Ladies Links Fore Golf Magazine

One of the spillover benefits of any professional golf tournament is the sideshow attractions. In a way it may sometimes have the feel of a circus – not in a calamity sense but more like a curiosity seeker. For a passionate golfer or a golf nut this is always an area for fun and exploration. The RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup has provided us with a small city block for discovery.

Within this sphere of exploration we have discovered a most classy magazine dedicated to and focused on the women golfers of the world - Ladies Links Fore Golf Magazine. The magazine is the brainchild of several LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals who sought to fill a void that was created when Golf for Women passed on to the great 18 holes in the sky. Its singular purpose is to provide a written and virtual meeting place for all women golfers.

Each issue contains articles and interviews on all aspects of the game – personalities, instruction, fashion & gear, and fitness & health. It is fashionable and elegant, filling a valuable niche in the world of women's golf.

Affectionately billed as LL4G, it is the Official Online Amateur Golf Community of the LPGA and the website is worth a visit to get a feel for the quality of this magazine – http://www.ll4g.com/.

Golf's 'Other' Rules

Recently a very useless piece of golf literary paraphernalia has been brought to my attention. It is a survey piece on GolfDigest.com that delves into Golf's 'Other' Rules. These are not the sacrosanct rules of the game so meticulously elaborated by the USGA and the R&A. Rather these are the nuances of etiquette that we encounter everyday at every golf courses.

For instance, does your favorite course allow denim? How about collarless shirts? What about the combination of both. Survey says ...
COURSES THAT ALLOW DENIM (BLUEJEANS)
PRIVATE: 37%
PUBLIC: 68%

THOUGHT: Frankly, if you want to wear bluejeans and a tee shirt and play golf, find an empty framer's field and have a go.

And here's another etiquette gem in our modern golf world: cell phone usage. Survey says ...
COURSES THAT ALLOW CELL-PHONE USAGE
PRIVATE: 83%
PUBLIC: 98%
18% of all courses that allow cell phones forbid their use on the golf course.

THOUGHT: If you really need to use your cell-phone, stay off the golf course.

And last, but not least in the survey ...
COURSES WHERE GOLF CARTS ARE MANDATORY
PRIVATE: 13%
PUBLIC: 11%

THOUGHT: If a golf course informs you that carts are mandatory, you know that course does not have the game of golf at heart (nevermind your own heart-health). You'll know it's all profit motive. Find another track for your ball.

There's more in the survey, so have a read. It's fun but it will also stir your interest.

Picks for the Masters

Anyone and everyone that can swing a golf club wants to predict the winner of the Masters. Good luck! If you saw last year’s ceremony at which the 2008 winner placed the coveted Green Jacket on the 2009 winner, you know that it’s a giant crap shoot. Remember who it was? In case you don’t it was Zach Johnson slipping the Green Jacket over the shoulders of Angel Cabrera. That should a clue concerning the difficulty of selecting the winner.

But we just cannot resist the temptation. So here goes, the Eye On Golf picks.

Best Pick: Ernie Els – Finally rejuvenated, Ernie won his last two and has his game in shape, but can his new found putting prowess stand up?

Of Course Pick: Tiger Woods - Despite his recent tabloid troubles, Tiger Woods is still Tiger Woods. Expect him to be there when the Masters really begins, on the back nine of Sunday.

Sentimental Pick: Phil Mickelson – Let’s admit it; we would all love to see Phil win again at Augusta.

British Pick: Ian Poulter – Even if he isn’t close, we want to see what he’s wearing.

No Chance in Heck: K. J. Choi & Matt Kuchar – They’re paired with Tiger in rounds 1 & 2. Enough said.

Old Guys Pick #1: Fred Couples – He’s winning everything on the Champions Tour and has the Augusta National Golf Gods behind him.

Old Guys Pick #2: Tom Watson – After last year’s British Open, do you believe in miracles?

Rookie Pick: Nathan Green – Come on, Green at Augusta.

Increase your odds with the bookies. Try one of these duofectas.

Pick #1: Campbell & Campbell, Michael and Chad – A former British Open champ and one of last year’s playoff losers.

Pick #2: Wood & Woods – Well, you can’t go wrong with Tiger and you can include the tall, lanky Englishman Chris Wood who looks like he should play basketball for Butler.

And you can take these to the bank!

Golf in America

As we have stated in the past golf literature takes us down many paths. One of those magical, mystery tours is the history of the game. Often, when we think of the history of the game, we are drawn to the players and the tournaments. A quick glance at the history books in our library reveals such titles as The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost and The Majors by John Feinstein. Both are historical works that focus on the players and the tournaments.

But there are many exits off the history highway. And recently a historical volume has been published that approaches the history of the game from a different angle – Golf in America by George B. Kirsch. Kirsch is a professor of history at Manhattan College and the author of several other historical sports book. This present volume focuses directly on the development of the game in the United States from 1888 to the present. If we were to more accurately title this book, it would be The Story of Golf in America for it is a history of the game but not in the sense of name, dates and tournament results. There is biographical information and there is tournament information, but it is woven into the text when it is applicable to the period being discussed. Golf in America is primarily a socio-economic history of golf in the U.S. with the proper infusion of human interest. Kirsch gives us just enough human interest information to peak our interest for further research.

It is not the purpose of this book to provide total in depth fact and analysis on the growth of the game we love in the United States. Rather, by reading Golf in America you will come to understand why the game has become so popular despite economic downturns and various forms of segregation. Kirsch helps us to understand how golf survived two major wars and the Great Depression and how it became the game of the business world. The volume is all encompassing of the game including the development of public golf courses, African-American and female involvement in the game. Beginning of page 79 the author provides an excellent six-page expository on the development of golf in the African-American community.

Kirsch's chapter on “The Americanization of Golf” is well documented and makes for fascinating reading as he traces the growth of the game at the turn of the 20th century and the reasons for it. We also learn how golf course construction provided vast unemployment relief early in the Great Depression.

Despite the fact that this volume barely touches the surface of golf's impact on the American society, there is much to learn from a careful reading. Serious students of the game will also enjoy Kirsch's detailed Bibliography. We highly recommend that any golfer with a sense of history for the game, read Golf in America.

Leftist golf media taking their shots

The times they have changed. (My apologies to Bob Dylan) We have entered an electronic age in which experts on virtually every subject known to mankind are making their sentiments publicly known. Some are kind and gentle and some appear to be kind and gentle but have in reality escaped from the bowels of literary hell.

The world of golf is no exception. The blogosphere is filled with “golf experts” who are unafraid to present their opinions on a particular point of minutia. Golf is a multifaceted game. There are more story lines than stars in the sky. And the most dominate story line in the golf world, especially in the absence of tournaments, has been the Tiger Woods saga. Every writer has weighed in on Tiger’s situation.

Perhaps the most weight has been thrown around by author and golf blogger Geoff Shackelford on his website geoffshackelford.com. In general Shackelford’s website tracks the world of golf and directs patrons to articles of interest usually with a short, snarky comment of his own. In fairness, his website is one of the most popular in the world of golf. He is a pied piper of sorts.

Naturally he has been tracking the saga of Tiger since the day it began – almost all Tiger, almost all the time. Until three or four days ago he has been doing his usual thing. But on January 3 Shackelford decided to open a political can of worms on his blog when he stated, “… in yet another sign this story has hit rock bottom, windbag extraordinaire Brit Hume weighs in on how Tiger can rehab his life and image.” His commentary is emphatically political. Using descriptions “rock bottom” and “windbag extraordinaire” is a dead give away to his political leaning – left.
Talk about hitting rock bottom and being a windbag extraordinaire! Shackelford has duplicated the very faculty he is objecting to. But why should he care. His loyal following is heavily slanted to his opinion. You can check it our for yourself on his website which is living off of the Tiger mess and now the Hume slamming.

And, of course, there had to be more. Windbag extraordinaire Tom Shales, style columnist for the Washington Post, decided to take on Mr. Hume’s comments. The observations of Mr. Shales are, as you might expect, hardly fair and balanced. Of course, Shackelford references the comments of Shales on his website – birds of a feather, if you will.

We can only conclude that the new rock bottom has been hit by Shackelford and Shales.