My Following story first appeared in Golf Canada Magazine and also ran in the Globe & Mail and The Dallas Sun. It's original title "Slinging Birdies in Texas Hill Country" was the inspiration for this blog's name:

Purists insist that walking is the best way to experience a golf course. While the romance of feeling the full largesse of a course’s undulating curvature under one’s feet is dandy, I have learned that a layout’s topographic subtleties fully reveal themselves once elevated four or five feet above the ground…on horseback.

The Cowboy awakening came while clippity-clopping alongside a few holes of Austin’s Wolfdancer Golf Club aboard a 1,250-pound, doughnut-loving gelding named Dakota. The club is among the Austin Hyatt Lost Pines Resort’s plethora of amenities and enticements, which also include a butterfly sanctuary, pet longhorn steers, and hybrid elliptical bicycles, and the Renegade Trailhead, saddle-up central for riding adventures.

A foursome on the sixth green here got a kick out of me tipping my Tilley hat in appreciation and applauding “It’s in the hole, partner,” just as a 15-footer was about to plop right in the cup. Provided a caddy or stablehand could follow along to rake up droppings, and a way to fasten fourteen clubs to a steed was devised, I wouldn’t mind galloping after balls on a sure-footed trotter like Dakota. Riding on cart paths might chap traditionalists, but it would shave half an hour off of a round.

Sports Meme of the Year Nominees
#Dufnering
It was nice for Jason Dufner to hangout with some kiddies at a youth center in Irving, Texas ahead of the 2013 Byron Nelson Championship but maybe he could have at least pretended to be happy to be there? A picture of Dufner slumped against a map looking like a toddler needing to go potty with his hands squished under his hamstrings stoked a social media inferno.  The best pouty-faced parodies came courtesy of PGA compadres Bubba Watson, Luke Donald, and Rickie Fowler.

This past weekend silly season’s sappiest event, the PNC Father Son Challenge unfolded. The cockle warming scramble tourney is rife with ‘atta boy’ back pats and promos where young men talk openly about loving their dads. Connor Janzen left very few viewers dry-eyed when during a break he related to the camera that his dad feels that the bonding opportunity is paramount and the scorecard is secondary, an attitude he feels shows “unconditional love.”

The Cinks would come out on top Sunday with a pair of eagles in the final five holes (one courtesy of a 30-foot putt by Connor on 14 and his famous pops returned the favor with a phenomenal green read on 18) to seal the deal. 

The comic highlight of the tourney belonged to Fuzzy Zoeller after his daughter Gretchen, who played college golf, completely whiffed on a ball.  He walked up to her and good-naturedly booted her club before consoling her.  The mikes picked up Gretchen’s befuddled reaction: “Dad, I don’t know what to say. Should I pray again?”

A New England golf course wants the tippling to start at much earlier tee times.  Trull brook currently starts selling beer at 11a.m. but wants to roll back  beer o’clock to 8 a.m.  It still has to get by a town council vote but indications from the local paper are that it will pass.

"I was just a little taken aback that people would start drinking at 8 in the morning," he said this week, David Gay, a board of Selectmen member who will be voting on the decision told the area paper, the Lowell Sun.

 "From what they said, that's not unusual for tournaments ... I understand what they're trying to do, and I'm not going to kill it.”

Remember when Carlsberg unwittingly established themselves as a brand for 30-somethings with their  “Welcome to your Carlsberg years” campaign?  The idea was to paint Carlsberg as a beer for discerning consumers whose tastes had evolved and were looking for something that meshed with their mature sensibilities.   "It's basically people who have graduated from mainstream beers and they're looking for something a little bit different," said Gino Cantalini, director of marketing for Carlsberg explained back in the advertisement’s heyday.  But what the often co-opted slogan did  was anoint the pale Danish lager as beer you graduate too when you hit your mid-thirties and Ecco Golf seems to be heading in that direction too only aiming a decade higher in the sweet spot of the golfer demo.

Weighing in at 9.5 oz is Puma’s entre into the ultralight spikeless space.  Carbon rubber outsoles and aid in the traction the usual nubbins all the shoe brands utilize since the Ecco Street popularized the front door to fairway hybrid movement and TRUE Linkswear turbocharged the brazen feel-every-contour-of-a-course barely there trend. Monolites are reminiscent of the Usain bolt casual kicks Puma first rocked a couple years back.

Preliminary smooth leather colorways include Tradewinds/White/Monaco Blue and Chestnut/Black Coffee/Vibrant Orange and there’s also a perforated leather version (pictured).

What’s that red golf cart accessory that could double as a dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled ninja?  It’s Puma’s Soundchuck new bluetooth speaker for new school golfers who prefer swing music to cricket chirping silence.

Puma’s pro stable standouts Dick F Dick Fowler P.I. (AKA. Rickie), Lexi Thompson, and Jonas Blixt apparently now pump tunes while they practice.  The water-resistant portable speakers have magnets making it easy to clip’em onto your golf bag or whatever else you’re toting.  The rechargeable battery has six hours of playback and you can take and answer calls on the built-in mic if you want to yodel into your chuck.

Spent some time testing out Innnovations Golf's ClearBlade putter.  Check out my review or click below for the video version.

Sure, on-course sartorial choices can make a statement but a golfer’s swagger is often personified by their head cover choice.   You can stay serious by sticking with factory club-snugglers or you can let your freak flag fly just a hair by finding one that will keeps your clubs just as comfy and protected but speaks to you on a deeper level than a yawn inducing TaylorMade or Adams standard.  Fred (pictured) fit my 460cc head driver like a champ and also helped me hone my aim game on the practice green subbing in for a drab flag.

Vancouver’s Creative covers for golf can transform pictures into a plush custom golf cover anything from Arby’s curly fries to a pink shankopotomus.  They also have a slew of widely known licenses, everything from Kiss and Alice Cooper to the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo.  Check out Creativecoversforgolf.com to scope out their lineup.