Friday, May 30, 2008
Golf Junkies?

GOLFPUNK Editor Shaun McGuckian has been talking to Friction.tv about drugs in golf. There are a couple of opinion pieces on there about how prevelant drugs are and how much they could ruin the game. Click on the images below to hear straight from the horses mouth.



Exactly how prevelant are drugs in golf?



Let's hope golf's image won't be dirtied by drugs.

We'd love to know what you think. Either post a comment or let us know at website@jf-media.co.uk.


5/30/2008 10:05:34 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 

  Thursday, May 29, 2008
Inflatable Golf Simiulator

As kids there was nothing we liked more than eating jelly until we were sick or playing on bouncy castles. Now we’re a bit older you can swap ‘eating jelly’ for ‘drinking’ but the love of inflatable playthings will never leave you.

That’s why we want to get our hands on an Inflatable Golf Simulator. The guys from Eball have built/blown up the ultimate gadget for golf enthusiast who don’t have enough land for a full size golf course in their own backyard (aka everybody except Donald Trump).



Inside is a screen and sensors and all the normal stuff you’d see in a golf simulator. The important thing is that it’s a blow up inflatable simulator, and like the bouncy castle it can (relatively) easily be moved from place to place, you know, to avoid brown spots on your garden. Plus it’s weatherproof which is a big advantage over real golf in the UK, just make sure you stake it down in high winds unless you want to try out zero gravity golf.

We’re going to put it to DI Babb that it’s great for big events, parties and corporate promotions. Although we want one set up in the board room at GOLFPUNK Towers so we can have nearest the pin competitions for who makes the tea. We can’t put it next to the golf dart board though. But that’s another story….   




5/29/2008 1:21:54 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 
Fog Delays Wales Open

The start of the Wales Open was delayed because of fog at the 2010 Ryder Cup course at Celtic Manor.

Play was due to begin at 0725 BST but an initial 90-minute hold-up was announced before the first round finally got under way at 0930.

Colin Montgomerie, PGA winner Miguel Angel Jimenez and defending champion Richard Sterne were among the players kept waiting.

At the time of writing Jeev Milkha Singh tops the leader board but with half the field yet to tee off it’s particularly early doors.

Keep up to date with what’s going on at Celtic Manor here.


Jeev Milkha Singh, proud owner of the dreaded GOLPUNK vote of confidence.


5/29/2008 11:21:50 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Golf Bloke

Check out this site. The guys who created it describe it as, “The official site where you can follow the progress of a group of self-proclaimed celebrity players from the Midlands as they strive for the Golfbloke 2008 Champions day title. Over the course of the year, these players will compete over numerous courses throughout the UK, ending with the Championship tour in Spain
this September.”

We’re just gutted we didn’t think of it ourselves.

This is what grass roots golf is about. A group of pals taking the mickey out of each other playing for bragging rights.

Our favourite bits are the videos the fellas make when they’re on tour.



Boys we salute you.

www.golfbloke.co.uk




5/28/2008 11:15:43 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
The Golf Ballerz

Pretending to do some work we came across these unsung heroes of hip-hop The Golf Ballerz on myspace.

The band members are MC Center Shaft & DJ Blade bringing the rhymes, DJ 3-Putt supplying the beats and production. Bullseye on the graphic design & Vanilla Slice AKA Slice-T as Creative Consultant/Background Vocalist. Check out their debut LBUM "Strait Outta A.C.C" recorded at the Penthouse Studios.



From what we can tell the beats are whack, the rhymes are poor and arrangement has a lot to be desired, so obviously we love it.

Check them out at www.myspace.com/thegolfballerz. If we could remember our myspace password we’d check out some of the GB’s 260 friends they look like GOLFPUNK people. But we’re all facebook these days, so what are you going to do?




5/28/2008 11:14:02 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Suzann Pettersen, Record Breaker

<i>GOLFPUNK<i> diarist Suzann Pettersen was declared the winner of the Ladies Swiss Open on Sunday,  after the fourth and final round of the competition was cancelled due to a water logged course at Golf Gerre Losone.

Tournament organisers took the decision to reduce the event from 72 to 54 holes at 11am on Sunday as many of the fairways and greens were flooded after heavy rainfall, making the course unplayable.

Andy Lott, director of tournament operations, said: “Unfortunately we find the course is unplayable. We have too much water out there to make it safe for people to play and to be fair.”

South Korea's Amy Yang won silver and Gwladys Nocera from France placed third.

Cheer up Suzann, you just won.

Pettersen, the world number three, led the way with rounds of 67, 63 and 64 to earn the first prize of €78,500. She dedicated her prize to a 24-year-old family friend who passed away on Monday.

After opening with a 67 and equalling the then course record with a 63 on Friday, the 27-year-old from Oslo added a 64 today to move six shots clear of the field on 22 under par at Golf Gerre Losone. The previous record of 18 under was set by Australia's Karrie Webb at the 1997 Weetabix Women's British Open.

The world number three said: "This course is all about getting the ball in play and from there trying to be very aggressive."
Pettersen added: "Eight under of course is a great round but it still feels like I left a couple out there. It felt more work than yesterday."

South Korean teenager Amy Yang, who has played with Pettersen in every round, recorded a hole-in-one at the 145-yard seventh hole, winning an Omega watch.

The 18-year-old, who won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia as a 16-year-old amateur, shot 65 to lie in outright second on 16 under.

On her ace, Yang said: "I hit a soft seven iron but I couldn't see it because of the bushes.

"When I discovered it was in I thought 'Wow!'"

France's Gwladys Nocera is third on 15 under with England's Laura Davies four shots further back. Nocera rocketed up the leaderboard by lowering her own course record from two years ago with a superb 62.




5/27/2008 11:10:05 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 

  Monday, May 26, 2008
Lefty Wins Crowne Plaza Invitational

Phil Mickelson conjured up a piece of magic at the final hole to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational on Sunday.

After a poor drive at the par-four 18th, Mickelson cleared some trees with a brilliant wedge shot which landed on the front of the green and trickled up to within nine feet.

He read his birdie putt perfectly, knocking it home to clinch a one-stroke victory over Rod Pampling and Tim Clark after an exciting final round at the Colonial Country Club.

"You have to take risks to win and I tried to do that," said Mickelson.

"I'm as surprised as anybody I was able to make a three from over there. I'm thinking if I make par and get into a play-off, that would be great.

"It wasn't like it was an easy shot, but it came off. It was one of my more memorable ones."
Mickelson carded a 68 to finish at 14 under for his 34th victory on the PGA Tour.

Check out the unbelievable shot at about 1:57 on the video below. The lefty with the soft hands was simply awesome.







5/26/2008 11:06:47 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Wilson Seconds Away From Maiden Victory

Oliver Wilson was the bridesmaid once again as Miguel Ángel Jiménez sauntered down the isle to win the BMW Championship at Wentworth.

Jimenez and Wilson both shot 68 in the final round to tie with 11-under 277 but the Spaniard nerve held out to win after sinking a two-foot putt for birdie on the second extra hole of a tense play-off

The Englishman with the big future has steadily improved since turning pro in 2005 however there seems to be one lesson he has left to learn, ‘how to win’.

It is the seventh time the Mansfield star has come agonisingly close to claiming a first Tour win.

In his rookie season, Wilson finished at No97 on the Order of Merit and, by 2007, a year in which he was twice a runner-up, he had moved up to No30. This year, he has finished second four times, three times in his past five events.



Yesterdays result sees Olly second in The European Tour Order of Merit putting him contention for a Ryder Cup spot.
Wilson had a chance to impress Nick Faldo when he played for Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy. Now he is hoping to qualify for Faldo's Ryder Cup team for Valhalla in September.

“It's not like I'm going to get a pick, so I need to play myself on to the team,” Wilson said. “If I can keep getting in contention in the big tournaments, that will help.”

The golfing Buzz Aldrin went on to say, "I had three putts on that last hole and they have all done something a little different. I was 100 percent confident I was going to make it,I have not been that confident over a putt, ever," he said. "I just hit it a little too hard and cannot believe that I missed it."

"I have been told that Gary Player always thought that getting in a play off was equal to a win, so I have won three times now, well that's my new philosophy," he joked.

For more on the BMW Championship click here or you can check out Simply Red at the ‘Concert on the Course’ by clicking the image below.




5/26/2008 11:02:46 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Friday, May 23, 2008
Raw Emot-irons

Web users, you don't know what it took to get this.

After nagging for three hours straight the Webitor has had to promise to give Mr Equipment Daniel 'The Knig of Culbs' Owen a piggy back to lunch every day for a week. It's worth it though because you lucky blog heads are the first to see this set of the new limited edition raw Vega Raf-02 Irons to reach our shores.


Dan tells us they're, "The most forgiving model in the Vega range, the new slick appearance makes them appear smaller than they actually are. Not only does the raw grain finish look awesome, it feels incredibly soft and will help you spin the golf ball just a fraction more than the standard models." Which can never be bad. The price isn't confirmed yet, but you will be looking at around the £1400 mark. Which is a bargain in my eyes, I was seconds away from having to pumist the big fella's feet to bring you this exclusive.



5/23/2008 2:19:10 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Thursday, May 22, 2008
The News

We were going to give you a rundown of all the stuff gong on in Planet Golf over the next few days but these guys have done all the hard work for us.




The time we've saved will be spent wisely though. The office record for wedge bounces is being broken all the time with all the extra practice we're getting in.

If you can beat nine in a row let us know at website@jf-media.com.


5/22/2008 12:10:06 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Hope Swings Eternal

If you’ve got a bit of spare cash in your back burner come October you could do worse than get yourself to LA for Bob Hope’s charity auction.
Nearly 800 items of Hope history, from foolishness to fine art, will be sold to fans and dealers alike in aid of charities and causes that were important to Bob.

If you can’t get yourself to The City of Angels fear not. The auction will be televised live and online by the Auction Network, allowing viewers worldwide to participate in real time.

The boy from Eltham was a renowned golf nut. He played in a few PGA Tour events and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is named after him. So it’s no surprise that along with the showbiz bits and pieces that will undoubtedly be on offer there’s some cracking golf gear on show.

Like:
•    A pair of red-and-white golf shoes marked "Made for Bob Hope." ("I don't know who would have the courage to wear those," Linda quipped. )
•    A golf bag jammed with clubs given to Hope by various pros. ("It seemed that every time he met a golf pro with golf clubs, they would send them to him.")
•    A huge golf cap the size of a large pizza. ("He enjoyed having fun with golf and had pretty outlandish outfits.")
•    A cap signed by President Ford and some golf pros. ("This is from the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Va.")

We’ve had a whip round and mustered £18 a broken fan and a box of tees. Hopefully that’s enough to get this magnificent golf buggy, if it’s up for sale that is.



5/21/2008 5:55:26 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 
Bright Lies

Ever thought about playing mini golf in the dark? Nope, us neither. It’s a good job John Wright has a bit more imagination.

The golf visionary took a run-of-the-mill golf ball, dropped it into a small machine and watched as the ball appeared at the end of the tube with a greenish glow.

That machine is Glowgolf’s “magic glow machine.”

Six such contraptions are set up along the path of a new 18-hole glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course at Bloomington’s Eastland Mall. The ball’s glow will last all day, but the more you charge it, the better it glows, said Wright, chief operating officer for Glowgolf, based in Wichita, Kan.

But it’s not just the balls that light up. In fact, everything glows at Glowgolf, including the clubs and scorecards. Glow-in-the-dark paint gives the underwater-themed hand-painted wall murals and course obstacles their bright glow, said Manager Mary Baize. Black lights help brighten the course rails, she added.


We’re guessing it’s like playing golf at a mid 90’s acid house gig. “That’s kind of the excitement,” raved Wright who compares it to the equally fun sounding cosmic bowling.

The company has locations at other malls in the west and midwest USA and is looking to expand. “It’s fun and it’s challenging,” Wright said. “It’s set up so that all ages can play it.”


Fans claim the kids love it most and you can imagine their little faces light up when they get their glow sticks in hand for a cheeky nine. We suspect this could be avoided if the illuminous tykes washed their paint covered hands before rubbing their eyes, but anything to encourage more people to play this silly game of ours, in all it’s forms, should be commended.

To find out more abut Bloomington’s Eastland glow golf click here.


But there are plenty of other resources to book your glow golf including the excellently titled puttingedge.com.





5/21/2008 5:14:04 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 


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