Stupid Is As Stupid Does…In Golf Too!

May 20, 2013 | By Chris Chirico | 1 Comment

Somehow my little girl and I got on the subject of injuries in sports.  Not sure how this came about since she’s no sports fan, but maybe she’s a fan of sports injuries.  I think we were watching a game, or maybe Sportscenter, when the subject came up.  She asked me if I ever got hurt playing a sport to which I responded “Sure, but nothing serious.”  I went over the time I took a baseball to the chest and chin thanks to a bad hop, and the time I broke my thumb playing basketball…but that’s about all I had.  She knows, for the most part, my sports career is now relegated to the golf course.

It was at that point she wanted to know if I’ve ever gotten hurt playing golf.  “Well” I tell her, “I once took a golf ball, that someone else hit, off the ankle.  That stung a bit.” So then she said, “You should write something about golf injuries.”  ”What do you mean?  I’ve already sort of done that before.”  She responds with “No, I mean people getting hurt doing something stupid.”  Now we’re talkin’.  There’s nothing quite as funny as someone getting hurt doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

Anyone ever hear about Thomas Levet?  Well back in 2011, after winning the French Open, he celebrated by jumping into a lake on the course.  After that little stunt, he had to skip the British Open thanks to the broken shin he suffered after his victory leap. I’d have to agree with Colin Montgomerie when he said “I’ve always been suspect about people diving into lakes that don’t know how deep it is and what’s in there.”

Also from 2011, how about Robert Garrigus at the Tournament of Champions who ended up with a sore shoulder due to excessive fist pumping after sinking an eagle putt.  Geez…thanks Robert.  No wonder people think us golfers are wimps.  We can’t even celebrate properly!

One more from the pros…how about John Daly who injured a rib trying to stop his swing when a fan attempted to take his picture at the Honda Classic.  He actually sued the tournament organizers, but I couldn’t find any results of the suit.

But we know all the real stupid stuff comes from us – the average hack out on the public course.  I’ve found plenty of ridiculousness out there, such as one guy who, doing his best golf cart impression of Erwin Rommel, hit a large root which bounced him out of his seat and broke his finger on the steering wheel when he landed.  Or how about a guy who tried to hit a ball out of a tree only to step onto a rotten branch, fall about eight feet down and give himself a concussion.

But the probable grand daddy of them all is when NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson attempted ”golf cart surfing” at a tournament.  The result…of course…the idiot fell off.  Yup, he broke his wrist.

Me personally, I’ve never suffered an injury on the course, nor has anyone I’ve played with.  I’ve also never seen an injury occur on the course.  But I’ve heard some stories!  And now we’re looking for more.  Anyone got any good ones?  Let’s hear ‘em!  I’m sure some of you have seen someone out on the course get what they deserve.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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Stealing From A Golf Course.

May 17, 2013 | By Pete Girotto | Leave a Comment

thiefNow hold on a minute. I mean stealing ideas from a golf course. Since the cold grip of winter has loosened a bit, our agenda consists of spring cleaning and the ever so fun – yard work. Yay. Who wants to do that? Not to worry, I’ve figured out a good way to squeeze in some golf amidst all this cleaning, planting and trimming.

I call it “Landscape Design Research”! LDR for short. I think you can see where this is going. It starts during the week with some comments about how you want to do something with the yard. This almost gives you a green light to go and check out some “places” for ideas on the weekend. Boom! You’re welcome. Just make sure the significant other doesn’t want to come. That’s on you…hey, I got you this far. I can’t do all the thinking.

We’ll keep this a secret amongst our golfing community. Whenever your buddy calls up and says they’re doing some LDR or research, you know the deal. Please don’t forget to actually come back with some ideas. Failing to do so can blow your cover and be detrimental to your golf season.

So, look around and take in the surroundings. Something will turn on the upstairs light. That is unless you are playing a course groomed with a Zamboni and Cuisinart. Don’t do that. Play somewhere decent. You deserve it.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

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Take The 3-Club Challenge

May 15, 2013 | By Greg D'Andrea | 15 Comments

3 golf clubsSometimes you just need a change. Maybe your game’s in a funk – or at least it’s smelling funkier than usual. Perhaps you feel like your last few scores were more wretched than the typical hack-job rounds you normally piece together.

Well, don’t let it get you down. Remember, golf is meant to be fun, so why not start having some? What you need is to change your perspective. But doing that takes more than just forgetting about the high number on your scorecard – it takes reacquainting yourself with the game of golf. But how?

This is where it gets interesting and fun all at the same time: All you need to do is remove some clubs from your bag. And by “some” I mean all but three of them (and keep your putter too). That’s right – take them out before you get to the first tee – just leave them in your trunk.

I call it the “3-Club Challenge” and the object is to play the entire round of golf with only three clubs and a putter. Sound ridiculous? Don’t knock it until you try it. I’ve done this a few times – typically when my previous few rounds have been exceptionally poor – and I have to tell you, it’s reinvigorating!

Now the trick is to choose your clubs wisely. For me, that means my 20-degree hybrid; an 8-iron; and my pitching wedge. The hybrid will see double-duty – both off the tee (I hit about 215 with that club) and out of the fairway. The 8 is my club from 150 yards and the wedge is good from 125 and in (and all will be three-quarter-, half- and quarter-swung at some point during the round too). While those are my three clubs, you’re free to select any three you’d like or feel comfortable with – just as long as you don’t have more than three clubs and a putter in your bag.

Limiting your club selection in this way forces you to simplify the game. It makes you slow down and think hard about each shot. You limit risky shots because you have none to play – every stroke must be carefully thought out. Instead of griping and ripping it, you aim for the 150- or 200-yard marker in the fairway. Instead of going for the green, you pick a spot to lay-up and pitch on.

The first time I took the 3-Club Challenge, I was amazed – not just at how much I strategized for each hole, but also how my results weren’t really that bad! Every time I give the challenge a whirl, I end up shooting pretty close to my average – or at least much better than my previous few terrible rounds with all my clubs. By the next time out, I’m back on track – playing my regular game of poor (but not wretched) golf.

Ready to give it a shot? Get your golf buddies in on it too and maybe even make a little wager on the round.

A word to the wise: I wouldn’t recommend taking the 3-Club Challenge on an unfamiliar course – you don’t want to handicap yourself too much. But on a course you know, this can be all that’s needed to right the ship.

And if you do take the challenge (or already play some form of it), I would love to know your results by leaving a comment!

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How Many Female Golfers Are There Anyway?

May 13, 2013 | By Chris Chirico | 8 Comments

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, I began looking into some statistics regarding female golfers.  I’m not really sure how I connected the two though.  My mother doesn’t golf.  Neither do my sisters.  Although growing up, I remember my mother owning a set of clubs, but I never actually saw her use them.  Much like my father, I think she gave the game a try only to find that it wasn’t for her.  But nevertheless, I somehow connected Mother’s Day to golf anyway.

Did you know, depending upon where you look and what stats you find, it’s reported that anywhere between 20-25% of amateur golfers are women?  So one out of every four or five golfers out on the course are female?  I don’t know about you, but those numbers seem a bit inflated to me.  I don’t know why they would be inflated because I don’t think there’s any reason to inflate them.  But either way, it seems a little high to me.

See, the thing is, I use my own experiences to compare to these numbers.  On the small scale of my personal experience, I have played golf exactly one time so far this season.  And in that one round, I saw one female golfer out on the course.  She was in a threesome, two groups behind me.  Certainly not anywhere near the 20-25% claimed.

But that’s only one round.  So it’s not fair to judge off of that.  But it seems like this situation occurs anywhere I play.  It’s very rare that I see women out on the golf course anywhere or anytime I play.  I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been paired up with women when I’ve shown up to the course with less than a foursome.  As a matter of fact, I can think of only three times off the top of my head – all three times I showed up as a twosome, and two of those three we were paired up with a husband and wife.  Only once were we paired up with two women.

What’s my point?  I have no idea.  It’s just a stat I found to seem inflated for some reason.  As mentioned, none of the women in my family are golfers, and I have no female friends who have done any more than try the sport once or twice and never took it any further.  But I guess now that I’ve seen it and used my golf experiences for comparison, it does dishearten me a bit.  What I mean is, one of the great things about golf is that it’s a sport that can be played pretty much equally by men and women.  Sure, for the most part, men hit the ball farther.  But that’s only one facet of the game, and certainly not always an important one.  Otherwise, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between male and female golfers.  There’s still a technique and a certain level of discipline and judgment required to play the game - and those things have nothing to do with physical strength or how far you can hit the ball.

I, for one, would like to see more women out on the golf course.  I would like to see the 20-25% as stated out there.  Heck, I’d like it to be higher!  Why not?  As I stated earlier, this sport has little to do with physical strength and much more to do with things that make the playing field much more level between men and women.  So I think the real issue here is, why is it that women only represent 20-25% of golfers and not closer to 50%?  Maybe that’s something I should look further into…

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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POLL: What’s Wrong With Used Clubs?

May 10, 2013 | By Pete Girotto | 6 Comments

It’s no secret our country is not at its peak economical condition. Based on that, we also know the crap rolls down hill and eventually affects or has affected almost everyone. Who has the money to do anything let alone buy a new set of golf clubs? I’ve touched upon used clubs before but I have a new angle! I want to know what happens to all the surplus golf clubs that are not purchased.

Is the material recycled? Are they donated? Hint, hint…our good friends over at Bunkersinbaghdad.com accept donations…just saying. Considering most are not recycled or donated, that means there’s a plethora of golf clubs not available to us, I’m guessing. My question to you is; Would you buy used or older model clubs?

Hit’em Long…yell FORE!!!

Would you buy used/older model golf clubs?

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