Golf Blog by The Orlando Golf Blogger

LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens says she wouldn’t mind players using social media Web sites during a competitive round.

“I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round,” Bivens said in an interview, according to Bloomberg News. “The new media is very important to the growth of golf and we view it as a positive, and a tool to be used.”

Here’s the full article Bivens Encourages In-Round Updates.

I’m totally on the fence on this issue.. I can see some definite benefits to in round twitter posts but at the same time, I can imagine watching a round and the announcer saying something like, look, there’s Natalie Gulbis on the 17th twittering again..

I am totally PRO twitter (you can follow me @davelair) and I love that so many PGA/LPGA pros are getting onboard with it.

I’m just slightly concerned how this might affect the integrity/image of the game. Now, I’m not one of those stuffy, rigid anti-change golfer dudes, I love the changes that are occuring all across the game. I can’t shake some concerns that in-game mobile device usage could seriously disrupt flow.

Whaddya think? Where do you stand on the in-round twitter usage?

-Dave

So, I’m beginning to think that book reviews are probably not my forte..

It took me forever to read the book, not because it’s a poor read, quite the contrary, but because recreation reading falls pretty low on the priority totem pole. But I digress..

Breaking the Slump: How Great Players Survived Their Darkest Moments in Golf–and What You Can Learn from Them

I’m going to do my best not to give anything away, I’d hate to be considered one of “those” guys.

Jimmy Roberts has been a sportscaster for NBC since May 2000 and  has won 11 Sports Emmy Awards.

The idea for the book came to him while sitting in the parking lot of Best Buy. He’d been really struggling with his golf game and the idea just popped in his head. Everybody who plays golf slumps. Everybody. He has access to some of the most successful golfers of all time and who better to seek advice about slumps from than those who make a living doing it?

That’s precisely what he did. The book took about 10 months to research and write. He’s interviewed some of the biggest names in golf about their slumps and how they overcame them.

Jimmy does a great job of “setting the scene.” When reading the book, you can almost visualize the interview as if you were watching it on television.

Each chapter features a PGA player or a celebrity with a serious golf addiction. The chapters give some good history about the person, who they are, where they came from and how they stumbled into a slump and how they over came it. I really enjoyed reading this because it gives you a different perspective on these titans of the game. It almost makes you feel a little better about your shabby game because you realize that everyone struggles.

There’s one main recurring theme amongst all the stories, no matter what happens you have to stay positive about your game and circumstance.

Over at the Waggleroom.com, they did a podcast interview with Jimmy Roberts about the book. See the link below. The Jimmy Roberts interview begins at the 10:00 mark.

Podcast with Jimmy Roberts via WaggleRoom.com

If you’ve read the book, I’d like to hear your opinions on it.

-Dave