5 Tips for the Corporate Golfer That Really Work

Check out my latest post at Cvent for some golf tips, especially if you're a golfer that struggles at corporate golf events.

5 Worst (But Most Successful) Golf Swings

There's one major difference between your hacker's swing and the list of gentlemen on my list of worst golf swings. They've managed to win millions of dollars with their less-than-technically perfect swings, and you probably don't have a dime to show for efforts. Check out my latest post at Golf Partners Online to see who made my list.

2011 Year in Review

As has been my tradition, I reserve my first post of the year to a review of the prior year and to share reader comments over the prior twelve months. My golf photo of the year, even though it really isn't of golf, is the one I took of Wellington harbor while touring this great city with my Kiwi friends. What a place.

Wellington Harbor as seen from Lookout Point

2011 was again a watershed year and brought some renewed ad hominem attacks from Fishers Island supporters. Their garrulous postings are taking up too much space on my blog, and I wish they would be briefer. All their sturm und drang is wearing me down. A good example follows, "Not a lot of substance in this review. Maybe you can clarify what you liked and didn't like about ... #17 may not be the best hole on the course, but the #18th as a par 4 is the best closing hole I have ever played. So tough. Try to review the golf course. You use the bad egg analogy (parts are great), why don't you explain what parts are great and which parts are bad in your amateur opinion?"

To counter this hokum, I do have some fellow supporters, "I have played Fisher's 4 times now and agree this is possibly the most overrated track in the top 100...the ocean views are beautiful, and there are a couple of spectacular holes...but place this course anywhere else and I think its not anywhere near top 100".

To the amazement of many of you, I did play Fishers Island again and have a new more balanced writeup about the course. Hopefully, the inimical comments around this topic will slow down. And, I'm always open to an invite back guys, to reconsider the error in my ways!

Fishers Island Biarritz hole

My views are simpatico with the comment I received from this fan of Camargo in Cincinnati, "I finally played Camargo (not easy to get on) and sweet Jesus it is safe to say you got this review right! ALL WORLD course."

I love this comment on Augusta and the sense of introspection. "I rebelled against the game in my late teens as part of that general dissatisfaction with reality we males face around that age. I came to associate golf with my father (who taught me to play at an early age), and with preppy country club banality. sinister sounding, 'exogenous forces were at play.' An old family friend of means, himself a member of Peachtree and Atlanta Athletic, invited us to play Augusta. Today, I have no access to Augusta. I am no longer a quasi-interesting teenage rebel but a 30-something divorced monster. The gentleman who invited us is dead; his sons hate me and I may never play Augusta again. Talk about youth wasted on the young..."

It is not often you find someone who dissents about Merion being a great course, "...it was simply the most overrated course I have ever played in my life. We actually made the mistake of going to the wrong tee box twice, as some of the holes are a shooting gallery. I have been invited back several times to play, and won't consider it, and keep making excuses". As they say on TV, the views shared by my readers do not represent the view of management.

I consider myself very lucky to have played Maidstone three more times this past year. I rank it in my personal top ten in the world, so I completely agree with this comment, "Pound for pound, yard for yard, Maidstone is the finest members golf course in the world IMHO. Wind, season - lush in Spring, baked out in August - means the course never plays exactly the same round to round."

Another fantastic comment, which I agree with regarding the three golf courses in the Hamptons, "I think of it like this: If you're a real nut for course design and tradition, it's The National. If you're an excellent and talented player (or just a prick who equates difficulty and 'shot values' with greatness) it's Shinnecock Hills. If you're a laidback person who truly enjoys just being in beautiful scenery and not struggling, it's Maidstone."

One of the best comments I have gotten in the six years I have been doing the blog, "you rate golf courses like girl friends - It depends how you scored".

It's always nice to get some media coverage and this year I'm happy I was featured in a story in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors. So, it's only an academic publication with a small circulation, and I don't agree with the author's conclusion that I'm clinically nuts. It's a trifling disagreement. As Donald Trump says, there is no such thing as negative publicity.

Cabot Links on Canada's Cape Breton Island

My golfing travails of 2011

It seems like so long ago, but it has been less than a year since I visited New Zealand. The incomparable beauty of the place left me feeling quite gay. It's hard to find a greater collection of courses than Kauri Cliffs, Cape Kidnappers, Paraparaumu and Jack's Point. I still have fresh memories of my amazing visit to Queenstown. I hope to return some day to this great country.

My revised writeup of Riviera got much better feedback and I was really happy to have played the Whippoorwill Club again. Having done so three more times, I am now of the firm opinion that this is one of the top 50 best courses in the world. I also returned to Los Angeles late in the year and was gobsmacked by the changes made to L.A.C.C. and have a new review of it as well.

I finally made it down to the capital of the Confederacy and played The Homestead Cascasdes course in Southern Virginia.

I capped off the year with another rousing visit to Canada to play both Highlands Links (review coming next month) and Cabot Links, both worth the journey.

Highlands Links par five 7th hole

Results from this year's polls include a preference for Bethpage Black as Tillinghast's best course:

Bethpage Black 36%
San Francisco 28%
Winged Foot (West) 17%
Somerset Hills 6%
Baltusrol (Lower) 6%
Baltimore (Five Farms) 4%

Bethpage Black's 14th hole

The best course on Long Island poll had the following results, which are hard to dispute, although playing any of these courses is special:

Shinnecock Hills 34%
National Golf Links of America 25%
Bethpage Black 16%
Friar's Head 9%
Garden City Men's 5%
Maidstone 4%
Sebonack 4%

After visiting all these great courses and traveling around the world I have lost none of my the wanderlust and love for golf, travel, being with good friends and meeting new ones. I'm living the dream out here. What a year. Thank you to all who have helped me over the years. A happy and healthy new year to all! Best wishes for 2012, and a little wisdom to start the new year:

Life isn't about finding yourself,
Life is about creating yourself.

-- George Bernard Shaw

2012: Year of the Tiger Dragon?

According to the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the year of the Dragon and begins on January 23. In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the strongest sign. According to chinesezodiac.com, "Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion."

Does that sound like a certain feline golfer we all know? But Tiger's birthday is today and just missed being born in a dragon year by a month. Born on December 30, 1975, Tiger is technically a Wood Rabbit, a sign sandwiched between the Tiger and the Dragon.

Clearly, the Chinese calendar is slightly off. 2012 will be the Year of the Tiger for a number of reasons. First, Tiger will be well over 2 years removed from that fateful Thanksgiving car crash that sent his life spiraling out of control. Not having TMZ camped in front of your house will do wonders for your golf game, or so I'm told. Second, Tiger will start the year with a new looper on his bag, Joe LaCava. Dropped in mid-2011, the acerbic Stevie Williams has since proven to be a petty, bitter old man with the maturity of someone one-tenth of his age. This is hardly the kind of person who could be a positive influence for Tiger (good luck Adam!). Third, Tiger starts the year fully healthy. Extensive injuries to his knee and Achilles' tendon over the last several years made it virtually impossible for him to play anywhere close to his full potential.

But most importantly, Tiger's full swing is due to return to greatness. Historically, it takes Tiger around two years to fully incorporate a major swing change. Butch Harmon oversaw Tiger's first swing overhaul during the 1997 season that intended to sacrifice distance for accuracy. It took almost two years for Tiger to get comfortable with the changes that resulted in perhaps the greatest season in golf's history in the year 2000. Tiger started another major swing change in early 2004 under Hank Haney's tutelage. The intent of this change was to lessen the stress on Tiger's left knee. Again, it took almost two years for Tiger to adopt this change following a one-win 2004 with two major wins in 2005. However, Tiger never looked completely comfortable with Haney's single-plane concepts and began working with Sean Foley in the summer of 2010 on yet another swing revamp. If history repeats itself, Tiger's new swing transition will be complete by mid-2012.

In fact, Tiger's swing development may even be a little ahead of schedule. His swing over the tail-end of 2011 looked fantastic. More Butchie and less Haney, Tiger's swing is producing more power and more accuracy. As a result, Tiger was in contention more often and culminated with a win at the Chevron World Challenge.

So there looks to be a lot of positives in store for Tiger Woods next year. Go ahead and toss that inaccurate Chinese calendar in the trash. According to the Grouchy Golf calendar, 2012 is the Year of the Tiger. Happy birthday Tiger but you'll have to wait until next year to open your gifts. But the wait will be worth it because I think one of them might be an ugly green jacket!

5 Most Annoying Resort Practices

I absolutely love playing golf at resorts. There's nothing like a massage or herbal wrap at the spa after an arduous round or a cool libation on the veranda of a plush clubhouse. That said, there are some annoying practices by resorts that drive me crazy. Check out my latest post at the Golf Partners Club.