My friend batz recently informed me about Che Guevara’s passion for golf! A little work on google and I found an interesting book:

Barranca - Fidel Castro’s caddy
In addition to some funky pictures, check out this quote from David Feherty:

Four Stars — “There’s a trinity of temptations that afflict the Irish: liquor, literature and the links. All three abound in the new Eddie Caminetti golf hustler novel from Troon McAllister. After his three previous novels, McAllister was clearly going to have to pull a rabbit out of his porthole to avoid a senior slump.

And somehow he pulls it off, combining the Cuban revolution, coffee speculation, the inanity of beltway politics and the purity of flushing a one-iron into a hilarious literary conga line — proving that nobody writes better about golf in all of its glorious stupidity.”

— CBS golf analysts David Feherty, in The New York Post

What with global warming having a rather dramatic on winter here in Souther Ontario, today was the first time that I’ve played golf in Ontario in early March. With some friends from Toronto Golf Nuts I went to the Burlington Springs Golf & Country Club which was the closest course that was actually open.

The weather today was fantastic for early March, well fantastic if you forget that the environment is rather out of whack. Sunny with temperatures in the high 60s or high teens depending on whether you’re metric or not. The course was a little wet from rain overnight, but in general was in decent shape.

The course itself is quite nice, for an affordable public golf club. The landing spots off the tee are generous, which makes it fun for those of us who struggle with driving accuracy. There’s a decent mix of par 3s, 4s, and 5s, with doglegs, modestly rolling hills, and water in play on just under half the holes. The greens were of modest size, although due to the early part of the year we had to play off temps.

In general it’s a fine club, with friendly staff, and relaxed atmosphere. Certainly for golf in early march, it has few competitors. However given that good weather comes so rarely this time of year, it was quite busy, so best to get a tee time in advance. Here’s a quote from their website:

For over 40 years Burlington Springs has offered the most picturesque round of golf in the area, providing a challenge to novice and experienced golfers alike. With several newly renovated greens, enlarged tees and Merion Bluegrass fairways, we offer you the best playing experience available at an affordable price.

Located 5 kilometers north of Hwy. #5 (Dundas St.) on Cedar Springs Rd, we are within easy driving distance of Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto via the 407, 401 and QEW.

Lots of interest about the announcement that a Russian cosmonaut will hit a golf shot off of the International Space Station. Here’s a more critical view. Quoting from the article:

But, as experienced golfers will tell you, driving that little white ball with the right force and in the right direction is a lot harder than it seems, even on a terrestrial course.

The task is that much harder in a thick spacesuit, which leaves little room for a decent swing or flexing the joints.

The ball thus could quite easily be mis-hit and travel only a couple of metres, or be hooked or sliced and sent in entirely the wrong direction.

As a result, it could accidentally land in the same orbital plane as the space station. Station and ball would both whizz around the planet on the same track, one after the other.

And what that means is a remote risk of a collision, capable of damaging or even destroying the space station, depending on the angle, velocity and site of impact.

Source: News in Science

Here’s an interesting article on the progress of professional golf in China. I’d assume given the size of the population that sooner rather than later some truly incredible golfers will emerge from the middle kingdom. To quote the article:

Meanwhile, the country has seen the number of golf fans swell from a mere 1,000 a decade ago to more than one million enthusiasts today. A home-grown pro tournament has risen to become the fastest-developing event in Asia.

A group of Chinese caddies were even catapulted to star status, highlighted by the 2003 Open champion Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong who became pro tour competitors and title contenders in world-class events.

Pyatt has witnessed the development of the tournament and also the increasing popularity of sports in China over the past twelve years and now has his eyes set on the coming decade.

“In the next 10 years, we will raise the prize money significantly to make the event one of the world’s major golf events,’ said Pyatt, adding that Volvo has put forward a request to the CGA to extend the sponsorship contract, which ends in 2009, to 2015.

Source: China Daily

We may however be on the verge of a materials breakthrough, arguably the first significant one in the golf industry in more than a decade.

And brace yourself: it comes courtesy of a Canadian company.

Element 21 Golf, home-based in Toronto, is aptly titled for the material difference it is trying to impart on the golf industry.

It’s a company defined by Scandium, a proprietary aerospace alloy you will find as the 21st element on the periodic table, exactly one higher on that chemical chart than, you guessed it, titanium.

Source: Sympatico / MSN Sports : Golf

A spacewalking Russian cosmonaut plans to hit a golf shot outside the International Space Station this summer as part of a publicity campaign that already has raised safety concerns.

Clad in a cumbersome spacesuit and anchored to a specially designed tee box, Pavel Vinogradov will hit a six-iron drive along side the station’s Russian segment, taking great care not to hook the ball into the outpost.

Nataliya Hearn, president and chief executive officer of Element 21 Golf Co., said Russian Federal Space Agency officials initially were concerned that fragile solar panels jutting from the station’s Russian crew quarters might be struck.

But an extensive Russian test program — one involving veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev — subsequently showed the golf shot in space would be safe, Hearn said.

Source: SPACE.com