Justin Rose - A Class Act

There was a time when I could beat Justin Rose on the golf course. Okay, he was 11 and I was 30 but who’s counting! When we met at North Hants Golf Club, Justin was shorter than the flagstick.

Justin grew up playing much of his golf at North Hants Golf Club. The club is in Fleet, Hampshire, about 30 miles south west of London. It was built in 1904 by James Braid on classic heathland and shares many characteristics of its more famous neighbors, Sunningdale and Swinley Forest. North Hants was a wonderful course to grow up on, as I did, and although not long it taught you to keep the ball in play and favor the left side. The heather was punishing and with the main Waterloo train line in play on 15, 16 and 17 you were well advised to keep it straight and true.

Justin could be found on the back of the North Hants range most days being coached by his wonderful father, Ken. Even in those days Justin was well mannered, respectful and quietly determined. Both Ken and Annie, his mother, spent countless hours driving Justin around the home counties to play in junior and senior events. As you might imagine, he had great success at these events representing his county (equivalent of state) and GB&I in the Walker Cup as a 17-year old. His amateur trophy collection also includes the St Andrews Links Trophy, English Boys Stroke Play Championship and the Peter McEvoy Trophy.

It was in 1998 that Justin shot to world-wide prominence with his performance in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. A fabulous 66 in the second round shot him up the field into tied second place and headline writers jumped into action - “Rose Blooms”, “Blooming Rose”, “Early Bloom”, “Late Bloomer”. You name it, they wrote it! His fine play continued through the third and fourth rounds, holding his young game together when many others would have cracked.

In the final round, coming to the 18th hole, Justin was in 7th place and with the weight of the British golf public and media on his back he famously holed out from 50 yards over the left-hand bunkers for birdie to finish tied 4th. He memorably raised his hands to the sky in an old Reebok sweater that had seen better days!

                   

And so, it began! The next day Justin turned professional and, unfortunately, didn’t sign with our agency! To most observer’s surprise, he played the following week in the Dutch Open and then the week after that and the week after that. It’s well documented that he missed 21 cuts in a row on the European Tour. I would see him at North Hants most weekends during that time and, despite the disappointment and the pressure, he remained positive and confident that it would turn around. Even with this adversity, Justin earned his Tour card the following year. Also, that year, the sports marketing agency I worked for bought the agency Justin had signed with. And so, for a couple of years I had the pleasure of working with him, signing some solid endorsement deals and getting to know him on a professional level as well as continuing our personal friendship. As his stock rose, so bigger agencies became more interested, including one who made him a financial guarantee our smaller agency could not compete with. No, this wasn’t the movie Jerry Maguire where I learned this news from someone else. Justin called me and said let’s travel together to the next event as I need to discuss something with you. He told me about the deal, the numbers and asked me what I thought. I told him it was too good to turn down and we couldn’t write that kind of check, so take the deal. It was tough to see him move agencies, but it was the right move for him and the way that Justin handled it showed his strength of character and class.

Since that time, Justin’s career has truly blossomed (see, even I can do it!) with 23 professional wins on all the six continents on which golf is played. In addition, he has had extraordinary Ryder Cup successes on four European teams. Of these tournament wins, a couple stand out and have establish Justin in the big league of world players capable of winning on the biggest stages.

The first was at Merion Golf Club, the Pennsylvania gem designed by Hugh Wilson. This was the scene of Justin’s first major victory in 2013. His final round play against Phil Mickelson was outstanding and he became the first Englishman for 43 years to achieve the feat. His long iron play during the week can only be described as legendary.

For the second tournament, I was driving to Atlanta listening to golf on the radio – few things are quite as exciting as that right? It was the last day of the 72-hole 2016 Olympics golf event in Rio and Justin was tied with Henrik Stenson coming down the last hole. Once again, my nerves were in shreds as I listened to the commentary of the 18th hole pitches from Henrik and Justin that would decide the gold and silver medals. On this occasion, Justin prevailed with a deft pitch and putt for birdie and became the first Olympic golf champion since 1904.

In closing, let me talk about this year’s Masters Tournament and another stellar performance by Justin. Like many, I thought his name was on the trophy, but it was not to be. An incredible back nine by Sergio and a wayward play-off tee shot by Justin proved to be his undoing in his continuing quest for the green jacket. It was a great win for Sergio, but I was genuinely upset for Justin. No one watching could fail to have been impressed by the sportsmanship shown by both players. The genuine warmth shown for each other was apparent and real. For Justin, in defeat, to exhibit this emotion was extraordinary and the mark of the man.      

It’s a pleasure to have worked with Justin and I am honored to call him my friend. It’s rare in professional sports to witness a combination of sheer talent, integrity and grace. Justin, you are class act.

"Sun is bad for you!" Two great new brands to help protect golfers from the sun

"Sun is bad for you. everything our parents said was good is bad, sun, milk, red meat...college" Woody Allen in Annie Hall.

As a golfer for many, (many) years my consciousness about the dangers of the sun have increased dramatically over the years. Our friends down under have know about the perils of being out too long in the sun for decades. It's common to see Aussie golfers and others playing sport outside to be covered in sunscreen, wearing a hat and sunglasses. This awareness is increasing in the US and not before time.

The are a couple of new sun related brands I wanted to highlight that are serious about their intentions, are cool and have a great story to tell.

The first is Golfersskin, a sunscreen brand specifically aimed at golfers. Tour players have caught on to the brand developed in New Zealand and the green packaging has become familiar on the first and tenth tees at PGA Tour stops. The product is non greasy and is ideal to use just prior to teeing off. Don't even think about playing golf in the sun or seemingly overcast days without sunscreen. One trip to the dermatologist and their little freeze gun will have you reaching for this product! Learn more here.

The other readily protectable area is your eyes. Good sunglasses protect the wearer from UVA and UVB rays which help prevent wrinkles around the eyes and many more serious potential eye issues.

I recently discovered a great new brand called Waveborn. They are an interesting company with great sunglasses and a worthy social mission. Rather like the Tom's Shoes social responsibility model, Waveborn works with non-profit partners, Unite for Sight and Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International to donate prescription eyeglasses and fund sight-restoring cataract surgeries around the globe. So, how are the sunglasses?  Having just returned from a golf and beach trip I can attest to the quality and performance. They have top quality Carl Zeiss lenses, the frames are made in Italy and come in a plethora of styles and colors. With a hard or soft case they are available online here or at an increasing number of retailers.

My frame of choice for golf was the Zuma - it's a great wraparound frame which I found ideal for hitting golf shots and reading greens without light leaking in (and great for the beach!). Go take a look at their site www.waveborn.com. It will help your eyes and also support an amazing cause.

Slow Play - The curse of the game and 5 culprits

Our 8-man buddy trip is coming up next month to London and Scotland. Finally, I have convinced the boys that London has such great golf that we would be crazy once again to suffer the agonies of Heathrow without the ecstasy of golf in the wonderful heath land to the west and south of the capital of the old country. The classic heather strewn courses are too numerous to mention and we have several of these on our plan - St. Georges Hill, Walton Heath Old, Sunningdale Old. It should be a treat. Then it's off to Scotland for The Old Course, Muirfield, and North Berwick (pictured above).
That all sounds great, but what's the point of this blog, other than to name drop? Well, the point is this, on several days we are playing 36 holes and although the tee times are not set in stone at most British clubs we will have no problem playing 36 holes on these world class courses. Sadly the same cannot be said for many of courses I have encountered in the US where 4 1/2 to 5 hours has become the norm. The reasons are numerous so let's take a look at a few and ponder why the US golfer has slowed to a crawl and yet British golfers simply hit the ball and when it stops, hit it again! Here are 5 of the main culprits.

1. Carts. A dreadful invention and used by able-bodied people who should know better. Golf is a game for walking, not driving. If you have a medical reason, no problem, but kids and anyone who can walk should walk. I see more carts moving sideways or backwards here than I see moving forward! Players driving over to see their opponents ball, or if "cart paths only" are in operation taking one club out to their ball only to return 2 minutes later for another!

2. Electronic devices. Regular readers will know I would like to blow these all up or have a large receptacle by the first tee for them. It would be just like going through the airport and the golf equivalent of the TSA would ask you to dispose of your electronic yardage device - you know it doesn't help anyway and they just add time to the round. "Jerry, you have 167 yards and not 169 yards" (as we thought by looking in a yardage book) - oh, let me take that couple of yards off my 6 iron swing! I don't think so and you took 2 minutes to make your mind up and hit it 130 yards!

3. Watching golf on television. The Brits watch golf too, but for some reason the excruciatingly slow play on the professional tours seems to have had a more negative effect on US amateur golfers than their foreign counterparts. The question is when will the tours actually try and speed up the game and stop pretending that 5 hours is acceptable. Go on, fine someone a shot and see what that does - money won't get it done, but shots will. The American Junior Golf Association has been proactive by introducing a "Pace of Play Program" for their young, aspiring College players - the tours should take a leaf out of the AJGA's book and follow suit, so guys like Webb Simpson, Jonathan Byrd and Ben Crane get a move on!

4. Drinks carts. Don't have 'em in the UK and the only reason they exist in the US is to generate revenue. A noble idea for sure, but just one more thing that holds up play. A bunch of old dudes chatting up the 19-year-old cart girl is no reason to add 15 minutes to the round. Fellas, she is not interested!

5. Keeping score. Stop it now! This is supposed to be fun! If it's inside the leather pick it up and move on. In the UK, 99% of golf is matchplay and it's the major reason that golf keeps moving. I don't need to be waiting 230 yards away watching you putting out for a 7... I'll give you a 6 if you pick it up and get out of the way! Think Chevy Chase in Caddyshack and measure your performance by height!

Titleist Update - And Then There Were Ten!

Last weekend was the deadline for all those interested in purchasing Acushnet. So, I hope you remembered to buy your iPad 2 and submit your bid for Titleist, Vokey and Scotty! With operating income a tad north of $80 million, the price on the company that turns over $1.24 billion (mostly from golf balls) is expected to bring a sale price of $700 million on the low end up to $1.2 billion on the high end. Following the first round of bidders, the field will be cut to 10...then the accountants will do there thing and a spreadsheet frenzy begins. The bidder could still come from private equity as well as the usual suspects, including Nike, TMaG, even Cleveland Golf. No doubt the lawn at Augusta will see some interested meetings as the final scramble for the April deadline approaches.

So they can actually move faster!

Following last weeks rant about the PGA Tour and the slow playing professionals it does seem, after all, that they can actually keep up the pace. Especially when it is in their best interest.
At yesterday's World Golf Championships - Cadillac Championship (by the way who came up with that ludicrous name? So it's the Championship within the Championships - ah, very clever!) Rory Sabbatini (actually one of the fast guys) helped out his slow poke partners by sprinting to the ninth tee so they could all finish their round. His playing partners were still in the eighth fairway when he did it and for some reason Zack Johnson seems to be claiming the credit even though he was a hole back. The agreement seems to have been whoever hit it closest on 8, would get the baton and start running. Good on yer Rory. They all finished, got a good nights sleep and lived happily ever after.
It begs the question, if they can do it to get a decent nights sleep and no early morning start, why can't they just get a move on each week!

It's The O Show...again

It's that time again, when the number of PGA Merchandise Shows you have been to is seen as some bizarre badge of honor. (this is my 20th show!) I have previously blogged about the Show and this year I'll tweet away @macduffgolf - I'll look at the good, bad and indifferent and let you know once my feet hit the floor.  I always like to blog the key questions not to ask at the show and I like to see how long it takes to achieve the set of 6 - normally about an hour!
Here they are again.
1. Are you having a good show? The answer is always, yes
2. When did you get here? The show starts on Thursday, so as always everyone gets into town on Wednesday!
3. When are you leaving? Always a strange one that one - didn't I just get here!
4. Where are you staying? Your chance for oneupmanship...just say The Peabody and move on.
....and new for 2011: perm any 2 of these:
5. When will Tiger regain his Number One spot in the much maligned World Rankings?
6. When will the R & A and USGA meet and finally change the 18th century rules that govern a 21st century game?
7. Just how many people will buy a white driver?
8. Who is buying Titleist?
As always it will be fun! Great to see old friends and see the innovations the industry has in store for us as we enter another golf season. And it's only 10 weeks 'til The Masters! 

Harrington DQ...this is getting silly

So, Padraig, he of the ever changing pre-shot routine, is the latest to be disqualified in the trial by television debacle that is invading golf. On the replay, it's clear the ball moves, but Harrington says he didn't see it which is plausible as he was above the ball and not at the angle shown by the camera. No player or official said anything at the time and he signed his scorecard and headed to the range to adjust his pre-shot routine for the 13th time that day. Then he was informed by Andy McFee, the referee, that some eagle eyed viewer had once again "called one in". So instead of having Harrington in the field he is hanging by the pool in 120 degrees waiting for the next flight to Bahrain. IMG and HSBC must be thrilled by that and once again the rules are robbing the 283 expats who paid to watch the event on site.

Ian Poulter, the master tweeter summed it up very nicely in 140 characters "Rules of Golf Book Rule 22-4 paragraph 3 line 7, "the rules of golf are complete bollocks and are stuck back in 1932". Couldn't agree more". Why not just adjust the card by adding the 2 stroke penalty and move on. Don't give me all that "he should know the rules" and "rules are rules' nonsense. The game of golf needs to adapt and not let HD TV and someone with clearly too much time on their hands dictate the outcome of an event. In professional golf the 2 shots are more than sufficient as a penalty. Getting the Governing Bodies of the game to agree - that's another matter!

Titleist Update - The Vultures are Circling

In early December it was reported that conglomerate Fortune Brands (FO) was looking to split itself into 3 parts and unlock greater shareholder value. Word is now out that a couple of Wall Street titans, Bain and Blackstone are circling around the different businesses and a deal is on way. Sumitomo Rubber is also mentioned as an interested party for the Acushnet /Titleist/Scotty Cameron/Bob Vokey divisions of the business.
In addition, FO has hired Morgan Stanley to auction the golf business with a price tag of $1.5B, which seems excessive to me based on the annual sales of $1.0B. All will become clear shortly and with the huge amounts of cash that have been sitting on the sidelines for a couple years, someone is about to place a very large bet on the game of golf.

Camilo DQ'd...really

Here we go again. An inane rule rears its ugly head and Camilo is on the way home - well he's moving Hawaiian Islands!
The day after signing for his 72, it seems some rules geek watching on TV called in a moving violation. Camilo swatted away half a divot (which his ball wasn't going to hit) and that is a violation of Rule 23-1, which states that, “When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed.” I was watching live and he did nothing wrong - nothing. Are we now saying you can't put a divot or touch anything until the ball comes to rest - great, that will add yet more time to the slowest game in America.
What a joke. He signed for his card and all was fine, than the next day when he is disqualified. Who wins here - no one, that's who. Once again the 18th century rules look foolish, the Tour should just say, sorry too late, the Golf Channel loses one of its most favorite sons and golf continues to try and play in the big time sports league by making these bizarre, viewer led rulings.

5 Golf Gifts for Christmas - time to go online

With only two weeks to go until Christmas, if you are like me you still have to get to the store to buy any presents. Actually, I have given up on bricks and mortar retail and I’m strictly online now and with free shipping and, in many cases, no sales tax, what’s not to love. Here are my last minute suggestions for real golfers.

1. Tin Cup Golf Ball Marking Tool

One of the coolest products to hit the market in 2010 and the best way to personalize your golf ball. Through December 31st if you but two Tin Cups they are offering free shipping with the code FREESTC, which can be used at checkout. This saves you $5.95. There are more than 50 designs to choose from.

2. Rolex Top 1000 Book

For the first time ever here is the ultimate guide to the best golf courses in the world. I have this book and with a course review, local hotels and maps of each course it really is unique. On Amazon, the book qualifies for free shipping.  At $34.95, it sounds expensive, but trust me, it isn’t and this book should be on every travelling golfers shelf.

3. Josh Smith Golf Landscapes

Our friend Josh paints beautiful golf landscapes and right now a number of his prints are on sale on his website, www.joshsmithart.com. His picture of the iconic 7th at Pebble Beach, as it was in 1929, is a classic. Any golfer will be thrilled to have this image in their living room or den.

4. Annika's Wine Club

Annika Sorenstam is not only one of the greatest of all time, she is also a terrific businesswoman and has a knack for creating associations with great brands. One of these is the world renowned Wente Vineyards. Wente and Annika have produced wines worthy as perfect gifts for the oenophile in your life. The Chardonnay and Syrah have won several awards and great numbers from Wine Spectator. The Club is a great way for you to be among the first to get your hands on these special limited availability wines - we have tried both and highly recommend them.

5. Callaway Golf Pre-Owned

Don't get me wrong, I love getting new clubs as much as any golfer. But, I also like getting a deal and if you haven't discovered www.callawaygolfpreowned.com, then set aside an hour and wander around the online store which has almost all the current woods, irons, putters and accessories, but at much cheaper prices. I'm guessing the clubs are either returns or trade ins and vary from "average" condition to "like new". I love the 2006 Callaway Hot 3 wood and I managed to pick up two of them for $120 each in perfect condition. It's my go to club and if you find a club you love you need at least one back up - the Pro's have even more than that (but that's a little easier as they don't pay for them). Anyway check it out for great gift ideas at terrific prices.

5 Great Holiday Gifts - For Golfers

What do you mean... for golfers - isn't this a golf site? Well, these are actual golf gifts that will be appreciated by the golfer in your life - not the sponge ball cleaner, the combination spike mark/shoe horn/groove cleaner, you know the ones I'm talking about. Those are well meaning gifts that no real golfer would be seen dead with on the first tee. Here are five great gifts that you will actually want. My advice - leave the blog open on your computer, forward to your significant other, tweet it, FB it, anything you like to get it into the hands of whoever is buying you a gift this holiday season.

1. Tin Cup. Okay, fair warning, they are a client. That said, this is one of the coolest customizable golf gifts out there. The Tin Cup ball marker allows each player to mark their own ball with a unique design. The website has about 50 standard designs available immediately or you can get a custom cup made with your initials or company logo - customs take about 3 weeks and really makes a big impression!

2. Scotty Cameron Headcovers. Pure golfers use Scotty Cameron putters and real golf geeks (including me!) collect the putters AND the headcovers. Scotty releases about 10 different covers each year and they come in many colors to match your golf bag. The best place to find them is on ebay - Scotty's site is almost always out of stock of the really cool stuff - it goes fast.

3. Anything from Iliac Golf. You think I like headcovers! It's true and Iliac make the best classic leather headcovers. They come in a myriad of colors and are 100% totally retro and very cool. The owner of Iliac, Bert Lamar is a former professional skateboarder and most of Iliac's products are RAD. His 2011 range is beautifully handcrafted and contemporary but with a classic twist. You can see them here.

4. Dream Golf by Stephen Goodwin. This is the updated version of the book that includes the Old Macdonald back story that led to the creation of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort's fourth course. Mike Keiser changed the face of golf in America with his amazing foresight to build Bandon - here's the true story behind the best golf resort in the world. Buy it here.

5. Joshua C F Smith Golf Course Prints. Josh is one of the foremost golf landscape artists in the US. His work adorns many Top 100 clubhouses and his prints on canvas and fine art paper are now available in limited editions. His courses include Pebble, Bandon, Ballyneal and Royal County Down and are priced from $225. You can see them here.