New York City Golfers Start Season at Chelsea Piers

An awesome golf event for the entire family!

Those in and around New York City are waking up this morning to a picture perfect Spring day. After a winter that broke snow fall records and seemed to go on forever, the urge to get out and enjoy is inevitably going to be rather strong overwhelming. Happily for golfers... and aspiring golfers... the stellar Spring weather coincides with the 8th Annual Golf Fest sponsored by the New York Golf Center and Chelsea Piers.
  
In the center of a city not known for a myriad of options when it comes to golf, this event is a comprehensive celebration of the sport with activities for all ages and ability levels. The biggest names in golf equipment, apparel and travel will be there with their latest products... and professional instructors will dispense tips, offer instruction and conduct group lessons.  There'll also be prizes and raffles, plus a Kid’s Corner that promises golf fun for the little ones.

The venue is Chelsea Piers, home of Manhattan's only multi-tiered, year-round, outdoor driving range. If you're in the area and in any way golf-inclined, it's definitely where you'll want to be today.  Additional info and details are available on the website.

My Favorite Global Golf Ball Marker

Don't get me wrong... I like an over-the-top ball marker as much as anyone.

For example, I love TRI Markers. The fine gold and platinum circles encrusted with precious stones are available in an number of different color combinations and can be had for $1,500 and up... way up actually: $10,000 for the diamond-on-platinum.  A statement-making accessory if ever there was one. --->

I also like the ultra-flat ones that snap onto a magnetic clip.  Sometimes they're customizable with photos, or slogans... or anything that inspires. I received one in the shape of a butterfly for my birthday last year.  It always brings me luck... bad luck.  It's now relegated to my jewelry box (for future re-gifting to some unsuspecting soul).

My favorite ball markers are Blingo.  Designed by Swarovski crystals give them sparkle... and they clip on.  And what I like most is that you can customize them by choosing the colors of crystals you want.

This all brings me to a discovery I made a couple of days ago while rummaging through our attic: the tiny coin pictured above. It's actually smaller than our US dime... and has delicate scalloped edges.  It appears to be from HongKong, and with it there was a huge box of forgotten coinage from all over the globe. I've decided to go through it and create a set of global golf markers.  They'll each tell a story and together they'll symbolize the increasingly global nature of the game.

German Golf, Ryder Cup 2018 & Sandra Gal's Win

I had to smile when I heard about Sandra Gal's win at the Kia Classic yesterday.

The first thing I thought of were the headlines it would produce. Any time a golfer has a last name that's also a word, things can get ...well... weird. Who'll ever forget the Jim Nantz reciting Bette Midler in honor of Justin Rose debacle, right? Needless to say, I was expecting the worst. -->



However,  thus far I've seen nothing more egregious than an inoffensive "Thatta Gal", so perhaps headline writers have finally learned to resist the facile play-on-words.

When Gal defeated five time winner... and third round leader.. Jiyai Shin for her first LPGA win yesterday, it was the only the second time a German national had ever won on the LPGA Tour.

The statuesque brunette was born in Dusseldorf and played collegiate golf at the University of Florida. She qualified for the LPGA Tour in 2008 and finished her degree... with honors.. while playing full time on the tour.

Certainly Sandra's win comes a good time for RC Deutschland GmbH, the bid company for the 2018 Ryder Cup in Germany.  Germany is one of the five nations bidding for the 2018 Cup, and their bid is backed two-time Masters Champion, hall-of-fame golfer, Bernhard Langer enjoying a stellar career on the Champions Tour and Martin Kaymer currently the No. 1 male golfer in the world. Both men are featured prominently on the German Bid website.  Now... somewhat unexpectedly... German golf also has a Gal!  (I apologize - I couldn't resist) I'm sure Sandra will be lending her support to the bid as well with the decision date fast approaching. 

In addition to her remarkable game,  Sandra Gal has a sleek style sense which was on display yesterday with the black leggings she wore under a red two-piece (Nike?) outfit.  And speaking of Sandra's sense of style, it was almost a year ago that the long-limbed golfer had a minor run-in with a dress code dictator at a Palm Springs Club where she was practicing.  Sandra was told she'd need to change because her shorts were too short!  The good-natured golfer took it all in stride and later tweeted about the encounter with humor.  I'm sure there are lots of golf fans looking forward to seeing Sandra Gal on the leaderboard throughout the season.

Raph's Rousing Win & Tiger's Take on the French Bid

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My first official round of golf took place in France, on a municipal course just outside of Paris, and my biggest cheerleader in learning the game has been a Frenchman.  That same Frenchman is also my favorite and at times most annoying playing partner. The French Open, back in 2007, was my first time at a professional golf tournament.

Without a doubt, France has a major place in my personal history with golf, and as such, I'm a huge fan of French players.  Gregory Havret's 2010 U.S. Open run last summer... The French team's victory at the 2010 World Amateur Championship... those kinds of things tend to make me happy. So naturally, when I heard Raphael Jacquelin had won the (rain delayed) Sicilian Open on Monday, I was très heureux... to say the least.

This win was long awaited too, as they often are in professional golf.  It was the Jacquelin's third win on the European tour the previous one being the 2007 BMW Asian Open.  Four years... and a full beard later... Raf is once again in the winner's circle and France... along with Spain, Portugal, Holland and Germany... is about to find out if it will be hosting the 2018 Ryder Cup. The winner is to be announced at Wentworth Club on May 17th.

The French Ryder Cup bid is brilliant and players of all nationalities are speaking about Paris as a stellar venue.  Lee Westwood talked about the final four holes at Golf National and the familiarity professional golfers have with the course. 2010 Captian Colin Montgomerie mentioned the global significance of the city of Paris.   Tiger Woods weighed in as well. He reminisced on playing there in 1994 at the World Amateur Championship and revealed he'd only been to Paris a couple of times, but declared that it would be a great venue.

As the most visited city in the world, Paris has an infrastructure that can efficiently handle the masses of visitors a Ryder Cup would bring and clearly, the players love GolfNational.  With Chateau de Versailles as a backdrop, a FanZone at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and till-you-drop shopping on the Champs Elyses... it's definitely a tantalizing picture, but what many are most impressed with in the French bid is its commitment to growing the game though the development of at least 100 urban golf facilities.  These facilities would bring golf to areas where the population currently has little access, namely in and around urban centers. They'd be open to all and would not only provide top notch instruction and formation for future professionals,  but would also be public venues where a casual golfers could play a casual round without stringent dress codes and with rented equipment. It sounds like a solid step towards increasing golf's accessibility.

It'll be a few weeks before we know which of the five contending nations will host the Ryder Cup in 2018. The competition is stiff and I don't envy the selection committee. If you get a chance, check out the various bids and I'd love to know which one you feel makes the best case as host city.

For the time being I'm sure "Raph" is relishing his recent win... and hoping the French bid prevails.

Photos (top to bottom): Stuart Franklin/Getty Images Europe***Golf Girl Media***Clive Mason/ALLSPORT***Ryder Cup France***Stuart Franklin/Getty Images Europe

Sources: RaphaelJacquelin.com***European Tour - Jacquelin The Man in Sicily***Golf 360 - A Ryder Cup in Paris?

Promising Woods-Garcia Pairing Ends in Mutual Meltdown

 Going into the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, anything seemed possible.

Golf fans pondered potential outcomes and social networks buzzed with hopeful speculation... on one pairing in particular.  

Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have a shared history. Theirs is a rivalry that began at the PGA Championship in 1999 and, though it never quite played the way golf fans would have wished,  certainly made the sport more compelling during the first decade of this century. 

As we all know, the past couple of years haven't been kind to either of these men: injuries and personal issues have plagued both... to the extent that when their final round pairing was announced yesterday, many saw the possibility of a come-back battle between the beleaguered champions.  In my mind I naively took the narrative even further, imagining a brilliant duel in the desert sun, possibly ending in a playoff.  And no matter which of the two won,  a resurgence of the Woods-Garcia rivalry would ensue, and the 2011 season would be a series of thrilling, fourth round face-offs.

Ultimately, my little fantasy was just that: a fairytale that went awry when both players flamed out in the final round.  Golf.com contributor Paul Manhoney who followed the pairing at Emirates Golf Club, described a joyless round where certain elements of the old rivalry may have actually played a part in the day's disappointing results from Tiger and Sergio.

However, there definitely was a silver lining,  a rather big silver lining, and it came in the form of 6ft. 3in. Alvaro Quiros.  The quixotic Señor Quiros kept excitement at peak levels as he battled with Denmark's Anders Hansen, losing and regaining the lead more than once, while he wove together a nerve-racking round featuring an eagle, an ace and a triple bogey.  Fans on Twitter were clearly energized by the volatile contest.  A number of spectators on the scene were tweeting the action as it happened, which was great for those of us who couldn't watch it live.

In the end it was a great tournament and judging from the Twitter buzz, it generated a lot of interest in the UAE as a golf destination.  What ever one thinks of Tiger or Sergio I'm quite sure most golf fans would like to see them winning again.  In the meantime, the Dubai Desert Classic has a charismatic champion in Alvaro Quiros.