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The Mistress Collection heats up
Click for the Fox News Story. Watch the Golf Space interview the creator. Read porn star controversy over balls. Read what the New York Daily News has to say. View a Reuters UK video over the Tail of the Tiger controversy.
A 63-year-old semi-retired Kelowna, B.C. entrepreneur is cashing in from all the controversy produced from the Mistress Collection, a box of 12 golf balls, each with a portrait of one of Tiger Wood's mistresses.
Mike Caldwell's on his www.tailofthetiger.com website pitches, "He likes to play around with them....and now you can too!" "This unique gift for the golfer will be a classic collectible and a great conversation piece at gatherings large and small. It captures an astonishing moment in sports history." While his website chronicles the debacle, there's no mention of Tigers' recent apology to the golf world.
Caldwell sells the balls for $54.90 US a dozen, complete with a min bio of each mistress and their affair with Tiger. One of the mistresses didn?t take kindly to the balls, "It bothered me to think that someone would be standing with a dangerous club in their hands hitting a ball with my photo on it."
Caldwell, who debuted the balls during the PGA Tour Merchandise Show this winter, acknowledged the balls aren't the same quality as Titliest Pro V1s. "No one will buy them for the quality of the ball, but they are good enough to play with. They have to be because I want them on the greens for everyone to see," he told reporters.
Female golfers par for the course
By Andrew Penner, Canadian golf humourist
First of all, addressing the issue of "female golfers" is somewhat dangerous. Not as dangerous, as say, flatulating in a Zippo factory, but quite perilous nonetheless. Considering the fact that I married one (a female), by writing on this topic I'm not doing much to increase my chances of winning the "Husband Who Gets The Most 'Action' In One Year" award either. However, when you consider the fact that females make up 20% of the golfing public - and 99% of the golfers at "The All Women's Golf Club" in Canada - it is a topic that needs to be probed (I'm not sure, but I think I could have used a better word there).
Incidentally, the reason the total isn't 100% at "The All Women's Golf Club" is that a guy named Roger, who was later seen trying to escape in a linen truck, was awarded a one-round membership. This was only awarded after Roger promised to give every woman at the club a four hour neck massage and vowed that he would tell each of them that, in no certain terms, were they remotely close to looking fat.
What I find mildly entertaining is that many women don't even enjoy the game of golf. This is not the case with guys. Even when guys throw clubs and/or torture themselves after a bad shot, it is not, contrary to what it looks like, an indication that they are not enjoying themselves. It may not be a sign that they are happier than a pig in, say, three meters of poop, but I guarantee you, if it was between going to a nice café for tea or shooting 157 with forty-two lost balls, it would be golf every time. You see, all guys, even the ones who look like they are ready to self-combust, cannot help but thoroughly enjoy a game that involves driving a motorized vehicle, drinking, and swatting at things.
For most women, playing golf is enjoyable only because of the socializing. This can become a serious problem. In fact, at my club I think there are a couple of female foursomes who tee off, but don't actually play. They pretend they are golfing, but it's just a disguise for the real reason they are there, which is to talk about things like cookware and Tim McGraw and placenta.
Then there is the inevitable fashion show that happens on the first tee. And guaranteed, if it wasn't for the multi-purpose nature of the placenta, women would spend at least sixteen out of eighteen holes talking about their clothes. For instance, most women would be more excited showing up to the club with a cute little pinstripe outfit than, say, finding a cure for bone cancer. I recently received confirmation as to the severity of this problem when I bumped into my friend Trevor (hacker) last week. He mentioned that his wife Cori, a golfer, came home from the club one day and said "Hi honey, guess what? I went to the fashion show and a golf game broke out."
The other thing I've noticed about women golfers is their fickleness when it comes to playing in inclement weather. I simply won't take my wife golfing if the weather isn't absolutely perfect. I'll watch the forecast in the morning and if the weatherman says, "It'll be a beautiful day today with a wonderful high of 82 degrees," I'll mutter "Rats, missed it by one degree." (My wife's outside operating temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit). On the other hand, as long as the barometric pressure is somewhere between one and twenty million, guys will be out there whacking at it.
Understandably, because it's such a great game and many of them haven't seen their husbands in fourteen years, many women become "female golfers." As discussed, female golfers are interesting "athletes." Now if you'll excuse me, I need to show this to my wife to see if I'm still eligible to "get any" for the rest of the year. I've got my fingers crossed.
Save big bucks in 2010
While golf is still a relative bargain in Saskatchewan, it's still a pricey sport if you want to play every day like some fanatics. There are plenty of great incentives to hop in the car and try a different venue. There are more than 225 courses in Saskatchewan, an all-you-can-eat buffet that keeps getting better and better.
Golf Privilege Book 2010 - Available now. 122 courses in Saskatchewan plus over 350 bonus courses in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Washington state. Free or reduced green fees, power cart discounts, driving range discounts, and more! You get to save money out on the links while helping people with lung disease. Order online at www.sk.lung.ca/content.cfm?edit_realword=gpc for only $35 plus $2.45 shipping and handling per book.Or call 651-3347 in Saskatoon or toll-free at 1-888-651-3347 elsewhere in the province.
Saskatchewan Golf Association - If you belong to a golf club, one of the benefits of the SGA value added program is reduced fees at a growing list of member courses (34 in 2009). Members can also access reduced fees with Alberta Golf Association member courses. Follow the quick link to the membership discount program at www.saskgolf.ca
Saskatchewan Golf Tour Guide - The Golf Tour Guide published by Tourism Saskatchewan lists several pages of money-saving coupons and deals on stay-and-play packages. It's available free at 150 Co-op gas stations and tourism bureaus starting in May.
Tee-Off Book - For $44.95, Tee-Off offers 2 for 1 and reduced green fees for the golfer who travel around Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Unfortunately, few large urban centre courses are represented. Each course has a brief description of the golf course, a photo, a map and course layouts. An added bonus is access coupons to more than 550 courses outside your region. To order, phone 1-800-667-8633, www.tee-off.ca
Golf Card International - If you plan to golf the United States, the Golf Card International discount card pays. At about $80, it offers discounts at more than 3,000 golf courses and resorts in Canada, United States and abroad. Members receive a 200-page catalogue with maps and lists of the deals, a quarterly newsletter Golf Traveler, and discounts on everything from car rentals to life insurance. Among the options are 19 courses in Saskatchewan. www.golfcard.com
International Club Network - Daily fee golfers can save money and get extra privileges through the Privileged Play program of Toronto-based International Club Network. Members have access to more than 160 courses in Canada, and others in the US and Europe. There are only two Saskatchewan courses represented. Benefits include advanced booking, reduced hotel and travel costs, and a 20 percent reduction in green fees and cart fees. Plus, you get a complimentary greens fee pass annually at a top national or international course. Pricey one-time initiation fee is $150 and GST, and annual fee of $125 plus GST. www.privplay.com
Air Miles Savings - Golfers can use Air Miles reward points at one Canadian golf course or purchase a Lung Association Discount Book. www.airmiles.ca
Spring/Fall Specials - If you golf during the spring or fall, you may want to book one of the low cost off-season green fees or golf packages. The weather is usually milder, the crowds smaller and the course in peak condition.
Check Out Pricing Schedules - Most courses have deals to attract golfers to the early morning, twilight hours, weekdays and so on. There are courses that give healthy discounts to seniors and juniors. Others give discounts with 10 or 20 pass booklets. Watch for hefty multi course discounts. For example, the new Prairie Links Golf Corp. offers discounts and its three courses: Long Creek Golf and Country Club at Avonlea Deer Valley, Golf and Estates at Lumsden, and Riverbreaks Golf Resort at Riverhurst. Regina-based Western Golf Management offers tri and dual membership discounts at its Tor Hill, Murray and Goulet golf courses.
SaskGolfer.com Travel Deals - If you plan to golf in Saskatchewan, this website keeps a list of stay-and-play packages on its Hole #10. There are bargains. www.saskgolfer.com
More great discounts? - If you know of a high quality discount program or offer we should include, drop us a line at Stan@SaskGolfer.comStan@SaskGolfer.com
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It's a Groovy Issue, or is it?
What's a golf tournament these days without a little controversy? From the recent PGA TOUR stop at the Farmers' Insurance Open at Torrey Pines GC located in La Jolla, CA ,the event was almost overshadowed by comments from Scott McCarron stating "Phil Michelson is cheating by using Ping Eye 2 wedges manufactured prior to April 1, 1990." As a huge Phil Mickelson fan I was almost blown away by the reference to cheating by a PGA Tour member against another. So as a golf fanatic I had to find out what is going on here? You may ask yourself what the big deal is and why all the controversy about a player using a 20 year old wedge. As of January 1st, 2010 the so called "square groove" golf club is illegal for any club with 25 degrees of loft and greater.
From www.rcga.org under the Rules Section - The Royal Canadian Golf Association in affiliation with the R&A and the United States Golf Association are revising the Rules of Golf, placing new restrictions on the cross sectional area and edge sharpness of golf club grooves. The revisions are designed to restore the challenge of playing shots to the green from the rough by reducing backspin on those shots. The initial focus of the new Rules will be competitions involving highly skilled professional golfers and will have little impact on the play of most golfers.
The Rules control the cross sectional area of grooves on all clubs, with the exception of drivers and putters, and limit groove edge sharpness on clubs with lofts equal to or
greater than 25 degrees (generally a standard 5-iron and above).
It is intended that the new Rules will be introduced as a Condition of Competition at top professional-level events from January 1, 2010 and at top amateur level and in other
professional events from January 1, 2014. In accordance with this schedule, beginning on January 1, 2010, the RCGA, in conjunction with the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, will enforce the new regulations through a
Condition of Competition for the RBC Canadian Open, CN Canadian Women's Open and each of their respective qualifying events.
So why is it OK to use the old Ping Eye 2 wedges at the moment? The answer goes back to a legal settlement between the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (PING golf clubs), the PGA TOUR and United States Golf Association. The agreement grandfathers the clubs as conforming for play in USGA and PGA Tour Events so long as they were manufactured on or before April 1, 1990. From golf.about.com/od/progolftours/a/ping-eye-2-grooves.htm
...Then the PGA Tour got involved.
The PGA Tour ruled that starting with the 1990 season, square grooves would be illegal for play in PGA Tour events. Remember, the USGA at this point says square grooves are
legal. So the PGA Tour is in effect trumping the USGA's ruling with one of its own.
So Ping is faced with the technical dispute over groove measurement with the USGA, and then the PGA Tour just bans square grooves outright. Ping went to court, suing both the USGA and the PGA Tour. Ping and the USGA reached a settlement fairly quickly. The USGA developed a new point-by-point procedure for measuring groove width and spacing; the USGA agreed to grandfather in the Ping Eye 2
irons and wedges made from 1985-89, allowing them to continue being used; and Ping agreed to make all its irons and wedges conform to the new measuring procedure going forward.
The PGA Tour, however, fought on until 1993, when it finally agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Ping. In that settlement, the PGA Tour essentially just agreed to agree with Ping's 1990 settlement with the USGA. The Tour would allow square grooves going forward, and, like the USGA, grandfathered in those 1985-89 Ping Eye 2 clubs, allowing them to continue being used in Tour events.
According to an article on www.golf.about.com and www.golf.com other
players including John Daly and Dean Wilson used the clubs at The Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year but were not publically singled out like Phil Michelson. On Feb 2nd, Scott McCarron stated he was standing
by his comments according to www.golf.com but on Feb 3rd, following a meeting with fellow Tour players and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, apologized for his
comments. www.cbssports.com/golf/story/12875351/mccarron-apologizes-to-mickelson-pga-tour-ping-in-negotiations
PACIFIC PALISADES, California
Four days after Scott McCarron prompted a series of sensational headlines by using the most shameful word in golf, he apologized to PGA Tour counterpart Phil Mickelson. After a meeting of tour players at Riviera Country Club on Tuesday night, McCarron said in a Golf Channel interview and then reiterated to reporters that he regretted what he had said about the world's No. 2 player. "I'm certainly sorry for it and I'd like to apologize to Phil Mickelson for what I said," McCarron said. In addition to Mickelson, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington indicated Tuesday he might put a Ping wedge into play this week at the Northern Trust Open. Harrington said the wedge put an additional 2,000 rpms of spin on his ball out of the rough than a new, conforming wedge built according to Jan. 1 specifications. "There's a significant difference," Harrington said.
McCarron predicted that since there are multiple organizations involved, plus the manufacturer, that it would take at least 90 days before the issue is resolved. Most of the players were hopeful the tour and Ping could somehow resolve to lift the grandfather clause that made the clubs legal, effectively banning the clubs. The interesting item lost in the Groovy Issue is how the players in the articles so far finished in the first two events:
John Daly, Sony Open, Missed Cut with scores of 73, 71 = 144 (Cut)
Dean Wilson, Sony Open, T43 with scores of 71, 67, 69, 70 = 277 (-3)
Phil Mickelson, Farmers' Insurance Open, 19th with scores of 70, 67, 70, 73 = 280 (-8)
Scott McCarron, Farmers' Insurance Open, Missed Cut with scores of 71, 73 = 144 (Cut)
So as a hot debate, the "Groovy Issue" has not been resolved and it will not be out of the news for the next few months if not years. In a development on Feb 3rd, as posted on www.yahoo.sports.ca and www.sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4884065 Phil Mickelson will not be using the Ping Eye 2 wedges at the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera CC as he attempts to defend his title.
LOS ANGELES
Phil Mickelson won't be using the Ping Eye2 wedge that led a fellow player to accuse him of "cheating," even though he hopes others will use the controversial club to keep attention on what he calls a ridiculous rule. "Out of respect for [the players], I do not want to have an advantage over anybody, whether it's perceived or actual," Mickelson said on Wednesday. "So this week, I won't be playing that wedge. My point has been made." "But if these governing bodies cannot get together to fix this loophole, if players stop using this wedge -- which would stop the pressure of the issue -- then I will relook at it and put the wedge back in play."
Other questions to consider about the "Groovy Issue":
- Is it cheating if there is a loop hole within the Rules of Golf?
- Has a Rule of Golf actually been broken?
- Are Phil Mickelson, John Daly and Dean Wilson and other players justified in playing the wedge?
- Did Phil Mickelson create another problem for himself by using a competitor's brand? He did sign a multi-year agreement with Callaway Golf but used Ping Eye 2 wedges during a competition. Was he proving a
point or is he thinking about switching suppliers? www.waggleroom.com/2010/1/30/1284567/callaway-mickelson-using-wedge
Mickelson knew that John Daly and Dean Wilson had already taken advantage of the Ping Eye 2 loophole created from a 1993 lawsuit settlement between the USGA and Karsten Manufacturing. He would not be setting a precedent by using the sticks, but simply raising the awareness of the loophole by being the de facto number one player in the world. Results or not - and Mickelson is tied for eighth through two rounds - he would be constantly asked about and criticized for his decision. Effectively, he would be given the soap box to rail against the USGA. "I don't appreciate the governing bodies putting me or any other player in this position, calling into question our integrity over a rule that they made, a club that they approved," he said. "Don't put the blame on a player. Put the blame on the governing body."
Since he could not use the wedges that Callaway submitted for him that would skirt around 2010 rules, Mickelson chose to make an example by playing wedges from 1990 that skirt around 2010 rules. Point proven. The funny thing is that had Mickelson's wedges been approved by the USGA, he would likely have received the same criticism. Taking the USGA at their word (and I do) that the Lefty-inspired wedges violated the spirit of the groove regulation - they probably had some kind of W-groove - Mickelson would have been run over the coals for using those, too. Of course, Mickelson is short-sighted but also understands that the average golf fan simply does not get the regulation. He can use the fans' ignorance to his advantage in combination with his celebrity to crush the USGA's reputation. Mickelson is not only pursuing this vendetta on his behalf, though. It is clear that he is also doing this on behalf of Callaway Golf, his equipment sponsor.
As the old adage goes, "Only time will tell." As a golf fan an a follower of the Rules of Golf, the next few months and even years will be very entertaining on this issue. If you have a set of Ping Eye 2 wedges in your garage or basement a PGA Tour Professional may be looking for them in the near future. It is nice to know the weekend duffers and amateur ranks do not have to worry about this until 2024.
Article by Brian Lee, SGA Manager of Tournaments & Player Services,
www.saskgolf.ca
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