Gifts for golfgals for Christmas or anytime

Well, winter has arrived in Vancouver in a big way. In the 5 years I've lived here, I've never seen this much snow. Having grown up in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, I'm pretty used to freezing temperatures and tons of snow, but hey...this is Vancouver! What's all this white stuff? You're supposed to be able golf in Vancouver on Xmas Day!

Oh well...on goes the fire and I'm busy wrapping up the last of the gifts this year. One thing I always have trouble with is buying for my girlfriends who golf. But not this year. Lucky for me I discovered a gift that I would want myself - in fact...I found two!

The first is from our good friend Charlotte Campbell from Highway 18. Anyone who knows Charlotte knows she's a wizard at creating beautiful ball markers, AKA Blingos! She makes the Swarovski ballmarks to help pay for her golfing on the Duramed Tour.

I bought a bunch from her this fall and they are just gorgeous (I want to keep them all for myself and buy outfits to match - LOL!). They look more like jewelry than something you'd put on the ground. Hey...maybe they'll help my putting! They go great with my Gemspot putter.

A gift for your golfgal or golf GF, at only $15 each, they are steal.

To go along with the blingos, I also lucked out when I heard about another terrific gift for the lady golfer and it's not only beautiful and useful, it serves a higher purpose.

A SporteeGal Golf Journal is the perfect gift for a woman who is serious about tracking her golf games or just wants to keep momentos of fun golf moments with friends.

A compact brown and pink delightful book (hey...aren't those Annika colors?), the SporteeGal Golf Journal lets you:

• Document your goals for the year and track your progress


• Record golf games and keep "special" score cards in handy pockets


• Add tips and tricks you learned at lessons or on TV or from other players


• Store golfing memories and pictures

And once again...the price is right. They usually sell for $26.95, but this month, they are on sale for $21.95.

And what's even better...a $1 from the sale of each journal is donated to Newborns in Need. Pretty cool, eh? Once again, I bought some for friends and kept one for myself ;). Oh...by the way, she even gift wraps them for you - now THAT I appreciate at this very busy time of year.


I realize it's getting pretty late to buy these in time for Xmas, but hey, Valentine's Day is just around the corner and don't forget birthdays come every year whether we want them or not!

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone and I wish you a 5 point drop in your handicap in the new year!

Golfgal

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Haymes and Bernadette are Big Break X Michigan Champions!

When I started watching Big Break X Michigan tonight I did a quick look at the poll on Golf Channel to see who was favored. I have to say that I was not surprised to see Hugo and Camila out in front, given what I've read on the forums, but I was surprised to see by how much.

It would appear that most people thought that Hugo and Camila were going to win hands down. I would have thought that after last week's win over Robbie and Amber, people would have given Haymes Bernie a bit more credit.

Well, I for one was thrilled! Bernie and Haymes are a class act. And although Haymes' swing is a bit unorthodox, and Bernie was not as confident with her driver as she would have liked, together they make an unbeatable combination.

I loved how they encouraged each other and backed each other up when they really needed to. That one line from Haymes to Bernie, "Make me proud." was so cool - it was like he was talking to his little sister.

I also loved the self-deprecating humor of Haymes after he said he needed to trust his swing on the 15th hole. His line about viewers thinking, "How can this guy trust his swing!" was hilarious.

Let's hear from the man/daddy of the hour now - Mr. "do they get any nicer than this!" Haymes Snedeker.



Haymes is right. Bernie deserves so much credit for their win and what makes them such as great team. I really hope she does well at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. I will make sure to bookmark that event and follow it on the blog. Hey...maybe she might even agree to an interview ;)

And Hugo and Camila are champions in their own right. Through the entire series they were such a fantastic team - so supportive - so caring - and great golfers. I am sure they will make it to the tours through hard work and talent.

I spoke with Michael after the show to get his thoughts. I really wanted to know who the eliminated teams thought would win...



I had forgotten that Haymes and Bernie were the ones who put Michael and Sherri into the elimination round. It's so nice that Michael doesn't hold a grudge against them. There really were some terrific people on this show.

Next up, Andrea, and her comments on the show and what happened that night when it was all over...



Can you imagine it taking that long to play 17 holes of golf? Wow...that had to be extremely exhausting and stressful for the two teams.

Sally joined me today to share what she thought about the show and the advice she'd give to any future Big Breaker hopeful...



Happy Birthday Sally!

Caught up with David today in this busy holiday season to get his thoughts on the final show and recommendations for future Big Breakers...



Well, Haymes paid the big price of missing the birth of his son to win this series. I sure hope he saves the recordings of the episodes to show to his boy when he grows up. I know if it was my dad, I'd be very proud.

Congratulations Haymes and Bernie! You truly are champions in more ways than one. I can't wait to watch you both live your dreams on the PGA and LPGA tours.

And a special thanks to Andrea, Amber, Sally, Mike, David and Haymes for being such great sports and chatting with me every week. I really appreciate it and hope to keep in touch with you all in 2009!

I guess this is it - sniff - no more big break until May 2009. What will I do with my Tuesday nights!

Golfgal

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Big Break X: Michigan - A great new TV stage for CSI Michigan

Shocked to see Amber and Robbie go home tonight? Well join the club! 72% of Golf Channel viewers said they thought Amber and Robbie would win over Bernie and Haymes tonight, while only 28% thought Haymes and Bernie would head into next week's finals.

Whew! I am exhausted. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire hour. Both teams deserved to be in the finals IMHO. But tonight, wierd stuff happened that surprised me.

Bernie wasn't quite on her game until that shot over the water. Haymes, on the other hand, was hot - getting that shot out of the woods was really quite amazing. But his strategy was bang on - try and hit a tree and it will never happen - LOL!!!

Amber was solid and consistent as ever (let's ignore that bunker shot - it was not characteristic of her and really not a determining factor in the end), while Robbie had some bad luck or just pushed too hard when an easy stroke was really all that was needed. Did they "not win" tonight, or did they lose it for themselves. Let's ask Amber...





You know...I think that the team dynamics were just a tiny bit off tonight for those two. Certainly the GC caught some of the dialogue and according to Amber, they got it right. Amazing what a little "lack of chemistry" can do to a team.

I was pleased to welcome back Andrea to the interviewee list today. She had a tough spell at Q school, but she's a fighter and she's got game, so I have no doubt that she'll make it someday soon...



I was happy to catch up with Haymes today and get his thoughts on this week's exciting show and what he and Bernie were going through.



Good luck next week Haymes! I sure hope to see you driving that BMW to your PGA event with your brother!

Sally had some great insights into this week's show and good advice for match play teams. She knows what she's talking about; just listen to hear who she got to play with. Very impressive!



David was back this week and had some very interesting comments about the play and players...


Have you ever watched David "entertain"? Check out this video.




Remind me never to take an nap on a tee box with David around, no matter how slow pace of play is ;)

Michael was at a coaches' convention in Las Vegas last week, but he was able to chat this weekend about the 10th episode and his take on two teams. I also had to ask if it was all work and no play in Sin City :)



Hmmm...sounds like the coaches really did do some good work in Vegas - funny, I've never had that experience and I've been to more conventions than I can count in that adult playground ;).

Only 2 more days to go to know who walks away (or should I say, drives away) with all those prizes. Who do you think/hope it will be?

Golfgal

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Big Break X: Michigan - Black is beautiful and deadly

Being "in the red" is usually a great thing in golf - negative scores are great - Tiger's roars in red on Sunday are worth TIVO'ing - golf and red just go together in golf.

But not tonight. Tonight, black ruled!

Bernie and Haymes in their pink/black attire just didn't have what it took and they quickly found themselves sitting on the sidelines waiting for the semi-finals next week.

Yes, I know, Robbie and Amber also joined them (well, maybe not as quickly as this show was apparently one of the longest days in BB history), but didn't you find it strange to see 2 of the 3 teams completely dressed in black? I sure did. I know they have "GC dressers" help them put outfits together, so I found it strange that they let two teams start the day all in black.

Oh well, I guess this isn't a fashion show ;), but the way the cameras find their "below the waste" targets sometimes, you begin to wonder (I'll say nothing more on that "touchy" subject LOL!).

Anyway...back to the golf...

I don't know about you, but I found the scoring on the first set of short game challenges completely confusing (maybe it was the Malbec I had at dinner :)). Thank goodness I could ask Michael what was going on or I would have been up all night trying to figure it out ;)



Caught up with Sally Dee to get her thoughts on this week's show, but first I had to ask her about the Madonna concert she went to last week....



Haymes and I had a great chat about last night's exhausting episode....



Ah ha! Now I understand some of the things I saw and heard that didn't make sense. Thanks Haymes!

Hope to chat with Amber and David as well, but haven't quite connected yet. BTW...Did you read David's blog last week? If not...you should. He had a great idea. He suggested that Don Donatello and he could star in School of Golf: DETENTION. LOL!!! That is too funny. I for one would watch that show. ;)

Thursday update...Andrea was off to a bit of a shakey start on Wed, ending up T89 with a 73. Let's send her good thoughts and wishes today to try and help move her up the leaderboard.

And don't forget to catch Dave Andrews' posts on CyberGolf - today he shares a pretty heartwarming story about Liz Stuart from Big Break Ka'anapali. She's currently tied for 110th with Brian Vega.


Golfgal

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