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The Belated Mother’s Day Golf Gift Guide

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Some cliché Mother's Day golf gifts...
Some cliché Mother’s Day golf gifts…

As you may have read here in the past, my wife is not a golfer.  Neither is my mother.  So my excuse to play golf on Mother’s Day, via an invitation to take them golfing, is non-existent.  But, if my wife were a golfer, buying Mother’s Day gifts for her would certainly be easier.

See, my wife is a bit of a girly girl.  So, along with quality and well-performing golf equipment, it would have to include that cuteness factor as well.  You know what that means?  It means the equipment is likely going to have to include the color pink.

So in search of golf equipment that fits both bills, I give you the Golfstinks Gift Guide to Belated Mother’s Day Golf Gifts.

Well, if she’s a golfer, you’d have to assume she already has golf clubs.  And those can get quite pricey.  So let’s instead look to something in which to carry the clubs.

Being that my wife is a Nike fan, this one would suit her well.  However, I’m sure you can find yourself a pink golf bag from just about any manufacturer.  The key here is the cuteness factor.

We’ve all already seen the pink golf balls, so those are a given.  So instead, lets look to some golf shoes.  What woman wouldn’t want a pair of cute, pink golf shoes?

I mentioned that my wife is a fan of Nike.  But sorry honey, I like these Adidas better.

But lets imagine for a second that you have lots of money.  OK, lets imagine for a second that I have lots of money, because I don’t know the financial status of our readers.  But I sure do know mine…and lets just say it ain’t quite good enough for this:

Well, I’m sure I’m not the only one who is in a financial situation where a purchase such as this isn’t quite realistic.  But still, one could understand how, if your finances would allow, this would be a great purchase for the special golfing mom in your life.  Be it your wife or mother, especially if they live on a golf course, she could be the envy of all her golfing girlfriends.

Now I know it’s a day late – Mother’s Day was yesterday.  But you could always use the old “I bought (blank) for you, but I had to order it so it should be here soon” excuse.  Hey, it’s worked in the past.  Or, you could save yourself the aggravation and just remember sooner for next year…

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the PGA Draft

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Anybody catch the NFL Draft this past weekend?  If you’re a football fan, then you probably watched at least some of it.  Even if just to see what your favorite team did with it’s top pick or two.  I know I was tuned in for quite a while.  And I thought breaking it up over three days was a mistake, but boy was I wrong.  Some co-workers and I, who all happen to be Patriots fans, we’re discussing the first round on Friday morning in anticipation of the upcoming rounds.

It seems kind of funny doesn’t it?  Watching teams just pick their players, some of whom will not even make the team.  But that’s how big the NFL is.  It sometimes seems the draft is second in the sport’s popularity to only the Super Bowl.  And it’s only getting bigger.  Now it’s in prime-time, broken up over three days.  And this year, an unprecedented five international players were drafted (players not from the U.S. but attended college and played football here) as well as an American born player who attended college in Canada.  The sport is now truly going global.

About a year-and-a-half ago, I asked the question “What if PGA Tour golf was a team sport?”   Now, after tuning into the NFL draft for a while, it got me thinking about it further.  As I said, the draft is a big event for the NFL and it’s fans – maybe second only to the Super Bowl.  Well, if golf was a team sport, then why not the same intrigue there?  After all, the PGA doesn’t have a “Super Bowl” of it’s own (although it should), but it does have four majors that are always popular.  And, like the Super Bowl but on a much smaller scale, these are the only tournaments that non-golf fans really care much about at all.     

Now when I say teams, I don’t necessarily mean that teams such as the Florida Whiteshoes or California Earthquakes have to be created, although that would be great, wouldn’t it?  But it could be something like Nascar does with teams – owners, but still individual drivers.  Or, they could be sponsor teams such as Team Callaway, Nike or Ashworth, etc.. 

Imagine Team Nike drafting someone out of college or the amateur rankings with the #1 overall pick.  Follow that up with Team Callaway trading out of the #2 spot in exchange for the #5 pick and another player on the tour.  I don’t know about you, but this sounds like fun!  Although, obviously individual player sponsorships would probably get in the way here.       

Additionally, it could also be a good way to bring attention to college golf.  See, you don’t have to be a football fan to know who Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III is.  But truthfully, I can’t name one college golfer right now.  I’m sure there’s a college golfer who is somehow ranked as the #1 golfer in the country at that level…but I have no idea who he is.  That seems wrong to me.  But something tells me that if there was a big event to introduce these guys to all the PGA Tour fans, that would probably change.   

Ahhh, listen…I’m just a football fan who’s excited about my teams draft picks.  I’m one of those people who feel the draft is pretty exciting.  To me, it’s almost like an unofficial kickoff to the preseason, or at least a halfway point between seasons.  After all, the first preseason game is just over three months away.  I always look for ideas to inject some excitement into golf and try to help increase viewership and popularity among the younger generation.  And judging by the current state of the game, no one else seems to have too many great ideas.

Swing ’til you’re happy! 

A New Kind of Apparel For the Golf Fan

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When you look at a golf blog and see the name Woods, obviously you think of Tiger.  So when a football jersey sporting the name Woods appears on that golf blog, some confusions likely ensues.  But any NFL fan knows that, pictured to the left, is an Ickey Woods jersey. 

And to prove the NFL’s marketing genius, every NFL fan who sees this jersey instantly recognizes it despite the fact Ickey has been out of the league since 1991 and played a total of only 37 games in his injury-shortened career.  Further, his career numbers have been eclipsed by several players in just a single season!

Jersey sales rake in boatloads of money for the NFL.  You can see them worn everywhere at NFL stadiums as well as just out and about.  I have several myself.  It’s a great way for the NFL to market their teams, as well as the players, at the same time.  This is something that the PGA is sorely lacking.  But because there are no uniforms or teams on the PGA Tour, there really isn’t much that can be done about it.  Or, is there?

The golfers themselves can cash in on numerous sponsorships.  But how much does a BMW logo on a players shirt help the tour?  Take a look at Tiger Woods for instance.  Nike has made it’s own brand out of one player.  What’s to stop Callaway from doing the same for Phil?  Or any apparel company from taking on Rory? 

Better yet, the PGA Tour puts out it’s own apparel line.  I have a white PGA Tour polo shirt, so I know they exist.  They could simply start there.  What if fans could purchase shirts, hats, golf shoes, etc. directly associated with their favorite tour player, much the same as a Patriots fan could purchase a Tom Brady jersey?  This way, the players as well as the tour are getting free advertising as soon as someone walks out their front door wearing one.

I remember back in the 90’s when sports jersey sales were really taking off.  Back then, besides a regular jersey from any sport, you could find lots of cross-promotion between sports going on.  Hockey jersey’s with NBA logos and baseball jersey’s sporting NFL teams were not uncommon.  This is a direction the PGA could choose to go.  Not too mention, most of the fans who would be purchasing something like this would be on the younger side – a demographic that the PGA needs to get more interested in the sport.  

But the problem is, not many others besides me seems to know PGA Tour apparel exists…not even the PGA, or one would think by looking at their apparel website.  This site tells you almost nothing about the actual apparel.  Not too mention, it looks like the PGA doesn’t do anything about it either as there is an advertisement clearly marked ’09, as in 2009, at the bottom of the page.  A three year old advertisement?  Yeah…they’re paying attention.

See, something like this, to me anyway, should be a no-brainer.  But instead, a worthless website that generates little traffic, is simply wasting the PGA’s money rather than doing something to generate revenue as well as the popularity of it’s players and the tour itself.

I know this all sounds a little silly, especially to the purists, snobs or the the fans who, for some strange reason, dress like they are about to step onto the course when they’re doing nothing more than watching a tournament.  But to put all of this in simpler terms, at the next tournament you attend, wouldn’t it be cool to see a baseball-style jersey with the back marked “Lefty 01” rather than just a bunch of polo shirts that all seem to blend together? Well, I think it would. 

Swing ’til you’re happy!           

Kids These Days…

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Little snot nose brats make me laugh, but their parents who let them get away with it are even better. I was at a local golf shop putzing around recently and stumbled across a young kid and his mother. This little punk’s snappy attitude towards his mother made me want to slap him…but, not my kid, not my job.

Apparently the young’un wanted to take-up golf and was looking for a set of clubs. So, the sales person had him hitting balls to warm up. It was obvious the kid had never really played and after a few swings the salesperson suggested a starter set and went to grabs a few clubs from it. This spoiled kid takes one look at the clubs asks how much they cost and tells his mother “I can’t play with those pieces of junk! I want the Nike’s…”

The salesperson calmly explained to the mother that the Nike’s cost a lot more…about $600 more. And to start with those clubs, especially if the kid might not end up playing a whole lot, doesn’t really make sense. He could have easily pushed those clubs on them and made his commission, but he did what he should have done and (from what I saw) advised them properly.

The kid persisted that the starter set was not for him. So, the sales person (who looked like he had been through this before) tells the kid that they’re going to run a few tests to see what would be best. He took a 7 iron from both the starter and Nike set and tapes the bottom and back of the head (so you couldn’t really see which was which). He had the kid swing both and then asked him which one felt better. Just as suspected, the kid had no clue.

Now that the point had been proven, the kid started making a big stink and demanded he get the Nike set. He said something along the lines of “I will never speak to you again and you don’t love me…blah blah blah…if I don’t get these Nike clubs.” Are you f#$@ing kidding me?!?! If I ever spoke like that to my parents as a kid, it would have been knuckle sandwiches for dinner (maybe not that bad but not that far off either). That’s when I left the area, I couldn’t deal with this kid anymore. And if I stayed any longer I probably would have thrown my 2 cents in…

I’ll tel ya’…the lack of respect these days is heart breaking. And then you wonder why the course is littered with morons acting like they’re Jack Nicklaus but playing like a bunch of Jack Asses.

Hit’em long, yell FORE!! Respect your parents…

The Return of Tiger Woods to Championship Form

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With all of the negative attention thrust upon Tiger Woods lately (albeit by his own doing) and the constant bad news we all hear on an almost daily basis, I for one have begun to grow tired of the circus it has become. Quite frankly, it’s just getting boring and old now. Actually, it’s well beyond that point. Between the photos of Elin without her ring, stories of impending divorce, meetings with the local police department, reports of sponsors dropping like flies and even now the steroid rumors, I’m almost starting to feel bad for the guy. Further, I’m starting to feel that someone should attempt to again shed a positive light on a great golfer who, despite his “transgressions,” is a charitable, giving human being who has done much for many people in many communities. But that someone is not me.

Instead, I’m looking at the Tiger Woods revitalization project from a slightly different angle. My feeling is, at this point, many people are no longer concerned with Tiger Woods the golfer. They are now concerned with nothing more than Tiger Woods the name. I’m willing to bet the majority of people who follow the Tiger Woods drama are not even golf fans. They are simply interested in the name, not the person. Well, I think it’s time we reassociate the name Tiger Woods with a champion.

What if I was to introduce you to a Tiger Woods that no one knows? A Tiger Woods still associated with winning tournaments. A Tiger Woods who is probably encouraged to have “relations” with several other females, and everyone around him is OK with it! Sound crazy? Well it’s not. Ladies and gentlemen….I give you….Tiger Woods:

Tiger Woods is a seven year old (soon to be eight) Scottish Deerhound. He has won four tournaments over the past two years including back-to-back best in breed winners at the prestigious 2008 and 2009 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. He also had a strong showing at the 2008-2009 American Kennel Club Dog Show, finishing second in his breed.

When asked about the choice of the Tiger Woods name for her dog, owner Gayle Bontecou (who is an avid golfer) responded, “He’s really good. They both are total athletes” You’ll get no argument from me.

And in case anyone was wondering about the “relations,” or “breeding” as it’s called in dog show circles, the answer is yes – Tiger Woods does carry the moniker “baby daddy.” Tiger is father to a bundle of joy by the name of…..Ping. Ping? Not Nike? Or Sumo? Sasquatch? I guess Ms. Bontecou is only a fan of the man….not the equipment.

So there you have it. The name Tiger Woods is once again associated with a great competitor, champion and “total athlete.” The Tiger Woods revitalization project is now off the ground. Please join me in my quest to restore order to the world of Woods. Thank you.

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