Golf for a cause

Mark your calendar's from August 29th through September 1st with a big green smiley face. Put down your gardening tools, and take out your golf tools, and tool-on over to one of over 3000 golf courses throughout our great country, and tee it up for those that can't.

Fighter pilot Captain Dan Rooney...shares like many of you, the love of golf, but he has channeled that love into a grander vision that includes giving back to his country..."Noonan" (the Captain's call sign), thought about his comrades that could not be with him on the golf course, and last year started something big...

...over $1 million dollars big.

He started Patriot Golf Day to benefit The Rooney Fallen Heroes Foundation.

Last year golf courses around our United States of America raised their greens fees by $1. That dollar was earmarked for families of fallen US soldiers killed or wounded throughout our current military operations. This year will be the same...and with your help, even greater results.

This year Captain Rooney will be going back for his third Tour of Duty.

We owe it to him and his foundation to take a couple tours around the golf course. Captain, thank you for your service.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Online games revisited

In an earlier post, I postulated on the coming of virtual golf.

It's here. To get a sneek-peek at the future...click here.

The World Golf Tour offers a virtual golf experience for all adults of every swing-plane.

The capitalists behind the World Golf Tour pick a golf course (the demo on the site is the Bali Hai golf club in Las Vegas), and submit it to six months of poking and prodding that would make the gopher in Caddyshack proud. Using camera-strapped helicopter drones to scan every blade of froghair...they bring the data back to their workshop which gets rendered, mashed, mixed, and wow-ed...to bring an incredibly immersing experience...even down to the chirping birds.

There are over 100,000 hackers in this uber-golf/social site, and growing. Monthly prizes enhance the user experience...and addiction.

Please remember...however good you may become at virtual golf, don't give up your day job.

...these golf avatars haven't made any real money...yet.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Since always gambling has not been looked upon kindly, whether it is blackjack or poker. However with the advent of online casino and the success of national lottery, all has changed now. More people are participating in various online lottery schemes.

Fear the Roo

One of the more enduring commercial series is the annual 'Capital One Mascot Challenge' during bowl weekend. This year Zippy, the kangaroo mascot from my Alma Mater: The University of Akron, was one of the contestants in the Mascot Open.

Zippy won!...fear the Roo!

Zippy is the modern shortened version for the school's original sports teams name The Zippers.

(I know what you're thinking...leave it to an Ohio school to come up with a name like that).

...but that's just how it came to be.

In the 1920's, the President of the college thought it to be a good idea to let the students come up with a name for the its athletic teams. Well, Akron Ohio was the rubber capital of the world at the time, and one of those rubber inventions: over-sized shoe covers...or galoshes, were very popular then. Well, if you've ever worn them you know how hard they are to put on...especially wet...

...unless you have zippers on them.

Yes, the zipper was the BIG invention of the day...literally blossoming new industries (and defeating old ones: putting tailors and button-makers out of business). Yes, the zipper, was huge, so that was the popular name of choice for the contest.

Thus The Zippers were born. Later it was shortened to Zips, and in 1953 the kangaroo was elected as official mascot. Zippy, as she (yes, only one of two mascots are female) is affectionately known, rambles around at all the various sports events in the University's portfolio.

Hey, for a town known for the birth place of Devo...we could have done a lot worse.

Congratulations ZIPPY!

Thanks for reading, keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

One idea can make a difference

I don't think my idea of making the golf hole bigger qualifies as a world-changing idea...but the minds meeting at Davos might have an opportunity to hear your voice...if you try.

What you do today is important because you pay a say of your life for it. What you accomplish must be worthwhile because the price is high.

Happy Holidays to all the MyDailySlice readers, may all your golf shots be right on the sweet-spot.

JFB

A new website from across the pond

Interested in golf in Scotland? Go to www.MulliganPlus.com . This site is well informed, and was sent by alert reader Reagan Pannell.

Our site would be of interest to anyone of your visitors looking on Courses in the UK and especially Scotland where we are adding information continually at present.
As you will see, our course directory holds enormous amount of information regarding clubs and courses. If you look at Kingsbarns for example, we have all the information any visitor needs and its all be packaged into a PDF Course Guide that people can download to read, print or share with friends.
We also have a member’s area mainly for UK golfers with handicap calculator, online leagues, scorecard recorder, and a playing finder facility. Over this week we are also updating our members section and it’s presently free to join. We are developing the social networking opportunities of the site, with small individual blog sections for members etc that will be available to be viewed by the public.Recently we also covered the Dunhill International Links Championship and we thought that some sites may be interested in using some images that we produced.
We have full copyright for the images but they must be used in an editorial way and not to advertise a product. Therefore, please visit here and follow the link to view our photography of the event. If you wish to use an image, we ask that a link is added to us within the image and as a caption to the photograph.

Now, I hope that something is of interest to you and more importantly to your readers.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Kind regards,

Reagan Pannell

A good cause

Thanks to a MyDailySlice alert-reader, The California Parks Foundation is having a charity online auction on September 27th.

One of the many items up for auction is:

A SCOTLAND GOLF PACKAGE and LONDON STAY (Airfare for Two, Four Nights in Scotland and 3 Rounds of Golf at Fairmont St. Andrews Golf Courses, 3 Nights in London Included)
By clicking the banner and participating in the new online E-Venture Auction, you and your fellow bloggers and MyDailySlice readers, can help to protect and preserve California’s magnificent state parks.

Bidders do not have to live in California to bid.

Finally, the Left Coast and the East Coast can agree on something together...

...a good cause. JFB

A Giant of a man

I admit it...I love fantasy football. Last year my team (Nate's Playmakers) practically ran the table until I came up short in the semi's.

Eli Manning was my quarterback.

If ever there was a sports figure so hotly contested for during his senior year at Ole' Miss...he was it. His brother Peyton...his Dad Archie...what a bloodline! Everyone wanted a piece of Eli....and the New York Giants got him.

Last week, as a prelude to the HSBC Women's Match Play Championship, (the tournament featured in a recent post of mine), the storied Grand Central Station in midtown New York was the platform for the week-long HSBC Golf Experience.
Wednesday, they had a putting contest where Eli went heads-up with commuters. Throughout the week, New Yorkers tested their skills for the opportunity to compete against the NFL quarterback in a friendly putting competition.

I can only guess what the chatter must have been like: "Hey Rocko...let's catch the 10 to Brooklyn, and we'll eat a corned beef sandwich over at Milo's." "Uh...Vinnie...is that Eli over there with a putter in his hand?...o-my-God! it is!...quick...let's get him to sign my hat." "Um Rocko...you have a Jets hat on."... "Curses!"

In the end it was all for a good cause, and as a result, Manning's charity...St. Vincent Hospital, was the beneficiary of $5,000 courtesy of sponsors HSBC.

I'm happy for the donation for a good cause-and-all. But I'm wondering what Eli was doing taking time away from football practice?...I mean...he needs to FOCUS! We're almost into the season.

...did I mention I take this fantasy football seriously?


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

A good walk un-spoiled

My golf buddy, and newly-knighted roving reporter JHB just got back from the 3rd round of the 86th Georgia Amateur Championship.

''It's great to watch Amateur golf as the crowds are sparse, and the ropes do not exist. A nice walk un-spoiled while watching great golf." He said, as he forwarded me his snaps from his newly-minted Blackberry. (He's waiting for I-Phone 2.0 before leaving the crack-berry).

This shot is looking down from the club house at the 18th green with a view of the 9th green in the background.

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The Georgia Amateur Championship began in 1916 and has been contested at 28 different GSGA member clubs in 20 cities. This year marks the 86th annual event...it all began with 14-year-old Bobby Jones, who captured the inaugural title in 1916 (still the youngest Amateur champion).

This year Ansley Golf Club at Settindown Creek is hosting the Championship. Settindown Creek is considered one of the premier championship courses in the state and has hosted numerous high-profile events, including the Nike TourChampionship in the 1990s, and the 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur won by teen-phenom Morgan Pressel.

On a beautiful, cloudless Georgia day. My friend sat under an old Oak tree with an unobstucted view of 3 holes. Sipping his iced tea in the shade, watching these amateur golfers compete in a legendary event.

Yep...nothing like a day on the golf course. You don't even have to be playing to enjoy it.

You just have to be there.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

07/07/07

Today is the luckiest day of our lives!

Whether you're getting married today (http://www.theknot.com/ estimates 38,000 brave pairs to make the plunge), gambling (whether it be in a casino or around a poker-table in your neighbors' basement), or running with the bulls in Pamplona during the San Fermin Festival , MyDailySlice wishes all my readers to make the most out of this lucky day!

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

PS: If you're golfing today...you're already lucky...but I see an ace in your future!

Favor requested

I've been blogging for over a year. Some days, when I can't think of what to write...it's like work, and I've vowed never to let this feel like work because the quality drops off, and that's not fair to me or you, the reader.

So I wait for inspiration before I write, that keeps it fresh for everybody. Heather at WorldGolf.com has assisted me in finding inspiration through her annual contest.

Some of you (mainly the golf blogger-buddies) know of Blogger Survivor, for those of you that don't, it is a contest held every year by Heather over at http://www.worldgolf.com/ in which she sends us bloggers a secret word to use in a post. Voting is done by the contestants and their readers to determine who fit the word best in their post.

Here's an example of mine that...to this day...has garnered the most hits of any post I've written...I guess I'd consider it a classic! The secret word was speculum.

Anyways...to my favor...her website is holding a readership survey/giveaway. Click this link to get to the survey and, if your lucky, you might just win a set of Ping clubs and bag!

Good luck, and thanks for reading! By-the-way, another inspiration for me is the amount of emails/comments/hits I get on a daily basis. That tells me ya'll are plugged in to what I'm writing...and it really fires me up!

Thanks!

JFB

The definition of "inspiration"

I played with Dave this afternoon at Bentwater in Georgia. Forget Webster's...watch this video. Oh yeah...he also played 18 in the morning.

JFB

A Year Behind the Scenes of the PGA Tour

So begins the subtitle to the latest golf-read to hit the bookshelves.

The Scorecard Always Lies- written by Chris Lewis, forecaddies its readers through the 2006 PGA Tour season.



Written in a similar-tone to the venerable tome A Good Walk Spoiled, Chris Lewis seamlessly blends the season into 14 don't-bother-me-son,-can't-you-see-I'm-reading-here chapters that encompass everything you didn't know-but wanted too, about the golfers that comprise the PGA Tour.

There is cart-path cred to backup Chris Lewis, as he has been covering golf for over 10 years, and now contributes the majority of his work for Sports illustrated.

The Scorecard Always Lies hurries the reader past all the stats and final round numbers...shuffles you past the brightly lit pressroom of sterile soundbites...and puts you right next to a fly.

That's right...a fly on the wall, as you are given an exclusive behind-the-ropes- look (with pictures!) at some of the Tours best-of's in 2006.


Thanks to the good folks at Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read such a fantastic biography of one year in the history of The Tour. The timing to read it was fantastic, as I finished the book in my wife's room...delivery room that is...

Being just like a fly on the wall. :-)


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the Mothers and expectant Mom's.

I will be busy the next few days (read: next few weeks...months) as we are expecting our second...any second!

As always, thanks for reading. Keep it in the short grass.

JFB

SEC college golf at your fingertips

College athletes have it made. Take the U of Kentucky golf team (pictured here). Not only do they get to go to school in a great environment, but they get to play golf in not-so-shabby places either. Places like Japan, SC, FL, NV and GA...and that's just this year.
Uh guys...can you donate your frequent flyer miles to me? I'm trying to just get to OH.

Now the whole world can see what it's like to be a SouthEast conference athlete through the athlete's eyes via SECSports.com.

AT&T has just launched the SEC Snapshot, a student-driven journalistic initiative designed to report attention-grabbing stories that often go untold. Student journalists from each of the 12 SEC schools are writing about the unsung heroes and little known storylines of their schools' spring sports teams.
Click on the UK team picture to get the top ten golf tips from the them.
New stories are posted every Wednesday.

I've put the direct link to the SEC golf page (the site covers all SEC sports) at the bottom of my blog so you can follow your favorite SEC team(s) this year.

My favorite tip from the golf team is: 9) "Always have a good understanding of where you can and can't hit the ball on the golf course. "-- Andy Winings, sophomore

Andy, I'm proud to say that I've got a firm grasp on the can't: I know every variety of tree native to the South.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Live Masters coverage presented by AT&T

The Masters programming will offer daily highlights, live tournament coverage, live practice range coverage, player interviews, live updates, and links to real-time scoreboards directly from Augusta National.

Enjoy! Happy Easter everyone!

JFB

It's that time of year

Spring is here! It is "snowing" pollen...the yellow/green dust has covered EVERYTHING.
Wildlife populates a scenery that was bare and lifeless just one month ago.

The sounds of birds chirping and people sneezing fill the air.

All that's needed is the thwack of a golf ball to begin the annual ritual of a Southern springtime.
I eagerly turn the 7-iron-shaped handle of the basement door to open it. Like a sarcophagus, the basement holds the answers to my inner-most questions...

Like where did I put my damn golf bag?"

Looking around the junk that didn't sell at the garage sale, tucked behind the stacked boxes of Christmas decorations, there the Jones Bag stands...forged irons peeking their heads out...still shining, as if to say:

"I hear the birds chirping and the people sneezing....LET'S GO GOLF!"


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Make sure to keep up on the latest sports
news and stay on top of your favorite sports team. Be an
informed citizen with
science news that's up to date, and
entertainment news about your favorite celebrities. There are
all sorts of news
sources on the web, so make sure you choose a news site
you trust.

Why we have misery in golf

Ever wonder why you can't play a perfect round of golf? I mean there is always that one hole that you can come back to in a conversation and say: "yeah, I would have blistered the course if it weren't for that hole".

It's because of greens keepers.

When you play a golf course...think for a minute...whom do you tip? Everyone that touches your bag, serves your drink/food, and cleans your clubs/shoes...right?

When was the last time you said to your playing partners: "you know guys...we need to pull out some scratch for the guys mowing the grass...I mean, those greens were slicker than my grandmas hosiery".

(Um, not that I've ever felt my grandma's leggings. But I digress.)

But I'm right...right!? I'll bet the last time a greens keeper got a tip is when he overheard the club pro telling his playing partner about a hot stock.

That's why we have that one bad hole. Trust me, there are millions of greens keepers with a huge chip of schadenfreude on their shoulders, that when channeled properly, can claim the lives of the best attempts at a perfect round.

So the next time you're out for a fun round of golf, and that one hole comes out of nowhere and bites you...somewhere in the bushes, a greens keeper with a bad case of schadenfreude is snickering.

So tip your greens keeper.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass.

JFB

Why we have misery in golf

Ever wonder why you can't play a perfect round of golf? I mean there is always that one hole that you can come back to in a conversation and say: "yeah, I would have blistered the course if it weren't for that hole".

It's because of greens keepers.

When you play a golf course...think for a minute...whom do you tip? Everyone that touches your bag, serves your drink/food, and cleans your clubs/shoes...right?

When was the last time you said to your playing partners: "you know guys...we need to pull out some scratch for the guys mowing the grass...I mean, those greens were slicker than my grandmas hosiery".

(Um, not that I've ever felt my grandma's leggings. But I digress.)

But I'm right...right!? I'll bet the last time a greens keeper got a tip is when he overheard the club pro telling his playing partner about a hot stock.

That's why we have that one bad hole. Trust me, there are millions of greens keepers with a huge chip of schadenfreude on their shoulders, that when channeled properly, can claim the lives of the best attempts at a perfect round.

So the next time you're out for a fun round of golf, and that one hole comes out of nowhere and bites you...somewhere in the bushes, a greens keeper with a bad case of schadenfreude is snickering.

So tip your greens keeper.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass.

JFB

I'm revealed!....MAKEUP!!!!

Awhile back I posted a tip that I sent to GOLF magazine for a submission to their My Best Tip review.

Then I posted that it was accepted, and that I would be in their April, The Masters Peview Issue.

I just got my GOLF April edition...and in The Starter section of the magazine...there I am...in the My Best Tip column!
I also was mailed a dozen logoed ProV1's for my being selected.

So it's not American Idol...but to me...I'm as giddy as a student when the bell rings on the last day of school! My family and friends will now get to see the framed page above the fireplace mantle...okay...I'm still working out those details...but I'm sure it'll garner a prominent spot.

...what's that honey?... the closet...in the basement?!

Clearly, some people just don't get it.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

My new bag tag

In 1999 I met Mike Last. He was hawking free ball markers and divot repair tools, on a tee box sponsored by his dot-com company LMTT (Last Minute Tee Times) at a local golf tournament I was playing.

Like all dot-com founders back in the hey-day...he was high on enthusiasm and low on cash, but every golf course was his billboard, and he was there to spread his gospel...and I heard it, and signed up.
He had this idea to give golfers (in Atlanta at the time) the ability to find a tee time at the last minute and pay less than full boat to play...both helping the course to fill an open slot, and to help the golfer by giving him great deal. It was good for me (a frugal Clark Howard disciple), as I was playing fantastic courses at half-price, whilst enjoying the fraternity of newly minted LMTT members that would gather for LMTT-sponsored events in the area.

A lot has happened since then.

I recently received an award (the bag tag and VIP extension) from LMTT (now www.LastMinuteGolfer.com), which thanked me for being one of their most active members. Mike and his crew have done an outstanding job of building communities of golfers not only here where LMTT was started...but all over the country...they just signed up their 325,000th member!

You can sign up (it's free) by clicking the LastMinuteGolfer.com button on my blog. You'll then have access to your area courses that offer last minute tee times at deep discounts. Plus, when you sign up you'll get a $10 bonus just for being a friend of MyDailySlice.

Ya know, I still use that ball marker and divot tool. Thanks Mike.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB