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Yes, I skipped an episode number in order to get that Charles Barkley name that swing episode out first... I didn't have time to re-render the titles so I just let it fly... in any case - back to our Golf Social Networking tour!
World Golf Tour (www.worldgolftour.com) is pretty incredible. It's the 3rd on my list of golf social networks and is Golf is Hard Episode 22! A tad light on more traditional "social networking features, WGT more than makes up for things with the most realistic virtual golf game in the world.
P.S. - You will notice that the video of me stutters a bit - WGT is a fairly intense application and can really slow your machine down - especially if you are playing while trying to record your screen!
Name that Swing is a new Golf is Hard TV Segment where we imitate a famous golf swing! In our first name that swing, Marc takes on Charles Barkely and his terrific looking golf swing.
Let's continue the tour of golf social networks... this time with the very slick, very cool OOBGolf.com. I used this site quite a bit last season for keeping track of scores because they make it so easy! Enjoy the tour! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter!
I have no idea what "Stracka" means - but I do know a terrific golf social network when I see one! Stracka.com is just such a beast and in this Golf is Hard TV episode, I give it a spin and talk about some of my favorite features.
Episode 19 is our first "product" show where we talk about and review different golf products. In this show, we take a look at Cleatskins (www.cleatskins.com) and open a mystery box from Forte Promotions (www.fortepromo.com). If you have products you want us to talk about, contact us and we'll see what we can do!
I'm thrilled to announce the winners of our first ever Golf is Hard TV contest! If you recall, we announced this first contest "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" back on February 20th, 2009. While the response wasn't overwhelming, we did get a few terrific submissions. I'm thrilled to announce the winners here today (along with selected submissions). Winners should expect their box of Swing Reminders within a week or so.
I've listed out some of my personal favorite entries below... the winners are in bold and happen to be the last 3 in the list!
Andy: "Don't miss it or top it"
Alan: "Thumbs Down" (not surprising since that's what his book is about!)
Coach Dave: "Low and slow"
Marc (me!): "Just relax"
WINNER: Golfsupple: "Lead with your left"
WINNER: Peter: "The more you know the more you don't know"
Congrats to the winners, Peter, Hugh and Golfsupple!
As an aside.. the phrase "Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner" comes from a legend. It tells that years ago every casino in Las Vegas had a three-piece chicken dinner with a potato and a veggie for $1.79. A standard bet back then was $2, hence when you won a bet you had enough for a chicken dinner.
Read more...
I recently join a terrific new online golf community called "Business Golf Country Club," which is hosted by Scot Duke. The site is a terrific social networkwith the tagline "Where golf and business merge...." It's definitely worth checking out if you are interested in the world of business golf.
Scot hosts a weekly podcast called "The Clambake Cafe" where he talks about different issues around golf and does an interview with a different golf business owner or personality. This week, yours truly is the guest. I'm talking about Golf is Hard TV, giving you my ultimate business foursome (Gates, Buffett and Obama!) and much more. I had a great time chatting with Scot and encourage you to check out the podcast and everything Scot is up to as well.
It was pretty cold, but we braved the elements and got in our first round of the year here in CT. As we get outside to play more, we'll shoot more and more episodes on the course, giving you inside tips and strategies on how to improve your game.
Episode 18 features on course action, Coach Dave imitating a certain pro golfer and much more... enjoy it!
Well, as Marc said, it was great to get out on the course for the first time. It started out with multiple layers of clothing for the 10 am start, but by noon we were warming up and shedding the top layer. Of course, I kept the hat on for most of the round, as you will see in the video. I had very low expectations for the day, just get out and have some fun. I figured that if I could swing with decent rhythm, then I would hit some good shots (I only remember the good shots by the way). So, I hit some great drives (some with Marc's driver) and my short game wasn't bad either. Definitely something to build on for next round. As far as Marc's putting, easy to fix. He will be in the 80s by the end of this year.
Thanks for your comments from Sweden 'Backspin', sorry to hear it's still snowing there but guessing you will be out soon. In the meantime, work on those basement putting drills.
It didn't go quite that well the rest of the round, but even so, my first round of the year was a lot of fun. It was terrific to get back out on the course and felt great to just be out there. I'll post some video from the round once I get a chance to edit it. There are a few choice words I have to remove!
I'm sure Dave will comment about his own round, but for me, it was extremely encouraging to hit the ball as well as I did today. I'm really excited about playing this year and am hopeful that my scores will go down dramatically through the year.
My driver was good, if inconsistent. I hit it straight except for one hole where I really, really sliced it hard right. Other than that, the fairway wood felt great as did my hybrids. I'm going to have to really focus some energy on making putts though. I was well on my way to 40 putts if I had played all 18 holes. I only played 13 holes today because I had to coach my daughter's softball team this afternoon.
Stay tuned for more Golf is Hard TV shows this week, we've got some golf goodness coming up including shows giving you a personal tours of the different golf social networks including Stracka, OOBGolf and The Golf Space.
Despite feeling like junk today, I dragged myself to the range to hit some balls and get in some work in anticipation of my first round of the year tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'll have to cut it short as I have a softball practice to run 4 hours after I tee-off which sort of stinks. Either way though, I literally am jumping out of my skin looking forward to kicking off what is sure to be the greatest golf season of my life!
Yes, I'm pretty jacked up...
At the range, I hit the ball pretty well and am really loving my new Nike driver. I've been working really hard on my posture in particular and can really feel the difference when I get it right. That said, I think I may be standing up as I make contact with the ball. Plenty to work on for sure!
I also had a chance to get some chipping and putting work in which was nice. I have a lot to learn in that part of my game, I feel like I have stone hands and hit everything either way to soft, or I completely crush it. That said, I hit some great shots today using my sand wedge out of fairly deep rough onto the green.
My favorite show so far, Golf is Hard TV explores the world of golf hats, looking at various styles and discussing the finer points of head gear. What's your favorite hat to wear on the course?
One of the best things about the Internet is meeting new and interesting people from around the world. Andy, from Home of Golf TV seems like a great guy and is producing some terrific online videos that I wanted to share.
I'm reposting his first episode because it really sets the stage for what he's up to but would mention that he managed to snag some time with Nick Faldo recently.
Keep up the great work Andy - we ALWAYS need more great golf shows!
Find the Fairways.com is giving away some great golf freebies... to enter the contest write a blog post (that's what this is) about "What’s in your golf bag?" And you can also tag another golfer! I’ve been tagged by two bloggers... Scott from Swing Reminders and Pink Diva Golf. How lucky am I to have been tagged twice! Yes!
What kind of golf bag?
Black Slazenger Stand Bag
What clubs?
Driver: Nike 4450 I think... ($99 bucks with stiff shaft straight out of the used bin at Golf Galaxy!). Can't wait to play it for the first time soon.
TaylorMade R5 3 Wood
Tommy Armour 855 - love these hybrids!
TaylorMade rac OS2 Irons
Odyssey White Hot blade putter
Warrior (beware of spam) wedges
What else is in Marc's bag?
Tees
Various pencils, ball markers and more
Swing reminders
Tape (for my fingers)
2 or 3 gloves (no particular brand, whatever is cheap)
Tons of balls
A few sleeves of RAW balls
Old bag of chips
Half full water bottle
What’s the most important piece of kit in the bag that’s not a club, ball, glove or towel? Tape for my fingers. Makes me feel like Tiger.
Do you carry a lucky charm? Not really... if anything it's my FSU ball marker.
What’s the oldest thing in your golf bag? Probably a bag of chips or a water bottle that I forget about
Golf is Hard TV episode 16 shows you how to get properly aligned for hitting the golf ball in our own unique way! This lesson includes great tips and ideas for making sure you get set up right from the start!
I love these commercials! Good timing too considering our latest poll... (look on the right side) and tell us what kind of golfer you are... risk taker, moderate or if you layup as a rule.
As for me, I'm moderate until you challenge me... in poker and in golf, I like the rush of "going for it." Bad idea usually, but fun for sure - and usually good for a laugh.
We are crazy about our home course here in Trumbull, CT - Tashua Knolls. "TK" is public (it's a GREAT VALUE for residents) and is a 27-hole facility that features an original par 72 golf course and a terrific 9 hole, kid friendly course. Bobby Brown is the GM and runs a fantastic program. Coach Dave spends a few minutes with Bobby catching up on old times and talks about the golf course, getting it ready for the season and youth golf. Learn more, and play Tashua Knolls this year!
I want to start this blog post off with some trivia:
What is the only movie that I've cried watching, and that makes me cry more every time I watch it? I'll give you the answer below after talking about inspiration in golf, and in life.
This week has been filled with some amazing moments and terrific conversations. It started out on Monday, when my 4th grade, 6th out of 7th ranked daughter's basketball team (I'm the coach) upset the #3 ranked team in the playoffs. If that wasn't enough, we went on to shock the #2 team on Wednesday night after jumping out to a 10-0 lead. At the end of that game, I found myself standing center court watching my girls jump up and down with each other in pure celebration and joy. I got the chills just thinking about this week as I was typing this blog post. You can follow my coaching journey on my "other blog" about coaching youth sports.
Last night, I had the pleasure of spending more than an hour on the phone with Phil Bundy. If you haven't yet heard about him, get ready. Phil is on a personal quest to play on the PGA Tour. More importantly is why he's on that quest. Phil takes his own inspiration from his son Charlie. Phil's quest really, if you think about it hard is about showing Charlie that life is all about dreaming big and having the clarity and guts to go for it.
As a parent, Phil has reminds us all of what is really important in life. As an entrepreneur, he's given me the inspiration to push forward with Golf is Hard TV. As a golf fan, he's given me hope that I'll have a new favorite to root for on Sundays. As a parent, he's pure validation that I'm on the right track.
One more story before I tell you what movie makes me cry. This one is best delivered via video (see below). I heard about D.J. Gregory a few months ago and chose to ignore it. But like all great stories and all great leaders, D.J.'s story is not going away. I heard about him again this morning on sports talk radio and raced to my computer to find this video:
I'm not a good enough writer to add anything else to D.J.'s story.
As for what movie gets me every time... Rudy of course. Not only is Rudy's story amazing and inspirational, but Sean Astin will forever in my heart be one of my favorite actors because of it.
Where do you take your inspiration from? Who inspires you to get out of bed every day? Tell me, tell me!
We're back to lessons on Golf is Hard TV with episode 13... the first of a 2 part series on posture. Episode 1 lays out the basics and in episode 2, we'll head outside!
Hey there GIH fans...during an earlier episode, we talked about the fact that not only will your golf game get a heckuva lot better here, but so will your lawn. NOW is the time to put down Step 1. This prevents the germination of crabgrass and gives it a jump start with some fertilizer too. Also, now is the time to put down lime to neutralize the soil. You can put them down together and should do it before it rains so it can get washed in.
I just picked up all four steps of the "Scotts Best " program, 15,000 sq. ft. bags were approx $215 (the price has gone up this year, and smaller bags are obviously less money), plus I will get a $35 mail in rebate (net cost $180). Not bad for the best fert you can get. So get out there, clean up the twigs and leaves and put down Step 1 (no need to completely dethatch the lawn prior to step1, you can do that later on).
Check out the link http://www.scotts.com/smg/ (no they don't pay us....yet)...Good luck! Send me any questions and I will be sure to answer.
I had a few hours while in Lisbon to find signs of golf... and didn't have much luck. Yes, I should have played, by my schedule simply didn't allow it! In any case, enjoy this short video from Portugal as I search for signs of golf.
We're talking about golf magazines! Ever struggle with Golf Digest and Golf Magazine because the sheer amount of tips confuses you? Us too! We talk about how to read golf magazines and dish out some opinions.
Golf is Hard TV is the golf show for the rest of us! Golf is Hard TV is part instructional and part entertainment. If you love golf, you'll love Golf is Hard TV!
Marc's a hacker and Dave knows what he's doing after teaching for 7 years. We're both passionate golfers and committed to having fun with Golf is Hard TV.
What is Golf is Hard TV?
"The golf show for the rest of us!"
Golf is Hard TV is the golf show for the rest of us, the most passionate golf show on the internet that was created to take a look at the lighter side of the game. At Golf is Hard TV, golfers of all abilities can improve their games and interact about anything related to golf.
We discuss topics realistically including equipment, etiquette, Jr. golf, attire, rules, etc. This interactive golf show is where golfers can ask questions, send in video and get real answers about their games, always FREE. The founders of Golf is Hard TV know what average golfers like us want.
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