This week saw some long reads get published by a few of my favourite golf journalists.
Worth the time it takes to read through, and each are different in style.
Alan Shipnuck on the Great American (LPGA) Hope, Stacy Lewis (Sports Illustrated)
Cameron Morfit with the always-interesting Bubba Watson (GOLF Magazine)
Jason Sobel on who was to be “the next Jack Nicklaus,” Eddie Pearce (Golf Channel)
“Speed Golf” is not just a new initiative launched by the USGA in order to quicken pace-of-play. No, it’s a formal way that some people choose to play golf. There’s a video from last year of a guy who broke 70 at Bandon Dunes in 54 minutes(!) it is a wild, engaging ride through a full 18-hole round sped up to under three minutes.
The World Speed Golf Championships will air on April 13 (the Saturday of The Masters) on CBS.
According to GolfWRX, “the rules of speed golf are basically the same as regular golf except you are allowed to putt with the flagstick in the hole to save time, and lost balls or out-of-bounds balls are treated more or less as lateral hazards.”
Check out the video below. I’m out of breath just thinking about it.
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Another story that has been making its way around the media – not just golf media, but all media – is the one of a golfer at Annbriar Golf Club, just southeast of St. Louis. It’s a pretty crazy. Mark Mihal, who is your average 43-year-old mortgage broker (lucky him, playing golf in the middle of the day on a Tuesday) had nearly completed his round when, on the 14th hole, he tumbled into a sink hole that was about 18 feet deep. He suffered some cuts and bruises and a separated shoulder, but was otherwise ok.
He climbed a ladder to escape, and the story quickly hit the web, as Mihal’s wife wrote a blog post all about the accident. That can be found here, and the Associated Press story on the whole incident can be found here.
Gives a whole new meaning to hole-in-one (or is it one-in-hole?)
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Branding has never been more important to companies and individuals than it is right now. Golf Digest’s style guru Marty Hackel raises an intriguing point about “team style” in a post for Golf Digest.
The outfits worn by Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, and Justin Rose at last weekend’s WGC-Cadillac Championship were an extension of TaylorMade’s “#IER campaign” (launching the RocketBallz Stage 2 lineup of woods and hybrids) and a perfect example of a brand extending from online to offline. A full 360-degree campaign.
But was it a fashion faux-pas?
This isn’t a high school tournament (or a Ryder Cup, for that matter) so seeing guys wearing matching outfits was a little odd. However, the pieces themselves are all made by adidas, and the guys wearing the items are athletes so there were no worries about an ill fit. You can’t knock TaylorMade’s branding decision to bring the campaign full circle. TaylorMade is one of the more aggressive golf advertisers, but given its most recent earnings report, it’s working.
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Tweet of the Day with respect to the new Pope from ScoreGolf’s Jason Logan:
The annual digital, music, and film festival South by Southwest wraps up next week in Austin, Texas. One of the films that is premiering at the film portion of the festival has a golf connection. Called “The Short Game,” it follows eight of the best 7-year-old golfers in the world as they train and compete for the World Junior Golf Championship. Quite the trailer.
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This past weekend Tiger Woods won his 17th World Golf Championship at the Cadillac Championship. The last time that Woods won at both Doral & Torrey Pines (he captured the Farmer’s Insurance Open earlier in January) was 2005. He went on to win both The Masters and the U.S. Open that year. Could Woods be on pace for a monster year? It seems that way. But a lot has changed since the era of Woods-dominance. The competition week in and week out is more fierce. As the hackneyed saying goes, “only time will tell.”
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Nike Golf had a strong showing this weekend on all tours. Aside from Woods’ WGC win, Scott Brown (another American, that stretches the Yank’s winning streak on the PGA Tour to 11 straight weeks to start 2013) captured the Puerto Rico Open, and Suzann Pettersen came from two shots behind to claim a victory at the Mission Hills Word Ladies Championship in China.
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Attended the Ottawa-Gatineau Golf Expo in Ottawa this past weekend, after attending the Toronto Golf Show the weekend before. Both events mark the official start to golf season in both regions. The National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada is a proud sponsor of the Toronto show, and an official partner of the Ottawa-Gatineau show, along with a handful of other shows across Canada. They’re great events to continue to build up the golf community across the country, and NGCOA CEO Jeff Calderwood – who was on hand in Ottawa – says he was pleased with how the shows had gone so far this year.
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Iriving Lightstone, former head professional at Maple Downs Golf & Country Club, and Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member, passed away on Friday in Toronto. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting him, but thanks to this column by Lorne Rubenstein, I feel like I did. “Golf had to be a wonderful game to generate such stories.”
Picture of the Week
This past Wednesday, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame introduced it’s 2013 class. The very deserving inductees are: Jim Nelford, Jack McLaughlin, and Alison Murdoch.
Some great profiles on each inductee are below –
Jim Nelford, by Lorne Rubenstein (The Globe & Mail)
Jack McLaughlin, by Brad Ziemer (The Vancouver Sun)
Alison Murdoch, by Gord Holder (The Ottawa Citizen)
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Also, the first issue of Fairways Magazine was released today – a GTA-based golf publication – and I wrote a column about a new golf facility called Modern Golf (#shamelessplug). Click here to check it out
There was also a great Q&A with Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons conducted by editor Peter Mumford. Click here to read the interview
Crowd-funding projects is nothing new. It’s a great way to engage social media to help online and offline start-ups get some much-needed funding to get their respective projects off the ground.
Kickstarter is one of those crowd-funding platforms that allow for interested users not to ‘invest’ in a company, but instead become a ‘backer’ (via a monetary donation) of a particular project that interests them – whether it be an indie film, a band, a video game, or a stage show.
A Vancouver-born entrepreneur by the name of Eric Migicovsky holds the record for raising the most funds through Kickstarter for his project – over $10 million and counting.
There are also a handful of golf projects to be found on Kickstarter – not surprising, as golf is one of the main sports that receive technology well (see: golfers will buy anything if they think it will improve their game. Or is cool.)
Earlier today, a friend of mine who goes to the School of Visual Arts in New York pointed me in the direction of a new Kickstarter project that actually is more art, than golf.
But when you see the prints (below), I’m sure you’ll be just as amazed as me.
Jerome Daksiewicz is a designer at NOMO Design in Chicago, and he’s created six (for now) minimalist prints of some of the world’s most famous golf courses – Augusta National, Merion Golf Club, Muirfield, Oak Hill, Pine Valley, and Pebble Beach.
They are incredible.
I’m already trying to decide which one to get, and I might end up getting them all.
A really cool concept, for some really cool art.
Take a look at the prints. If you’re interested in backing the project, head to the following Kickstarter link: Golf Course Screen Print Series
There’s an old saying in golf that says the game was so named that way because all the other four-letter words were taken.
But thanks to four “boys” and their musical styling, they are trying to bring a three-letter word back to golf: fun.
In 2011, Ben Crane and the other Golf Boys – Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan – stole some of the spotlight from their European counterparts who were dominating the humorous side of social media (and are still ahead, although only slightly) by releasing “Oh, oh, oh.” A music video – okay, I use that term loosely – that features the boys dressed in hilarious costumes gallivanting around a golf course.
Amazing.
Fast forward to earlier this week, and the boys were back.
Fully clad in their identifiable ensembles, but this time, backed by a real artist who wrote the lyrics and recorded the music, each of the boys took their turns spitting their verses and name-dropping no less than 12 PGA Tour stars (“Took a vacay on Sang-Moon Bae,” “couldn’t hit the side of a Ricky Barnes”).
In an era of a struggling identity not only for golf, but for the PGA Tour, this was refreshing.
Rory McIlroy quit, then tried to cover up the real reason why he did it. Vijay Singh used deer-antler spray, and was likely suspended for his actions. And the anchored-putter debate rages on and on.
Not like you would see Hogan and Snead and Byron and Hagen doing this (imagine, though?) but there is a whole generation of golfers who don’t really know who Hogan, Snead, Byron, and Hagen are. The technology in their pocket is golf’s competition, and instances like this are what will keep the interest of the YouTube generation.
For three minutes, golf was back to just being a game. and just being fun.
It’s the reason why most want to play in the first place.
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Plans for an insane, mini-golf-esque, (but real) golf course in China were revealed (Yahoo! UK)
GameGolf launches crowd-funded campaign with some pretty famous backers (The Next Web)
Thankfully, spring is around the corner (Tribune)
Weeksy breaking stories and taking names (ScoreGolf)
As I said on Twitter this morning, Sports Illustrated Michael Bamberger has been killing it lately. Here is his exclusive conversation with Rory McIlroy after his sudden W/D last week (Golf.com)
I think this tournament should play a back-to-back with the “Jam” Open (Calgary)
Pocket knives and golf clubs now allowed as carry-on luggage! (Bloomberg)
More on Shaw Communications being named official title sponsor of the new Champions Tour event in Calgary (Canadian Golfer)
And this, wow. This is a fun hashtag (TaylorMadeGolf)
Blog post coming up tomorrow. For now, here are the links…
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Stacy Lewis continues her great LPGA start in Singapore (Golf World Monday)
Everyone digs the long-ball. Here’s Jeff Brooke with Jaime Sadlowski (Globe & Mail)
Geoff Ogilvy’s hang-on-the-lip chip in, in GIF form (Animated GIF)
Here’s a golf cart that’s more expensive than a Porsche (IOL)
As much as we want it, there may not be a Rory/Tiger rivalry yet (Golf Digest)
Graham DeLaet is off to a great start this year, save for his putting (Canadian Golfer)
European Tour is supporting the ban of the anchored putter (Victoria Times Colonist)
Jack Nicklaus was live on the broadcast at The Honda Classic this weekend. Talked Rory, putters (ESPN UK)
Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire Hotel is revealed (BBC)
Want to attend the Ottawa-Gatineau Golf Expo as a Flagstick VIP? Check this out (Flagstick)
More news from the City of Winnipeg golf course fiasco (Winnipeg Sun)
BioSteelSports becomes national partner of the PGA of Canada (PGA of Canada)
COBRA releases a Masters-green AMP Cell Driver (Fairways Golf)
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Today, the Golf Writer’s Association of America named its 2013 award winners. The awards, which take place in Augusta, Georgia the week of The Masters will be hosted by Tim Rosaforte.
Annually given in a variety of writing categories to members of the golf media, the GWAA has also bestowed a professional with the Charlie Bartlett Award for contributions to the betterment of society since 2007. Past winners include Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Lorena Ochoa. This year’s recipient will be K.J. Choi.
In honour of the awards – and some journalistic idols of mine – below is a selection of award-winning work.
The full list of winners can be found here
We’ll be ‘in touch’ again on Monday. Keep ‘em straight.
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Non-Daily Features: WINNER – Jaime Diaz, Golf Digest
“Billy Casper, Out Of The Darkness”
Special Projects: WINNER – Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated
Daily Features: WINNER – Jason Sobel, Golf Channel
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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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 –
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)
ADAM STANLEY 
