Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:44:13 GMT

A First Taste of PowerPlay Golf

Courtesy: Copetown Woods Golf Club

I've been a proponent of PowerPlay Golf for quite some time now. And I've been a supporter based on the theory of this first new twist to the game in decades.

But I hadn't actually played the format until this week.

Canadian PPG representative, Barry Forth, general manager of Copetown Woods Golf Club outside Toronto, hosted a media day to formally introduce the concept to about 25 members of the Canadian golf media on Tuesday.

Copetown is the first club in Canada to introduce the format to recreational players.

On hand was Peter McEvoy, the creator of the format and a man whose amateur career was so stellar that it earned him an OBE from the Queen. McEvoy had flown over from the UK to explain the concept and the plans for making PowerPlay Golf a truly global game.

That is already a reality in many ways. There are now 21 countries involved, or more specifically, at least one golf club in each of those countries has become the first venue for the concept.

I won't rehash the idea here. Visit the PowerPlay Golf website for more details if you haven't read my previous posts.

During the press conference, there were several points that became clear. Made-for-television tournaments involving professional tour players are essential to the success of PPG and are indeed in the works with IMG, the global sports marketing company. And PPG is working with the national golf body in each country to help firmly plant the seeds at the recreational level.

So the strategy - or is it a hope? - then is this: the pros embrace the idea, play for money in made-for-TV tournaments organized by IMG and recreational golfers then buy into the concept as well.

In the end, any success will ultimately depend on how golfers like playing this unique version of the venerable game which uses the Stableford scoring system.

And that brings us back to our first taste of it on Tuesday at Copetown Woods west of Toronto.

We played the back nine in threesomes, starting on the par 5 tenth hole, 471 yards from the blue tees. I forgot to declare on the tee that I would go for the black (PowerPlay) flag on that hole and smoked my tee shot. My second rolled off the back of the green only about 25 feet from the black flag. Except I was going for the easier white flag pin placement.

First lesson: remember to declare on the tee!

What felt odd was how our threesome broke apart on the green to putt out. One or two of us might be putting to the white pin position while, elsewhere on the green, another would be putting out at the PowerPlay pin location.

A small observation perhaps but it felt unusual.

I will say this in hindsight: for two or more casual golfers playing this format, try the match play format first. I have a feeling that PowerPlay Golf would be a ton of fun using match play rather than stroke play, Stableford point scoring and factoring handicaps.

You and your partners will know where you stand on each tee because the player who scores best at the PowerPlay pin position will win the hole. In the case of a tie such as when two players par or birdie the black flag, then you could use the closest-to-the-hole method to decide the winner.

Otherwise, the format becomes tricky. You need to know the Stableford scoring system, you need to know your handicap (what a chance for serious sandbagging) and then you must add up your net points at the end of the round to settle up.

At any rate, the PowerPlay golf version of the game has serious merit. It's new and I think that given time, some of the tricky bits in the rules will be ironed out.

The best part is that you won't - or shouldn't - pay any more to play 9 holes of PowerPlay golf than a straightforward 9 and it will be a lot more fun.
Posted by: Jack      Read more     Source

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:29:13 GMT

PowerPlay Golf Cracks U.S. Market

Courtesy: PowerPlay Golf UK

PowerPlay Golf is turning into a real juggernaut.

You'll recall, if you read this space with some frequency, that PowerPlay Golf is a unique and novel approach to the game that combines a much shortened timeline for play and a format designed to encourage excitement and fun.

This simple formula is rapidly becoming a magic formula.

Yesterday, the World Golf Foundation announced that it was partnering with PowerPlay Golf to roll out the concept in the United States.

This is a huge nut cracked. Entry into what is without question the largest market (and marketplace) for golf in the world is no small success.

PowerPlay Golf now has profile in 16 countries around the world.

But there is one over-arching reason why the World Golf Foundation saw fit to "quarterback" PowerPlay Golf in the U.S.

The WGF is mandated to introduce and spread the sport across a wide spectrum of the population, bringing new golfers into the game.

This has been a difficult task in the past, what with shifting demographics, a belief that golf is a tough game to learn, the costs of equipment and greens fees and of course, that time element again: at least 4 hours to play 18 holes - and that's if you are a regular player.

Clearly, the WGF sees PowerPlay Golf with its risk-reward scenario as having the strong appeal needed to grow the game in the United States.

And I believe that the WGF also sees PowerPlay Golf as a financially viable option for new golfers. After all, 9 holes are cheaper than 18 and everyone needs a price break right now. Boy, do we.

Great ideas that become reality always have common elements. They are timely, unique and broad-based in their appeal.

PowerPlay Golf has all those and much more since it can piggy-back on the enormous number of golf courses around the world and specifically in America.

This is one great idea that is set to soar. Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:13:16 GMT

The Game That Heals

Courtesy: Viet Nam Tourism

Golf is a healing game, it turns out.

That truth surprises me a bit because I know golf to be a game that also tears wounds deep into the psyche.

But it heals, as well. Or perhaps I can best express it by saying that golf aids healing.

Here's the story of a former American Marine who fought in Vietnam and who returns to face down his ghosts.

He takes a set of golf clubs with him and finds a far different country than the one that was torn apart by war.

I hope you take the time to read the whole story. It's well worth it. Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:08:36 GMT

Tour To Lose More Tournaments?

Kapalua's Plantation Course, Hawaii

Everything is related. Make no mistake about it. Yet, when I peruse the stories the golf media is writing these days, it's as if everything is fine.

But it isn't. I have been harping on about the global economic situation for some weeks now. And for good reason.

Our current situation is unlike anything we have witnessed before. Economists refer to the Great Depression, citing the years between 1929 and 1932 to draw parallels with what is happening today.

What is happening today is far worse than 29-32.

And the cracks are showing up everywhere, growing wider by the day.

But back to golf. There are reports that the PGA Tour is planning to move away from Kapalua. Read more of "Tour To Lose More Tournaments?" Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:01:08 GMT

Morning Brew

Photo: "Blue Screen, Orange Shark, Black Ball" by tonalmotion, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What"s happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

Does Peel have a doda problem? No, not that Doda. This one"s straight from Afghanistan and is created by grinding dried poppy husks into a fine powder. Apparently, Brampton city councillor Vicky Dhillon said he first noticed the problem when he spotted people lined up outside of neighbourhood meat shops.

Meanwhile, a Newmarket man was busted for importing 37 kilograms of raw opium in cans of expired tomato paste.

Speaking of Brampton, Post gossip columnist Shinan Govani says former 905er Michael Cera is at the top of the list to star as Gilligan in a big-screen revival of Gilligan"s Island.

What was that about lost at sea? Oh, yeah, that would be the ongoing strike at York University, now looking as bleak as ever and threatening to derail the entire academic year. Some are now calling for the government or a binding arbitrator to intervene. Posted by: Tim      Read more     Source

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:20:05 GMT

How To Get A Great Golf Deal

It's time to play with currencies! This winter is going to provide some of the best golf travel deals in many a year, if not decades, particularly if you're an American golfer.

As deflation continues to tear through the global economy, prices continue to drop. The longer you wait, the better the deals will be.

There is another way to profit than by simply waiting for another "seat sale", although the airlines will probably be offering plenty of those again, too (don't forget, many of them have already abandoned their fuel surcharges imposed last Spring as oil was making its Everest-like climb to $140 a barrel).

The big savings come in monitoring the price swings in the Canadian-US dollar ratio. Right now, the US dollar is very strong against a majority of the world's major currencies as cash looks for a safe haven in US Treasuries.

That includes strength against the Canadian dollar and if you happen to have a CDN dollar account outside Canada, then try to take advantage of some great deals at Ultimate Golf. But if you don't have such an account, no problem!

Ultimate Golf is a Canadian-based golf travel company with links to Canada's big box-store golf retailers, Golf Town. It prices golf packages in Canadian dollars and offers trips all over the world.

Right now, there are some dandy deals to be had. To make those deals even sweeter, the Canadian dollar is well off its par value with the Greenback last summer.

Now, the currency discount is about 20% or so. When you combine that with the cheap deals to be had, you're getting some real value for your money! Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

July 14, 2008, 5:06 PM CT

Gear up before revving up ATVs

Fourteen-year old Cristian Avina knows all too well the devastating injuries all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) can cause. Four months ago, Cristian and his sister, Rociel, hopped on an ATV for a little innocent fun in the desert near their home. Cristian was riding tandem with his sister when a bird flew into them causing him to lose control. The ATV crashed, sending Cristian and Rociel flyingneither was wearing a helmet. Cristian suffered serious head injuries, including an amputated ear.

This has been a nightmare, said Martha Avina, Cristian and Rociels mother. Rociel was not badly hurt and went for help. Upon her return, she saw that her brother had been pecked at and his severed ear had been partially eaten by vultures. Cristians ear could not be reattachedreconstructive plastic surgery to rebuild it started this summer.

Whether on vacation or out for recreation, a number of adults and children are hopping on ATVs for some warm weather fun. But ATVs are not toys. They can go more than 60 miles per hour, weigh more than 700 pounds and tip over easily. In fact, more than 135,000 Americans are injured in ATV-related accidents each year, 30 percent of them children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports.

The American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons (ASMS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) are urging ATV riders, particularly parents and children, to be more cautious and follow safety tips to help reduce the occurence rate of ATV-related injuries......... Posted by: Gina      Read more         Source

July 14, 2008, 5:00 PM CT

China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics

The outlook for air quality in Beijing during the Olympics is borderline, and there's little that the Chinese government can do to improve it. That's the conclusion drawn by a University of Rhode Island atmospheric chemist who analyzed pollution data collected regularly for the last five years by Chinese scientists.

"There is both a local component and a regional component to the pollutants that cause unhealthy air in Beijing, and the severity of their effects are driven by weather fronts and winds," said Kenneth Rahn, a retired URI professor who travels to China several times a year to help researchers at Tsinghua University interpret their data. "Since it's controlled by the weather, it will be a matter of luck whether the bad air periods correspond with days of outdoor Olympic events".

Locally generated pollutants in Beijing consist primarily of organic matter from transportation, factories and cooking, while regional sources of pollution include ammonium sulfates and ammonium nitrates from coal-burning power plants, industry and transportation sources, which are easily transported long distances in the atmosphere, as per Rahn.

"The air pollution pattern in Beijing is unusual, with high and low concentrations that can differ by a factor of 50 to 100," Rahn said. "When the winds shift to the north and bring in clear air from Mongolia, the air can be relatively clean, though that's not the norm during the summer. But when winds are from the south, where there is a large population and lots of industrial activity, the air can be especially hazardous"......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

July 14, 2008, 4:28 PM CT

Tiger and Nicklaus might not have best advice

Golfers who heed the advice of instructors to keep their heads perfectly still while putting may be hampering their game, as per a research studythat examined coordination patterns.

The research appears in the recent issue of the Journal of Motor Behavior

Tim Lee, professor of kinesiology at McMaster University and a golfer himselfsays the findings run contrary to conventional wisdom, or at least conventional golf wisdom.

"Jack Nicklaus says the premier technical cause of missed putts is head movement; Tiger Woods believes that even a fraction of head movement can throw a putting path off course," says Lee. "Therefore, it would seem that based on what the experts say good putters keep their heads absolutely still from start to finish".

The putting stroke is used more frequently than any other during a round of golf, regardless of skill. In 2007, putts represented 41.3 per cent of total strokes taken by members of the PGA tour, and 40 percent for members of the LPGA.

Lee and his team assembled two groups of golfers: one group comprised 11 volunteers, aged 21 to 56, and with a handicap range of 12 and 40; and another group of professional and low-handicap golfers, aged 24-52.

Using an infrared tracking system, scientists recorded the putter head and the golfer's head during sixty putts......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

July 8, 2008, 8:39 PM CT

Stepping up to the challenge: A tall order

Researchers have recently become interested in the biomechanics of a very unusual activity: skyscraper run-ups. Competitors in this extreme sport ascend the steps inside the world's tallest buildings, the winners often scaling thousands of steps in just a few minutes. Impressive, yes, but why should these people be of interest to physiologists and biomechanists? Professor Alberto Minetti, from the University of Milan, pioneered the study after prior work on walking and running at different gradients. His research has gone on to shed light on the metabolic profile of athletes, as well as having a potential impact on studies of ageing. He will be presenting his results on Wednesday 9th July at the Society for Experimental Biology's Annual Meeting in Marseille [Session A2].

"The wide age range of participants, from teenagers to those approaching their centenary, has improved our knowledge of the decline in body performance as we get older," Professor Minetti explains. "Industries involved in cardio-fitness could also include the algorithms that we have developed in heart rate monitors, to help athletes maintain their best possible performance throughout races." Another very useful medical implication comes from prior work looking at differing gradients, which suggests that heart failure patients should rehabilitate by walking on a treadmill at a 10% downhill incline and at a slow, self-selected, speed......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

July 7, 2008, 5:22 PM CT

Perception of hole size influenced by performance

Golfers who play well are more likely to see the hole as larger than their poor-playing counterparts, as per a Purdue University researcher.

"Golfers have said that when they play well the hole looks as big as a bucket or basketball hoop, and when they do not play well they've been quoted as saying the hole looks like a dime or the inside of a donut," said Jessica K. Witt, an assistant professor of psychological sciences who studies perception in athletes. "What athletes say about how they see the hole and how well they play is true. We found golfers who play better judge the hole to be bigger than golfers who did not play as well.

"We know a relationship exists between performance and perception, but we are uncertain how they affect each other. For example, do golfers see the hole as bigger so they putt better? Or if they putt better, does that mean they see the hole as bigger? I believe it is a cyclical relationship, but more research is needed to clarify if one affects the other".

Witt's findings appear in the June Psychonomic Bulletin and Review journal. She co-authored the paper with Sally A. Linkenauger and Jonathan Z. Bakdash, both graduate students at the University of Virginia, and Dennis R. Proffitt, the Commonwealth Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

July 7, 2008, 5:14 PM CT

Baseball diamonds: the lefthander's best friend

Baseball diamonds are a left-hander's best friend. That's because the game was designed to make a lefty the "Natural," as per David A. Peters, Ph.D., the McDonnell Douglas Professor of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and über baseball fan. Peters is a mechanical engineer who specializes in aircraft and helicopter engineering and has a different approach to viewing America's Favorite Pastime.

First of all, some numbers.

"Ninety percent of the human population is right-handed, but in baseball 25 percent of the players, both pitchers, and hitters, are left-handed," said Peters, a devoted St. Louis Cardinal fan who attended "Stan the Man's" last ball game at Sportsman's Park in 1963. "There is a premium on lefthanders for many reasons. For starters, take seeing the ball.

"A right-handed batter facing a right-handed pitcher actually has to pick up the ball visually as it comes from behind his (the batter's) left shoulder. The left-handed batter facing the right-handed pitcher has the ball coming to him, so he has a much clearer view of pitches."

Then, Peters says, consider the batter's box. After a right-hander connects with a ball, his momentum spins him toward the third-base side and he must regroup to take even his first step toward first base. In contrast, the left-hander's momentum carries him directly toward first......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

By the way, you may find this Sports blog.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:27:25 GMT

How to COOK a NASCAR driver

© ninjapoodles With temperatures at 140 degrees, our favorite NASCAR driver might end up on the dinner table instead of beside it.

Seriously now, how long can you survive at 140 degrees. Obviously NASAR drivers can for quite a while. But the complaints are starting to heat up. What do you think? Are these high-paid drivers that, along with other sports, just have to put up with one of the casualties of the sport? What would we say if football players started to complain about helmets or shoulder pads not being cushioney enough? I say, take the heat, make a change, or get out of the oven. Posted by: James Koopmann      Read more     Source

Sat, 24 May 2008 22:52:26 GMT

Tiger Delays Return

Well, we all thought Tiger Woods was up to his superhuman standards again when he said he felt ready to return before the U.S. Open and wanted to do so at the Memorial.

But yesterday, Woods informed tournament organizers that he wasn't going to play after all.

He has been saying that his post-surgery recovery had been going very well and he was expecting a return to competitive golf ahead of schedule.

But that has apparently not held up. Perhaps he's suffered a setback; maybe he's been working the knee too intensely, trying too hard to get it ready sooner- it would certainly be in his nature to do that.

At any rate, Woods still intends to make his comeback at the U.S. Open. Ironically, that was always his target when he announced his knee surgery following the Masters last month.

Speaking of the Open, I wonder if Phil Mickelson will have his five wedges with him.

Mickelson is using five wedges right now at Colonial for this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational.

You'll recall he used two drivers at last year's Masters to very little effect, ultimately.

Lefty is one golfer who's willing to experiment and while his adventure with two drivers proved ineffective, carrying five wedges for a guy whose short game is near brilliant might just be the weapon he needs to win another major.

They helped him take the lead at Colonial yesterday.

Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Sat, 24 May 2008 14:46:07 GMT

Seve Pulls for USA

Seve Ballesteros - now retired - was and is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum.

Therefore, it's not surprising to read that Seve hopes the US wins this September's Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Kentucky.

His reasoning? He doesn't want Europe's recent stranglehold on the Cup to become routine and boring.

And I believe he has a point. Constant domination by one side in any competition can quickly become last week's news (unless of course, it's Canada's domination over the world in the game of hockey....!).

Seve's Spanish blood pulses with the spirit of adventure and he puts it aptly when he states "I don't want to see a competition looking like a church service. I want to see a bullfight between the bull and the matador".

Generally, the matador always wins and Seve doesn't indicate who dons the horns to play the role of the bull. But you get his drift. Posted by: Chris Henry      Read more     Source

Sat, 24 May 2008 04:21:51 GMT

Chris Mortensen Holds Grudges

© abardwell Buffoonery at ESPN (see photo) is nothing new. The network is seemingly public enemy number one to sports bloggers, although Buzz Bissinger has probably stolen that title away, at least for the time being. To be fair, some of the criticism of the WWL is unfounded, though much is legitimate.

And so we come to the bastion of NFL knowledge, Chris Mortensen, and his four year grudge against one Mike Martz. To put this in context, just go back to 2004, when Mortensen reported it was possible Martz wouldn't be back with the team, as he might resign or be fired. This did not sit well with Martz, who publicly called out Mortensen. Mort then had to go on the air and explain why he threw out a rumor, and a big deal was made of it.

Since that time and even before, ESPN had not been kind to Martz because he won, but not the way the ESPN "experts" thought should be done, i.e. running the football and stopping the run (somehow, the Minnesota Vikings led the NFL in both of these categories last season and failed to make the playoffs). Nothing pleases ESPN analysts like running the football and stopping the run. If a team ran the football every play, but lost 21-0, ESPN would praise them for playing football the way "it oughta be played." And needless to say, Mike Martz teams throw the ball, and this annoys the Tom Jackson's and Mark Schlereth's of the world to no end.

So Martz has never been a popular guy at the WWL, and Mortensen went to another level to rip Martz some more. Mortensen seemingly does his best to excuse the Patriots, and instead focuses his wrath on the Rams and Martz, in a very odd way by saying if Matt Walsh was present at the walkthrough, it's Martz's fault. Mortensen goes on to call him "foolish," and claimed his coaching was an "outrage." He goes on to do his best to discredit Martz for having the audacity to hold a walkthrough, citing former coaches and players that undermined the need for them.

What Mortensen completely ignores is that maybe, just maybe, Walsh wasn't completely telling the truth about watching the Rams practice in full Pats gear and simply setting up video equipment. It's more than a little doubtful that Walsh was simply walking around, because Martz was comically paranoid about people watching his practices and walkthroughs from his earliest days as Rams head coach. This is a fact that Mortensen could have ascertained had he done even the most basic of research instead of concentrating his efforts to get back at Martz for calling him out and questioning his reporting.

For instance, this article in the NY Times, written by Mike Freeman in 2000, chronicles Martz's paranoia:Last week, in the middle of a Rams practice, Martz saw two people on a hillside warehouse near the practice field. Martz sent the team's security director, Dan Linza, to chase them away. Then Martz ordered Linza to walk the length of the large warehouse - twice - to see if anyone else was watching.

''I'm paranoid, like all coaches are paranoid,'' Martz said. ''You have people watching with a notepad, or a camera, somehow it makes you paranoid.''

But the paranoia did not stop there. During that same practice, a newspaper photographer took several photos of safety Keith Lyle, something even the tense Vermeil allowed. This time, the team asked the photographer to stop. When the photographer later tried to make a call on his cell phone, a Rams official threatened to take away the phone.

Later on, Martz had a large tarp put up blocking any outside views of the practice field. He also lashed out at a reporter once after the scribe asked him about using running backs Marshall Faulk and Trung Candidate in the same formation.

So instead of holding a ridiculous grudge for four years, maybe next time Mortensen should do his homework instead of continuing to try to get even, or make the Patriots look a little less like cheats. Then again, this is the World Wide Leader we're talking about, whose new slogan should be, "ESPN: Compromising journalistic integrity since 1979!" Posted by: Kyle Smith      Read more     Source