGolf magazine, and fellow Carleton University j-school graduate!) does a great interview with PGA Tour rookie Brad Fritsch, and his quick start to 2013: http://bit.ly/WLTE72 

We’ll be ‘in touch’ again on Monday. Keep ’em straight.