In recent news, millions of pounds of fake golf clubs and various other golfing accessories were sold by a council trading standards team between June 2003 and March 2008, using the online auction website eBay. This, the largest ever eBay conspiracy, consisted over 96 000 transactions and has landed four people in jail, having been found guilty of conspiring to sell counterfeit goods.
The team of conspirers purchases fake goods from Chinese factories and had them shipping to their own addresses in the UK, before selling them online to customers all over the world – from Ireland and Germany, to Brazil and New Zealand! It was only when pensioner Christine Manz complained to trading standards, after trying to get a refund for two clubs, that an investigation was launched into the fakers. This inquiry produced a variety of shocking evidence, including complaints of a spider’s nest in the variety of a club and golf balls that exploded when hit! When the council also uncovered large sums of money passing through the bank accounts of the suspects (£73,000 in 28 days), they clamped down on one of the biggest online counterfeiting operations ever known.
So, golf lovers – beware holiday season! If you’re buying golf clubs, golf clothing or any other kind of golf merchandise for loved one this Christmas, make sure you buy from a reputable online store!
I'm sure I'm not the only person who has wondered what would win a race over 300 yards - a golf ball or a car?
Although golf balls have been clocked at speeds up to 180 miles per hour (Tiger Woods), they slow down quite quickly. Sports cars, on the other hand, speed up quite quickly - so it's actually pretty tricky to guess which would win.
Having neither the space nor the friends to try it out for myself, I was very pleased to find this video online; enjoy!
Merry Christmas from the Golf Blog! Here is our Christmas present to you; instead of golf tees, golf clothes or golf clubs, we offer you this - a hilarious sketch about the supposed creation of golf by Robin Williams.
I should warn you in advance the the language is quite strong, so you might want to watch it when the kids aren't around. It is, however, incredibly funnny so you really must watch it!
When you think about it, the idea of golf was a very strange one to come up with - attempting to hit a tiny ball into a tiny hole a quarter of a mile away, using a series of different sticks! Totally unlike any other sport in the world...which is probably why we love it so much!
spring to mind. However, the Australian pop star recently declared that she is considering designing golf clothing because “it’s not easy to look good on the golf course.”
Speak for yourself Kylie – I happen to look superb in my plaid troos, thanks very much! She does have a point though; most people do struggle to look their best whilst trading around a golf course, especially at this wet and windy time of year. Even Miss. Minogue herself looked slightly less than her pop-mega-star-self when she and boyfriend Andres Velencoso took to the course a few months back, in this lovely matching set of golf attire:
When most people consider Kylie Minogue, golf probably isn’t the first thing to
Romantic? Sweet? Creepy? I’m not sure what their choice in golf clothes says about their relationship, but one thing is for sure – it aint sexy. Sadly for Andres and the rest of the male golfing population, I expect Kylie’s new range of golf clothes will focus slightly more on the female golfer, leaving us to look elsewhere for our fashionable attire. Alas.
So far I have managed to continue the Golf Blog without mentioning the Tiger Woods story; except on the 28th of November, to report he had a car crash, that he was safe and that we wished him well. Since that car crash, however, Tiger has been subjected to one of the most ferocious media bombardments of a sports personality I can remember. Today I would like to point out that I am sick of it.
As if having his entire life splashed all over the media isn’t bad enough, the poor guy has now even publicly apologised for “transgressions” that, let’s be honest, are none of our business whatsoever! Yet what was out response? “What transgressions? We want to know exactly what you’ve done that you are ashamed of!” He’s a professional golf player – what right do any of us have to the content of his personal life? Sure he’s a billionaire through being an exceptional golfer and advertising Nike golf clothes; he’s an interesting person and it’s only natural that we take an interest in him. But why the vulture-like approach? Why the demands for explanations and apologies? Who do we think we are to ask Tiger Woods to share information about himself that we would never dream of sharing with the public?
When will people realise that celebrities don’t make themselves; it’s our insatiable appetite for gossip and excitement that turns people into walking news stories. If this blog suddenly got 65 million readers and I was made a millionaire overnight, would I be expected to admit all my deepest secrets to the world as well? If not, then why is Tiger expected to? Leave him alone – get something interesting in your own life and talk about that instead.
With Christmas fast approaching, the families of many golf lowers will be straining their brains for new, ingenious presents for their loved ones this year. I, for one, have received some bizarre golf-related items for both Christmas and my birthday; socks with tee-holders in them, gloves with score cards implanted in the back and even golf balls that disappear into a 'poof' of water vapour when you strike them!
As far as I can see, with the exception of golf clubs, golf is very simple game equipment-wise. We don't need any special training gear or gimmicks; we go one-on-one with the course, using nothing but our clubs, our wits and years of practice. Truly it is a noble endeavor! Anyway, the point I'm making is that our game is rarely enhanced by the addition of some bizarre product - especially not by golf-themed paper-weights and the like!
However, one thing that we do need in order to play golf (publicly, at least) is golf clothes. Hence, if you are considering buying something golf-y for the golf lover in your life, might I be so bold as to suggest you consider being slightly more conventional than my family, with their strange collection of ideas. It's not easy to find a warm, waterproof and flexible jacket - that would be a truly meaningful present this Christmas. Just look how happy this guy is:
A study of a dozen golfers with severe sleep apnoea has shown it to have an impact on golf handicaps!
Sleep apnoea is a condition in which oxygen flow becomes so disrupted during sleep that the suffer can actually stop breathing for upwards of 10 seconds at a time! It causes loud snoring that disrupts sleep and makes the sufferer particularly irritable and sleepy the next day, due to a lack of decent sleep. Dr Marc Benton declares that the “daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and cognitive impairment” caused by sleep apnoea can have a profound impact on one’s ability to play golf.
By treating 12 golfers suffering from severe sleep apnoea over 3 to 5 months, using an oxygen mask at night; researchers in New Jersey discovered that, over the course of 20 rounds of golf, the golfers handicaps improved! Of course, it’s arguable that your handicap will improve after 20 rounds of golf anyway; hence the expression ‘practice makes perfect’. However, with an estimated 3.5% of all British men suffering from sleep apnoea, it could well be that these people have stumbled upon a relatively quick fix for your game!
Neil Friedman, co-author of the study, said "The drop in handicap among the better golfers probably reflected that the major limiting factor was not golf skill but cognitive compromise that improved when the sleep apnoea was treated." Now, if only they could build oxygen masks into golf clothes, maybe we'd all be pros by Christmas! Or would that essentially be doping? Interesting...more research is needed!
Putting spin on a golf ball is one of the techniques that seperates good players from great players. It allows you to hit long shots, without risking a huge amount of bounce and roll, which could put your golf ball in the rough, a bunker or way off the green. It doens't matter how accurately you hit your shots; if your ball rolls on, you're never going to be in the best position.
The key to putting spin on a golf ball has nothing to do with slicing it, or using any kind of trick shot. The idea is to take a normal, smooth stroke, but create the divet AFTER you hit the ball - not before. This means the club face drops as you hit the ball, letting the ball run over the groove in the face of the club, putting backspin on the ball. Do it right and you can stop your ball exactly where you want it.
For more help and information about putting spin on your golf ball, check this out:
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