The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Tag: robbie biershenk (page 10 of 32)

Gender confusion?

Why do people insist on including gender when describing some professions or activities?

“What does he do for a living?”male nurse

“He’s a male nurse.”

We’ve already established we’re talking about a male. Do they think if they just say “nurse” we’re going to assume he magically turns into a woman when he goes to work? Do male and female nurses provide different care?

“He’s a male model.”

Oh, if you would have just said “model,” I would have assumed he was cross dressing because there aren’t enough female models to go around.

Then when it comes to women, it seems these types of qualifications are often used for the sporting professions. Lady golfer, woman soccer player, female wrestler. Okay, the wrestling might actually be a different sport, especially if there’s mud involved, but you get my point. You might find yourself under attack if you said “female neurosurgeon,” “lady firefighter,” or “woman plumber.” But for sports, it seems to be accepted.

Let’s examine how it should be done. If you’ve already established gender, there is no need to throw the adjective in there. He’s a nurse. She’s a CEO. He’s a model. She’s a golfer.

But but but… what about Golf Chick? Don’t get your feathers all atwitter. The word “golf” describes what kind of chick I am, instead of the other way around.

Next post.

Seems like a different tournament without Wie

Or is it just me? The whole production, the vibe of the event… it all actually seems like a golf tournament instead of a circus with a sideshow.

Without Wie around, we actually got to see some footage of Jesper Parnevik at the John Deere. In fact, had he made that putt for his third birdie in a row, I was going to dub him Jesper Birdienevik. He missed it and birdied the next hole for 3 out of 4, but that didn’t cut my mustard. Three in a row, Jesper. That’s the deal.

Another fresh face is on the scene and we were treated to some coverage of this little cutie:

philip francis

Philip Francis, the 18 year old amateur out of Scottsdale, AZ. Will he really play for UCLA or will he get the pro bug and bug out?

The kid looked like he was just having a blast out there. He shot 3 over in the first round with what looked like his buddy on the bag. They were all smiles and chit chatting along the way. He nailed a great second shot on 17 to give himself an eagle opportunity and both boys just looked psyched. He missed it and tapped in for birdie and they headed off to 18 as if they were just going out to hook up with some girls at the movies. Very relaxed and carefree. Not that seeing Duffy Waldorf making a run with his fancy golf balls and watching Billy Mayfair actually sink putts with that crazy stroke wasn’t interesting, but the addition of this Francis kid really brightened things up. He’s T129 and probably has to shoot under par today to make the cut. I’ll be rooting for him.

I was going to switch over to the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic today and watch the women play, but here on the west coast, it’s on at the same time as the John Deere. I have old school Tivos so I can only record one thing at a time. So today, both Tivos will be rolling so I can root for the kid as I bloop-bloop my way through the coverage and still not miss the women’s event.

Next post.

A tip from my favorite caddie

Jamboy logoProbably my favorite golf blog to read is The Reluctant Jam Boy. No filler posts, no reviews, no gratuitous keyword whoring, just good stories from his life as a caddie. Tom’s writing is funny, clever and entertaining and I truly enjoy every single post.

His last two posts are of his experiences caddying for Ian Baker-Finch and the CEO of Ritz-Carlton and then meeting Mr. Baker-Finch at the CBS Tower at Tiger Woods’ tournament at The Congressional. With his new promotion to caddie master and the stellar job he did as IBF’s caddie, it looks like he’s going to be the new caddie master at the new private Jack Nicklaus course where it took place. Congratulations and best of luck, Tom! Just please don’t go getting all professional on us, stop smoking rocks and start taming down your writing.

The first of those two IBF posts was 22 pages long! Of course, it seemed like 4.5 pages because the first page seemed like 1/4 page, then the next five pages started seeming like 1/2 page then they blended into the next 10 pages which seemed like 2 pages then the next page was really on its own so that just seemed like a page and the rest of the 5 pages only seemed like 1.25 pages. You’ll have to read it to understand. It’ll only take a minute. You might even find your “special purpose.”

So what’s the tip?

Anyway, within one of those pages I found a brilliant little nugget I just have to share. He talked about being sure to put bug spray on the brim of his hat! I can’t believe I’m such an imbecile that I never thought of that. Actually, yes I can.

bug smear hat

I couldn’t really get a clear photo of it no matter what lighting/flash combination I used and this is the best I got. For some reason, little bugs like to fly up under the brim of my hat and land there. Then I go to swat them away and inevitably end up with a smear like this I’m stuck staring at for the rest of the round, distracting me from my game.

Bug spray on a hat – duh! Thanks, Jam Boy – I owe you a tip.

Next post.

The Golfchick Chronicles are back

When I was on blogger, I had a feature called the “Golfchick Chronicles,” so people could read my entire blog starting with the very first post. Yep, people actually do it. Since I moved to this domain and my new host, I’ve had that feature disabled because it relies on permalinks within every post that link to the next sequential post. It was a hassle to get them all switched over, but it’s finally done, so the feature is back and listed in my right sidebar column.

Phew! I deserve a(nother) margarita. Oh yeah, that was a lot of tedium so if I glazed over and messed up on any of them and you happen to notice, please let me know! And I apologize if your feed readers went bananas as I updated them all.

Next post.

Oh come on, putting is hard enough

bear on golf course

Next post.

New Worldgolf column: thoughts on par

In my latest column at worldgolf, I discuss the relevance (or irrelevance) of the almighty par.

Next post.

Condi: “I love anything with a score at the end.”

A.) Too much information
B.) Are you keeping track of the score in Iraq or are you too busy golfing?

This Washington Post article (which I found via GFW’s Editor’s blogs) focuses mostly on Condoleezza Rice’s jaunt to the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club and rubbing elbows with Tiger Woods. The part that disturbs me is in the intro paragraph:

Rice took up golf two years ago and has been taking lessons at the course on Andrews Air Force Base, where she recently shot an 89.

Two years in and she’s shooting 89? I know from experience that requires a level of obsession that should be reserved for people with less important jobs. Like NFL Commissioner. So Condi, until that’s your title, please do more Secretary of State stuff.

Get your U-groove on, lady

Surprisingly, Ms. 89 is more concerned with controlling the spin of the ball than the spin of the information. I’m surprised she doesn’t fudge her scores and put up 100+’s just so we feel reassured. I mean, for someone with such advanced anti-truth skills, she sure don’t know when to use them. Evidently, the honor system in golf is more important than in government. But come on, Condi, even if golf had the level of checks and balances you’re used to, you know how to bob and weave. But it doesn’t, so if ever it was appropriate to sandbag, this is it.

Meanwhile, I’ll set us up a tee time for January 2009 and I’ll honor all your padded strokes for our match. Golf chick v. Rice. Be there.

Condoleezza's workout

I’ll be ready, Condi.

Next post.

Personal golf tips and swing thoughts

Yesterday I played golf with a slightly crazy and ultra fun friend, Jeanette. Her father was a teaching pro so she’s been playing for a long time and probably got a lot of great golf tips over the years.

She goes through a round with impeccable etiquette, a casual demeanor and hilarious commentary, and playing golf with her is a complete joy. We also give the cart girl a lot of business when we play together, but that’s beside the point.

Everyone has their own swing thoughts and I know mine change from time to time depending on what part of my swing needs the most focus. Slow and smooth, spine angle, and eye on the ball are some of my recurring favorites. Yesterday I discovered Jeanette’s swing thoughts and the personal system she uses to keep them in mind. Her swing thoughts were somewhat surprising to me, but the delivery method was classic, quirky Jeanette. She had this slip of paper taped under the bill of her visor:

ASHLEY swing thought

I guess I should have asked her if the name Ashley had significance but I was too busy laughing. Never heard the swing thought “You da man” before. But she definitely is da man.

I got the feeling she had been using this system for quite awhile and that “Ashley” was very important and had become something of a security blanket for her. But with Jeanette, you have to expect the unexpected. She abandoned her swing thoughts in the bathroom stall after the 7th hole. I went in second and found Ashley taped to the wall behind the toilet and quietly rescued it for a memento. She hammered her drive on the 8th, made a solid par and finished the round with only one blow up hole. I guess yesterday was the magic day when she finally had the swing thoughts she needed set to memory. And Ashley has been set free.

I think it’s brilliant and that others might benefit from it. Whether you need to think of alignment or take your mind off those pesky details and just “look good” – there’s something here for everyone! Personally, the less I think the better I play.

If anyone out there has heard of other unusual or unique swing thoughts or systems, I’d love to hear them!

Next post.

The U.S. Senior Open that doesn’t exist

Stuart over at the Waggle Room alerted me to a terrible injustice in the golf world. I guess I already knew at some level but I’m not sure why it wasn’t more clear on my radar.

The U.S. Senior Open is now taking place at Whistling Straits, with Allen Doyle trying to become the second three-time winner and first to win the tournament three years in a row.

The Senior Open is one of 15 national championships run by the United States Golf Association (not counting the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup). Every one of those championships is played twice – once for the men (the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Senior Amateur, for example) and once for the women (U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur).

Every one of those championships except one. Because while the 50-and-over guys get their Open championship this week, there is no U.S. Senior Women’s Open. And that’s really inexcusable. It’s well past time for the USGA to add a Women’s Senior Open.

Check out his full post in which he lists some players he knows would be playing if they held such an event based on his own communications with some of them.

I know I’d love to see such a tournament. Do they think people wouldn’t watch and that they couldn’t get sponsors and advertisers?

The one thing his post doesn’t have is a call to action. He ends the post by simply stating that the USGA needs to “get off its duff” and add the championship to its playlist. Maybe if we all emailed the USGA with our desire to watch those legendary golf chicks battle it out, they’d get the picture. And if you’re a potential sponsor, you know what to do.

Update: Stuart added a link for you use if you want to write that letter.

Another update: Sarah at The Daily Mulligan wrote a letter to the USGA you can copy and paste.

Next post.

This July 4, support the troops with your old golf gear

Want to do more to support the U.S. troops than put a magnet on your SUV?

Fellow golf blogger Bill Wolfrum put up this great post on how we golfers can demonstrate our support. Check it out and donate what you can to celebrate our anniversary of the freedom they protect.

military golf chick

This military golf chick needs practice our support!

Next post.

Older posts Newer posts

© 2024 The Golfchick

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑