Katieshack

Last warning.

People, people...have we not learned yet?

After the last time I wrote about a golfer being attacked by an alligator, I really thought that would be the last I'd hear of such an event for at least a little while. BUT, to my dismay, we haven't all caught on. Read the story about the mauled Florida golf ball diver HERE. Good thing he was wearing a wet suit.

As I said less than a year ago (HERE), I'm all for a good deal, which a free golf ball might fall into. I can appreciate the passion of the game of golf (or the tantalizing idea of making money off golf balls), which could, oh, I don't know, drive someone into gator-filled waters I suppose. But isn't it easier to just keep you and your body parts safe? I guess my hesitancy to "test the waters," per se, against a gator is proof that I don't truly love the game. Or something.

P.S.: The gator's still on the loose. Watch your appendages.

Tour Caddie Dies in Del Mar

While PGA Tour golfers should have been amping up for the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego this week, they were instead mourning the loss of the industry’s most colorful and talented caddies.

Canadian native Steve Duplantis died in Del Mar very early Wednesday morning when he stepped off a center median curb and was struck by a taxi. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

While Duplantis was on the bag for Eric Axley for the Buick, the infamous “free spirit” (who was known in the industry for having a healthy but damaging nightlife) at his young age of 35 had previously won four times with Jim Furyk in the mid-1990s, as well as with Rich Beem at the Kemper Open and with Tommy Armour III when he set the tour's 72-hole scoring record at the 2003 Texas Open. His partying reputation was overshadowed by his ability to bring out the best in the players he worked with. See Golf.com’s complete story HERE.

Due to his caddieing success at an early age, “Furyk's success allowed Steve to dive headfirst into the hard-partying caddie culture,” writes Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated, who also penned the book Bud, Sweat & Tees, a candid look at the Beem-Duplantis pair. “At the '95 Colonial, [Duplantis] met a stripper named Vicki with the gravity-defying proportions of Jessica Rabbit. After the first round, they spent the night together, and Steve crawled out of bed just in time to make it to Furyk's 8:17 a.m. tee time. He cut an unmistakable figure: bed-head, an inside-out polo shirt, leather dress shoes and no yardage guide to be found. It was a sign of things to come. Steve and Vicki were married after a whirlwind 19-day courtship, and the stormy relationship became only more complicated when a daughter, Sierra, was born in early 1996, two days after Furyk's victory at the Hawaiian Open.” Read Shipnuck’s recount of the caddie’s life HERE.

I suppose there are many obvious morals and lessons one could draw from this tragedy, but I’m not going to be the one to point them out. Instead, I suggest we try to live our lives to the fullest and enjoy the game to the best of our abilities as we all do.

Timberlake to host PGA Tour event

For those of you who don’t know me that well, I have a secret that will likely make many people lose a lot of respect for me (as well as have those that do know me roll their eyes, stifle a laugh and nod): I used to be in love with a boy band member.

Before you judge (since we all have our own idiosyncrasies), hear me out. And yes, this is golf related.

I was a young girl when I first laid eyes on Justin Timberlake, dancing and singing his little blond curly head off on Disney’s The New Mickey Mouse Club back in '93. Sigh, those were the days. A few years later, during my freshman year of high school, he resurfaced with four other chaps in the Orlando-based boy band *NSYNC (I had every album. And book. And poster. And even the Valentine’s Day official *NSYNC conversation hearts.). Despite the fact that our relationship was unrequited, I moved on, watched his solo career take off into another stratosphere, and worked on my own career path as well, being the independent woman I am.

And now, turnabout. He has followed me into the golf world.

Timberlake, 26, who recently obtained membership at Los Angeles’ MountainGate Country Club, will become only the 14th celebrity to host an official PGA tournament, when the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open embarks on Las Vegas next year (click here for more). Formerly known as the Frys.com Open from 2006-07 (George McNeill is the defending champion), Timberlake’s involvement in the five-year agreement will include playing in the event’s pro-am, as well as hosting a concert during the tournament week.

That’s my guy.

The avid golfer, who plays to a 6-handicap and is rumored to have been taking lessons to get down to scratch, joins a list of some of the most well-known (and well-liked) celebrities of their times, including Bob Hope (the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, now hosted by Lakeside member and comedian George Lopez), Sammy Davis, Jr. (the Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open, now known as the Travelers Championship), and my personal favorite, Ed McMahon(!) (The Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open, now known as the John Deere Classic). See the full list here. He's also participated in the celebrity portions of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Ahh, golf. Rekindling long-lost relationships and bringing people together for the good of life and the game.

Beware of gators

As you contemplate how much that wayward Pro V1 or Noodle you hit in the water hazard is worth to you, think for a moment what the consequences of your (ahem) thriftiness could be: an alligator nearly amputating your arm.

So learned 50-year-old Bruce Berger the hard way, when he reached in for his ball in a pond at Lake Venice Golf Club in Florida and the 11-foot, one-eyed beast latched onto his arm and pulled him in. See the AP article HERE.

Now trust me, I'm ALL for free golf balls. I'm ecstatic if I only go through a sleeve during a round. But I'm not going to wrestle a gator, near a sign that says "Beware of Alligator," to get one. Sorry.

It's a dangerous game. Be careful out there.

Fallen Golfer and Golf Cart Safety

In a very tragic incident yesterday (May 22) at Pala Mesa Golf Resort in Fallbrook, a 65-year-old Irvine golfer died after his golf cart went over a cliff on the second hole and plunged 75 feet down to the road below. Read the Associated Press story HERE.

The cause of the accident is still unknown and investigators will look at the cart for mechanical failures; this gentleman very well could have been doing everything right, which makes this incident unfair. That being said, cart safety is important and we should take this opportunity to remind ourselves of that.

We need to think of golf carts as cars, which requires us to pay attention to the surroundings around us. Beautiful scenery, a great shot, or a rousing conversation can take our attention off the real task at hand: DRIVING. Too many times I have seen a golf cart rolled over out of careless driving, a cart steered into a pond, ditch or bunker, even a person rolling out of the cart because of a turn made too sharply by the driver. An SCGA committeeman’s ankle was broken after his playing partner accidentally hit him with their golf cart. Adding alcohol into the mix, as golfers sometimes partake in, clearly increases the chances for poor cart-driving decisions. PLEASE BE CAREFUL: RECKLESS CART DRIVING IS NOT FUNNY. Be aware of the conditions of the course; wet grass will cause carts to slide and skid, whether it be forward, backward or sideways. Keep the cart speed low. Check the mechanics of the cart before you head onto the course; if you notice a problem like faulty brakes (scary to discover on the course, such as when I found the parking brake on my cart wouldn’t work and there were hills coming up), inform golf course personnel. This all seems obvious, but some people need a reminder.

Have fun out there, be safe and use both caution and common sense. Our thoughts go out to our lost golfer.

Welcome to the Katieshack

As a person who could easily take five pages to answer a question requiring a one-word response, imagine my excitement when I was told that, yes, I would be given (mostly) unlimited Web space to share some of my golf world discoveries with my SCGA friends!

A perk of working in communications and magazines, especially in the golf industry, is that I am often informed of equipment, apparel, books, products, courses, instruction, specials, etc. (i.e. anything and everything golf-related) that the general golf public many times is not. In other words, I hold many consumer golf secrets in the palms of my little hands, and I’m now ready to spill to you all. It’s my duty as a golf communications professional.

Through this SCGA blog, I’ll have the opportunity to share many things I come across in my golf travels, whether it be a product I’m excited about, incidences I run across on the golf course, a humorous golf story that a member may share with me, or quirky, under-the-table golf news. Luckily for everyone I enjoy typing, so look forward to frequent and timely entries. Golf is a fun and intriguing sport as well as a fascinating lifestyle, and I hope that Katieshack, Bob’s Blog and Know the Rules will reflect that.

The Katieshack is open 24 hours a day, so stop by and let me know what interests you as a golfer, what you want to read about and what you want to see. Tell me a golf story or share a golf memory. I look forward to hearing from you!

--Katie Denbo