It's a summer tradition in July which dates back 30 years now. Some years are better than others, with all content aimed to be both somewhat informative and wildly entertaining. I certainly recall numerous marketing efforts from the Discovery Channel to promote Shark Week, primarily last year with the race between Michael Phelps and a great white which flopped, and this year with shows featuring Shaq, Lindsey Vonn and Aaron Rodgers. Shark Week is indeed a summer tradition which encompasses a wild audience, and local businesses getting into the act as well by selling shark-themed cookies, cakes, pies, etc. However, Shark Week to me reminds me of something entirely different.
Growing up, 'The Shark' was none other than Greg Norman and I've been a fan of his ever since I could swing a golf club (ironically I realized we both have similar swings no less). I wrote this entry almost two months ago and decided to save it for this week during the summer phenomenon, as well as the conclusion of The Open, with the narrative based on a review of a Golf.com podcast where Greg Norman joined Sean Zak to talk about life mostly off the golf course. I was actually on my way to a Red Sox game when this episode came out and was the only time in my life where I wished the traffic got heavier heading into Boston because I wanted to finish the podcast. There were three main takeaways which were featured in this June 6th episode, and hopefully they resonate well in some capacity with those of you reading this. They include the following: "ROT" or Return on Time Attack Life "DIN DIP" or 'Do it now, and do it proper.' ROT Again, this episode dropped on June 6th, and I don't think a day has passed where I've muttered this phrase in my head at least once. "Return on time," what an interesting concept. For example, take into account what you've done today from the time you woke up until right this second. If you worked out, did you get out of it everything you wanted? If you went out to breakfast, was it time well spent or was it something to pass the time until you had to go to work? What about after you got to work? Did you sit around and read the RBC Canadian Open preview or did you spend it in a useless meeting on how to best schedule out your co-workers vacation days for the remainder of the summer? Either way, take into account your return on time. Traffic and commute time notwithstanding, did you lay around all weekend or did you spend it with people you care about and make memories which will last you deep into the summer. ROT can be looked at from a professional perspective, and even more in a personal perspective. Like I said, I've spent almost two months with this phrase puttering around my mind and take the time to look at how I've used my free time and if it could be of better use in the future. Attack Life This has always been Greg Norman's mantra, whether on the golf course or in the boardroom of his 100 business ventures. Never settling and always finding ways to prove yourself to others is how Norman played the game beginning in the 80's, in large part because he didn't grow up a golfer. Born in Australia and growing up surfing in a wealthy part of town, it was his mother who inspired him to swing a golf club later during adolescence. Once he got the bug, he parlayed that illness into two Open championships and a number of weeks spent ranked number one in the world. But seriously, type into your browser www.shark.com (what a baller to have that URL to call his own by the way) and look at his portfolio. Golf course design, apparel, real estate, land development etc etc etc. That is absolute MADNESS that he can be coherent and aware on how each of these entities are performing, how his staff is handling day to day tasks, all while keeping sane himself. Attacking life is a major understatement for the Shark. DIN DIP Do it now and do it proper is a great mindset to have when completing every day tasks. This truly does not matter whether you are putting together a sales deck, taking out the trash, writing a thank you note, whatever. If you commit to something, no matter how low or how high the level of importance appears, do it to the best of your ability. By doing it now, and doing it proper the first time around, this allows you to increase your ROT and focus on other tasks which lead you to a healthy and fulfilling life. That's the approach I've always taken with schoolwork, especially in college. I knew the true value of getting things done ahead of time, and I never had to cram or pull all-nighters from putting projects and papers off until the last minute. Adopting an 'attack life' mindset will help give you the motivation you need to complete the task adequately the first time. In closing, ask yourself what your ROT will be when watching Shark Week this week on Discovery Channel. Will it provide you fulfillment and excitement? Will it become a new tradition you share with your family, friends and co-workers around your cubicle or will you chalk it up to something you've tried but won't bother watching again? I never thought a golf podcast would ask so many questions and provide so many answers at the same time but then again, Greg Norman is simply in a league of his own.
Folks, I'm going to present some breaking news that may have you all shocked and confused...it's bachelor/bachelorette party season. To some, this means some rest and relaxation at a spa or small resort close to where said bride and groom reside. To others (the vast majority of others no less), it's trips to either Nashville, Austin and the like (Vegas is so tired) over not two...not three...not four...you get it. Evidence of these trips is sprayed all over the various forms of social media, particularly Instagram and SnapChat stories which makes even the most mundane and bland parts of the trip seem like we're all missing out. To some extent, maybe we are? Actually nah, you do you and I'll continue watching The Office. That being said, I must say I was fortunate enough to attend a bachelor party this weekend in the mountains of Vermont and to sum it up quickly...it was perfect. Why was it perfect? Golf was involved. Getting to Vermont was half the fun, as myself and a buddy who shall remain nameless because he out-drove me in the long-drive competition (atta boy Benny) rode top down and guns blazing in his Jeep Wrangler for four very short hours. Why were they considered short? Well beside the free tans during the drive on a flawless July morning, Benny and I decided to break the roadie up with nine holes halfway through the drive. THE Maplewood located in just gorgeous Bethlehem, NH along the White Mountain route to Vermont was the perfect way to get out and stretch the legs. The golf before the golf. The party before the party. We were in and out in two hours and back on the road, like it never happened. Except it did, and it set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Not going into the full breakdown of the weekend, the simple point of this posting is explaining why golf is a perfect activity for each and every bachelor party, regardless of skill or interest. To paint the scene, it's Saturday afternoon in the summer and we're a group of 16 extremely good looking and intelligent individuals of all skill levels. By the luck of the draw, or the hat, I was placed on a team with said long-drive champ, the bachelor (atta way Mikey D!), and our assigned weekend photographer who also had the shot of the day on the 17th hole of Sugarbush Golf Club (cheers Tony!). The other groups filled out a squad who, at the beginning of the round was held in very low regard by the bartender since she may have seen us trying to load up the carts with our own coolers, some kind of a no-no in the green mountain state. After agreeing to fill the coolers with PURCHASED beverages from the club, her attitude quickly changed, as did ours. Thinking back to other bachelor parties I've attended, traveling with a large group who have different intentions on what they'd like to achieve on said weekend can be tough for everyone involved. Some activities suit half the group, while the other half couldn't be bothered. But golf? Golf's different. Golf involves beer. Golf involves competition. Golf involves getting to know people you met 20 minutes ago and leaving the course with the promise of being each others beer-die partner in about four hours. You're outside, you're in a golf cart flying around in a beautiful setting, you're playing a format where everyone is able to participate (scramble) and it's almost impossible to get down on yourself because if you hit a shitty shot? You play your partners shot, end of story. In closing, and I know I'm bias when I say this, but if every bachelor party I attend from here on out (or family vacation, solo vacation, birthday party, etc) involves golf? Well, you won't hear me arguing. Except when the measuring stick comes out during the long-drive and closest to pin challenge. That shit's rigged. Cheers Mikey, you're the best.
...what the hell? So here I am, minding my own business when Golf Channel broke the news of the PGA Tour announcing the full 2018-2019 schedule for next season. Analysts had speculated these scheduling shifts for months now, most notably the PGA Championship kicking off #majorszn by moving from August to May, and the PLAYERS Championship moving from May to March. Great move, everyone is in agreement. In fact, roughly the first half of the schedule remains the same, with the roundabout part of the opening stretch is almost identical to the dates of last year. Beginning the season ONE WEEK after last year's President's Cup was indeed a wild move, and there certainly won't be much wiggle room between France and the Brendan Steele Open in October. Aside from California and Florida getting virtually they're own stretch of real estate, followed by the Texas events and the dog day of summer events, one glaring date stuck out that is more sad than upsetting. This is the removal of the Dell Technologies Championship over Labor Day weekend, or, most notably and will forever be known as, the Deutsche Bank Championship played at TPC Boston in BEAUTIFUL Norton, MA (shout out Wheaton Lady Lyons). Now I can sit here and get all sappy and say the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship was my first pro golf event I ever attended. It was also the first time I got a glimpse (albeit for a split second) of one Eldrick Woods (you know, two months before IT happened...) as well as the first time I saw Rickie Fowler who was rocking the long hair and Redbull pro series look. With a full purple PUMA suit, I said to my buddy Nate "THERE is the man I'm going to run into at an In-N-Out Burger in Phoenix, AZ eight years later. I just KNOW IT!" Well damn if I'm not a fortune teller. The reasoning for the removal of the Dell Tech (which gets it back in 2020 but who cares at the moment) is the increased competition for viewers at the end of August because of the big bad NFL. No one watches golf once football season kicks off, hell the numbers even start to dwindle once preseason starts. That's just the way it is, and I think the PGA Tour did an exceptional job at moving events around for the most part. But if you're telling me there is a tournament in RENO NEVADA in...JULY?! And only one event in the New England event all season? Have you ever been to New England in the summer? Aside from the Travelers which golf fans obviously know does big numbers because of last year's final round, and even this year's event which saw Bubba Watson win it for like the third time, how can there only be one event in New England? Same with in Canada, with only the RBC Canadian Open getting its event the week before Pebble in 2019. I know the market isn't crazy popular in Vermont or Maine, but the amount of incredible courses throughout the region and especially in Massachusetts to not have an event even on the Web.com come through simply doesn't sit well with me. It's cool that Michigan and Minnesota are adding events next season, but who doesn't love lobster rolls and the ocean? Figure it out Jay, and come hang out with us!
...apparently nothing. And that's unfortunate. If Bryson isn't allowed to use a compass in his profession, does this truly mean that what you learn in school does NOT matter in the real world...? This is an sadly a question I am forced to ask myself (and all of my dedicated readers) as the USGA ruled against DeChambeau's use of a compass two weeks ago at the Travelers Championship. Being one of the thousands in attendance down in Cromwell, I have to place some of the blame on me for not noticing this heinous act and putting a stop to it. In no way, shape or form should a respectable athlete be using this "unusual equipment" to help him gain a competitive advantage. He was bound to get caught, no doubt about it. Let's look at the big picture here: the man used an actual compass to help pin point the exact hole locations during the tournament. Could you imagine if he pulled out a TI-83 to help calculate score? Would this also be frowned upon? Admittingly the most use my personal calculator ever got was during class when someone showed me how to download solitaire and I watched my pre-calculus grade slip on a daily basis. There's conversation about range finders and other video and whether or not they should be allowed to help the players during play, but I never expected a compass to be considered unusual equipment. What a world, do less Bryson. Just do less.
“With Woods about to make a monumental mistake, Scott uttered seven words that would have made the games Scottish ancestors proud: “Hey Tiger, did you move that back?” P. 115, Tiger Woods. Benedict & Keteyian (By the way, how bout bonus points for the attempted APA or MLA proper citation attempt in a blog? Pretty sweet...) There are a few things I need to explain before I get into this post, albeit comes at a perfect time. The excerpt above is from the new book Tiger Woods, which highlights the early career of the greatest golfer of all time and takes the reader through his historic rise to fame and notorious fall from grace to which he's trying to redeem at the current time. I will say I've only reached the part of the book where he officially turns pro in 1996, which allowed me to freshen up on the infamous U.S Amateur down at Pumpkin Ridge vs. Steve Scott. Now Scott was the perfect competition for Tiger, especially since he had him on the ropes after the first 18 holes of the match. Imagine being Scott though? Watching Tiger walk to the first tee alongside only Phil Knight, Butch Harmon and Wally Uihlein? What a joke. Fast forward, as the story goes, the two reach the 16th hole at Pumpkin Ridge with Scott up two. As he settled in to putt, Scott quickly informed Tiger he thought he had mis-marked his ball like the quote from above. At almost an instant, Tiger stood up and remarked his ball before sinking the birdie to move within one and eventually win the match. No acknowledgement from Tiger to Scott, no compliments, no handshake, no nothing. Oh Cat. We move ahead to July 1, 2018. The hot pairing surrounding TPC Potomac wasn't Tiger-Burgoon, or Blair-Armour, or even Cejka-DJDFUNK. Nope, it's Joel Dahmen-Sung Kang who moved the controversial needle post final round. As it story goes, Kang apparently hit his ball into a hazard and gave himself a complimentary drop much to the hawkeyes of Dahmen. Joel took to Twitter and dropped a hard 'C' all over our asses against Kang to no avail of the PGA Tour. Yada, yada, yada Dahmen signed the card apparently because he had no choice and went on to finish in whatever place.
Now the real question is asked, again perfect timing due to my slow reading habits: Had Dahmen been Tiger's opponent in 1996 (which is funny because the two were paired together this past Saturday no less), would Joel had spoken up like Steve Scott to help out the machine in the making? Or would he have known to keep quiet and essentially wrap the championship on technicality and go on to become the greatest golfer who ever lived? Well that would obviously be impossible because Dahmen is only 31, but just think about it. In 1996 Tiger was on a damn mission. In the final tournament prior to turning professional, with the likes of the CEO of Nike and Titleist quite literally in his back pocket and one of the best instructors of all time in his bag, what a way to completely ruin the moment by waiting a millisecond after Tiger attempted his putt to alert an official of the ball misplacement and claim the title for himself. Now I don't know that much about Joel Dahmen, and I only know about Steve Scott because of the book (he also married his caddie which would be a sick idea for a golf movie) but what a controversy we'd have in 1996 and beyond if Scott called Tiger on that marking. In retrospect, it may not have mattered especially since Tiger won the 1994 and 1995 U.S Amateurs. Maybe he'd return to school in an attempt to win his third U.S Amateur in four years? Maybe he'd stay and win a second-straight individual championship? Or maybe he'd be in the same exact position we find him 22 years later. It's fun to speculate. I would've most certainly taken him down, but then again I was never much of a tattle tale.
This has always been Greg Norman's mantra, whether on the golf course or in the boardroom of his 100 business ventures. Never settling and always finding ways to prove yourself to others is how Norman played the game beginning in the 80's, in large part because he didn't grow up a golfer. Born in Australia and growing up surfing in a wealthy part of town, it was his mother who inspired him to swing a golf club later during adolescence. Once he got the bug, he parlayed that illness into two Open championships and a number of weeks spent ranked number one in the world. But seriously, type into your browser www.shark.com (what a baller to have that URL to call his own by the way) and look at his portfolio. Golf course design, apparel, real estate, land development etc etc etc. That is absolute MADNESS that he can be coherent and aware on how each of these entities are performing, how his staff is handling day to day tasks, all while keeping sane himself. Attacking life is a major understatement for the Shark.
