For those of us in the golf business, the summer season can be a challenge. In Florida, the summer months are so unbearably hot that many people can’t imagine being outside at all, much less playing a round of golf for four hours. As a golf teacher, how do I make the most of one […]
The 2017 British Open will be remembered for two things. The first is the amazing comeback by Jordan Spieth to win his third major title at the age of 23. The other is the history-making third round of 62 by South African Branden Grace. Grace is the first golfer ever to record a round of 62 in […]
Twenty-two-year-old Jon Rahm came into the U.S. Open last June as a low-key favorite to win the tournament. The Spanish pro has been a rising star since joining the tour only a year ago, and some saw the U.S. Open as his opportunity to make a big splash on the world stage. Instead, he spent […]
In 2009, early in his first term, President Barack Obama had the White House tennis court repurposed into a basketball court. Mr. Obama is an avid basketball player and fan, and since he doesn’t play tennis, it was an easy decision. An enthusiastic Chicago Bulls fan, Mr. Obama also made it a tradition to fill […]
The first week of school is an important week for all high school coaches. For me, it’s not only the first opportunity to meet the students I’ll teach all year, but it’s also the beginning of the golf season, with new players and parents showing up at the golf course. How first meetings go are […]
In early February 2017, Jordan Spieth had a run-in with some rude autograph seekers after a practice round at Pebble Beach. When asked about the incident, Spieth said the “fans” were actually professional autograph seekers. He became irate, he says, when they dropped an “F-bomb” in front of several children after he refused to sign […]
The Chinese government sent chills throughout the golf industry last week when it announced the closing of 111 golf courses throughout the country. The purported reason for the closing was that the courses in question had been illegally using water and developing land without permits. But the Chinese government has a long history of opposition […]
At the high school where I coach, a golfer named Dylan recently came out for the golf team. As a six-foot-one 14-year-old, Dylan was an excellent athlete. His parents had gotten him involved in tennis at a very young age, and by the time he was in middle school, he had a state ranking and […]
When my wife and I made the decision to have a child, we knew that there would be things we wouldn’t agree on. But one thing we could both agree on was that our child wouldn’t play football. As I’ve written about previously, the recent controversies in several major sports have lead parents to gravitate […]
On June 15, 2013, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb delivered a fastball to the waiting Kansas City batter, Eric Hosmer. Hosmer made solid contact with his bat, sending the ball straight back toward the mound. Cobb, who was at the end of his throwing motion, falling off the mound and in a vulnerable, defenseless position, […]
In 2014, Facebook bought a small virtual reality startup company called Oculus for $2 billion. Such a large investment by one of the world’s leading tech companies caused the world’s ears to perk up. People began to ask whether or not virtual reality – or VR – would be the next big thing in entertainment. […]
“Hey Coach, what are we doing today?” That’s a question that should never have to be asked at a high school golf practice. By the second or third practice of your season, your players should know what to expect out of a typical golf team practice. How you organize and run your golf team practices […]
Seven years ago, while I was attending the University of Florida to earn my Master’s degree in Education, I attended the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual conference in Sarasota, Florida. It seemed like a good idea to get involved in an organization dedicated to what I was about to jump head first […]
“You want me to coach swimming?” That was the question I had for my new principal. I had just been hired as a high school teacher and they needed someone to coach the swim team. Since I was low man on the totem pole, that job fell to me. The fact that I had never swum competitively […]
