E9golf

PGA TOUR Players grow weary of tough courses

The rough is up this year, pins are tucked and as a result, birdies are down.  While I don't like to see every week set up like the Hope, I do think there's a happy medium and it seems that PGA TOUR players would like to see some diversity in course setup.

Golf: In a year of tough majors, players have had plenty of experience

Monday After the Open

The tough setup got me thinking, what Major golf tournament course would be the most fun playing on the Monday after the event?

Would I enjoy playing Oakmont on the Monday after the Open? Heck no. I’m a respectable player, having competed in College and on various mini-tours for a few years just after college. I couldn’t break 90 there right now. Before they put the USGA stamp of approval on Oakmont I might have been able to scrape out something in the 70’s.

Give me Augusta the day after the Masters. Give me Sawgrass after the Players. Or maybe Southern Hills post PGA. Oakmont? I’ll wait for the membership to widen back the fairways, soften up the greens a hair (I said soften not slow), and take an inch or two off the top. Then, and only then might I be able to enjoy this masterpiece. So, any Oakmont Member out there who reads this, get out the Triplex mower and give me a call!

US Open 07-Golf History Not in the Making

I’m about to say something blasphemous, so please grant me a temporary pardon until you at least hear me out. I generally don’t enjoy watching the US Open. This year was no exception. There, I said it. It’s comforting to get that out in the open…

I can give you all of the typical reasons. The golf course setups are too hard, borderline disastrous in many cases (think Sunday at Shinnecock a few years back). I also hate the concept of turning a par 5 into a par 4 just for the sake of making par that much more unattainable. Or maybe it’s just the borderline absurdity of Johnny Miller attempting to convince me that he has any clue about the modern game.

Granted, the Open was won by a very solid playing Argentine (what a good week for Argentina with Cabrera and then the Spurs victory and two key players coming from his native country). Ultimately the competitor who played the best won this week and I am certain that’s the goal of the USGA.

However, great sports theater to me is all about great rallies from behind to catch the leader at the finish line. And having a course setup that allows a few birdies down the stretch to me offers just that type of theater.

Tiger hit a wonderful tee shot on 17 and had literally no chance from the bunker. Birdie on 18? Forget about it, wasn’t going to happen. And thus, the USGA missed a chance to write a chapter in golf history because the course was set up just too hard. Instead, we got another career grinder who won because he was able to keep his hands on the steering wheel just long enough to limp it across the finish line. Don’t get me wrong, I’m truly happy for Cabrera. And no, I wasn’t necessarily rooting for Tiger to win it all (I was actually pulling for Baddeley).

I’m more interested though in tournaments, finishes and story lines that help grow the game of golf. 18 holes of playoff golf on a Monday would have been good for the game. It’s a shame it had no chance of happening…

Cool tool helps Build local golf course maps

We ran across this tool the other day and have loaded all the local golf courses in a map.  Very cool...

San Antonio Golf Courses

My Shopping Mall experience

Yesterday was dedicated to shopping, the traditional way.  My fiance and I jumped in the truck early and headed to the mall, successfully beating the crowd to the punch with our early arrival.  I imagine upon leaving we could have sold our parking spot for $20 to the dozens of cars cruising the lot hoping to get lucky with a decent space.

Even though I own an ecommerce website, I still enjoy shopping the traditional route from time to time.  For me, it's more of a "people watching, check out the competition" experience. 

As we cruised from store to store with our list in hand, a gift card here, a traditional gift there, I started paying attention to the type of service we were receiving along the way.  Truth be told, it was basically awful with two exceptions, the Apple Store and the Gap.  I am going to give the other stores the benefit of the doubt by admitting the following:

• It was first thing in the morning on what probably was going to shape up to be a very busy day for most employees
• It was deep into the holiday shopping season and I assume most employees have worked a number of hours since Thanksgiving
• Most employees that we dealt with were likely seasonal and had little training

That being said, I still have to wonder why customer service has become so mediocre.  I wonder how long this trend will continue until the bulk of shopping gravitates to online? 

I also have to wonder if the generation that is traditionally filling the bulk of part-time positions at retail stores have grown up in a generation with mediocre service and this is all that they know how to provide themselves?

This wasn't really intended to be a rant about customer service, but it does inspire me to look at our own systems to ensure we are providing the best service that we possible can.

do we:

• Fill orders quickly and provide the necessary tracking info so that customers are in the loop regarding their shipment?
• Respond appropriately and with a cheerful tone when questions are asked of our products?
• provide navigation on our site that is intuitive, simple and prominently displays the ability to contact us with questions?

As more and more people gravitate to the online shopping experience we'll keep working on ways to provide a shopping experience that ultimately is better than the one received at traditional bricks/mortar retail.  It's an exciting time in ecommerce.

ps.  this post was written in the 18 minutes that I was on hold with my cable company waiting to disconnect my service.  We'll save that for a later post.

Customer Service Question of the Holidays

Of course it's never fun when someone wants to return a product, but even worse when you think you did everything ok in the sales/delivery process.

Evidently it wasn't our fault this time...

Let me say that I was very pleased with your service and am not happy that I have to return the bag. But, in order to keep peace in the family and make a dumb ass son-in-law happy I must return the item.

Unfortunately I didn't have the guts to ask any follow up questions.

Magic Blender

Tiger the Global Brand gets play on Advertising Age

A quick-read article in Advertising Age on Tiger's impact on Nike Golf, Buick and EA sports.  Interesting to note that Tiger has lowered the demographic of the typical Buick client and had such an impact on Nike Golf's numbers.  Not to mention the impact on the tournament purses on the PGA tour. 

While many would agree that Tiger is likely the most globally recognizable player in PGA Tour history, I tend to think that Nike's climb to number four overall in the golf industry has a great deal to do with their increase in spending on R&D and the progress they've made with their equipment.  What's interesting is their insistence on maintaining a premium brand, with even their game improvement clubs such as the slingshot being at one of the higher price points in the industry. 

If Nike ever created a secondary brand that focused more on entry level and box sets (still quality but at a lower price point), they might be able to leverage the increased awareness that Eldrick provides while introducing more players to the game.  They do a good job with Junior sets, they just need to do a better job targeting the beginning adult who wants to learn and would be purchasing their first set.  Add a Tiger Learning Center with locations at every major market across the US and I think you've got a recipe to grow not only Tiger's number, but golf's numbers overall.

Not that it's Tiger's responsibility to grow the game of golf, but Nike could really leverage this increased viewership into something that really benefits the growth of the game overall.  What many don't realize is that while the interest in golf has truly exploded since Tiger came on the scene, the actual growth of the game (people visiting golf courses) has been relatively flat.  Consequently Nike's assention up the ranks of equipment totals has come at the expense of their competitors by stealing market share. 

Great Analysis of first round Ryder Cup Pairings

The teams are set for the morning Foursomes.  I love all the US pairings and look to see Lehman work in Johnson/Taylor in the PM in the Fourball competition.

Here's a link to a A great analysis

Ryder Cup Controversy-Ugly Americans?

It appears the first shot has been fired at the Ryder Cup but unfortunately it wasn't struck with a driver.  Because of the weather Captain Tom Lehman took all 12 American Ryder Cuppers out to practice together, a 12-some, but only for 9 holes and starting each hole from an average of 120 yards.

I am sure the logic was that hitting full shots in high winds would provide no practice benefit and could potentially even tweak the timing of the team, but I think Captain Lehman might have overreacted just a bit.  9 holes in the wind isn't going to ruin the game of these gifted players and there's still a full day of practice to get their games back even if it does.

That being said, the thought of these Multi-Millionaires putting up $100/hole of their own money to play a 9 hole short game skins competition as a 12-some is pretty cool. 

Too bad the fans didn't appreciate it...

A Nasty Day turns into play time for the Ugly Americans

Other interesting Ryder Cup Articles:

Furyk-Woods pairing, surely

Ryder Cup Golf:  War of the winds and words