Golf Guilt

Every now and then I still suffer from a little golf guilt. Sometimes it hits me when I'm telling one of my environmentally gifted friends that I have to go, I have a tee time. Other times it hits me when I'm working on an action plan to help the homeless in our community.

Today it happened at a child neglect summit.

I couldn't help it. I could see the sun pouring in through the skylights and I wanted to be lifted out and set gently on the finely manicured tee box with my disobedient Cobra driver. Everyone else in the room appeared to be focused on the very real and imminent issue of abused and neglected children. But, I was different. With every slide of a child waiting for a home, I saw a club needing to be held, swung freely from my hands and tucked carefully back to place in my bag.

It's not that I don't care or that I'm not passionate about the issue. It's just that sometimes you just need a break from it all. I can see why business deals made their way onto the golf course.
I long for the day that it's politically acceptable to take public and social services to the course. I'll probably be 102.

2007 Owens Corning Field of Champions

The pairings have been released for this weekend's Owens Corning Classic and it promises to be a great weekend of women's golf.

There are some noticeable absences with Sorenstam, Ochoa, Inkster, Wie and Webb out of the mix, but there is a great leaderboard packed with a combo of classic and new talent. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of long time notables, Nancy Lopez, Meg Mallon and Pat Hurst along with defending champion, Mi Hyun Kim.

The tournament is packed with the best and is sure to be a weekend of great golf.

My Letter to the USGA

Thanks to the Waggle Room and The Golf Chick for bringing up the non existence of a US Senior Women's Open. While I had thought today's blog would be dedicated to some of my deeper thoughts on a few inequities in the golf world, what ended up happening was the development of my open letter to the USGA. Feel free to cut and paste.

Dear USGA,

While wandering around the internet looking for even the smallest morsel of women's golf news today, I came across a blog site that pointed out something that's been bothering me for years. Rather than shaking my head and wishing for better, I thought I'd take the time to write.

Why doesn't the USGA sponsor a U.S. Senior Women's Open? I guess I probably know the answer to the question, but I'd like to support you in changing direction on this and embracing women's golf on a deeper level.

It seems to me that the popularity of golf is growing with women at a rapid rate, yet somehow the catering to our desires stops at the pro shop cash register. While I certainly don't speak for everyone, I think I can safely say that we want more than a credit card bill and a sporty visor. We want to see these incredible athletes continuing on their careers as their hair turns grey, their shots get shorter and straighter and their confidence overcomes the pressing cameras and fans.

In a country that is searching for ways to overcome the somewhat recent, yet huge decline in physical activity and growing obesity numbers, I think we'd all like to see more encouragement to keep moving. Without an activity that matters to us, why do we care when our hips start hurting, our knees start stabbing with pain and our shorts seem to keep shrinking every wash?

We need a US Women's Senior Open. Don't wait until the great ones are gone, we want to see them play now. I'm willing to bet there's a lot of us out here that will help you with promotions and marketing.

Sincerely,
Sarah
@The Daily Mulligan