Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

What the Hell?

From Jim Hightower

Ohioans might also worry about the potential of massive election fraud through the electronic voting machines that will count their ballots on Nov. 6. Suspicions about the integrity of these "black box" e-vote machines, owned by Hart Intercivic, was heightened last year when that corporation was taken over by an obscure investment fund named HIG Capital.

Of the 22 Americans on HIG's board of directors, 21 are donors to Mitt Romney's current political campaign, and a third were former officials at Bain & Co. (where Romney got his start as a corporate takeover artist). HIG is the 11th largest source of donations to the Republican contender's campaign.

But Romney's noose around Ohio's vote count is even tighter than these cozy connections suggest, for HIG itself is largely owned by a private equity fund called Solamere. Who dat? Solamere was started in 2008 by Mitt's eldest son, Tagg, and the fund's startup cash came from Momma Ann and Uncle Scott Romney, with Papa Mitt chipping in $10 million and making a personal pitch to other potential investors.

Salt Lake City Tribune

The Salt Lake City Tribune endorsed Obama for President.

"Therefore, our endorsement must go to [President Barack Obama], a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first."

Weapons of Golf

In this penultimate installment of the series, Weapons of Golf, we look at putters. The game of golf originated a long time ago. Golf equipment has evolved over the centuries. For a very long time, while scores were kept by individuals and tournament golf developed, golf was still a match between the golfer and the golf course.

In more recent years, we have seen golf matches become very competitive. The Ryder Cup is but one example.

In this series, I have presented articles on clubs and golf balls, clothing and golf shoes. The reader can see that the improvements made in these "weapons of golf" were designed so as to attempt to aid the golfer in becoming a better player.

That is not, disturbingly, the trend with the golf putter. You will recall that in the series entitled "Great Amateurs of Golf," I discussed the bigot Bobby Jones and his strange relationship with his putter he named "Calamity Jane," an innocuous-looking club that took him to great heights. Here is Mr. Jones and Calamity Jane:

The Wilson 8802 was a revolutionary putter, a club the legendary putter, Ben Crenshaw used for most of his career:

And club-maker Karsten Ping changed the way weight was distributed in putters with the hope that the golfer could improve his play with technology when he introduced the Ping Anser:

Somebody had the bright idea that in order to put a "good roll" on the ball, striking it with a cylindrical putter might be a good idea:

But I don't think that this was the real reason. Notice the shape. It is subtly reminiscent of a hammer.

Now, we get into the more sophisticated and threatening weapons that golfers, always prone to extreme anger aimed towards the opponent or fellow competitor, use to ostensibly improve their games. The real reason for this evolution of the putter is not to improve their games, but to intimidate their fellow golf competitors.

This is the Taylormade Ghost Spider, which is a hefty putter good for bludgeoning:

The Odyssey putters, well, I don't play with the golfer carrying one of these lethalities in his bag, the White Ice Blade D.A.R.T.:

Or the deadly Odyssey White Hot XG-7 Putter:

And I apologize for using the descriptive "his" in referring to people with whom I won't play, since I also mean "her," with this evil-looking entry in the competition by Tour Edge for the "lady" golfer:

And it appears that there is a similar "men's" model, the Taylormade Rossa Monza:

But the Odyssey XG Sabertooth is the ultimate decision maker:

One must be wary of imitators in the killer club derby -- less expensive, but probably equally effective for one-time use:

Beware the Weapons of Golf.