Teed Off (20-01-2013)
with Robert Bicknell
Has anyone seen the new Nike ad featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy which is set up like the classic old lion vs the young lion story.
I have to say it's a fun and amusing ad and it's good to see Tiger look like he's actually enjoying himself. While I thought that friendship with Tiger and a change of equipment might not be in Rory's best interest, it just might be in Tiger's best interest.
Look, Tiger never looks like he's having fun out there and for good reason. He's not playing like he wants, he's not winning and dominating like before and the media still likes to mention his sexual improprieties whenever they get a chance to slip the knife in sideways.
OK, sure, the Nike ad was staged and everyone on his best behavior, but you could tell they were having fun doing it and that's the important thing.
If Tiger is to regain his form, he needs to have a good time out there.
What was interesting is the "bad boy" aspect of it. Unlike other golf ads where players were holing out from all over the place, Tiger and Rory were dropping their shots into various cups, glasses and the like – including Rory supposedly driving a ball through the open window of a house and into a glass of ice tea. They also broke an office window and dropped the ball into a carpeted practice putting hole, and off a gong and into a bowl of soup.
This would be vandalism in any other world, but for an advertisement, it's funny. Especially, the look on the guy's face with the iced tea. I just hope some of the club members in Viet Nam don't get the idea to try this at their various clubs and driving ranges.
Yes, there were some funny lines in there, including Tiger asking Rory if that was his "real hair".
If you get a chance to see it on youtube, just do it. (sorry, I couldn't resist)
OK, onwards…
The Tet holiday is quickly approaching and the clubs are getting ready for the onslaught of players looking to make the most of their holiday time, especially the resorts.
Here in Phan Thiet and Da Lat, we've got the hotels all booked up, the greens maintained and pro shops stocked. I imagine the other clubs are doing exactly the same.
To be honest, with the economic crisis, business has been down and we all hope the coming year will bring a reversal of fortunes and, so far, Tet bookings are showing an upward trend which makes me hopeful the economy might be starting to rebound a bit.
I still get amused when people think I, or any of the other pros working for a living at the various clubs in Viet Nam, play golf anytime we want. Some actually think I play every day.
Man, I wish life was that easy.
The truth of the matter is that many of us get out for 9-18 holes maybe once a week, unless we have a caddie training program going on. Yes, we DO retrain the caddies from time to time and use the excuse to play a little, but not that often.
Like other managers, our days are filled with budget meetings, handling daily operational and administrative issues and dealing with the occasional outraged player who is complaining about who knows what. It's all par for the course in the life of a golf course manager or director of golf.
Because I don't play nearly as much as I would like, my swing mechanics tend to break down once in a while and that can be very frustrating.
For example, a few weeks ago, I was complaining about my wedges. In fact, my distance and control started to slip with most irons until I realized I wasn't cocking my wrists fully. This relatively forgotten "third gear" plays a major role in the swing and without it, you suffer.
So, after fixing it, I started knocking down the flagsticks again with my wedges and my distance returned as well. I gotta tell you that a 200-yard 6-iron is a lot of fun, but even more so when it ends up next to the cup.
Driver control improved once I started my downswing with my left arm again.
Funny how little things mean a lot… — VNS