From the Fringe

April 2009 - Posts

• Are low expectations really the key to happiness?

  A friend had the following sentence as his signature line on his emails... "Low expectations are the key to happiness."  I found myself laughing a little bit at the thought of it, but then I started pondering it some more...maybe he was right...we face disappointments all the time, and now that I think about it, it's often caused by our own doing.  We create an expectation in our mind and when the outcome isn't what we planned on, we're ultimately disappointed or hurt. My mind is racing right now thinking of all the things I have recently hoped for, believed in, and depended on that didn't turn out as I expected.  Like my chiropractor fixing me on my first visit (WAY to high of an expectation I now realize), hoping to hear from a friend, seeing my Powerball numbers being picked, hoping to find some notes I took that I need to get to someone else, or wishing Mother Nature would give us at least 3 warm days in a row.  No wonder I've been kind of grouchy lately. But on the golf course I think our brains go on "expectation auto-pilot", and I'm not sure we could stop ourselves from wanting or demanding things from our swing, our club, our ball, the green we're putting on, or the rock we need to hit just right so we don't go into the hazard.  It just happens. Where I live, we don't expect to be golfing in April - so the fact that our course has been open for a week has been a complete bonus.  And most of us use that as an excuse for any "less than stellar" shots we attempt - I think I've heard (or said) "it's ONLY April" at least once in every round I've played this year.  We shouldn't be expecting great rounds so early in the season...but as golfers, we do. As I think back to the round I played yesterday with some of my favorite pals, it's interesting to see how many expectations I had (even though it's only Spring Training!).  After feeling pretty good about my short game so far this year, I was not expecting to hit so many bad chips (all short-can we say decelling through the ball?).  I got frustrated early.  And even though it had rained quite a bit over the past few days, and I could see the greens were a little fuzzy with new growth, I could not get myself to get the ball to the hole (I'm blaming my putter!).  I expected my Nike CPR hybrids to draw (because they always do) and they sliced instead (I'm blaming my sore shoulder).    I think at least 3 times I told the ball to "GO!" because I expected it to be short and it was already past the pin...but on the last hole I thought I was all over the pin and ended up 20 feet short.  I expected putts to break that I knew didn't, and I fully expected my friend Bob to tell me that I should have hit my drive over the corner of the pond on 18 (oh wait, he did!). But I do have to admit that in some cases I give myself some slack...there are a few holes where I'm happy if I keep the ball in the fairway, and if I get past a bunker or get to the 150, I'm thrilled.  On a few other holes I expect that my ball will not hold on the green because I know I can't spin it.   I also know not to compare myself to the guys I play with - I expect that I'm going to be hitting 2-5 clubs up from my big hitting friends...and I'm okay with that. One thing that strikes me now is how we react to other people's expectation of us...I remember playing once with a few people I didn't really know...I hit what I considered a really marginal shot and one guy gave me the "great shot".  I thought right away, "is that all the better he thinks I can play?"  When I did hit some good shots he actually looked surprised (can you hear the "Wow! Great Shot" reaction with the disbelief in the voice?), and I realized then that this guy had some really low expectation of what I could do on the golf course.  It bugged me at first, but by the time we were heading up 18 I knew he had a different expectation of my game and I could tell that he meant his compliments.  And I'll be honest, I know my own expectations were increased a notch or two just to prove to this guy that I could play - nothing like a good incentive to provide inspiration!  It was also a great lesson to me to be more sensitive to my expectations of other people. It's up to us to gauge our game and set our expectations in a way that will bring out our best shots and provide us the best opportunities to score...and it's always important to remember that the unexpected can and does happen all the time on the golf course.  So I think the lesson learned for me today is that REALISTIC expectations are the key to happiness on the golf course.  It's good to demand a little more from your game as long as you don't let it take over your game.  Now excuse me while head out to hit some 350 yard drives... Posted Apr 28 2009, 12:27 PM by Cathy Erickson with 1 comment(s) Filed under: incentive, expectations, happiness

• Golf...business or pleasure...

  My head has been swimming in golf thoughts lately...all kinds of them.  First, and most importantly, after 5 months without swinging a club I finally played golf last Saturday!  It was awesome to have golf shoes on my feet and tees in my pockets again.  My swing definitely had to shake off the cobwebs, and off-season arm and neck issues proved that they're not quite ready to leave me yet, but I still loved the heavenly sound of my ball dropping into the cup on each hole, even if it took me an extra shot or two to get there (and just for the record, I'm 1-0 vs. Gunner!).  Now that my clubs have found their way to the back of my car, they will be there until November.  Ah, golf season is finally here. Golf doesn't seem to be a matter of choice for me...it's a part of who I am.  When it's golf season, most other things take a back seat to me being out on the course as much as I can (just ask my laundry basket).  I justify that by reminding myself what a short season I have, and the fact that I'm happiest when there's a club in my hand and a flagstick in front of me.  I smile when I think about hanging out with my golf pals again, and I can't wait to have that first great round of the year. But I realize it's not like that for everyone, and in this changing and more challenging economy I think for a lot of people golf becomes expendable...and that gets me to start thinking about the business side of golf.  Vendors and attendees were down this year at the PGA golf show in February (down 4.5%), but it wasn't nearly as bad as other merchandise trade shows.  We're still seeing new lines of clubs, balls, and apparel items, but some sales forces, such as Titleist have been trimmed.  As more people re-evaluate their discretionary spending, bigger ticket items, such as new clubs, and even season passes or memberships, might not make the cut this year (thank goodness for 2putt for helping the golf economy!). The professional side of golf is also struggling.  Just this week we could read the Golf International article about the LPGA Corning Classic ceasing to exist after this year...that coming after seeing the 2009 LPGA schedule with 3 less tournaments on it.  Ouch.  The PGA tour is faring better with more sponsorship extensions being announced, but more commitments will be up after next year and it's hard to know right now if all of these companies can afford to fork over $4-5 million to be the title sponsor anymore. And we can't forget about Buick not being able to afford Tiger anymore...  There are a lot of conversations in the golf world about the globalization of the game and how more players are going to "follow the money" outside of the States.  I guess you can't really blame them, since it is their livelihood, but how long will it take before international travel takes it toll?  Will players be willing to play for the same or a little less here if our economy doesn't rebound fast enough?  Can we just take a step back and realize that maybe we went a little bananas a few years back made costs and purses too high? If you read Sam "insert new nickname here" Johnson's latest post (and you should), he ponders Tiger's greatness, or potentially the lack thereof since taking some time off last year.  He points out that the success of the PGA tour is because of Tiger, and that fans pay money to see him, not Brian Gay.  So maybe the solution to the golf economic downturn is to just have 15 "Tiger Tournaments" on the schedule and double the sponsorship costs and the purses.  Players still have a chance to make good money, but they'll have to do it in half of a season...and with Tiger in every field.  Probably not the best news for the other 143 players, but the sponsors sure would be happy! Tiger could play from the tips and even enter a few LPGA events to help with marketing - I'm sure Michelle Wie would love that. It saddens me a little to think that the success of the PGA tour is dependent on one person, but I guess the numbers don't lie.  If Sam is right, and Tiger is shedding some of his greatness, I truly hope that the marketing minds in the golf world are working on a new plan right now.  We're all riding on those coattails and heaven only knows where we'll end up if we let go (even if it's a year or two from now) without a new roadmap.  I will be interested to see how the business side of golf continues to change and evolve, and I'm hopeful that our economy will not be a barrier for people to enjoy all that golf can give.  But closer to home, as I get ready to start another golf season, I'm really going to take time to be thankful for the opportunity I have to play the game I love.   It may mean a few less dinners out and foregoing the new irons this year, but to me, it's definitely worth the sacrifice.  I've got a tee time at 4pm today...I can't wait! Posted Apr 22 2009, 02:10 PM by Cathy Erickson with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Tiger, marketing, economy, LPGA, Sam Johnson, sponsorship

• Decompressing after the Masters...

  Do you mind if we hang out in Masters world for a few more days?  The jacket has been placed on the shoulders of Angel Cabrera and the betting pools have all been figured out, but I'm still feeling a bit of euphoria over an amazing week of golf in which I really had no part in, except to watch it through a computer monitor or TV screen...and to love every moment of it. First, let me say that I'm exhausted!  One of my friends called me after it was all over and I joked that I wasn't sure if I could go to work on Monday because the Masters had taken it all out of me.  Even though Greg Norman wasn't in the mix, I had plenty of people to root for.  My goal was top 5 for our Masters pool - and coming into Sunday I was the only person who had both Perry and Campbell.  I'll admit it, I was excited!  I haven't won once in our Majors pools over the years, and finally, here was my chance.  I got myself all set up with soda (Diet Coke with lime), some chips, and leftover turkey...no need to find the remote, I wouldn't be turning the channel.  Anyone that knows me knows that the next 4 to 6 hours are "me time".  Besides the TV, I had my computer on watching Masters.com so I could keep an eye on a few other players, too.  You knew right away we'd be watching the Phil & Tiger show all the way through 18, and I wanted to see Steve Stricker at least once!!  The charges by Mickelson and Tiger made things exciting, and watching the leaders clinging to their positions made me nervous.  It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Kenny Perry, so I was rooting for him all the way. But a Campbell win would have helped me another pool I was in, so I was cheering for him, too.  The slow start was tough to watch, and I feared we might just see a Mickelson/Woods playoff if these guys couldn't get it going.  I stood up and clapped when Campbell's putt went in on 12, and again when Perry stuffed it on 16.  I don't know what happened to Perry's chip on 17, but even with a bogey, I had a good feeling for him (I guess sort of like my refrigerator-ugh).  I thought for sure Cabrera was going to shoot himself right out of contention, but he drained all the putts he needed to and darn it if he wasn't still in it coming to the 18th. I begged Perry to take 3-wood on the tee on 18, but he pulled out the driver. I guess there's something about going with what you feel confident with.  I wonder if he second guesses himself now.  After the awesome birdie at 16 I never thought we'd see bogey-bogey-playoff. The playoff started just as I had hoped, but all 3 second shots were not at all what I expected.  I could feel the pain in my stomach - the sympathy pains for the guys, and me.  It wasn't going to be pretty.  Cabrera gets a great break and makes a great shot - Perry makes the clutch chip.  Unfortunately, Campbell didn't fare as well. I collapsed onto the couch after Campbell missed his 4 footer on the first playoff hole.  I didn't see that coming.  But I regrouped and paced as Perry and Cabrera went to #10.  Seeing Perry's second shot go left, I could see the writing on the wall...and Cabrera's great (but dangerous) approach all but sealed his fate (and mine).  I ended up 7th in the pool.  Shoot. I didn't watch the green jacket ceremony or watch any recaps.  My brain was tired and my heart was full of great memories...and that was enough for me.  I took off my new Footjoys that I wore all day and was glad I finally got them stretched out (just a few spike marks on the carpet!).  I stretched out on the couch and spent awhile just daydreaming about dogwoods and azaleas.  It was a good day.  We were given a great show by an amazingly talented Masters field this year...thanks guys!! One other thing before packing the Masters away for another year...I got an amazing email from the son of one of our local golfers - he told this story about a trip with his dad, Wayne.  I have known Wayne for a long time.  He made me one of my first sets of irons just out of high school (copies of Ping Eye 2's), and he just happens to be one of the nicest guys on the planet.  Wayne is passionate about golf, and hands down his favorite PGA tour player is Paul Azinger. (Back when I was managing our clubhouse, I named our chicken sandwich "The Zinger" in honor of Wayne's admiration of Paul) In 1997, Wayne's son, Charlie, got tickets to the Tuesday practice round of the Masters through a lottery.  Four of them made their way from Minnesota to Augusta, and even though there were dozens of golf stars there, Charlie knew the day would not be complete without seeing Wayne's favorite player.  They spent the morning watching guys hitting on the range, and finally, after a few hours, Charlie spotted the name Azinger on a bag.  Zinger hit balls for about 45 minutes and left the range.  They decided to follow.  He wasn't scheduled to start his practice round until 1pm, so they thought they might find him around the clubhouse.  They lost track of them for a minute and then Wayne said, "I think he snuck through that hedge".  They weren't sure if they should, but they did, too.  And, as Charlie described it, they entered the Garden of Eden, the par-3 course.  Soon they found themselves walking along with Zinger, his caddie, and his coach - all access, no ropes.   They talked a bit with Paul, observed him working with his coach, and just took it all in.  A magic moment for Wayne, one I'm sure he won't ever forget. There's more to the story, but I think you get the picture - the Masters makes dreams come true. Reading about Wayne's was the icing on my Masters cake. Posted Apr 14 2009, 08:27 AM by Cathy Erickson with no comments Filed under: Masters, Tiger, playoff, Phil Mickelson, Chad Campbell, Paul Azinger, Kenny Perry

• Priorities...

  My refrigerator died yesterday.  I sort of knew it was coming, but the strange noises it had been making had stopped a few days ago so I figured it had just cured itself.  Apparently you should not ignore the "code blue" noises your appliances make.  After an hour or so of throwing away all of my formerly frozen treasures I realized that I have to shop for a new refrigerator - now.  You'd think I might be excited about the prospect of shopping.  Checking out sales and getting a good price is right up my alley...but a thought zipped through my head last night...it's Masters Week!!   I've got streaming video and ESPN to watch today!  I don't have TIVO and I didn't think to set my VCR (yes, I still have one!).  Refrigerator...Masters?   Masters...Refrigerator?  I guess I could eat out until next week...but it could take a few days to get one delivered, so waiting probably isn't smart.  Wednesday is only the Par-3 contest...but it's Augusta!  I don't want to miss a minute. Priorities.  The one word indicator of where your life is, was, and could be going.  I'm guessing most of us have made a "priority list" or two (or 100) in our lives, or been asked "where are your priorities?", or been told (or yelled at) "get your priorities straight!"  It's a measure of who we are and what we hope to be.  WOW...that's a lot of pressure! With it being Masters week, it's hard for me not to think of Greg Norman...the amount of press he's gotten over the past few weeks as been overwhelming and I think he has to be considered the sentimental favorite.  But he has indicated that for this week his priority is to enjoy the Augusta experience with his family.  It would be crazy not to think that a green jacket might be hovering someplace in the back of his mind right now, but he made the decision several years ago that other priorities were more important than winning golf tournaments.  I've got a feeling, though, that once he's off the first tee on Thursday, a whole new priority list is being created in his head (it is his favorite tournament). And then my mind wanders over to Davis Love.  He had worked his way up to 47th in the world rankings just a few weeks ago and then fell to 51st the week of the Shell Houston Open (the top 50 get an invite).  After not playing in the Masters last year, one of his priorities was to earn the invitation again.  But he needed a win at the SHO to make it and he came up short.  I'm sorry he won't be there.  And of course there's my other favorite, Fred Couples.  With his final round struggles at the SHO I wonder if his priority list changed at all for this week? I think we know winning isn't the priority of every single player in the Masters field this week, but for most, being prepared for Augusta has been a priority for weeks, if not months.  For the 19 first time players, maybe it's been a priority for years.  Just being invited is a major accomplishment.  And for others, maybe just making the cut, or breaking par is priority enough.  That's the thing about the Masters...it mixes the best in the world with the respectful honor of being a champion.  And how about the fans?  All you have to do is watch a clip or two on the Masters web site to know that fans from around the world have put going to the Masters on their ultimate golf priority list...for some it's once in a lifetime, for others it's yearly tradition.  I can tell you this, it's definitely on mine. No matter what the priorities are, golfers, champions, and fans alike know that there is something special about April and Augusta.  It's worth shifting a few things around to make time to experience all that is the Masters. I've decided to compromise...a couple hours of the par-3 contest at work (shhh!), and then off to refrigerator shop. My priorities for the rest of the week include some awesome family time, Masters time with friends and great dinner on Saturday, and being able to pull out leftovers from my new refrigerator on Sunday as I glue myself to the couch to enjoy my favorite Sunday of the year.  If you're priorities are anything like mine, you should have a great weekend, too.  Enjoy the Masters! Posted Apr 08 2009, 02:09 PM by Cathy Erickson with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Masters, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Priorities, Fans

• It's All About the Numbers

  I'm thinking about numbers today...actually, I think about numbers every day.  My signature line on my emails at my old job was "Numbers are my Friends" (wow, that's probably got therapy session written all over it now that I see it!)  Anyway, I've decided that one of the reasons I'm probably crazy about golf is that it's all about the numbers! Let's think about it...we've got numbered holes...and each hole has a yardage total displayed.  Each hole is either a par-3, par-4, or par-5 (and a few par-6's out there!).  Every shot is measured by yards, feet, or club selection (which most likely has a number on it).  We all carry a handicap, every hole is handicapped by difficulty, and each course has a slope and rating.  We count strokes, we count dimples on a golf ball, and count how many clubs we have in our bag.  Have you looked at a golf club lately?  It's measured in inches, it's got the shaft weight in grams, and more often than not it's numbered on the club head, or has a degree of loft on it somewhere.  And how about keeping score?  Numbers everywhere (especially when you're keeping track of putts, too)! If you've ever watched a Titleist commercial you know that that the number on the golf ball can matter to a player.  Usually we see a 1 through 4, but you do see those occasional 5 through 8's out there (Adam Scott plays 9's, which we can't get).  Although some golf ball brands like to be different, like Precept and Taylor Made (complete sidebar, but I just read that Greg Norman is now going to be playing TM clubs and balls!).  Do you like a specific number? The minute we hit the ball we're throwing out numbers to say how far it went.  We count in our head as we pace off shots to get the right yardage number (or if you're lucky you've got a GPS that's giving you numbers the entire round!).  How many times have we said, "I should have hit one more club"  or "This is a 2 club wind"?  Can you think of more numbers out there? Numbers are all around us as soon as we make our tee time...2-some, 4-some?  9 or 18 holes?  Even the golf carts are numbered!  I'm sure there's more, but my head is swimming now!  For a numbers nerd (like me) golf is a little slice of heaven. And think about what's it's like to be golf fan (and a numbers nerd)...my heart is beating a little bit faster just thinking about the golf stats that are all over the Web.  Driving distance, birdies, eagles, sand saves, scrambling, and the list goes on.  A few months ago I spent some time learning about the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) - wow!  That is some serious math. But what got me thinking about numbers today was my curiosity on who the favorites were for the upcoming tournaments - I thought about it for a moment and then Googled "golf betting odds".  I'm not all that familiar with how betting like this works, so I was interested to read up on it (I am not condoning gambling in any fashion, but if you want to wager on the Masters, let me know!).  I was wondering about the upcoming Kraft Nabisco Dinah Shore this week - I suspected Lorena Ochoa would be the favorite, and she is - her odds are 4/5 (which I think means, in the US for every $5 bet you'd win $4 back + your orginal wager).  But what I was really wondering about was where Michelle Wie stood - on the site I looked at she is 40/1, tied for 7th on the listing with Suzann Pettersen.  Ji Yai Shin was second and has 4/1 odds.  Paula Creamer was 9/1, Angela Stanford 10/1, and last weeks winner Karrie Webb, was 25/1 (note: these sites are all based in England).  I browsed the Shell Houston Open and I wasn't surprised to see Phil as the favorite.  Geoff Ogilvy was right behind at 15/1.  Steve Stricker was right up there at 20/1, and Sergio was on the short list, too, at 22/1.  Last year's winner, Johnson Wagner, was 100/1.  If you are a Matthew Goggin fan, a small wager could get you 10,000/1 odds. I snuck a peek at the Masters and Tiger was firmly planted on top at 7/4.  Next closest was Mickelson at 8/1, followed by Harrington at 18/1 and Sergio at 23/1.  My Masters winner prediction a few months ago was Justin Leonard - his odds are 171/1.  I see that predicting skills still stink.  Davis Love, who has a pretty good probability of not getting an invite at all, is currently at 141/1.  And I had to look up the Shark who gives you 300 to 1 odds (I guess we won't be picking him for the fantasy team next week).  Fred Couples fared a little better at 244/1.  Oh, and the new phenom, Rory McIlory is 35/1.  I don't know why I didn't think about checking out this odds stuff before.  Good Stuff! I could have spent a lot more time just browsing around and feeding my numbers high, but I soon found myself daydreaming of freshly mowed fairways, sunshine, a slight breeze on my cheeks, and just swinging my driver.  We just got another foot of snow here and my golf fever is killing me - it's hard not to daydream.  I can't wait for the opportunity to get out with some pals and get my first golf fix for the year.  So, for as much as I love numbers (and I do love them), golf, for me, is about feeding all of my senses...and that's really why I love it.  Posted Apr 02 2009, 07:59 AM by Cathy Erickson with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Tiger, numbers, Odds, Justin Leonard