John Kim's blog

My friends at TRUE Linkswear shoes have been leaders in bringing the minimalist movement to golf. Their philosophy of efficient design to utilize the anatomical features of the foot as opposed to highly structured and engineered footwear has proven to be a big commercial success. So that's a fancy of way of saying - they design shoes that make you feel as if you're barefoot, but give you the support you need for your golf swing. Tour player Ryan Moore is a part owner of the company - but also wears them while competing. So now they've come out with their 2013 line.

Tiger Woods celebrated his 37th birthday today. I trust and hope it was a good one.  

Regardless of a person's views on Tiger Woods the person, there really is not much debate on Tiger Woods the golfer - he dominated the game in stretches that this generation has never seen - perhaps no generation has.  Even more, golf as an industry owes much to Woods - and still rely on his drawing power to help the health of the game on many levels.  

Phil Mickelson knows Torrey Pines - both the South and the North courses.  Mickelson grew up in the San Diego area and has played countless rounds, both casual and tournament, on the iconic layouts including winning his first PGA Tour title as a pro at the Buick Invitational (now The Farmers Open).  (Mickelson's first PGA Tour title was at the Northern Telecom Open but he was an amateur at the time).

Take the best elements of miniature golf.  Add the insane wackiness of video game settings.  Now stretch it out to a championship yardage golf course.  It doesn't exist ... yet.  But in China, it just might soon.  And oh yes, I'd make a trip to play this.  

A Texas golf pro recently set a world record by using the longest usable golf club - over 14 feet long! - to hit a ball 146 yards.  Why?  Um, well - why not??

Check out the video and story here.

From the earliest days of competition, the thought has been that negative feelings toward an opponent would only help motivate a person to defeat them. Storied athletic rivalries are often accompanied by stories of bitter feelings and outright hostility (i.e. Ali-Frazier, Belicheck-Mangini, Brett Favre-Aaron Rogers) or even mutual respect can have some tense moments (Nicklaus-Palmer, Connors-McEnroe, etc.).  

Camera shots of the crowd, the water, a cute kid, etc...are standard for golf coverage.  In the business, they are called "cut aways" and they always add some flavor to a pretty standard routine of covering sports.  

But sometimes, that flavor becomes part of the coverage - such as Friday's incident of a baboon running onto the golf course and then "monkey-ing" around with a cameraman's lunch and golf cart.  And to that we say...."Awesome."

Missing three footers giving you fits? Ready to snap your driver because you can't find a fairway? Relax, it's just a game - it's supposed to be fun.  The joy of the game is the challenge.  It's not like your efforts are going to put you in a mental institution -- well, unless you're this guy.