Big Break Indian Wells Premieres May 16, 2011

...and I'll have interviews posted here by the 17th!

In case you hadn't heard...the next Big Break will be held in the Southern California Desert at Indian Wells.

The all male cast will be Big Break "virgins", so to speak, all new to the series and all vying for the coveted sponsor’s exemption to a 2012 PGA TOUR event (plus other goodies, yet to be disclosed".

The 10-episode series will unfold on the resort’s two championship golf courses – Celebrity Course and Players Course.

The Celebrity Course is a two-time host to the PGA TOUR’s Skins Game, and both courses are ranked as one of California’s top-20 courses by GOLF Magazine and Golfweek Magazine – the only 36-hole facility in the state to boast that honor.

During Big Break Indian Wells, one contestant will be eliminated each week, with the last player standing awarded his Big Break.  Sounds like no surprises with format. Hmmm...not sure I like that.  I liked the changes they started to introduce last summer, and in fact, I'd like to see more.

Actually,  I would love to see Golf Channel take the Big Break over to Europe again and have half USA, half European players.  They should create a "Ryder Cup" atmosphere with challenges that pit continents against each other.

I am a huge fan of match play. Watching the Accenture this week and seeing Miguel-Angel Jimenez playing so well at 47 years of age, taking down Ben 'excuse me while I take a nap' Crane, 7-6 made me want to jump on a plane to greet The Mechanic when he lands back in Costa del Sol.

Imagine calling that part of the world home! The choices of golf courses and resorts in that part of Spain seem endless. How I would love to golf Marbella or Malaga or Estepona.   No wonder the area is so popular on the European Tour.  There on no less than 5 professional events being held there this year between the Challenge, European and Seniors tours.

Yes, I think any golf course Spain has to offer would be a great venue for the next Big Break.  And I'm sure more than one resort along the Mediterranean would pay big bucks to host the series.   The Big Break sponsorship certainly helped raise the profile of  PEI as a major golf destination in Canada.  It was worth every penny of the $800K the government of PEI allegedly spent on that.

And imagine if the Golf Channel could get a guest appearance from Jimenez or Quiros or El Nino.  I'd pay to watch that.  You never know... that could be Sergio's big break! ;)

Anyway, back to Indian Wells. I am pretty curious about the contestants this time around. Rumour has it that Raymond Floyd's son is one of them.  If that's true, and he's anything like his dad, I'll do my best to get him on the phone.

David Byrne of Big Break Indian Wells

I was delighted to see a fellow Canuck, David Byrne, is in the mix too (see newspaper article below).  He'll be one of my first interviews after the premier on May 16th. 

I guess I really shouldn't  worry much about the contestants; I am pretty confident Golf Channel will have picked some real "winners" for us to love/hate/roast.  

Golfgal

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DAVID BYRNE’S BIG BREAK

The Windsor Star
20 Jan 2011
read more...

Tech Tags: The Windsor Star newspaper FRONT PAGE

Want to hole more birdies? Then pretend you're putting for par

Are you a sports fan-atic? Do you like to gamble with buddies on the golf course?  Do you ever wonder why you miss so many birdie putts?  Would it surprise you to know that the first pick in the NFL draft is worth LESS than the first pick in the 2nd round?

Then I've found a book you must read - Scorecasting by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim.


Now, I'm not a big follower of other sports.  Given my fanaticism for golf, I just don't have time for much else.  I do enjoy baseball, however, and never miss the opening game of the Seattle Mariners every spring.

Next year I'm thinking of heading to Arizona with my golfguy for the Mariner's spring training.  Imagine, golf in the morning and baseball in the afternoon.  Throw in an occasional basketball game at night and you've got sports-lover heaven.

If this sounds like your kind of getaway, then you will love this book.

Without giving away too much, I will share one "game-changer" Moskowitz and Wetheim call "loss aversion".  Based on a study of 421 players on the PGA Tour and using Tiger Woods as an example (nice marketing move gentlemen ;)), the authors describe how golfers faced with exactly the same putt for par or birdie are more likely to hole the par putt than the birdie putt.  Their aversion to loss (bogey) is greater than their attraction to a gain (birdie).

When I read that, I recalled some of Anthony Robbin's principle's of pain and pleasure.  According to Robbins, pain is a bigger motivator than pleasure.  Interesting...

I kept thinking about some of the exceptional players on tour who are held back by their putting. Suzann Petterson immediately came to mind -- 12 top 10 finishes and never missed a cut in 2010.  I think she should be the world's number one player, but she never took home a trophy last year because of her T63 putting average.  I think Suzann needs to  read this book.

I also thought about my favorite baseball team. I believe every Mariner needs to read this book to understand the mental side of a 3-2 count.

What will the pitcher throw next if the batter started with a 2-0 count versus starting with a 0-2 count?

It's pretty interesting what the pitcher and batter is more likely to do on the next throw.  But you'll need to read the book to find out what ;)

Scorecasting is a must read book for any sports fanatic or even gambler.  It is not only a great read with entertaining anecdotes (loved the one about the totally unconventional football coach who never punted on a 4th down), it makes watching sports a lot more interesting.  I can't watch a golf tournament now without looking for the par/birdie scenario to play itself out.

I wonder if you can trick your brain into thinking a putt is for par rather than birdie.  Not sure how to do that, but maybe David over at Golf State of Mind can help us with that. 


Golfgal

Move over Camilo and Adam, there's a hot new golfguy on tour

For those of us who hate watching pro-ams (it's all ams and little or no pros), thank goodness there was more on TV than the Pebble Beach National. I think it's a huge shame that they ruin that tournament (and course) with all the razzmatazz of adding celebrities to it.

I find it so annoying to miss watching "real golf" so some nimrod announcer can hobnob with the stars. I find the whole telecast a waste of time. If it wasn't for the PVR fast forward button I wouldn't have seen any of it.

Anyway, back to great golf...

It was an especially "interesting" weekend in Dubai. Tiger was back, or was he, or wasn't he? One minute you were sure he'd never be the same golfer he once was and the next thing he's back holing unlikely eagle putts. He couldn't keep it altogether this weekend, but he's making it clear, he's not finished yet.

Although one of my all-time faves, defending champ, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, didn't pull off another win, it was nice to see a fellow country man take the title in such a "made for TV" fashion.

Cadiz's el hombre, Alvaro Quiros, turned in a roller coaster scorecard that included an eagle four birdies, a bogey, a triple-bogey and an ace, to win by one.

I've always enjoyed watching Alvaro Quiros; you never know what's going to happen. He should be the poster boy for "Never give up; never surrender".

Wish I could have said the same for the man who was 2nd in the world only a year ago. Sergio started the week off so well (67, 67), and it was great to see those flashes of brilliance from him again.

But watching him and Tiger in "match play" on Sunday was not what I was hoping to see.  I wish those two would grow up and shake hands and stop carrying a grudge that no one cares about.  Quit acting like children boys - start acting like gentlemen!

Be not afraid. Trust yourself. It's only golf.

Last weekend while watching the Waste Management Phoenix Open  I was wondering how on earth the players faced teeing it up on 16 without throwing up.


Imagine hitting a shot in front of 20,000 booze-infused fans who'd love nothing better than to humiliate you in front of millions of TV viewers.  Talk about feeling naked on the tee!

While I was thinking about that, a Callaway commercial came on with Phil Mickelson hitting some of those miraculous (AKA crazy) shots he's famous for.

Lefty really put it well when he said, "You can't be afraid to lose and you can't be afraid to fail."

Shortly after that, Bubba Watson hit a "power fade" (i.e. massive slice) off the tee on the 5th hole into the desert.  Although the lie wasn't too bad, the view from the ball to the green looked very scary.  But Bubba, a man who seems to play without fear since his win at the Travelers Championship in 2010, just stepped up and ripped it to 10 feet from the cup; he went on to birdie the hole. 

After watching that commercial and then Bubba, I was reminded of how often I've heard an analyst say about a player, "He's not afraid to go low." or "He's not afraid to win."  I always thought those were ridiculous statements.  How can you be afraid to go low or win a tournament?