EYE CANDY

With Rory taking time out from golf by watching some whiter than white tennis at sunny Wimbledon. Chin wagging with minted Murray and big apple McEnroe. One of the Beeb’s commentators uttered that Maria Sharopova is the highest paid female athlete, raking in a cool 25 million pounds per year. Granted she is six foot, blonde, cute lookin and won Wimbledon at the tender age of 17. It’s understandable that makers of sports apparel, shoes, watches, perfumes, shampoos etc would pay handsomely for her endorsement. My personal favourite at this year’s championship is Bulgarian Pironkova. Though she has just been knocked out by another ‘ova’.
Anyway, back to golf, all this got me wondering who’s the best female golfer and how much does she earn? I’ve read stories that Michelle Wie was worth 10 million dollars with sponsorship deals from Nike, and that was before she’d even won a tournament. Granted Annika Sorenstam earned a packet, but she did win several majors and had that Scandinavian appeal. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng is currently the best female golfer, but to earn the really big bucks does Tseng have the ‘eye candy’ to go with the undoubted talent?
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LADYBIRDS AND DRAGONFLIES

Picture by Les Catchick
The four largest producers of cotton are China, USA, India and Pakistan.

Only 0.8% of world cotton production is organic and just over 1.2% is fair trade.

For example Ikea uses 100,000 tons of cotton per year, which takes 170,000 tons of chemicals and 2,890 billion litres of water to grow. Brands such as Ikea, Gap and Levis are all trying to look at their cotton production and grow ‘better cotton’ which uses natural resources more efficiently.

In developed countries cotton farmers are subsidised by their governments to compensate them for any losses caused by natural disasters, unfortunately their counterparts in developing countries are not so lucky.

Pesticides were virtually unknown in Pakistan 30 years ago, now there is a market worth an estimated £150 million. Cotton is susceptible to many risks; including too much water and too little water, heavy wind and rain, greenfly and moth caterpillars. Hence local Pakistan farmers have turned to pesticides, despite the increased costs, to reduce their risks. We’ve all seems pictures of tractors being used to spray large fields, but in developing countries spraying of these hazardous chemicals are done by hand.
Instructions of how to use safely are all printed on the containers, but they are not much use if the vast majority of farmers in Pakistan cannot read. For those farmers who cannot afford the branded pesticides they can always turn to the black market which supplies cheaper, banned chemicals.

Hopefully in the near future ‘better cotton’ will let the natural predators; ladybirds and dragonflies, of cotton pests live long enough to enjoy a few crunchy snacks.
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SCIENCE BIT

Here at Golf Refugees we like a little bit of science and nature. We know some of the jargon to conduct experiments, such as ‘double blind tests’ and feel confident our research can stand upto peer scrutiny.

Now, we’ve all heard how the latest technology can add yards to your game, whether this is from a new multi-layer ball or super-hot faced driver. With the meteoric rise of Rory McIlroy, Golf Refugees have sent their intrepid player to investigate whether donning a Rory style curly mop can increase your golfing ability.

Our methodology focused on tests conducted over a few days using the following clubs; wedge, 6 iron, 4 iron, hybrid and driver. Measurements were taken of distance and accuracy when striking a golf ball. The same tests were performed on different days at the same venue with the same clubs, at a similar time with an identical level of consumed food and beverages to reduce variables.

To sumarise, donning a Rory style curly mop can increase your playing ability, in terms of both added distance and accuracy. Psychometric tests provided additional research material of increased brain activity and personality changes. One short sighted local even asked for an autograph which had a profound effect.

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CURLY MOP

Are Nike golf balls, clubs and clothing all rubbish now that their tour players, including Tiger, are unable to win any major golf tournaments?

Should all of us golf consumers switch over to which ever ball, club and shirt Rory McIroy uses?
With Rory set to become the brightest star in golf, he must be using the best gear.

Personally, I have always believed hair to be very important. Hence to kick off my golf star reincarnation I’m going to begin by wearing a curly mop. Just like Rory's.
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RORY MCILROY

Congratulations to Rory McIlroy, the youngest winner of the US Open since Bobby Jones back in 1923.
He dominated The Master’s for three rounds and now completely dominated the US Open. Some say he’s the new Tiger. Nope. He’s Rory McIlroy.

Northern Ireland's success with both Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy’s US Open wins has renewed calls for the Open Championship to return to its shores.

Only 14 golf courses have held the Open over the past 139 years. There must be many more golf courses dotted about the British Isles who could put on a great show. Let’s spread it about a bit more, instead of looking down the same old list.

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CATALYTIC CLOTHING

CatClo from Protein® on Vimeo.
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SUSTAINABLE GOLF INDEX

There are some big golf events kicking off.
Did you know there is a ‘sustainable golf index’ which measures the perceived sustainability of European professional golf tournaments?

Electric vehicles, biological catering and sustainable energy are some of the topics covered.

However, Golf Refugees noticed that there was no information regarding sustainable golf apparel.

We have now supplied evidence to the index, which states that if your tournament golf officials and volunteers wear carbon neutral polo shirts, you can save 1.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions. These figures are based on 200 eco polo’s.

What’s the point of wearing polluting golf polo shirts?

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