Valero Texas Open: Historic Tournament, Awesome Photo Op

Last month we wrote about the quintessentially Texan Valero Open and its impending 90th birthday celebration. Well, the tournament/celebration is now underway.

Matt Every's history-making, course-record was a highlight of round one... which certainly gives him reason to celebrate... along with the stellar weather, awesome ancilary activities and ultra-enthusiastic fans, ensure that the excitement will continue through the upcoming weekend.

One of the things I love most about golf is its unique history, so I'm really enjoying the VTO throwback photos.  They feature, modern day folk... presumably volunteers, staffers and fans... posing in old-time golf apparel with golden age golf equipment. The full gallery is on the Valero Texas Open Facebook page as are other timely updates from the San Antonio tournament, and I reccomend you check it out.

If you love golf and can't make to the Lone Star State, it's the next best thing to being there.

The Valero Texas Open on Facebook and Twitter

Identical Swingers: Curious Tales of Twin Golfers

A couple of years ago I wrote a fun little post about twin golfers.

Being a twin myself... and a mediocre but enthusiastic recreational golfer... it was a topic that intrigued me, and I was delighted to find several sets of female twins playing professionally in different parts of the world.

Seoul Sisters Aree and Naree Song, mediagenic Brits, Samatha and Johanna Head, and at-the-time up-and-coming Irish tweens, Lisa and Leona Mcguire were the golf girl twins of the moment.

All of them have remained in golf; the Song sisters have gone in slightly different directions, with Aree once again playing on the LPGA Tour after winning her way back at Q-School, while Naree now coaches golf at Rollins College. Samantha and Johanna Head have taken time out from playing to put together and host The Tour Experience, a one day golf event where ladies and men join them to experience what life on a professional golf tour is like, and at sixteen, the Mcguires are quite simply on fire. 

As for Cat and I, we're like many recreational golfers with ultra-busy lives; while we've continued to have fun on the course and get out for social rounds and scrambles as often as possible, our less-than-stellar swings have seen little improvement and our short game short comings have persisted.  That is until recently, when we decided it was time to take our games to the next level.

For the past couple of weeks we've been working with a truly exceptional instructor whose unique approach has made a remarkable difference for both of us already.  Our goal is to hone our games and develop the competitive skills to get beyond the social/scramble stage by the end of this season, and we're both looking forward to the possibility of playing in some amateur tournaments in 2012.

Over the next several months I'll be introducing our and keeping you posted on our progress.  In the meantime however, a couple of weeks from now Cat and I will be playing in tournament quite unlike any other:  The Twins Day Golf Tournament.  It's part of the Twins Day Festival a huge gathering of twins from all over the world that takes place each year in... Twinsburg, OH.  We've never been but it sounds like it has the potential to be very... weird, wacky, interesting. It won't be highly competitive... but we do hope to win. We'll keep you posted.