Season Ends. . .

At this point every year, there usually comes a morning when I wake up, open the blinds on my bedside window, and peer out to see the end of the golf season. It's not necessarily the literal end of the golf season; there are always those days where 45 degrees feels like 65 degrees and the snow melts, the ground hardens, and you put on the mudders and grab the moon-bag, but its the moment when your drive just leaves you.

I believe mine is today, particularly coming off my reoccurring nightmare that's plagued my sleeping habbits for years. I find myself waking from a dream where I'm standing on the 18th tee of a high school tournament course and I keep hooking drive after drive into the fairway bunker. During my senior year, I came to the second hole of a playoff -- after shooting a back nine 32, with a three putt bogey on the 18th, for a 68 -- and drove it in the left bunker, forcing a lay up, and consequent bogey to lose. I've replayed this moment in my dreams and in day-dreams ever since.

Particularly, because I watched HBO's Back Nine at Cherry Hills: The Legends of the 1960 U.S. Open.

In the documentary, HBO uses clips from this interview -- Watch the whole thing, but pay attention to Mr. Hogan as he reminisces about his approach shot at the 17th hole, Sunday, of the U.S. Open where he lost the tournament.

Craig Bestrom published an article for the November issue of Golf Digest about non-golfer athletes that have taken an affinity to golf. There are several swing sequences of the athletes.
On a side note, are you kidding me with the Tony Romo estimated +3.3 index? Please. . .

Also, the Wall Street Journal published an article Oct. 17 about how a statute in the Stimulus Plan is providing tax credits to purchasers of electric vehicles -- including golf carts. Interestingly, they state that the tax credit is between $4,200 - $5,500, while ABC reports that it's a minimum credit of $2,500 plus additional money depending on the golf cart's battery life. (Via)

I found this graph of the WSJ article particularly offensive:

"This golf-cart fiasco perfectly illustrates tax policy in the age of Obama, when politicians dole out credits and loopholes for everything from plug-in cars to fuel efficient appliances, home insulation and vitamins. Democrats then insist that to pay for these absurdities they have no choice but to raise tax rates on other things—like work and investment—that aren't politically in vogue. If this keeps up, it'll soon make more sense to retire and play golf than work for living."

Golfdom reports that August 2009 rounds were down 1 percent from 2008:

"The National Golf Foundation recently surveyed 300 golfers about how their golfing and spending habits. Sixty-one percent said they were playing during off-peak days/times to manage their costs, 58 percent said they were playing less-expensive courses, and 53 percent said they were spending less on food and beverage."

"Steve Skinner, CEO of Kemper Sports, told NGF: Many assume that since rounds are flat, revenues should be as well. But the rounds number tends to obscure what is really happening throughout the industry. Member rounds are up, value course rounds are up, off-peak is up. So as an industry as a whole, revenue per round and total revenues are actually down.""