RIP Mikey 6/8/11-8/22/11

8/22/2011
Mikey the Golf Ball passed away suddenly on Monday. His health had been deteriorating over the past few weeks but none of us saw this coming. In a small ceremony on the 10th hole at Meridian Valley CC, George Edwards and I bid adieu to the best little golf ball a guy could ever have had the privilege to play. Mikey is survived by his owner, his 2 brothers and his many swoosh bearing brethren. Remembrances of his career can be left below. In lieu of flowers, please comment on his life. Final tally-Mikey completed 302 holes in 15 over par

It started as just another day on the course for my little pal Mikey. We had the opportunity to play at Meridian Valley thanks to a friend, the home of the LPGA Safeco Classic for many years. I had played here before a couple times maybe 20 years ago but this was different. This was me and Mikey, another round, more memories and more research on just how durable can a golf ball be.

As I stood on the first tee I thought if any of the members had seen this ball, I would’ve been asked to leave…he was very scuffed up, and most of the scuffs were now a dirty brown. I had redrawn his face for him as it had disappeared many rounds ago. He was starting to remind me of “Wilson”, the famous volleyball from the movie Castaway. Mikey now had personality to go with his game. He played the front nine valiantly and never once…well maybe on one hole…did I ever think today would be his demise. The aforementioned #8 has a big pond on the left so we played way out to the right. I had 161 in and turned the sweetest little 7 iron over right on the stick for a tap in birdie. It’s an easy game with Mikey on patrol. On #9 I hit him right down the middle..one of the few on the day I might add and was left with 256 to the middle. I sorta stubbed a 3 wood and left myself the dreaded 30 yard pitch to a tight pin. No sweat for Mikey…I nipped a 62* wedge, he came in soft and stopped about 6 feet from the hole. He kinda smiled at me as I picked him up to clean him off and remove the shreds from his chin. Then I swear he winked at me as he fell in the hole for a bird!

The ultimate end came on a fairly benign little hole. Ten is 365 yards, pretty straight and Soos Creek borders the entire right side. There is a grove of firs on the right and lone fir on the left…they do actually present what appears to be a tough driving hole even though it’s not really. For whatever reason I stepped up full of confidence coming off back to back birdies, planning to hit a little draw off the trees back into the fairway…I truly didn’t even consider the creek. I figured if I hit him at the trees, he’d be high enough to clear them and land safely in the fairway beyond the looming guardians.
The impact was flush, the flight was good, but their was no draw. Mikey was headed straight for the tallest of the guardians…no sweat he’ll be over. Except he wasn’t. He careened into the top of the fir and both George and I waited anxiously for him to fall to the ground.

We never saw Mikey again and that is my fault. I never should have hit a draw off that tee. The shot is a fade and I blew it. I was so “up” after my birdies that I thought I could challenge the agressive line. We spent some time looking for my mate but there was really only two places Mikey could be. Either in a swampy overgrown Soos Creek or better yet, still in the tree. I hope for the latter actually for my friend. He deserves a resting place where he can view his brothers and sisters being chased around the course by hapless hacks and aspiring tour pros.
Johnny told me never to fall in love in with a golf ball…I have to admit I did  with Mikey. I’m sad it’s over, I wasn’t ready for the end yet. I go to Bandon tomorrow and I had hoped to send him off to a proper resting place in the Pacific there. Rest in peace my friend, you treated me well.

Mikey had been on course a bunch since we last reported. He had 2 rounds in league, 9 holes in Sun Valley and now faced Meridian Valley. He was getting pretty battered cosmetically but his performance was still first class.

Some highlights from the last month
7/29/2011
BigWood Golf Course Sun Valley ID
Mikey is on vacation and back course. Big Wood is a great little hole course in the heart of  Ketchum. It’s high here, close to 6000 feet, so Mikey should fly!. #2 is a 340 yard par 4 and after ripping Mikey down the middle I’m left with only about a 30 yard pitch..he skips onto the green, takes two hops and stops..gotta love that boy. He is starting to show some scuffing and the most recent wedge shot has grown him a “beard”, the frayed cover that you get when your really nip the ball. On #4, a 225 yard par 3 I hit 3 iron…about a 200 yard club normally for me and Mikey sails straight and true onto the green…no distance issues yet.
#7 is a par 5 now playing into about a 2 club wind I’ll call it. It’s like 540 and little uphill to start then back downhill a bit to the green with a trap on the right greenside. I “neck” one to the left side of the fairway and have about 260 left which is about the end of the rope of my 3 wood. Here’s where you can really tell if a golf ball is performing or not, I need to keep this ball down and turn it over from right to left. Of course it all depends on whether or not I do what I’m supposed to do, but if for some odd reason I pull off the correct swing…I expect Mikey to do the correct thing also and follow the intended flight pattern. Well low and behold, both of us are in sync and we hit the best shot of the day, maybe the month, a low, drawing, laser that lands about 15 yards in front of the green and rolls up pin high about 12 feet left. “Every now and then a blind squirrel will even find a nut” and I found it on 7…of course I missed the putt, but at least it wasn’t short. Tap in birdie and that is the way it should be.

8/3/2011
White Clouds Golf Course Sun Valley ID

This is a place I could easily lose Mikey so I’m going to be a little careful. This course is new and reminds me a bit of Eaglemont..up and down and lots of sidehill. I end up only playing Mikey for 5 holes, holes I can tell I’m not going to lose him. It’s a beautiful morning, I’m all by myself so I decide to play a cou,le balls per hole. #1 is a straight away par 4..no way I lose the kid here. Second shot plays into the wind and again I need to keep him down and he more than obeys my request.  I gotta be honest, I’m really seeing no performance lapse in Mikey at all. Yeah he’s beaten, bruised, scuffed and discolored but he plays well. I hit a couple drives around 300 yards…gotta love mountain golf, hit some great wedge shots and putted well. What’s not to like.

8/4/2011

“Oh crap…that’s Mikey”…this not a good thought to have at the top of your backswing. Whack and he heads off in direct flight towards the pond on #3 at BigWood. As I watch him fly to his demise I reflect on how much fun it’s been partnering with him…too bad I lost him in such a rush. I am truly sorry Mikey, you were a good ball. Maybe with a little bribery, I can get my son to wade into the pond to get you back.
Let’s step back a second…it began as an outing to the driving range for my son and I. We hit balls in the evening and as I watched the play dwindle on the course, I suggested to him that we “sneak” on at #3 and play a few holes. “Really, can we do that” he replied, “sure” I told him.
“What if we get caught?”
“Well then mom will have to come bail us out of jail”.
“Cool!” And we were off.
As we got to the tee, I noticed a person coming to the green on #2, we need to hurry and I quickly grabbed a ball out of my bag, threw it on a tee and swung the club back.
“Oh crap…that’s Mikey.” To my relief he landed softly…almost plugged we discovered as we got to him. They must’ve had a sprinkler issue because he landed about 5 feet short of the pond and literally came to dead stop in a soaking wet area of grass. Not sure why it was so wet and didn’t care, Mikey was safe!
We played three more holes in the twilight including the long par 3 5th and again 3 iron got me pin high. He’s a gamer!

8/10/2011

The last night of match play,  I have probably the toughest match I’ve had in a few years. I’m giving 2 to a player of my equal…is Mikey up to the challenge…am I…? On #3 I hit the standard 7 iron to a back pin…Mikey flies long and with a little soft draw lands and stops 10 feet from the pin…so far so good. On #4 I hook him into the trees but manage to get him up and down for a half as I’m able to spin him to a stop from about 30 yards. Nice! On #8 I probably hit him about 260..no lack of distance that I see so far. He seems to still have that bite I need.I dropped the match in the end but we won the title so it was all good.

I have to say probably the best shot I ever hit with him came on #9 at Jefferson in week 8. It’s a par 5 and I left him in an awkward spot, just on the top of the trap greenside to the right. He flew into the beach and just sorta hopped out up on top a couple feet. The pin was front and I had barely any green to work with plus it was downhill all the way to the hole. This type of lie has to be hit like a sand shot or you will “chunk” it, as the leading edge of your club will dig into the sand in the grass. Acceleration is your friend! Trouble here is that the lie feels a little  firm, it’s going to be tough to get the club under him with out skipping into his belly and zooming him 30 yards through the green. Full commitment, I swing aggressively and my club just slips like a knife under him. He pops up and out towards the hole, lands, takes one hop and stops 3 feet away. Perfect! I even had witness’ from our league. That was a golf shot…and yes I made the putt.

Over his life I got him to back up on shots, I was able to hook and fade him, hit him high or hit him low…Mikey pretty much still did everything I asked him to do. I have to say I was surprised by the lack of decline in performance. I thought as he got more scuffed up he’d start to fly “funny”, like the old range balls that will “corkscrew” on you. No such thing with Mikey, was he the perfect ball…I was a little disappointed at how easily he scuffed but maybe that is Nike’s way of making you continue to buy golf balls. Obviously his cover is pretty soft, so he spins really well. The day I played White Clouds, I “paired” him with Taylor Made Penta, their 5 piece tour ball. The Penta was maybe a smidge longer, 1/2 a club maybe and flew a little lower. The difference was pretty slight as it is with any “tour” level ball from any of the manufacturers in my opinion. I’m certainly not good enough to tell the difference.

All in all I think I learned a lot about ball performance. They have certainly changed over the years. You just don’t have to take them out of play when they get a scuff. They’ll still work fine. They don’t cut like the old balata balls and they retain their distance. The only time I wouldn’t put a used ball in play is when I know it came out of the water. Tests have shown that they lose distance in conjunction with the time spent in the water. So all you folks who buy the recycled balls…where do you think most of them come from…something to think about.

So How Durable is that Golf Ball Rds 3 & 4

7/13/2011
Week 3 for Mikey and I and a big one at that…Match Play night..gotta be at our best. I love match play and it’s important to have a golf ball that does too…hopefully Mikey is up to the task.

I’ve drawn a tough competitor tonight, he’s one of those guys that seems to step up his game when he’s in match play..unless he’s playing against his twin brother…I’ll have to be on top of my game. I’m giving a few more strokes than I normally like to in a 9 hole match so it doesn’t look good. We both start out in the fairway on #1 mine about normally where it is. I knock it on and have about a 20 footer for birdie. My opponent misses the green, chunks a chip to the fringe, runs the putt by about 15 feet and cans the comebacker for a bogey. He’s stroking here so I have to get down in two putts to push. First attempt comes up about 4 feet short..damn, the greens are slower than they look. Gotta make this…darn it..pull and miss..down 1 with 8 to go. That is going to come back to haunt me in a big way later in the match…you have to make those!

A push and a win on the next 2 holes and we’re even. On #4 I pull Mikey bad into the woods left…I can hear him scream on impact…sorry about that buddy. Opponent is down the middle and I am in jail. I actually hit a pretty great shot under the branches up onto the green about 15 feet away. My  competitor sticks a lob wedge to about 5 feet and makes the putt after I miss on the edge…2 down. Mikey was battered but not out.

On #7 the match turned…for the worse. My opponent tee’d off and striped it down the middle and long. It’s the #1 hdcp hole and the drive is critical. I reached back for a little more on my swing and crushed Mikey…only problem was he went straight when i needed a little draw. Mikey flew the fairway on the dogleg left and smashed into the trees again…sorry little buddy..I’m just not quite on my game..nothing your doing wrong though. Now I am totally in jail…only shot out is to chip 90* or try to hit something  that slices and never gets above 5 feet off the ground while going about 150 yards. I’m down 2 with 3 to play..lose here and I’m done… and he’s stroking. I decide I have to go for the win and I pull out my driver. A little 3/4 swing should doit, the ball comes off solid..perfect…ahhhh just a little too high. Mikey clips the tree ahead of me and ricochets straight down. I am screwed now. I do have a bit of a shot and my opponent has missed the green…an up and down from here might get it done. My 8 iron cuts too much and leaves me with a 20 footer, he chips to about 15, we both miss and I lose the match 3/1.Mikey is a little battered from the experience but vows to battle on next week. He still seems to be in very competitive condition

7/20/2011
Week 4 for Mikey and to his relief we only use 4 clubs tonight. Conditions are perfect and we’re both excited to be back with our team.

I probably hit the best tee ball off #1 since I put Mikey in play, about 255 down the left side . Certainly he is not suffering from last weeks debacle. I’ve got 125 in and either a 52* gap wedge or a 7 iron…I go with a bumped 7 and Mikey likes it! he files pretty straight and true towards the hole, lands on the front edge a runs up to about 15-18 feet. Two putts later and it’s an easy par…nice job buddy.

Similar story on #2..bumped 7 iron, 2 putts easy par and we’re rolling. On three I hit my 7 iron…I try to bring a club in this game that I can use on both par threes. Mikey flies perfectly where I was aimed and lands about 10 feet right of the hole…I know I know..I should have aimed at the hole. This putt breaks about a foot right to left and we need it as my partners are all going to make par. I give him a smooth stroke and Mikey gives me a little wink as drops in the hole for bird’  love that kid I think to myself.

With the first three being pretty routine, I figure we’ve settled into an easy night…”a walk in the park” I like to call it…not so much. I slam Mikey into the trees on #4, #5 and #7(which is turing out to be my nemisis hole this season). He’s not bloody but he should be. On #7 I am left with about 190 to the green after a favorable bounce out of the pines. With only a seven iron, I figure if I really hit him hard on the belly he might run all the way up there…sorry buddy gotta do what I gotta do. I hear the wind blow out of him as the leading edge hits him in the face…but I have to tell you this is a good shot…it runs up pin high just off the green. In the old days Mikey would’ve been “smiling” but I couldn’t even see an impression…maybe that’s because of all the skid marks on him )

Par 5 #8 Mikey wins the long drive…it wasn’t even his best but it was pretty good…my partner told me to “just aim it down the middle” ..holy crap…that works

Par 5 # 9 This was a bomb! The hole is 467 yds and tees were back about 10. Heeding Kurt’s advice to hit it down the middle, I gave Mikey a confident pass…and totally flushed him! Soft little baby draw to the left middle of the fairway…I was left with only 185 in. Easily the best drive I’ve hit in league this year. There is certainly nothing wrong with Mikey’s distance at this point of the test. 2 gap wedges and a missed put from about 10 feet and it’s an easy par.

So for the recap, week #4 was a 38 with 15 putts. 3 drives into the woods or it would’ve been better. Mikey is a pretty battered little guy at this point and his cover seems to scuff pretty easily compared to Pro V’s and TaylorMade TP balls which I use. No complaints on the distance, I have noticed though that he doesn’t hold quite like a Pro V1 does, I’m guessing that is due the scuffing on the ball…? He seemed to hold better early on when hitting those 80-100 gap wedge shots which I get a lot on this course. We’ll see what happens next week.

Jack and Mikey

So how durable is that golf ball Rd 2

Mikey is back on the course! After a two week hiatus tending to baseball games that were postponed all season, which in turn postponed my golf…ugh! Mikey made it back out last night for some modified scramble in league. This is a format in which your group tees off, you select the best drive and then play your own ball the rest of the way through the hole. Mikey got hit hard last night! This format promotes the bomb and gouge style of play prevalent on tour these days…and Mikey performed admirably.

Round 2-6/29/11

Conditions last night were a little tough for our “home” course. Wind was up, probably in the 20mph range and the greens were faster than normal in preparation for the city amateur. Just the way I like them!
On #1 I hit Mikey about 225 straight into the wind…I tried to keep him down a bit and managed to do that but pulled him a bit left into the rough. From about 140, I hit a little punched 7 iron under the wind to the back of the green pin high about 30 feet..two putts later and easy 4. Mikey did both things I tried to do..good job kid!

#3  Again a par three playing about 155  and tonight playing downwind..a little unusual for this hole. I led off and didn’t want to be short so I hit a pretty normal 7 iron about 10 feet past the hole and 20 feet right…good shot but not our best so we used another location from which I 2 putted from. I did notice on my tee ball that wind sort of knocked Mikey down a bit…that was actually good…not sure what that means but it worked out.

#5  Five is a short par 4 that is pretty tight. This hole typically kicks my butt…I can never seem to find the fairway…so I decided to hit driver. Miraculously I found the right side of the fairway about 50 yards out. Problem is, we have a big trap directly between us and the hole and only maybe 20 feet of green…which slopes downhill away from us.It’s a very tough “finesse” shot, so decided to play it anyway…we’re not too smart under these formats. Anyway, Mikey needs to get up quick, come down soft and spin to hold the green. You need to hit this shot perfectly for it to work and I did somehow. Mikey stopped about 8 feet dead right of the hole…distance was perfect. The 62* wedge helps immensely but you need a ball that spins and Mikey does ) Too bad I missed the putt.

#7  You need to hit a good drive here…I sorta did, but I caught the trees on the left and the ball dropped straight down about 185 out. My illustrious partners proceeded to fill up the woods with their shots so Mikey was our guy at that point. Pin was back, long is dead, wind was helping a bit from the left. I pulled 5 iron and caught him a little on the thinnish side. Mikey flew straight and true right the stick but came up short on the front of the green. I had probably in excess of 80′ uphill and hit a completely pathetic 1st putt. I left myself about 15 short…idiot! My partners all missed the green and we’re now trying to get up and down and it was becoming apparently clear that I was going to have to make this 2nd putt. We all stroke on this hole, the #1 hanidcap hole but they were all looking at bogey or worse. I had to make this par putt for net birdie. I spent some extra time finding the line and aligning Mikey up with the One Black label and arrows…just make a good stroke, trust it and be firm..whats’ the worst that can happen-I miss and we record net par. Golf is funny..sometime you just know you’re going to make a putt or a shot…I knew Mikey was going in and he did. He held his line like a champ and gave me a smile as he plowed into the hole.

#8  Par 5 into the wind and I hit Mikey down the right side..not necessarily the ideal spot but we played from there anyway-the green is also on the right. I had about 200 to cover the two front bunkers…212 hole and 228 to the back-according to Kurt’s Skycaddie.Long is not such a bad play here as you putt uphill back to the hole. I pulled 3 wood and hit a perfect little fade along the treeline that landed in the middle of the green and ran off the back. An indifferent chip off a downhill lie left me an 8 footer for birdie that didn;t mean anything after my partner bob carded net eagle…so I just walked up, hit it it and pulled him out of the cup

#9  I have to admit some trepidation on this hole…I hit the worst drive of the night and the last few weeks…dead pull hook into the tall trees on the left between 9 and #1. It’s pretty open in there so no big deal….until I couldn’t find Mikey. I actually started to feel bad..I thought I had maybe lost him…I felt like Tom Hanks in Castaway…”oh Mikey how did I do this to you- I’m so sorry” Then Bob pointed out a ball about 20 yards ahead of me…I simply didn’t give him enough credit for going so far. Balls normally don’t roll that far in the woods/rough. Good boy Mikey. Another routine lip out for birdie, an easy par and we’re done.

For the record, 34 strokes/15 putts. Mikey has a few new scuffs..he’s not appearing to be a as scuff resistant as maybe some other balls I’ve played..but I also have new wedges this year and they get a lot of use at this course. His distance control and trajectory seem fine – I’m able to hit shots with him which is good. All in all I played really well with Mikey by my side. My old buddy Johnny told me to never fall in love with your golf ball cause they’ll always break your heart…right now I’m just treating him like a series of one night stands…two down and 8 more to go.

See you next week,

Jack and Mikey

So how durable is that golf ball?

Perusing the internet the other day, I stumbled on an interesting question posed to Nike on their website…”how long should my golf ball last”? Provided you didn’t lose it, they felt like it should last indefinitely…really? We’ve all played with balls that get scuffed up, wrinkled and still even sometimes cut (pretty hard to do this anymore though), which got me to thinking that for my game - how long could a ball “last”.

Meet “Mikey”, a Nike One Black ball. He’s the test subject in my summer-long quest to find out. I’m lucky enough to play in a league every Wednesday night for 9 holes and I’m going to play with Mikey until he breaks or I lose him. It’s pretty hard to a lose a ball on this course so I’m hoping to have him all year.

So here’s the plan. I play every week and I’ll take some pictures afterwards showing the condition of Mikey. I’ll keep track of how far I hit him on a few certain holes, how I feel he spins on approach shots, etc. By the end of summer, after about 90 holes we’ll see what he looks like, if he’s still playable, etc.

Week 1-6/8/2011
#1-Mikey is brand new tonight…I know.. I know… “never hit a brand new ball off #1”, but I have to. He’s nervous and so am I, this is one of only two holes that I can potentially lose him I figure. In all my rounds here, I’ve only hit one ball into the street on the right and tonight is not going to be #2. I send Mikey down the left side with a soft little fade into the fairway. He’s about 110 out, which means, I hit him about 255, not bad Mikey!

#3-So #3 is a 155 yd par 3 that plays a little uphill. Tees are a smidge back tonight so I pull a 6 iron. I miss the green left but pin high-yardage was spot on, good boy Mikey.

#7- Seven is the #1 handicap hole, it plays about 420 slightly uphill and to play it right you need a little draw off the tee. I swing too hard…come around Mikey a little and pull him up the left side off the heel of the club. He flies straight and true like a champ, stays in the fairway and leaves me 165. Pretty good for a miss. 6 iron to the green takes two bounces and stops 18-20 feet above the front pin. A ticklish lag to about 2 feet and a tap in and we move on.

#9 The “home” hole on the round, 9 plays 470 or so, par 5. Generally reachable with 2 decent shots. The trick here is to start the ball up the right side with a little draw and let it catch the side slope that will funnel it back to the middle and forward…but don’t tell anyone I told you this…:o). Mikey gives me the best drive of the night…perfect contact, shape and trajectory. I couldn’t have hit it better. I’ve now got only 175 to the middle…I just need to carry the trap with another little draw and it’ll leak right to the pin. I am liking this, until I make contact. Crap! Once again I swing too hard, catch Mikey thin as I hear him yelp. He flies short and right, just up in front of the greenside trap. Oh well, just the spot to try my new 62* wedge…which proceeds to go right under him and drop the ball into the bunker…note to self: I need a little practice with that club. A chunk out of the buried lie to about 10 feet and a miss on the edge and I leave with a bogey.

Anyway, the final tally: 39 strokes/15 putts, a scuff or two, one from a run in with a tree on #2. Hit driver 7 times. Didn’t strike the ball all that well but it went mostly where I was looking all night. Certainly Mikey performed admirably even though I didn’t.

See you next week

Jack and Mikey

The Worlds Longest Golf Course

What is the worlds longest golf course? Jade Dragon in China…no only 8450 yards. Crosswater at Sunriver in OR….no a measley 7683 yds. I know has to be Antler Creek in Colorado Springs you say…nope just a walk in the park at 8161 yds. The longest golf course in the world is in Australia and is…are you ready…you’ll never guess…not even close. It’s 1,496,000 yards….yes that is in millions and I don’t have that club either, but I’m putting it on my bucket list-Maybe it’s a CityGolfTour.com event, wouldn’t that be fun

Check it out here from our friends at Crikey Adventure Tours. You can see more at http://www.nullarborlinks.com

Do you want to play golf on the worlds longest golf course? Our bus tour leaves Perth and travels to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia for the first hole as part of the Worlds Longest Golf Course. Our seven day tour not only allows you to play 18 holes of golf, but also includes many sightseeing activities.

The 18-hole golf course begins at Kalgoorlie and will cross two time zones over its 1,365km distance. It will encompass some of the flattest, driest, harshest habitable environments on the planet. You will be battling scorching heat, bone-dry landscapes, a fair share of the world’s venomous snakes and… oh, yea: sand greens. The course has rugged outback fairways and a “green” well actually it will be ‘browns’ — a mixture of sand and oil, a feature of golf courses in the Middle East. Before teeing off golfers would be well advised to check for poisonous snakes and to try to avoid hitting wandering kangaroos and emus.

The 18 holes are placed at towns and tiny settlements and remote “roadhouses”, (an outback institution offering fuel, food and accommodation). The likes of Kalgoorlie-Boulder; Kambalda; Norseman; Balladonia; Caiguna; Cocklebiddy/Eyre; Madura; Eucla; Mundrabilla; Border Village; Nullarbor; Yalata; Nundroo; Bookabie; Penong; then finishing in South Australia at Ceduna.

Each hole includes a tee, really rugged outback style very natural terrain fairway and a green. And for tourists wanting to come here, especially Japanese and Korean tourists wanting to play golf, this is just a fantastic experience that includes visits to the natural beauty of the region.

There will be no rush between shots and due to its isolation this course will give golfers more time to practice their stroke, between shots.

Once you find your ball, you tee up again and away you go.

After each hole, we will take the opportunity celebrate the winner of that hole at the local roadhouse. For the winner of each hole, it gives you a couple of hours in-between holes to boast about how good you are before you come to the next hole, because sometimes we may have to drive nearly 200km to get to the next hole!

There will be hazards not encountered on any other fairway in the world, so players will be given iridescent balls.

The worlds longest golf course is up and running.

We are accepting bookings now for your tour and opportunity to play on the worlds longest golf course.

TOUR INCLUSION:

• All Meals.
• Accommodation (camping with individual (or couples) tents, sleeping bags, mattresses, pillows supplied).
• Sightseeing/Tours. Once your tour is paid for you do not have to spend money on anything else if you don’t want to. We do suggest you bring spending money for those items/souvenirs you will want as well as alcohol at the roundhouses.
• Fully air-conditioned bus with reclining seats with all seats facing forward.
• CD player in bus.
• Urn on the bus for continuous tea/coffee.
• Maximum of 16 passengers.

SPECTACULAR MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• The Super Pit Mine Kalgoorlie-Boulder
• Travel across the Nullarbor Plain
• Great Australian Bight
• Fraser Range Station
• Wave Rock
• Map of the Proposed Actual Course courtesy of The Eyre Highway Operators Association.

World’s Longest Golf Course

Fare Type	Price $AUD
GROUP booking of 8 people (minimum)	$950.00 each
GROUP booking of 12	$850.00 each
GROUP booking of 16	$750.00 each

You tell us when you want to leave and we will try to accommodate your dates. Just bring some clothes and your clubs – leave your buggy home because you will only have to carry your clubs for one hole at a time, and enjoy the spectacular beauty of the region at the same time.

Have a look at the full ITINERARY.

Contact Us here for your tour of the Worlds Longest Golf Course or ring Ian on 0437 948 535.

Priorities in Golf and Life

Hello Golfers,

Due to the HUGE priority that the CityGolfTour CEO places on Halloween . . . he is way behind on his blog posts.  He’s busy designing and building gruesome & gory displays for the small children at the community haunted house.  He’s only happy if he makes someone scream in fright, throw-up or wet their pants.  Hmmmm.

We hope you’ll come back after he’s done “cleaning up” from Halloween and writes another golf blog.  In the mean time – if you have subjects you’d like to have discussed on this blog, or talk about the tournament play going on now, leave us a message here (on the blog), here (Contact Us), or here (Facebook).

 

Happy Halloween!

The COO

Nervous..You Bet. It’s Ryder Cup Week

I love the fall! The leaves are changing colors, there is a crispness in the air and the sun seems somehow brighter. Footballs are flying, baseball races are tightening, soccer balls are bouncing and every other year at this time, the greatest spectacle in golf comes alive, The Ryder Cup.

Even if you are not a fan of golf…I dare you to watch this event and not get excited. The crowds cheer raucously for their home team with no reservations of being courteous to the visitors.  Players usually resigned to checking their emotions at the door, will pump fists and scream in joy like a 5 year old at Christmas.

This is the Ryder Cup…playing for your country and for pride. There is no prize money, no sponsor logos, just the stars and stripes vs. the blue and gold from Europe.  This is the golf equivalent of two brothers fighting over a girl…it’s personal!

This is the single greatest golf event in the world period! It brings all the great elements of competition together. It’s match play, mano-a-mano. It’s a team event and that adds to more pressure. Nobody wants to let a teammate down, AND, it’s for your country. What could be more motivating than that?

Bernhard Langer once said he couldn’t breathe as he stood over a putt to win a match. Lanny Wadkins remarked after sinking a clutch putt to gain a halve, “I almost wet myself”.  Jose Maria-Olazabal claimed that if you didn’t get a trembling in your legs, then you were dead.

Some Other famous/infamous comments-

Bobby Jones- “There are golfing nerves, major championship nerves, and then there are Ryder Cup nerves.”

Dave Stockton- “At a certain point it dawns on you, this is bigger than you. Now you’re playing for your country.”

Dave Marr- “Arnold [Palmer] and I were first off in alternate shot, and he would drive on the odd-number holes. That was fine; I wanted him to hit the first shot, because that’s a choking deal there! Then I chunked the approach and he asked me, ‘did you have a bad lie?’ I said, ‘Arnold, I can’t even get a breath here, I’m choking so bad.’ He started laughing and said, ‘welcome to the Ryder Cup!’”

Padraig Harrington- “I couldn’t see the golf ball. I was just so nervous, I couldn’t even see it.”

Paul Azinger-“In the end, the bottom line is, it’s just us 12 against those 12 over there. And you should look at the guy you’re playing and say to yourself on that first tee, ‘I just don’t want him to celebrate at my expense.’”

We weren’t intimidated, but we had a sort of inkling that they might be slightly better than us.” — Mark James, partnered by Tommy Horton, on facing Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in the opening foursomes in 1977 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes

So the question begs…what’s the most nervous you’ve ever been on the golf course?

For me it was playing the last hole at Meadowwood in Spokane in their Amateur Championship  that is held every year. I had played well the day before and I was playing as well that day. I had a feeling in my gut that a par would win my flight. I also had a bag of cotton balls in my mouth and my hands were shaking so bad I could barely hold the club much less swing it. To make it all worse, we had to stand on the tee box and wait for about 5 minutes…it seemed like an hour.

Anyway I somehow managed to get it out there and get it down in par. I have to confess, I’ve never been that nervous before…and I loved every second of it.

The Ryder Cup begins this Friday in Wales. I dare you to watch!

Rules, Rules, Rules…and still more rules!

They’re all around us…everywhere you look, this rule, that rule, stay off the furniture, shirt and shoes required, please pick up after yourself, no smoking…most of them make sense and yet we don’t even know sometimes if we’re abiding with them or  breaking them. Just look at the PGA/LPGA/Euro tours the last few weeks, Dustin Johnson, Julie Inkster, Jim Furyk and Miguel Angel Jimenez…hardly no names who can beg forgiveness for youth and inexperience, all victimized by rules that yes somewhat unclear at the time of infraction were very clearly defined. We even saw it in the NFL yesterday when Lions WR Calvin Johnson had caught an apparent game winning TD only to have it overruled by an obscure rule…that was clearly defined.

Anyway it brings me to this, a lot of you play in our citygolftour.com tournaments and I wonder just how serious it gets. From our standpoint we hope you are playing by the rules, but that is an assumption on our part. We certainly don’t expect it to be the US Open, but there are procedures within the rules that I would guess don’t get followed in a normal round of golf with your buddies on Saturday morning. So here’s a smattering of the most common rule infractions that you’re maybe unaware even happen.

“Gimmes” . . . An absolute no-no in stroke play. USGA Ruling-Additionally, in stroke play, if a player fails to hole out and does not correct the error prior to playing a stroke from the next teeing ground, he shall be disqualified – see Rule 3-2. In match play, if the putt has not been conceded, (Rule 2-4) the player shall lose the hole.

Provisional Ball. If you hit a ball that may, and I repeat may, be lost or out-of-bounds, you must declare a “provisional” ball and play it from the spot of the previous shot. Failure to declare that ball a provisional will immediately put that ball in play, under penalty of stroke and distance. So don’t even bother looking for the first one.

Which brings up the second issue with that…if you find your original ball you must play it…see Phil Mickelson Buick Open Torrey Pines about 4-5 years when he didn’t want to find a stray drive down in a valley but a spectator found it for him…he had to go play it. He wasn’t looking for it, he knew better.  It cost him a couple shots and the victory.

Ever hit a ball down the middle and then couldn’t find it? We’ve all done it especially in the northwest, but what is the procedure? Surprise, it’s not “just drop it here and play” as your buddy will accommodatingly say to you. The USGA says lost ball, back to the tee cowboy, you’re now hitting 3 off the tee under stroke and distance penalty.

Misconception-playing out of order. There is no penalty for playing “ready golf” provided you are not gaining an advantage by doing so. A decision left to the tournament committee…so keep it moving, nobody likes a 6 hour round!

Drops….here we go. Probably the most broken rule out on the course there is. First there is a proper procedure for lifting and dropping a ball. Then there is a procedure for determining where to drop the ball. It’s a little complicated…but it is well defined. )

First in lifting you MUST mark the position of the ball before you pick it up. Failure to mark is a 1 stroke penalty and if you don’t put it back down and remark before proceeding…tack on 2 more strokes for general stroke play rules breach. Ouch!  Now we have to determine where do we get to drop the ball back into play. First we have to define what the situation is – I recommend doing this before you even mark it and pick it up. Water hazards are yellow staked, lateral hazards are red staked. Out of Bounds is white staked. We’ll deal with hazards and cart paths drops as they seem to be the most common breaches.

Water hazards (defined by yellow stakes) see rule 26-
If a ball is in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or(ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

When proceeding under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball.

Lateral hazard (defined by red stakes). A lateral water hazard is differentiated from a water hazard by the fact that it is, well, lateral. That is, it runs alongside or adjacent to the line of play, rather than across it. Similar to the procedure for a water hazard, the drop can be taken within two club lengths of the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard, no nearer the hole. Or a golfer can go to the opposite side of the hazard and drop at a spot on the hazard’s margin that is equidistant from the hole. (The option to drop on a line behind the hazard, keeping the point of entry between you and the flag, also exists for lateral water hazards. But that option is rarely used because it is rarely practical or desirable.)

A ball is considered in the hazard when it lies within the hazard or when any part of it touches the hazard (remember, stakes and lines are themselves part of the hazard).

Anyway there are so many more breaches that go on…I’m not abdicating here that we’ll all play to the strict letter of the law but that we’ll all try to abide by the rules as best we can. Golf is a gentleman’s game and therefore we should all try to do the honorable thing when we have questions or sticky situations.

Cart Paths-Many times we find our ball on the cart path. What to do? Under the rule of golf 24-2b, a golfer is entitled to free relief from a cart path if the ball comes to rest upon the path or the golfer’s swing or stance is inhibited by the path. A golfer’s stance is deemed to be inhibited if any part of his foot comes in contact with the path. After deciding that relief from the cart path is desired or necessary, the golfer must find the nearest point of relief that moves the ball no closer to the hole and mark that point with a tee.
The golfer is entitled to one club length of relief from that spot, which is usually marked with another tee. The golfer must drop the ball from shoulder height at any point in between those two tees as long as the ball is not being dropped in a hazard or onto the green.
A golfer may take this relief with no penalty. A golfer does not have to take a free drop when the ball comes to rest on the cart path, keep that in mind as releif may put you in a position that may be harder to play from.

So my question to you is…what is the most frustrating or unfair rule in golf. My favorite culprit is the inability  to fix spike marks on the green…you can fix all the pitch marks you want, remove all the pinecones and scoop up the elk poop, but don’t fix that spike mark or you’ll incur a 2-stroke penalty…absolutely ludicrous! What’s your pet peeve when it comes to the rules of golf?

There goes my Amateur status?

Ok . . . so the “COO” is stepping in to write the blog this week because the “CEO” is lying on the couch after knee surgery.  The “COO” is not a blogger, or even much of a writer, so bear with me . . .

Jack had knee surgery – a micro-fracture.  I guess that’s a bit worse than all the other scope-type surgeries you can have.  It is definitely a longer healing process.  He’s done with golf until next spring, so that takes care of the last issue he was blogging about (“should he play in his own tournaments”) . . . at least until next year.  (BTW – I think the majority of the input was that he can play, but he can’t accept prize money.  I’m not sure that the way we built the system will allow us to do that – but we’ll worry about it next year when he wants to play again.)

In last week’s blog – there was an issue raised about accepting cash prizes and going from Amateur to Pro status.  The “COO” and the “CEO” again disagree . . . or at least have different interpretations of what the rule is.  Maybe you can help us out.

If you want to remain an Amateur and play on our site:

1. The COO’s interpretation:  You CANNOT accept prize money – you would have to actually decline it before you even start a tournament.  If you ‘place’ in the money in a CityGolfTour tournament – we could give you a “voucher” that says it will be donated to charity, as long as it is less than $750 per event (which our tournaments are).  I based this on USGA Rule 3-1: “An amateur golfer must not play golf for prize money or its equivalent in a match, competition or exhibition.” (Found here: http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Amateur-Status/Rule-03/)
2. The CEO’s interpretation:  You CAN accept prize money as long as it is less than $750 per event. He bases this on USGA Rule 3-2: “An amateur golfer must not accept a prize (other than a symbolic prize) or prize voucher of retail value in excess of $750 . . .” and backing that up with the fact that Haack, Whitaker and Berg all took cash at a recent PGA event. (Shown here:  http://www.pnwpga.com/pdf/resultsnwo10.pdf)

Can anyone out there help us with these interpretations?  I would love to make CityGolfTour.com useable by anyone concerned about remaining an Amateur . . .

Thanks!

Should I play…or should I not?

So here’s the dilemma. I have this cool new golf website at citygolftour.com, that allows me the opportunity to play in tournaments against golfers from all around the country. I can test my game against scratch players and with those who only scratch the surface of being able to play golf. Men, women, cats and dogs . . . if you have a handicap, we can play against each other.  It’s been a dream of mine for nearly 8 years and now my wife says . . . “you shouldn’t play”.

WHAT! You’ve got to be effing kidding me. 8 years I’ve waited for this to become reality and now I can’t participate? What the heck!

“Well, you played in the Shoreline Classic and won second place. Don’t you think if you keep winning money it’ll make people think you’re cheating and we don’t want that”, says the all-mighty COO. ”We won’t have any customers then”.

Yeah, but I played with a couple guys from league and they know I didn’t cheat . . . I just played well and now I’m being penalized for that? I even skipped the Inaugural Classic, our first event ever. Do you know how hard it was not to play in that? Ugh!

Anyway you can see where this is going, I begged and pleaded with her, promising to not play too well or post too good a score but is that fair? I should be rewarded for playing well, just like anyone else, correct? I, of all people, will have my handicap checked, my scores overly scrutinized, and if I don’t post that winning score to my GHIN, boy the sparks will fly for sure.

So I’m leaving it in your hands, in the immortal words of the Clash (kind of), should I play or should I go. Play hard and compete or never look back on what could’ve been a long career on the CityGolfTour?  Can I play in my own business or do you think my customers will find this “unfair”? Let me know what your thoughts are. Have you ever been in a similar situation?