But Wait, There's More!

"While playing golf today I hit two good balls. I stepped on a rake."  ~Henny Youngman

     Greetings and welcome to GET SOME Golf! In this post, I'm talking about the positives and negatives of golfing magazines and articles on golf. I feel this is something that is rarely discussed so bear with me on some beliefs that I have about the magazines and the periodicals.


 

     There are a number of golfing magazines out in today's world: Golf Magazine, Golf Digest, and GolfWeek just to name a few. All of these magazines have great intentions and promote golf in a great way to professionals, amateurs, and "hackers" alike. Each of these sample magazines start out with a guide to what is inside along with probably a dozen ads promoting a product that interests golfers: such include beers, wines, cigars/cigarettes, and even erectile dysfunction treatments (Cialis, Viagra, etc.). As you flip through the pages, searching for an interesting article that could possibly help your game, there is even more advertisements promoting similar things; by the time you reach the article, you have viewed roughly twenty ads.

     If I may ask, why does it seem that golfing magazines have more advertisements than about golf itself? I think it is called a golf magazine for a reason. I understand that businesses need to promote a product some way, but why so many times? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading golf magazines, they have some very helpful tips and tricks to try to improve anyone's game and anytime I need to research a club or have questions about clubs, I look in golf magazines first. However, sometimes more pages can be a nuisance than a beneficial help.

     Another interesting topic is trying to cancel a subscription to a golf magazine. Have you ever been in a situation where you really liked one magazine over another and couldn't afford both magazines or wanted to just keep the subscription of one? Well, I can honestly say that my family has in the past.

     As a family, we enjoyed Golf Magazine (a monthly magazine) for several years, however when more and more advertisements appeared in the magazine and less golf material was published, we decided to go to GolfWeek. GolfWeek is a weekly magazine that tell about the current events that happened that previous week or the upcoming week alike. After letting Golf Magazine know we were going to drop them, we continued to get mail from them even after the subscription had expired. My family continued to read GolfWeek for a few years when we ran along Golf Digest and enjoyed it, so we decided to drop GolfWeek and switch to Golf Digest. Then it was war...

    After we dropped GolfWeek, we received calls constantly from them about how we need to renew the subscription. After three calls per week, getting mail from them, and telling them that we wanted to be on their no call list, we decided to take action. My family decided that the next time they called, we would "tell them like it is." Now, we are only getting Golf Digest monthly magazine and have no mail coming to us from Golf Magazine or GolfWeek. I think it is amazing what companies will do to gain profit from anyone. Nothing against any of these magazines, but I can relate to them better than any other golf magazine published. I highly enjoy reading golf magazines and recommend that people subscribe, but watch and be careful of what you get yourself into when subscribing.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

The Dream Team

"It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."  ~Hank Aaron

     Welcome to another GET SOME Golf post! In today's post, I am looking into yet another controversial subject about the greatest players in the past and present; also out of those mentioned, I will create a Dream Team: if I were to play with a foursome, who would I choose to play with. Just a side note: the golfers presented are some of my favorites, they might not be favorites of others, but I enjoy watching and hearing about these golfers.


Sam Snead

Jack Nicklaus

     Starting off with golfers of the past that I highly enjoy, these are the great classics of the game that have impacted the game of golf and millions that play it in one way or another. It is pretty obvious to mention Jack Nicklaus as one of the greatest golfing legends of all time. Jack has played since he was a young child and even won two U.S. Amateur Championships while playing at the collegiate level for The Ohio State University. As a professional golfer, "The Golden Bear" won a total of 18 major championships and has since started and ran a successful golf course designing company. Another great golfer to mention about would be Sam Snead. "Slammin' Sammy Snead" has won more professional golf tournaments than any other professional golfer to this day. His record of 82 wins is still at the top with second place being Tiger Woods with 76 wins.

Left: Tiger Woods, Right: Phil Mickelson

     As for the greatest players in today's times, I would have to say that there are several very talented players. A couple of my favorites are Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. Phil seems to play at his own level; the common thought of "What will Phil do next?" seems to cross spectator's minds as they watch him hit some spectacular shot out of trouble. He has won 41 tournaments, 5 being major championships. Not only does Phil do several charitable events and help children with less fortunate circumstances, but he also helps promote cancer awareness through his wife who is diagnosed with breast cancer. As for Tiger Woods, he will always be a great player; he has won several tournaments in past years and possibly will out do the number of major victories held by Jack Nicklaus. The current total is Tiger with 14 major wins. Though Tiger has had a rough spell from 2008 to now, he has slowly been improving overall and has won 5 tournaments in 2013.

     These players have made their mark in golf one way or another and I would love the opportunity to play with all of these professional golfers. My Dream Team would probably consist of myself, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, and my dad. I love playing golf with my dad and even though he is not the best golfer, he still is fun to play golf with. So now I ask the same question to anyone out there: if you could play golf with anyone in the world (professional level or not) who would you play golf with? In other words, who would your Dream Team consist of? If you would like to put your foursomes in the comments, it would be greatly appreciated!

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Rules? What Rules?

"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf."  ~Bob Hope

     Hello again to today's GET SOME Golf post dedicated to the many and weird rules of golf. As mentioned in the last post, golf has been around for centuries and has millions of people playing the game every single day. However, with good things come responsibilities and possibly also some consequences. In golf terms, a good shot can be greatly rewarded and a bad shot can ruin a round in a flash. This is where the Rules of Golf come in to be the official in keeping a golfer in his sanity and still wanting to continue to play the game.

     The Rules of Golf have originated since the humble beginning of golf and have lasted throughout the years for decades and even centuries. With recent advancements and the improvement of technology, the Rules of Golf have been altered ever so slightly so that it can be interpreted in almost any situation a golfer can put themselves in. These rules have come into play several times throughout the past championships and tournaments and because of them, they have even declared a different winner of a competition.  Some of the most notorious rulings have come within the past few years; below is an incident that came about because of situations regarding the rules.

     In the 2010 PGA Championship, the last major tournament of the year held this year at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, Dustin Johnson stepped onto the last hole of the last day leading the tournament by one shot over Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. After hitting his tee shot way right into what he thought was a waste area trampled by the gallery, ended up being a sand trap/bunker; because of this, he grounded his club and finished the hole with a bogey. However, according to the Rule 13-2: a player cannot improve the lie of the golf ball or ground the club in a hazard (bunker included); the penalty for a breach of this rule is two strokes. Johnson finished tied for fifth and lost the tournament.

     This just goes to show that the Rules of Golf are fair however can change history. For the full rules book, questions regarding the latest rules of golf, and decisions made by the USGA in previous tournaments, please visit: www.usga.org.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Squeezing in a Quick Round: Part 2

"Achievements on the golf course are not what matters, decency and honesty are what matter"  ~Tiger Woods

     Hello and welcome back to GET SOME Golf! This post is a continuation of the previous post regarding my favorite courses of all time. At the end, if you would like to list what your favorite golf courses are, please leave them in the comments below.


The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass

     The silver medal goes to: The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. I have always admired the work of Pete Dye and the history behind the 17th hole is amazing. Dye intentionally wanted to the hole to consist of a tee box, a green, and nothing but sand in between. His wife made the comment about saving money on sand by filling it with water and he fulfilled his wife's idea. Now it is one of the toughest holes on the PGA Tour during the Players Championship and if you don't believe me, you can look up statistics about it. If you would like any other information about this course, or want to view some of the beautiful holes please visit: http://www.tpc.com/sawgrass-the-players-stadium-course.

The 12th hole (Amen Corner) at Augusta National

     And finally, my all-time favorite course and dream course that I would love to play is: Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National has been around since the 1930s and has hosted some of the biggest names in the world of golf. Since 1934, this course has hosted the Masters tournament where the first winner of the tournament was Horton Smith. Ever since then, it has grown to be one of the most iconic and beautiful places in the world to play. The only way to play the course is if you are a member there, have been invited to play, or you have been inducted as a member of the course. If you would like to know more about the history of the course, view some of the holes and course layout, or find more information regarding the Masters tournament please go to: http://www.masters.com/en_US/index.html for more details.

     I have dreamed about playing these courses and wish I could on some of them, but time and money will tell if that will come true or not. As mentioned, I would like to extend this similar idea out to anyone: if you would like to tell me your favorite golf courses, please let me know! I will say there are some spectacular courses throughout the United States and it would be amazing to see what people love and want to play.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Squeezing in a Quick Round: Part 1

"Golf is a good walk spoiled."  ~Mark Twain

     Welcome to another rendition of GET SOME Golf! In today's post, I would like to focus in on something that could be quite controversial: the best courses in the United States. Given there are over thousands of courses to choose from, there are some courses that golfers alike will not forget when the play there. So for today's topic, I'm going to list what my favorite courses are (whether I have played them or not).

The 18th Hole at The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier.

     I have five courses that I know of that are truly by far my favorite and my dream places to play. Kicking it off on number five would be: The Old White TPC at the Greenbrier. I originally grew up in West Virginia and I have played at the Greenbrier. It was remarkable, the people were very friendly and made you feel at home on the golf course! The views on the Old White are amazing and is definitely worth the time to squeeze in a quick round. For more information, please visit their site at: http://www.greenbrier.com/Golf/The-Golf-Club/The-Old-White-TPC.aspx

The 9th hole at Pinehurst #2

     My fourth favorite course is: Pinehurst #2. Pinehurst is a resort in North Carolina that has 8 courses all built by different renowned architects of the previous centuries. The second course was originally constructed by Donald Ross, but was later modified and extensively restored by Ben Coore and Ben Crenshaw to make the course to the way it originally was meant. I almost had the opportunity to play there right before the pros get there for the 2014 US Open Championship, but because of the dates that the course was going to be closed and I would be on spring break from college, I sadly can not play there. None the less, the course is still immaculate and is truly the home of architect Donald Ross. For more information about the course, please visit: http://www.pinehurst.com/nc-golf-courses.php



The 9th Hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

     In third place for my favorite courses is: Pebble Beach Golf Links. I love the landscape of the course and wish I could play it everyday! There is so much valuable history behind this course and thinking that anyone has the opportunity to play where the professional golfers did is quite a different feeling if I made add. It is one of the top public courses in America and is even played on simulators and video games everywhere. Please visit: http://www.pebblebeach.com/golf/pebble-beach-golf-links for more information.

     Please read the next post for my top two favorite golf courses and the opportunity to comment on your favorite courses of all time.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

Living the Dream

"Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps."  ~Tiger Woods

     Hello and welcome to this post of "GET SOME Golf." Today, I am discussing about the different tours around the golf realm including the Professional Golfers Association (PGA Tour) and the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA Tour). As anyone can tell, these are professional golfers, so they are not your average everyday amateur that goes out every three months to play a round. They have trained nearly their whole life to get on the tour and have dedicated themselves to more practice to become the best that they can; a true athlete if you ask me!

     The Professional Golfers Association, or PGA Tour, is a tax-exempt organization of professional golfers that are trying to expand domestically and internationally while benefiting the players financially and maintaining the commitment to the integrity of the game of golf. The Tour is also dedicated to generating revenue for charitable causes in local communities. The players on the PGA Tour can choose how many tournaments out of 51 tournaments they want to play in a year, including the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Several branches of the PGA Tour have become renowned over the past years as well: the most popular being the Champions Tour, a group specifically for senior players who have won tournaments in previous years, and the Web.com Tour, a group of potential PGA Tour players if they qualify and meet the standards.

     The Ladies Professional Golf Association, or LPGA Tour, was founded in 1950 and is one of the longest-running women's professional sports associations in the world. The organization has grown tremendously over the years for not only playing the game of golf, but for also donating to charities of the player's choosing. Still today, the LPGA is performing at its highest level of competition and charity work, just like the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, and the Web.com Tour.

     In honor of these tours, I would like to ask everyone out there to tell me your favorite golf shot in the history of golf. Some of my favorites are: Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters on the tee shot of the 16th hole, Phil Mickelson at the 2010 Masters on the 13th hole out of the trees, and Bubba Watson at the 2012 Masters out of the trees in a playoff. Please let me know what you think underneath in the comments.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!

History in the Making

"Golf is a game where you yell 'fore,' shoot six, and write down five." ~Paul Harvey

     Hello everyone to GET SOME Golf! In today's post, I'm focusing in on the history of golf and how it has impacted people today (including me!).

     Picture yourself in an open field: the air is thick, the grass is fairly tall, and you can hear the distant roar of the ocean waves as they thump against the shoreline. You have a staff and a small ball lying on the ground; to the far distant you see a target and you think, "I can hit that target in four shots." This is true determination and relaxation, golf in a nut shell.

     It is unclear who started the game that we know today but one thing is for sure: throughout history, it has been played for centuries by Kings and everyday people alike. In the pre-1400's in rural Scotland, Parliament created an act to stop play of golf on Sunday's but still preserve the qualities of Archery. So shortly after that on the sandy hills of Eastern Scotland, came the first true marvel around the world: the first golf course ever and "the birthplace of golf," St. Andrews.

     Through very humble beginnings, golf was starting to come onto the global scene when new technologies (such as the gutty ball and new golf club materials) and railways were stopping by St. Andrews. With these advancements, St. Andrews was the main stop due to the Universities there (Oxford and Cambridge) and because of the golf course, which was being played multiple times throughout the year by several no matter what kind of weather was produced. When others heard and saw the beauty of St. Andrews, golf fanatics and spectators alike flocked to there where "the first stroke heard around the world" occurred.

     After everyone was playing the same place over and over again, there came a monotonous feeling over the golfers. It was in the mid-17th century when Old Tom Morris, the first true winning icon in golf, set to build another golf course for a different challenge. As golf kept progressing throughout the ages, more and more courses were built, as well as different tournaments/competitions, different ball materials, and different club materials. Today, golf has become such a renowned sport that it is in the Olympics, there are thousands of courses in the United States alone, there are millions of golfers around the world, and several different types of club and ball manufactures. So golf has evolved to be so difficult, yet relaxing; all thanks to a mysterious someone hitting a ball around in the grass one day, we have the luxury to play this game anytime we want.

     Thanks for reading "GET SOME Golf!" Please pass this along to your playing partners!