Introducing a Very Engaging Blog About... Golf Litigation?

If you're not a hardened golf geek... or an obsessed trial junkie... the subject may first glance seem extremely boring somewhat platitudinous; worthy of an occasional post perhaps, but not nearly enough to constitute an ongoing daily blog.

As it turns out, however, golf generates a prodigious amount of legal wrangling. More than any other amateur sport according Thomas H. Sawyer, author of Golf and the Law.  And it goes way beyond the errant balls and reckless swings that might first come to mind.

This is where Rob Harris comes in.  He's a Connecticut lawyer who advises business clients on ways to avoid or minimize the risks associated with litigation.  He's also a passionate golfer, and his new blog, Golf Dispute Resolution, features regular posts on interesting legal disputes that have a golf connection.  Categories like Injuries, Celebrities, Golf Equipment and Quirky & Unusual to name a few, reflect the remarkable variety of cases he covers. Stories are also search-able by state/country... so you can find out what kind of litigation is taking place on and around your local course.

Harris is an engaging story-teller who turns legalese into something lyrical... in short succinct posts.  In addition to his blog he animates lively discussions golf and the law on Linked In at the Golf Dispute Resolution Group, which is were I met him yesterday.

I'm quite sure that 2012 will bring many interesting stories on the intersection of golf and law, and Rob Harris is the perfect person to tell them.

A Variation on the Golf Club Sex Discrimination Theme

I don't imagine Steve Frye is very popular on the fairways of Eagle Vines Vineyards & Golf Club.  At least not on Ladies Day.

Mr. Frye, it turns out, is currently attempting to put the kibosh on "Ladies Day" at Eagle Vines, alleging that when he visited the Napa Valley course  on Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, they were illegally charging male golfers $44 for green and cart fees vs $30 for women... because it was "Ladies Day".

 So, Frye has filed a sex discrimination lawsuit ...against a promotion designed to attract more women to play. The Frye vs. Eagle Vines case is scheduled for a hearing on May 22 in Napa County Superior Court. Read more about the case at NapaValleyRegister.com. 

Though many are dismissing Frye's suit as frivolous, The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has supposedly sent a letter to Eagle Vines saying "possible disciplinary action could be taken against the club’s alcoholic beverage license".

This sets a troubling precedent when you consider that courses offering all kinds of golf promotions... discounts for public safety and military personnel, Junior and Senior discounts, etc... could now be subject to costly lawsuits.  If that happens all golfers may end up paying more for their rounds.  And Steven Frye may wish he'd never attempted to squelch "Ladies Day".

Day After Christmas. A Good Day for Golf

my vintage Christmas card collection

Well, that was the plan. The reality? An ultra-windy day, with a bright sun that provided little warmth, which was fine as we slept till noon after a late night that included excessive amounts of food, drink and merriment... which was awesome. Belated Best Wishes.

Mobile, Social, Global: It's Divotr, A New App for Golf Fans

The idea actually germinated a while back... a couple of years ago, to be exact.

I was chatting with Doug Farrick... a fellow New Englander and golf blogger of note at GolfDash... about some remarkable experiences I'd had, via social media, with golf fans around the world.

As an early adopter on Twitter I'd encountered a highly engaged... and very engaging... group of global golf fans and had spent numerous summer weekends in front of my laptop sharing the excitement of pro golf tournaments... that I otherwise would've watched alone, in the climate controlled solitude of my cloistered man woman cave.  The 2008 Players Championship was where it really hit home for me; watching Sergio Garcia win in a playoff with Paul Goydos was infinitely more exciting in the (virtual) company of several hyper-excited golf fans in Spain  than watching all alone... with only my Corona Lite as company.

Doug had had some similar experiences, and we both agreed that golf fans... like fans of any sport... tend to have much more fun in real time and collectively, than they do alone.  Seeing as how we're both fans of myriad players and a number of different international tours, we decided we needed to find a way to refine and enhance the global fan experience that we were beginning to develop a taste for on the rapidly growing platform called Twitter.

Fast forward a couple of years; Twitter has experienced explosive growth (the tweets-per-day count has risen from 2 million tweets to over 2 hundred million) as have other social networks... some of them only months into their existence.  The mobile space is also evolving at an astonishing rate, and that's where Divotr comes in.

Divotr is the fruit of that long-ago chat I had with Doug.  It's a new mobile/golf/social app that'll take global fans of all stripes to an awesome new level of real-time interaction.  We're almost ready to launch, and while we put the final pieces into place you can get early access and the latest updates via email and Twitter.  Just sign up at our launch page.  Encourage your golf-fan followers to check us out as well.

I look forward to seeing you soon on Divotr... and I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a great year for golf fans.

The Remarkable Passion & Myriad Talents of Justin Timberlake

An awesome illustration for Mirimichi's Cool Player's Club

For the first time ever... in history... an iconic golf brand has appointed a noted actor slash grammy-award-winning performer slash former Mouseketeer... as its creative director. By the way, the multi-faceted appointee has also been named "Most Stylish Man" AND "Sexiest Man" by GQ and Cosmopolitain magazines, respectively.

 However I think we can assume it's Justin Timberlake's extraordinary passion for golf got him the gig with Callaway, and I don't imagine there were many golf industry insiders who didn't quickly see the wisdom brilliance of the appointment when it was announced yesterday.

Here at Golf Girl's Diary we first wrote about Justin Timberlake... and golf... over five years ago. At that point he was merely the "Sexy Back" singer with a great golf swing. During the ensuing years his "thing for golf" only got stronger. We saw him play Carnoustie...and tee off in Abu Dahbi. On Madonna's 50th birthday we saw him gift her with golf lessons. 2008 however, was the year JT really made his mark on golf. His relationship with Callaway took off when he signed an agreement to play the Company’s equipment and carry a Callaway branded golf bag. He sponsored a major tournament for the first time and appeared on the cover of Golf Digest magazine.

2008 was also the year Justin Timberlake planed the renovation of the golf course he purchased, the course that would be called Mirimichi.  This is where I feel JT's passion for golf shines most brightly.  When the course he played on as a child was set to be sold to developers Timberlake bought it himself and put $16 million into renovations, transforming it into the most eco-friendly course in America... and one that can serve as a model for a more sustainable type of golf center.

With US golf participation declining... 2011 marked the fifth year rounds are down in this country... golf businesses are actively attempting to distinguish themselves, while the industry itself struggles to reverse the current trend and "grow the game" with new audiences.  Justin Timberlake has what it takes to do both and now may be in a position make it happen.  It's something the game can look forward to in 2012.

As Rio 2016 Approaches, Some Tennis Lessons for US Golf

Golf may benefit by looking at tennis via wikia.com

Most professional and amateur golfers, as well as casual and advid fans, are delighted to see the sport return to the Olympics.

The 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro will welcome golfers for the first time in over a century, and inclusion is predicted to have a major impact on the game's reach, particularly in places where the sport has not previously had the opportunity to grow.

However, for the US, and other countries where the game is "mature", there's a lesson to be learned on the potential downside of Olympic inclusion.  It comes from the world of professional tennis, a world where an American male hasn't won a Grand Slam since 2003, and where for a period earlier this, year there wasn't a single American ranking in the world's top 10.  Some say the US tennis decline can, at least in part, be traced back to 1984, the year tennis became an Olympic Sport. 

"When it [tennis] became an Olympic sport, other countries got on the bandwagon, and smaller countries began developing players." That's how Angel Lopez, director of tennis operations at the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club put it, and with that in mind it's easy to imagine that by the end of this decade the World Golf Ranking may feature fewer US players.

These young golfers in China get get elite instruction from Cindy Reid

Commitment to early and ambitious player development is clearly key when it comes to creating competitive athletes, and in an attempt to attract more young players to the game... and eventually hook the best of them... the USTA has invested more than $8 million this year on 10 and Under Tennis an initiative that includes smaller courts and less "bouncy" balls.  The idea is to encourage an entry level version of the game that will allow more children to start learning and playing from a younger age... and enable them to build confidence and avoid bad habits.

US Golf would seem to be in a perfect position to introduce an entry level version for it's beginners.  There are numerous organizations focused on bringing young players into the game, The First Tee, the USGA's Junior Links and the LPGA's Girl's Golf however thus far there seems to have been little interest in the establishment of a shorter format. 

US Kid's Golf has developed an excellent program with their Family Course Setup, that has the backing of the PGA of America and a partnership with Pinehurst.  It's the type of initiative that could really help to grow the game from the ground up should more courses, particularly public courses, decide to implement it.

2016 will come quickly... so will the end of the decade. Golf should start taking a cue from tennis right now.

The Little Linksters Challenge: Seeking the Best Young Golfers

It's that time of year again... time to head over to Brendon Elliot's Little Linksters and show off your golf swing!  That is, if your age is somewhere between 3 and 8.  Because if so, you're eligible for the Best Pee-Wee Golf Swing in North America Contest.  There are great prizes to be won... and some amazing celebrity judges on hand to select the winner.

Visit the Little Linksters website for more information about the contest and the Little Linksters Program.

Also, here's our post about last year's contest.

Tees the Season: Fore Contextual Ads & Personalization

She loves golf and the color pink. There's an ornament for that.     From: PersonalizationMall.com

For the past couple of days I've been followed relentlessly... by a tiny lady in a golf cart.  She wears pink from head to toe and carries her clubs in a pink bag.

As I navigate the net, she appears everywhere; lurking in my sidebar with a perpetually miniacal radiant smile.  And just when I feel like I've finally lost her... there she is again.  If she wasn't so cute, the word stalker might even come to mind.

This Golf Chick© Personalized Ornament is a perfect example of of the amazing... and slightly disconcerting... power of internet advertising in the era of social context. And, chances are, if you haven't yet found your own version of this smiling rose colored divot diva, you will.  Even if you don't use social networks like facebook and twitter. You probably use search engines, everyone (except my father) does, and in doing so you're providing rich fodder for some well-targeted, very persistent, advertising.

My husband who shuns the social sites and looks down upon online oversharing, has been pursued by a mysterious silver plated cigar cutter for the past couple of weeks, and the secretive cigar aficionado doesn't seem to mind one bit, in fact I think he even ordered one... for self-gifting purposes.

I'll probably order a couple of the little golf cart ladies too.  Not for myself (my holiday decorating style is understated and traditional) but for a couple of the gals I play golf with during the summer.  It's cute and inexpensive... and the personalization makes it special.  And the best part is I didn't have to go looking for it - she it found me. Thanks to contextual advertising.

Golf Ball Carving - An Artful Way to Recycle Your Balls

This swirly mint-green orb would make a very unique statement hanging on the branches of your Christmas tree, wouldn't it?

You may at first think it's been carved from some kind of exotic stone... or perhaps shaped out of milky green jadite.

You wouldn't even be close.  This trinket is actually hand carved from the inner core of a golf ball. The mint green color is the color of the golf ball core and the delicate gold ring around the center of the sphere is painted on by hand.

Decorative carved golf balls are created by hobbyist woodcarvers who've discovered that the materials in the core of various brands of golf balls make an excellent carving medium. 

A selection of different styles and colors are available on Etsy at a shop called Sticks 'n Stones.  You'll also find them on Facebook where the styles are somewhat more whimsical.

And, if you have any kind of appreciation for homemade handcrafts, you're bound to like these balls.