Boyzoid's Blog & Stuff - Golf Stuff

I Want My Kids To Be Like Brian Davis

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:34:00 -0400

What? You do not know who Brian Davis is? It's OK, neither did I until yesterday.

Brian Davis is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. The reason I had not heard of him until yesterday is that he has not really played well enough to make it high up on the leaderboard. That all changed yesterday.

Trailing Jim Furyk by 1 stroke, Davis made a birdie putt on the final hole of the tournament to force a sudden death playoff. Now, you may be thinking, 'big deal , that has happened before'...be patient, I am getting to the good part.

His approach shot to the green on the first playoff hole landed left of the green and settled on some twigs and reeds. When Davis started his back swing on is next shot, he thought he saw a reed move. (pssst...here is the good part) He immediately called over a rules official to explain what had happened. Davis had though he violated Rule 13.4 which refers to moving a loose impedement during a takeaway, and called himself on it.

Apparently no one else had seen it, and it took looking at the swing in slow motion replay to determine that he had indeed moved the reed. He incurred a 2 stroke penalty and conceded the hole, and tournament, to Jim Furyk. Had Davis won the tournament, he would have taken home $1,026,000 - his second place finish earned him $615,000.

Davis called himself on a penalty no one else saw knowing it would cost him over $400,00. That is the kind of character I want my kids to have.

And that is why I love the game of golf. There are not too many other sports where a player would call himself on a penalty with so much on the line.

Golf at CFUnited

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:46:00 -0400

Have you registered for CFUnited yet? If not, why not? The 'early bird' discount ends tomorrow. So, go register. Go ahead...I'll wait....

OK, now that we got that out of the way, we can talk about the real important stuff. How many of you knew that one of the amenities if you stay in the hotel was that you get a free round of golf at the resort? I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I think this is way cool. I love golf, and take any opportunity to play new courses. I have heard great things about the courses at Lansdowne, but have not played there yet (even though its only about 45 minutes from home).

I was planning on getting a group of people together for a little outing. I was thinking ~~Wednesday~~ Tuesday would be the best day. I would make any arrangements with the golf course and we can kind of play as one big group. There is one caveat though, if you sign up to play in this little outing, you will be randomly placed in groups with other CFUnited attendees/speakers. I think this is a great way to get to know other people.

So, who's with me? If you are interested, please leave a comment below and I will start to make the arrangements.

*UPDATE*

Please note I got the day mixed up, I was thinking of doing the little outing on Tuesday, NOT Wednesday.

This is What I Was Hoping For

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:19:00 -0400

One thing I was hoping for with our golf trip to Scotland was that we could play the Old Course and I could get a photo of the 4 of us on the Swilcan Bridge which is in the 18th fairway. Well, I was just going through all my digital pics and found this one.

If you click the photo, you can see the full sized image.

Last Day - The Old Course

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:20:00 -0400

Today was the last day of golf and boy did we end it the right way. We got to play the Old Course at St. Andrews (the oldest course in the world). What a magnificent day. It was sunny for most of the day, but we got a taste of true Scottish golf when it rained for about 2 holes. I wish I could have played better, but I was so entraced by the place, it really didn't matter.

We each had a caddy, which was wonderful. Playing a course like the Old Course, you want to have someone there to tell you where to hit the ball, or, more importantly, where not to hit the ball.

When we first started this trip, the Old Course was #1 on our 'must play' list. To be able to play the Old Course with my dad, brother and uncle is something that words could not express adequately. I had to choke back tears as we walked up the 18th fairway, and afterwards, I pretty much lost it when I was talking to my wife about the experience.

Speaking of my wife, one thing I have not yet mentioned here, but tell everyone, is that she is a main reason for this trip. When it was first discussed about me speaking at Scotch on the Rocks, I had asked her if I could stay a few extra days to play golf. She suggested asking my father if he would like to fly over for a few days to play. The idea morphed into a week and asking my brother and uncle as well.

We played 3 Open Championship courses, 4 courses in the world's top 100 in 6 days. This was truly a trip of a lifetime and one I will cherish forever.

Tomorrow we head back home and I plan on blogging about things I discovered about the Scots purely by playing golf here. I also plan on weeding through the hundreds of pictures to post some.

Goodbye Scotland, I will truly miss thee.

Day 5 - Turnberry

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:26:00 -0400

I have been to paradise, and its name is Turnberry.

Today we played Turnberry, the site of next year's Open Championship and let me say, I find it difficult to believe that there is a golf course in the world with better scenery. This was by far the most beautiful course I have ever played. The view of the Irish Sea was simply stunning.

I shot a 94 today, not bad considering at one point I was playing so bad I said I was not playing tomorrow. I parred 17 & 18 3rd day in a row I finished with a par), as well as the #2 handicap hole (2nd hardest hole on the course) directly into a 30-40 miles an hour wind, uphill.

This has been an amazing experience, which will be made better by the fact that we actaully got a tee time at The Old Course tomorrow at 11:00 Am GMT. This will be the perfect ending to what has been, so far, a perfect trip.

Day 4 - Longniddry

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:20:00 -0400

Today we played a course named Longniddry. It is not a very well known course like some of the others, and was in good condition, but will suffer by comparision. If you plan a golf trip and a course like Longniddry is the worst course you play, it would have been a great vacation.

The rough was incredibly tough to get out of and we finally got some real Scottish weather with consistent 20-25 miles per hour with gusts of up to 35-49 miles per hour. It also semed like the wind was always in our faces. On the second day in a row I parred the last hole into a strong wind.

Next up is Turnberry, another Open Championship course (the Open will be played there in 2009). From the weather report, it looks like we will have some stereotypical weather there as well. They are calling for winds of 15 MPH and light rain. We are really looking forward to this course. We have been told by several different people that Turnberry is spectacular.

We have a few more options for playing the Old Course. We have entered the daily lottery for tomorrow and the current plan is that if we do not make the lottery, we will drive up there and try to get on by breaking up into 2 twosomes. Keep your fingers crossed, pray, meditate, or whatever it is you do that we can get on one way or another.

Day 3 - Carnoustie

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:45:00 -0400

Today, we walked in the footsteps of legends at Carnoustie. To those who do not know, Carnoustie is one of the courses in the Open Championship (British Open) and was last contested there in 2007.

First, let me say this was the most difficult course I have ever played. The bunkers are almost impossiblt to avoid and ever harder to get out of AND advance the ball. You either had to hit the ball sideways, or as happened to me frequently, backwards.

Second, this course was awesome! Playing a course I have seen on TV during the Open Championship was incredible. Hitting some of the same shots I have seen pro golfers play was humbling. However, I did do something the Jean Van DeVelde could not do on 18 in the final round...I hit it right down the middle of the fairway.

Lastly, the weather was perfect. We were told they had a 'warm wind', which apparently means that it was blowing from inland rather than off the Firth. On 18 the wind changed and started coming of the firth and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.

So far, this has been an amazing vacation. Next up, Longniddry. I will post pictures soon, I promise.

Day 2 - North Berwick

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:03:00 -0400

Today we played North Berwick. I must say, this is one of the most underrated courses I have ever played...and its rated in the top 100 courses in the world by GOLF magazine. It was easily the most scenic course I have ever played. I will post pics soon...I swear.

Tomorrow, we tee of at Carnoustie. If you want to see us embarass ourselves at one of the toughest courses in the UK, check out this link at 3:20 GMT (10:20 EDT).

Scotch is Done...golfing started

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:19:00 -0400

Scotch on the Rocks wrapped up today and I must say Fuzzy Orange did a fantastic did a fantastic job. I highly recommend this conference next year to anyone in Europe (or even the US).

Alos, we started the golf part of our vacation. My dad, brother and uncle arrived around 1:30 PM and we headed out to St Andrews. We were not able to get on the Old Course, but we did get a tee time at the New Course. Just playing golf there was amazing...and seeing parts of the Old Course was astounding. We still have 2 more chances to get on the Old Course.

Time for dinner...pictures to come later.

Turnberry Confirmed & Watch Me Embarass Myself at Carnoustie

Thu, 29 May 2008 17:16:00 -0400

As I mentoined here, when going over to Scotland for Scotch on the Rocks and then a little vacation, we where hoping to get a tee time at Turnberry. We got confirmation the other day that we did indeed secure a tee time.

This means we are playing 2 courses in the Open Championship (British Open) rotation, and according to Golf Magazine, we are playing 3 of the top 100 courses in the world. We are planning to try and get on the Old Course as well, so those numbers may change.

Also, I found out a while back that Carnoustie has a web cam on the first tee so that anyone interested can watch me emabarass myself. You can check out the web cam here. Our tee time is at 3:20 PM GMT, which makes it 10:20 AM EDT on June 8th.

T-minus 4 days and counting....

Edited to enter the date we are playing Carnoustie.

Playing Golf at CF.Objective()

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0400

As I mentioned here, I am kind of organizing a trip to see Iron Man during CF.Objective(). I also set up a tee time at the Unniversity of Minnesota - Les Bolstad Golf Course for myself, Dan Wilson, Phill Nacelli and Scott Pinkston. We are playing at 3:00 PM on Thursday May 1st. If anyone else would like to join us on the links, just drop a comment below and call to make a tee time.

Golf Recommendations

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:14:00 -0400

As I mentioned here, I am speaking at Scotch on the Rocks this year. After the conference, my father, brother and uncle are flying over so we can play golf for a few days. We are going to spend a few days in Edinburgh and a few days in Glasgow.

Here are the places we are playing so far,

North Berwick
Carnoustie - Championship Course
Longniddry

I am looking for some suggestions for courses in or near Glasgow. If anyone knows of some quality courses in the Glasgow area, please comment below. We are already trying to get a time at Turnberry, but will not find out if our request will be fulfilled until mid-May.

Thanx in advance!

Hitting the Links in Scotland

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:41:00 -0400

As I mentioned here, I am speaking at Scotch on the Rocks this year. I also mentioned that my dad and my brother will be flying over after the conference to play golf. I was unable to get a tee time at St. Andrew's, but this evening I was able to book a tee time at Carnoustie on the Championship course. For those who may not know, The Open Championship (The British Open) was played at Carnoustie last year.

I am hoping to add one or two more well-known courses to the list, but to be playing golf with my dad and my brother in the birthplace of golf, I'd play anywhere.

Once again, if anyone knows of good courses that might not be well known to tourists, please let me know.

I want this job.

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:06:00 -0400

I have always wanted a job related to golf, or blowing things up. This is about as close as I think I would ever get to both.

I soooo want that job.

Speaking at Scotch on the Rocks

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0400

As both Andy Allan and Doug Hughes have mentioned, I have been invited to speak at Scotch on the Rocks 2008. I consider it an honor to speak at any conference or user group, but I am really looking forward to Scotch. I have heard nothing but good things about it and am excited to be be a part of that.

As most anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a golf fanatic. It has long been a dream of mine to play golf in Scotland with my father and brother. We are taking this opportunity to make that dream come true. My father and brother will be flying over to meet me after Scotch to play golf. I tried to get a tee time at St, Andrews, the birthplace of golf, but was unable to (if you know anyone who might be able to pull some strings, I'd be forever in your debt). However, there are plenty of other fantastic course there so I know we won't be disappointed. If you happen to know of any courses that are worth playing, but might not make it onto the typical tourist's radar, please let me know.