This and That

Good Morning, Dear Reader.  I'll start with an apology for my prolonged absence.  I'm out in Utah with all sorts of family joining me, including a rare appearance by the bride.  I had intended to post a note to the effect that blogging would be light to nonexistent, but my laptop was hijacked by malware.  A two-hour McAfee tech support session seams to have cleaned up the mess, though I received a stern warning to cease browsing in such bad 'hoods.

So we've family coming together, including some not aware of the existence of the others, and the family has been seamlessly integrated into what Theresa refers to as "My Other Family."  There's but one thing missing...what do you call that white stuff that occasionally descends from above?  Snow, that's it... We're supposed to get hit with a good-size storm beginning tonight, but, you know, they lie...

So, how about a few golf items while we've a minute:

That's Gotta Hurt - Everyone from Shackelford to Maggot has been sending this item around, and it is worth a moment of your time:

I'd love a capture of the clubhead at impact, because I can't imagine the physics of sending a golf ball towards your face.

Cuba Libre - There's an understandable tendency to get ahead of facts on the ground, as Bradley Klein does here as relates to Cuba:

There is scant evidence of the once-flourishing resort trade to be found today in Cuba. The capital city is served only by the nine-hole Havana Golf Club. Two courses designed

by Donald Ross are long gone. The one hopeful sign of development, now more than 15 years old, is Varadero Golf Club, which was designed by Canadian Les Furber. It was home to the European Challenge Tour Grand Finals in 1999 and 2000. 

Varadero sits on a peninsula that is pinched by Cardenas Bay to the south and open waters to the north. It's land that would be the envy of any course architect, only 90 miles east of Havana. But access roads to Varadero still betray considerable neglect. They also reveal that the obstacle to development of such dramatic land is basic infrastructure – mainly highways and utilities. Eventually that will come. And when it does, the coastal region will become a haven for luxury-goers, mainly from Latin America – the same folks who have been parking their surplus capital and Rolls Royces in Miami.

Ummmmm...not so much.  The obstacle is more political and legal, with no assurance of property rights and without resolution of the claims related to property expropriated by the Castro regime, there can be no investment

Golf.com has an interesting slideshow on golf in Cuba, including pictures from Vasadero to which Brad Klein refers above.

The 8th hole at Vasadero.Golf Club.

Woe Is Us, Vol. CCXV - Hat tip to Shack for the link to this long Economist article on the state of our favorite game.  It's mostly familiar terrain, though with some figures more alarming than most (i.e., a 25% decline in the number of people playing at least once a month in England).  But I did like it's concise history of the game:

Golf traces its modern origins to 15th-century Scotland, where people played with wooden clubs and balls full of feathers. In 1457 King James II temporarily banned it, along with football, because it interfered with archery practice, but he was no match for its growing popularity. Mary, Queen of Scots was an enthusiast; her clubs were carried by students she called “cadets” (now known as “caddies”). The game of “gawf”, as it was first called, spread: first to England, and subsequently to its colonies.

Golf went mainstream in America in the 1890s. The wealthy and upper middle classes formed private golf clubs where they could play. Then, as today, its appeal depended on time and money. Late-19th-century Americans, with plenty of both and no gadgets to occupy them at home, liked the fact that it took hours to play. Safer than polo and less tiring than football, golf allowed businessmen to get to know each other and do deals between shots. John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, early adopters, helped make the sport fashionable.

The unbylined piece covers everything from Foot-golf to Top Golf,   But most of the distress involved is a result of certain actors anticipating growth that didn't materialize.  There's a strong, committed base in our game, but it remains, as always, a niche sport.

Beclause We Must Have Been Very Bad -  It's hard to discern what we could have done to deserve this.  But here's hoping that the Golf Boys don't break up, as it's hard to be optimistic about Bubba's solo career: