DATE: 05/16/2007 21:44:31 / MOOD: i love golf

I just reconnected with an old acquaintance tonight. Not on the golf course and not over a drink.

Actually, Scot Duke is a great blogger, and an even more impressive business person. We exchanged a few emails several years ago but, shame on me, I never kept up. Recently, I've been a regular visitor to several of his blogs, my favorite being Business Golf: The Real Deal at http://businessgolf.wordpress.com/.

Scot tells you what he thinks. And so the story begins...

The latest post on business golf was a rant on how he took the day off yesterday from blogging, and actually played golf. And people were giving him a hard time. He goes on to explain how he hates when the "non-golfers" tell him what a waste of time golf is.

At this point, I'm all with him. I'm thinking about all the people I've had this same argument with. And how much more business I've done on the golf course as opposed to a conference room.

And then....he has to go off on "Social Networks". Whoa Scot!

He says, "I get that same way with some of the social networking groups. Their constant jockeying around the internet vomiting unbelievable figures on the zillions of hits they get a day in an effort to get people to come to their site to find out why they want you to think they are so popular really gets on my nerves. That is because I don’t understand the need for living in an imaginary world. See, I don’t understand social networking groups."

Well, after calming down a bit...you see, 19thHole.com is a Social Network...I actually have to agree with him. I know what he's talking about...first hand! It seems like every network site out there is bragging that they're the next MySpace.

I don't know about you, but I don't want 19thHole.com to be anything like MySpace. I want this community to be a close knit, fun, and safe environment for GOLFERS! I have no desire to have 10 million members...well, unless they've all played at least 72 holes in the past three months!!

But back to the story. I did get what Scot was ranting about. And I immediately left a comment on his blog, inviting him to come see what we were all about. Great people sharing personal experiences about a great game.

And you know what. Within 30 minutes he had signed up and I had a message from him. Cool!

So, a big Shout Out to our newest member, Businessgolf. Show him some love people. And go read his blog. It'll keep you thinking, and if you don't watch out, you may learn something.

Fairways & greens,

Jim

 

View Entry

DATE: 05/07/2007 22:26:01 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

Hey folks,

Has anyone tried any of the golf groups on MeetUp.com?How was it? Are you still a member? Have you ever Met Up??

What other ways have you found to meet local golfers in the past?

Let me know.

View Entry

DATE: 05/03/2007 21:31:36 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

 From ESPN.com

 

CBS refuses to air Maxfli ad featuring Daly

CBS is refusing to air a commercial which appears to show golfer JohnDaly grabbing a beer while driving a golf cart at a municipal course, according to several published reports.

The spot, for Maxfli golf balls, also features Daly singing in a bar with beer-drinking patrons surrounding him.

Daly has battled alcohol abuse throughout his professional golf career.

"It did not meet the standards of the CBS network," spokeswoman LeslieAnn Wade said Tuesday, quoted in The Los Angeles Times. "Any implied or direct reference to excessive consumption of alcohol would not meet network guidelines."

Wade said that the CBS guidelines do not allow alcoholic beverages to appear in ads when an activity involves a level of alertness, the paper reported.

Maxfli said the beverage is ginger ale, according to The New York Times.

The spot has appeared on Golf Channel.

"Although the spot passed our criteria," Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said in The Times, "and our mature audience is more familiar with John Daly as one of golf's larger-than-life characters, we're sensitive to the issues at hand."

"We went into this with the idea that John Daly is fun, exciting and approachable," Bob Maggiore, senior director of marketing for TaylorMade-Adidas of Carlsbad, Calif., told the L.A. Times. "In hindsight, maybe we should have seen the risk. But we looked at John Daly as someone who lights up a room, not someone with a troubled past."

Maggiore told The New York Times that the ad isn't about alcohol. "This is a spot that is supposed to be fun and exciting and show the brand to be fun and accessible."

He added that carrying a beer while driving a golf cart isn't uncommon.

"If there were rules for alcohol on a golf course," Maggiore told The New York Times, "there'd be a sobriety check on the 10th green."

Daly has not commented on the ads.

 ---------------------------------------------------------- -------

So, what do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know. 

 

View Entry

DATE: 05/03/2007 17:16:40 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

Hi everyone,

First and foremost, I want to thank you for joining 19thHole.com. How you spend your time is very important and I'm honored that you decided to spend a little of it here. I hope we are living up to your expectations.

Well, we just passed our 1-Month anniversary on Tuesday. That's right, one entire month has passed since we launched the new 19thHole.com on April 1st. And what a month it was!!

We had to temporarily disable the Send A Message function because some people (who are no longer enjoying the benefits of membership) decided to abuse it. We are still working on ways to implement the Message function and allow you to control who you receive messages from. We hope to have that problem solved in the next several weeks.

So we had a few hiccups but overall we had a great time. We added many great features and are working on more every day.

To kick off our 2nd month I wanted to let you know of some exciting improvements we've made to the site over the last several days.

First, we've added a "Who's Chatting?" box on the Home page. This will let you easily see who is in the Live Chat rooms at any time. If you haven't visited the Chat rooms, the link is at the very top of every page on the right side. Just look for "Live Chat".

Also, we have upgraded the Referral system so when you invite someone to join 19thHole.com you will get points when that person joins. You can find the Invite link at the bottom of every page or on the My Account page in the row of tabs on the right side. We will be introducing some really great giveaways based on referral and activity points very soon. Stay tuned.

You will also be awarded activity points for creating blogs, posting in the forums, leaving comments on your friends profile pages and for uploading pictures to your gallery or uploading your favorite songs to play on your Profile page. You did know you could put songs on your Profile page, didn't you?

Start racking up those points now, they will come in handy. You can see your Activity Points and Referral Points balances on the My Account page in the ACCOUNT INFO / ACTIVITY section or on your Profile page.

We have also added a "Top Users" page. You will find the link in the navigation at the top of every page in the dark green bar, right next to the Home link. The Top Users page will show the top 100 users based on Referral Points, Profile Views and Activity Points.

We will have more announcements in the coming weeks so check back often.

Thanks again for being a part of the 19th Hole. If I haven't had a chance to chat with you yet or leave you a comment I am looking forward to it. But don't wait on me, shoot me a message and tell me what's on your mind. Good or bad, I can handle it. With my golf game lately, I think I can handle anything! :-(

See you at the 19th Hole.

Jim



View Entry

DATE: 04/28/2007 22:28:29 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

19thHole.com member, GolfGirl, recently completed a rather thorough survey of her blog readers relating to, what else, sex and golf.

You can see the preliminary findings here

 

And don't forget to check out her blog regularly at http://thegolfgirl.blogspot.com/

Thanks GolfGirl!

 

View Entry

DATE: 04/16/2007 17:35:10 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

This is the first in what is sure to become a long-standing tradition of spreading golf-love all over the web.

In the first installment I want to send much love to the TravellingGolfer Blog. First and foremost because Mike Sigers and team put together a great blog, full of very good information about courses, resorts and golf products. But today, mad love is handed out for their shout-out to 19thHole.com.

And even though Mike says he's not the type to interact with other golfers using "one of those social sites", I'll go ahead and challenge Mike to give it a try. Come sign up for an account. It's always free, what do you have to lose Mike?

Give us a week and you'll never leave. You'll meet some of the greatest people on the planet at 19thHole.com. And you may even get a golf tip or two.

So, c'mon Mike. Give us a shot. You may actually enjoy it.

 

View Entry

DATE: 04/05/2007 12:48:40 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

It's rare that I get a good break on the golf course. Of course, if I shank a drive, it hits a tree, and kicks OB off of the cart path...that's a bad break. The golf gods are against me.

Now, if that same tree kicks my ball back out into the fairway...that's a great shot!!

But seriously, one of the best feelings in golf is when the golf gods are on your side.

I had a round like that last week. It seemed like every time I hit a bad shot I got a good break. I hit trees, the ball kicks out to the green. I even hit an OB stake and my ball kicked back in. Long putts were falling and chips were tight.

There's all kinds of "reasons" for good breaks, most seeming having something to do with "clean living." But, I'm living the same life I was last Saturday and I haven't got those good breaks I got then.

So, the question. What makes good breaks happen? And what impact do they have on you as a competitor?

For me, the effects were that I loosened up, hit better shots and felt great about my golf game.

I would pay to be able to replicate that feeling on command.

How about you? Leave a comment and tell me your story.

View Entry

DATE: 03/26/2007 08:26:37 / MOOD: i love golf

I really like rain on Mondays. For one, the golf course is closed on Mondays so I won't miss a tee time because of the rain. And it's good for the course. Water = GOOD. Especially in Texas.

Also, it just makes it easier getting back into the work groove. When it's sunny and warm on Monday, you just hate being inside. With rain, being inside is a good thing.

The worst...rain all weekend and then sunny and 80 on Monday. AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

 

View Entry

DATE: 03/25/2007 13:11:58 / MOOD: i hate golf

Day 2 of the Club Match Play Championship started off well. I was three up after three holes and everything was going smoothly.

Then I lost focus on a few shots and then started getting steamed at myself. We made the turn All Square.

Went down 1 on #11 and then down 2 on #13. Same holes I screwed up on yesterday!

I started to get it back together after that. My opponent got in a struggle with a greenside bunker on 17...and he lost. And he was steamed now.

We go into 18 All Square and he's just come off a horrible hole and I'm feeling really good about things.

I hit a good drive down the middle of a dogleg right. Then my opponent pushes his drive in the trees right. When I pull up around the bend, expecting to see my ball in the middle of the fairway...it wasn't. I looked around and spotted it. It had rolled through the fairway, across the cart path and ended up on some hardpan on the right side. Not terrible but certainly not what I was expecting.

My opponent is trapped. He tries to punch out forward and chunks it about 20 feet. I'm feeling better. I don't have a clear shot but I can hit a 5 iron up over some trees to just get in the middle. Cudda, shudda, wudda. But I didn't. I pulled it to the left rough, with overhanging branches. I'm about 180 out. I tried to punch a utility wood down the fairway but hit a branch, it kicked left, about three feet from OB. I'm not feeling so good now. But I'm still in it.

 From there all I could do from there is punch out to about 90 yards. So now, we're both laying 4 in the fairway and he's only about 40 yards.

Then the shot. My 90 yard wedge stopped about 8 feet from the pin and is on a good line to the hole. My opponent runs past the pin to the back of the green, about 20 feet from the hole.

Feeling good again. There's no way he's gonna make that putt. He hasn't made a putt all day.

You know what happens next. He drained it! OUCH!

So, I have to make my relatively easy 8 footer to tie and go to extra holes. Yep, I pushed the putt. Lipped out. Game over.

But what a great match. My opponent was a great sportsman. I'm really impressed with how he didn't give up on the last hole and hung in there. I'm not so sure I could have done the same in his position.

But I really did it to myself. I tried to play safe but I just got lazy and sloppy. No one to blame but myself.

But I'll try again next year.

View Entry

DATE: 03/24/2007 20:14:20 / MOOD: like playing 36 holes

I wasn't going to play in my club's Match Play Championship this year. I've been playing very poorly lately and I just wasn't up for the thrashing that I would inevitably take...And it's four rounds over two weekends. It's hard for me to devote two full weekends to this game, no matter how much I want to play.

Well, without my knowledge, my wonderful wife signed me up. And told me at 8:00 last night that my tee time was 8:00 this morning. WOW, thanks for the heads-up. I need to go hit balls...or buy a new swing aid...or at least a golf hipnosis CD!!! "What am I going to do?!?!?!"

Well, turned out that the lack of preparation probably helped more than anything. I didn't have a week to think about it. And think about it. And think about it.

I won't give you all the details but I proceeded to shoot a 41 on the front, with a TRIPPLE on #9! (remember, I'm an 18 handicap, that's great for me) And was up 5 at the turn.

As I started the back I think I got a bit cocky, or lazy or something bad. But I won #10 because my opponent put his tee shot OB. Then lost 11 and 13. My play on the back was less than stellar, but I was determined to calm down, go back to the game I played on the front, and win this damn thing.

I was 5 up with 5 to play.

If you don't know match play, that's called Dormie, or when you can't loose the match even if you loose every remaining hole.

Then came #14. You could put a towel over our drives, they were about three feet apart. But that three feet was big. He was behind me and had a shot to the green. Me? I had a big friggin oak tree dead in my line, about 20 feet in front of me. He leaves his approach just short of the green, in the fringe, but has an easy line to the hole. I had to lay up 30 yards short. My chip, which had to carry a bunker to an elevated green,  landed about 10 feet from the hole but rolled to about 15 feet.

My opponent putted out of the fringe and was about 4 feet.

I figure I've got to make this put to tie the hole and win the match.

I left the putt just short for a tap-in bogie.

But...he still has to make that 4 foot putt. In most cases I would have conceded the putt, just 'cause I'm a nice guy, but he had only conceded one putt to me all day. So I make him putt it. And he missed.

Jim wins 5 and 4.

So, I play again tommorow in the winners bracket. My opponent tomorrow shot a 43-41-84 today. After my blowups on 11 and 13, and then slacking off on 16, 17, and 18...I shot 41-51-92 (how's that for consistency??)

But someone once said (or they should have at least) "Just play hard enough." And I did.

View Entry