Sexy golf, the LPGA and the BGA?

In a recent, unrelated post, some comments were made about the LPGA needing some kind of shot to the arm to increase viewership and interest. While those comments were focused more on the influence of Korean golfers, it seems to me that the "problem" is more fundamental and rests with the fans.

I think it's a shame that women golfers have to market themselves to the calendar crowd in order to bolster the viewership. It may be a shame, but at this point, it’s probably necessary. You don't see this happening with the men. I certainly don't want to see a half naked Singh or Daly, but I love to watch them golf.

Keep your shirt on. Photo from the Augusta Chronicle.

If we really want the LPGA to grow, we need more good players. If it gets to the point that only the beautiful ones get endorsement packages and the accompanying support that goes with them, regular looking but talented girls will be discouraged from pursuing the sport as a profession. Herein lies the catch-22: the purses are too small (though growing) to inspire the same kind of dedication in female golfers as male golfers. To increase the prize money, we need to generate more revenue. To generate more revenue, what do we need? Better golf or better-looking golf?

The LPGA is an association for professional athletes, not beauty queens. That some of them are stunning ought to be a bonus, not the focus. By focusing on the cover-model golfers, we're kind of growing the interest while narrowing the field with irrelevant standards. One place to start would be with a sponsor (say, Nike) endorsing and promoting the hell out of a good golfer with an interesting personality but maybe not the best looking (say, Christina Kim, or better yet, someone more obscure that we don’t know yet). There’s a saying that “it takes money to make money.” How about some sponsors investing some serious dough for the purses to make it really interesting? And investing in some good golfers to make it about an athletic competition instead of a golf event as the talent portion of some beauty pageant?

It's the age old dilemma... the media show us what they think we want to see because they want our money. We buy their products because it's what's there. Sure, sex sells but so does talent.

Maybe we need an entirely new Association – the BGA (Beautiful Golfers Association) for men and women. We can have a panel that selects the talent (ahem) and they all compete against one another for huge prize money. And we can have judges decide who wins. It wouldn’t be entirely based on score, either - that would just be one segment of the judging. Okay, maybe it’s not an association to rival the PGA and LPGA… it’s more of a bad reality show. But admit it – you’d watch. And it just might stigmatize the selling of sexiness in the LPGA enough to put the focus back on golf there.

I started this by saying that the "problem" might rest with the fans. But only because we're buying what they're selling. Will we buy an LPGA that's about golf?

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Now that's more like it

The day after "The dullest round EVER" I played the same course - Simi Hills - with friends. I even played from the forward tees with another female golfer - for money! Now that's golfing. We had a great time and will be playing together more often.
**Side note: some of those pollywogs in the lake on 14 looked like they were already sprouting legs... watch out!**

I also played on Sunday at a course I hadn't played before called "De Bell" in Burbank. It's a short but treacherous course. I played as a guest in another club's tournament, so I wasn't eligible for prize money. Good thing, I guess, because I wouldn't have won if I was. I had nine good holes - one birdie, six pars and two bogies. The rest were total disasters and I shot a 108! My highest round in recent memory. I even took a 12 on a par 4 - I don't remember the last time I took double digits on a hole. Blech. It turned out there were very few people who DIDN'T take a double digit somewhere on that course. It was still really fun and I might have eased up on the beer and taken it more seriously if I were competing.

I still won two out of two closest-to-the-pins, with one coming on a blind shot over a hill. On this par 3, you have to wait for the group in front of you to ring "de bell" before teeing off because you really can't see the green. I stuck my shot about 5 feet from the pin and my ball mark was about two feet closer than that. That felt good!

I'll be playing Tuesday in another charity tournament. I think it's probably a scramble, which can be really fun. We've got an enjoyable foursome and I'm looking forward to it.

I could have muttered a few times about hating golf during my 12, but I LOVE PLAYING GOLF.

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The dullest round EVER

Today I played at Simi Hills. I walked on and got paired up with THE DULLEST golfer ever. It's amazing what a difference that can make in a round. He might have said eight words to me the whole round, and never once even cracked a smile. Oowee, Tiara... I hope he's near the top of the list for the personality transplant, because his has coded and is completely non-functional.

As for my round, it was dismal. I had to go spout off my mouth in a recent post about my consistency in hitting fairways with my driver. I hit a whopping 3 out of 13. A couple were in better position because I cut corners, but still. And as for greens... I don't know why I carry a ball-mark repair tool. I didn't hit a single green in regulation today. Maybe I just like being a janitor and cleaning up everyone else's marks.

On the positive side, it was a beautiful day for an 18-hole walk. And for those of you who know the course, they are repairing that ravine on 11 that got damaged in the rains. Meanwhile, it's temporarily a par-3 with a green in the middle of the fairway.

Oh, and there were literally THOUSANDS of tadpoles in the lake on 14. That place is going to be swarming with frogs soon. Ribbit! Also, I must have seen at least 50 bunnies. Most of them were in pairs, so that number's getting bigger as I type!

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Rattlesnake season - be alert!

If you live in a climate where rattlesnakes thrive, 'tis the season, so be on the lookout!

Last week I played at Tierra Rejada. There are "caution: rattlesnake" signs posted around the course in certain areas, but I guess I had become complacent over the winter.

I had been paired up with a couple of big hitters from a local college team and their coach, but they left after nine holes so I was a single sandwiched between two foursomes. The course was pretty crowded, so there was no space to play through. It was a gorgeous day, the first one in a long time, so I tried not to let the waiting get to me. I admired the course, the vegitation, the rabbits and squirrels playing. Then I thought I'd go easter egg hunting while I waited. I had lost a few balls and thought I could replace them with a couple quick hunts.

I took two steps into the long grass and thought to myself "this is probably a bad idea - at least go back and grab a club to whack around in here." Just as I took one step to the edge, a three-foot rattlesnake slithered right by my foot! No rattling, so he probably wasn't a threat, but I admit I squealed and jumped. Sure, in hindsight that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. It was lucky the snake didn't seem to mind. And I'm glad there was no one nearby to witness it.

The guys I played with on the front nine spotted a baby one just off the cart path by one of the tees. They're out there, so be careful!

I decided I didn't really want to find anymore golf balls that day.









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New addition to the trophy collection

Yesterday I played in Tumbleweed Tom's Elks Lodge charity tournament at Sunset Hills. I heard that compared to previous years, the turnout was quite low, but there must have still been over 100 people playing in the event. It was a scramble/best ball type thing and Greg and I were paired with a couple fun characters. Our handicaps ranged from 15-41, so we didn't stand a chance against the teams that assemble themselves to win. They gave us 8 strokes, and they didn't take away strokes from the scratch players. We were just out there to have fun anyway.

Our first hole was 17, a 200-yard, tough-to-hit par 3. I was last to hit and no one had hit the green. I landed mine 16'7" from the hole (we measured for the KP) and we made par there. My closie didn't hold, as one guy stuck it in to 12'4" to win the $75. Darn!

The greens had recently been punched, so putting was unpredictable. Balls were bouncing all over and no two putts from the same spot went in the same direction. There was a lot of muttering about it back at the lodge. We felt like we did well for our skill levels and got out of the round with a gross score of 1-under. It turned out to be around 10th place.

Unbeknownst to me, there were three foursomes of just ladies (I was playing with three men) who were competing in the "ladies division." Three foursomes with first, second and third place trophies. They all won! However, I did sneak in there and claim the ladies long drive contest.

It was on the 14th hole and we were the second to last group to play that hole and there were only men behind us. I saw the ladies long drive marker in the fairway only about 120 yards out! I have to admit, for a moment I considered just sticking an 8-iron out in the middle to ensure my victory. But we were a team and we could use a nice drive to get a good score on this hole. It was into the wind and I risked missing the fairway, but I nailed a solid drive over the bunker on the right and out into the fairway to just past the 150 marker. So it was only about 220 yards, but it was way more than I needed to win the trophy, plus we used my drive and worked out a par there.

Here she is. Same style trophy, but bigger, and gold-ish. More like an Oscar. :)

Since I haven't been playing so well lately, I'll take what I can get. My drives and fairways hit percentage is the only thing that's staying relatively solid and reliable. Actually, I got us on a lot of greens yesterday, too. From the tee on par 3's and with my irons from the fairways. Hard to say how I'd have done on my own overall, especially considering that nightmarish putting surface. Ah, but we all had a fun day!

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A professional golfer's blog!

There just aren't enough female golf bloggers. But we can add one more to the list!

There also aren't enough professional golfers blogging. We can add one to that as well - for a total of.... ONE?

That's right, Megan Heckeroth, an actual pro golfer on the LPGA tour has her own golf blog and I'm adding it to my list of sites on my sidebar. I first learned about it over on Bogey Lounge, then it got picked up over at Hooked on Golf, where her blog posts are also featured now.
She writes about her trips and her tournaments - how cool is that? It's like what I do, only I'm a hack and a wannabe. She's actually ON TOUR! One thing, though: her site has this funny green tint to it... or maybe that's just the way I see it through my jealous, jealous eyes.



Go, Megan! Good luck and keep blogging!
(photo taken from megangolf.com)










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Colorado golf course, foxes and Cornbread

I have officially added Colorado to my list of states played for a grand total of 14.

It was a double leg trip, with my first stop in Detroit. It was supposed to snow in Detroit and the weather forecast for Denver showed rain and low temperatures. I didn’t even bring my clubs. I did, however, pack some golf clothes and shoes, and I always have a glove, some balls and tees in my suitcase. You never know when an opportunity will present itself.

The clubhouse at Fox Hollow. My camera was back at home in my golf bag
so I had to buy one of those disposable jobbies. Hence the poor quality.

It turned out that the day I had time to play was actually sunny and in the 50’s. It was incredibly windy, but I decided to check another state off my list and headed out to Fox Hollow in Lakewood. The people were nice and professional, though not as uber-friendly as some of the people I've encountered in the states I've played (Hello, Nebraska!). For my round, the cart, a couple logo balls, a snazzy divot repair tool, a hat and rental clubs, I paid a total of $109.75. Quite reasonable, I thought!



As usual, the rental sets were shabby. First, they handed me a nice, shiny set. Ladies’ clubs. Drat. I was tempted to take them anyway and suffer the consequences of playing with clubs shorter and more flexible than I’m used to. In hindsight, I probably should have. My game’s been off lately anyway, and this day was no exception, so it couldn’t have hurt me much.

The driver did okay for me, but I couldn't hit the other woods if my life depended on it (good thing it didn't).

Fox Hollow has three nines: Canyon, Meadow and Links. The pro shop sent me out with instructions to play Links and Canyon. The starter considered the wind and that it was my first time there and going out alone and re-directed me to play Canyon and Meadow. He said I’d be more protected from the wind that way. I sure couldn’t tell it from the first hole! The wind was howling! I managed to keep my first drive in the fairway, but I couldn’t find any yardage markers and the green was elevated and unknown to me. My second shot fell short, but I got on with my third. I arrived at an enormous green on top of the hill where the wind was trying to knock my socks off. No external force necessary, I three putted to start my round with a double bogey.

I took this picture to show the wind on the first hole. Because of the quality, it's hard to see, but look at the bottom of the flagstick compared to the location of the actual flag.

I par’d the next two holes and a foursome let me play through on the par 5 fourth hole. After an impressive drive, I hacked around with all the eyes on me and carded another double. The next hole was interesting. It was a blind tee-shot with one of those low-tech marshal signs they change from red to green when it’s okay to hit. From the drawing on the scorecard, I could tell it went left and down and was intersected with a creek at the bottom of the hill. No guts, no glory. My shot went right where I intended but I had no way of knowing if that was the right thing to do. I found my ball a few feet in front of the edge of the creek – perfect luck! All my shots to the green were going long, and this was no exception. I ended up just off the back, from where I chipped on and two-putted for a bogey. That was a fun hole.

You can see my ball in the bottom right of the picture. How's that for a lucky blind shot?
So there's the hollow...

And here's the fox.

At the end of the Canyon nine, I was ten over with a 45. Seven out of seven fairways hit, one out of nine greens (three were within inches), and a mere 18 putts! It actually felt pretty good! Then came the Meadow nine.

After noticing I’d hit every fairway on the front, I missed the next three. I hacked around on the first hole of Meadow (a par 5) and FOUR-putted to start yet again with a double bogey. The next hole was even worse, where I finally found the sand. This hole won our battle and left me with a snowman after a three-putt.

*Side note: The night before in my hotel room, I watched the movie “What the Bleep do We Know?” It’s a movie about quantum physics (a subject for which I geek out) and I loved it. I took it to the course with me, where I WAS the ball, the club, and the fairway. Be the ball, Danny. I guess on the back nine I became the turkey sandwich, the pretzels and the bunkers, and forgot about the rest of it. I should have remembered that I’m also the putter.*

Two holes and two three-putts later, the twosome in front of me invited me to play with them. Vince and Cornbread. Yes, that’s right – Cornbread. “My real name is Jeremy, but I only hear that name when I’m yelling at myself.” I found out he got the name back when he was the only white kid at his high school. Made sense to me. He had tattoos covering both his hands and arms, and on his fingers, it said “GAME OVER.” Apparently not his golf game. The guy could play and he was a real teddy bear. “There are only three things I care about: golf, lifting weights and women.” Vince commented that they weren’t necessarily in that order and Cornbread corrected him. A guy after my own heart – he’s passionate about his golf!

We enjoyed the rest of the round and I ended up with a 53 on that nine for a total of 98. I guess that’s not terrible considering my recent slump, the rental clubs, the unfamiliar course and the wind. I just don’t like settling for “not terrible.” I had thoughts about continuing on to play the Links nine as well, but the wind had battered me and I was done.

Cornbread works as a host at a “gentlemen’s” club right across the street from the hotel where I stayed. He invited me to the pajama party they were having that night. I declined. I didn’t pack pajamas.

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Tricky Masters coverage - set your DVR right!

Awhile back, I put up a post called "TiVo tips for golf fans." Among other things, it explains how to set up a Wishlist in order to make sure it automatically records all the golf you want. My "PGA" keyword wishlist gets a whole lot of golf, even things I don't want. But the one glaring thing it misses is the Masters!

I mentioned in that post that I have a separate keyword wishlist for the Masters, but I just checked my to-do list and it wasn't on there. Turns out I didn't have it set to auto record, so I needed to view upcoming episodes and tell it to record. Now, I'm not really big on watching sports on TV and I don't follow the Masters like some obsessed mediaguru, so I didn't even know on what channel to look for it. Good thing my wishlist tracked it down.

In case you don't know (and I don't know if it's even true in all areas), it's on USA the first two days and CBS over the weekend. So if you're already at work and didn't set your TiVo right, just come on over to my place tonight and we'll all have a party watching it. Then get out and set your own DVR for the rest of it! You've been warned! :)

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The Golf Space opens its virtual doors

Mediaguru from the Hooked on Golf Blog has started a new craze for golf addicts. It's like MySpace, but for golfers, and is appropriately called "The Golf Space."

For a full description and explanation of what it is, see the HOG Blog post about it. That's a direct link so you can jump right over the "all Masters all the time" thing that's going on there right now. :)

I'm signed up as - you guessed it - golfchick. It already has 157 members and it just officially opened its doors yesterday! So get over there and claim your name if you haven't already. See you at the Golfspace.

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