Republic of Ireland
Martin Vousden. Firmly on the edge of his seat.
Apr 11 2011 Posted in Golf News, Martin Vousden by GoKartThought for the Day
Always drink upstream from the herd
Magnificent, monumental Masters
It’s just as well that all major championships aren’t as exciting as this year’s Masters because I don’t think my heart could cope. The tournament was the very definition of sporting drama as new and different but equally exciting scenarios rolled across our screens in rapid succession and if you wrote the events of Sunday at Augusta as a film script you would be laughed out of every big studio for having far too fanciful an imagination.
We had the great but faded champion storming back to reassert his alpha credentials as Tiger Woods – impossibly adrift at the beginning of the day – put on one of his patented charges over the front nine. Sadly, of course, as has been the way for 18 months now, he still remembers what it’s like to be Tiger but not for 18 or 72 holes.
Then we had the young guns, trying to emphasise what has become ever more apparent over the last decade, that the old cliché of golfers not reaching their prime until well into their 30s is deader than a dodo – these days they hit the ground running in their nappies and (more…)
Add a comment TweetVousden on the demise of a legend (not Tiger).
Mar 18 2011 Posted in Golf News, Martin Vousden by GoKartThought for the Day
When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail
So long Frank, and thank you
The chances are that you have never heard of Frank Chirkinian, who died just over a week ago, but his work will have left an indelible mark on the way in which you view golf. And his impact on the game is such that on May 9 he will be posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame which is not something that happens to too many people who have never competed in, never mind won, a professional tournament.
The reason for the honour is that Frank was a long-time television producer for CBS in America and it is not hyperbole to suggest that he established the templates that still dominate TV coverage to this day and that before his influence was brought to bear, watching a televised golf event was as stimulating as a date with a nun who had taken vows of (more…)
Add a comment 1 Comment TweetCool hand Luke does it in style. And Vousden does it in long grass.
Mar 01 2011 Posted in Golf News, Martin Vousden by GoKartThought for the day
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around
Cream rises
Occasionally I like to remind my American friends – and yes, I do have them – that almost everything that is good about the game of golf was invented on this side of the Atlantic. We created the game itself, the template for courses over which we pursue our dreams, the rules by which it is governed, the equipment we use, the terminology by which it is described (birdie, caddy, bunker and so on) and the spirit, etiquette and sportsmanship with which it is played. The Americans gave us the mulligan.
But there is equally no doubt, as my friends are just as quick to point out, that pretty much everything we originated, they have refined, modified and, in many cases, improved. And once they overcame their initial inferiority complex and (more…)
Add a comment TweetUps and downs from the fairways with Martin Vousden
Feb 20 2011 Posted in Golf News, Martin Vousden by GoKartThought for the day
If you can smile when things go wrong, you must have someone in mind to blame
Better (and worse) than reality
Sport offers fairy tales in a way that is rarely, if ever, replicated in any other facet of life. In golf alone we have experienced, for example, Ben Crenshaw triumphing at the Masters the week his mentor Harvey Penick died; Darren Clarke winning the Ryder Cup single-handedly (or so it seemed) within weeks of his wife Heather succumbing to cancer, and Ben Hogan coming back from near-death to win more Majors than almost anyone else before or since. That’s apart from all those other sporting near miracles from every arena in which teams or individuals pit themselves against each other – Kelly Holmes overcoming years of frustration and injury to become a double Olympic gold medallist; Muhammad Ali coming off the ropes in Kinshasha to lay out the most fearsome puncher in boxing, George Foreman; or Lance Armstrong overcoming cancer to saddle up again and win the Tour De France.
But in stark contrast to these Against All Odds victories comes the tragic tales of (more…)
Add a comment TweetWhat have Sergio, Seve and Tiger’s dog got in common?
Jan 31 2011 Posted in Golf News, Martin Vousden by GoKartAnswer, this weeks Vousden Column:
Thought for the day
Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines
Buddy, can you spare me a putt?
We either like, dislike or are indifferent to golfers for any number of reasons – some valid and some simply the result of a personal predilection that can’t really be explained by logic. And despite his many tantrums, like kicking his golf shoe towards an official, being fined several times for poor behaviour, spitting in the hole, getting over-enthusiastic at the Ryder Cup or whinging after the Open Championship that he never gets a break, I have rather a fondness for the young scamp Sergio Garcia.
Those mistakes I mentioned were largely those of impetuous youth, but he wears his heart, along with some pretty lurid outfits, on his sleeve and even I can remember what it’s like to suddenly erupt in youthful, petulant fury at the (more…)
Add a comment TweetGet your leotard out and dust off the Yoga mat…
Jan 31 2011 Posted in GoKart News, Golf News by GoKart
Do you remember last year we brought you the Yoga for Golf series, to get you fit and bendy ready for the new season? Well you know we only have your best interests at heart. We just want your handicap to tumble and have you out on the golf course lots and lots. And you won’t do that if you’re all creaky. So we think you ought to have another go at it. Yes. Right now. Even if you are in the office and that rather nice bloke/totty from accounts is (more…)
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