The day you play your best but can’t get the credit for it

Posted on by Alexander Rose

This is a rather old thing I found on the internet but I had to giggle and thought you might like it as well.

Imagine you’re a keen golfer, you get out to the course every time you can, every time your family and business commitments allow for a round or a training session. It didn’t payoff though in the past, you play and play. Then one day you play a tournament and, God knows, everything comes together, everything. Drives go straight, approaches land on the green and your putting is excellent.

How fantastic! Too bad that it’s a weekday and you were supposed to be working. Not imaginable what would happen if your boss would find out you weren’t really sick but very successful on the golf course instead.

This is what the scoring leaderboard looks like then:

Picture (C) golfgods.com

Hands up, who’s playing fantasy golf?

Posted on by Alexander Rose

If you’re like me, you really love all aspects of the game: The difficulty, the outdoors, the technical aspect, the social aspect, the ability to discuss it, the fact that every course in the world is different and, last but not least, the pro tours which usually tend to be really exciting.

There are other facts, too, but as I have a family I have to settle with the most important ones and leave side aspects to others. One of which is Fantasy Golf.

In case you’re not aware, this is, very similar to other sports, a way to win an online competition by creating week-in and week-out a list of (golf) players that you maintain regularly. The better those play in the next tournament, the more points you earn, i.e. the better you predicted the outcome of the tournament as a whole. Of course players do not play every single tournament, certain course characteristics do more favor a number of certain players and you could also count the current form factor in, in case you are able to assess or anticipate it.

It is really fun and a way to seriously stay connected to the game as you won’t miss a week(end) and get zero points. And there is a social aspect to that game also.

These guys however exaggerate a bit I’d say:

As an example, this is the fantasy golf game of the PGA Tour. Have fun!

Out of bounds… and the country

Posted on by Alexander Rose

Imagine you are teeing off at Golf de Preisch, a neat little course in the north of France. You’re standing on the 4th tee, feeling confident that you can place the ball in the middle of the fairway—boom, and there it is again, the pull hook!

Problem with that, especially on hole number 4, the ball most likely will not only have left the club’s premises but also the country! Golf de Preisch lies exactly at the French border to Luxembourg. So any errant ball over the fence will automatically be subject to the Schengen treaty, having left the country within the European Union. No customs clearance necessary though fortunately.

GolfDePreisch
© google.com

Due to the close proximity to the borders, the three 9-hole loops of this 27-hole facility are suitably named “France”, “Luxembourg” and “Allemagne”.

Are you aware of other courses, where this or something similar could happen, too?

Playing golf for a good cause

Posted on by Alexander Rose

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A friend of mine in the UK started with golf not long ago and as charity plays a big role in the anglo-saxon culture he came up with a very fine idea one day:

In Britain there is an organisation which helps people who suffer from cancer and who probably can’t afford their medication or treatments. Macmillan Cancer Support help these people in various ways, offer them a better life but are obviously dependent on regular donations.

In order to increase the awareness and the importance of the cause and at the same time to combine that with the joy of golf, they invented the “Longest Day Challenge: 4 heroes. 72 holes. 1 epic battle”.

What it does, you form a team of four people, play four rounds of golf on one single day, walking the course. As this obviously is quite a strenuous and exhausting achievement, every team has the ability to collect donations for Macmillan Cancer Support and with it have a great day play golf and at the same time do something good for the community and for those who deserve it.

Everybody can get engaged, form his own team, decide on venue and date and start collecting donations. It’s super easy with websites like JustGiving. So please join me in applauding everybody for taking part in this great event and also in donating an amount of your choice for the sake of people who need some support.

Golf is anyone’s game!

Posted on by Alexander Rose

It’s just an advert, but it expresses so many things relevant to the game of golf! The reputation is decreasing, number of players plummeting and still is golf considered to be a rich man’s sport.

HSBC, the global banking corporation and one of the biggest sponsors for the sport, recently released an commercial which pretty much clears away all bad perception and opinion by showing that really everyone can play golf if they want to!

It’s a great short film, great idea and professional realisation. Hats off! It’s just anyone’s game…

“Phil the Thrill” appears in the hospitality zone again… not for drinks though!

Posted on by Alexander Rose

This guy is unbelievable! He is a charming character, the dream son-in-law for a lot, always well behaved with good manners. Walking up the 18th green, the audience going crazy—I’m not sure how often he’s touching his cap or visor to greet the crowd? But Phil Mickelson is not only a nice guy, he really is one of the best golfers in the world and one could say, he’s the best short-game player out there. I don’t know the statistics but I’m sure his putting and chipping stats are top-notch!

In this week’s Barclays, the first of the FedEx Cup finals, Phil interrupted his Friday round for a short visit to the VIP hospitality area at the green of the 5th hole at Ridgewood Country Club—unintentionally obviously, as Lefty sliced his ball onto the cart path to the left which unfortunately bounced further onto the visitors’ balcony.

As we know Phil, he managed to get away with a rather acceptable score, bogey in this case.

The more interesting thing is that exactly the same thing happened to Phil the next day! Again 5th hole, again a shot to the left and again a huge bounce onto the hospitality terrace. Absolutely incredible! And Phil couldn’t believe it either: “Oh no not again!” This time, as he knew the spot, carded down a par… is he the golf God or what?!

And I really like the fact that the crowd had their fun too!

Continue reading “Phil the Thrill” appears in the hospitality zone again… not for drinks though!

Vice Golf Alemão Edition, for the FIFA World Cup addicts amongst you!

Posted on by Alexander Rose

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I recently came across this cool thing: Vice Golf created two nice limited sets of golf balls – the German team and an international team. So for those of you who currently can’t decide what’s more important, football or golf, why not go golfing with football players’ heads printed on golf balls – a fair compromise I reckon :)

If you like the idea, check out the International Edition here.

Man vs Fruit

Posted on by Alexander Rose

When you hold a golf ball in your hand, even as a golf newbie, you most probably can imagine what effect a direct hit with the human body a golf ball can have. And I’m sure we have sort of the same pictures in mind…

And now imagine what a Golf Long Drive Champion like Joe Miller can do to a water melon… or just have a look:

Sprinkler heads can show more emotion than Jason Dufner

Posted on by Alexander Rose

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“Sprinkler heads can show more emotion that Jason Dufner on a golf course.” This sentence, quoted from the LA Times, really made my day! The current leader of the PGA Championship, Jason Dufner, is the usual ice block. No reaction to anything whatsoever. Even in this comfortable situation in the last major tournament of the year.

With -9 he’s the halfway clubhouse leader with 2 shots ahead Kuchar, Scott and Furyk. We’ll see today and tomorrow whether Dufner’s behaviour really is total calmness or just perfect acting/pretending.

And I’m looking forward to a new wave of #dufnering in case he would win the pot.

The funny US Open moments on Twitter

Posted on by Alexander Rose

twitter-iconAfter having mentioned I didn’t have access to pay-TV for watching the US Open I had to stick to internet live streaming… grey zone, I know, but what can I do. I tried to keep up with the action on the course and as well with the action on Twitter, reading all that stuff people had to say about the guys while either watching them from home or inside/outside the ropes. It was tough to do all that all at once if I were on the course I’d really have struggled to get along with all that modern social media. Checking the Facebook timeline is easy, commenting here and there is too. Twitter on the other hand is trickier, because the more people you follow the quicker you have to read, especially during such events like a major golf tournament. Bringing TwitterPics, Instagram, Vine, a proper blog or other things into the equation, that leads to a massive overflow and too little hands/devices/time to deal with all that stuff. Plus, you really lose the joy of watching golf I guess!

Therefore I sticked to Twitter only and it was tough enough to keep up the pace but it was kinda fun in the end and I had some funny moments when I laughed a lot. Let me share some of them with you.

Continue reading The funny US Open moments on Twitter