Do Not Go to Dantanna's Downtown (ATL)!

Due to circumstances beyond Fore!BlackGolfers’ control, the “Wales, Whisky & Woods” British Open viewing party scheduled for July 18 (noon-3 p.m.) at Dantanna’s Downtown in Atlanta is cancelled.
Please alert any acquaintances who had planned to attend the event not to bother. Dantanna’s Downtown has made a last-minute disclosure about costs that invited guests could incur at the bar. None of the details about charging invited guests a fee to “sample the finest Scotch whisky” or to “try the Tiger Punch” were related to this site in time enough to warn all invitees off.
The previously undisclosed pricing terms for beverages that Dantanna’s Downtown has set strike me as a disservice to all those who had been enticed by the advertisements that the restaurant created and provided for mass distribution.
On behalf of the Fore!BlackGolfers network I apologize for any inconvenience this change of plans presents. If I had known that Dantanna’s Downtown intended to charge guests for the drink menu it conceived and detailed in the flyer provided , Fore!BlackGolfers would not have been involved in the promotion of this event.

ADDENDUM: Golf fans react angrily to the Dantanna's Downtown "British Open Bait-and-Switch" scenario...

"Scott...that's fucked up...you should alert a friend at the AJC about this, well, fraud. Management at Dantanna's made the wrong choice." Dan B

"What a bi-atch!!Does ForeBlackGolfers have women?"Jennifer F


"Wow!!! Not good. Why don't you just host at your house instead ;)." Lisa T

"Lemme know when you just wanna grab a drink or two or three or four at Dakota Blue!" Wayne D

"Wow- very uncool." Carolyn S





Photo: flickr/jet magazine/vieiles_anonces

Is the "Tiger Effect" Making Golf "Ghetto"?

Fore!BlackGolfers is proud to, once again, present the poignant opinions of "guest blogger" George Burnette. This time, "G-O" tees off on the negative effect that Tiger Woods' popularity has inflicted on the gentleman's game. (The opinions expressed are HIS; so rage accordingly)....
Gee! Thanks, Tiger!
I imagine it would be difficult to quantify the impact the emergence of Tiger Woods has had on golf in general, but a very unscientific method would be to simply ask those who were avid golfers BEFORE he came on the scene. What are the major differences between the pre and post-Tiger era? The most obvious is the number of folks who have taken up the game. No one can deny that his presence has caused the number of duffers to increase exponentially which has been a boon to the golf industry, but there has been a very unfortunate byproduct as well.
It seems that those new to the game are so preoccupied with the challenge of making solid contact with that little white ball that they have paid no attention whatsoever to the game’s etiquette and rules. Golf Digest writer Stina Sternberg recently asked 32 PGA tour pros and their caddies to name the biggest breach of golf etiquette that amateurs make during Pro-Ams. The most common response was “moving while another player is hitting” (15), the second most was slow play (9). "They try to anticipate the hit and start walking before we're done", says PGA tour vet Kirk Triplett. Says European PGA tour stalwart Darren Clarke "they walk off the green before everything is done". "They stand in the wrong place", laments journeyman pro Bo Van Pelt. "(You should) stand where you can see a guy's back or chest. That's it". "Nothing tops (excruciatingly slow) pace of play" says longtime pro Woody Austin; "they refuse to pick up their ball (when they’re having a very bad hole), or they take too long to make a decision". And from anonymous "All these guys show up wearing what they think is a cool golf outfit but they look like they just came from a Lil’ Wayne concert - crooked hats and bling, Um...no!" The list goes on and on. Failing to yell “Fore!” when necessary, talking while another player is hitting and driving the cart in restricted areas are a few of my personal pet peeves.
The Rules of Golf are sometimes complicated, confusing and cumbersome but that’s no reason to take up the game without at least a cursory review of the rules that will govern the most common rules-driven situations. It’s important for all golfers to know what to do with regard to hazards, out of bounds, lost balls, relief and ground under repair. Most post-Tiger era golfers do not know when, where or how to take a drop and there is no excuse for this. I recently played with a fellow who had over 20 golf clubs in his bag (the limit is 14).
In Germany, no one is allowed on public or private golf courses without first taking and passing a course on rules and etiquette. Maybe for the betterment of the game in general the USGA and the PGA should consider the same for the U.S.A.
PHOTOS: flickr

Meet John Daly's Next "Train Wreck"

True to his irrepressible ways, golf’s bad boy John Daly spent his last practice round prior the start of the British Open getting up close and personal with a buxom brunette.
The woman, Anna Cladakis, was identified as Daly’s “girlfriend”. Earlier this year, she told the press she was chiefly responsible for helping Long John crawl out from under the rock of a 12-month, PGA-imposed suspension.
Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship and the ’95 British Open before his career took a diving spiral.
If Daly winds up marrying Cladakis, she would be his fifth wife. And she wouldn’t be the first of his brides with a criminal record.


Daly and his fourth wife, Sherrie, gained notoriety in 2007 after accusing each other of assault involving a steak knife on the eve of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. That former Mrs. Daly had spent part of 2006 jailed on a drug-related offense.
As for Ms. Cladakis, a former Hooters girl, prior arrests for “ticket scalping, shoplifting and battery on an ex-boyfriend” reportedly checker her past. The St. Petersburg Times reported in 2005 that Cladakis won a $1.68 million out-of-wedlock paternity lawsuit against the founder of the Outback Steahouse chain, Chris Sullivan.
Now, no one’s sayin’ she’s a gold digga. But…

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: Get ready to view the British Open in Style Saturday, July 18 as Fore!BlackGolfers and the Dantanna’s sports grille at Atlanta's CNN Center host the "Wales, Whisky and Woods" bash. It’s FREE to all guests who RSVP by contacting rsvp@mrpratl.com. (Tell ‘em Scott sent ya.)
In addition to FREE FOOD and FREE SCOTCH WHISKY TASTINGS, spectacular skyline views from the deck and assorted giveaways, guests will also be treated to a signature cocktail dedicated to the shot Tiger Woods will need most to drive the slim fairways at Turnberry and win his 15th career Major. We call it “Tiger Punch”.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to network, create foursomes and talk “smack”!
Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for more details.
Photo: Yahoo News

If Tiger Blows the British, Blame It On Ryo!

The opening round pairings are set for the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland. Apparently, organizers saw fit to put Tiger Woods at a distinct disadvantage from the start.
It’s not enough that he’ll have to navigate the slim fairways on the links course that was once a series of runways for Allied Forces war planes. He’ll also need to hold his tongue on the tee box.
Woods, well-known for blurting expletives after errant drives despite the network cameras stationed inches away, starts the first two rounds of his chase for a 15th Major in a three-some that includes 17-year-old Asian prodigy Ryo Ishikawa.
Assuming the hottest thing since sliced sushi speaks a little English, Woods will have to play while restricting his language to NC-17.
(The flambouyant teen Ryo Ishikaway, above)

Also included in Woods' Thursday-Friday threesome is the salty British veteran Lee Westwood; who scrapped his way in this year with an 11th place finish in the Shell Open and a 23rd place finish at the U.S. Open.
Golf fans won't get their best views of the British Open _ which Woods has already won three times before _ until Saturday, July 18. But the clashes of cultures and career trajectories in the opening two rounds will draw unprecedented media attention and could ultimately decide if Woods wins or loses this year.
(Tiger Woods getting familiar with Turnberry's Ailsa course.)


Photos: Yahoo News

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: Get ready to view the British Open in Style Saturday, July 18 as Fore!BlackGolfers and the Dantanna’s sports grille at Atlanta's CNN Center host the "Wales, Whisky and Woods" bash. It’s FREE to all guests who RSVP by contacting rsvp@mrpratl.com. (Tell ‘em Scott sent ya.)
In addition to FREE FOOD and FREE SCOTCH WHISKY TASTINGS, spectacular skyline views from the deck and assorted giveaways, guests will also be treated to a signature cocktail dedicated to the shot Tiger Woods will need most to drive the slim fairways at Turnberry and win his 15th career Major. We call it “Tiger Punch”.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to network, create foursomes and talk “smack”!
Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for more details.

Who's Buying 'Timberlake's Guide to Golf'?

Who died and left Justin Timberlake as the executor of all of golf’s guiding principles?
Surely, even the meteoric Major tournament champ Payne Stewart would get his knickers in a bunch if he’d lived to hear that the modern world’s most famous alumnus of the Mickey Mouse club and the late ‘90s “boy band” phenomena is positioning himself to be golf’s next great ambassador.
According to splashy headlines from New York to New Delhi, is pursuing a book deal that would allow him to ruminate on the game he’s enjoyed since childhood. He would be following in the footsteps of the acid rocker/avid golfer Alice Cooper, who penned “Golf Monster: A Rock ’n’ Roller’s Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict” in 2008.
There must be dozens of serious PGA Tour players who are more equipped and qualified to write an instructive memoire than Timberlake. Who, after all, knew much if anything about the pop performer before his choreographed “wardrobe malfunction” with Janet Jackson at Super Bowl XXXVIII?
Other than the fact that he’s rich and famous, who really cares about where Timberlake has played and with whom over the years? This smacks of more evidence that the literary world too often defers to style over substance.
To Timberlake’s credit: He has managed to maintain a longtime relationship with the vivacious actress Jessica Biel. How he gets up and down in that arena would in all likelihood be a far more eye-opening read.

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: Get ready to view the British Open in Style Saturday, July 18 as Fore!BlackGolfers and the Dantanna’s sports grille at Atlanta's CNN Center host the "Wales, Whisky and Woods" bash. It’s FREE to all guests who RSVP by contacting rsvp@mrpratl.com. (Tell ‘em Scott sent ya.)
In addition to FREE FOOD and FREE SCOTCH WHISKY TASTINGS, spectacular skyline views from the deck and assorted giveaways, guests will also be treated to a signature cocktail dedicated to the shot Tiger Woods will need most to drive the slim fairways at Turnberry and win his 15th career Major. We call it “Tiger Punch”.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to network, create foursomes and talk “smack”!
Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for more details.





Photos: flickr, golfdigest.com

Let Me Play Through...Or Else!

Chris Rock’s classic joke about the O.J. Simpson murder trial came quickly to mind when I read Friday’s United Press International report about a man sentenced to 21 months in jail for clubbing a golfer in the foursome playing ahead of him.
“I don’t condone it. But I understand.”
Anyone who’s had the misfortune of playing with me often knows that I’m as impatient as they come out on the course. To make matters worse, I play weekly at a 9-hole public course where the only rule, seemingly, is there are no rules. If you don’t tee off by 8 a.m. at Candler Park, you run the risk of getting stuck behind groups of five or six; hackers toting more six packs per player than golf bags. Types who can’t spell the first three letters of “Golf Etiquette”.
So part of me pities this guy Nicholas Shampine who, according to the UPI story, has a long stay in the King County (Wash.) jail ahead of him because of an argument over slow play. Only part of me: Shampine’s foursome was the one accused of playing too slow.
He was convicted of using a golf club to fracture the skull of a man who waged a verbal complaint that turned physical.
According to the prosecution, Shampine admitted that, “I though that my brother was in trouble and, you know, I just, I snapped.”
Talk about your good walks spoiled...
PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: Get ready to view the British Open in Style Saturday, July 18 as Fore!BlackGolfers and the Dantanna’s sports grille at Atlanta's CNN Center host the "Wales, Whisky and Woods" bash. It’s FREE to all guests who RSVP by contacting rsvp@mrpratl.com. (Tell ‘em Scott sent ya.)
In addition to FREE FOOD and FREE SCOTCH WHISKY TASTINGS, spectacular skyline views from the deck and assorted giveaways, guests will also be treated to a signature cocktail dedicated to the shot Tiger Woods will need most to drive the slim fairways at Turnberry and win his 15th career Major. We call it “Tiger Punch”.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to network, create foursomes and talk “smack”!
Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for more details.


Photos: Flickr (chrisjensenyeah, thelunch_box)

British Open: No 'Three-peat' for Harrington

Raise your hand if you think either Sergio Garcia or Padraig Harrington has a shadow of a chance of beating Tiger Woods at the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland.
Okay…now put your money where your mouse is. All two of you.
Since Woods won his AT&T Challenge by one stroke over a “hard charging” Hunter Mahan, Las Vegas has changed the odds that he’ll win his 15th career Major. Tiger’s gone from a 9-to-4 favorite to the 2-to-1 pick.
Garcia, who continues to suffer similar putting woes to Vijay Singh’s, is considered a 20-1 pick according to golfodds.com. So is the bucktoothed prodigy, Rory McIlroy. The two-time reigning British Open champ Harrington has 30-to-1 odds against him.
In total, only nine players in the (7-to-2) field weigh in at less than 40-to-1.
The Ailsa course has recently been lengthened by 247 yards, but the fairway driving options are no less harrowing than they were during the previous Opens held there. The globe-trotting Woods, reportedly, has never set foot on the premises.
With all that (and much more to come) in mind, is anyone willing to bet against Tiger?

BRITISH OPEN VIEWING PARTY!: In the mood to watch the British Open with friends? Then stay tuned for Fore!BlackGolfers updates on an exclusive scotch-tasting event at downtown Atlanta's hottest steak-and-sports grill, Dantanna's. Exciting details coming shortly. Mark your calendars for noon-3 p.m. on Saturday, July 18.

British Open Could Smash Ratings Records!

The CBS television network now has Tiger Woods to thank for one of its biggest ratings boosts since the sudden death of Michael Jackson and the latest episode of "The Mentalist".
While Woods was having his way with "Nike nephew" Anthony Kim Sunday in the final pairing of the AT&T national, TV ratings spiked three times higher than they were last year when left knee surgery kept him from playing.
If I understand what Associated Press reports correctly, 11 percent of all the TVs turned on in America were tuned in to the man in the red shirt.
No doubt, the ad sales execs at ABC are salivating over the bonus money awaiting them after next week's broadcast of the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry.
It's a British Open course Tiger's never played before. And since his return from surgery, he's lost out on two-of-four chances to win a 15th career Major Championship this year.
Out on a limb? Tiger makes the cut at Turnberry; where his driving prowess will be tested to the max, but his sheer force of will will keep him in contention.
Which will make his play on Saturday (July 18, noon-3 p.m. on ABC) must-see viewing for anyone hoping he wins and wishing he didn't.
Stay tuned to Fore!BlackGolfers for news on the best British Open viewing party Atlanta has to offer on that fateful day...
Photo: YahooNews

Despite U.S. Open flop, Tiger feels "groovey"

How do you feel about the “imperial” decision that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem made this week to outlaw U-shaped grooves on players’ golf irons, effective January 1, 2010?
Do you relish the spectacle of today’s top players having far more trouble spinning their balls from the rough onto the green than they ever did before?
Is it a given now that Tiger Woods will gain some sort of advantage on tour because he’s already accustomed to playing a softer Nike ball that tends to create more spin?
And does the “official” rules change which doesn’t apply to recreational golfers until 2020 convince you to make sure and (eventually) replace all your V-shaped groove irons with clubs that are PGA-compliant?
As an unflagging and unaffiliated Ping devotee: I toe the company line on this issue.
Ping chairman and CED John Solheim reported issued an 11th-hour plea to the PGA to at least stall the new groove standards for at least another year to allow players and manufacturers to better adjust. As a golfer who’s not even good enough to give much thought to the degree of spin I get out of my far-too-numerous shots from the rough, I tend to concur with the Golf Digest’s quoting of Ping pioneer Karsten Solheim, who “called U-grooves ‘a gift to golfers’.”
The face of golf, Tiger Woods, reportedly wore a Cheshire grin upon hearing about the ruling and told the press: “I think it’s great….we’ve had plenty of time to make our adjustments…I’ll have to make less adjustments than most.”
Granted, the PGA’s new equipment ruling should be kept in perspective. Bloomberg News cited a study that showed how casual golfers hit the green from 100-200 yards out less than 15 percent of the time, while elite players showed almost a 50-50 propensity for doing so.
As for me, there’ll be no rush to swap out my (Black Dot) Ping Zing irons. I just wonder how much, more or less, watching tour events will be next year when players have to increasingly alter their shots to match the courses they play.