Book Review: G.O.L.F.

Does the acronym G.O.L.F. stand for "Greatest Of Life's Frustrations" or "Game Of Limitless Fun?" Well, the author of G.O.L.F., Lane H. Luoma, will tell you it stands for both (and I think I agree).

I loved this book! I'm not sure how, but Mr. Luoma has figured out how to put down into words every single thought that's ever crossed a golfer's mind - it's truly a rollocking read! What is more, he's done a rather good job penning this book to appeal to the non-golfer too.

In the preface, Mr. Luoma states "you certainly don't have to be a golfer to enjoy this book..." After reading that statement, I thought, "sure, what non-golfer is going to take the time to read this book?" But in all honesty, this book would greatly help those non-golfers understand the ups and downs their golfing buddies (or significant others) experience.

G.O.L.F. takes you on a journey of the game from those of us who experience it - from the pros to the Joes, the book levels the playing field, ignores handicaps and explains why everyone who's ever played this game can be frustrated beyond imagination, yet still overwhelmingly smitten with it all at the same time.

For example, let's take Chapter 8: "Warning! Hazardous to your Health (Mental)." The chapter takes you through an entire round, hole-by-hole, giving examples of what a terrible score you can end up with just because of strategicly-placed hazards (bunkers, lateral water, etc.). Yet after 17 nightmarish holes, you birdie the unbelievably difficult par 5, 18th-hole to finish on a high note and restore your love of the game. That, my friends, is golf.

From how luck (both good and bad) can affect your game; to being at the mercy of Mother Nature; to taking a look at some of the more interesting rules; G.O.L.F. lays-it-out as you've never read it before (oh, you may have thought it, but seeing on the printed page is a totally different experience).

Mr. Luoma takes golfers and non-golfers alike on a facinating voyage into what it really means to play this game - from chagrin to euphoria, it's all in this book.

You can purchase Mr. Luoma's book on the G.O.L.F. website, along with some other merchandise, including framed prints from the awesome artwork contained within its pages (I totally want that "Believe" print).

PGA Pay To Play

So I really wanted to go on one of my rants today. I wanted to get frustrated about the fact that, once again, the media is shoving Tiger (the third place finisher) down our throats, instead of taking a good story such as Robert Rock (the actual winner of the tournament) and running with that.

Here's a guy who has been a European pro for over 13 years now, with only 1 win under his belt. But he outplayed both Tiger and Rory (the almost completely unmentioned second place finisher), as well as the rest of the field, to take his second. Instead...it was the same old, same old.

But rather than go that direction, I want to get some opinions on another matter. This matter is, I'm sure, not new to many golf fans. But for someone like me who doesn't follow the tour, I can't seem to wrap my head around it. It's the whole appearance fee thing. I know this doesn't take place on the American tour. But paying an appearance fee is how they get some names to come out to a tournament such as the Abu Dhabi Championship. I don't know about you, but I have a slight problem with this.

For me anyway, it cheapens the tournament. The way I perceive it is, a golfer is looking at this tournament with no real interest in playing. But then they offer him money just to show up, so now he'll play? I'm sorry, but that sounds like crap to me. It sounds to me like you're running a b.s. tournament and you need to do anything you can to get people to pay attention. Is this an exhibition or is a legit tournament? Well, if you have to pay players just to show up...you tell me.

But, at the same time, I look at if from the other side. Is it a good idea? Would it get more of the tour stars to participate in more tournaments? Would some of these smaller tournaments get more attention?

Let's face it - if the PGA Tour isn't going to implement an actual season full of tournaments that matter toward some type of a real playoff system, all leading to a season ending champion, then maybe the pay-to-play system is the way to go. I hate the idea considering these players already have sponsorships, endorsements and the opportunity to win good money on the tour stops, but if that's how they can make the PGA Tour a little more exciting, then maybe that's also worthy of some consideration.

Swing 'til you're happy!

An Introduction To Golf.

Life definitely throws us curves and I'm sure we all have heard the sayings. "You play the hand you're dealt and you play it to the best of your ability." Or one of my favorites "We are given what we can handle." It's funny how everything seems to work it's way out though.

My friend never played golf before in his life. He was always into more active sports. Not saying golf is not active, it's just not as active as say...basketball. Anyway, he used to tell me that he couldn't spend 2 plus hours on a golf course when he could fit in a b-ball game in an hour and go do something else. Ok, I can see where he might be coming from...golf does take time.

Fast forwarding a year and a half later, my friend gets into a life changing accident at work. He injures his foot severely causing serious nerve and muscle damage. He does not lose the foot but he lost a lot of control. Needless to say, his "active" sport days are over. Enter golf.

So, he picks up a set of clubs and decides to give the four-letter game a go. Speaking with him recently about it he tells me "I'm hooked! Never did I think I would play this game but I love it." I find it interesting to see how people are introduced to golf. Unfortunately, my buddy found it through misfortune but it has worked out in his benefit. He gets to walk and rehab his foot, challenge himself while doing so and enjoy the company of friends. Looks to me like a classic case of turning a negative into a positive!

Hit'em long...yell FORE!!!

Can You Lose the Will to Golf?

It sounds like such a stupid question; "Can you lose the will to golf?" You want to blurt out, "What kind of question is that???" But in reality, I think the answer to the question is yes.

Yeah, you can lose the will to golf. And it does't matter if you've been playing for one season or twenty seasons - it can happen. It happened to me this past year. For a fleeting moment early last fall, I thought of golf and felt no emotion whatsoever. Not excitement over my next round; not disgust over my previous one; nothing. It was as if the sport was irrelevant to me. The flubs didn't matter; the birdies didn't matter; the drives that careened off into the abyss didn't matter - the good, the bad and the ugly of golf were, in a word: Gone.

That fleeting moment pretty much shook me to my core. Could it be that easy to withdraw from something I held so dear for a good portion of my life? It seemed logically impossible, but emotionally, the empty feeling was there. And if I could lose the will to golf, then surely it could happen to other golfers.

Obviously, I've played my fair-share of golf over the years and I've written my fair share of golf-related articles. It would stand to reason that someone who hasn't let golf become such a part of their life would have a greater chance of losing interest in the game.

I immediately considered that the cause of the problem - that I overdosed on golf. Like an addict that finally succumbed to his devices, I was a golf junkie who had become anemic to the game due to over-consumption - too many rounds; too many equipment purchases; too many musings translated into posts for this blog.

To compound my issue, this notion of overdosing worried me further. Was I "over" golf like a teenager is "over" their former BFF? It seems ridiculous to trivialize it like that, but when you feel nothing towards something you once enjoyed, you tend to be "over" it.

But somehow I knew I wasn't "over" it. I can't explain how I knew it - I just knew. And if I wasn't over golf, then what? I didn't play all that much last year - perhaps the lack of playing time contributed to my apathy? At the time, I also had an 11-month-old (now 15 months) pulling my attention away from golf - maybe the game wasn't as important to me as it used to be? Or perhaps it was a combination of all these things?

Whatever the reason was, for that brief moment in time, I could care less about golf. But that moment passed as fast as it came and I was back out on the course in November thoroughly enjoying myself. Today, I can confidently report that I'm truly excited about playing again this spring - in fact, I'm even excited about going to the indoor golf range next weekend!

So, can you lose the will to golf (or to do anything else for that matter)? Absolutely. And even more unnerving; there may be no rhyme or reason as to why. In my case, it was a brief adulterous act in a long love affair with this game. But, I'm "over" it.

Golf Tournament Hype

The fans are excited. The anticipation has been building all week. Fans are talking about it amongst their friends, family and co-workers. Everyone is expecting to see some of the best play they've seen all season. Everyone is expecting to see greatness. And this isn't even the championship! Then what is it you ask? It's the Chevron World Challenge!

Ha! I fooled ya, didn't I? I know you thought I was talking about the NFL and Championship Sunday. Well, I don't blame you. Seeing the two best teams from each conference square off against one another to decide which teams go to the Super Bowl is pretty exciting. But that's not how it is in golf.

See, this is what I've been talking about. The NFL ends the season with it's most exciting games leading up to the Super Bowl - a championship game. But the second to last tournament of the PGA season is the Chevron World Challenge. Practically meaningless. But not quite as meaningless as the final tournament - the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

So what do I mean by meaningless? Well, name me one sport, other than golf, that puts it's "playoffs" right in the middle of the season. You can't. Stupid, right? The PGA "playoffs" are made up of four tournaments in August and September. But for some reason, the season doesn't end after the playoffs. No, us golf fans are treated to a myriad of meaningless tournaments after the playoffs have ended!

So why is it so mixed up in golf? Why wouldn't they simply put the playoffs at the end of the season like everyone else? This is all part of what I've been getting at. And it was on full display leading up to this football weekend, and will be on full display again over the next two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. For cryin' out loud, the NFL gets more attention when there are no games going on during the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl than the PGA Tour gets during their two biggest tournaments of the year combined! That should tell you enough!

Ah, I'm spouting off again. But I just can't help myself. It's such an easy target. One day the powers that be in the world of the PGA will pull their heads out of their 19th holes and get with the program. But until then, well, I'll keep tryin'...

Swing 'til you're happy!