GolfStinks

A Golf Blog for the Rest of Us!

Win a FREE Golf Shirt (Part 1): Performance

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This week, we’re going to do something we don’t typically do here at the Golf Stinks Blog; We’re going to review golf apparel. But we’re also going to do something we always do; and that’s giveaway free stuff (read on)!

Our story begins about 20 years ago when the only polo shirts available for golf were cotton knit and cotton/polyester blend (or pique). Back then, it was simple for us golfers – we were either the cotton knit type or the pique type. I myself was a cotton knit fan – I just liked the way those shirts looked.

The one problem with being Italian and a cotton knit fan was that I tend to sweat…a lot. And in case you don’t know, cotton-knit fabrics are not the best for heavy perspiration (first, there’s a map of Hawaii seeping through your shirt, then it turns into a map of Africa…before you know it, your entire shirt is soaked).

So when the new “moisture-wicking” shirts started to get popular about a decade ago, you would think I’d be all over them…but I was stubborn. I didn’t necessarily like the styles and stayed the course with my sweat-laden cotton knit shirts. Until finally, after an extremely humid day out on the links a few years ago, I bought an inexpensive moisture-wicker at Target and I was sold.

Today, moisture-wicking technology is only the beginning. Performance shirts these days are not only moisture-wicking, but also antimicrobial and offer UV protection to boot. My sweat glands being what they are, I couldn’t wait to jump on this latest and greatest in performance golf shirt technology.

But these types of shirts can cost a nice chunk of change – which ones are worthy? Well, I would say it’s all about a company you trust. Sure, Nike and Adidas sell these types of shirts, but you’re paying for the name brand in those cases. What about golf-specific brands?

Two such golf performance brands are Oxford Golf and L.O.F.T. Golf. Oxford Golf established itself in pro shops throughout country and has recently launched its online store. To help promote their new site, the nice folks over at Oxford Golf sent me one of their shirts to test out.

Oxford Golf represents the serious side of golf – their shirts are smooth as silk and every time I slip it over my head, I feel as though I’m standing in front of some dark mahogany locker in some private country club somewhere. As far from the truth as that image is, their polos are simply wonderful to wear.

Meanwhile, L.O.F.T. Golf (an acronym for Lack OF Talent) represents the average Joe. Their polos have a little fun built into them with zesty colors and the “I don’t take myself too seriously” stick figure logo. Seeing as LOFT Golf and Golfstinks have a similar ethos, they also decided to send me a shirt to test out.

Despite being a less expensive performance polo, L.O.F.T. Golf shirts are still moisture-wicking, antimicrobial, offer UV protection, and are antistatic. In addition, L.O.F.T. Golf cuts their shirts two inches longer to ensure it stays tucked in during your follow-through! Plus, the wearability is great.

Bottom line, both golf shirts are fantastic and solid performance-wear apparel. Which brings me to the best part: We’d like a couple of you to own these shirts…for free! As most of our contests go, head on over to our Facebook page (“Like” us if you haven’t already) and “Like” the post on our wall entitled “Win a FREE Performance Golf Shirt” – that’s it!

We’ll select two random winners on Thursday (5/10/12) – one will receive a performance golf shirt* from Oxford Golf and the other will receive a performance golf shirt* from L.O.F.T. Golf!

Good luck!

*Giveaway shirts are in size mens large only.

Golfing With That Guy

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When I say that guy, I’m referring to that guy. You know who I’m talking about. The person that everyone can’t stand and tries not to become. Please do not confuse that guy with “that” guy – the one who sneaks into the background of photos unnoticed. Such as “Hey, what a great picture of…wait a minute…who’s that guy making faces in the back?”

As you can probably see, this is going to be somewhat of a rant. So, a friend of mine and I were paired up with another two at a local track. As soon as we approached the two, red flags went up all over the place. The that guy warning siren was blaring in my head. Here we had the first guy adjusting those balance or weight screws on his driver and explaining to his buddy the reason for them. Oh boy, a know-it-all.

Just to clarify, his buddy didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about the driver, its weights or whatever else was being explained (which was another indicator of what was in store). But, I told myself not to jump to conclusions and gave him a fair shake. We step to the tee box and have at it. Wouldn’t you know, Mr. Let-Me-Adjust-My-Driver-For-The-Wind-Conditions shanks it right into the lumber yard. WTF! He then proceeds to look for it, swearing it hit off something and bounced out. After not finding it, he insists he has to tee-off again even though there’s a bit of a back up on the tee box. Yep, he’s that guy.

Now, how can this get any worse you ask? That guy also felt the need to quote golf movies while he plays. “Cinderella story…” or “It’s in the hole!” Dude, shut the f@#$ up! Please! We all saw that movie a hundred-thousand times. I can recite the lines verbatim. In fact, I can probably re-enact the whole movie by myself. 

Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest. Thanks for listening.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!! Don’t be that guy.

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! 

When It’s Time To Pick Up Golf.

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Now. Right now is the time. So, put down whatever you’re doing and head out to your local track and start golfing. Don’t worry, just tell your boss, C.O. (as in commanding not corrections officer), S.O. (kind of like a corrections officer but more on the significant side)  or whoever we said it’s o.k. They’ll understand. In fact, they might even join you…or not and you’ll be fired. Either way you will have time to start golfing. Bonus!
Non-golfers pay attention and if any of you golfers know of any non-golfers please refer them to this. Now, when is it time to pick up golf? Great question! I’ve put together some life scenarios that point to the fact that maybe it’s time to start playing golf. Here we go:
  1. If you play a sport (other than golf) in a rec league and suffer from what I call 18/80 syndrome*.
  2. If your weekends consist of a substantial “honey-do” list and you need an escape. Hey, you don’t want to disappoint the fellas.
  3. If you are looking to succeed in business. Fact: Many deals have been forged on the course.
  4. If your weekends have time gaps during the day where you can squeeze in 9 or 18…or even if they don’t.
  5. If you are retired, semi-retired, wanna-be retired or not even close to retiring.
  6. If, as Mark Twain said, you are looking to ruin a good walk.
  7. If you are completely stressed out, frustrated, pissed off and want to make it worse.
  8. If you feel your cursing is sub par and needs more practice.
  9. If you want a chance to use our glossary.
  10. If you want to be part of something great.
There you have it, reasons to start golfing. Get out there and play dammit!
Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

* 18/80 syndrome is when you still think you can play like you are 18 but in reality you look and feel like you’re 80.

Golf Needs Us

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When I use the word us, I’m not referring to just us here at Golfstinks.com but the whole community of average hacks we belong to. I’m talking about the 26 or so million of us. Talk about power in numbers. It’s kind of surreal that we hold a great bargaining chip over the industry and we don’t even think about it, never mind use it. That chip being good old fashioned $$$.

Think about it, if we harness the buying power as a collective group could you imagine the control we would have. If we thought equipment prices were getting a little high…no problem, we could fix that. What’s that, greens fees are out of control? We can fix that too. Here’s the reality, 99.9% of the 26 million plus golfers in the USA are comprised of average hacks…us, the ones who keep this industry going.

Golf also needs us because we keep the tradition alive. Just like it was introduced to us, we will someday maybe introduce it to someone else and so on. Along with playing comes one of my favorite parts – the stories. True or not, I like listening to golfer’s stories because they’re always intriguing, funny or incredible. How often do you hear a lame story?

Another thing, I’d rather listen to an average joe’s stories than a pro’s. They seem to have better content. You know when a hack is about to tell a good story because it begins with ” You are not going to believe this s%@#…” The fact that we stink at golf automatically paves a path to great stories with all the mis-hits, animal encounters on the course, golf ball pinball off trees and cart mishaps. Let’s all revel in our stinky-ness and unite.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!! Power to the people!

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