Baseball players dilemma…To golf or not to golf…

An interesting debate…should baseball players stay away from golf? Will it hurt their batting swing?

It seems a bit ridiculous to me, but then again, I don’t play baseball – although it is my favorite sport (after golf of course). Ichiro is my hero and of course, that means the Seattle Mariners are my favorite team.

I was out at the UBC golf course last fall and Ichiro was down with buddies playing the course that day – about 3 holes behind us. The starter knew me and when he saw I was wearing my Mariners’ red sweatshirt (it was cold that day), he whispered to me that Ichiro was scheduled to play.

I spent the entire game looking back to see if I could see him and finally did on the 15th hole. He was riding a cart (which shocked me since it is a very walkable course) and his pitch to the green was, well…not up to par with his batting. But he was laughing and having a great time. And on the 18th green, he signed my sweatshirt (I’m going to have it vacuum packed :))

Given this year’s performance, I don’t think Ichiro’s casual golf outings is hurting his game (as of July 4th, he was batting .333).

Remember when Jack Nicklaus said that back in the 60’s exercise was considered bad for golf and only Gary Player was into fitness? See, they were wrong then too.

Life’s too short – if you love golf, you’ve just got to play!

Batter up!
Golfgal

Richmond Times-Dispatch
10 Jul 2007