Global Golf - An Exciting French Open Finish

Almost exactly two years ago, I attended my first ever professional golf tournament.

It was the 2007 Open de France, and at the time I was relatively new to golf, having first picked up a club just over a year prior.

Golf Girl's Diary was less than a year into publication as well, and when I look back at my early posts now, they reveal a naivete ... about the game, the players and the culture of golf writing... that in retrospect seems a bit lame somewhat unprofessional rather refreshing.

That particular summer was one of the rainiest on record in Paris and we were lucky to get a day at Le Golf National that, if not sunny and bright, was for the most dry. The tournament was won by Graeme "Stormy" Storm, an affable Englishman who hasn't quite replicated his 2007 success.


This year's Open de France, which ended today, was played in decidedly more summery conditions. The on-course action was sizzling as well, finishing on the first hole of a sudden death playoff between Martin Kaymer of Germany and Lee Westwood of England.

Twitter golf fans will be happy to know that awesome @IanJamesPoulter played a stellar round, coming within two strokes of the lead towards the end, and looking incredible in a gauzy mint green golf shirt (I had to add that last bit, I'm still me, after all).

Ultimately, a wayward photographer snapped a series of shots right in the middle of Mr. Poulter's back swing... and the ensuing two bogeys on the last four holes... left Ian in third place and vowing to bypass the tournament in the future. That said, from the looks of his game, there can be little doubt that this Twittervangelist is in a great position for the upcoming British Open where he hopes to turn last year's runner-up spot at Royal Birkdale into a win at Turnberry.

State-side, golf fans saw Tiger Woods take his own AT&T National tournament despite a course-record-tying 62 in the final round by Hunter Mahan.

Meanwhile the LPGA's Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic provided fans with some playoff action and was won, in the end, by Eunjung Yi, who hit a 10-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat another of golf's more prolific Twitterers, Morgan Pressel.

Now, with the US Women's Open about to begin and the British Open Championship following that, the next couple of weeks promise to be nothing less than... Golfalicious.

And if that's not a word, we need to make it one.

Happy Independence Day USA!

A quick tricolor salute to golf on the 4th of July. The LPGA's 2007 Solheim Cup looks are a perfect illustration of red, white and blue golf revelry.



And speaking of which, the 2009 Solheim Cup is coming up in just over a month. I'm looking forward to seeing this year's outfits... and I'm pretty sure they'll again be awesome.

The red, white and blue-tiful creation below is the team USA shoe. Made by Danish shoemaker ECCO... Official Footwear Supplier to the 2009 Solheim Cup... it will be available at the on-site merchandise pavilion. I believe it's based on the ECCO Hydromax shoe I raved about reviewed last fall on About.com:Golf.












Meanwhile there's unique Solheim Merchandise available right now at the online shop.

Happy 4th!

Awesome Austin: NTPGA Junior Golfer With Game

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This proud young man, in patriotic colors, is Austin Escamilla. He's been playing golf for a couple of years now, and is sometimes even referred to as a prodigy.

Before Austin ever entered a competition he'd spent countless hours at golf tournaments with his dad, observing players like Camilo Villegas (who was playing on the Nationwide tour at the time) and absorbing the competitive golf spirit. A few days ago he took first place at his club's NTPGA event and has thus qualified for the regional championship.

Austin's dad is Al Escamilla, the Internet entrepreneur and social media evangelist who founded Cocktail Match. Al and his wife Krista, an AP Award winning journalist and CBS7 news anchor, live golf fully... with Austin and their three other children. Al has penned some of the most compelling posts I've read on the challenges and rewards of parenting aspiring golfers, including one on his son's recent victory.

Austin has certainly been inspired by his parents and their dedication to his pursuit of golf, and he's following in the footsteps of some extremely impressive pros too: Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan and Chad Campbell are just a few of the many NTPGA players who've gone on to become international golf champions.

Wishing Austin the best of luck with the regional championship and beyond.

Synchronized Golfing with Ryan Moore & Jarrod Lyle

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Synchronized Golfing is a hybrid form of golf and dance, consisting of golfers performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves on fairways and greens, accompanied by music.

Once known as Golf Ballet, this rarefied discipline demands advanced golf skills, and requires great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry and precise timing.

Here Ryan Moore and Jarrod Lyle demonstrate the difficult "Ball-Marking Crane" move at the 2009 Travelers Championship.

Photo: ©Golf Girl Media ❀

Miss Golf - A Beauty Contest for Golf Girls

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The girls are all more or less gorgeous, and it looks like a number of them can actually play the game. Others pose very seductively athletically in ultra-cute golf outfits, gripping gold-plated golf clubs.

They're contestants in the 2009 Miss Golf Contest, and they've got names like Markéta and Eliška and Taťána. Yep, you guessed it...or maybe not...this purposeful pageant takes place in the Czech Republic. As a result, the Miss Golf website is entirely in Czech, thus depriving us non-speakers of what I'm guessing are some fascinating factoids about the comely contestants. However pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words, and these are some pretty pictures.

It seems there's quite a bit of golf going on in the landlocked Central European country. Cherubic-looking WorldGolf travel writer Brandon Tucker often covers the golf courses... and malt beverages... of the Czech Republic, and has given both good reviews. Then there's the awesome Alex Čejka. He recently took a five-shot lead into the final round of the 2009 Players Championship after rounds of 66, 67, and 72. A final meltdown led to 79 and an eight-stroke loss to Henrik Stenson, however he definitely put himself on the map as the PGA poster-boy for Czech golf.

Back to Miss Golf though. The way I became aware of this quixotic contest was through the Miss Golf Group on Facebook. The funny thing is this group isn't exactly promoting the Miss Golf contest, but rather one of its contestants, who happens to be... the sister of the Facebook group's founder. The group description is as follows:

Some really unimportant miss competition in Czech republic. But, please, vote for my sister (or at least not for the others girl:)) Kamila Mačátová (i can make her have rendez-vous with you after:). Thanks a lot.

You can't make this stuff up.

2009 Travelers Championship Impressions - Part II

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The photos in the gallery above are just an overview, but I think they capture the lighthearted vibe that was the 2009 Travelers Championship. Obviously I'm biased, but it's my favorite PGA event.

The way this tournament is put together and presented makes it an ideal event for introducing golf to a whole new swath of the population. I met numerous spectators who'd never played golf, or even watched a televised tournament. The only golfer most could name was Tiger Woods. Yet they had come... with friends or family members, or through a work invitation...and they were enjoying it.

I spent some time with a group of non-golfing wives and daughters whose men folk had gone off in pursuit of Vijay or Sergio, leaving them to take the sun and watch players approach the challenging 17th green. The hole is a beauty; a 420-yard par-4, and one of three (15 and 16 are the others) built around a large pond. 17 is ultra special though, because of the way it doglegs right... around the pond... putting water into play on both the drive and the approach shot. When I played this hole a couple of months ago I lost two balls and ended up with a...never mind...on my scorecard.

Anyway, as pairings approached, I "presented" the various golfers to my newfound entourage of non-golfing friends. I told the backstories and pointed out idiosyncrasies in swings and personal style. For example, I told them about Ryan Moore's independent, logo-shunning spirit (thank you Stephanie Wei), then expounded on Anthony Kim's brilliant Ryder Cup performance and predilection for pimped-out belt buckles. As Boo Weekley approached, I told the gathered girls how popular he was, and how he had won so many hearts (and offended a few Europeans) with his spirited play at the Ryder Cup, so they were quite surprised to hear the loud chorus of Boos that greeted hims as he went by. "There must be a lot of Europeans in the crowd," one gal mused. I quickly explained the Boo/Booing connection. Everyone laughed. Then one young spectator asked her mom if they could "go follow Ryan Moore... because he's really, you know, hot."

The thing is, if you're a golf blogger or a golf blog reader, you're considered a hardcore fan...like me. Spending time at the Travelers Championship - and talking to spectators there - made me realize that we're in a great position to "promote" the fascinating, amazingly talented players who aren't Tiger Woods. Casual golf fans often don't bother to watch tournaments when Sir Eldrick is absent. Not to mention the non-golfers who don't watch golf, period. I feel that if they were made more aware of who the players are... and what they're all about, it would go a long way towards growing the sport's fan base. And I'm not the only one who believes this. Richard Smith wrote a perceptive and elegant piece about it yesterday in his A Lesson Learned column for PGA.com.

The Travelers Championship, like so many golf events, is above all, about charity. 100 percent of net proceeds from this event go to Connecticut charities, primarily The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which serves children suffering from serious diseases, and the Greater Hartford Jaycees Foundation, a leadership development and community service organization. Notably, on the final day of the 2009 tournament, the Travelers Foundation announced an additional gift that brings the total charitable contribution to $1,080,000.

So there you have it, my reflections on the 2009 Travelers Championship. And as you can imagine, I'm already looking forward to 2010.

2009 Travelers Championship Impressions - Part I

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The 2009 Travelers Championship is in the books and the PGA Tour has packed up and headed south. Today I'll be sharing my impressions in a couple of quick posts.

As a CT native and resident, The Travelers is special to me. It's our state's biggest sporting event and I feel a connection to it that goes back to my childhood when, even as a non-golfer, one week of each summer was subliminally colored by the CT PGA tournament.

This year at TPC River Highlands, the dominant colors were a leaden gray... prominently featured in the cloud-covered sky... and the jungle green of lush vegetation. It's been an extremely rainy June here, and play was interrupted a couple of times when thunder rolled in and the skies opened up.

But most of each day was spared. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday actually saw substantial sunshine and the mood seemed to remain upbeat regardless of the wet conditions. I'd even venture to say that the damp conditions and resulting softer course made the golf more entertaining for the spectators, as a barrage of birdies provoked continual cheers.
The galleries were clearly content when the ultra-affable Kenny Perry came out on top. His final round 22-under not only set a tournament record, but was one of the best scores in PGA Tour history... and his four-day total of 258 was the fourth-best score in tour history. I never understood Mr. Perry's appeal before, but I do now. His warmth really resonates in person. I'm a newly minted fan.

There was the inevitable scuttlebutt in the media center about the course being too easy. However, many of the players were quick to point out that this is simply a different kind of challenge...one where shot-making skills are tested and consistency is crucial.

In the post-tournament press conference runner-up David Toms, who finished at 19-under in a tie with Paul Goydos, put it this way, “If you look at years past when it got firm and fast with a breeze, the scores weren’t as low as they were this week. I love to play here, and I think that’s why they get a good field. Everybody likes to play here. Bombers like to play it, the short-hitters like to play it. I think it’s a golf course that anyone can do well on.”

I'm quite certain most who were watching in Cromwell agreed. Look for additional observations on the Travelers Championship, along with my tournament photo gallery, later today.

A Stellar Sunday at the 2009 Travelers Championship

The 18th at TPC River Highlands. Most definitely qualifies as an awesome finishing hole...and Kenny Perry prevails.

I'm hitting the road now - will post from home later tonight.

Travelers Championship - Final Round in Cromwell

With five birdies on the back nine, Paul Goydos grabbed the lead from Kenny Perry yesterday in the third round of the Travelers Championship. We're heading up to Cromwell now to catch the final round...and to have a final Travelers Championshake as special Ben & Jerry's concoction that we've become slightly addicted to.

If you're in the area, head over to TPC River Highlands for some exciting golf and lots of fun activities.

I'll be back with my full recap later today.

An Awesome Day at the Travelers Championship

Scores, highlights and salacious fascinating details to follow.