Bubba's Winning Ball Flight On #10 (stafftalking.com)

Escape from jail shot on the second playoff hole that won Bubba Watson the Masters in 2012.  As a right hander imagine the shot in reverse from green to the wooded path to appreciate the precise hook he applied to this shot.  Did I mention the elevation change and the very firm landing area he had to negotiatel.

April 2012

We are happy to add a social media component to the moegolf network with the addition of Moegolf on Facebook.

This will allow us to post some additional stuff that comes across our radar screen that does not appear on the moegolf website. Same approach-just interesting tidbits of golf content that we find out in the world-wide interweb.

We will also post links back to our regular content on the moegolf.net website for those who choose Facebook as their primary link to our world.

You can get to Moegolf on Facebook through the Facebook icon on the right column of the moegolf.net website or use this link to get there directly:

http://www.facebook.com/moegolf.net?bookmark_t=page

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Rich Lerner did a wonderful piece on the Golf Channel from Cupid’s golf haven, Pebble Beach, called “A Valentine For The Game of Golf”.   It opened with a Dr. Suess quote, who once said of love, “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams”.

To which Lerner adds, “Golfers get that”.

This testimonial piece was a compilation of responses from players and celebrities on what they love about the game of golf.  There were a whole bunch of the little boy growing up with the game in their responses.  Their answers were wide ranging and thoughtful getting to the heart of why they are smitten by the game.

At the end Lerner concludes,  “It is much more than a game….it is a love of a lifetime”.

Got that right.

February 14, 2012

Note: Unfortunately the GC content life cycle of this piece has passed and it is no longer available for viewing…..our loss.

The Belgian Waffle at Arnie’s Bay Hill Golf Club and Lodge

Photo courtesy of A. M. Levine DDS (all rights reserved)

January, 2012

Walking the aisles of the Orlando convention center for the annual PGA Merchandise Show is like shopping the market in the Old City of Jerusalem as a Westfields Mall.  There are over 1000 exhibitors hawking their services and wares to more than 40,000 visitors over three days.  It is golf sensory overload with over 100,000 square feet of clubs, balls, shoes, fashions, accessories, gizmos, awards and memorabilia, carts, training aids, energy supplements and putting gurus.  If it is about golf it is represented here.  Enjoy some of the sights and scenes from this year’s show.

The crowds were ebbing from the opening on Thursday morning.

All the “majors” were showing their latest and greatest .

Every infomercial and outing item had a hawker.

Strange lawn art and monuments had their place.

Vehicles for driving, pushing, or pulling were there.

Some of the spokesman were bigger than life.

Others were on the wall or in the house earning their royalties.

There are swing aids to fix any ill.

And swing simulators as well.

Men’s and women’s fashion and accessories galore.

Even some un-traditional/traditional fashions were available.

Shoes….miles of aisles of shoes.

In the end this show is about creating a product buzz.  Whether it was Lexi Thompson pounding out 300 yard drives with her Cobra driver at demo day, droves of people gobbling up Adidas and True Linkswear walking shoes at a bargain price,  or folks waiting endlessly in line for a couple of swings of the new Taylor Made Rocketballz three wood-it is about gaping at, grabbing, and groping the latest and the greatest products in the golf world today.  Golf is a game for consumers and this is where all the consumption takes its lead.

(First two photos by David Walberg/SI)

January, 2012

In his book,  “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat” , the neurologist Oliver Sacks talks about the ability of people who have lost a limb to compensate for it by subconsciously imagining the phantom limb is still there.  Witness a real life rendition of this theory by taking a few minutes to watch this inspirational video called “Manuel De Los Santos” produced and directed by Peter Montgomery.

Teeing it up on the 18th at St. Andrews (sportsdoinggood.com)

Manuel De Los Santos grew up in the Dominican Republic and, like so many young athletes his age, hoped to pursue his dream to be a professional baseball player.  Talented and driven he was on his way to doing that with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003 but his plans were sidetracked by a terrible motorcycle accident where he lost his left leg above his knee.

Following the accident he moved to France where he and his wife happened to see the film “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and it’s moving content inspired Manuel to take up golf.  As you will see in this film, he is an extraordinary athlete and through endless hours of hard work has dedicated himself to being a top caliber golfer.  He routinely hits his driver 300 yards, has a short game to die for, and now plays to a three-handicap and competes in tournaments around the world.

Besides the inspirational aspect to his accomplishments, this man has one hell of a golf swing.  If you look at the video, from the waist up his mechanics are pretty amazing.  He rotates his torso around the inside of his right leg, just like they say in all the instructional videos, and at the top of his swing he fires his left hip first to drop the club perfectly into the power plane on the way down.  From behind you can see he has the perfect balance of a skilled player and uncoils to a full finish with his chest facing the target on the follow through.  As he says in the video, when he gets to the golf course he finds his second leg, it is like it was never gone.  This is the phantom limb theory in action, his left side does not know what is missing and his swing mechanics are just wonderful.

Maybe the best part of the video is his quote that golf brought a smile back to his life.  It has done so for so many of us who use golf as a way to manage the stresses in our daily lives.  Manuel’s attitude and accomplishments are something to behold.  It reminds us that the highest hurdles we perceive in our lives are often self-created and it is up to us to figure out a way to deal with them and put them in our rear view mirror.

(Click here to see this Manuel De Los Santos inspirational video)

–
Manuel De Los Santos

Produced/Directed By Peter Montgomery (2009)

As you can see from the images in this slideshow called “Johnny Miller Through The Years” Johnny always evoked confidence and style throughout his career.

From Brylcreem to full mop he looked and dressed the part for each era.  Bad news was sometimes his taste in clothing was halucious, good news was he had the body type to pull it off.

Deep down in side he was always a traditionalist.  He had great respect for guys like Arnold and Jack and the hallowed traditions of the game.   Just look at the putter he is holding in this picture.  As a friend of mine remarked, “It looks like he got it from Harry Vardon’s garage”.

One of the finest iron players to ever play the game, he practiced what he preached.  Compare some of these images to his theory on hitting good irons.  Review Johnny Miller’s “10 Rules for Sticking Your Irons”.

Enjoy a short jaunt through time…..Johnny Miller’s time…..as we know with Johnny he never fails to elicit a reaction.

(Click here to see Golf Digest’s “Johnny Miller Through The Years”)

Golf Digest

2011

During his charity event in Portland that attracted many active PGA Tour, Champions Tour, and retired pros and golf dignitaries, Peter Jacobsen and professional Nico Bollini
regaled the audience with a series of golf swing impersonations that are guaranteed to make you smile.  Many of the culprits they captured were in attendance which makes it kind of a roast.

Secret In The Dirt caught this on video and to share it with their audience.  Some of the impersonations are old Jacobsen favorites-Lee and Raymond- but there are a few that Nico does which are rib-tickling entertainment.  His Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie impersonations are classics.

(Click here to enjoy the Secret In The Dirt video of Peter’s Clinic)

Secret In The Dirt

Fall 2011

We recently played the Plantation Course at Kapalua which hosts the Tournament of Champions in January, the PGA Tour’s first event of the year.  For those Golf Channel addicts who are golf deprived in January it is a ritual for us to take in the vicarious thrill of watching the 30 winners of last year’s tour events play this magnificent course in Maui.

                      The protagonists-Moe is the taller one by virtue of the curb.

Owned by the Ritz-Carlton this place pulls out all the stops when it comes to presentation.

The hallway of champions is owned by Aussie Stuart Appleby who has a three-peat in this event.

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed this majestic course with it’s breathtaking vistas above Kapalua Bay.

Click on any photo to see an enhanced view of the image

You get looks like this on Number 7 tumbling down toward Kapalua Bay  with the remote island of Molokai in the background.

Some holes are beyond description like this view of the back side of the replica Mucha Picchu burial mound that feeds down to the 6th green.

Kathy was up for the challenge across the environmental abyss on the par 3 8th where she hit it to 4 feet and made birdie.

To say the elevation changes here are severe is an understatement.  Where else do  you see guard rails running up the side of the fairway.

The wind always blows big time.  But as you can see here on the par 4 12th the golf gods smiled on both of our approach shots and we made birdie-par as a result.

As you would imagine in such a place there are some modest homes overlooking the course.  This little bungalow on the high ground above #16 even has it’s own practice green in the back yard.

Number 18 is an iconic finishing hole with a 150 foot drop from tee to green.

Dusk settles on this piece of paradise.

Aloha,

Moe and Kathy Dweck
October, 2011

(Click here to see my full review of the Kapalua Plantation Course)