Too Hot for Miniature Golf?

Posted on by
1

A few years ago my brother and sister-in-law asked me if I would take care of the kids for a week.  I was thrilled to do it.   They live in the mid-west and I live on the east coast so I don’t get to see them all the time. It was summer time and I didn’t have any plans for vacation so off I went for a week of fun with my nephew and nieces!

As any aunt or uncle will tell you, one of the great things is that you get to spoil the kids and have fun.  You take them to movies or shows you would not normally go to see, you let them stay up late, you let them eat junk food for dinner one night; and basically try to make happy childhood memories for them.  In general, my goal is to be a “Cool Aunt.”

One day I thought it would be fun to take them miniature golfing.  It was a warm beautiful sunny day. Now, it did cross my mind that maybe, just maybe, one of them might catch the “golfing bug.”  After all, who doesn’t get a thrill putting a ball through windmill blades.

After about an hour it was clear they were not enjoying miniature golf. They kept saying it’s too hot. It might have been a bit warm out but I was teasing them and saying they were a bunch of sissies.  Somewhere along the way I ended up playing alone while they were all sprawled out on the lawn under a big tree.  At least the next activity — going for ice cream — was a big hit.

To this day they lovingly tease me about that horrible trip to play miniature golf in 103 degree heat and how only a crazy person (me) would play in that heat.  Now they may be exaggerating the exact temperature that day but I must admit it was really hot (yes, close to 100).

None of them play golf but at least I did achieve one goal that day — a childhood memory that makes them laugh.

Fantasy Golf — Humana Challenge

Posted on by
1

This is week three — is three times the charm for me?  Will my fantasy golf picks do well?  Who knows but here are my picks for the Humana Challenge.

(1) Phil Mickelson — what can I say he is my favorite golfer so this is a loyalty pick.  Let’s hope “Lefty” gets off to a strong start for 2012.

(2) Charles Howell III — His nick name is “Chucky Three Sticks” which is funny because he does not look like a “Chucky.”  Anyway, he was tied for 2nd last week at the Sony Open and he was 13th last year at the Humana Challenge so I’m hoping he does well this week.

(3) Kyle Stanley — He is my “What the heck” pick this week and the only reason I picked him is because Gary Williams, Golf Channel, Morning Drive host picked him. I like the Morning Drive show and so I thought I’d go with one of the host’s picks.

(4) Erik Compton — This is a long shot but Compton’s personal story is so amazing and  inspiring.  Compton is a double heart transplant.  Can you imagine having had one heart transplant let alone two; and on top of it being a good enough golfer to make the PGA tour.

Hole-in-One Dreamer

Posted on by
1

So I have not actually written a bucket list but if I did I would list a hole-in-one on it. Some might say a hole-in-one on my bucket list is too lofty a goal especially if you play the game of golf and are a pessimist (which I am not).  In fact, my advice to anyone that is a pessimist and plays golf — change sports because you are surely the person on the course that is throwing a club, swearing, or in general having a bad time.

Is a hole-in-one too lofty a goal?  Am I just a dreamer? Well I thought I would look up a few statistics to see what my chances might be to make my dream come true. Golf Digest printed that the odds are 12,000 to 1 that an average golfer will make a hole-in-one based on 3,000 rounds. If you are a low-handicap golfer (which I am not) the odds are better at 5,000 to 1 based on 1,250 rounds of golf.

Well the one thing I have learned in business is that if you don’t like the numbers provided look for some you do!  Actually that is not how I manage my business but this is for fun.  At HoleinOne.com they have some interesting statistics.  The average age is 45 (I’m in the range), there are more aces on Friday than Sunday (I’d be happy to play more on Fridays), and the club most used in making an ace is a 7-iron (I love my 7-iron).  So things are looking up!

Any statistics specific to women out in cyberspace? You bet ya!  The National Hole-In-One Registry says that 16% of holes in one are made by women. Well, this is an O.K. statistic but a better one would be what percent of women golfers make holes-in-one.

The other facts for women include:

  • Average age is 55
  • Average years of playing golf 15
  • Average length of hole is 111 yards.

Now these are numbers this hole-in-one dreamer can embrace.  I have lots of time to make my dream come true.

Results of Fantasy Golf Sony Open Picks

Posted on by
Reply

My picks for the Sony Open did not fair well.  The results are:

(1) Jeff Maggart -Tied for 13 at 8 under par. Maggart was a long shot but he had my hopes up on Sunday because he entered the 4th round tied for first place with a score of 12 under par.  It was only a few holes into the final round, when he bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes, that I knew it was going to be a bad day for Maggart.

(2) Web Simpson – Tied for 38 at 4 under par. Do you believe that if people talk about something too much it can be jinxed?  I do. All the golf commentators kept talking about how Simpson had 13 straight rounds in the 60’s coming into the Sony Open.  What happened — his streak ended with rounds of 72 (round 2)  and 70 (round 3) in the tournament. The final day he shot a 68 but that was too little, too late.

(3) Roy Sabbitini – Tied for 29 at 5 under par.  Sabbitini had a 7 (triple bogey) on the third hole (par 4) of his final round and even with 5 birdies later in the round he could not recover.  He also had drama in his final round when Vijay Singh swore at Sabbitini’s caddy.  Singh believed the caddy moved when Singh was hitting his putt. When Sabbitini defended his caddy, Singh swore at Sabbitini. According to an article in the New York Times there were a number of witnesses to this bad behavior.

(4) Heath Slocum – Missed the cut and did not play the weekend. Slocum was my “what the heck” pick this week so I can’t really be upset that he did the worst of all my picks; but this represents the second lesson learned in two weeks competing in the Golf Fantasy game.  You have to also think about whether or not your pick could actually miss the cut. It never entered my mind that any of my picks would miss the cut.  Go figure.

Is Johnson Wagner’s mustache more important than winning the Sony Open?

Posted on by
Reply

The only thing I knew about Johnson Wagner prior to the Sony Open was that golf commentators were talking about his mustache; and the comments were not exactly flattering.  Some compared his mustache to that of the sleazy private detective, Pat Healy (played by Matt Dillion) in the movie “There’s Something About Mary.”  By the way, a movie that I cannot stand.

Wagner was just one of many golfers who grew Mustache’s in November. Many grew them because of a campaign called Movember which was created to raise awareness of Men’s Health issues.  Wagner said he just didn’t shave over the holidays and decided to try a mustache. Regardless of the reason, folks teased Wagner about the “new look.”  Given it provided additional banter and color commentary for the golf media, I suppose it should not be a surprise that the commentary continued the Monday morning after he won the Sony Open.  But it seems to be “the story” about Wagner.  Now folks are comparing him to Magnum PI (Tom Selleck).

When asked about it, Wagner said his friends think he looks like a “Latin Lover” and, oh yeah,  his wife hates it.  Wagner won the Sony Open and in an interview, Wagner says he is keeping his mustache at least until he plays the Masters. He even said it adds to his confidence.

It got me thinking about personal brand.  Personal brand is certainly important for professional athletes. And I wonder if Wagner’s mustache is going to become part of his personal brand? If personal brand is about making yourself stand out from the crowd, or in this case on the golf course during a tournament, then I think the mustache might actually be more important than winning the Sony Open.

I can honestly say that prior to this week if Wagner was on the TV screen I would not recognize him. But last night during the telecast, I could recognize him in an instance because of his Mustache.  In the future will I remember who won the Sony Open in 2011, maybe.  But if Wagner still has his mustache will I recognize him on TV, definitely.

“I’m not running for President; I’m a Golfer” — Matt Every

Posted on by
Reply

Professional Golfer, Matt Every, is leading the Sony open after the third round but unfortunately that is not the big story hovering over Every.  The big story is how he handled himself and what he said in an interview with Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel. 

To make a long story short, back in 2010 Every was at the John Deere Classic and was suspended for 3 months. He was suspended because he was arrested for possession of marijuana (he pleaded no contest and charges were later dropped). So as part of her interview, Tilghman, asked about that time.  Instead of just saying something like it was a learning experience and I’ve moved on, Every just went on and on saying some really stupid (for lack of a better term) things.  For example, “Honestly, man, I know more people who smoke marijuana than who don’t smoke marijuana. I know that’s probably not the politically correct thing to say, but it’s the truth.”

When I saw this interview, I felt sorry for Every because I assumed his “management” had done him a dis-service by not giving him any PR training on how to answer questions.  Some online chatter blamed Tilghman for asking a personal question but what many may not have realized is that Matt Every was on a Golf Channel “reality” show called The Big Break and they ask lots of personal questions to get the back story on the contestants. Tilghman did her job and Every should have known how to answer quickly and move on.

He lost my sympathy vote the next day during the press conference. When asked about the interview with Tilghman, Every went on and on again and at one point he said ” I’m not running for president; I’m a golfer. So I’m really not trying to, you know, piss anyone off.”  The word that he excluded in his statement was “just” (I’m just a golfer) but it was implied (in my opinion).

When someone says (with all seriousness/not joking) “I’m just a [fill in the blank]” it is a cop-out. They are basically removing any ownership or responsibility for their own words and actions.  That just doesn’t cut it for me; especially with professional athletes because they are role models and so at a minimum should think before they speak.

Hopefully Every will learn from this experience but I will not be cheering for him to win the Sony open. I’m cheering for Jeff Maggert, the co-leader after the third round, not just because I am not a fan of Every’s but because I am a fan of Maggert’s. After all, he is one of my golf fantasy picks.

Cristie Kerr: The Transformer

Posted on by
Reply

There are a lot of things you can say about Cristie Kerr including: she is the 4th ranked LPGA player in the world (highest ranked American), has two major title wins (US Women’s Open 2007, LPGA Championship 2010), is the top American money winner (in history) with career earnings of over $13.5 million, the #1 ranked woman in golf for 5 weeks in 2010, and on and on.  But the thing that I find interesting is that she transformed herself back in 1999/2000 time-frame.

Kerr, herself, once used the expression “Four-eyed Fatty” to describe herself (how sad).  But not anymore, she went from being a 5′ 3 1/2″ young woman weighing 185 lbs with glasses and brownish curly hair to a women listed in Men’s Health magazine as one of the 12 Sexiest Female Golfers in 2011. And, the other 11 golfers are all in their twenties and Kerr is 33 years old.  Good for her!

Now you may be thinking how shallow of me to focus on this aspect of Kerr given her amazing golf talent but it is not “her looks” that I am focused. If looks were my focus I would have posted before and after photos of Kerr. No, my focus is on the dedication and determination to achieve a personal goal of health.  It just happens that often times with good health comes beauty because self-esteem improves and I believe beauty is enhanced by how you feel “inside.”  As a woman who loves golf and has also struggled with weight and staying healthy, Kerr is a role model.

She is one of my favorite golfers to watch because of her talent but I have to be honest that story behind the golfer made me an even bigger fan.

Golf pundits all a “Twitter” about Jason Gore

Posted on by
Reply

Golf is often given the bad rap of being a traditional “old boys” sport so I am not surprised by that the fact the big story today is that Jason Gore was given a sponsors exemption because of Twitter — Golf fans are not so old school after all. No surprise to a fan like me!

If you don’t know the score…back on January 6, Jason Gore sent out a tweet that he was signing up for the Northern Trust Open (Feb 14 to 19) qualifying event and tweeted he’d be “stoked” to get a sponsor’s invitation.  His fans delivered with a twitter campaign that filled the Northern Trust Twitter page with support for Gore.  Just 6 days later, Northern Trust sent out a tweet that Jason Gore is awarded an exemption.

Why I am writing about it? Because my profession is online marketing and it was fun to see how all this played out.  By the way, it didn’t hurt to have media outlets like the Golf Channel commentators talking about the twitter campaign on TV over the last few days (before Northern Golf make a decision) and giving it even more exposure.  Northern Trust got it right — They listened to the golf fans and gave them what they wanted — an exemption for Gore.  Now, Northern Trust also got what every company loves — lots of free press! And, it’s good press.

But the most important outcome is that a guy who is ranked 643 in the world and did not qualify for the PGA Tour this year got his wish thanks to his fans and twitter.

Phil Mickelson: My Favorite PGA Player

Posted on by
Reply

You know you are a big fan when you can remember where you were when a player had something big happen in their career and I can remember being at my mother’s home watching The Masters in 2004 and hoping Phil Mickelson might finally win.

Watching it was nerve-racking and I actually felt on-edge because “Lefty” (that’s his nickname) had come so close to winning a major so many times and had not won a major since his career began in 1992.   So in 2004, at that point in his career, he was known as the best player to have never won a major. When he won, I remember feeling actual joy — cheering & clapping & yelling “finally” out loud.  He went on to win two more green jackets (2006  and 2010) and I hope he wins another before his career ends.

By the way, it is not easy to win multiple jackets — Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have four and the legendary Jack Nicklaus has six green jackets. Not many people think anyone will break Jack’s record; especially given the number of young players challenging seasoned pros that have been playing poorly.

So why am I a “Lefty” Fan?  Originally he caught my eye because he was so creative and daring in his sort game (I love to watch him hit a flop shot) and he can be very inconsistent with wild shots of the tee (so that adds drama to his game).  He was the one player during the height of Tiger’s era that really was a “rival” of Tiger’s and that made the game exciting.  Over the years he has not only been entertaining on course but in watching him “off course” (with fans and the press) he just seemed like one of the “good guys.”

In recent years, he has had adversity in his personal life — both his wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer (something that hits home for me because my mother had breast cancer) and in 2010 he announced he has psoriatic arthritis.  Sounds awful but he says it is “treatable” and is now a spokesperson on TV and has lent his name to a website, On Course With Phil.

By the way, Callaway Golf sponsors Phil and I guess I am a marketer’s dream because I am a Callaway consumer (so much so that my friends gave me a new Callaway golf bag as a gift). I even have GalCallaway as my user name for Fantasy Golf and Twitter.

So needless to say, I am a huge fan and will be cheering for “Lefty” in 2012.

Fantasy Golf – Sony Picks

Posted on by
Reply

My rank on the Golf Channel fantasy golf leader board is miserable against the full field of participants.  Ok, full disclosure, my rank is 5550 (yes, I have a long way to go).  However, comparing myself to the “Expert Leader board” for the Golf Channel (GC) Experts, I’m tied with Annika Sorenstam ranked at 14. Annika may not like her rank against her peers but I’ll take it as a positive sign that I am in the mix and not lower than any of the GC Experts.

Now for my Sony picks:

(1) Web Simpson — He is one of my favorite younger players and he tied for third last week at the Hyundai. I think he will win this year and I’m hoping for an early start with picking him for Sony.

(2) Rory Sabbatini — My gut is that he is going to be really motivated after what happened to him at the Hyundai.  What happened?  He was 20 seconds (yes, seconds) late for his tee time and he was hit with a two-stroke penalty.  This is a significant penalty if you think about the fact that Steve Stricker won by one stroke over Martin Laird.  The fact that Rory recovered (by that I mean got his composure back to shoot a 73 even par round that day) and that he finished with a 68,68 on the final two days makes me think he is capable of winning this week.  Motivation and capability makes me pick him from group two.

(3) Heath Slocum — no one inspired me in group three.  So this is my “what the heck” pick this week. He is a middle of the pack player but at least he has played before (versus trying to pick one of the 25 or so rookies playing their first time on tour.)  But I do have my eye on two rookies to pick later in the season.  I’ll blog about them later.

(4) Jeff Maggert — So I am going “old school” on this one and it is a risk but to be honest I picked him because he has been on tour since 1986 and has won in the past. However, 2011 was not a stellar year so I’m hoping he has a decent start to 2012. But, it is a risk because he could also miss the cut.

Being new to this fantasy golf game, I think I will learn something new each week.  Lesson from week one — the group format is tough. I thought I’d be able to pick any 4 players each week which would be easy to pick my favorites.  But now it is clear that the groups are based on performance (with top performers in group one and moving down the ranks to fill-in the other groups) and picking in Group 3 and 4 when you are “deep in the field” with average or low ranking players is a big challenge for me.  I might have to start actually looking at statistics like driving accuracy, GIR (greens in regulation), and putting averages. But that seems like too much work so let’s not go there yet.