On the pole at Indy: Fuzzy Zoeller
May 18, 2013 - 9:43pm
John Holmes's picture
Ed Carpenter at the Indianapolis 500
Getty Images
Ed Carpenter won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 driving a car sponsored by Fuzzy Zoeller.

So after the Byron Nelson finished up Saturday evening, I was flipping channels and stopped when I got to the shootout for the pole at the Indianapolis 500.

What caught my eye? The graphic that showed Ed Carpenter on top with just a few minutes to go in the final qualifying session. 

And what's so special about Carpenter? As you can see in the photo above, his car is sponsored by Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka – which, of course, is owned by Fuzzy Zoeller.

Winning the pole is a huge deal for Carpenter, who is the owner/driver of his own single-car team. To take the pole for the Indy 500 for the first time in his career, he had to outperform the dominant multicar teams from Ganassi Racing, Penske Racing and Andretti Autosport, which any open-wheel fan can tell you is a tremendous feat.

There's no telling how Carpenter will fare against his goliath competition when the green flag flies on May 26. But one thing is sure – win or lose, he's earned Fuzzy's Vodka a whole lot of great publicity.

 

 

 
On the pole at Indy: Fuzzy Zoeller
College golf's longest winning streak ends
May 18, 2013 - 6:10pm
John Holmes's picture
Mary Hardin-Baylor women's golf team
Mary Hardin Baylor won the women's Division III golf national championship, and in doing so broke up one of the most historic streaks in all of college sports.

College golf is flying a bit under the radar right now, but this week has been one for the record books.

Earlier today, Lynn University rallied to overtake its Sunshine State Conference archrival Nova Southeastern and win the women's NCAA Division II title for the first time since 1997.

And on Friday, the University of Texas-Tyler outdueled Transylvania to win the men's Division III crown, the first national title in school history. The win capped off the career of Head Coach King Campbell in grand style, as he had announced that he was retiring at the tournament's end.

Impressive as those victories were, though, they paled in comparison to the history made Friday at the women's Division III finals, where Mary Hardin-Baylor won its first national title after four runner-up finishes. The real headline isn't that Mary Hardin-Baylor won, but that Methodist University finished third.

Here's why: Until Friday, Methodist was the only school ever to win the women's D-III crown. That's right – the only one.

Up until the year 2000, the NCAA conducted a combined tournament for both the D-II and D-III schools. In 2000, the divisions were separated to give each one its own champion. And every year since 1998 – two years before the split, and all 13 afterward – the Methodist women had prevailed.

Methodist's 15-year title streak was the longest active streak in any NCAA sport, and was the third-longest streak in the all-time history of NCAA athletics. The longest streaks were Kenyon College's 31 straight men's Division III swimming titles and the Kenyon women's 17 straight women's Division III swimming.

Over at USA Today, Craig Bennett assembled these facts to put Methodist's streak in perspective:

--Other than Methodist, the longest streak of NCAA golf titles was nine straight years, by the Yale men's team from 1905-13.

--Methodist's average winning margin in the Division III tournament was 35.7 shots. The only times its margin of victory was less than double digits was six shots over DePauw in 2012 and two shots over Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2004.

--Methodist won the 2007 title by 88 shots. The record victory margin for Division I women is 36 shots (Tulsa in 1982), and for Division II women it's 74 shots (Florida Southern in 2002). The biggest men's victory in any division is 49 shots by Division III California State-Stanislaus in 1979.

--And finally, three different head coaches – Kim Kincer, Vici Pate and current coach Tom Inczauskis – have led the Monarchs during their amazing winning streak.

Giving credit to the Monarchs for their amazing run of success right now feels a little like applauding a pitcher when his no-hitter is broken up in the eighth inning. But the program deserves plenty of applause – as does Mary Hardin-Baylor for its achievement in ending the streak.

After these action-packed few days, the NCAAs take a quick break, and they're right back at it on Monday with the start of the men's Division II finals. The women's Division I finals begin on Tuesday, with the men's Division I finals kicking off on May 28. You can follow all the action over at NCAA.com or on our special landing page.

 

 
College golf's longest winning streak ends
Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund celebrates 100th anniversary of U.S. Open win
May 17, 2013 - 11:07am
TJ Auclair's picture
Arnold Palmer
Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund
Francis Ouimet's great grand-daughter, Caitlin Wallerce with Arnold Palmer.

 

This past Wednesday was declared, "Francis Ouimet Day," by the state of Massachusetts. 
 
On that day The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund celebrated the 100th anniversary of Ouimet's stunning upset victory in the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. -- regarded as the most important moment in golf history by many.
 
Ouimet's victory was so important to golf because it was credited with bringing the game into the American sporting mainstream.
 
As part of the celebration of Francis Ouimet Day in Massachusetts on Wednesday, golf legend Arnold Palmer attended a function for the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund on Boston Harbor. Palmer watched and gave swing tips as Ouimet Scholars hit balls from the lawn of the Moakley Courthouse to a floating target in Boston Harbor.
 
Palmer is a supporter of the Ouimet Fund. The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund was established in 1949 and since that time has awarded over $25 million in college tuition scholarships to more than 5,000 students with demonstrated financial need. Ouimet Scholars work as caddies or in pro shop or course superintendent operation in Massachusetts. 
 
The Gala that evening sold out with over 2,100 attendees and was expected to be the largest golf dinner in the U.S. this year and possibly the largest ever held in the U.S. 
Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund celebrates 100th anniversary of U.S. Open win
Callaway Golf club manager holes ridiculous office putt
May 16, 2013 - 6:46pm
TJ Auclair's picture
Callaway Golf
YouTube
Callaway Golf Custom Club Manager Logan Fondren gets set to hole a putt you need to see to believe.

 

I'm not sure what your office is like, but many in the golf world -- my official office that I don't see often in Atlanta and my home office that I'm in each day -- feature multiple putters and makeshift golf holes. You know, for spur of the moment putting practice/putting contests.
 
Well, the folks at Callaway Golf have brought office putting contests to a whole new level.
 
We just received video of Callaway Golf Custom Club Manager Logan Fondren holing an insane putt from the top of a staircase. It was like one of those old Larry Bird/Michael Jordan McDonald's commercials in terms of ridiculousness -- banking it off floor boards, down stairs, etc. Of course, those commercials were made possible by special effects. Fondren's putt actually happened!
 
 
Trust me, you need to see it to believe it.
 
Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tj_auclair.
Callaway Golf club manager holes ridiculous office putt
The 'Adam Scott Effect' is under way in Australia
May 14, 2013 - 4:43pm
John Holmes's picture
Adam Scott at the Masters
Getty Images
Adam Scott, by winning the Masters, has inspired his fellow golfers back home in Australia.

The United States isn't the only place where golf is growing right now. The game is also on the rise in Australia, which is home to golf's newest major champion, Adam Scott.

The latest report from the Australian Golf Industry Council, issued earlier today, indicated that April delivered the highest number of competition rounds played in any month over the entire financial year to date (July through June), while total rounds growth over the April 2012 period was just less than 1 percent.

At a state level, Victoria generated the strongest rise in round numbers over April 2012 with a 3.2 percent increase to 325,007 competition rounds, the report said. For the 10 months to date in the current financial year, total rounds across Australia are up 5.8 percent over the year-ago numbers.

''April proved to be a positive month with the largest number of competition rounds recorded for a month in the year to date,'' said Golf Australia CEO and AGIC Chairman Stephen Pitt. 

April is, of course, also when Scott finally broke through and got Australia its long-awaited first green jacket. And as the celebration began Down Under, Pitt remarked that Australia's consistent growth would be boosted by Scott's victory.

"There is absolutely no doubt that Adam's win will have a significant impact on the Australian golf industry,'' Pitt said on April 22. ''His achievement and the people it inspires cuts through on all levels of golf.''

Anecdotally, the AGIC said, ''we’ve already had reports of increased foot traffic through golf clubs around the country in the days following his win. It's the ideal time to harness that enthusiasm for golf and welcome people, new and old, through the doors of golf facilities across the country."

The Australian Golf Industry Council was established in 2006 to help unite the golf industry. Its membership includes: Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association, Australian Ladies Professional Golf, Australian Sporting Goods Association, Golf Australia, Golf Management Australia, PGA of Australia and the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects.

 

The 'Adam Scott Effect' is under way in Australia
Less golf for Tony Romo this year?
May 11, 2013 - 7:21pm
John Holmes's picture
Tony Romo
Getty Images
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has been missing from several of his usual offseason golf outings this year.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo appears to be cutting down on his links time this offseason.

Romo, long known as one of the best celebrity golfers out there, played with Tiger Woods in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February, but apparently is sitting out a lot of his other usual offseason outings. The reason seems to be related to the six-year, $108 million contract he signed at the end of March, making him the highest-paid player in Cowboys history.

Soon after giving Romo that contract, Cowboys Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones said he expected his quarterback to focus even more on football all year round.

"Tony is going to have more time, more presence, not only in the offseason but when the season starts, beginning Monday, assuming we played Sundays," Jones told The Dallas Morning News. "He's going to have more time on the job. A part of what we agreed with was extra time on the job, beyond the norm. That doesn’t mean that he didn't have a lot of time on the job, but extra time on the job, Peyton Manning-type time on the job."

No word out of Big D on how much golf, if any, Romo is getting in these days. But according to ESPN Dallas, he's been skipping such high-profile events as PGA Tour pro-ams and the qualifiers for the U.S. Open and HP Byron Nelson Championship, where he's been a regular presence in recent years.

As a long-suffering Cowboys fan, I'm not sure what I think about this development. The truth is, Romo has always been quite active with his team and teammates during the offseason, even as he enjoyed his fair share of time on the golf course, despite the widespread perception that he paid more attention to golf than to football between seasons. 

Of course, I’m hoping for as many wins as possible – especially late in the season when the Cowboys traditionally struggle. But it seems to me that there's plenty of time for both football and golf during the offseason, and that the best quarterback is a healthy and well-rounded one.

 

 
Less golf for Tony Romo this year?
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