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Category: Golf

A good walk, unspoiled

Had an unexpected opportunity — through some professional / job-networking contacts — to play a fun round of golf yesterday, down at Arrowhead Golf Club, which is not only a nice course, but stunningly scenic, set in the red rock razorbacks that stretch from the Boulder flatirons to Red Rocks Amphitheater down to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

As a vendor-sponsored event, it was very cushy, and as a chance to get out on the links, it was a welcome chance to do something I haven’t done in a couple of years. Of course, my play also represented not having done it in a couple of years, but I managed to contribute semi-adequately to my team, so all in all it was a fine time.

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The Ten Best Caddy Remarks

A bit of golf humor sent to me from +Gloria Hill:

No. 10
Golfer: “Think I’m going to drown myself in the lake.”
Caddy: “Think you can keep your head down that long?”

No. 9
Golfer: “I’d move heaven and earth to break 100 on this course.”
Caddy: “Try heaven, you’ve already moved most of the earth.”

No. 8
Golfer: “Do you think my game is improving?”
Caddy: “Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now.”

No. 7
Golfer: “Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?”
Caddy: “Eventually.”

No. 6
Golfer: “That can’t be my ball, it’s too old.”
Caddy: “It’s been a long time since we teed off, sir.”

No. 5
Golfer: “Please stop checking your watch all the time. It’s too much of a distraction.”
Caddy: “It’s not a watch — it’s a compass.”

No. 4
Golfer: “How do you like my game?”
Caddy: “Very good, sir, but personally, I prefer golf.”

No. 3
Golfer: “Do you think it’s a sin to play on Sunday?”
Caddy: “The way you play, sir, it’s a sin on any day.”

No. 2
Golfer: “This is the worst course I’ve ever played on.”
Caddy: “This isn’t the golf course. We left that an hour ago."

No. 1 Best Caddy Comment:
Golfer: “You’ve got to be the worst caddy in the world.”
Caddy: “I don’t think so sir. That would be too much of a coincidence.”

[My personal preference is actually No. 10, thus the picture, largely because it strikes closest home.]

 

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As someone who plays golf, I must share this commercial

Because, yeah, funny.

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The Decline of Golf

I still enjoy going out for a round of golf, but between a paucity of friends with an inclination to do so, and a paucity of most-of-the-day-free weekends, I'm doing well to get out more than once or twice a year.

Growing up, both my parents and my mom's folks played golf, and it was a fixture when we'd go to visit. I learned to swing on some kids clubs at the Stanford driving range while my parents were practicing, and I can remember walking courses with the family and getting a chance to hit a few out on the back nine.

I've never been great, but I have a good time. But not so good that I'm going to go out on my own (or be part of a foursome with strangers. So I play in my company's once-a-year event, or if my parish puts on a golf tourney, and … that's about it.

It's not surprising that golf is in decline. I really don't think it has as much to do with the lack of new Tiger Woods folk burning up the link, as much as the cost for a round and the amount of time it takes to play. That, coupled with land use pressures and water restrictions makes it hard to think that golf will ever come back in any serious way. I don't see it shifting to "polo" status any time soon, but it's trending that way.




Why America fell out of love with golf
How America’s slow-going, expensive, old-fashioned pastime fell apart.

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The Decline of Golf

I grew up in a (amateur) golfing family, and I still try to get out to play a couple of times a year — usually at a work- or parish-related get-together.  My friends who play — simply don't much, if at all, any more.  It's just damned difficult to devote an entire day to the exercise, and darned expensive for an 18 hole round.

I don't know the answer for any of that (though I suspect dumbing down the game is not going to be it). It may simply be that golf, as a widely available and broadly paid sport, will simply fade out in the next three or four decades.

Golf Loses Players as Millennials Find It Expensive, Time-Consuming – Businessweek

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Magpies Like Breakfast Burritos

Well, first time out on the golf course in … oh, a year, I suppose.  In this case, it was the local office golf tourney, which was, as last year, loads of fun.

We were out at Fox Hollow (http://www.lakewood.org/FoxHollow/), a course I haven't played in years.  It's still pretty nice.  We played on the Canyon and Meadow 9s.

We played a best ball scramble format — the foursome all tee off, and then the best ball shot becomes where everyone shoots their next shot.  It's a nice way to deal with less-than-proficient golfers (cough) clogging up the works, and lets everyone play.

My foursome was made up of three guys who regularly play golf.  And me (see above on golf-playing regularity).  Aside from some mis-hits, I actually did fairly well.  As long as I remembered to keep my eye on the ball, in fact, I was hitting pretty well.  There were just enough cases of my ball being the next one hit to make me feel like I was contributing.

Our overall score was pretty much middle of the pack — net 5 under par.  There were some groups that did much better — but then they kicked in the Peoria Handicapping System (http://goo.gl/SBjo3d), which (because, luck of the draw, we did poorly on some of the holes they selected) increased our handicap, which meant …

… we won! Woot!  Which gave each of us a $60 gift cert to the pro shop (not as cool as it sounds, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick).  Given that last year I was on the team that ended up with the worst score trophies, 

And I only lost three balls (net), so that's a victory in and of itself.

As to the title of the post … well, the beer cart ladies also sell quite tasty breakfast burritos. Which the magpies apparently love, so any time you walk away from your cart they are quick to wing over to it and nom down  — even if it's just a crumpled ball of foil. 🙂

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Golf game concluded. Avoided t…

Golf game concluded. Avoided too severe humiliation. Now for beer.

Time for my annual company-spo…

Time for my annual company-sponsored opportunity to whack little white ball around a set of well-groomed fields. Team-building!

Golf is all about the woo

You don't have to go to the extremes of Orac in the linked article below to find the "woo" in golf. Pretty much every vendor promises if you just buy their balls / clubs / shafts / grips / shoes / tees / club bag / cart / videos / hats / shirts / underwear, you will improve your game, your health, your breath, your sex life, and your chance of beating Tiger Woods should the two of you happen to end up in the same foursome.

In reality, of course, you get better at golf by practicing. Which means spending a lot of time at the driving range, minimum, and more likely playing a lot of rounds of golf. Folks I know who really are into it basically say if you're not playing a round or two or three every week, you're not going to improve much.

Will a change in clubs, or balls, or tees, or hats help your game? Maybe. But it will be a very, very incremental change, and will be swamped by your (in)expertise. I recall a study of the changes in scores over the past 20-30 years, during which time there's been an explosion of changes in golf technology. Net? One stroke less per 18 holes. (If nothing else, even if a club or ball helps you hit farther, if it doesn't help you hit straighter, it's actually going to get you into more trouble.)

I am not at all surprised that the woo vendors are out in force around golf. But, in reality, they're really not much different in their snake oil than the "legitimate" golf equipment vendors. #ddtb

Embedded Link

There's no woo like golf woo : Respectful Insolence
I suck at golf. There was a time in my life when I golfed a lot. Unfortunately, I was pretty lousy at it. I tended to shoot around 120, and only once in my life do I ever recall breaking…

Tweets from 2011-08-28

  • ST:TOS Rewatch: “The Menagerie, Pt 1” Crazy Spock is scarily effective. Beep vs BeepBeep. Old turtleneck outfits. Effective re-use of pilot. #
  • Star Trek TOS was a seminal influence on SF tropes since then. It contributed very little original, but very little it didn’t influence. #
  • Going to be a scorcher on the course today. Our Lady of the Beer Cart, watch over us and intercede, often. #
  • Had best drive for the foursome. Pulling my weight. #
  • Blessings be upon Our Lady of the Beer Cart! #
  • Clouds, huzzah! #
  • Happy with my game so far. Not too embarrassing. #
  • And at the 19th hole. Pretty pleased with how I helped the team. #
  • So overall did great with driver, decent with putter, almost all else sucked. But only lost two balls, and team was -1, so call it a victory #
  • Hmmm … feeling peckish for producing a podcast … #

Tweets from 2011-08-27

  • Prepping to golf for the first time in a couple of years. Preparing for hilarity to ensue, buying more golf balls. #
  • Huh. Golf thing actually tomorrow. Well, that blows my expectations mindset for the day. Irksome. #
  • Suppose I can do all the stuff I planned to do tomorrow, but my brain is reluctant to change gears. Tend to be too expectations-bound. Rrg. #
  • Okay, spent an hour shelving, sorting, sifting, culling trade paperbacks. Nice box for some local friends to pick from. Feel virtuous! #
  • ST:TOS Rewatch: “Mudd’s Women” – Stupid, stupid sexist tale, but always love Harry Mudd. Spock is bemused. Sand-blasted pans FTW! #
  • ST:TOS Rewatch: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Corby’s a true tragic figure. Majel can’t act. Amazing Andrea costume. Red shirts! Ruk FTW! #
  • ST:TOS Rewatch: “Miri” Dupe Earth, really? Cranky, creepy Captain! Inept grups! Nice plague make-up. Onlies of the Flies: “Bonk bonk” FTW! #
  • ST:TOS: “Dagger of the Mind” Madness! Useless security guard! Schweitzer->Mengele! Crazy guy w/ later role! HUGE air ducts! Xmas party FTW! #
  • ST:TOS Rewatch: “Corbomite Maneuver” Ted Cassidy=James Earl Jones. Bailey=Baby Picard. First Federation? Respect the xylophone! Tranya FTW! #

Unblogged Bits (Mon. 25-Apr-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

  1. Star Trek Peter David Takes Fans Down Blind Man’s Bluff – Pleased to see the next “New Frontiers” series coming out — and sad to hear it may be the last.
  2. BREAKING: John Boehner’s $5 Million Attorney Drops DOMA Defense – I’m sure this will be spun as gay thugs intimidating the law.
  3. Rules for golfing during the blitz – I suspect this is bogus, but it’s funny nonetheless.
  4. Bible-Quoting Billboards for the Atheist Crowd – Actually, I think it would be worthwhile to have these sorts of billboards up. It might actually engender some conversation about what folks accept or reject from the Bible, why, and how that might apply to other subjects.
  5. All Trump Everything – “Mounting a presidential campaign has always been a great way get pet issues into the media spotlight. That works especially well when your pet issue is yourself being in the media spolight.”
  6. When Officials Consider Democracy a Problematic Inconvenience – The Washington Monthly – Remember how the Right used to claim that local control of things was the true American way?

Unblogged Bits for Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Golf recap

Well, I’m not going to recap it in detail, since I Tweeted the whole thing fairly extensively.  We were down at the Links in Highlands Ranch, which is an executive 18 (no Par 5s).

I was, overall, pleased with the experience. Playing “best ball” makes that easier, but I shot plenty of shots that I felt good about. Given that I’ve golfed, oh, twice in the last couple of years (at the same tournament), that’s not too bad.

Need to figure out a way to wrassle up some friends into doing some golfing some time.

 

Tweets from 2009-08-16

  • Some lovely teppan shrimp and fried rice, some Sapporo draft, green tea ice cream, some Irish coffee at home, the Daily Show … and thou. #
  • Well, it's my annual opportunity to demonstrate how much I've retained of my 3rd Level Golf Skills since last year this time. #
  • RT @pvponline: How can I believe in a loving God if he prevents me from having Chic-Fil-A on Sundays? #
  • One of our golf foursome is a no-show. I'm sure I can slow us down for two. #
  • So far not embarrassing myself too badly. More than my share of best balls. The 8 iron is my friend. Or at least not my enemy. #
  • Onto the back nine. Only occasionally feeling like an idiot. That's a huge victory for me. Down 1 ball net. Best ball team at +2. #
  • For the record, Bud Lite Lime tastes just as awful as you would expect a cheap domestic light beer with artificial lime flavor to taste. #
  • Excuse me. Natural lime flavor. Same awful taste. #
  • Watched-for beer ladies never drive by. #
  • Round ends with losing a ball, then best putt + putting in for team par. Neat! #
  • Lost: 3 balls (net), glove ball marker. Not lost: cell phone (barely), sense of humility, temper (mostly). #
  • Driving sucked, short game good, putting fair. Not bad for once a year. Now for beer. #
  • And many thanks to @dksampson for providing water and encouragement from her backyard at 13. in reply to dksampson #
  • Always enjoy the 19th Hole camaraderie after a round of golf. Especially, tho not solely, the beer. #

Golf? Golf!

So … not much golf to report on over the last year. In fact, I think the last time I went out was for the parish golf tournament last July/August….

So … not much golf to report on over the last year. In fact, I think the last time I went out was for the parish golf tournament last July/August.

Which brings me to this year’s parish golf tournament (see “not much golf to report on”). 

Actually, did pretty fun. Went around with some folks who I’ve golfed with before, playing a best ball game at the Links G.C. in Highlands Ranch (where we were last year), netting a par for the group, which was pretty good. Despite not having golfed for a year, I felt pretty good about what I did — not too many truly awful shots, and enough cases where mine was the best ball that I felt like I was pulling my weight.

Despite the fact that it was supposed to get to the high 90s or 100 today, a nice breeze, plus late afternoon light overcast, kept it from being too ghastly hot.

Overall, a nice way to spend the afternoon. Many thanks to Margie for making it possible. 🙂

Lovely, Laborious Weekend in Review

Thursday:  Worked from home.  Parents arrived.  Much chit-chat. Went to Katherine’s karate class, then had dinner at Via Baci.  Everyone then watched my karate class, which was fun (and…

Thursday

:  Worked from home.  Parents arrived.  Much chit-chat.

Went to Katherine’s karate class, then had dinner at Via Baci.  Everyone then watched my karate class, which was fun (and occasionally embarrassing).

Friday:  Margie had to work and Kitten was at school. I slept in (aaaah), and then the ‘rents and I took in lunch at Gunther Toody’s.  Afterwards we swung by Best Buy to look at GPSs.

Margie and Kitten got home anon, so we went off to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, then went over and saw Stardust.

Saturday:  Various prep for the afternoon/evening dinner party, to wit, Cheese Fondue, Surf-n-Turf Entree, and Chocolate Fondue for dessert.  Yummy food, good company of a dozen or so.

Sunday:  Brunch, church, then rush off for Doyce, Dad and I playing 9 Par 3s at South Surburban.  The less said about which the better, save that Doyce lost more balls than I did and still beat me on strokes.  We really ought to play more.  Really.

Dinner at Le Central, which was yummy as ever.

Monday:  Slept in a bit.  Lazed about a bit.  Put together decor for Kay’s room a bit.  Dinner at Maggiano’s.

Tuesday, et al.:  Folks leave in the morning.  We fast for the rest of the week.

Fore!

Went out and golfed yesterday afternoon for the first time in — well, probably a year.  It was the parish golf tourney, competing foursomes playing best ball.  We were at…

Went out and golfed yesterday afternoon for the first time in — well, probably a year.  It was the parish golf tourney, competing foursomes playing best ball.  We were at -1 going around to the back nine, but ended up +2 by the time all was said and done.

I’ve been very lax on the golfing, obviously.  Doyce and I haven’t been out in ages, and my Dad and I haven’t played the last couple of visits out.  I should really work to change both of those.

That said, I played about as well as I have been (i.e., the skills haven’t deteriorated, they just haven’t improved from their low level).  I lost a fair number of balls, but on the other hand had the “best ball” often enough to make me feel like I was pulling my own weight.  I also sank a couple of really nice putts.

We were playing at the Links, an executive-length course in Highlands Ranch, pretty much just over the freeway south of us.  Despite having driven past it eleventy-zillion times, I’ve never played there before.  It’s a nice course, well-maintained, with plenty of terrain hazards to keep things visually interesting.  It’s a bit cheaper than South Suburban’s full-length course.  The term “executive length” basically means its a par 60 for 18, not the traditional 72; there are a lot of par 3 holes, interspersed with enough long par 4s to keep the variety up.

The weather was a seriously mixed bag.  When we started, it was lightly overcast, but still warm and quite humid (for Denver).  Later the cloud cover vanished, leaving it hot.  By the time we were at 15, clouds were beginning to roll in, and on 18 it started to rain lightly — perfect timing.

All in all a good day.  I should really do that more often.

A thing of beauty

Nike ran a set of high-speed digital cameras on Tiger Woods driving a ball. The resulting slow motion replays are like watching ballet (in a good way). He makes it…

Nike ran a set of high-speed digital cameras on Tiger Woods driving a ball. The resulting slow motion replays are like watching ballet (in a good way).

He makes it look soooooooo simple.

The key? Watch the head shot. His eyes are nailed to the ball. Far as I’m concerned, if I could learn that trick, I could die a happy man.

(via Neatorama)

Golfing on a Sunday afternoon

Made it out onto a course Sunday for the first time in (mutter mumble) months, for my church’s parish golf tourney.  We played at South Suburban, which is as close…

Made it out onto a course Sunday for the first time in (mutter mumble) months, for my church’s parish golf tourney.  We played at South Suburban, which is as close to a “home course” for me as I’m willing to admit, and nicely balances variety and challenge level for, well, folks like me who only play golf occasionally.

The format was foursomes playing best ball, and it was one of the best-balanced best ball teams I’ve been on.  Everyone contributed, and there were very few shots where everyone fell apart.  Yours Truly did his share from the tee, fairway, and on the green, and I was quite pleased with myself, esp. given my lack of practice.  We ended up coming in at par for 18, which is pretty decent, in my book.

I really need to play more …