Kevin Na’s waggle, re-waggle, fake swing and overall slow play led to a moment he won’t soon forget at The Players Championship yesterday. After hitting into the water at 13, a few rowdy fans serenaded him with, “NA NA NA NA, hey, hey, goodbye”. Quite hilarious if you ]]>

Kevin Na’s waggle, re-waggle, fake swing and overall slow play led to a moment he won’t soon forget at The Players Championship yesterday. After hitting into the water at 13, a few rowdy fans serenaded him with, “NA NA NA NA, hey, hey, goodbye”. Quite hilarious if you ask me and probably not the first time that’s happened to him given, you know, his last name. The announcers found it unbecoming of golf fans and scolded them accordingly.

Na went on to finish in a tie for 7th with a final round 76.

17-year-old Lexi Thompson, who spends a considerable amount of time on the LPGA tour is looking for a prom date. She’s made a rather boring YouTube video with the specifics, although, we do applaud her initiative.

So if you’re a military man between the ages ]]>

17-year-old Lexi Thompson, who spends a considerable amount of time on the LPGA tour is looking for a prom date. She’s made a rather boring YouTube video with the specifics, although, we do applaud her initiative.

So if you’re a military man between the ages of 18-20, give Lexi a holler on her Facebook page.

Can’t afford to drop hundreds of dollars a year on golf clubs? Turns out, there’s a solution. Actually, many solutions.

People who dive for golf balls at local courses are entrepreneurs. We shouldn’t disparage them, call them nasty names or arrest them. These four people taking balls out of ponds at White Manor Country Club are just trying to make a living.

How dare you Newtown ]]>

People who dive for golf balls at local courses are entrepreneurs. We shouldn’t disparage them, call them nasty names or arrest them. These four people taking balls out of ponds at White Manor Country Club are just trying to make a living.

How dare you Newtown Township Police!

The occupants claimed that they were collecting golf balls to be reconditioned for the course. It was learned from the occupants that they would use dive equipment to dive into the pond and retrieve the balls. During the course of their investigation, Sgt. Sebra discovered that this was not the case, and that the [actors] did not have permission to be on the property or to remove golf balls from the pond.

Looks like a legitimate business to me. Although, I’m not quite sure why they are deemed actors in this article. By the way, 8,000 balls at one course is truly impressive. Gotta be some serious hacks at White Manor Country Club.

Updated: Divers Charged With Stealing Golf Balls from White Manor, Aronimink Country Clubs [Patch]

Bubba Watson is a quirky dude. That describes both him and his golf game. He’s never had a swing lesson and doesn’t care to have one. He hits hooks, slices, draws and fades. Sometimes the results are horrendous and sometimes he produces shots that are beyond words—like ]]>

He’s able to hit that shot because he has confidence in his game. That confidence is clearly evident in interviews as well. When asked by David Letterman to describe his personal approach to golf, Bubba answered with one simple word, “AWESOME.”

At the conclusion of yesterday’s Masters tournament, Bubba Watson had 306,000 followers on Twitter. A mere 18 hours later and he’s at 460,000. As has always been the case with Watson he responds to individual fan tweets. Every one of them. No really, here’s a ]]>

At the conclusion of yesterday’s Masters tournament, Bubba Watson had 306,000 followers on Twitter. A mere 18 hours later and he’s at 460,000. As has always been the case with Watson he responds to individual fan tweets. Every one of them. No really, here’s a screenshot of his Twitter page.

You gotta hand it to him. Guy just won the Masters, had a kid two weeks ago and yet takes the time to answer fan messages. A true people’s champ in every sense of the word. So, move over Phil Mickelson. You’re not the only “lefty” adored by fans.

Louis Oosthuizen made a double eagle at the 2nd hole of the Masters. An incredible shot from about 260 yards. It was only the fourth albatross in Masters history and the first one ever televised.

It also produced this hilarious high five FAIL gif.

Lee Westwood leads the Masters going into the second round today. A position he’s been in a number of times and yet, has never come through with a victory. Sure, some of those times guys simply played better than him. Other times, well he choked, gagged, ]]>

Lee Westwood leads the Masters going into the second round today. A position he’s been in a number of times and yet, has never come through with a victory. Sure, some of those times guys simply played better than him. Other times, well he choked, gagged, whatever you want to call it. Westwood’s not alone though. Over the last 25 years, the Masters has been home to some of the biggest chokes in golf history. Take a look at the 6 biggest ones.

6 Len Mattiace 2003, the double bogey

A forgettable player from a forgettable Masters. Len Mattiace had won twice on the PGA tour in 2002 but had never been in contention at a major. His best finish to date was a t-24th at the 1997 U.S. Open. His final round 65 at the 2003 Masters looked great on paper but a terrible bogey on 18 put him in a playoff with Mike Weir. There, Mattiace fumbled and bumbled, placing himself behind a pine tree on number 10–no man’s land as they call it. Mattiace chipped across the green and finished with a double bogey. Tears rained down his face after the loss.

5 Kenny Perry 2009, the bunker

Kenny Perry had played masterfully through 70 holes and stood on the 17th tee with a 2-shot lead. He hadn’t bogeyed a hole since Saturday afternoon and needed to go just +1 down the stretch. His reliable iron game failed him though and he sent his second shot into a bunker. On 18, he missed a lengthy par putt leading to a three-way playoff. A playoff he ultimately lost to Angel Cabrera.

4 Ray Floyd 1990, the three putt

A blast from the past. Ray Floyd entered the final round with a 4-shot lead. He was attempting the unthinkable. Just four years earlier, Jack Nicklaus had won at 46-years-old–Floyd was 48. At 17, he stood over a birdie putt with a chance to increase the lead. He missed. And then he missed the short par putt coming back. His bogey led to a playoff, where he lost to Nick Faldo.

3 Rory McIlroy 2011, the final round 80

He was unseasoned and hadn’t been there before but McIlroy had won tournaments, lots of them actually. So with 9 holes to play and a 4-shot lead, he just needed to play solid golf to become the youngest Masters winner ever. Instead, on 10, he sprayed his tee shot into the trees. What followed was the worst collapse the tournament had ever seen. It was slow and painful. Shot after shot missed their mark as he went +6 over three holes en route to a final round 80.

2 Greg Norman 1996, the Sunday meltdown

Oh Greg Norman! One of many chokes in his career but arguably the most memorable and widely regarded as the mother of all Sunday meltdowns. It should have been a cakewalk. An even par round and Norman would have taken that walk up the 18th a champion. Instead his shots consistently found trouble and his 78 wasn’t enough to hold off…surprise, surprise Nick Faldo.

1 Scott Hoch 1989, the missed putt

Many people refer to Jean Van de Velde as the biggest choker in golf history. That’s false. Patently false. What Scott Hoch did at the 1989 Masters was far and away one of the worst gags not only in golf history, but sports history. Had it happened in today’s age of communication and internet, he would have gotten skewered. It was a tap-in, a simple 2-foot putt that he stared down for several minutes. And he blew it several feet by the hole. Guess who ended up winning in the playoff? That’s right. That pariah Nick Faldo.

When does the Masters start?  Who’s won the most money?  What former president was a member?   Here’s an intriguing look at the prestigious tournament with an infographic.

Source: The Masters and 78 Years of History (Infographic)

Your boss golfs, or your dad golfs, and so it is inevitable that you, too, will be playing golf. And, if you’re going to play, why not play to win? The problem, of course, is that unless you’re good at guessing distances, you’re largely in the dark about pretty much ]]>

Your boss golfs, or your dad golfs, and so it is inevitable that you, too, will be playing golf. And, if you’re going to play, why not play to win? The problem, of course, is that unless you’re good at guessing distances, you’re largely in the dark about pretty much everything about the course.

Unless you happen to have the Garmin Approach S3 strapped to your wrist.

The S3 is a GPS-enabled watch that has information about 27,000 golf courses around the world crammed into it. Need to know the precise yardage to the hole? Need to know the layup distances? It’ll be sitting right there, on your watch. It even incorporates a touchscreen to give you easier control over the data you receive.

Oh, and it also tells the time. We understand that’s important on a watch.

So, how much will this golf gizmo cost you? $350. So, instead of buying it for yourself, consider buying it for your dad, so he can improve his game, or at least stop blaming his slice on the course.

Don’t buy it for your boss. That’d be weird.

Garmin Approach S3 Golf Watch [Engadget]

Golf is, for most of us, less of a sport and more of a social obligation. Your boss golfs, or your girlfriend’s dad golfs, or your dad and uncles golf, so, as a result, you golf. And, hey, at least you get some walking in, right?

The one problem, of ]]>

Golf is, for most of us, less of a sport and more of a social obligation. Your boss golfs, or your girlfriend’s dad golfs, or your dad and uncles golf, so, as a result, you golf. And, hey, at least you get some walking in, right?

The one problem, of course, is that you either have to pay some random dude to lug your clubs, or you have to lug them yourself. Fortunately, in their never-ending quest to eliminate as many jobs as possible, roboticists, this time at FTR Systems, have built the Caddy Trek: a robot golf caddy that carries your clubs and follows you around like a puppy.

Here, have a painfully cheesy and somewhat incompetent PR video:

In spite of that agonizingly badly looped bed music, this product is actually pretty cool under the hood. It basically scans and latches onto you, following you as you walk at a reasonable speed, and stopping where you stop. It even collapses for easy transport.

So, how much will never tipping that crusty guy at the public course again run you? $1600. On the other hand, you’ve probably spent at least that much at the pro shop, so really it’s a wash.

Golf slightly less frustrating with robot caddy [CNet]

A hole-in-one is a pretty rare event. But four hole-in-ones at the same club in the same day? Well, that’s pretty note worthy. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the odds of that happening are somewhere in the range of once every 260,000 days, or, for you ]]>

A hole-in-one is a pretty rare event. But four hole-in-ones at the same club in the same day? Well, that’s pretty note worthy. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the odds of that happening are somewhere in the range of once every 260,000 days, or, for you math nerds out there, one time every 712 years.

Within a span of about five hours last Tuesday, Don Starkey, Ron Kosits, Maynard Thompson and Wilson recorded holes-in-one at Plantation. Starkey’s and Kosits’ came on the par-72 Otter Creek course, and the others were on the par-71 Cranes Roost layout.

But the Lake County contingent aren’t pros, and all four are at least 70 years old.

For Merlyn Wilson and the 74-year-old Starkey, whose ace came on the 132-yard 12th hole, the holes-in-one were their firsts. Kosits,70, got his second, and Thompson, 74, is a veteran at sinking tee shots, getting his ninth.

I’ve been playing golf for the better part of a decade and have broken 90 once. God, I hate old people.

Four Lake County golfers get holes-in-one on same day at same club [Orlando Sentinel]

Sure not all of these women are real golfers, but hey, they sure do look good wielding a golf club, am I right?

SensoGlove, the world’s first digital golf glove, is the only digital golf glove available today that gives constant feedback on grip pressure in real-time. Yes, even golf is now knee-deep in the digital age.

SensoGlove basically works as your own personal golf trainer, showing you the correct ]]>

SensoGlove, the world’s first digital golf glove, is the only digital golf glove available today that gives constant feedback on grip pressure in real-time. Yes, even golf is now knee-deep in the digital age.

SensoGlove basically works as your own personal golf trainer, showing you the correct way to grip the club, helping you avoid bad habits and potential injury. The glove contains built-in digital sensors that continuously read the your grip pressure to help you achieve a consistently accurate, smooth and powerful golf swing.

The glove’s small, sweat-proof 1.2-inch LED digital monitor analyzes the pressure of the swing through sensors placed throughout the glove. Just swing the golf club to receive real-time audio and visual feedback at 80 times per second that warn you if you exceed your target level of grip pressure. It even shows you which fingers are gripping too tightly, so you can adjust your grip accordingly. (This glove would also be perfect for my girlfriend.)

With SensoGlove, anyone can quickly learn how to hold the club, improving every part of their game, from backswing, downswing, impact, follow-through, to driving, putting, and chipping, making it a cool Father’s Day gift for dads that want to improve their game.

The 2011 Masters has already teed off,  but there’s some early good news for next year: 2012 Masters tickets are already on sale.

Big whup, right? Well, this time, they’re on sale to the public.

Yes, it’s huge news, and yes, I feel a little dumb ]]>

The 2011 Masters has already teed off,  but there’s some early good news for next year: 2012 Masters tickets are already on sale.

Big whup, right? Well, this time, they’re on sale to the public.

Yes, it’s huge news, and yes, I feel a little dumb for actually telling you, because it hinders my chances of winning if you enter. But it’s too awesome a deal to pass up.

There’s no cost to enter, and even if you win, you won’t be going broke.

That’s because, just like with regular ticket holder, the public Masters sale will be held lottery style. Just cruise on over to the Master website (Masters.com/tickets, actually) and sign up for an application.

The deadline is June 30, 2011, and the process is pretty darn simple.

You just check off what dates you’re interested in — if you win, you can only get tickets for up to one day though — and then you’re put in the lottery for those dates. They’ll need an email, and then require a password change (email verification and whatnot), which is followed by you plugging in the last four digits of your social security number and your year of birth.

The guess there is that it’ll work something like the Phish lottery: you’ll probably need to show some ID in order to make sure that the tickets aren’t going to scalpers. And that’s a good thing, frankly.

All-in-all, it’s a simple process, and worst case is you’re getting a few emails about an exciting sporting event and the possibility of attending it.

2012 Masters Tickets — [Masters]

If you’re a weekend hacker on the links like myself, you just breathed a huge sigh of relief. A NY court ruled that there is a certain amount of risk a golfer takes when searching for the ball on the course. And if you happened to ]]>

If you’re a weekend hacker on the links like myself, you just breathed a huge sigh of relief. A NY court ruled that there is a certain amount of risk a golfer takes when searching for the ball on the course. And if you happened to get walloped by an errant shot like Dr. Azad Anand in 2002, well, too bad.

Dr. Anoop Kapoor and Dr. Azad Anand were playing on a nine-hole Long Island course in October 2002 when Anand was hit in the head while looking for his ball on a fairway, blinding him in one eye. The seven judges on the state Court of Appeals, siding with lower courts, said Kapoor’s failure to yell in advance of his errant shot from the rough did not amount to intentional or reckless conduct.
The court cited a judge’s finding that Anand was not in the foreseeable zone of danger and, as a golfer, consented to the inherent risks of the sport.
“The manner in which Anand was injured – being hit without warning by a ‘shanked’ shot while one searches for one’s own ball – reflects a commonly appreciated risk of golf,” the judges wrote.

As a general rule of thumb, if your partner is a hack, you DO NOT stand anywhere in front of them. Be it 60 degrees or even 90 degrees, even professional golfers shank a shot here and there (yes, even Tiger Woods did this past year). So it’s a good bet that the guy you just drank six beers with at the turn isn’t making a run at the U.S. Open anytime soon. And screaming out “fore”, um, that doesn’t do much when the ball is like a heat-seeking missile headed straight for your noggin.

As for Anand, the man who lost his vision in the incident, I truly feel bad for him. But something tells me this is something that should have been resolved between friends. As in, “hey, remember that time you jacked me in the face with a ball, yea, beer is on you tonight buddy.

Or maybe Kapoor should let Anand have his way with his wife. An Indecent Proposal of sorts. That’s how they use to solve things in the old days right? Bartering sex with one’s significant other?

If only we could return to that, I’d gladly take a golf ball in the nuts from the likes of Brad Pitt.

Top NY court upholds dismissal of golf ‘Fore’ suit [AP]

There isn’t a golfer out there who hasn’t had the yips, the shanks or even a wayward drive go through a window. Under most circumstances, damage to property and person is minimal.

But starting a forest fire because you suck so bad. Now that’s impressive.

Apparently, ]]>

There isn’t a golfer out there who hasn’t had the yips, the shanks or even a wayward drive go through a window. Under most circumstances, damage to property and person is minimal.

But starting a forest fire because you suck so bad. Now that’s impressive.

Apparently, the golfer was in the rough and was trying to hit his ball out of it when he accidentally swiped at a rock, which sparked the blaze at 12:07 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

McKeown said brush fires are not uncommon when temperatures reach into the high 70s and lower 80s and conditions are right.

Orange County Fire Captain Greg McKeown said “charges will not be filed against the golfer”. Well thank you captain obvious. While I’m not familiar with California law, I’m quite certain that golf shanks is covered somewhere under common law or I don’t know, common sense.

Golfer sparked Irvine brush fire trying to hit ball, officials say; 150 firefighters respond [LA Times]

Now nobody is forcing us to watch them, but you have to admit that there are some “sports” out there that no type of television coverage can save. You could put them in HD, 3-D and project them against The Great Wall and a good portion of ]]>

Now nobody is forcing us to watch them, but you have to admit that there are some “sports” out there that no type of television coverage can save. You could put them in HD, 3-D and project them against The Great Wall and a good portion of us still wouldn’t be interesting in watching them. Even with cable channels looking to fill time slots, these sports are probably best left to be covered by sports writers and accidental spectators; and the addition of a 3-D viewing experience just isn’t going to make these sports any easier to watch.

8 Curling
Ahh, curling. It’s the equivalency of bowling in the United States. It’s like watching bowling except 1) it is much quieter, 2) old people think it’s “just the right speed”, and 3) it’s on ice. The only thing that could make this better is if one of the Olympic mascots jumped in a Zamboni, went crazy running over people on the ice and then went on a high speed chase through the host city, robbing banks and taking hostages — maybe, maybe that would make it worth watching. “Quatchi takes another hostage and it looks like we’re down another stone” needs to happen before I watch a block of curling in its entirety.

7 Golf
I enjoy playing golf, but even with the greatest HD TV set in the world couldn’t make golf exciting. Sure, it’s sometimes OK to watch when Tiger Woods is in the hunt for championship trophy, but if Tiger isn’t putting it near the hole most folks aren’t tuning in. Playing golf can be refreshing and relaxing (depending on your foursome and alcohol intake) but on TV, it’s like afternoon Ambien. Everybody is whispering; a lot of standing around; a lot more floral patterns than you’re comfortable with — it’s like being at church , but it’s outside and there is a lot more swearing than should be socially acceptable. Oh Tiger, you gotta start making this more interesting again without visiting the 19th, 20th, 29th, and 45th hole…

6 Horse Dancing (Dressage)
I don’t know what it’s really called, I just know it should be called “Horse Dancing.” Who even decided this was an Olympic sport? The horse does most of the work anyway. I’m sure there is skill involved but I don’t like watching anything competitively dance under any circumstances. And while animals dancing is one of the staples of my sense of humor, watching a horse do the horse version of the Charleston while a woman in a top hat kicks it in the kidneys isn’t exactly something I’m clamoring to see. However, the minute you put a wizard hat on the horse, a jockey in a clown uniform and both of them doing the Electric Slide to Putting on the Ritz – we’re in business.

5 Canoeing
Look, I know it’s probably insanely hard to become a great canoer. It has to take exceptional upper body and cardiovascular strength… it’s making me tired just typing it. You probably get up at dawn and row a boat around a lake for the rest of the day while a man with a megaphone barks orders. That sucks for you and me, because I have no idea of knowing how hard everyone is rowing till the end of the race. It’s just a repeated monotonous motion and I don’t know how to cheer properly. What am I supposed to yell? “Row faster you son of a b**ch!” just doesn’t feel right. The participants all seem only mildly athletic and there are boats without the words “bumper” or “speed” in front, so, I guess, just wake me if you get attacked by pirates.

4 Cross Country Skiing
The start of these are usually pretty cool as the skiers blast out of the starting gates to get some momentum, but then gradually slow down to a steady, monotonous pace. The few times I’ve watched this event I’ve secretly wanted to watch everyone have their skis get tangled up and fall in a pile and roll down the hill in a giant snowball that will inevitably roll through the ski lodge, but that almost never happens unless I’m watching the Cartoon Network. At least with the Biathlon they give them guns to shoot — and anytime you get a gun involved in a sporting endeavor, it automatically becomes five times more interesting. Cross country is just marathon running in snow till you get firearms involved…

3 Rhythmic Gymnastics
When there are turquoise flags involved that is an immediate red flag that this sport is suspect at best. Hmmm, I don’t like regular gymnastics, but I like throwing balls in the air and waving a flag — I’m going to stop you there because none of those are activities I would pay to watch someone do unless you count Sam Bradford fumbling a ball while waving a surrender flag as Patrick Willis comes through the line and destroys him. Sure it does take a lot of athletic ability to compete, but I’d be more inclined to feed my niece a two liter of Coke and a pack of Oreos and watch her dance around with a bowling ball, hula hoop and a jump rope I found in the garage. Because how are those tiny arms gonna catch that bowling ball while hula hooping? See, that’s the intrigue I demand from my sports.

2 Track Cycling
It’s not that they just go around in circles really fast (that could somehow be interesting), it’s just a tough watch because you know that somebody is going to fall at some point and even if it’s the French guy falling, you still never want to see someone lose about 2/3 of the skin on some part of their body because they fell off a bike and slid 50 yards on their knees. We’ve all had bike accidents and it just brings up bad memories when you watch someone wipe out on a bicycle.

1 Long Distance Running
I was in an Ethiopian restaurant in DC during the last Olympics and there was an entire bar full of people there watching the an Ethiopian running in the men’s marathon and I have to say, Ethiopians get a pretty raw deal. What’s more boring than watching a bunch of guys run at slightly different speeds for several hours? The answer is nothing. Here’s a shot of some guy running, here’s a shot of another guy running a little slower and now back to the guy running slightly faster. For almost three hours they watched on the edge of their seats. If Ethiopia ever gets good at another sport, people’s heads in that bar will explode. Anything is more interesting than watching people run for a few hours, I mean how many highlights other than the final 10 seconds do you ever see of marathon running anyway?