Slice, slice, baby
YouTube
Slice, slice, baby by PGA Professional Marty McCurry is funny and helpful.

 

Some things just speak for themselves... Like this YouTube video entitled, "Slice, slice, baby!"
 
Marty McCurry, a PGA Professional from Tennessee, put the Vanilla Ice, "Ice, ice, baby!" parody together. If you suffer from slicing the ball, hopefully this video will help.
 
 
 
Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tj_auclair.
Vanilla Ice golf parody -- Slice, slice, baby!
Ken Venturi
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Ken Venturi, winner of the 1964 U.S. Open, will miss his World Golf Hall of Fame induction on Monday due to health concerns.

 

Golfweek's Adam Schupak is reporting the unfortunate news that Ken Venturi will be unable to attend next Monday's World Golf Hall of Fame induction -- where he was to be inducted in the Lifetime Achievement Category -- due to health concerns.
 
From Schupak report:
 
“The last time I had tears in my eyes was when I won the U.S. Open,” Venturi, 81, said during an Oct. 9 conference call that announced his selection. “The greatest reward in life is to be remembered. It’s the dream of a lifetime.”
 
However, Venturi, who overcame severe dehydration on the final day to win the 1964 Open, has been hospitalized recently with an infection following a surgical procedure and will be unable to attend the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony scheduled for May 6 in St. Augustine, Fla.
 
His son, Matt Venturi, said that though his father’s health has been improving, the elder Venturi is unable to make the cross-country trip from California, where he lives, to St. Augustine.
 
“He’s stable,” Matt Venturi said Tuesday. “His vitals are in good shape. He had a lot of pain in his back, and he’s just not that mobile right now. I know he’s really disappointed about it. He wishes he could be there.”
 
Matt Venturi said he and his brother, several family members and close friends are still planning to attend the ceremony to celebrate his father’s achievement, and CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz will introduce his former broadcast partner and accept the award on his behalf. After his playing career, Ken Venturi worked as a CBS commentator for 35 years.
 
To read Schupak's entire article, click here.
Amid health concerns, Ken Venturi to miss WGHOF ceremony
April 29, 2013 - 7:31pm
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John Holmes
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A high school golfer from Michigan and his coach died Monday when the minivan they were riding in collided with another van on a rural road near Traverse City, Mich.

The identities of the 30-year-old coach, the 17-year-old golfer and the 27-year-old woman weren’t immediately disclosed, but law enforcement officials said the van was carrying the Grayling, Mich., High School golf team near Excelsior Township, about 25 miles east of Traverse City. Grayling is about 15 miles east of Excelsior.

Here are some other details from the Associated Press report on the accident:

''It was pretty horrific,'' Michigan State Police Sgt. Don Bailey said of the crash.

Bailey told The Associated Press he came upon the crash shortly after it occurred about 11:30 a.m. Monday in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. He had to use a fire extinguisher to put out a fire in one of the vehicles.

''There were three ejections and those bodies were laying around,'' he said.

The golf team was in a silver minivan and left Grayling for an invitational tournament in Traverse City. The minivan was northbound on Crawford Lake Road when it smashed into the side of a white minivan traveling east on County Road 612.

''Our initial investigation shows the white van may have been speeding,'' Bailey said. ''There's also a question if the silver van stopped at a stop sign.''

A woman driving the white minivan was in serious condition, while a 3-year-old girl in that vehicle appeared to be unhurt. Bailey said the girl was in a child restraint seat.

Students at Grayling High School were notified of the crash Monday afternoon, and events and practices were canceled, according to Joe Powers, superintendent of the Crawford AuSable Schools.

Crisis team counselors will be at the school Tuesday.

''We do have classes because we believe the students need each other,'' said Powers.

''We will delay the formal start of school to have an opportunity for students to talk to each other. We will have counselors throughout the building, including the hallway, so students can lean on adults they know and who they are comfortable with.''

Powers said this was the golf coach's first year with the team.

Mike Fortino, general manager of the Grayling County Club, said one of the injured golfers was his nephew, an 18-year-old senior at the high school.

''He has a broken jaw and some teeth are knocked out,'' Fortino said.

The team has about 30 members and sometimes plays at the club, he added.

''They were going to a match (Monday) and only take six to eight players,'' said Fortino. ''Some of the kids work here, have girlfriends here. Some of their mothers work here. 'The coach was new at his job. He was a personal friend. It's a bad day, a bad day.''

 

Three die in golf team van collision
April 29, 2013 - 3:45pm
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T.J. Auclair
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Merion
Getty Images
Merion Golf Club uses wicker baskets atop its pins rather than the traditional flag.

 

Legendary Merion Golf Club's East Course in Philadelphia will host its fifth U.S. Open this June.
 
On Monday, it was revealed that a special part of Merion will be kept in place for the season's second major. Rather than using pin flags, Merion instead uses a pin with a small, red wicker basket on top of it. 
 
Shane Bacon had the details on Yahoo's Devil Ball Blog:
 
For the first time since 1981, the world will descend on Merion Golf Club's East Course on June 13 for the second major championship of the year and the fifth time the U.S. Open has been hosted there.
 
One thing you should expect to see? Wicker baskets adorning the tops of the flagsticks all across Merion's famed links.
 
Devil Ball put a call into the USGA on Monday morning asking if the traditional wicker baskets would be in play and it was confirmed they would.
 
Why wicker baskets instead of traditional flags? Let the Merion Golf Club website explain it...
 
"The wicker baskets' origin is a mystery to this day. There was a great deal written in 1912, and for three years thereafter, locally and nationally about this new course in Philadelphia. However, there was no mention of the soon-to-be famous wicker baskets. It could be assumed they were not there. By the summer of 1915, William Flynn, Merion's Superintendent, received patent approval for his wicker basket design. Merion had baskets that fall and from then-to-today. It could be assumed, due to lack of written proof, that Flynn convinced Wilson to use the baskets, and Merion received its "basket notoriety" the next year during the 1916 U.S. Amateur."
 
 
Follow T.J. Auclair on Twitter, @tj_auclair.
Merion to keep wicker basket pins in place for 2013 U.S. Open
April 27, 2013 - 9:21pm
Posted by:
John Holmes
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Samuel L. Jackson om TMZ
TMZ
Samuel L. Jackson talked golf with TMZ.

I swear to you that my wife found this item on TMZ, not me. I swear!

While she was perusing the celebrity gossip show on TV this afternoon, she saw an item in which the TMZ guys asked Samuel L. Jackson who the best celebrity golfer is. (Why on earth TMZ had celebrity golf on the brain, I have no idea.)

Jackson laughed, and then said: Kenny G!

The TMZ guys were incredulous, but Jackson promised that Kenny G is indeed the man when it comes to celebrity golf – and then drove away.

Is Jackson correct? Very likely. A few years ago, Golf Digest published a ranking of the top golfing musicians, and Kenny G came in first on their list, with a listed handicap of 0.6. Vince Gill, who we mentioned in our item on George Jones yesterday, was second on that list.

Things could have changed since then, but Kenny G is a regular in all those celebrity pro-ams and he’s probably kept his game in shape. And hey, would Samuel L. Jackson steer us wrong? I think not.

To see the TMZ video clip, click here. But beware, they’re quite irreverent about Kenny G and golf.

 

Samuel L. Jackson reveals the best celebrity golfer
April 27, 2013 - 7:46pm
Posted by:
John Holmes
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Brittany Lang and Kevin Spann at the North Texas LPGA Shootout
LPGA Tour via Twitter
Brittany Lang and boyfriend Kevin Spann hugged after she accepted his proposal at the North Texas LPGA Shootout on Saturday.

So, how memorable was your round of golf today? Not as memorable as Brittany Lang's, I bet.

The LPGA Tour veteran had just wrapped up her third-round 71 in the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club this afternoon when her boyfriend, Kevin Spann, walked up to her. But instead of saying 'good game,' he dropped to one knee, pulled out an engagement ring and and asked her to marry him.

''We've been together about 11 months,'' said Lang. ''We met at the club that we play at and it's been going very well. I had a few ideas [this might be coming] because he's been acting a little strange.''

The two indeed met in the parking lot at TPC Craig Ranch in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, where Lang lives. And, no it's not a coincidence that the two of them were dressed in almost-identical outfits. Lang says she plays better when they dress alike.

The Golf Channel caught the surprise proposal on camera. To see it, click here.

There was, predictably, a lot of reaction to the proposal on social media. But no one summed up the day like Kris Tamulis, who played with Lang on Saturday. Here's her tweet: "2 rare occurrences today on the course: I saw a spectator take a wee on a tree just outside the ropes AND my playing partner got engaged!"

 

 

 

Brittany Lang gets engaged during LPGA Tour event