Damn Alabama. They lost my bet for me.

They came into the Sugar Bowl unprepared for the undefeated Utah Passin’ Utes and their secret weapon: Vasilopita.

The Utes were hungrier, better prepared, better coached and have the most loyal fan in the world on their side. That defense was fast and uber-coached.

My golf blog buddy Tony and I bet a post on the game and this is dedicated to him.

I tried to rep the SEC as the best football league in the nation, but undefeated is undefeated.

I think a 13-0 team that beat a team that was ranked #1 for most of the year deserves to play for the title on the field. And I think the Mountain West has proved they deserve an automatic BCS bid or two. First it was Boise St. whuppin’ Oklahoma’s butt and now the Utes have whupped Alabama.

But the most important thing is for everybody to click thru to tony’s blog and congratulate him.

Leave him a comment and tell him I’m now a believer !

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Congratulations Utah’s Undefeated Utes!

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I shared this post over on my sales and marketing blog today. I’m repeating it here and I appreciate your indulgence.

In honor of my 44th birthday today, I’m going to share a life lesson that I wish I had learned in kinder garden, instead of later in life.

It works for salespeople, teachers, doctors, lawyers, Indian Chiefs, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.

On page 72, February 2007 edition of Golf Magazine, during an interview conducted by Connell Barret, this great piece of advice sneaks out of the mouth of the oft-married, never at a loss for words Englishman:

CB: Now that you’re almost 50, what do you wish you knew at 25?

NF: I’ve learned that it’s not the first impression you make – it’s the last one. Whether it’s the checkout girl or the president, you have to ask how you want people to remember you when you walk away. Well, I want to leave them with a smile so they say, ” I don’t know who he was, but he smiled and asked me how I’m doing.” I wasn’t good at that before, but I’ve learned how to be more communicative – to show more empathy towards people. The other thing I’ve learned is simple: Find at least one thing to enjoy every day. It’s not always easy. Sometimes you sit on a plane and it’s delayed, and you say, ” How the hell do you find something to enjoy here? ” And suddenly you see the sunrise from 35,000 feet and you go, ” Okay. That’s it. That was fantastic. “

As this hits the web or your RSS feed reader of choice, I’m driving from 5:30 AM CST to about 5:00 PM EST to Greensboro, NC for a 3-day brick industry forum. I have to be there by 6 PM EST for a dinner, after a 10 hour drive, which includes a stop in Gatlinburg, TN to pick up a co-worker.

Long drive, long day, long dinner, away from my family, yada yada, blah, blah. Oh yeah, it’s also my birthday, which I’ve spent on the road 10 of the last 12 years. Where’s the one thing I’m gonna find to enjoy ? I don’t know, but I’ll let you know when I get back.

4 days away from my peeps, blogging, NewsGator and email may do me in. I’ve loaded up all my blogs beforehand and my laptop won’t be here for 2-3 more weeks, so if I don’t get your comment approved or if I don’t answer an email before next weekend, forgive me.

I’ve got a great book for those long hotel nights – 3 Nights In August, by Buzz Bissinger. I’ve been waiting a long time for a chance to read it … uninterrupted.

As I try to enjoy my birthday, in spite of the circumstances, you try to find a way to incorporate this new lesson into your repertoire.

The impression you leave your family, your friends, your coworkers, your playing partners with, will be the most important thing you do today.

And look for something to enjoy and then share it with us … one of us may really need it … badly.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Nick Faldo’s Life Lesson As Good As His Golf Lessons

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I watched all four rounds of The Sony Open in Hawaii on The Golf Channel and I remember several things I noticed during the 10-12 hours I watched.

There’s plenty of room for your comments here, so if you have a blog, link to this post and if not, use the comment feature below.

10 Things I Hope We See More Of In 2007 On The PGA Tour

1. Kelly Tilghman
2. Nick Faldo
3. Open collars on golf announcers
4. Tadd Fujikawa
5. American golfers under 35 that win
6. Open collars on PGA players golf shirts
7. Mock-neck golf shirts
8. Rocco Mediate
9. Winners not named Tiger … or Phil
10. Kenny Perry ( he lives about 1 1/2 hours away from me )

Post from: Travelling Golfer

PGA Tour 2007: 10 Things I Hope We See More

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We here at Travelling Golfer are excited and proud to announce that Terry Koehler, President of Eidolon Golf has accepted our offer to guest blog for us.

Terry’s been involved in the golf industry for well over two decades and is a life-long golfer.

He’s designed golf equipment, directed the marketing efforts over one of the most respected names in golf, Ben Hogan Golf and now is the President of Eidolon Golf.

I’ve been a user of 3 Eidolon Golf wedges since January of this year. I’ve had the 52, 56 and 60 degree models in play for almost 12 months and the best thing I can do to let you know how much I love them is to tell you that one of my regular playing partners told me a couple of weeks ago that my wedge play this year has been phenomenal.

He hasn’t noticed my wedges are different than in years past. And I ain’t about to tell him my secret.

My sand game is almost scary good with the 60 degree model and the 52 is a chipping machine and from 100 yards and in, I’m way better than I deserve.

After acquiring my wedges, I struck up an email friendship with Terry and now we’ve added a new dimension to my blog and his golf marketing skills.

Terry’s going to add a new dimension to our content here at Travelling Golfer. As a guest blogger, he’s going to give us tips for our short game, info about golf equipment and whatever else he feels like adding to our conversation. He’s got free reign to write whatever he wants and I want to say thanks in advance and I want you to welcome him and send him a few comments to let him know you’re out there.

For a complete bio and to learn more about Terry, visit his Meet The President page over at Eidolon Golf’s website.

He and Eidolon Golf have my complete endorsement.

Look for a post from Terry tomorrow and plenty more to follow.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Travelling Golfer Blog Scores Major Coup !

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Did you happen to notice that John Daly finished dead-ass last in thr Target World Challenge, hosted by somebody who never gives in.

Dead-ass last and got $170,000 for his now famous I-give-up attitude towards golf.

How many times are we gonna have to watch him get an 8 on a Par 3 ?

How many times are we gonna have to watch him get a 12 on a Par 4 ?

He knew, even if he finished dead-ass last, he’d get his biggest check of the year. And so he did.

That’s just sad.

Now, because he’s a trainwreck waiting to happen, he’s gonna get 30 ( probably ) sponsors exemptions for 2007, so he can quit on the host and miss 15 cuts in those 30 opportunities.

I was John’s biggest fan … for way too many years. I watched him upclose and personal at Fuzzy’s Wolf Challenge. I watched him and Lenny and a couple of others play for … “fun”. I stood in line til Tommy Zoeller, Fuzzy’s brother, got him to give my kids an autograph. Still got it. It’s next to my autograph from Paul Hornung. One a Hall of Famer. The other, a Hall of Shamer.

Now he’s given in to way too many times, made way too many bad decisions and quit trying one too many times.

Can’t quit smoking. Can’t quit eating. Can’t quit marrying. Can’t quit gambling.

But he can quit trying to play each and every hole the best he can with the enormous God-given talent he has.

Until he quits quitting on himself and his legion of fans, I’m quitting on him.

Sorry John.

Hey Tiger, if you invite me to your tournament, I’ll play each and every hole like it’s the only thing in my life for that moment.

I wish John could do the same.

Peace John. I hope you find it … someday. I hope you don’t grow old, grow even fatter and find yourself wishing you’d actually tried … instead of giving in.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Sorry John, I’m Tired Of Your Giving In So Easily

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I recently got an email from John over at the My Daily Slice Of Golf blog.

He added me to his blog roll and I’ve reciprocated.

Click thru and check him out and maybe he can bring a daily golf smile to your golf blog world.

Thanks for the link love John.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Another Golf Blog Added To My Blog Roll

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I just read Robert Thompson’s Best of 2006 post and it gave me an idea.

I know what the best I experienced was in 2006, but it ain’t all about me.

Let’s do this :

If you have a blog, write a post and link back here.

If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment here with your best of 2006.

It can be a golf club, a golf course, service at a golf course, golf resort, golf partner, golf vacation, etc. Anything golf related.

The comments are open, so get after it !

I’ll go first and say the best golf course I played in 2006 was Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park in the Kentucky State Parks system. I wasn’t able to travel as much this year, as compared to past years, due to the booming blog network we started.

I did several reviews about it and it can be easily found thru my search box.

My favorite clubs for the year are my Eidolon wedges and my Ray Cook putter. Again, you can easily find them thru the search box.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Golf’s Best Of 2006

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Did anyone else see the news snippet that said that there was advertising on the flagsticks during the Pro-Am part of the Administaff Small Business Classic ?

Has anyone ever seen this on a course they’ve played ?

Would you be for or against it ?

Would you bother to try and see who was doing the advertising ?

Want to find out more ? Here’s a link to one website with more info.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Advertising On Golf Flagsticks ?

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It’s getting closer and closer to Christmas time and the golfers on you list are going to need a few things to keep them satisfied til next spring, so I’ve found a golf gift article to share with you today.

Before we get to Gordon Petten’s article, I want to remind you of my favorite golf gift … Card Golf !

Gifts, as is known are matter of expressing intimacy and are exchanged without price. Golf gifts are no exception. Being a golfer when you think of gifting something to anyone the first thing which will come to your mind will surely be the golf gift. Usually golf gifts are given to potential young golfers to encourage them to play more and more golf.

You have to choose perfect golf gifts for these young beginners considering their style. You have plenty of golf articles and accessories to choose from. To name some of golf gifts they are golf clubs, golf irons, golf bags, golf knickers, classic ball case etc. In the succeeding paragraphs we will elaborate on importance of each golf gift.

In my opinion golf books are the best golf gifts for beginners. A beginner learns lot of things about game and adds to his/her knowledge of the game by reading golf books.

Next come golf lessons. These lessons help potential beginners to decide whether he/she really wants to take the game or he/she likes the golf or not. Golf lessons, golf books and CDs/DVDs are excellent golf gifts for beginners.

Many beginners start playing golf with hired or borrowed golf clubs. Usually, golf clubs are considered as matter of personal choice. However, one may not be willing to purchase expensive golf clubs at the beginning. For such people first set of golf club is considered as best gift amongst other golf gifts. Remember to present these golf clubs in a golf bag.

There are number of golf accessories available in markets which as categorized as golf gifts. Golf gloves, ball markers and tees, though some what expensive, are nice golf gifts. Depending to you affordability and intimacy to the person you are going to present golf gifts you may like to present a full set of golf starter kit to a potential beginner.

Golf balls are also the popular articles for presenting as golf gifts. Beginners are not concerned about the type, compression and construction of these golf balls. You can choose golf balls personalizing with nickname, name or customs logo of the beginner. Only disadvantage of gifting such golf balls is that if the ball is lost the person to whom you have gifted it may get upset.

Golf shoes are other option from the golf gifts. Golf shoes are basic requirement for playing golf. Choosing a right shoe that will be fitting and providing comfort to the person you are gifting is not an easy task. Remember you have alternate option of gift certificate. Instead of presenting golf shoes as golf gifts, present a gift certificate and allow him/her to purchase shoes of his/her choice.

Golf courses are considered to be one of the expensive ventures of sports due to their fees structure. To avoid such expensive venture, driving ranges are considered to be best alternative. Presenting a membership of driving range may be the best among golf gifts for a beginner.

Ball tokens, golf gift certificates and 10 bucket pass are the other golf gifts available. Golf gifts are considered to be a motivating factor for beginners.

Golf Grip kits are a common phenomenon amongst golfers. Golfers are always choosy about their golf grip kits. Golf grip kits consist of tape, instruction book and a CD or DVD containing photos about use of golf equipments. Usually, golf grip kits are provided with golf irons and golf grips. Golf grip kits provide you all information like specification, maintenance guide and instruction about the handling of the equipment. Golf grip kits are of utmost importance for the beginners are they get the required information of golf equipments through these golf grip kits.

Thanks to Gordon and if you have a golf related article that you’d like to share, feel free to email me here at this domain and I’ll be happy to share it with the readers.

The image above is part of the golf gift packages available here.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Golf Gifts: Are You Ready For Christmas ?

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I just read another great review of Card Golf.

Over at primary rough, Nick gives you a detailed look at the first time he played Pebble Beach … Card Golf style.

It’s about to get cold and nasty in some parts of the world and this is one great way to stay connected to the game of golf and learn a little course management in the process.

Click thru and read Nick’s post and subscribe to his RSS feed while you’re there.

Post from: Travelling Golfer

Another Great Review Of Card Golf

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