The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Month: July 2008 (page 1 of 2)

Results Are In

Thank you for participating in the last two Golf Chick polls and making your voices heard. I think the results are interesting, and not quite what I expected.

poll results

After Lorena Ochoa indicated she’s interested in competing in men’s events, I asked if you thought she should. I assumed most people would answer that she should just stick with the women and that the third answer (gimme a break) would be the most popular. As you can see, the two yes answers received a combined 52% while the no answers took 48%. With results so close, this seems to be quite the polarizing topic.

When I asked if golf course workers should have golf knowledge, I thought your answers might fall in line with what I got from the people I asked in person, which were almost unanimously “doesn’t matter as long as they’re hot.” Perhaps I was surrounded by a piggy crowd that day, maybe it was the fact that they were all men, or maybe they had liquid courage and felt the need to announce a predilection for hot chicks. Only 6% of you answered with them! The qualified yeses received a whopping 90%, with half of those feeling anyone working at a golf course should know about golf and half feeling the workers only need that knowledge if it helps them do their jobs. Perhaps most interesting are the 3% who don’t care either way – because they cared enough to answer that they don’t care. :)

Thanks again for participating, and if you have any burning questions, let me know for a possible future poll!

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LPGA Reminds Wie That She’s a Sideshow

After failing to sign her scorecard on Friday, Michelle Wie was disqualified from the State Farm Classic. Only the LPGA failed to tell her about it until she had completed her round the following day.

Michelle WieAfter an imaginary journalist asked her how she felt about being used by the LPGA for the attention she brings to any event and milking another day of play out of her, Michelle Wie responded: “I was playing, like, really good out there, you know? I kind of, like, almost forgot how popular I am.”

At which point her father, B.J. Wie, took control of the “interview” to make some things clear:

“That just wasn’t right, what [the LPGA] did. She played a round she shouldn’t have. No one’s going to make Michelle do that except for me. With the scores she shot and the wave of publicity, now is the perfect time for her to play with the men again. I – I mean she – accepted a sponsor’s exemption to play the Reno-Tahoe Open next week on the PGA Tour. With Tiger out, she’s the biggest news in golf. With such a weak field and if she plays like she did this weekend, she could possibly even make the cut. But even if she fails miserably, her appearance there is good for my business – I mean her game. It’s just a bonus that our – um, her – participation in this relatively unimportant PGA event will steal some attention away from a women’s major since it’s played at the same time as the RICOH Women’s British Open. Sweet revenge. Two can play the media and fan manipulation game. We’re off the record, right?”

Imaginary reporter: “Way off the record. In fact, this conversation never happened.”

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Don’t Let This Happen To You

golf shot from water hazardI witnessed this tragedy during a recent round and just had to snap some photos.

The man decided to take off his shoes and socks to stand in the water and play his ball from the edge of the hazard. His shot was actually decent and it I’m sure it saved him at least a stroke in the tournament.

But the real tragedy isn’t the situation in which he found himself, it was that all the onlookers were “treated” to what is obviously a rare display of his permasocks. Here’s a guy that needs to do some chipping and putting practice in flip-flops! And I thought I had a tan line problem!

Photos cropped to protect the guilty.

ankle tan lines

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Mad About Golf Caps

I have tons of baseball caps and and a handful of visors. When I play golf, I always wear one to help keep my hair out of my face as well as for sun protection. I also like having a handy ball marker on the bill.

I collect caps from different golf courses around the country and my collection is seriously out of control. It’s gotta be close to 100. There are probably only about 10 that I wear all the time. I guess favorites are inevitable, but every now and then I mix it up and wear an “oddball.”

madcapzNow, to make matters worse better, there’s a new line of hats I like. They’re called Madcapz. They come in fun colors and patterns and look decidedly more feminine than most golf/course logo caps. They’re also really soft and comfortable and the sizing is female-friendly. I have the two pictured and they really liven up an otherwise blah outfit I might wear. Yup, my attire is often quite boring.

I’m not crazy about the name – I’ve always been irrationally irritated by cutesy spelling. Like Krazy Korner or Towne Centre. Ugh. But I am kinda mad for the caps so spelling aside, I guess it’s accurate. Some of the designs are a little too mad for me, but they’re all fun and I think it’s great that founder Carrie Bell created this line of hats for women and kids.

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Big Plans, Please Help

Oh, do I have plans. Okay, well they’re not exactly “plans” at this point as much as ideas. But oh man, do I have ideas, and they’re working into plans. Granted, I do that a lot, but I honestly think this time I’ll find the magical mixture to make me bring them to fruition – it really feels like I will.

They’re related to golf and I’m going to need and ask for your input and help. Please keep checking back here because I will be asking for your input with more specific goals. Meanwhile, please keep reading…

As a female golfer with recent memories of being a beginner in my mind, I think I have a grasp on what a lot of female golfers want and need. Yes, that sounds like a broad statement (pardon the pun), and it is. I just know what it’s like to be a female golfer, to be a new golfer, to be a passionate golfer, to be an obsessed golfer, and to only be treated like the first two.

I want to provide something for anyone who relates to those sentiments. I know how it feels. I know this is a broad request without providing any details, but I have to ask and I hope that you will trust me: As a female golfer, especially (but not limited to) beginning golfers, what do you want or need from the golf industry? If you’re not comfortable posting your answer as a comment, you may tell me confidentially by sending me an email to kristen(at)thegolfchick(dot)com. This is a chance to be part of the future and direction of women’s golf. There may be more opportunities with more specific information, but there won’t be another time to say you contributed – or got involved – at the very start. Just let me know.

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How to Cure a Slice

I’d write a book but it’s just too simple. I had this epiphany on the range awhile back. Many golfers probably know this and it’s just too bleepin’ basic, but I think we all forget it from time to time.

Have problems with a slice or just pushing the ball to the right? Here’s the answer, and it’s yours for the low, low price of finding this post:

Let the golf club get to the ball.

Easier thought than done sometimes, I know, but it really is that simple. My problems began with my driver and progressed to my fairway woods. When I started blocking shots to the right with even my irons, I had to figure it out. I could probably have done a quick google or read a tip in a magazine or something, but I learn better from doing or figuring it out myself. It just seems to stick better that way.

I addressed the ball normally, then figured in order to push the ball right, the club face would have to be open at impact. I turned the club face that way at address without adjusting my grip or stance and thought “how did I get here?” The only way I could end up like that after having addressed the ball correctly was to turn my body towards my target. That was it. I was simply turning my hips too soon and not letting the club reach the ball. I implemented the swing thought “wait, wait, wait, release” (for tempo) and refused to turn too soon. Sure enough, no matter which golf club I used, the ball went straight. I could even start drawing the ball again. It was magical.

Of course there are other issues that can cause a slice but this was my problem. It’s easy to find out if it’s yours. Just try it.

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Thoughts on Twitter

Twitter is a relatively new craze that seems to be sweeping the online world. Many of my golf bloggingtwitter buddies are using Twitter, but I was slow to get on the bandwagon. I wasn’t sure why except for maybe it was just something else to follow and take up precious time and thought energy.

Promotion

Many people promote their sites or blogs by using tools like social networking sites, photo sharing, participating in forums and now Twitter. I never really did any of that. I make comments on blogs I read that pique my interest but never just to spread myself around. Some people are really good at that and their sites grow in traffic and popularity because of it. I understand the value of all that, I just can’t keep up with it all – there’s so much to follow and stay up on. I joined many of the sites where perhaps I should spend more time to actually make them work for me, I just can’t be bothered. Now I’ve done the same thing with Twitter.

What is Twitter?

In case you don’t know, Twitter is basically a constant chat room in which you can select the people you want in it at all times. You find people to “follow” and add them to your list, and you can have all their “tweets” come right into your own custom chat room. (Tweets are how people communicate on Twitter – kind of like text messages – and must be 140 characters or less.) People can choose to follow you, and your tweets are seen by them. If someone clicks on your Twitter place, they’ll see your room and all your tweets and can choose to follow any of your followers or followees. It seems to be a great way to share interests, join groups, and expose your site to potential new readers/customers. It probably works more quickly because of the directness and interaction than myspace, facebook, flikr and many others. But again, now that I joined, I just can’t seem to put in the “work” to go around networking and getting myself out there to really make this chat room for grown ups work for me. Maybe I’m just lazy – I don’t know.

When it’s not enough to have good content

I’ve put so much content on this site over the years and I get decent traffic from google because of it. I haven’t really done any SEO or promotion, and just let my content do all the work for me. Dumb, I know. A golf blog can come along and with hardly any content, do some promotional networking, take advantage of Twitter, and surpass me in a heartbeat. At least with quantity of visitors. But what about quality? When someone clicks on an outgoing link or ad from my site, it’s a pretty good click. So am I just a twit?

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Doing My Duty, Passing Golf Courses

Today I am fulfilling my civic duty in response to a jury summons. You probably know what this means: a lot of waiting around to either never get called for a panel or get called and dismissed. Either way, it’s a lot of waiting around. I’m actually managing to get a lot done today since it’s so quiet here with no distractions.

Oh, except for I’m sitting in front of a window looking out on a gorgeous day and wistfully thinking about all the golf courses I passed on the way here. Eleven. There are 11 golf courses between my home and Ventura County Superior Court/Hall of Justice. Only 3 of them are private, which means I drove near 8 courses I could have played today.

Vito still isn’t ready for an entire day spent alone, so Greg and I swapped vehicles today so he could take Vito to work with him while I answered the call. I’m so used to my Suburban Unnecessary Vehicle, it’s large frame and power everything, I felt especially sporty in his hot little Mustang. I had almost forgotten the fun of a manual transmission – not to mention when it’s supercharged. The last thing I wanted to do was drive it to a government building and be cooped up all day. It almost steered itself to several golf courses (probably from memory). Alas, here I am, doing the right thing. I guess golf can wait.

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Where Are Golf Digest and Golf World In All This?

Knock knock… yoohoo… Golf Digest… Golf World… over here.

There are hundreds of thousands of golfers just getting word that their favorite golf magazine is ceasing publication. Your sister magazine, I might add. No word of it on your sites except for the standard press release that’s practically buried? Did you know the subscription link for Golf For Women is still live on your sites?

golf digest golf world

These other Condé Nast publications, Golf Digest and Golf World do a fair job covering female players and topics important to women. Now they should be stepping up to do even more and provide a foster home for displaced readers. But where’s the love?

We still don’t know the fate of the Golf For Women website, so we still may have that online refuge, but I would have thought GD and GW would have been reporting this news and attempting to comfort us with word on their plans to accommodate GFW’s subscribers.

Susan Reed’s farewell message indicated that GFW would be transferring subscriptions to other Condé Nast publications, and I imagine many people will choose Golf Digest or Golf World if they don’t already subscribe. Shouldn’t those publications be doing something to ensure that? Looks like Jerry Tarde is tardy with his “hello message” assignment from Golf Digest. Same for Geoff Russell over at Golf World. Or don’t they want all these potential eyes? I bet their advertisers do, and if they don’t care about that, perhaps they’re next on the list to fold.

With the timing of the closure coming on the heels of Susan Reed’s departure to O Magazine, it appears that Condé Nast just couldn’t be bothered to replace her and keep it going, indicating some apathy toward a burgeoning demographic. The economic downturn can be cited as a reason, but then wouldn’t they at least want to secure the readers they had at other Condé Nast publications or are those magazines successful enough without us? Or do they just think we’ll flock to them with nowhere else to go? Someone will step in and fill the void that GFW leaves for an entire segment of golf magazine readers but come on, guys, show us that you care.

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Golf For Women Closing Up Shop

Sad news today – after 20 years, Golf For Women Magazine is closing. The July/August issue is its last.

golf for women closingMy editor from their website still isn’t sure what’s going to happen with their online presence so there could still be some life there.

That Conde Nast couldn’t make the book continue succeed is daunting to anyone looking to fill the gaping void that will be left in the female golf publication market. But, maybe it’s just time for something hipper? Edgier? Golf-chickier? How does Golf Chick Magazine sound. I think it’s got a ring to it.

Dana, Alena, Ashley, Stina… feel like being co-founders? What about Patricia and Gayle? So much to think about. How can we turn this loss into something fabulous?

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