The Scratch Pad

Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

In this video parody, Ben Crane (who has taken lots of flak from fellow players and fans for his excruciatingly slow play) resolves to improve his speed. What’s your new year’s resolution?

Promo video for the European Tour with some amazing tricks (I’m still not sure how he catches that ball) but perhaps the most impressive one was hitting an approach off the back of the club to within 15 ft of the hole. (Click here if you don’t see the player below).

There have been magicians on the pro tour for some time – check out this highlight of Seve Ballasteros putting magic at a 1984 exhibition match. (Click Here if you don’t see the player below).

Mike Reeder, 63 years old, lost both of his legs in the Vietnam War. Instead of losing all hope after his accident which left him in a wheel chair, Reeder became an inspiration to golfers and non-golfers, alike. In 1988, eighteen years after his accident, Reeder found himself in a pro-shop and decided to pick up golfing. Since that day, Reeder has participated in amputee golf tournaments, both locally and nationally. He is an accomplished golfer, who has shot par, made a hole-in one, and has a golf handicap of less than ten.

Due to his one of a kind story, the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), which provides disabled individuals with opportunities to get involved with sports, granted Reeder the honor of being featured on ESPN’s E: 60. In July of this year, CAF funded Reeder’s dream of playing at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, making him the first handicapped golfer to play where golf originated. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re starting a new competition on the Scratch Pad – luckiest and best golf shots ever. We’ll post two competing shots and you let us know which ones you think is best. Or if you think you have a better one, point us to it.

For this round, we have two competing shots – one from the PGA and one from the European tour; one in a tournament, and one in a practice round; both involving water.

First up, Darren Clarke on a long par 5:

Next up, Vijay Singh on a short par 3:

So, whom would you vote for?

As we prepare for the quest for another green jacket, we thought it would be fun to relive some of the greatest masters moments in history.

2010 – Mickelson’s shot from the pine needles

With two pine trees, a creek, and over two hundred yards between him and the pin, Mickelson delivered a blistering iron off the pine needles through the trees to four feet. it was perhaps one of the gutsiest shots ever played – the birdied hole led to a 67 and his third green jacket.

2005 – Tiger’s chip from the collar

Trailing Chris DiMarco, Woods knocked his tee shot over the green, where it came to rest against the collar of the first cut of rough. After taking stock of the situation, he hit a low spinning pitch, landing the ball 25 feet above the hole. The ball bit and then trickled down to the cup, hanging ever so briefly onto the lip before dropping in. The crowd erupted, and Tiger went on to win the green jacket in a playoff.

1987 – Larry Mize’s chip in

At the end of 72 holes, Larry Mize and Greg Norman both led the pack in the 1987 Masters. On the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, Norman hit his approach shot to the edge of the green, while Mize sprayed his second some 150 feet right and long. Norman looked destined to win his first green jacket until Mize bounced his third shot onto the green and into the hole. With Norman unable to sink his birdie putt, Mize won his first and only major championship.

1987 – Nicklaus’s Final Masters

At the 1987 Masters Nicklaus made a monumental back-nine charge, shooting a 30 that featured an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on 15, 16, & 17. The round featured a number of clutch shots, but the tricky 12-footer he holed for birdie on 17 most resonates in people’s memories. Nicklaus went on to par the 18th and carded a 65 – he then watched his competitors falter, giving him his 6th green jacket.

1935 – Gene Sarazen’s Double Eagle

Unfortunately we don’t have a video, but Gene Sarazen’s historic hole-out for double eagle went a long way toward helping popularize the Masters (then called the Augusta National Invitational). Deciding between a 3-wood and 4-wood, he chose the latter and hit a towering shot that flew some 235 yards, cleared a greenside pond, and dropped into the hole. The deuce tied Sarazen for the lead with Craig Wood – he then went on to win the only 36-hole playoff in Masters history.

Following up on our Every Shot Imaginable post, the European Tour has come out with a new promo video, this time defending Scotland against imaginary pirates.

Every play “hit the target” on the golf range? Well, it’s a bit like that, except you are aiming for the 3 foot mouth of a barrel, bobbing in a dinghy 150+ yards out to sea in high winds.

These guys are good.

In competition with the PGA – the European Tour has taken to some imaginative self promotion.

In a reminder of a scene from tin cup, the every shot imaginable campaign has set up leading European tour winners in friendly competition to see who can pull off incredible shots.

Here’s a look at their first challenge – skeet shooting with a 7-iron:

A bit of inspiration to start off your 2012:

Prepare to be inspired.

 

This from our friends over at 72strokes, where they covered a great story on Casey Martin and his 4-year legal battle with the PGA Tour that ended in 2001. Martin was a three-time all Pac-10 and was a member of Stanford University’s NCAA Championship team in 1994. He suffers from a rare and painful leg disability, fought the PGA Tour for the right to use a golf cart in competition. He ultimately took his case all the way to the Supreme Court where he emerged victorious.

Riding in a cart didn’t turn out to be the advantage than many though it would be:

Maybe on a 120-degree day or on a really hilly course it helped to ride,” Martin said. “But I certainly wish I could’ve walked. The rhythm of the game at a competitive level is a walking rhythm, not a riding rhythm.”

After struggling to remain competitive on the golf course, Martin retired from professional golf five years ago. He’s now the head coach for the University of Oregon’s golf team, which he’s turned into a national powerhouse.

Overall, Casey Martin’s PGA story wasn’t filled with big wins – He played a year on the PGA Tour, but mostly knocked around golf’s minor league. His accomplishments were not big, but they were meaningful.

“In the end it worked out great,” Martin said. “I got a chance to legitimately pursue my career. It made a massive impact on my life for the better.”

Martin’s fight has served as inspiration for other athletes to pursue their dreams, and a lesson that a disability doesn’t have to come with preset limits.