Golf a Woman's Key To Competing In the Workplace?

Let me start with saying I'm not suggesting that if you're a woman that you must play golf to be successful. Of course, that's not true and there are many women who are successful without stepping on a golf course.

If your clients, prospects, supervisors, decision-makers that you deal with play golf, however, then I believe you're short-changing yourself by not playing golf. If these important folks in your life enjoy this game and have others in their life who enjoy the game, who do you think they're more likely going to want to spend time with and where? It's the golf course, most likely.

And besides, what's so wrong with being on most beautiful golf courses to do some business and seal some deals. Deals won't be made because you're an excellent business golfer. They'll do a deal with you because they'll discover that they like you, enjoy your company, and how you handle yourself on the golf course.

If you're thinking there is no way you'd play golf, please let me know and tell me why. Let's talk and see if I might give you another perspective on the game.

Former Steelers' QB Kordell Stewart Retires

I will never forget playing at Cherokee Town & Country Club outside of Atlanta, GA. I was there to speak at Deloitte and arrived early, so I could play Cherokee. I was headed out of the Clubhouse when I opened the door for two gentlemen walking behind me. As I looked behind while holding the door open, I did a double take because it was Kordell Stewart and Jerome Bettis, both of the Steelers.

That in itself wasn't the unusual  part. What was unusual is two weeks earlier I was at Pebble Beach and they were teeing off two groups ahead of me. I mentioned that I saw them there and they were both surprised that I would know that as we stood at a local country club in Georgia.

I ended up playing with them after talking to Kordell as we hit balls at the range. I remember asking if he'd consider joining the Raiders, and he said he didn't think so. I also remember him correcting me when I said he was retired. He said he wasn't yet. Today, he officially did so. I'm not sure the ramifications of doing so, but I'm sure there must be a reason for him.

The two were gentlemen and I thoroughly enjoyed the round with them. I know they were betting, but Kordell wouldn't tell me the stakes. I'm sure it was more than for just a round of drinks. I hope our paths cross again, and would enjoy another round with them.

Favorite Foursome

On Monday, I got to play with my favorite foursome: my 85 year-young Dad, niece, and nephew. Given that time is passing for each of us, I realize how much I cherish each time we go out to play.

My niece just graduated from University of Notre Dame and will be working at Deloitte in San Francisco. You can be assured she'll be using golf for business. Even if not playing with clients, she'll be able to talk the other language of business.

My nephew graduates from high school next Friday and then will be headed to Marquette University.

As you can imagine, I can't wait for see what the future brings for both of them and how they handle the good and not-go-good that may come along in their lives. Both are excellent golfers. Ryan is a 1.4 index and Melissa is still a single digit. I know that their time on the golf course has affected their personality, temperament, character and more. That's the beauty of golf. It's not just a game; it's so much more. It's time spent with loved ones, lessons learned, and a sense of generosity that I can't imagine experiencing in any other sport. 

Then, there is my dad. Melissa and I were paired against Ryan and my dad. We were two up with two to go, and my dad sank clutch putts on both holes to tie our match. He was thrilled and the three of us were even more ecstatic for him.Golf is my dad's therapy and it energizes him more than anything I've seen him do.

Who is in your favorite foursome? I am going to enjoy these more than ever, regardless of how I play.

More than a Snake

I wrote a post recently about not liking snakes. I won't search for a ball in tall grass if I think snakes are a possibility.

But a snake certainly is better than a plane door that fell onto the 16th fairway of a Florida course.

It's all a matter of perspective... I'd take a snake or errant little ball over a plane door any day.

Be safe and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend! A big thank you to the servicemen and women who lost their lives protecting our rights and liberties and those who are currently protecting us!

Don't Pull a Na

If you've been watching The Players, then you've seen Kevin Na's set up and his inability to hit the ball after six to eight waggles. The announcers have sympathized with his malady and praised how he's playing through it to be the 4th round leader.

I hope announcers tell viewers today that it's not acceptable in every day recreational, and especially business-golf, rounds. I was empathetic with Na and his struggles until I heard his post-round interview. He seems to have a routine with those waggles. First, a half waggle, then a longer waggle, and then another half waggle and longer waggle. If he can't pull the trigger after the sixth waggle, then the whiff.

I know about the benefits of having routines, but I didn't know it's even good to incorporate idiosyncrasies or whatever the mental game professionals call Na's problem.

I, too, am impressed how well he can hit the ball after his routine, but I hope viewers at home don't suddenly think it's okay to take that much time over the ball. In a business golf round, I know your playing partners will be rolling their eyes and snickering. Be assured that you'll not make friends or clients if you have Na's routine, even if you apologize profusely as Na has done.

And, how do you handle it if you have to play with Na or someone like him? I'd look away and just wait to look for his ball in the air after I hear ball contact. Zach Johnson declined interviews after his round with Na, but I hope Matt Kuchar talked to Zach and got tips on how to handle the distraction. I'm sure it's nothing most of the pros have encountered before, except maybe in Pro-Ams.

I look forward to watching the final round! Enjoy and hope you have a great Mother's Day!

Scorecards

It was a beautiful afternoon and I was fortunate to be able to play at a local mid-upscale public course. My parents and I were in two different carts and I realized when we're in the middle of the hole that neither cart had a scorecard on the cart. I thought we would pick up a card in box that one typically finds on the second hole, but there wasn't one. I ended up having to call the pro shop to ask them to send out someone and bring us two scorecards. A young man came out, but unfortunately brought out only one card.

Maybe I'm spoiled after playing at a private club for all of the years, but for customer service sake, can't the cart folks put cards and pencils on the carts? I play another public course and that course doesn't put cards on carts either.

If it's too labor intensive, then I'd think it would behoove them to make sure pro shop and cart staffs remind players to get a scorecard. Or, when checking in, the pro shop give a scorecard. If the staff aren't going to do that, then at least have the box of scorecard and pencils on the second tee.

Seems to me that I'm not the only one who has had to call the pro shop to ask for a scorecard. Am I asking for too much? Would love to hear your experiences with cards.

It's Just a Golf Ball

When playing at unfamiliar courses, I immediately check out the terrain. I'm not thinking course management and planning my shots. I'm assessing the threat level. Threat level? Yes, I'm checking out whether snakes and alligators are scoping me out as their prey.

Depending on locale, I'll ask members of my foursome and golf course staff whether I need to worry about snakes and alligators. If they say yes, then I declare to my group that I won't help look for their balls or mine.

It's just a golf ball... it may be a Pro V1 and a $4 golf ball, but it's absolutely a worthy investment for me to walk away from a ball if I think I'll be in danger looking for it. This applies whether I'm playing in a tournament or not. Call me chicken, and I'll proudly accept that label.

In Florida, a man was bitten by an alligator while searching near a pond for his ball. He said he was three feet from his death as the alligator dragged him into the lake. Fortunately for him, the alligator decided to release him. I can't imagine the terror that man felt.

Folks, it's not worth it; it's just a golf ball.
 

Theft at Historic Aronimink Golf Club

Times are tough... In 25 years of following golf, I've never heard of a theft of golf balls from a golf course pond. But it happened today at the famed and historic Aronimink Golf Club. Check out the story here.

New Low Update

In my post, New Low for Some Golfers, I shared how a man was stabbed in the leg by someone in the group ahead. The confrontation was over whether to let the victim and his group through on a par-3.

The update is the man may lose his leg. It sounds like he's lucky he didn't bleed to death because his femoral artery was punctured.

But, really? Was not letting a group play through worth a man's leg? May be more to this story, but the situation certainly got out of hand.

Good luck to the victim and hope he is able to heal.

Sergio Kept Playing

After a 12 on a par-4 hole, I give Sergio credit for staying in the game. He ended up shooting five birdies after the 12.

I suspect that's the difference between pros and amateurs; they can mentally re-focus quickly and keep playing.

When I was studying for the Bar exam, I learned a saying, "Hit it and move on!" I try to apply it to my game, but...

Happens Even to the Pros

Sergio Garcia started the round with an eagle at Doral today. Then, he shot a 12 on a par-4 hole.

He has my sympathies. Most of us have done it where we blow up on a hole. It will be interesting to watch how he responds. Throw the rest of the round away or keep fighting until he sinks his final putt on 18?

Congrats Hunter!

This year is the Ryder Cup, and it was great to see America's Hunter Mahan defeat Rory McIlroy in today's final match at WGC-Accenture's Match Play event. It's just start of the season, but I figure as much momentum as we can build before the two teams meet at Medinah CC is only a good thing.

Kudos also to Mark Wilson who beat Lee Westwood in the consolation match. Either McIlroy or Westwood would have been World's #1 men's golfer with a victory in the desert, but it wasn't to be this week.

Golfer Sues Club for Lowering His Handicap

A golfer has sued his club because he claims it lowered his handicap index by 7.7 strokes over a five-year span. He's suing the club for defamation because he said it made him look like a cheater.

Unfortunately the article doesn't elaborate on why the club lowered his handicap. It's possible that the club's handicap chair believed he didn't post his scores each time he played, and posted for him. Those scores must have been pretty low if it resulted in lowering his index by 7.7 strokes.

The golfer's comment that he went to competitions and there would be no one there was an interesting one. He claims it's because his friends didn't play with him. Or, it could be they all knew he was a sandbagger and they felt why bother playing if the guy is going to win all of the time.

When I was a member at a club, my dad and I would play in a couple's tournament every Sunday. When the same couple won every week for about 3-4 weeks in a row, we decided what was the point in entering. We can't beat "statistical anomalies"!

This case makes me wonder... if he is guilty of sandbagging, why would he sue, and if he's not guilty, why bother suing and what took him so long to sue. The lowering of his index occurred from 1999-2004.

Bradley's Apology for Spitting

I've written a couple of times about my reaction to seeing golfers spit, especially on the green.

PGA Tour's rising start has apologized for his spitting at Riviera Country Club last week.

Good of him to do so. It's really an unattractive habit.

Tiger's Gamesmanship

I watched Phil's interview with the press after his impressive blowout of Tiger yesterday at Pebble.

The best question was did Butch Harmon, Phil's swing coach and Tiger's former swing coach, tell Phil some of Tiger's gamesmanship tactics. Phil sheepishly replied with a grin, "Yes, possibly."

Given Phil's spanking of Tiger yesterday, it would appear Butch told Phil a lot of his secrets. I thought it was odd that Phil putted out first on 18th, since the tournament winner usually putts last so he can get all of the applause and end the tourney with a climax. Phil though putted out.

Tiger was then left with a 3-foot putt and he missed it so badly that it left him a 5-footer coming back. As they say, turnabout is fair play.

I'm not a fan of gamesmanship, and have had it done to me for about seven holes. It made me more focused and resulted in a sweeter win for me. And, if a player has to resort to that kind of tactics, well, it says a lot about that person. Or I should say, it says how little that person is.

New Low for Some Golfers

One thing I've always enjoyed about golf is the decorum and etiquette among the golfers. There is an odd sense of being insulated while on the course from the ugliness of the real world.

But, some golfers in Fort Worth, TX brought the real world onto a local golf couhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrse. A threesome wanted to play through a slow foursome. One of the members of the threesome got into verbal altercation with a member of the slow group and it turned physical. Someone in the foursome stabbed him with a broken club and because of the amount of blood loss, he could lose his leg. Click here for the article.

How sad that slow play could cause such damage. The golfers in both groups need a reality check about what's important in life. Playing through and speeding up play aren't worth a man's leg.

As golfers, we can do better.

Sunflower Seeds on the Green

The weather in the Bay Area has been unusually dry this year. I got to play golf two weeks in a row. The first course had sunflower seed shells fairly close to the hole. The second time I played, the sunflower-seed enjoyer was a stranger in my group that the pro shop put with my threesome.

The first week, the sunflower seeds looked fairly moist, so the shell spitter was likely a few groups ahead. I have to say it was a bit gross to have to deal with the shells. At least the guy in my group was "considerate" enough to spit the shells away from the hole and he did this may be only for the first few holes. He stopped having them by the middle of the round.

I enjoy sunflower seeds too, but I wouldn't think of spitting them onto the green. If you enjoy those seeds, have a cup that you can spit the seeds into. That way, every one can enjoy a shell-free round of golf!

Temper Tantrums: Tennis Pros v. Golf Pros

2012's golf and tennis seasons have started. The first two PGA Tour events were in Hawaii and the first major for tennis, the Australian Open, just started this week.

Maybe golfers in HI were laid back with their mai tais, hula dancers, and roasted pork. In contrast, one tennis pro in Australia had a four-racket meltdown.

I've seen a golfer break a club or throw their club a la Sergio Garcia in my last post, but I don't think I've ever seen a pro golfer break four clubs. I guess that's one advantage of golf over tennis... if you want to break something, you have up to 14 clubs to break:)

Garcia Loses It

Sergio Garcia apparently has an anger management problem. I didn't see it, but I heard about his spitting into the cup after missing a putt. That's beyond gross and childish.

His latest temper tantrum is tossing his club into the water after pulling his shot 20 yards on a par-3 hole.

You can watch it here.

I don't care how poorly you happen to be playing, that's inexcusable. Do that in front of a client, and you can certainly kiss that client good-bye.

Happy Holidays to you and yours! May your golf rounds in 2012 be filled with birdies and pars!!!

Monkey Off His Back

Tiger Woods finally won a tournament. It happens to be his own tournament where he's the host and his Tiger Woods Foundation is a benefactor. His win doesn't just benefit him and his foundation though. It benefits the game of golf and even his competitors are hopeful that Tiger is back to his past form. McIlroy and Westwood both hope to compete against Tiger when his game is back on top.

I don't know how to explain it, but when Tiger is in contention, golf is fun to watch. We've watched two years of golf without him, and it's just not the same without him putting for a win in his red shirt, black pants outfit. As to those who are complaining about his white shoes on Sunday, I don't think he cares. He got his "W" and I suspect he was more concerned about getting that than making a fashion statement.

Welcome back, Tiger, and I hope to see the same in 2012!