Golfers Delight

Relocating Golfers Delight

2006-03-29T20:35:00.000+02:00

After having some problems with blogger.com (Details here), I decided to move this blog. As I already owned the domains http://www.golfersdelight.de/ and http://www.golfers-delight.de/, I decided to use them, set up Wordpress and move everything over there. Luckily, Wordpress has a very good import function for blogger-accounts, so you find all the old posts over there as well.

So, come on over! And please update your RSS-feed!

10 Questions for Michelle Wie

2006-03-28T23:20:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, I met the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and I thought she was really amazing. I look up to her because she's a really strong woman. I can't believe I played nine holes with her. She was kind of a beginner, but she was pretty athletic. She actually hit her driver really well. She liked hitting her driver. Anyway, I don't really remember everything. It was such a blur, and I was like, "Oh my God, it's the Secretary of State." They put me in charge of driving her around [in the golf cart]. I was like, If I crash, the Secretary of State goes down with me.

Read the full story here. And what is the big deal with the Rush Limbaugh story anyway?

Red Bull Final 5 Tournament Dates

2006-03-27T20:09:00.000+02:00

As promised, here are the dates for the Red Bull Final 5 Tournaments.

In these tournaments only the score on the final five holes counts. So you better be sharp and focused when you step up to the 14th tee box. As for the next two months, I'll have the choice to play the following tournaments in and around Berlin:

14.04.2006 G&LC Semlin am See
16.04.2006 GC Stolper Heide
23.04.2006 GC Kallin
01.05.2006 GC Prenden
14.05.2006 GC Mahlow

Maybe I'll play all of them. Isn't Red Bull all about stamina???

Golf TV weekly

2006-03-27T08:26:00.000+02:00

Damn, this was good fun watching the big guys take on a short par 3 with an island green and see them show emotions.

But what happened on the final day? Vijay Singh shoots five over, Sergio Garcia six over, Mike Weir seven over. In fact, only Ames, Goosen and American Brad Faxon (69) scored in the 60s over a windy and lightning-fast Stadium Course, where the final-day average card was 75.4. Bernhard Langer made a good impression on the first day with a 67, but then dropped down the leaderboard with following rounds of 75, 79, and 76 to finish T58.

See it all on TV this week:

Monday, 27. March
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 29. March
20.50 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
22.00 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (USA)"
21.15 Eurosport, European Tour "Madeira Island Open in Santo da Serra (POR)"

Saturday, 01. April
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 02. April
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Golf & Advertising

2006-03-26T18:53:00.000+02:00

Besides playing golf I work in advertising. So I just returned from the Art Directors Club exhibition and found some exhibits that feature golf. Not all helluva creative ideas, but see for yourself:

United Nations-Campaign for the year of sport

Promotion for Scottish Tourist Board for the website http://welcometothehomeofgolf.com/, the tees we're left at tee boxes on golf courses

green golf balls promoting an optician

"Gone Golfing! Play Golf stating at 2 Euro", ad for the berlin driving range Golfzentrum Berlin

Golfsport

2006-03-26T18:38:00.000+02:00

With todays issue of Welt am Sonntag you also get the first issue of 'golfsport' with part one of our test results from Mallorca.

You'll get to read everything about the hybrids and fairwaywoods we tested. So go out and buy it!

How golf was invented

2006-03-24T09:43:00.000+01:00

In the version of Robin Williams, hilarious!

Golf Architecture

2006-03-24T09:02:00.000+01:00

Now here's another golf blog with a specific subject: golf architecture. Kyle Harris a.k.a Sir Putts-a-lot from Warminster, PA (hey, I used to live around the corner in Warrington) takes down his thoughts about course designs an others.

May I suggest another category about golf clubhouse architecture? Start with this one for example!

TPC at Sawgrass: Live@17

2006-03-23T16:29:00.000+01:00

Now heres a cool service: the live@17-cam from the TPC at sawgrass, showing live coverage from hole #17 only.

Tiger Woods and the tees

2006-03-22T14:07:00.000+01:00

On a golf tour in Ireland, Tiger Woods drives his BMW into a petrol station in a remote part of the Irish countryside. The pump attendant, obviously knows nothing about golf, greets him in a typical Irish manner completely unaware of who the golfing pro is. "Top of the mornin' to yer, sir," says the attendant. Tiger nods a quick "hello" and bends forward to pick up the nozzle. As he does so, two tees fall out of his shirt pocket onto the ground. "What are those?," asks the attendant. "They're called tees," replies Tiger. "Well, what on the God's earth are dey for?" inquires the Irishman. "They're for resting my balls on when I'm driving," says Tiger. "Fookin' Jaysus," says the Irishman, "BMW thinks of everything!"

(via cybergolf)

Reporting from Augusta

2006-03-22T10:45:00.000+01:00

JM and Dan are two lucky guys. They got Tickets to the 2006 US Masters. Luckily, for all us bloggers who can only follow from a distance, they share their experiences and insights on their "Live from Augusta" blog. They will be updating the daily blogs from Augusta beginning on Wednesday Night, April 5th. So stay tuned.

By the way, I'll play my first tournament of the year April 9th. So after playing 18 holes I can kick back in the clubhouse and watch the tournament coverage. Let's just hope they have Premiere there!

Tournament week

2006-03-21T14:07:00.000+01:00

I kind of missed out on the coverage of the last events, but here I am back with a preview of this weeks tournaments:

The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass (satellite view) takes place at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. One of the strongest fields this year will battle it out for a total purse of $8 million.

The Stadium Course's signature hole #17 is subject of discussion over at ESPN's alternate shot. Follow the tournament coverage over at ESPN or on the PGA tour website.
Update: here are the pairings and tee times for thursday and friday!

The European Tour heads home from their asian trip and plays the Madeira Island Open at Santo da Serra Golf Club. The Madeira Island Open has prize money of Euros 600.000, don't you feel a little bit sad for the european tour players, when you compare that to the purse mentioned above?
I just discovered that FAZ.net features a live-ticker (in german). Let's check that for a change.

Golf Photoblogs

2006-03-21T08:39:00.000+01:00

I don't know about you, but most of my golf rounds I carry a camera with me to capture great or funny moments or just the beauty of nature and the course itself.

picture courtesy of Patrick Micheletti, onedayoneshot.com

Of course my humble efforts are more on the amateur level, but surely it's a passion. When you are in the hunt for great golf pictures, you might want to check one of the following:

One Day One Shot, the name says it all,

Eatgolf's Photoblog,

Hooked on Golf Blogs extensive gallery,

Golf pics on flickr.

Pit Green League on TV

2006-03-20T14:25:00.000+01:00

Last saturday, the kickoff event of the Pit Green League took place in Frankfurt. For those who could not take part, the TV channel HR3 will report on the event's highlights TONITE at 6 p.m. in "Maintower". Footage will soon also be available through the website www.microgolf.de.

Golf TV weekly

2006-03-20T09:05:00.000+01:00

Last weeks tournament action on the European Tour saw a new face winning a tournament: Sweden's Johan Edfors claimed his first European Tour title with victory in the TCL Classic in China as England's David Howell imploded on a windy final day. Edfors had just regained his tour card via the Q School last november, his previous best performance on the European Tour was a tie for ninth at the Madrid Open in 2004, now he has a two-year exemption.

I haven't seen any coverage of the Bay Hill Invitational, but it wasn't the most thrilling golf that had been played there (see also mulligans comments over at The Golf Blog). Maybe the words of winner Rod Pampling desdribe it best:

It's sad to see but it's golf

World number one Tiger Woods, a distant 10 strokes off the lead overnight, completed a frustrating week with a level-par 72 and a share of 20th. Woods has won a record four titles at Bay Hill and triumphed in three of his five starts this year before this tournament.
But see for yourself on this weeks golf coverage:

Monday, 20. March
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 22. March
20.05 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
22.00 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, FL (USA)"
21.15 Eurosport, European Tour ""TCL Classic on Hainan (CHN) "

Saturday, 25. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 26. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Bandon Dunes Golf

2006-03-14T20:34:00.000+01:00

I just finished reading the latest edition of "golfaffairs", that is the golf supplement of Handelsblatt.

There I found this article about the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and I was immediately fascinated just by looking at the pictures. This looks like the one true golf course of at least my dreams: a links course with a view of the pacific ocean off the oregon course, harmonic layout, perfectly integrated with the surrounding nature. Golf as it was meant to be. Not neatly manicured with dyed ponds (as fascinating as Augusta may be) but with an attitude of scottish roughness.

Looking for more pictures of this fantastic course I bumped into Jareds photographs on flickr:

Damn, I have never been to this place but it is worth dreaming about. Or just go there and play as Jared did:

I am not a writer and many amazing things have been said about the place. Once you take that first trip to Bandon all you want to do is get back there again and again.

Maybe I really should take a half year off and travel the Pacific Coast just playing golf and having a good time.

Loudmouth Golf Pants

2006-03-13T20:35:00.000+01:00

You surely can argue about taste and the design of Loudmouth Golf Pants, but these guys surely wear it with great attitude!!

Golf TV weekly

2006-03-13T08:38:00.000+01:00

Being away on CeBIT almost all of last week I missed out on everything golf. So I gotta brush up on the latest tournament news watching the following:

Monday, 13. March
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 15. March
21.15 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
22.00 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, FL (USA)"
21.15 Eurosport, European Tour "Singapore Masters"

Saturday, 18. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 19. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Golf de Andratx

2006-03-07T23:07:00.000+01:00

After all the fuzz of club testing, I still owe you the report on the golf course of Golf de Andratx (see it on Google Earth).

The course has a very diversified character as it wraps itself around the surrounding hills of Camp de Mar. This wouldn't be exactly your preferred location to build a golf course as the normal vegetation is very meager. On the course you can see that the crew around golf director Stefan Blöcher has to work hard to keep the course in shape. On the shadowy parts of the course like the green of hole no. 7, grass normally doesn't grow, so they use replanted pieces of lawn to keep it in good shape. Some tee boxes are laid out with artificial turf for the same reason.

The course makes it hard to get into a proper rhythm, you start with a narrowing par 4 uphill, then a very narrow par 3 with no fairway but the tarmac of the cart path.
This reminds you of the rule no.1 for a decent score on this course: no errant driving.

The first and the last three holes are being played surrounding the Dorint hotel or the residential area of Camp de Mar. Especially on the 16th and 17th you can virtually knock the cups off the coffee tables of the residents if you pull your drive a little to the left. I'd rather prefer a natural surrounding and that's why my favorite part of the course are the holes 4 through 9. It's a par 3-5-5-4-4-3 stretch that demands precise and long play to prevail.

The 6th hole, dubbed "Green Monster", gives you 609 meters of uphill play, two big old trees left and right of the fairway lets you aim through something for the green. Standing on the 6th green you can see hole 7, fairway and green of hole 8, the beautiful halfway house and hole 9. Feels like an amphitheatre of golf, the athmosphere is really stunning.

The 7th hole called "Los Muros" is a rather short par 4, still going uphill. The name of the hole is derived from the two stone walls protecting the green. Once you place your second shot over the 2-3m of stone wall onto the green, you have to make sure of keeping your ball on the green. Chipping your ball from the back of the green towards the hole may not be the best option unless you really have solid control of your chipping game. For all others, the putter from the semirough is the better option. Better keep your first putt short or risk of finding your ball falling down the first wall again.

After mastering this challenge you stand on the highest point of the course on the teebox of the 8th hole. I mean, you can see the fairway from up there, but it looks like you'll need a drive carrying half a mile to get down there. In reality, 160 to 180 meters should get you there, but on first glance, you are intimidated. Luckily for me, we played a scramble the one day and my flightpartner Manni hammered a 250m drive straight down the valley and landed it safely a pitching wedge away from the green.

The 9th hole is a very short par 3 over a lake, be sure to place your ball in the back of the green as it hangs toward the lake. The following holes still are nice to play, but as I mentioned before, they don't match the fascination of the front nine in my opinion.

After your round you will probably bump into some VIP's at the clubhouse (we encounterd Boris Becker, Karl-Uwe Steeb and some others), but most of them are harmless and just honorary members of the club.

Altogether, Golf de Andratx is a very nice course, but you have to have your act together to master it. A disappointment is the driving range, half of the bays flood when it's raining (and it rained almost all the time we we're there), you drive uphill and all your strokes get very short. But well, this leaves them something to improve upon in the future.

John Daly Swimsuit Edition

2006-03-07T07:15:00.000+01:00

Do you ever drink and golf?
Drinking and golf goes hand in hand for guys. If that were me, it would be a complete disaster. But take John Daly for instance. The last few shootouts we’ve done, he’s got a beer in one hand and a putter in the other.

Do you hang with Daly often?
John is a good friend of mine. When I showed him my swimsuit calendar and last FHM spread, he was like, “What a coincidence, I’m coming out with my swimsuit calendar next year!”

(more here, via)

Longest Drive - ever

2006-03-06T18:46:00.000+01:00

Does anyone know Pawel Winogradow? I haven't so far, but he'll probably will be in the golf records book forever for the longest drive in golf. The russian cosmonaut will hit a golf ball off a platform of the ISS - yes, the International Space Station that is.

Scientists figured, that the golf ball will probably circle earth for four years before it burns in the atmosphere. Before that, the golf ball will have travelled approximately 1.000.000.000 kilometers, sure a little more than the earthbound record of 0.65 kilometers. The last golf ball hit in space travelled a couple of kilometers after all.

Winogradow will have to aim exactly, so that he doesn't hit the golf ball into the same orbit as the ISS, as the golf ball would probably collide with the ISS on the next circulation. Does anybody have a birdie book for that?

Golf TV weekly

2006-03-06T12:05:00.000+01:00

Stay tuned this week for the following on golf TV:

Monday, 06. March
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 08. March
20.15 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "Ford Championship at Doral in Miami, FL (USA)"
21.15 Eurosport, European Tour "Indonesia Open in Jakarta"
21.45 Eurosport, Hassan II Trophy 2006, Coverage of the Pro-Am-Tournament In Rabat (MAR)

Saturday, 11. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 12. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Pit Green League start off

2006-03-03T08:45:00.000+01:00

As announced in December, the Pit Green League will start in 2006.

The first event will take place in the English Theatre in Frankfurt on 18th March. From 12:00 to 20:00 the venue in the Kaiserstrasse 34 will be converted into a Microgolf arena.

You can register yourself until via http://www.microgolf.de, the entry fee for visitors is EUR 5,00, for players EUR 10,00.

The tournament will feature different disciplines:
* Longest Drive
* Highest Pitch
* Brightest Putt
The 16 best players in these disciplines will play the 1 hole parcours in 4 foursomes.

For all spectators, there will be a supporting programme (Pit Green test, exhibition on the development of the Pit Green) and a sweepstakes for all participants of the pit green design competition.

More information can be found in the program, that you can download here (PDF, 320 kB).

Playing Pebble Beach

2006-03-01T16:12:00.000+01:00

I played the front nine of Pebble Beach Golf Links (kmz-file), but only on the simulator.

Three pars, two bogeys, not too bad for the first time. Looks like the practice of last weekend was good for something:

By the way, I am testing this scorecard software called GolfXpress, I plan on taking down every round of this year. So far (after two rounds entered) looks pretty good to me. I'll be back with a more detailed description of this later.

Putters and Drivers

2006-02-28T11:40:00.000+01:00

Next on the testing agenda we're Putters and Drivers. The following models went through our thorough testing:

Putter
- Ping Craz-e
- Taylor Made Monza Corza
- Odyssey 3Ball
- Geotech TR/5
- Nike Black OZ T130
- Honma Space Voyager 35" red
- Komperdell Soft Touch Y-One Way
- Kramski HPP 325
- Wilson Staff KC IV
- Callaway Odyssey White Steel 2-Ball SRT
- Longridge F1 Mallet

Somehow I have the feeling that putter designers tend to have a size competition going on. The bigger the better? Especially for the Odyssey 3-Ball Putter you'll need another bag. I cannot see how this should help. With the sheer size of this thing you'll have to concentrate more on moving it without hurting anybody than putting the ball into the cup.

The Taylor Made Monza Corsa shows how good desing and functionality can work together. The Kramski putter also stood out with its functional and clean design. But even at a price tag of EUR 599, the ball doesn't find the way itself into the cup.

My personal favourite out of all the model was the Nike Black OZ T130, we called it the batman putter. Go check the Nike Golf website to see for yourself. I love the design, it is well balanced and has a very soft insert. I prefer this when putting, gives me the feeling of a better control over the ball. I guess the price was around EUR 159, which I find pretty resonable.

Driver
- Wilson Staff Dd6 Loft 11.5
- Srixon W506 10.5
- TaylorMade R7 Quad 425 10.5 R80
- Callaway X460 Driver, 11.0
- Cleveland 460cc Launcher II Titanium
- MacGregor NVG2
- Pineapple Geotech HSW II Titan
- Honma 425 RF Titanium ARMRQ 856
- Komperdell 460cc 11.0 55-A R-Flex
- Longridge 420cc Titanium
- Nike SQ Driver 10.5 Regular Graffaloy Blue
- Ping G5 Offset Logt 10.5
- Wilson Staff Pd6 Regular 10.0

To be honest, I am not a Driver person. At my point of the game, my 5- and 7-wood gives me good lenght off the tee (around the 200m mark) without errant drives (most of the time). So the driver testing was probably hte hardest thing for me to get used to.

I clearly preferred two models, that gave me a good feeling and repeatable distances: the TaylorMade R7 Quad 425 10.5 R80 and the Nike SQ Driver 10.5 Regular Graffaloy Blue. I tend to like the less stiff shafts and a little more loft to the driver. The Wilson Staff Dd6 Loft 11.5 should have been my choice then, but it didn't "feel" that good.

Star of the pack surely was the Honma 425 RF Titanium ARMRQ 856 that I hit twice on the thursday round and produced good lenght, but on the narrow course I wasn't able to place the drives on the fairways. So I looked forward to testing it, but the pleasure didn't last long, as after hitting the third ball on the range the clubhead broke!!! Just flew away and landed in the creek crossing the driving range. Can you belive that? A 1.000 EUR-driver and it just breaks? OK, it was a sample driver that had probably been tested by some other persons before, but still.... I may print myself another golf-shirt with "Honma-Killer" written on the back!

Golf TV weekly

2006-02-27T12:49:00.000+01:00

Back from Mallorca, I missed the tournament action from last week. In the WGC-Match Play Championship at La Costa, California, Geoff Ogilvy, the 52nd seed, beat Davis Love 3&2. Veteran Kirk Triplett wins the Chryler Classic of Tycson with a final round of 63, Alex Cejka finishes in 66th position.

Some more impressions from Mallorca will follow this week as I didn't manage to get it all written down on the weekend. It was good fun, believe me.

Stay tuned this week for the following on golf TV:

Monday, 27. February
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 01. March
18.05 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
19.15 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "Chrysler Classic of Tucson, AZ (USA)"
20.15 Eurosport, European Tour "Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur (MAS)"

Saturday, 04. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 05. March
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Hybrids and Fairwaywoods

2006-02-24T16:52:00.000+01:00

This morning we tested the Hybrids and Fairwaywoods. In the past I tried hybrids on different occasions, but wasn't convinced of them. So I was a little sceptical about me and the hybrids.

We tested the following:
- Cleveland Hybrid Halo Graphite, 25° loft
- Geotech Rv2 Carbon H4, 23° Loft
- Honma U22 Utility Wood ARMRW 2* R
- Callaway Big Bertha Heavenwood 6 Regular, 29° Loft
- Komperdell Hyperglide 22
- Kasco K2K 44R
- MacGregor MT Utility, 23° Loft
- Srixon AD Hybrid '4 Regular
- Taylormade Rescue Dual 22RH R 80
- Wilson Dh6, 22° Loft
- Voit V10 Hybrid, 21° Loft
- Ping G5 Hybrid, 22° Loft

After hitting a couple of shots I soon found my favourites: Cleveland Hybrid Halo Graphite and Callaway Big Bertha Heavenwood 6 Regular. They fitted like a glove, good solid impact and between 150 and 200m in length. Normally, for these distances I would use something between 5 iron and 5 wood. Surprisingly, the Cleveland hybrid had the almost identical design as the Ping G5 hybrid. The Ping produced the same lenght as the Cleveland, but not with the same precision.

I was curious about the Honma, as I had never played the brand before. My two shots with the Honma driver on the course yesterday were impressive, but the hybrid didn't meet my expectations. It produced some good lengths, but it didn't "feel" that good. I didn't think that it had such a good error tolerance. I'd definitely prefer the Callaway, and its more than half the price.

We didn't get through with all the Fairwaywoods today (rain still pouring), but my two favourites at the moment are the Sonartec SS2.5 3wood and the Callaway Big Bertha X 3wood. I'll get back on those tomorrow.

Sunny Mallorca?

2006-02-24T08:52:00.000+01:00

After a delayful thursday morning we arrived at Camp de Mar around noon. After quickly putting our stuff into the hotel room we gathered at the driving range for a first warmup. Unfortunately, it rained all afternoon - more or less.

Nevertheless, three of us decided to tee off anyway. We hadn't started testing yet, but we took two drivers (Taylormade and Honma) and a Kramski putter onto the round. We only played eight holes before it was too dark to continue, but it was good for some first impressions of the Andratx golf course. Beautifully layed out in the mallorcan hills, it offers many challenges. First of all, do not even think about errant driving. Straight, accurate and hopefully long drives help you a lot here.

The Honma driver really delivers these long drives, an impressive piece of equipment with a shattering sound when you make a good hit. You can expect something for the EUR 1.000 price tag.

Testing really starts today, but the rain is pouring heavily, so I doubt that we will be able to go on a round. More to come later.

Nu Shooz

2006-02-22T12:32:00.000+01:00

I was just over at the driving range and whilst hitting the golf balls I thought about the exprected rain in the upcoming days.

Problem is, I have two pairs of golf shoes, the classis Adidas leather shoe for the more wet and cold conditions and one pair of Nikes more suitable for hot summer days. If you play all day in the rain you have the problem getting your shoes dry overnight for the next day. So I decided to cross the street to the Midway Golf Shop in Berlins Habersaathstrasse to see what they have shoewise, the "35% off all shoes"-sign encouraged me even more.

After trying different pairs on I got stuck with the shoes I then couldn't resist to buy: the Adidas Tech Adventure in navy/black:

It sure looks more like a trekking shoe, but believe me, I never felt more comfortable than in this one. It features adiprene cushioning, Torsion system and Kevlar speed laces. Kevlar, grrrr! And it comes with a one year waterproof warranty. That's exactly what I was looking for.

And instead of a 120 EUR price tag I got it for 78 EUR. Yessir!

Club Testing in Mallorca

2006-02-22T10:14:00.000+01:00

February in Berlin isn't exactly the time of year to go out on the course, with the soil still frozen and everything. Luckily, I will have the chance to escape the bad weather and fly to Mallorca for four days. By invite of a large german newspaper, we will hit the Golf de Andratx course and test everything new on the club market for the newspapers golf supplement (aaah, that's what the mysterious hint was all about).

(picture courtesy of Golf de Andratx)

About that I am excited not only because of the weather reasons. I have been playing my Wilson Fat Shaft irons for over two years now and they still serve me good. But my play has developed and I am curious to see what other clubs out there might comfort me or even help me in various situations. As of yet I don't know what equipment we will be testing, but it should be the latest in irons, hybrids, wedges and woods. With me there will be eight other fellow golfers with different handicaps, I presume that I will have the red lantern with my handicap around the 30 mark.

It will also be my mallorquin golf premiere, I have visited the island before, but not to play golf. I had a chance to get a glimpse of the Golf de Andratx course two weeks ago, as the n-tv golf magazine 'Abschlag' reported from there. From what I saw it really looks interesting and promising.

The weather in Mallorca is supposed to be rainy in the next couple of days, temperatures will rise up to 15° Celsius. I don't mind the rain and already got my rain gear out. Part of it I bought two years ago, when - also in February - we traveled to Spain to play AC Nuevo Portil Golf and Castro Marim Golf Course. Rain was pouring every single day back then.

Let's hope it gets a little better this time. As far as my preparations go, I will hit the range after I finish writing this and will see my pro tonight for some lessons. Of course I want to look good! ;-)

And of course I'll try to blog from there. Hopefully they have a WLAN of some kind. So stay tuned for more this week - from Mallorca.

World Golf Championship Series

2006-02-21T06:45:00.000+01:00

Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els lead the field at the first tournament of the World Golf Championship Series in San Diego. They are top-seeded in the four individual playing groups named Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Sam Snead.

Two players out of the 64 top-ranked in the world are missind in the tournament, Sergio Garcia pulled out earlier as well as Thomas Bjorn. So these player will battle it out for a prize money total of 7,5 million dollars (seeded positions in brackets):

(1) Tiger Woods v (64) Stephen Ames
(32) Robert Allenby v (33) KJ Choi
(16) Henrik Stenson v (49) Paul Casey
(17) Chad Campbell v (48) Tim Herron
(8) David Toms v (57) Ian Poulter
(25) Jose Maria Olazabal v (40) Brandt Jobe
(9) Adam Scott v (56) Lucas Glover
(24) Stuart Appleby v (41) Tom Lehman
(4) Ernie Els v (61) Bernhard Langer
(29) Stewart Cink v (36) Mike Weir
(13) Michael Campbell v (52) Geoff Ogilvy
(20) Nick O'Hern v (45) Fred Funk
(5) Phil Mickelson v (60) Charles Howell
(28) Bart Bryant v (37) John Daly
(12) David Howell v (53) Steve Elkington
(21) Scott Verplank v (44) Lee Westwood
(2) Vijay Singh v (63) Graeme McDowell
(31) Rory Sabbatini v (34) Miguel Angel Jimenez
(15) Angel Cabrera v (50) Peter Lonard
(18) Padraig Harrington v (47) Rod Pampling
(7) Chris DiMarco v (58) Mark Calcavecchia
(26) Tim Clark v (39) Arron Oberholser
(10) Kenny Perry v (55) Carl Pettersson
(23) Davis Love v (42) Mark Hensby
(3) Retief Goosen v (62) Paul Broadhurst
(30) Justin Leonard v (35) Ben Crane
(14) Luke Donald v (51) Richard Green
(19) Darren Clarke v (46) Shigeki Maruyama
(6) Jim Furyk v (59) Zach Johnson
(27) Fred Couples v (38) Sean O'Hair
(11) Colin Montgomerie v (54) Niclas Fasth
(22) Paul McGinley v (43) Shingo Katayama

Golf TV weekly

2006-02-20T13:16:00.000+01:00

Tiger, you earned 77 million euros last year, for christs sake, buy an umbrella.

Eurosport is filled with broadcasting the winter olympics, so no reports on Rory Sabbatini winning the Nissan Open or Charlie Wi winning his first title on the European Tour at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

As for the german players, Marcel Siem shoots a final round of 66 (his best of the year) in Malaysia to finish tied 26th. Alex Cejka missed the cut at the Nissan Open.

Your golf tv schedule for this week reads as follows:

Monday, 20. February
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Saturday, 25. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 26. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Rheingolf

2006-02-13T17:42:00.000+01:00

Another golf fair is on the way, in Cologne the Rheingolf takes place from february 17th-19th.

In the newbuilt Cologne fairground exhibitors such as Karstadt, Kaufhof, GolfHouse, Golf Partner, Hohmann´s golf shop Berlin, Fairway golf shop und JUMBO Golfwereld will show the latest in equipment and apparel.

Another focal point of the fair will be golf travel, as all important national and international destinations will be present. Furthermore, german golf resorts will present themselves such as Bad Griesbach, Land Fleesensee or Arosa-Scharmützelsee.

If you want to save on the entrance fee, bring your girl or wifey on sunday aka "Ladies Day". She will get entry for free and a present if the gentleman pays the normal full entrance price.

Golf TV weekly

2006-02-13T10:38:00.000+01:00

Aron Oberholser wins the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, finishing at 17-under 271, five shots ahead of Rory Sabbatini. This five-shot victory matches also the largest margin in the 77-year history of the tournament.

The tournament footage is only shown on Premiere, but if you point your browser at the video section of the PGA Tour website, you can check out all the highlights from the pro-am tournament. Don't miss out on the Bill Murray specials, they are hilarious. Justin Timberlake also has a decent swing from what I could see on the videos.

If you wanna watch TV, this is the rest of the week:

Monday, 13. February
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Saturday, 18. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 19. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

DGV Annual

2006-02-08T17:19:00.000+01:00

The DGV (german golf association) just published a 2005 annual with a review of tournaments, german championship rankings and other highlights from the pas year. Nice flashanimation of the bookpages!

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

2006-02-08T08:51:00.000+01:00

Another interesting event is coming our way this week, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Besides the PGA professionals many celebrities like Clint Eastwood and Bill Murray join in the game.

The tournament is being played on three of the most exquisit golf courses California has to offer: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill Golf Club.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 24 birdies in the tournament last year, let's see if he can do it again this year. Be sure to check the tournament coverage here, here or here.

Hanse Golf

2006-02-07T22:47:00.000+01:00

Starting the upcoming friday, golfers from and around Hamburg will have the chance to visit the golf trade fair Hanse Golf (Messehallen Hamburg).

Check out on the newest golf equipment for the upcoming season or have your swing videoanalyzed by the golf teachers of David Leadbetter Golf Academy (appointments can be made via the Hanse Golf website.

The fair is open February 10th-12th from 10:00 until 18:00, get a discount on the entry fee with the online voucher.

Golf on the moon

2006-02-07T20:13:00.000+01:00

35 years ago, astronaut Alan Shepard played the only golf shot on the moon.

Before climbing back into the lunar module, Shepard took out of his suit pocket "a little white pellet that's familiar to millions of Americans" − a golf ball − and dropped it on the surface. Then, using the handle for the contingency sample return container, to which was attached "a genuine six−iron," he took a couple of one−handed swings. He missed with the first, but connected with the second. The ball, he reported, sailed for "miles and miles."

(via)

Golf TV weekly

2006-02-06T08:57:00.000+01:00

Tiger Woods remains undefeated in 2006, winning the Dubai Desert Classic in yet another playoff, edging out Ernie Els. Ernie found first the sand, then the water, thus bogeying the first playoff hole, whilst Tiger plays a solid par. This earns Tiger some modest 329,760 Euro (plus the 2 million Euro he got just for showing up). The only german player in the field Marcel Siem finished in tied 60th.

Alex Cejkas lead at the Phoenix Open didn't last long, he ends up tied 53rd. Bernhard Langer finishes the tournament at tied 50th.

Watch the tournament summaries on Eurosport on Wednesday, here is this weeks program:

Monday, 06. February
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 08. February
20.20 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
21.30 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "FBR Open in Scottsdale, AZ (USA)"
22.30 Eurosport, European Tour "Desert Classic in Dubai (UAE)"

Saturday, 11. February
08:30 Tele5, SI:Lifestyle on Golf
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 12. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Winter Golf

2006-02-05T19:25:00.000+01:00

As a passionate golfer not living in a sunblessed place - like Florida, Dubai, California where you can play all year long, most of the time with just a polo shirt - you have to find a way to settle with the outer conditions.

Thanks to the invention of colored golf balls, playing in the snow isn't such big an obstacle any more. Maybe we started a trend a couple of years ago when we hit golf balls down the Sölden glacier. Who knows.

A couple of years later, snow golf tournaments pop up all over the place. In Austria, it is used as an event to market the Salzburger Land, in Switzerland you can play Winter tournaments in Silvaplana or get some introductory golf lessons in Appenzellerland together with your "Glühwein".

After walking over the frozen lake of Templin (outside Potsdam) today, I thought we should do the same thing as the people in Matanuska Valley, Alaska, hitting balls on an icy lake. Let's see who needs the fewest strokes from Potsdam to Caputh!

GolfDash Golf Towels

2006-02-05T18:17:00.000+01:00

Look what was in the mail yesterday, these two practical golf towels by golfdash.com. Thanks Doug!

Couple of weeks ago, Doug from golfdash.com bumped into my blog and we had a little conversation via iChat. GolfDash is your golf web directory, still has to build up some momentum over here in Europe, but hey, this can be solved. Check out their website and see if this is something for you!

Cejka in the lead

2006-02-03T07:24:00.000+01:00

Wow, this is a headline we haven't seen in a while.

Alex Cejka is in the lead at the Phoenix Open with a six-under 65 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He shares the lead with American Steve Lowery.

Further away in the field are the likes of Phil Mickelson, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia. Bernhard Langer is at level par, together with Vijay Singh.

Let's hope that Alex keeps the pace and produces a good result!

Dubai Desert Classic

2006-02-02T09:37:00.000+01:00

Tiger Woods pays the European Tour a visit as they compete at the Emirates Golf Club for the Dubai Desert Classic.

The tournament is already underway, Retief Goosen and Richard Green and Jamie Donaldson are co-leaders at -7 -8 for the day. Tiger Woods ~~just started his round with a par on hole one as I write this~~ is tied fifth at five under. Marcel Siem is in tied 53rd position at one under, still above the cut line.

Follow the tournament via the live leaderboard on the European Tour website.

Update:
- looks like Ian Woosnam had a shitty day,
- but not as bad as Stuart McMurdo's day,
- can I have Jamie Donaldsons back nine please?

Golf Nut of the Day

2006-02-02T08:06:00.000+01:00

David Brown, played 18 holes in 29 minutes 38.5 seconds, a Guinness World Record.

What not to wear in your next tournament

2006-02-01T20:30:00.000+01:00

... at least if you don't want to get fined by the European Tour's players' committee (full story here).

In my opinion, there should be a fine for wearing pink chequered trousers instead!!!

Oh, by the way, did I already mention our fabulous collection of golf shirts:

Indoorgolf-Guide

2006-02-01T08:40:00.000+01:00

I already introduced the Capitol Yard Golf Lounge to you, last night we played our first After Work Golf Indoor round there.

Another fine venue for indoor golfing is the Driving Lounge Berlin in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. I haven't played there yet, but found a nice report about it on the Hauptstadtblog (german only).

For all you non-Berliners, golf.de offers an extensive list of venues all over germany, where you can practice your game indoors. So no more excuses, go out and play!

Bad Golf Haircuts

2006-01-31T10:35:00.000+01:00

Todays featured model: Lennox Lewis.

Red Bull Final 5

2006-01-31T08:41:00.000+01:00

It is already an established event on the pro tour, as of this year the Red Bull Final 5 will be on the amateurs tournament calendar.

The idea is to set up a valuation that counts only the score on the final five holes of a round. That's where stamina and concentration matter, things that are being enhanced by Red Bull.

The tournament series is to be set in about 150 german golf clubs. Special prizes are being given by Red Bull, the ten best players in the series will be invited to the Red Bull Final 5 finale. Which is taking place in none other club than Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, site of the 2005 US Open.

Golf TV weekly

2006-01-30T09:54:00.000+01:00

So Tiger came back from around the cut line to win the Buick Invitational for a record fourth time, leaving Jose Maria Olazabal and Australian rookie Nathan Green behind in a sudden death play-off at the second hole.

On the European Tour, Sweden's Henrik Stenson held his nerve to win the Qatar Masters by three strokes from England's Paul Broadhurst. Vijay Singh didn't look to good, finishing in tied 24th position at -2 for the tournament.

Both tournaments will be covered on Eurosport on Wednesday night.

Oh, and Abschlag on n-tv changes schedule, the new episode will be shown on Sunday at 18:30, whilst the old episode from the week before will be shown on Saturday at 18:30.

Monday, 30. January
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 01. February
21.05 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
21.15 Eurosport, US PGA Tour "Buick Invitational in San Diego"
22.15 Eurosport, European Tour "Qatar Masters in Doha"

Saturday, 04. February
08:30 Tele5, SI:Lifestyle on Golf
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Sunday, 05. February
18.30 n-tv, Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Buick Invitational Quote

2006-01-27T15:39:00.000+01:00

"The driver is fine," Woods said about a new Nike driver in his bag. "It's the dude holding it."

(via)

Westendgolf Indoor Matchplay Frühjahr 2006

2006-01-26T19:34:00.000+01:00

Today I received an E-Mail by a fellow golfer with a great idea. Great ideas have to be supported, so here we go:

Ich empfinde diese Zeit, in der man nicht oder zumindest nur in dicken Fellbekleidungen auf den Golfplatz gehen kann, als verschenkte Zeit. Mir kribbelt es schon wieder in den Fingern, aber rausgehen... puh ist das kalt!

Und genau deshalb habe ich mir etwas einfallen lassen:
Ich veranstalte ab dem 24. Februar eine Turnierserie mit dem Titel "westendgolf Indoor Matchplay Frühjahr 2006".
Das Besondere daran, diese Turnierserie findet ausschließlich in der warmen Stube statt.

Vor kurzer Zeit haben in Berlin zwei Golf Indoor Lounges eröffnet, die es uns ermöglichen, auch im Winter unserem Hobby ohne Probleme nachzukommen. Ich selbst habe die Anlagen getestet und bin vollends begeistert.

Und da ich die Herausforderung liebe und gerne in Gesellschaft golfe, habe ich mich mit den Indoor Lounges kurzgeschlossen und kurzerhand diese Turnierserie organisiert.

Nun brauchen wir nur noch die Teilnehmer.

Wer also Lust hat, kann sich gerne unter http://www.westendgolf.de/html/indoor_m_f_2006.html anmelden und daran teilnehmen. Unter dieser Adresse gibt es auch alle weiteren Informationen.

Als Anlage erhaltet Ihr eine Turnierausschreibung, in der alle Fakten genannt sind.

Mit der Teilnahmegebühr von 40,00 EUR gibt es bei den Indoor Lounges bis zu 30,00 EUR Rabatt auf die Nutzungsentgelte während der Turnierserie und eine Abschlussparty mit kostenlosem Buffet und Getränken.

Bounce

2006-01-25T23:14:00.000+01:00

Can you imagine how high a ball bounces off the ice (formerly known as driving range)? Especially when it comes down after a well hit 8 iron to 130m? Let me tell you, it's good fun!

Golf TV weekly

2006-01-23T13:25:00.000+01:00

Congratulations Chris DiMarco on winning the Abu Dhabi Championships last Sunday. Check out the report on Eurosport on Wednesday.

Tiger Woods will be back in the game on the US PGA trying to defend his title at the Buick Invitational. The European Tour stays in the desert and plays the Commercialbank Qatar Masters at the Doha Golf Club in Katar. But thats on the TV menu for next week, let's see what we have this week:

Monday, 23. January
22.30 CNN, Living Golf

Wednesday, 25. January
21.05 Eurosport, Wednesday Selection
22.15 Europsort, European Tour, Golf Championship Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Thursday, 26. January
12.35 Arte, "Chic" among others with a report on Crossgolfers in Hamburg

Saturday, 28. January
18.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Abu Dhabi Golf Championship

2006-01-18T14:25:00.000+01:00

Well, what a lineup do we have for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship starting tomorrow. Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie, Chris DiMarco and John Daly are playing in the EUR 1,6 million European Tour event.

The championship is the first of a three tournaments in the Gulf and precedes the Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic. The event at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club is the latest tournament to offer Ryder Cup points.

The humble clubhouse of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Visit the official tournament site or the European Tour website for more updates like tee times or news and reports.

Update:
The tournaments is underway, just look at the lineup of these flights:
08:15 MONTGOMERIE, Colin SINGH, Vijay GARCIA,Sergio
08:25 CASEY, Paul POULTER, Ian DALY, John

Check out the live leaderboard here!

Late Christmas Gift

2006-01-18T13:33:00.000+01:00

One thing my darling wife learned about golf christmas gifts is to order them way ahead of december. My wish to have was the 2004 Ryder Cup DVD.

In Germany, this is only available as a UK import and needs 2-4 weeks to ship. In my case, it took six weeks and I got my christmas present in the middle of january. I am still extremly happy about it and already watched the first part of it last night. Great golfing moments.

What made me think though is the fact, that golf videos are so hard to get in germany. Ok, I didn't execute a thorough search through all possible outlets, but at least on the internet there is hardly anything to find. Maybe I should do something about it and open up a decent online shop for these items.

Golf TV weekly

2006-01-16T09:08:00.000+01:00

Poor coverage again this week, as the Sony Open are only shown on Premiere.
Here's whats left:

Monday, 16. January
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Saturday, 21. January
08.20 HR: Golfen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
18.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

Anticipation

2006-01-15T22:58:00.000+01:00

Honorary OBE awarded to Bernhard Langer

2006-01-11T17:42:00.000+01:00

"Her Majesty The Queen is pleased to appoint Bernhard Langer to be an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his services to Golf."

(via)

British Honours are awarded on merit for exceptional achievement or service to British interests. The Most Excellent order of the British Empire awards founded in 1917 to recognise service by civilians in the First World War. The order now honours civilians and service personnel for public service and other distinctions.

The honour OBE is that of an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Honorary awards are conferred by The Queen, on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, on those foreign nationals who have made an important contribution to British interests. They are made throughout the year and are quite distinct from the New Year and Birthday Honours list.

Sony Open

2006-01-11T08:43:00.000+01:00

Coming up this week is the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club. The event will feature yet another attempt of Michelle Wie trying to make the cut in a mens event.

HOG blog has a poll and discussion about wether or not she will make it. Join in!

Also check out wieblog.com on this matter.

Golf TV weekly

2006-01-09T09:20:00.000+01:00

Monday, 09. January
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Tuesday, 10. January
14:30 N24: ZOOM - Das Reportagemagazin, "Thema u.a.: Anarchos beim Abschlag - Crossgolf"

Wednesday, 11. January
20.35 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
20.15 Eurosport: European Tour 2005, Summary of the 2005 season

Saturday, 10. December
18.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Premiere subscribers check the extended list on golferlink.de.

The Royal Trophy

2006-01-08T18:16:00.000+01:00

Despite a spirited fightback of the asian team,
Europe sealed victory in the inaugural Royal Trophy on Sunday after holding off Asia 9-7 at the Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Royal Trophy brings together teams from the european and the japanese and asian tour. Eight man teams play a series of 16 matches involving foursomes, four-ball and singles for a trophy donated by the King of Thailand. Ryder Cup legend Seve Ballesteros captained the european team, whilst Japan's Masahiro Kuramoto captained Asia.

The asian team already trailed by 6-2 following Saturday's foursomes and fourballs. The sunday singles brought the decision and showed an interesting fight back of the asian team, only losing narrowly in the end by 9-7. Here are Sunday's results:

Yasuharu Imano (JPN) bt David Howell (ENG) 2 up
Paul McGinley (IRE) bt Zhang Lian-wei (CHN) 2&1
Graeme McDowell (NIR) bt Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 3&2
Arjun Atwal (IND) bt Nick Faldo (ENG) 3&2
Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) bt Ian Woosnam (WAL) 2&1
Hur Suk-ho (KOR) bt Kenneth Ferrie (ENG) 2&1
Keiichiro Fukabori (JPN) bt Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 4&3
Henrik Stenson (SWE) bt Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 5&4

Read more on the European Tour website, including some video footage or chech the PGA website

Geoff Ogilvys new apparel

2006-01-07T16:31:00.000+01:00

Geoff Ogilvy, 28 just signed a 4-year-contract with Puma. He will wear Puma golf shoes and clothing on the PGA tour, beginning with the Mercedes Championship in Maui.

He will also be featured in the tv and print ads, the campaign is to start in march. Also as of march, the new collection will be available in stores, the website doesn't show anything yet, but you can join their mailing list for further updates.

Home on the range

2006-01-07T14:03:00.000+01:00

It is a hazy day, feels like -10° Celsius outside and still, there are people nuts enough to practive on the driving range. Including me! Tell you what: it wasn't Hawaii, but it was f***ing great!

Mercedes Championships

2006-01-06T08:15:00.000+01:00

So the PGA Tour started off yesterday with the Mercedes Championship in Kapalua, Hawaii.

Not the worst location to start with. But as the winter break was pretty short, some stars like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen decided to stay on vacation to get some extra days with their loved ones.

Olin Browne leads with the field with a 69, but that's the highest first-round pacesetter since the event moved to Kapalua. The 7,411-yard Plantation Course has been reworked, the contours of 8 greens had been changed and all the greens reseeded with a different grass. In the first round, only nine players managed to break par.

Latest news and the leaderboard can be found on the PGA website.

Golf Bloggers Unite

2006-01-05T09:17:00.000+01:00

The last days I was surfing around the web to find some other german based golf blogs. But to this point I wasn't able to dig some up. But I bumped into some other golf blogs from all over the world that were new to me (mostly via the well selected links on Hooked on Golf Blog, thanks for that).

So I decided to rearrange the link section of this blog and add a blogroll. Golfers Delight strongly recommends reading this:

Hubert Cup

The Golf Blog

Hooked on Golf Blog

Golfchick

The Golf Blog

Golf Punk Magazine

The Sand Trap

BogeyLounge

Going For The Green

Golf Blogger

eatgolf.com

30dollargolf.com

Wounded Duck

Bugger!! Shanked it again!

Royal Green

In case there are some other german golf bloggers out there, let me know about your existance.

Update: Found one:

Birdies & Bogeys

Golf TV weekly

2006-01-02T09:32:00.000+01:00

Off we go into 2006, hopefully all of you have good intents as far as your game is concerned. Personally, I want to end up in the very low 20ies, handicapwise, practise starts this wednesday.

Practising is also the only thing to do this week, as there isn't really much to watch this week. Please note that "Abschlag" is moved back one hour in saturday!

Monday, 02. January 2006
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Saturday, 07. Januar 2006
18.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

New Golfers Delight Shirts now available!

2005-12-29T18:38:00.000+01:00

Capitol Yard Golf Lounge

2005-12-28T10:04:00.000+01:00

The winter has Berlin firmly in his hands, so it isn't really the best of times to go out golfing. And the last time I had my clubs in hand is almost six weeks past. Time to go out and find something to ease the need to hit on small white things that are not snowflakes.

Coincidentally, Plock! magazine current issue features an article on indoor golf facilities. So I came across the Capital Yard Golf Lounge, which is situated just 300 meters down the street from the office. They just opened a couple of weeks ago at the beginning of december in a converted warehouse directly facing the Spree river. Featuring four bays with golf simulators, plus a lounge, fireplace, bar and even WLAN, it leaves almost no wishes open.

The Deadsolidgolf simulators offer different courses to choose from as well as a driving range mode. It takes some getting used to if you've never played on a simulator before - like me. Basically, you hit the ball off the mat into the projection screen, the ball flight path and length is then being calculated and projected on the screen. But be aware: the sensors in the floor mat reveal everything from club speed, club alignment to swing progression through impact.

"Facetrac" shows you the club alignment on impact, screen courtesy of Deadsolidgolf

"Flitetrac" shows you flight track and distance, screen courtesy of Deadsolidgolf

And yes, there we're moments when I thought: "Oh, this is what my pro keeps telling me all the time". In that means the simulator is a good addition to your normal practice routines.

You can putt also, using a second ballmark on the mat, the ball then runs over a sensor measuring speed and direction and then shows the result on the screen. The problem is that you cannot read the greens properly and judge distance and speed. So the result is pretty much left to chance. Putts under 3m are calculated by the program and scores are added automatically.

After some practice shots we played nine holes, where I was just about able to play my handicap. But the round was more about the fun than about the results.

The "greenfee" is €30 per hour, two persons can easily play nine holes in that time. As a foursome, you'd rather take two hours. In case you never had a golf club in your hand, Oliver Banse-Cabus (headpro of Golfanlagen Groß-Kienitz) is also headpro at the Lounge and will pave you the way towards your playing permit. Single and group lessons are also available (details here).

Golf TV weekly

2005-12-27T09:44:00.000+01:00

Ok, ok, so "Dorf on Golf" wasn't really fun with it's cheap 70ies humor, but hey, you never know unless you check something out. Far better was the report on the best golf courses in the world by n-tv's "Abschlag". I was impressed by the sheer size of Mission Hills Golf Club with it's 180-hole resort but I'd rather tee off at Jondaloop Resort in Australia. There is more to come next saturday, so don't miss out on it.

Here's what's up this week:

Monday, 26.December
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 28. December
20:50 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 31. December
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Pit Green League

2005-12-27T09:17:00.000+01:00

Back in August we introduced the Pit Green to you. It seems that in the last months it has attracted a bigger fan crowd as there will be a Pit Green League for 2006. Basically, you play tournaments with the little man, and as in the big game, there are certain rules after which you play.

Kickoff for the 'world championship series' will be on March 18th in Frankfurt, a tour of various german cities shall follow. Dates aren't available as of yet, but you can get registered here for updates and schedules.

In the tournament, to make your Pit stand out in the crowd, you can design its own individual outfit. Just download the template from the Pit Green website and make your Pit the Ian Poulter of Micro Golf. Maybe J. Lindeberg will have something in store for you next season.

Ernie Els runs SAP

2005-12-21T17:50:00.000+01:00

"SAP locht weiter mit Ernie Els ein
SAP und die International Sports Management Ltd. haben ihren mehrjährigen Sponsor-Deal mit dem Golf-Major-Gewinner Ernie Els verlängert. Els wird nun bis Ende 2008 als globaler Golf-Botschafter für SAP auftreten. Als Teil des Vertrages wird das SAP-Logo auch künftig die Kopfbedeckung und die Kleidung des Südafrikaners zieren."

(via)

2005 Golf highlights

2005-12-20T22:10:00.000+01:00

Check out the gallery of this years highlight of the 2005 season over at BBC.

Christmas Golf TV weekly

2005-12-19T09:12:00.000+01:00

Hey, we have something new on the TV schedule called Dorf on Golf. Personally I haven't heard of this golf satire (starring Tim Conway) before, but it seems to be around for a while, as it also sells on Amazon, together with other Dorf episodes. We'll check it out.

Monday, 19.December
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 21. December
21.45 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 24. December
12.30 DSF: Dorf's Golf Bible
13.10 DSF: Dorf on Golf
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Golfers Delight in Plock!

2005-12-18T17:38:00.000+01:00

The worlds best golf magazine PLOCK! shows some taste and writes about Golfers Delight Fashion!

Unfortunately, they didn't mention the store URL, which would be http://www.fore-shirts.de/. Or simply click the link on the right side of this blog. Stop by and buy some last minute christmas presents.

Formula 1 : Golf 0:1

2005-12-15T17:01:00.000+01:00

... at least when it comes to the top salaries. According to the following ranking (found here ) Tiger Wood outearns (is there such a word?) Michael Schumacher by some 19 million Euros (per year that is):

1. Tiger Woods (USA/Golf) 77 Millionen
2. Michael Schumacher (Kerpen/Formel 1) 58
3. Michael Vick (USA/Football) 32
4. Shaquille O'Neal (USA/Basketball) 28,5
5. David Beckham (England/Fußball) 27,5
6. Kobe Bryant (USA/Basketball) 25
7. Lance Armstrong (USA/Radsport) 24
7. Valentino Rossi (Italien/Motorrad) 24
9. Alex Rodriguez (USA/Baseball) 23,5
10. Phil Mickelson (USA/Golf) 22,5

These 19 million are the equivalent of 44.705 rounds of golf in Pebble Beach. That's enough for 1/10th of the german golfers. I hope Tiger sends me an invitation...

Michael Campbell on the game of golf

2005-12-14T10:09:00.000+01:00

Q. Some guys make a bogey on 18 or double bogey, they're miserable; they stomp off. You seem to have handled it pretty well.

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: It's only a game. Big deal.

Q. When did you finally learn that, though?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: This year.

Q. When you won the Open?

MICHAEL CAMPBELL: Well, to be honest, a very good friend of mine, Heather Clarke, Darren's wife, was on her death bed, and I'm thinking, "What's the big deal, it's only a golf tournament here." Put life in perspective or put golf in perspective very quickly. Ever since that day, hit a bad shot, so what, who cares. I mean, that's one thing that you learn a lot about this game is it's only a game, and the less importance you put on it, I think the better you perform. If you go out there and try to perform, you just, I think, put too much pressure on yourself and you create this overwhelming pressure on performing well. But it's just a game.

Pretty much down to earth, Michael! (via The Head Nut)

Golf TV weekly

2005-12-12T08:53:00.000+01:00

Monday, 12.December
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 14. December
20.15 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005
20.45 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection

Saturday, 10. December
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Got an extra $90 million? Buy Troon North then!

2005-12-07T19:55:00.000+01:00

Here's a little advice what to do with your spare money!

Golf TV weekly

2005-12-05T17:31:00.000+01:00

Monday, 05.December
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 07. December
21.05 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
22.45 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 10. December
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Making the Q-School

2005-12-04T16:09:00.000+01:00

German pro Alex Cejka is currently fighting for his PGA tour ticket at the Q-School as he didn't make the top 125 on the moneylist this year.

Douglas over at the The Golf Blog has some interesting facts about money in golf back then and today.

German Golf Topography

2005-11-28T22:21:00.000+01:00

For the statistical golf nerd in you, this might be something: over on the webste of the Deutscher Golf Verband e.V. you'll find these statistical maps about the german golf topography. telling you everything from course densitiy per thousand inhabitants to average course utilization and the average golfers purchasing power:

Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course

2005-11-28T19:51:00.000+01:00

Whilst browsing through the newest pictures at the flickr! golf group I bumped into this picture of hole 14 at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course in Idaho.

On first sight, ok it is an island green with a pretty spectacular backdrop. BUT, the whole goddamn island is artificial, remote controlled and changes in distance daily. I really am impressed!!!

Golf TV weekly

2005-11-28T08:34:00.000+01:00

Monday, 28. November
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 30. November
19.50 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
21.30 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 03. December
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Props to Fred Funk

2005-11-28T07:39:00.000+01:00

Being mocked about his lack of drive length is one thing, taking it with humour and making the most dough is another!

Casio World Open

2005-11-22T12:28:00.000+01:00

Michelle Wie tees it up with the men once again. This time, she tries to make the cut in a mens event at the Casio World Open in Japan.

Tiger Woods is optimistic that she'll make the cut, the experts over at espn.com have differents odds.

For me it'll be just interesting to watch how Michelle recovered after the disqualification in her first pro event.

Update:

Michelle Wie fired a one-over-par 73 to trail leaders Toshimitsu Izawa and Yoshiaki Kimura by five strokes after the first round of Casio World Open.

Update 2:

Teenager Michelle Wie failed in her bid to match her male counterparts after missing the cut by one stroke at the Casio World Open in Japan.

Golf TV weekly

2005-11-21T09:41:00.000+01:00

Monday, 22. November
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 23. November
19.50 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
21.30 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 26. November
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Yards to meters

2005-11-19T19:14:00.000+01:00

Ever bothered as a european players not being able to convert yards to meters? Check the right column, at the bottom I added a yards-to-meters-converter.

Your age by golf math

2005-11-19T19:08:00.000+01:00

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST...

It takes less than a minute. Work out the math as you read. Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to PLAY GOLF. (more than once but less than 10).

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)...

3. Add 5. (for Sunday)...

4. Multiply it by 50.

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755....

If you have not, add 1754...

6. Now subtract the four digit year of your birth....

You should have a three digit number....

The first digit is the number of times you want to PLAY GOLF each week..

The next two numbers are....

YOUR AGE! (OH YES IT IS)

This is the only year (2005) it will ever work, so spread it around while it lasts.

(via The Head Nut)

Matchplay

2005-11-19T18:17:00.000+01:00

On a cold an grey november morning I played my first matchplay. My playing partner was Christoph and we chose as a venue the Prenden Golf Course. As the outside temperature was only 1° or 2° Celsius, three sweaters minimum was the dresscode of the day.

My playing handicap was 40, Christoph started with a 20, giving me a 20 shot advantage. So playing bogey when he played par was good for me ;-))).

The first nine holes we're very digital scorewise: 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1. We never halved a hole, it was either win or lose. It was funny to see that our drives and fairway strokes mostly had the same length, our balls mostly could be found within meters from each other. On the par 5 15th we had the exact same drive length! But my sometimes errant driving and my mediocre short game made it interesting.

On the 10th hole I was able to move 2 up, as Christophs second shot found the bunker while I missed the green a little to the right side but safely in the semirough. Things started out bad for me on the par 5 11th where my tee shot made it just beyond the ladies tee box. Christoph made a solid tee shot, but lost his second shot on the left hand side rough after making a blind shot uphill over the bunkers. This brought me back in play and I won the hole with a score of eight to move 3up. Felt shitty though, you don't want to win any points with crap play.

The best moment of the day - heck, of my whole golf year - came on the par 3 12th hole. I hit the 145 meters to the green with a seven iron and my ball landed just 5 cm in front of the cup, bounced off the flag post and rolled back over a meter into the semirough. Never was I any closer to a hole in one!!! I followed up with a birdie putt and went 4 up for the match.

The 13th hole I already lost off the tee, pushing my drive way off the right side into the rough. I didn't even bother looking after it. This ended my longest series of not losing a single ball for 12 holes. Which is very good for me. So I moved back to 3up.

The 14th hole we halved - for the first time in the match. On the par 5 15th I had a slight advantage after the second shot. Christophs third shot didn't make the green and I had a full sandwedge onto the green. Well, it took me one stroke with the sand wedge and two with the lob wedge to get the ball onto the green. Christoph sank his sixth shot for a bogey. So there I was with five shots on the green and a 1,5 meter downhill putt to win the game. And I missed the hole only by millimeters. Damnit!

But the decision came on the 16th, a 176m par 3. We halved the hole and I won the matchplay 3 up and 2 to go.

Thank you Christoph for a fun day and a nice game! I really got the hang of matchplay. Not only do you have to concentrate on your play but also on your opponent, playing strategically and react on what he plays and reacting to the opportunities you get. Can't wait until the next round!

Golf Nut of the Day

2005-11-18T08:52:00.000+01:00

Being a member of the Golf Nut Society I get an E-Mail every day telling me about other golf aficionados and their spleen. Todays Golf Nut is a very good one:

Joe Malay (#0020)
Doesn’t have a job because he says that it would have a negative effect on his golf game. 5,000 Points

Golf TV weekly, week 47

2005-11-14T07:11:00.000+01:00

Monday, 7. November
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Wednesday, 16. November
20.35 Eurosport: Wednesday Selection
22.15 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Thursday, 17. November
22.15 RTL, Die Wache "Tod auf dem Golfplatz"

Saturday, 19. November
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Last Rounds, please

2005-11-08T07:43:00.000+01:00

Well, it's the end of the 2005 season and oddly enough, the upcoming HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai is promoted as the first tournament of the 2006 season. Anyway, with the best players of the european tour Colin Montgomerie and Michael Campbell and the best players in the world Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh this event should be worth the 5 Mio. Dollars in prize money. More information can be found here and here.

Back in the US we have the Franklin Templeton Shootout taking place on the premises of the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Hosted by Greg "The Shark" Norman, 12 two-man teams play in a mixed-format of modified alternate shot, better ball, and scramble. See pairings and tee-times here. Hank Kuehne and Jeff Sluman are last years title holders. The odd duo with the texan longhitter and the routined shot maker have to be factored in also this year for the prize money of 630.000 U-Dollar.

On the European Challenge Tour the 156 players fight for their ticket to the European Tour for 2006 - only the Top 30 will get the playing permit. The Final Qualifying Stage takes place at The San Roque Club in Cadiz, Spain.

As for me, I will play my last tournament for this year on sunday at Schloss Wilkendorf. Last chance to scrape some digits off the handicap. Wish me luck!

Golf TV weekly, week 46

2005-11-07T07:14:00.000+01:00

Monday, 7. Novemberr
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Thursday 10. November
00.15 Eurosport: US PGA Tour "The Tour Championship in Atlanta, GA (USA)"

02.15 Eurosport: European Challenge Tour 2005

Saturday, 12. November
17.30 n-tv: Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

November Sunday

2005-11-06T17:08:00.000+01:00

What else to do on a perfect sunny november sunday? The picture was shot on 3:30 pm and already we had extreme long shadows. Normally in these light conditions you will have trouble finding your balls in the rough. But if you have Andi in your flight, don't worry about it. He was like a truffle swine, finding every single ball. Good fun!

Par Six Holes

2005-11-02T14:29:00.000+01:00

I beg your pardon???

Golf TV weekly, week 45

2005-10-31T09:26:00.000+01:00

Monday, 31. October
22.30 CNN: Living Golf

Tuesday, 1. November
04.55 rbb: rbb regional, Golf in Poland, a report on the new resort in Slubice.

Wednesday, 2. November
21.00 Eurosport: European Tour "Volvo Masters in Sotogrande (ESP)"

Saturday, 5. November
17.30 n-tv Abschlag - Golf bei n-tv

Priceless

2005-10-30T20:54:00.000+01:00

The alarm clock goes off at 06:30. Normally, after only five hours of sleep I drag myself around in the morning, but not this time. I'm off to play a round of golf and I've been looking forward to this all week.

Getting a tee time in golf clubs in Hamburg isn't the easiest of things. Almost all clubs allow guests on weekends only in accompaniment of a member. Those clubs who didn't held a tournament on saturday. So I called somebody who knows somebody who was able to give me a tee time at Treudelberg Golf & Country Club: 08:00 wasn't exactly what I planned, but this time it was take it or leave it. And I took.

The reason why I was looking forward to it so much was that for the first time in weeks I had a good feeling about it. Two weeks ago this was totally different. I played the most disastrous tournament in my life, 21 stableford points in 18 holes. After this experience I was close to throwing my clubs in the next nearby pond. Well, I didn't do it but left my clubs standing in the corner for two weeks. And suddenly developed a positive attitude about my game. And this had to be proofed.

I left the house in total darkness at 07:00, it still was pitchblack dark when I parked the car at the golf club at 07:30. I wasn't sure if I would be able to see anything at 08:00 but as I was warming up on the range the first sunlight touched the sky.

08:00 at Tee 1 a group of three people already about to make their opening drive, it was the 08:10 threesome trying to make an early start. But it was my turn to deflorate the course. This morning was exactly what I needed to get my game back. Being the first one on the course, playing alone, no one but me to leave his tracks in the morning dew covering the fairways.

My start was mediocre, shooting 6 - 6 - 5 on the first holes (2 par 4's and a par 3), losing a ball in the pond on the second and third. But then I loosened up and took more confidence in my game. My drives were straight and accurate, I didn't take anything bigger than my 5 wood off the tee. But it was good for 200m almost every time.

After 30 minutes, I was already at hole number 5, the first par 5 of the day. I gained momentum with bogey, bogey, par, bogey on the next holes. The course offers a good variation in the lenghts of the holes. Whilst the fourth hole is a 412 meter par 4, the sixth hole - also a par 4 - is only 275 meters. On the one you have to struggle for bogey, on the other you go for par pretty relaxed.

After 1:15h into my round, the front nine were finished and I was really into a good rhythm. On the next holes a good portion of luck was on my side as my drives all missed the fairway bunkers by only a fraction. By now the sun was out on a clear blue sky and my body was producing endorphine like crazy. Almost everything went smoothly except for my problems on the par threes, I wasn't able to make any green with my first shot.

But then I had my feet put back on the ground on the par 4 seventeenth, I got a little too cocky and was punished with a 10! A couple of deep breaths later I stood on the teebox of the 18th and had to bring my focus back together and positioned myself well within 90m of the green of the 485m par five after two good shots with my woods. The pitching wedge got me onto the island green and in my mind I already had noted a par for this one on the scorecard. This made me not concentrate enough about my putting and I fourputted for a seven. Dammit.

But I was grinning all over my face as I had experienced one of the best rounds in my golfer career. A beautiful sunrise, an interesting course, alone with the wildlife on the course, I regained trust in my game and I set a new personal record, playing 18 holes in only 2 hours 45 minutes.

Does that give me extra points for the Hubert Cup Lutz?

You know you're a golf nut

2005-10-28T17:43:00.000+02:00

... when you get up earlier on weekends for a round of golf than on weekdays to get to work. My tee time at Marriott Hotel Treudelberg Golf & Country Club in Hamburg tomorrow is 08:00. Which means getting up at 06:00 on a saturday morning. I must be joking. I'll probably chase some korean or japanese guys that started even earlier. Sound like fun!

The mental game

2005-10-27T14:01:00.000+02:00

Just read some good advice from Michael Campbell over at BBC. Let me think about these things on the next round:

1. Stop your mind wondering

Sometimes it's hard to stop your mind playing tricks during a round of golf. You think, 'If I make this shot I've only got an easy putt to make a birdie'.
That's when things go wrong. You need to stay in the present. I do this by focussing on something like a red shirt in the crowd or a really beautiful tree.
That might sound funny but it makes you think what is happening right now. Not what went before or what is going to happen.

2. Do your homework

To give yourself the best chance of a good shot you need to do your homework before you even hit it.
That means knowing what club to use, what shot to play or how the wind is blowing.

3. Breathe easy

A tree can help you focus in the present
It is easy to get nervous when you step onto the tee.
What I do is take a couple of deep breaths to get rid of all the negative energy and breathe in the positive stuff.
When your muscles lack oxygen they tense up. What you want are nice, relaxed muscles to get the most efficient swing.

4. Stick to your routine

More than anything you need to have your routine. Next time you watch Tiger or Ernie look at their routine. That's their way of feeling comfortable.
I walk up to a shot and look where I want it to go. Next I take a practice swing. Then I cock my club back, once looking at the target, then two more times.
It's then that I'm relaxed and ready to hit the shot.

5. Don't even think about it

Last of all when you play your shot don't think about it. Just hit it.
If you've done your homework and your practise you should be fine. Standing over the ball is not the place to think about your grip or your swing.
Do your thinking on the driving range.

Volvo Masters

2005-10-26T21:40:00.000+02:00

Colin Montgomerie and Michael Campbell clash head-to-head in a compelling end to the European season at this week's Volvo Masters at Valderrama.
Montgomerie leads New Zealand's Campbell by 153,487 euros (£103,707) as he chases a record eighth European Order of Merit title in Spain. With South Africa's Retief Goosen having pulled out with injury, Campbell is the only man who can beat the Scot.

Venue of the tournament is the Club de Golf Valderrama, ranking as one of the finest courses in the world. Advances in club and ball technology mean it is no longer quite the monster it was back in the late 1980s but the par-72, 7,005-yard layout still offers one of the sternest tests on the circuit.

From the first to the 18th, barely a hole on the 1997 Ryder Cup venue offers a straightforward birdie opportunity with heavy woodland, wickedly switchbacking fairways, water and tricky greens ensuring the entire elite field have to plot their way round. Last year's event, won by England's Ian Poulter in a play-off, featured only eight players under par.

Check out the Tee Times for the first round and the news section or check out the European Tour Website for more information.