September 2007

Let’s start by saying I have never owned, as of yet, a golf ball retriever.

I’m kinda like Natalie Gulbis, who said in a commercial, that she let’s ‘em stay in the water, lest they come back and infect the other ones in the bag.

BUT, and that’s a big butt, but not quite as big as J-lo’s, I may just have to invest in one of these sweet little retrievers I just read about in a Press Release.

This season’s greatest gift idea for golfers may be the one of the most versatile golf ball retrievers ever built - The Dipper (TM) compact golf ball retriever from www.dippergolf.com.

The small, yet sturdy Dipper clips to the shaft of the golfer’s three iron,
or other bladed club, and extends to over 12 inches. This configuration
makes it ideal for the easy retrieval of golf balls from hazards such as
ponds, creeks, and wetlands. Yet when collapsed for storage, the retriever is only 7 inches long and weighs less than 3 ounces. In addition, it has an integrated groove-cleaning tool for extra versatility.

The Dipper’s compact size makes it ideal for golfers, like me, who don’t want to carry a bulky, unsightly ball retriever with their golf clubs.

Easily stored in the pocket of a golf bag, the retriever enables a golfer to ‘just clip and dip’ to recover a golf ball in a water hazard. At a time of rising golf ball costs, it’s an easy and inexpensive way to protect your investment.

The Dipper is an ideal holiday gift and comes in several colors.

Constructed of aircraft aluminum and high impact plastic, The Dipper is
rustproof and is built for years of service on the golf course. It’s available in selected golf pro shops and at the company’s Web site at
www.dippergolf.com for a suggested retail price of $12.95.

Discounts are available for large quantity orders — and can be branded with an organization’s logo.

If you buy one and save an almost drowned ProV1, you can always say you ” Won one with The Dipper ! ”

Sorry Knute, that was kinda sad.

Just in case you don’t normally visit ESPN for your golf talk, I think it’s worth it to read Jason Sobel’s Five Things We Learned During The FedEx Cup.

In it, he says Rory was right. Tiger is beatable… once in every five tries.

Thanks kinda funny, since Tiger won more times in the last month than Rory has in his career.

The sad part of the whole thing is that Tiger could have skipped the last and did skip the first event and still won this thang.

That’s an indication that the points part of the process needs serious tweaking. Serious.

Anybody got any ideas on how to fix it ?

Tim Finchem’s a big TravellingGolfer.com fan, so I’m sure he’ll see it if we leave him a tidbit or two.

Jus’ kiddin’.

My friend Mike Pedersen just went live with his newest golf blog, Mike Pedersen Golf.

It’s a visual masterpiece and I can guarantee it’ll be edutaining.

Mike’s an expert at teaching you how to use fitness to improve your golf game and your life while you’re at it.

Click thru and subscribe to his RSS feed, like I already did and leave him a comment, like I already did.

At the end of the FedEx Cup rainbow sits a pot of gold named Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

The Best Golfer On The Planet By Far. Easily. Comfortably. Totally.

He won the year-long event and earned the $10 million prize with talent, hard work and mental fortitude.

He won the Tour Championship at East Lake, home of the legendary Bobby Jones and I have to imagine that Mr. Jones would be delighted and proud to have such a man as champion.

Congrats to Tiger and Steve Williams, too. I’d say the best golfer probably has the best caddie as well.

Now, let’s get back to our regularly scheduled golf programming.

As I’ve tried to watch the last tournament in the FedEx Cup Playoffs on TV this weekend, I was confused, at times, by what The Golf Channel was showing and what I was able to”see” was actually happening live thru the internet coverage.

As I read the NYTimes (online version) this morning, I finally found my answer.

The Golf Channel was delaying their broadcast and was choosing to show Tiger, not the action, not the entire 30 man field, not much of anything except Tiger.

Here’s the link to the NYTimes version of this story. You have to be a registered member to read the content, but it’s a free membership. I’ve had mine for years and it hasn’t hurt me yet, so don’t be afraid of them. They love you. They want to feed you content and info. Really.

The gist of it, in case you’re too paranoid too go thru that one little step is:

” If a logical reason exists for The Golf Channel spending the day in taped coverage when live action was available, it is this: for five hours, it had Woods full-time. It’s not a good reason to look foolish and shameless, but it’s a reason. “

That’s not what I expect or want from the network covering golf for me. I want to watch the event, as it unfolds and with whomever is playing or leading to be shown.

Just like ABC, The Golf Channel is all-Tiger, all the time. Numbers over common sense is par for their course.

Over in the left-hand sidebar is a blog syndicator from BlogRush.

If you’re a golf blogger you may want to click my link and read about what BlogRush can potentially do to bring you more traffic.

I’m testing it out and will report back about what does or doesn’t happen for me, but you can click thru and watch a video and the sign-up is at no cost, so it’s basically a no-lose situation that only takes a couple of minutes to set it up.

There’ll be 5 blog posts in the Sports category shown on the widget. A click will open a new window, so you won’t lose the reader.

For every page view you serve back to them, you get your posts shown on another widget somewhere in the system.

Potentially, you could really see some staggering numbers, if your headlines are attractive to readers and if the widgets are easily seen on the other blogs in your category.

We’ll see if it does me any good.

For now, free and easy is the right cost at the right time, so go signup and try it out.

Golf Vacation Insider, the leading website for expert, unbiased and trusted golf travel advice, has published a revealing “special report” on Turning Stone Resort & Casino just one week prior to its hosting of an official PGA Tour event.

Turning Stone will undoubtedly put its best foot forward when the PGA
Tour plays the Turning Stone Resort Championship there next week
(September 20-23, 2007), but Golf Vacation Insider’s free “special
report” examines what the general public can expect when taking a golf vacation to the Verona, N.Y., resort and if it is, in fact, worthy of
their time and money.

In addition to detailed descriptions and full-color photos of the
resort’s amenities, this special report reveals such things as: why
the “championship” golf course is not the best one to play (and which
of the resort’s five courses truly provides a “member for a day”
experience); the pros and cons of the resort’s lodging and dining
options; the best time to visit; the best off-resort activities to
experience; and the resort’s unique rule with respect to alcoholic
beverages.

To get this special report, golfers need only visit GolfVacationInsider and select it from a list on the right-hand side of the page.

” Hosting a PGA Tour event and hosting people on a golf vacation are
two very different things, ” said David Baum, publisher and
editor-in-chief of Golf Vacation Insider. ” Luckily, after reading our
free report on Turning Stone, you’ll immediately know if it’s the type
of golf vacation experience you’re looking for. ”

Golf Vacation Insider and Golf Odyssey, it’s printed, sister
publication, are the only golf travel publications in the world that
conduct their on-site inspections anonymously and do not accept
advertising, travel discounts or “freebies” from the properties they
review.

For more information about Golf Vacation Insider’s free, special
report on Turning Stone Resort & Casino, or to arrange an interview
with golf vacation expert David Baum, call 800-550-2286 or visit
www.GolfVacationInsider.com.

I just read that Tiger’s skipping the PGA Grand Slam of Golf event in Bermuda to be with his baby daughter.

Let me say, I have no problem with his decision. I have 3 daughters and wish I’d been able to take 2 1/2 months off to be with them.

Of course, it would be nice if they weren’t babies and might have remembered or done more than eat, sleep and soil their diapers, which is about all young Sam can do right now. After all, she couldn’t make the trip to Bermuda, could she ? Maybe he can’t afford to take her.

He’s never skipped this event before, when he’s been eligible, so it’s a new twist from golf’s #1 player. But, and here’s the bad rub here for me, I’ll bet he doesn’t skip any corporate outings during that 2 1/2 months off, just PGA Tour events.

After the Tour Championship, Tiger will have worked 7 of 11 weeks. I personally will have worked 11 of the last 11 weeks, 7 days a week most of those and he should thank his gene pool for a job like he’s got.

I’d be playing all 11 weeks and kickin’ his butt except for L.O.F.T.

What’s L.O.F.T ? Lack of freakin’ talent !

Why are those corporations paying him all that money ? Because of his success on the PGA Tour.

Who gets the short end of that success ? The PGA Tour and their sponsors.

His personal sponsors don’t get skipped, because he can still do corporate outings while not playing that week, just like Phil did before the FedEx Cup event he skipped, so Tiger’s not the only one who does this.

Tour Pro’s should try to remember that if there wasn’t a Tour, they wouldn’t have those endorsement contracts. I can vouch for this, because I kick guys asses all the time at the local level and Phil Knight hasn’t sent me a damn dime !

C’mon guys. Quit welchin’ on the Tour and start skippin’ the corporate outings every now and then.

Golf Vacation Insider, the preeminent website for expert, unbiased and trusted golf travel advice, has published a series of ” Top 10 Golf Travel Tips ” on some of the world’s most popular golf vacation destinations, including: Arizona; Florida; Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Scotland; Ireland; Mexico; the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon; and the American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Available individually as free Special Reports, Golf Vacation
Insider’s ” Top 10 Golf Travel Tips ” are destination-specific
collections of priceless, insider secrets and expert advice that can
truly make or break a golf vacation to one of these popular golf
vacation hotspots.

They reveal such things as: the best golf courses to play (and the overrated duds to skip) at large, multi-course resorts; the best times of year to visit and the bad-weather months to avoid; where to find the best restaurants on and off a resort’s property, how to stay in a hotel’s best rooms at regular prices; even how to gain access to certain private courses.

To get one or more of these free Special Reports, golfers need only
visit www.GolfVacationInsider.com and select their area(s) of interest from a list on the right-hand side of the page. All of the information contained in the reports is based on Golf Vacation Insider’s strict policy of editorial independence. Golf Vacation Insider and Golf Odyssey, it’s printed, sister publication, are the only golf travel publications in the world that conduct their on-site inspections anonymously and do not accept advertising, travel discounts or “freebies” from the properties they review.

” Cutting through the information overload and certain over-hyped
aspects of these popular golf vacation destinations is what our free
Special Reports are all about, ” said David Baum, publisher and
editor-in-chief of Golf Vacation Insider. ” Because we don’t accept
advertising or press junkets, we have the golf vacationer’s best
interests at heart and can give them the unbiased truth. ”

For more information about Golf Vacation Insider, or to arrange an
interview with golf vacation expert David Baum, call 800-550-2286 or
visit www.GolfVacationInsider.com.

My friend Terry Koehler, The Wedge Guy, has a post up about Growing The Game.

There’s a survey that you need to take and let your voice be heard.

Leave a comment and let him know what you think.

Thanks.