His first encounter with PGA Tour major was in 1995. He won a silver medal in The Open Championship. He became the youngest to win The Masters, in April 1997. Tiger won twenty Masters in total. On June 15, 1997, he was honored with number 1 rank in the official World Golf Ranking. His victory in the Memorial Tournament in June 1999, proved Tiger as one of the greatest golf personalities in the history. For the second time he was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year. In 2000 US Open, with fifteen shot win, Woods broke the record by winning nine US Open records. After Lee Trevino, he was the second man to win Triple Crown of Golf in a single year.

His career graph declined a bit in 2003-04. He fell to second position in the PGA Tour money list and nor did he win a major. He was the number one golfer for two hundred consecutive weeks, which ended in September 2005. Some said that misunderstanding with his coach Butch Harmon was the reason to his slump and others blamed the stress on his left knee which received a surgery. In 2005, he returned to his old form by winning the Buick Invitational and Ford Championship. He was once again given the top rank in Official World Golf Rankings. Tiger’s father’s death due to longtime illness affected him a lot. He took a break for nine weeks and made a comeback in the 2006 US Open. He got a two stroke victory at the Buick Invitational in 2007.  

Woods was known for wearing his signature red t-shirt in the final match of his tournaments. His thinking was that it brought assertiveness and aggression. His individual achievements include official money PGA Tour for fifty seven times, World Golf Championships for thirteen times and Major Championship for twelve times.  Looking back, he turned into a professional golfer in August 1996. The same year he earned $60 million from endorsements of products like Nike and Titleist. The next year he was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated and PGA Rookie of the Year.

Tiger won his eleventh and twelfth professional golf championship at the age of thirty. Among the list of top 10 in career PGA Tour wins and career major wins, he is the only player who is active. He received the PGA Tour Player of the year award eight times and was on the money list for seven times. Four times he was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He was only one golfer who held the world number 1 title for the longest time period and for most number of weeks. In 2006, Woods was the highest paid athlete with an income of $ 100 million from matches and advertisements.

Tiger Woods married Elin Nordegren who is a Swedish model, on October 5, 2004. They bought a $ 39 million property in Jupiter Island, Florida. The have a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods. 

Playing golf early in the morning with people from work or friends is just one of the many forms of relaxation people can do these days. It is a time for bonding and a great escape from the pressures of the city.

If one wants to be alone and just enjoy being on the green, one can sign up in a private club that has excellent and world-class facilities. Some of these places offer residential homes inside the vast acres of space that a person can buy which is inclusive of the golf membership. This makes it easier for people to leave for the weekend and come back the day after refreshed and ready for another challenging week ahead.

Some facilities offer 18 hole and 36 hole courses and can be found by searching the web or by checking the local directory.  This is usually advertised so it is kind of impossible to miss.

Golf is a game one can learn easily. All it takes is time and patience knowing which club to use and how to putt properly. This activity is very affordable and should that person want to get serious at it, one can easily join some tournaments then perhaps proceed on to the big leagues.

It doesn’t really matter if one wins or loses being on a private golf course and playing the game because this sport is about having fun.

People who want to start playing the game will easily get the hang of it by just watching how others swing and putting the ball into the holes.

Here are some tips when playing:

1. One should read the rules and regulations posted outside before playing the game. There are certain rules which are being implemented for the safety of the players and the other people who frequent the place.

2. There is a certain dress code when playing this game. It is advisable to wear some lose clothing which will make that person feel relaxed and a cap if the weather is hot. 

3. Whenever someone will take a shot, one should not create any sounds or disrupt the player as a sign of courtesy to that person.

4. There is an order that must be followed when playing the game. Should that person do well in one hole, that person has the right to tee off again in the next.

5. After one has putted, it is best to retrieve the ball away from where the next person will also do it since this is considered as impolite to the other player.

6. Lastly, play the game honestly.

You can buy all the golf accessories that you want, but none of them are going to do you much good unless you have them with you while you are playing the game. Keeping your golf accessories on hand may be a bit of a hassle, but when they come in handy you will be glad that you went through the trouble. There are many different ways that you can carry your golf accessories with you, and here I will discuss some of the most practical solutions. If you have just recently stocked up on golf accessories and you are looking for a solution to the predicament of portability, you will probably encounter some information that will be very beneficial to your cause.

Your golf bag probably has quite a few compartments that are not filled up by the actual golf clubs themselves. Do you have these compartments stuffed to the max? Since you will be carrying your golf club bag with you anyways, you might as well make the best of it and include some of the accessories that you are most likely to need while playing your game. This could include extra balls and tees, a small club repair kit, extra sunblock, a first aid kit, and anything else that you might think of. As long as it can fit, put it in there. It will be especially convenient if everything ends up fitting inside of the golf bag.

Just for the sake of making sure that you are taken care of, let us assume that you can’t fit everything inside of the golf bag and you would like to take more along with you. Should you just carry it along with you and leave it in the golf cart? Well, that’s exactly what you should do. Get some sort of backpack or duffel bag that you can fill with all of your accessories that you may need in the middle of the game, and keep it under your seat in the golf cart. Before you get together with your friends to go golfing, tell them what all you have. If several people bring the same thing when only one is needed, unnecessary space will be taken up just to keep everything and everyone inside of the golf cart.

In order to bring everything you want along with you, you will need to be realistic in deciding what you really want to bring along. Do you need a golf club cleaner when you are just going out to play a couple of holes? Wouldn’t a rag be just fine for touching up the club before you put it back into the bag? While these various accessories may seem worthless if you don’t bring them along, you just have to keep telling yourself that you will be able to enjoy their functionality once you arrive back home. This will provide you with motivation to not bring the unnecessary items.

There are always things that can help you out in the middle of a game, and you will need to simply recognize which ones they are. Once you have figured out what will really be helpful while golfing, you can start to figure out the method of getting them around with you as you traverse the golf course.
 

No matter how long you have been golfing, it is likely that you have heard of the Callaway brand of golf clubs and accessories. They are one of the top suppliers for the entire golf industry. If you are in the market for new golf clubs, you will likely want to consider Callaway products at some point. They are certainly not for everyone (as no golf club is), but they offer a large enough range of products that you might just be able to find something that you would like to use. Here I will describe some of the things offered by Callaway clubs, and what sorts of golfers use them.

Callaway is very famous for its drivers that are able to hit balls further than any other drivers. Most of the time these are against regulation for actual official golf games, but if you are just going out to the driving range then there shouldn’t be a problem. The engineers at Callaway spend literally years developing the drivers, and adjusting every little piece of it to make it into the perfect piece of golf equipment. Usually the shaft is very light, while the head of the golf club is shaped perfectly and given a good amount of weight. The specifications depend on the model that you choose, but most of the time their super drivers have hollow heads (making them technically Woods).

While Callaway offers products that could be used by the most professional of golfers, they also have quite a few that are more geared towards beginners. You can use some of these specially designed clubs or club sets to familiarize yourself with the game and become very proficient with your strokes. This will allow you to become an excellent player before you even begin to spend huge amounts of money on your items. Some of the best items include the adjustable golf clubs, or the half-set that leaves you with just the basic choices to familiarize yourself with. Look for these products are your local club store, or in an online Callaway catalog.

Callaway’s product line doesn’t end at golf clubs. Everything else you need for the game, you will have the option of buying through Callaway. This includes golf apparel, which everyone knows is a must-have when you are going to spend a day on the course. Golf shoes are the best for moving across the grass that makes up the ground of the golf courses, and other golf apparel such as hats and shirts will protect you from the brutal elements involved in the game. If you are an easily sunburned person, then you should find the proper shading and protection in order to avoid having your skin burned while you play.

As with any company, Callaway sells a large range of golfing products. Whether you are a beginner or an expert or somewhere in between, you will be able to find a product that works for you. Figure out what exactly you are looking for out of a golf club set, and bring these requirements with you when you go shopping. This will allow those who are helping you to narrow things down much faster and help you more efficiently for a better end result for everyone involved.

At the height of the Adelaide golfing experience is the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, South Australia’s oldest course. Consistently ranked in the top five of Australia’s golf courses and home to nine Australian Open tournaments, this is a challenging course that will keep even the most talented golfers on their toes. Another popular course is the Kooyonga Golf Club, ranked eleventh in Australia’s top one hundred courses and home to five Australian Opens. This course is known for its subtly sloping greens that make for a rather difficult putt.

The Adelaide Shores Golf Park is home to both a championship style course, as well as an American executive style short course. Glenelg Golf Club uses its local pine forest to create some extremely challenging holes, all the while providing peaceful scenery. The Grange Golf Club is home to not one, but two championship courses, both of which rank in the top sixty of Australia’s one hundred most popular golf courses.

Sept. 24, 2003

Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) has announced the signing of an exclusive global licensing agreement with TRG Accessories, which is also a global licensee for the successful Swiss Army Brands and Timberland Company travel gear businesses. The agreement calls for TRG to create and sell a Callaway Golf(R) Gear collection of golf travel bags, golf travel gear and accessories and golf-related gifts. Callaway Golf Gear products will debut in the holiday 2003 season at leading golf specialty retailers, premier department stores, specialty luggage retailers and on-course golf shops.

“Callaway Golf is pleased to partner with TRG Accessories in an effort to extend the Callaway Golf brand to the golf travel bag, travel gear and accessories category,” said Ron Drapeau, CEO and Chairman of Callaway Golf. “We expect the Callaway Golf Gear collection to provide all golfers with innovative, performance-oriented products that will help them not only enjoy the game, but also their trip to the golf course, whether they’re at their local course or far from home on a golf vacation.”
The Callaway Golf Gear line includes three collections:

– Golf Bag Transporters, a series of golf bag travel carriers that deliver revolutionary solutions for bag protection and handling function during transit;

– The CG Sport Collection of travel gear and accessories (including duffels, totes, toiletry bags and wheeled luggage), which is ideal for golf vacations and everyday use; and

– The Gift Collection, featuring multiple-item sets of travel gear matched with golf accessories packaged as gifts for golfers.

“We are thrilled to be part of the Callaway Golf team,” said Todd Siwak, President of TRG Accessories. “Our single-minded focus on creating market transforming product innovation aligns perfectly with Callaway Golf’s global reputation for creating demonstrably superior and pleasingly different products. We are confident that our innovative new products, when combined with the great power of the Callaway Golf brand, will help propel Callaway Golf into a leadership position in yet another segment of the golf industry.”

TRG Accessories is a leader in the design, engineering, production and marketing of a broad variety of travel gear, adventure packs, business/computer cases, leather goods and personal/business/home accessory products. The company’s Swiss Army Brands and Timberland Company licensed products are distributed to finer department, luggage, outdoor specialty, footwear and sporting goods stores throughout North America and 30 other companies around the world. The company’s Soren brand of gear and home accessory products are distributed in the largest mass merchandisers in North America. TRG is based in St. Louis, MO.

Callaway Golf Company makes and sells Big Bertha(R) Metal Woods and Irons, including Great Big Bertha(R) II Titanium Drivers and Fairway Woods, Big Bertha Steelhead(R) III Stainless Steel Drivers and Fairway Woods, Hawk Eye(R) VFT(R) Tungsten Injected(TM) Titanium Irons, Big Bertha Stainless Steel Irons, Steelhead X-16(R) and Steelhead X-16 Pro Series Stainless Steel Irons, and Callaway Golf Forged Wedges. Callaway Golf Company also makes and sells Odyssey(R) Putters, including White Hot(R), TriHot(R), DFX(TM) and Dual Force(R) Putters. Callaway Golf Company makes and sells the Callaway Golf(R) HX(R) Blue and HX Red balls, the CTU 30(R) Blue and CTU 30 Red balls, the HX 2-Piece Blue and HX 2-Piece Red balls, the CB1(R) Blue and CB1 Red balls, and the Warbird(TM) golf balls. Callaway Golf also owns and operates The Top-Flite Golf Company, a wholly owned subsidiary that includes the Top-Flite(R), Strata(R) and Ben Hogan(R) brands.

That’s one reason Jim Waltimire likes it.

“Some of us used to play ball golf,” he says, “but then we found disc golf.”

Disc golf is to ball golf what rock ‘n’ roll is to Lawrence Welk. The course isn’t manicured, and neither are the players. The dress code is casual.

If the country club is an extension of the board room, Stafford Lake County Park’s disc golf course in Novato is your cousin’s rec room. It’s just fun - not as serious as golf.
Except when it is.

Tom Zarraonandia is training for a tournament.

“I’m trying to peak,” he says, limbering up at the first tee for a hole his companion Kevin Parkhurst calls “the gnarliest hole in disc golf.”

Zarraonandia looks to the sky, gauging the wind. He knows the course. He lives “eight minutes” away and finds himself on the oak and grass hillsides as often as five days a week. He cocks his arm back, a slim plastic “driver” disc gripped tight, and takes three quick steps. The disc flies, catches the air in its spin and cuts right, coming to rest in a patch of grass.

It’s a good lie. He’ll take it.

In disc golf, the perfect shot - an “ace” - is rare. Zarraonandia carries the disc with which he shot his first ace in his quiver.

Perfect days are more common.

“It’s so beautiful in the winter,” Waltimire says, approaching the second tee with Stafford Lake mirror flat and reflecting the hillsides. “You can see all the green.”

The first formal disc golf course was built in 1975, but the sport likely existed long before that. Parkhurst, who has played seriously for “more than 20 years,” remembers picking it up in the’70s at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. The “holes” were “trees, trash cans, anything we wanted,” and it quickly lured Parkhurst away from his “freestyle (Frisbee) and hacky sack” habits.

The Stafford Lake course was laid down in 1997 and looked after mainly by the golfers themselves. The weekends get crowds of first- timers, but the weekdays are for regulars. On a Thursday afternoon, Zarraonandia, Waltimire and Parkhurst have the course to themselves. Well, a few wild turkeys (lower case, please) too.

They approach the third tee. Zarraonandia looks at the wind. The breeze has turned off shore. “I might have to go around the trees,” he surmises.

Disc golf has quietly gotten popular. There are more than 1,800 courses in the United States, according to the (yes, there is one) Professional Disc Golf Association. There are amateur and pro divisions, sponsored players, national and world championships, a pro tour. The PDGA Web site lists 20 courses between Lakeport and Santa Cruz.

Of course, the locals call Stafford Lake the best of them. On a walk of the course, it’s easy to see why. Wildflowers are popping. Deer haunt the course. It’s a rugged walk. Zarraonandia lost 30 pounds in six months when he caught the bug. The views are worth the trek.

Disc golf is a low-impact sport. There’s no need for pesticides on the ground or sowing country club uber-grasses. It’s a more natural approach to golf. Zarraonandia says golfers at Stafford Lake get to know the acoustics of trees. Listening to a disc dropping through a tree around the hill, he declares “that’s a bay (tree).” The oaks have a more solid thud.

Waltimire forgot the scorecards: “I left’em down in the car.”

That doesn’t mean they’re not keeping track. By the ninth hole, Zarraonandia is a little disappointed. He’s over par.

“This,” he says, gesturing down the course, “is a tough one.”

The ninth hole is long, better than 500 feet. The course tradition holds that anybody who hits the tree in the middle has to do 10 pushups. But only if their scores are under 40. Zarraonandia is at 43.

Age is a factor in disc golf. The young arms go for longer drives. Shoulder injuries are possible. But the Stafford Lake population covers the decades. Waltimire says there are regulars flying discs in their 60s. He’s a “grandmaster” at 50.

And he’s perfectly happy with his amateur status. “It’s too nice out here to be uptight,” Waltimire says. “This is more like a nice walk in nature.”

The pros and the experienced players are sympathetic to the learning curve. “You figure out what the discs do,” Parkhurst observes.

The Frisbee you tossed around the college quad flew differently than the discs the golfers use. But they’re relatively cheap. A player can started for less than $50 in discs (more advanced players carry up to a dozen for drives, approaches and putts). Zarraonandia recommends starting with the approach and the putts. “The drives will take care of themselves,” he says.
 

All of the these golf shops have different approaches and are faced with different challenges and customer bases. However, one significant factor they share is quality management. This study searched for common or like methods of operation among successful golf shops, and plans are being made to weave these threads of success through the more than 80 Air Force golf courses worldwide. The goal is to foster pride ownership, stimulate a substantial increase in customer satisfaction, generate more participation in Service programs, increase sales per round, and create a healthier bottom line.

Partners in Progress

The benchmarking team identified “enablers” at each of the courses selected as partners. Enablers are those practices or processes that “enable” an activity to facilitate particular performance levels–those things that allow them to excel. The team quickly found that the most significant enabler was “presentation.” Customers begin forming impressions and opinions the moment they drive into the golf course parking lot. From that point on, everything the customer sees offers a preview of things to come. Everything counts, from the landscape, signs, and cleanliness to the organized appearance of parked golf cars. From there, the presentation continues into the club house entrance, restrooms, locker rooms, food service locations, and the golf shop. To project the progressive, aggressive, upscale image desired, each area must reflect the same attention to detail. In many cases, the only clubhouse area visited is the golf shop, which is where most purchasing activities take place. To be successful, the golf shop must have an appearance and level of ambiance that entices customers to pause and browse through the merchandise displays. Getting the average golfer to “stop and shop” requires planning and merchandising strategies. Attractive merchandise displays are the first step down the road to success.

Several key golf shop characteristics have a significant impact on sales per round and golf shop merchandising programs. The primary focus areas include: floor planning, lighting, fixturing, point of sale (POS) counters, carpeting, and fixtures. The characteristics must all come together to create a well coordinated shop that is appealing to our customers.

The shop also must be appropriate for the geographical area and customer base it services. The golfers have to be comfortable with the golf shop’s atmosphere if it is to be effective.

Floor planning creates an upscale, functional, distinctive area that will encourage customers to browse and guide them toward “target items” that need to move quickly. The cost of a professional store planner to create a basic plan can more than pay for itself in sales activity. The location of a stand-alone sales counter, mobile fixtures, sales tables, spot-lighting, eye-ball lighting, types of displays, and traffic flow patterns usually are beyond the average golf manager’s expertise. In many cases, the floor space available to Air Force golf shops is limited (less than a thousand square feet), so efficient floor planning can make a big difference. Lighting and mirrors can make a small shop seem twice as large and bright and give customers a shopping environment that they will use and enjoy.

Kissimmee Bay Country Club is an 18-hole par 71 upscale semiprivate club designed by renowned golf-course architect Lloyd Clifton. The club is also home to the Langley Museum, a private collection of more than 1,000 rare and antique golf items, including golf clubs and golf balls from the 1600s.

Kissimmee Bay Country Club is an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary member and has received many outstanding reviews from golf publications.

Kissimmee Bay Country Club is located in Kissimmee, approximately 10 miles from Disney World. This acquisition is the third golf course Meadowbrook Golf Group has acquired in the Greater Orlando area, and brings to seven the number of courses Meadowbrook owns and leases in the Orlando market.
The acquisition of Kissimmee Bay Country Club is part of Meadowbrook’s previously announced plan of acquiring up to $100 million of golf-course properties. Meadowbrook Golf Group is one of the nation’s leading golf-course companies, engaged in the ownership, maintenance, management and development of golf courses.

The company is also the country’s largest provider of outsourced golf-course maintenance services, and is a supplier and distributor of equipment and products to more than 1,000 golf courses.

Certain matters discussed in this document may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including general economic conditions, competition for golf-course acquisitions, risks that pending acquisitions may not close, the availability of debt and equity financing, interest rates and other risk factors.

Three Simulators Aid Kids in Developing Golf Skills at Historic Golf

Course

Full Swing Golf Inc., the worldwide leader in the production and distribution of indoor golf simulators, today announced Schenley Park Golf Course in Pittsburgh, has installed three golf simulators in addition to one currently in operation for the course’s The First Tee(R) program.

The First Tee grew out of The World Golf Foundation’s desire to provide places where all interested children could afford to learn the game of golf. Funds donated by various corporations, foundations and the city of Pittsburgh made the installations possible and are enabling children to experience the sport every season of the year.

“Research indicates that only two percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 attempt golf — only 5 percent being minorities,” said Bruce Stephen, director of golf and general manager of Schenley Park Golf Course.
“We believe the Full Swing Golf Simulators will allow more kids to get involved with golf and create an additional revenue stream by having the systems available for use by other patrons of the course.”

The Schenley Park Golf Course, part of Pittsburgh’s flagship 456-acre park, is a charity driven course and is operated through the community involvement of Carnegie-Mellon University. Full Swing Golf Simulators provide many opportunities for Schenley Park Golf Course including year-round instruction, play and additional income.

Children in The First Tee are able to use the simulators free-of-charge during scheduled times while the public is charged fees for use, providing revenue for other charitable efforts within the community. The course installed a Full Swing Golf Simulator in 1998 and realized the teaching potential due to the simulator’s realism and accuracy.

“The Full Swing Golf Simulator is truly an effective means of bringing golf instruction, playing and entertainment together in one place, plus it’s an ideal way for players of all levels to learn and improve their golf skills,” stated Scott Werbelow, vice president of sales, Full Swing Golf.

“The First Tee is a valuable program giving kids a beneficial golf experience they wouldn’t normally have, and we’re excited that our simulators can play a role in bridging that gap.”

About Schenley Park Golf Course

The Schenley Park Golf Course is a 4,600-yard natural course on rolling terrain for golfers of all ages and abilities. The inexpensive course is open year round with amenities including lessons, a snack bar, practice greens and an indoor “country club” using Full Swing Golf Simulators. For additional information, call 412/622-6959.

The Ultimate Indoor Golf Simulator

The Full Swing Golf Simulator comes standard with Microsoft’s(R) award-winning Links 2001 golf simulation software package for crisp and realistic graphics and countless play options.

Golfers play their choice of 38 championship courses including Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, and The Belfry, in a 18-foot x 13-foot x 10-foot unit that features a wall-sized hitting/viewing screen and a large hitting mat which simulates tee box, fairway, light and heavy rough, sand traps and putting green.

An infrared ball tracking device tracks ball flight, providing valuable feedback for improved play. This makes the Full Swing Golf Simulator an ideal instruction tool, in addition to its entertainment value.

About Full Swing Golf

Founded in 1987, San Diego-based Full Swing Golf is the worldwide leader in the production and distribution of indoor golf simulators. Full Swing Golf founder and president Floyd Arnold created the most technologically advanced golf simulator in existence by incorporating a patented, infrared ball-tracking device with Microsoft’s award-winning Links LS golf course software, providing instant, accurate and realistic ball-flight information.

The Full Swing Golf Simulator is ideal for a variety of industries and applications including individuals, entertainment centers, hotels and resorts, fitness clubs and corporations. For more information, contact Full Swing Golf at 11413 West Bernardo Court, San Diego, Calif., 92129. Telephone: 858/675-1100; Fax: 858/675-1191.

Note to Editors: A high-resolution image of a Full Swing Golf Simulator is available by contacting Gina Ray at 949/224-4023 or Stacey Stucky at 949/224-4057.