robbie biershenk – Page 9

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Aces, Alice Cooper and reader question answered

Back when I first started this blog (June 2005), Jennifer Mario was really the only active female golf blogging voice out there. Musey was around but not very active. Recently, Jen has been busy working on other projects, like her book about Michelle Wie, and her blog posts have been dwindling away. I really enjoy her writing and I wish her feed would light up with fresh material more often. The infrequency of her posts leaves me hanging on every word when she finally does write one. Her entry this month was no exception.

See, Jen and her family went to Hawaii where she not only rubbed elbows with Alice Cooper (might want to wash that elbow, Jen), she recorded her first hole-in-one! Huge congrats to her on that!

In our subsequent comment exchange, she mentioned my two aces which got me thinking about a reader question I had awhile back. I forget the reader’s name – he asked me instead of The Goose so he received an email response instead of a blog post.

The question was something about whether in tournament play if someone gets a hole-in-one, do they also win the “closest to the pin” prize? My answer: Yeah, you can’t really get any closer to the pin than that.

I actually saw that happen in one of our club’s tournaments. A guy made an ace, won the $50 KP (why do they call it KP instead of CP for closest to the pin?) and also won $100 which our club gives to anyone who makes a hole-in-one. As many people know, it is customary for anyone making a hole-in-one to buy drinks for all at the clubhouse afterwards. This guy honored that tradition and his bar tab exceeded his prize earnings by over $100. People joked that if it hadn’t been his first ace, he might have been tempted to pull the ball out of the hole, place it an inch away and just get out of there with his $50. After all, we’re a club that was founded at and sponsored by a bar! He knew it wouldn’t be cheap!

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A year later, Tiger wins one for the girl

August 13, 2007 / golfchick / 4 Comments

When Tiger won last year’s PGA Championship, he and his wife Elin announced that they were expecting a child.

Tiger and Elin at Medinah

Last year at Medinah

That child, Sam Alexis Woods, was present and rooting in a baby golf chick kind of way as her father won the same event this year for her coming out party. Her first tournament, his 59th PGA Tour win, his 13th major win, his first major with her as his good luck charm. Oh who am I kidding? As if Tiger needs luck.

Sam Alexis appears to be human, but then so does Tiger when he’s not playing golf. Can that kind of dominance and perfect timing really be the work of humans?

Tiger, Elin and Sam Alexis Woods

On another note, was I the only one who enjoyed the “sweaty man” aspect of watching this tournament? Well, a handful or two of those men, anyway.

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Earthquake in Southern California – sorry, golf gods – Updated

August 9, 2007 / golfchick / 4 Comments

I was supposed to play golf with a friend Wednesday afternoon. I canceled. I think it’s the first time ever I’ve been the one to back out of a golf outing. It’s now about 1:30 AM Thursday morning.

A couple weeks ago, I thought it felt like “earthquake weather.” The feeling passed in a couple days. About 30 minutes ago, we had a 4.5 a few miles from here. It’s not on the news yet (except to say its size and location) but if it’s that close and nothing fell off my walls, it’s probably not that bad so I don’t feel too guilty (or stupid) for just standing up and surfing instead of protecting myself. But I reserve the right to amend that statement as news comes in.

Of course, the Earth revolves around me so I know the earthquake was my fault because I didn’t play golf. Either that or I just had to make this a golf related post somehow. Sorry, folks. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

Update (8.16.2007): Another earthquake occurred almost an hour ago (12:23 PM PST) in just about the same location. Preliminary reports say it was magnitude 3.5, which sounds about right because I barely felt it here, just 6 miles away. Makes me wonder though… is that area brewing something bigger?

Updates (8.10.2007): Minor quake, minor damage, no reports of injuries

It seems this is the worst damage that was reported or discovered after the earthquake.

According to the CBS News story:

Engineers determined the bridge sustained only cosmetic damage. It was reopened later in the day.

“The bridge did what it was designed to do. It expanded at the expansion joints allowing for movement of the structure without causing any issues,” city engineer Damon Letz said in a statement.

Being a little bridge shy already, I think I’ll stay off that one for awhile anyway.

I’m not much of a “weather porn” junkie (unlike a cousin of mine who simply can’t get enough) but I do enjoy the science and maps on some of those weather and geological websites. Here are some images I snagged from the USGS earthquake site:

Okay, I’ll get back to golf now.

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Is Eva Longoria a golf chick or just posing for a good cause?

August 8, 2007 / golfchick / 3 Comments

Eva Longoria, the Desperate Housewives star, has teamed up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Callaway Golf Foundation to raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer prevention. That partnership included a $1 million donation from Callaway for the cause.

I have to say – GREAT cause. Early detection is key to improving the survival rate and the existing screening tests are woefully inadequate. Callaway’s $1 million contribution established a Callaway Golf Foundation Women’s Cancer Initiative (CGFWCI) at four cancer institutions to speed along the efforts.

From Dr. Beth Karlan at the lead institution:

Early detection is a primary objective of ovarian cancer research because of its promise for improved survival and quality of life. The overall five year survival for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer is 50%, but when the cancer is detected early, while it is still confined to the ovaries, prolonged survival and even cure is possible for over 95% of these women. Unfortunately, at the current time the majority of cases are diagnosed at a late stage after the tumor has spread widely, in large part, due to a lack of effective screening and early detection techniques. Ovarian cancer mortality could be reduced dramatically, even without advances in therapy, if a majority of the women affected with ovarian cancer could be diagnosed at an early stage. We have had a long standing interest in discovering effective means of early detection since our initiation of the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Program in 1991. In addition to our ongoing studies of women at high risk for ovarian cancer due to their inherited genetic predisposition to the disease, we are working to discover serum biomarkers that can be used as a screening test for all women.

Meanwhile, my own research is far less groundbreaking but inquiring minds want to know: Does Eva Longoria even play golf? She knows how to pose with a driver but has she ever gripped the shaft? Ahem.

Well, my usual ~~exhaustive research~~ quick google has shown no evidence that Eva is an actual golf chick. If she is just using her image to support the cause, that’s great, but why golf? I’m sure The EIF or Gilda’s Club would have gladly accepted her support. Then again, millions of golfers have probably heard about this because of Eva and Callaway’s involvement. Awareness raised.

Perhaps her image with a golf club is enough to inspire some women to get out on the golf course, but I bet actual golfing would do more to that end. Of course that’s not her cause, I was just looking for the double whammy.

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My ladybug returned to me

August 6, 2007 / golfchick / 8 Comments

About a year ago, I was playing at my local pitch-and-putt and my ladybug bag tag from Ko’Olina golf course fell off sometime during the round. Yes, it’s just a silly piece of plastic but I really liked it and was disappointed that it was gone. I figured I’d never see it again.

Ko'Olina ladybug

Recently, I was playing that same course and saw something hanging on the golf ball washer on one of the holes. There it was, my darling little ladybug! Of course, I assumed it was mine and recovered it for its new home on my sweet Birdie Girl orange stand bag.

Thank you, anonymous golfer, for rescuing my ladybug.

He’s a little scuffed and bruised, and I think my world-weary ladybug deserves a name after spending a year either on this course or who knows where. I don’t know why Elmer comes to mind but I don’t think it’s appropriate. The name of the nine-hole golf course is Sinaloa, so maybe it should have something to do with that. I found him at the 7th hole, named “Hillside.” Seven of Nine? Sinside? Hilloa? Any ideas?

I love simple designs and for some reason this ladybug just tickles me. Maybe it’s the tee down the middle of his back. Tee-hee!

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You call that television coverage?

August 6, 2007 / golfchick / 0 Comments

Not just a tournament, a major. Not just a major, the British Open. Not just the British Open, the first time St. Andrews has been home to a women’s professional event. Let’s see how these women play links golf. Lots of the women. On lots of the golf holes. Oops, nevermind.

TNT saw fit to cover the event for 1.5 hours on the first two days. ABC graced us with a whopping 2 hours on the final days. We got to see a handful of women play a handful of holes between 11 and 18. Whoopee.

Writers covered it better

At least we had good written coverage from the Golf For Women Editor’s blogs. However, of their nine contributors, most of the stories came from the only two men on that list, Dave Allen and John Huggan. Editor in Chief Susan Reed was there but I only saw one article from her. I found that odd.

Don’t get me wrong, the men filed some great stories and had interesting takes. For example, John Huggan points out that the Old Course is a public facility and women have been playing there for a long time. While it is significant that it is hosting its first women’s professional event, the real “breakthrough” is that women were allowed into the R&A clubhouse for the first time. Or was it a breakthrough? Here are some excerpts from John Huggan’s piece on the issue:

…to be sure, it is nice that the all-male membership of golf’s ruling body (outside Mexico and the United States) has for once relaxed its misogynistic and out-dated regulations regarding the presence of women inside one of the game’s most iconic buildings.

But let’s get real people. The headline on this story should read, “R&A behave like normal people shock.”

…the St. Rule club that makes its home on the right side of the 18th fairway, is, in fact, open only to women. Which makes it no better – or worse – than the R&A in my book.

Anyway, let’s keep this whole clubhouse thing in perspective. While it has a certain symbolic significance, in the broad scheme of things nothing has changed. Next week women will again be barred from entering.

Boo to television, Bravo (and one small brava) to the bloggers.

And a huge, heartfelt congratulations to Lorena Ochoa on her first major win at such a storied golf course.

Lorena Ochoa waves

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Congratulations, Natalie!

July 30, 2007 / golfchick / 4 Comments

I knew she was more than a pin-up girl. I was certain she was not doomed to Anna Kournikova status. If you let Natalie’s charming smile and on-course strut fool you into thinking there wasn’t a fierce competitor under there, you probably didn’t bet on her like I recommended.

Natalie Gulbis victorious

Okay, it wasn’t a prediction to literally bet on her in the Evian Masters this year, just a general “Natalie’s not just a bikini model” type of statement. Buy her calendars, look for those sexy upskirt shots during play and wish to be her bicycle seat all you want, just don’t count her out of competitions. She has a competitive spirit and a winning attitude in addition to a relentless marketing team and now she has a trophy to prove it.

So congratulations, Natalie. You’re a champion.

I just wish I could have seen the playoff. When I got home late last night after avoiding seeing the results of the tournament, I watched the coverage on TiVo. But I’m an idiot and didn’t set it to record beyond the allocated time slot. Natalie was in the clubhouse preparing for a possible playoff with Juli Inkster or Jeong Jang, who both needed to birdie 18 to force the playoff and were both in the middle of the fairway. Ding! Delete now? Damnit! I had to look it up to find out Inkster three-putted for bogey and Jang chipped up for a tap-in birdie. The sudden death playoff started on 18, where Jang had birdied all four days and Gulbis had only birdied twice. But the playoff went no further. Jang made par and Gulbis sank the victorious birdie putt. I’m sorry I missed it, Natalie. I would have loved to watch you win.

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Earning First but taking home Second

July 25, 2007 / golfchick / 4 Comments

It’s bittersweet. But mostly sweet. I’m just glad to bring home a plate.

SCGA Affiliate Team trophy plate

Here’s the story:

Every year, the president of the golf club I’m in plays in the SCGA Affiliate Team Championship tournament. Every year, he takes a different person to be his partner. (He jokes that he can’t get the same person to play with him more than once – and he is quite a character.) It’s a two-day event for any SCGA Affiliate golf club that wants to send a team to represent them to compete for the title. The first day is a two-person best ball (not to be confused with a scramble – you both play your full round and the best net score between you is the score you take on each hole). The second day is a modified Pinehurst format, where you each tee off then hit your partner’s ball for the second shot, then choose one ball and alternate hitting it until you hole out. It’s a much more difficult format than best ball and can really test a friendship.

Bruce, the prez, convinced me to play with him this year. He won the event in 2000 with a partner he had experience playing with in this format. He loves that plate. I mean LOVES it. I think he polishes it in a daily prayer. Other than that year, he hasn’t earned a trophy there in the rest of the 13+ years he’s participated. They give out plates to the top 5 teams. He desperately wanted another one. They are nice – I have one of my own from the only other SCGA event in which I’ve played. It’s shiny and pretty.

Day One

They gave Bruce 14 strokes and I got 18. On the first day, our scorecard showed me with a 91 and Bruce with a 92. Scores are kept by the other team in your foursome, and when we exchanged cards at the end of the round, we noticed the scorer had inverted a few of our individual hole scores but had the team net score correct based on the dinks we each got for the holes. Bruce and the scorer made corrections to the individual scores and we turned in our card knowing we shot a net 64. When the SCGA officials posted our score on the leaderboard, it said 65. We asked what was up and the official showed us the card. Hole 11 is a par 5 on which I got a stroke but Bruce did not. Our scores showed me with a 7 and him with a 5 but we had a 4 in the net column, so the official had adjusted it to a 5, increasing our score by one stroke. Well, that was MY hard-fought scrambling par with a dramatic one-putt that dropped in on an agonizing final revolution. Oh no! We had missed a correction on one of those inverted scores! So I actually shot an 89 and Bruce shot 94 and our net score really was 64. Thankful they didn’t DQ us for turning in an incorrect card, we accepted the erroneous 65 and hoped it didn’t come down to one stroke. There were five teams with lower scores.

Day Two

Low scores are rare in this format and we figured we’d be in good shape if we finished at 2 or 3 under. We played really well as a team, and if one of us hit a bad shot the other one made up for it on the next one. My putting was in rare form and what I call my “all day long zone” which is usually anything within 5 feet extended to 10 feet. I was draining ’em. I had a confidence standing over putts that I’ve never had before. We finished at 6 under which was the best score of the day, with a 66. Obviously in this format there were no individual hole scores but we checked and rechecked our card a gazillion times before turning it in. No discrepancies.

Our total two-day score was posted as a 131 instead of the 130 it should have been. We waited and watched as we enjoyed the banquet and the SCGA officials updated the board as cards came in. One of the teams with a 62 on the first day shot a 68 on the second, for a total of 130. Damn! It came down to one stroke! They card-off for ties in all places but first, in which case they give co-champion titles. We tied for first place but had to accept 2nd. We got up and graciously accepted our 2nd place plates. I had thoughts of hitting the scorekeeper of the first day over the head with my plate but I knew I had to accept that it was our own fault. We had every opportunity to fix the mistake and just missed it.

We learned our lesson and while disappointed to have the smaller second place trophies, we still felt great leaving there with plates at all and felt really good about the way we played. We’ll always know we tied for first and at least Bruce got his plate and I have more hardware for my own trophy collection, which now includes 14 pieces.

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Everything’s fine in private and women are always fair game

July 20, 2007 / golfchick / 4 Comments

Sorry, Sergio. Gary Player’s comments about the use of performance enhancing drugs by some Tour players was, for a moment, a bigger story than the golf at the Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Now taking over those headlines is the story of Royal & Ancient official Graham Brown who made racist jokes during his speech at a dinner for the Association of Golf Writers. Those jokes made him seem both Royal and Ancient and apparently some people were offended.

Boy, where do I start with this one?

From The Guardian about Brown’s speech:

…included jokes about “Nips” and “all Japanese looking the same”, another about black caddies at Augusta and a story about two disabled golfers. The speech followed a toast proposed by the former BBC golf correspondent Tony Adamson which included a joke about a player punching his wife in the mouth.

Hilarious! Tony Adamson threw a good one in there, too. What isn’t funny about spousal abuse? I guess BBC golf correspondents aren’t expected to live up to the same high standards as R&A officials, because no one seems to be up in arms about that gem. Or maybe it’s just so embedded in golf tradition to belittle and trivialize women that no one was offended by that little nugget. I wonder – does the AGW include any female writers? Are women even allowed in that tent?

I guess it’s at least progress that people are upset about the “jokes” regarding Asian, black and disabled people. It’s probably safe to assume all the people at the butt of those “jokes” were men, hence the attention.

Wait, did I say something about “high standards” of R&A officials? Ahem.

Brown was removed as an official at the Open Championship, but not asked to resign.

So how did the R&A CEO Peter Dawson respond to the heat? From an AP story:

Dawson distanced the R&A from Brown’s jokes but said he would not be asked to resign.

“First of all, this was a private dinner. Graham was a guest invited in a private capacity and was speaking as such. He was in no way representing the R&A,” Dawson said. “We know Graham Brown very well, and I can say absolutely that he is certainly not a racist as an individual. But I have spoken to him today. He is horrified at the impression he has left and horrified at learning the effects of some of his remarks.

“The R&A would not wish to be associated with that kind of thing.”

Yeah, I bet they wouldn’t. As for Brown not being a racist, I’m not sure that argument flies. Sure, maybe you don’t have to be a stupid person to do stupid things, but I’m pretty sure you have to be a racist to make racist jokes. And what’s that part about not being a racist “as an individual?” Dawson just said Brown wasn’t representing the R&A, so what else but an individual was he when he made those remarks?

And I don’t think a “private dinner” allows for offensive remarks the same way “private clubs” can pick and choose which individuals or groups can join.

A lot has been written about golf being an elitist sport and that it has come a long way since the days of the white boys club. I think this is a big step backwards. Just because a tradition is “time honored” doesn’t make it right. That no one seems to care about the “joke” about a player hitting his wife, that the R&A seems to want to protect this bozo, and that only some people were offended proves we haven’t come far at all.

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Paula Creamer runs

July 18, 2007 / golfchick / 1 Comment

Paula Creamer bleeds? Fades?

However you want to put it, Paula’s so pink she should only be washed with like colors. Look what happened to this poor dolphin after Paula got in the water with it.

paula creamer dolphin