GOLDIE BOUNCE

This week Golf Refugees recorded an interview with Liza Churchill, host of Goldie Bounce Golf radio show on WATD FM 95.9, (www.959watd.com) all the way from sunny Boston, MA using Skype technology.

In case you are wondering ‘goldie bounce’ is when you get a lucky bounce off say a tree, from an errant golf shot. Or a lamp post if you're playing street golf.

Big thanks to Liza for sorting out all of the technical stuff and for inviting us on her show. She’s a real pro.

Liza who I kept calling Lisa, no idea why, has a great voice for radio, unlike yours truly. I thought about trying for a posh voice, aka David Cameron, but decided upon 'keepin it real'.

On hearing a rough edit, my voice sounds a bit pitchy and for some reason I keep repeating the same words when trying to describe our golfing hero Maurice Flitcroft. There’s a funny moment when my headset falls off, sounds as if I’ve momentarily fallen down a hole, but you can hear the full interview yourself this Sunday evening.

Naturally Golf Refugees naively expect a flood of offers from other radio shows. Ginger are you listening?
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OBAMA IS A FAN

Shush, don't tell anyone. 

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TIGER RAP

Go Tigrou from Fluo kids 

I got women in the 'burbs
Women in the the hood
Yeah my wifey mad
'cause she knows I'm no good
Man I'm just a dog
I'd be faithful if I could
But I'm Tiger Woods
Yeah, I'm Tiger Woods 

Maino - Tiger Woods 
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GOLF BALLS AS WEAPONS

 









Police are investigating whether Manchester United fans deliberately arrived late for last weeks first-leg tie of the Carling Cup semi-final against local rivals City with the aim of smuggling weapons, including golf balls into the Eastlands stadium. 

These potential missiles were seized from United fans outside the stadium, where 18 fans – 11 United, six City and one neutral – were arrested. United fans also ripped up seats to throw at the City contingent. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) made arrests for various public order offences.

The GMP match commander, assistant chief constable Ian Hopkins, said the late arrival of dozens of United fans led police to establish a cordon to prevent crushing and serious injury. City are also facing questions over the disorder.

Got us thinking, were the United  fans interested in distance or control or both?
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GOLF REFUGEES SPONSOR AMATOUR 2010

Amatour is a new exciting UK golf tour; the professional tour, for the amateur golfer. 

The idea behind Amatour is to provide the competitive handicap golfer, both Male and Female, with their very own tour. All Tour Events are played over 18 Holes. All players are welcome at any Event.

From the competition to the hospitality, Amatour's mission is to provide amateur golfers a professionally organized format in order to compete at the highest possible level.

Each player is announced on the opening tee and there's a professional, real-time scoring system with six screens located around the course.

There are now over 8,000 registered players. It’s free to register, just visit the Amatour web site, www.amatour.co.uk 

2010 will consist of a Southern and Northern Tour. In each region there will be 10 Championship events culminating in a Regional Tour Championship.

Players will compete in a Scratch Order of Merit and a Handicap Order of Merit. The winners will compete in an Amatour World Final in Ireland at the K Club.

Golf Refugees will be sponsoring Amatour throughout 2010.
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THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT GOLF ON BARRA

By Dom Joly: 
My travels have this week brought me to the Western Isles of Scotland. I am filming on the island of Barra and thought that a lot of you might not have that much of an idea about what kind of sporting activities are available on a remote Scottish island.

Before I came up here I had a little think and came up with some possibilities – fishing, hiking and seal clubbing were the three that came to mind instantly. Now that I've arrived and done some investigative work, however, I've realised just how ignorant I was. Barra is a sporting Mecca just waiting for you to don your lycra and get out here.

Golf Barra claims to have the western-most golf course in the United Kingdom. The good people of Enniskillen in Northern Ireland dispute this, however, so I'm not going to get into that geographical argument. The course itself is a hilly nine holes with a very particular local hazard. Every green is surrounded by an electric fence to prevent the local cows and sheep from wandering on and tucking in.

I haven't been able to play a round yet as the weather is a little on the parky side so I'm not sure what the form is should your ball land within a putter's length of the fence. I rather hope that you have to take it like an islander and get a shock while trying to sink your putt.

This is possibly something that Tiger Woods' handlers might like to consider as an alternative "control" technique.
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Shoes off

Should we all start throwing our sport shoes at World leaders? Walk barefoot in the park?

I know a golfer who prefers to play in sandals rather than expensive golf shoes, but how about strolling down the fairways exposing your bunions?

Despite all of the technology and hype surrounding sports shoes there are now more heel and Achilles tendon injuries. Astonishingly, there’s no evidence that any of modern sport shoe technology does anything, which may explain why Nike ads never explain what, exactly, their sports shoes are supposed to do.

In a 2008 research paper for British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr Craig Richards, a physician at The University of Newcastle in Australia, revealed that after sourcing 30 years worth of studies, he couldn’t find a single one that demonstrated running shoes made you less prone to injury. In Germany, Dr Robert Schleip at the University of Ulm said ‘if you encase the foot in thick shoes, you not only lose ground awareness, you limit your natural elasticity.’

There are of course leading scientists on both sides of the debate.

Instead of listening to the marketing gimmicks and popping down the shops to purchase the latest gear, we should all take a lesson from the Tarahumara Indians. Unlike the vast majority of sports people, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land gently on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair.

This ingenious, easy to learn style could have a profound effect.

ref: Christopher McDougall 'Born to Run'.
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Feed the fish

Why not do yourself a favour and the fishes by changing your golf ball to an Ecobioball on those tricky water hazard holes. No need to feel so cheesed off when you lob one into the pond. It’s not one of those ultra expensive Pro balls suitable only for Tiger and his mates. Just think of the little fishes who’ll get a nice feed and the environment as you watch your ball fly into the water with a satisfying splash.

Ecobioball is 100% biodegradable with fish food as it’s core. Manufactured using non contaminating materials.

Though it will probably bounce off the ice in this weather!
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Are white golf balls more dangerous?

Have you ever read an independent review of a leading golf brand criticising the poor visibility of their white golf balls in the air?

Have you ever watched golf on the telly when the cameraman has lost sight of the white golf ball as it flies through the air?

Are white golf balls more dangerous to spectators on the golf course, who are unable to see the white golf ball falling towards their heads?

Why is white the most popular colour for a golf ball?
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Golf Refugees are banned

Last week Golf Refugees suggested our site on a Linkedin discussion for ‘Best Golf web sites’, The Hackers Paradise (THP) had suggested their own site, but complained about Golf Refugees saying that our site is not for golfers.
Last year THP reviewed Golf Refugees heat absorbing original black golf ball and our range of carbon neutral golf apparel manufactured using wind and solar power.

They didn’t like the black ball, which wasn’t a complete surprise to us, as the heat absorbing black golf ball does divide opinion. However, we were disappointed that THP didn’t bother to warm up our original black golf ball in the Florida sunshine prior to testing as advised by us to gain the best performance and also failed to mention in their review whether they had noticed any difference in temperature from the heat absorbing properties of a black ball compared with the heat reflecting properties of the traditional white golf ball. This was a shame as Golf Refugees were genuinely interested in their opinion as they test a lot golf balls in hot sunny conditions.

THP offered to withdraw the review and discontinue with a review of our carbon neutral golf apparel. Golf Refugees asked for the black ball review to remain as it was and asked THP to proceed with a review of our sustainable and ethically made polo shirts. Ironically they were slightly too hot in our black polo shirts which made us wish we had sent them white eco polo shirts.

Golf Refugees received an e-mail from THP informing us that they work very closely with leading golf brands naming Bridgestone and Nike as examples. On the Linkedin discussion page Golf Refugees asked whether working so closely with leading golf brands could subconsciously affect writing independent reviews. THP got the hump with this calling it ‘scandalous’ and immediately banned future reviews of Golf Refugees 2010 tour spec heat absorbing black golf ball and our carbon neutral golf apparel.

Golf Refugees believe that our cabon neutral golf apparel was the first review by THP to discuss the merits of sustainable and ethical manufacture.

With the beginning of a new decade should independent reviewers ask more searching questions from leading golf brands on how their products are made?
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