Adventures at the 2014 Irish Open

I managed to wrangle a volunteering gig at the recent Irish Open golf championship at Fota Island in County Cork. Even as I arrived at the appointed (early!) hour at the southern venue on Thursday, I still did not know what exactly I would be doing. I had a vague idea that I would be ferrying TV crew around the course in a buggy. The fact that I had never seen the course or driven a golf buggy before made me more than slightly apprehensive as we (my friend and I!) waited anxiously for our assignments.

The TV Compound bear the 10th where we waited for our assignment

After a longish wait, during which time we interrogated the regulars for information, I was eventually assigned to RF2, the designation for the second mobile camera crew. My camera man and his antenna guy picked me up in the buggy and along with the sound guy, all four of us made our way down the steep dusty track from the TV compound to the course. Much to my surprise, about two minutes later, I found myself sharing a fairway with Ross Fisher, Matteo Manassero and Darren Clarke, right in the thick of the action! I couldn't believe it at first, but my disbelief soon turned to anxiousness as I had visions of mowing them down in a runaway buggy! Luckily, it was easy to drive and I got the hang of it straight away. Knowing where to park the buggy and when to move it wasn't as easy, but fortunately my Aussie camera man Mark was very nice and patient while showing me the ropes!

My trusty steed with tripod on the front

All four of us on the buggy and distinct jobs: Mark got the shot and the antenna guy was tethered to him holding the rather heavy device for transmitting the pictures back to mission control. The sound guy's job was to stand in the correct place to capture the sound of the strike, the player/caddy chat and crowd reaction. My main job was to drive the buggy after the camera man jumps out for the shot. He drove the buggy most of the time (to my relief at the start!), but I took over when he was at work on the fairway and around the green. Once finished and when the fixed camera were no longer on the golfer, I picked up the crew and the camera man again took over driving duties. Once we reached the green, I generally moved the buggy to the side of the next tee before the huge crowd that moved with the groups I covered got in position around that tee.

I would then do another big part of my job - looking after the fairly heavy tripod which was generally used for tee shots and around the green. Before leaving the previous green for the next tee, I would usually drop off the tripod and then run back to collect it once I had parked the buggy and the golfers had finished the hole. Sometimes this involved a long run in hot humid conditions (unusually for Ireland!) through a large crowd and the return journey to the next tee carrying the aforementioned tripod. The last part of my job was to look after the batteries for the camera and the antenna. Both used the same large lithium ion batteries which lasted for about an hour and there was a stash of them in the buggy. When given the nod by the camera man or the antenna guy, I'd have to supply them with fresh batteries and  keep the spent ones separate.

Generally, we followed the same group until they finished, but there was a fair bit of jumping around the course on Thursday and Friday to wherever a golfer was doing well. We did this in two sessions that roughly matched the Sky coverage (9.40am-1pm, 2.20pm-6pm). In between, we got a free packed lunch, which we consumed by the par five tenth fairway while watching the action. After the cut on Friday, the task was easier, where we just followed the same two ball from the first hole to the last in one roughly four an a half hour session. After filming Fisher & co. for a hole, we moved on to Paul Lawrie, Matthew Fitzpatrick (on his pro début) and Tommy Fleetwood. After a while with that group, we also covered Romain Wattel, Edoardo Molinari and Gaganjeet Bhullar in the morning. On Thursday afternoon, we covered Paul McGinley, Branden Grace and Pablo Larrazabal before moving on to Robert Karlsson, Mikael Lundberg and Peter Lawrie.

On Friday, I got the marque groups (especially for an Irishman!): GMac, Shane Lowry and Paul Casey in the morning and Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Stephen Gallacher in the afternoon. We also spent some time with Simon Khan, Stephen Dodd and Jbe Krugar. Over the weekend, I got GMac both days with the associated huge home support. He was partnered with Wattel on Saturday and Fabrizio Zanotti on Sunday. This made my job pretty difficult while my jammy friend was on RF1, which was on the leading group with a much smaller following! However, I must have done something right because the camera man complimented me on my work on Saturday evening, which led me to assume I was crap on Thursday and Friday! Some observations from the four days:

1.  Most of the golfers are smaller in real life than they appear to be on TV! Even Robert Karlsson isn't 6'5" as advertised (unless I have grown a few inches recently, unknown to myself!).
2. They all hit the ball a prodigious distance off the tee and their ball flight with irons also has to be seen to be believed.
3. They all can putt pretty well also. Once on the dance floor, I rarely saw a three putt. Mind you, I was so busy moving the buggy, I missed a lot of the putting, especially over the weekend!
4. The area of the game where a lot of them need work is chipping and pitching. I saw a fair few of these that I wouldn't be happy with myself!
5. Most of the golfers are good with the crowd, kids, marshals, volunteers, TV crew etc. Some however, are not. McIlroy is very standoffish and Casey is renowned for being a jerk on the course (I can personally vouch for that, having seen/heard him in action!). I heard Anders Hansen was very nice and shook hands with everyone working on his group. I saw GMac giving a ball to a kid and high fiving loads of people on the way to the next tee.
6. I experienced a lot of "third party adoration"! Walking from green to tee either directly in front or behind McIlroy, GMac and Harrington and coming down the eighteenth on Sunday with GMac in particular was amazing. It has to turn their head in some way! Some people were so obsessed with celebrity, they even wanted to high five me!
7. I witnessed a "full and frank" discussion between GMac and a rules official coming down the last on Sunday. Apparently, his group were put on the clock and suffice it to say that GMac wasn't happy about it!
8. The marshals varied from completely useless to fanatical about the modicum of power that they had finally managed to acquire! At one stage, I was almost manhandled off the course by some over zealous marshals (despite wearing pretty obvious credentials, as shown below)!

Over the course of the tournament (pun intended!), I managed to get some Golf Predictor advertising in by wearing my branded cap for four days and my branded polo shirts on the first and last days! I also got a close look at what I assume was a replica of the famous claret jug on the first tee on Sunday!

A GP branded me by the claret jug (or replica of same)!

It was great to see the mixture of recent and more distant winners inscribed on the famous trophy, e.g. Walter Hagen and Tiger Woods. Overall, it was a brilliant four days. I never expected to be so close to the action, yet there I was sharing tee boxes, fairways and the odd green with Irish (and international!) golfing stars. While the first couple of days were long and somewhat stressful, once I learned the ropes, the weekend was very enjoyable. I even managed a chat with the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) on Sunday by the final green!

The Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) watches the finish of the tournament right beside me!

Luckily, there was no play-off on Sunday, so I was able to leave quickly! Shortly after Ilonen completed his wire to wire victory, I blasted out of there and got back home at a relatively respectable hour, after a long but enjoyable four days.

Golf Cake Complete with Edible Cart!

Bespoke Golf Cake 2

Like the last similar post, this doesn't have anything to do with Golf Predictor, but I thought I'd share it anyway! It's another golf themed cake by my super talented sister-in-law. This time, it's a birthday cake for a 60 year old man, complete with a golf cart and a golfer teeing off on the top!

If you live in the London area, she can make a personalised cake for you! Check out her Facebook page here with all her amazing creations!

New Nine Holes at Carne Golf Club - Part Deux

This is a follow-up to my previous article about my local course in Carne, near Belmullet in Co. Mayo, Ireland. Therefore, this post hasn't anything to do with Golf Predictor either! On another trip home last weekend, I got the opportunity to walk the new nine holes, this time in the correct order and with the greens complete. These new "Kilmore" nine holes have been open for a few months now to generally rave reviews and I jumped at the opportunity to accompany my uncle as he pitted his wits against the imposing layout and the elements. The weather was dry for a change, but it was extremely windy, with a gale blowing mostly from left to right on the early holes.

Overall, the layout is very challenging for the high and low handicapper alike. The former will spend a lot of time searching for (and losing!) golf balls in the thick grass up on huge dunes and down in deep depressions. The latter will have to use all their course management skills to find the right angle into the right section of undulating greens in the usual windy conditions. Compared to the existing eighteen holes, I would say the terrain is broadly similar to the back nine, with slightly higher dunes perhaps and much more undulating greens. Although very new, the greens are in surprisingly good condition, except for two near the end which were a little patchy.

The first new hole is a par five and it will be a challenge to find the putting surface with a wood/long iron/hybrid, protected as it is on almost every side (and especially the front left by a large depression):

Looking towards the first green (I'm a shadow of my current self!)

The par three second looks great from the tee, with the green nestled just to the left of large dune:

Second hole from the tee.

The second sports a large undulating green with a slope from back to front and a huge natural sand dune/bunker to right of the putting surface:

The undulating second green with adjacent large sandbank

The third hole is a lovely looking downhill par four. This time the green is nestled to the right of a large dune:

The third hole with my uncle just after he had lost another ball!

The fourth hole is an imposing par three with an elevated green:

The par three fourth hole with the wild Atlantic in the background.

The par five fifth hole is the one that had the large dune splitting the fairway in my previous post. However, since that time, the area to the right of the mound has been let grow, leaving left as your only option.

The par five fifth hole from the tee

Your second shot will be blind around that large central dune and the hole veers slightly uphill to the green:

Fifth fairway with central dune centre right (& otter droppings in foreground!)

The sixth hole is an uphill straight par four:

Sixth hole from the tee

This is another hole with an undulating green:

The sixth green

The seventh hole is another nice par three, with short being your only safe bale out option:

Seventh hole from the tee. The green is straight ahead and that's my uncle's jacket in bottom right!

The penultimate hole is a challenging par four to a raised undulating green:

The eighth green from the fairway

This eighth green was one of the patchy ones, but this will improve with time. The final hole has you heading back towards the clubhouse with a drive to a very undulating fairway:

Ninth hole from just above the yellow tee with the clubhouse in the back left.

Overall, I was very impressed with the new Kilmore nine holes. They offer a strong physical and mental challenge to golfers of all levels and when they mature in a year or two, the twenty seven holes at Carne will offer as good a test of links golf as you will find anywhere. In addition, the views from some of the elevated tees are impressive, with panoramic views of the wild Atlantic and associated islands in one direction and Blacksod Bay and Achill Island in the other. So, if you're looking for an exhilarating links golf experience, you now have twenty seven great reasons to make the trek up to Carne.

That's my bit done for local tourism!

New Nine Holes at Carne Golf Club

Location of Carne Golf Course (Yes, people do live out there!)

This post is more of an advertisement for my local course than anything to do with Golf Predictor! On a trip home last weekend, I took the opportunity to walk (and climb!) the new nine holes at Carne. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Carne is already one of the best links courses in Ireland. Unfortunately for most people, it's also one of the most isolated courses in Ireland, located a few miles past Belmullet in the extreme north west of Mayo, a county in the west of the country (see Google Maps screenshot above). The good news though, is that the trip will definitely be even more worth it once the new nine holes are completed.

While some of the front nine in Carne may be a little bland, it really comes into own on the back nine. With Atlantic views, massive dunes, large valleys and signature undulating fairways, it's a wonderful test of golf. Little did I know in all those years of looking for my golf balls up on those dunes and down in those valleys on that same back nine that there were even better holes waiting to be sculpted out of the adjacent land!

Despite the weather and the lack of a guide, I was really impressed with what I saw. Although it was June, it was a sweltering 13C/55F with strong cooling wind, fog and light rain when I set out. As usual, the rain got worse at my furthest point from the clubhouse! Several new holes wind through large dunes with relatively narrow fairways and feature signature elevation changes from tee to green, for example:

New hole carved out from between the large dunes

 Another new hole has a wide fairway bifurcated by a large dune:

Large mound splitting a new fairway. The tees are to the right.

The same mound from back towards the tee of that hole shows you could easily have a blind shot or a tricky lie for your approach to the green:

The view towards the mound from in front of the tee boxes

You better go left or right of the mound as the green is small and protected at the front by bunkers and on every other side by nature:

Nice little pot bunker just to the front and right of the green

This was another challenging looking hole, predominately downhill with an elevated small green, also protected by sand to the front and by nature on every other side:

Taken from a plateau looking towards the elevated small green!

The closing hole on this new nine looks like a great finishing hole. The following shows the view down the last new fairway from the ladies' tees:

 The clubhouse is almost within reach!

The men's tees are further back and higher up. I was too wet and tired at this stage to climb back up!  Anyone worried about the possible lack of undulations in the new fairways can relax. The following picture was taken in the middle of the final fairway at eye height (and I'm 6'2"!):

A view from the final fairway not far in front of the green!

These nine new holes will be fantastic when complete and I would encourage all golfers to come and try them out when they are open for business. This is due to happen on a limited basis for visitors from August to October this year. However, having seen the current state of the expansion, I'd be surprised if this new nine holes were open for play in eight weeks time. In the meantime, the existing eighteen holes will make you more than happy that you made the trip! I may be tempted out of golfing retirement myself by these super looking extra holes!

See part two of my report on the new nine holes.

Golf Cake Complete with Edible Clubs!

Bespoke Golf Cake

This doesn't have anything to do with Golf Predictor, but I thought I'd share this picture anyway! My amazingly talented sister-in-law made this birthday cake for my brother. It includes two of his main interests in life: golf and Guinness!!! I believe he's one of the few people to have eaten a set of golf clubs and a golf bag!

By the way,  if you live in the London area, she can make a personalised cake for you! Check out her Facebook page here with all her colourful creations! You can also see another of her golf themed cakes on this blog here.

Darren Clarke's (Cocked Up) Message to Me!

As part of my Christmas present, my better half thoughtfully queued up for two hours in a Dublin book shop to get a signed copy of 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke's new autobiography "An Open Book: My Autobiography". Imagine my excitement in ripping off the paper to see the recent Northern Irish major champion praise my web site (via the carefully supplied text from me, not from personal experience, I must point out!).

As you can see in the image above, things didn't go exactly to plan! Imagine my disappointment that a version of Chinese Whispers resulted in a slight cock up! The transference of the simple desired spiel from me ("Great work on Golf PredictOR") through two intermediaries to Clarke himself resulted in the error. I don't know whose fault it was, but I have the original text message to prove it wasn't mine! I was hardly going to get it wrong anyway, after creating Golf Predictor and working on it for the last five years!

Anyway, no big deal - I know what he meant! Another thing to note from the inscription is the impressive handwriting and aptly extravagant signature of the man himself! Given that he must have signed at least several hundred books before mine, the fact that the text is legible at all is almost miraculous, never mind that it is so neatly ornate!

As for the book itself, I haven't read that much of it yet, but so far it's OK. The early chapters gloss over a lot of detail, but that's probably because the author couldn't remember it! I will update my opinion after I finish it.

Feedback Required - Golf Predictor and the US PGA Tour (Post 2013)

As you may be aware, the US PGA Tour schedule is changing radically from September next year (2013). From then on, the season will start in October and conclude the following September with the Tour Championship, the final leg of  the FedEx Cup play-offs. This has serious implications for Golf Predictor, where player results are combined across the two major tours for a more accurate picture of player form.  While it may be some way off, plans have to be put in place, given the limited free time at my disposal to address this issue.

Things were awkward enough when their European Tour did not stick to a calendar year for their golfing season. However, no sooner have they aligned their schedule to the calendar, but the US Tour have thrown a large spanner in the works. At least there was no tour overlap when the European Tour was out of synch, but things will be very different with the new US PGA Tour schedule. With the Fall Series now kicking off the season and carrying FedEx Cup points, it raises the very distinct possibility of golfers (mainly European Tour members) playing on the 2014 US PGA Tour one week and the 2013 European Tour the next (and/or vice versa).

This will obviously make statistics tracking across both tours very difficult. These are the options as I see it:

1. The nuclear option: Close the site at the end of the 2013 season and refund all outstanding subscriptions. While this would give me my life back (especially on Sundays and Mondays!), it's a bit extreme and not likely to happen. My other half would be happy though!!
2. Restrict coverage after the 2013 season to one tour. This would probably mean keeping the US PGA Tour, given the quality of the events and what most Golf Predictor users are interested in. However, restricting data to one tour defeats the purpose of the site as it makes the stats incomplete for golfers who play on both tours. On the plus side, it would cut down on my work load considerably!
3. Come up with an even more complicated algorithm than the one already in use to allow for these different seasons in the one calendar year. Even if it could be made to work, it would be very messy at best and would need a lot of time for development and testing. However, I have neither the time nor the inclination to completely rework the site to account for this (even if it can be done!).
4. Introduce the concept of the "GP Season". This would be what the season currently is and allow Golf Predictor to continue on more or less as is. The GP Season would therefore run from January to December and include all events from the European Tour that year and span two US PGA Tour seasons (e.g. the 2014 GP Season would cover Jan-Sept of the 2014 season and Oct-Dec of the 2015 season). A new field can be added to the database to record and display the actual US PGA Tour season an event is in. However, for stats purposes, it will be considered to be in the GP Season for the calendar year in which it is held. As golfers will still take their longish Christmas breaks, January will continue to play like a new season anyway!

Option four is by far the best (and easiest) way around this issue that I can come up with. However, I would very much welcome any user's opinion as there are probably options I haven't thought of! So, please comment on this post or contact Golf Predictor directly with your suggestions. I might even give away some free subscriptions for any good ideas!

Balls of a Trip!

Shane Lowry's Ball (left) and Paul McGinley's (right)

Shane Lowry's Patriotic Ball (other side)

Pictured above is the unexpected booty from my recent Golf Predictor trip to the Trophee Hassan II tournament in Morocco. I caught up with former Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley's group on the first tee (his tenth hole) and immediately enjoyed some good natured banter with his Scottish caddie, thanks to my fine thick Irish accent! McGinley was playing with fellow former European PGA Tour winner Pablo Martin from Spain and two amateur players. I became their gallery and was soon called into action. After his ball was inadvertently picked up by a spectator near the first green, McGinley asked me would I mind going back to the clubhouse and getting a rules official to confirm what he should do next. While I was surprised that a pro with hundreds of tour events under is belt (and his playing partner) did not know such a basic rule, I was only to glad to help my compatriot out. One sweaty uphill run in the blistering heat with a bag on my back later, it was mission accomplished and the group could proceed! After holing out on the ninth (his final hole), McGinley sought me out and threw his golf ball across the green in my general direction with some force. I'd like to think that he was thanking me for services rendered and not trying to kill me for being an annoying git! His TaylorMade ball is shown on the right of the top picture above, with a fairly unimaginative black line on it for identification purposes.

After a rest in the shade on the practice range watching Darren Clarke working out the (non-existent to me!) kinks in his swing, I resumed my stalking of Irish golfers when former Irish Open champion Shane Lowry passed by on the way to the tenth tee. We were practically mates at this stage, having passed by him earlier on a parallel hole and exchanging pleasantries in our finest Irish brogues!. As the gallery for this group also, I was soon called into action again as unfortunately, Lowry's drive ended up in the cabbage! Having located the ball with the Irish national flower on it (top picture, left hand side), I asked the stupidest question I've asked in a long time. "Does it have a shamrock on it?", I enquired of the Irish man playing with two Dutch guys and a Moroccan! Having taken a drop for an unplayable lie, Lowry proceeded to make one of many bogeys that he made that day. On his way to the next tee, Lowry gave me the aforementioned ball, as I had found it for him. That's the sort of nice chap that he is and I duly added it to my collection! On examining the ball, I noticed the other side of the ball also had patriotic markings, with the colours of the Irish flag (second picture above) also acting as identification for the proud Irish man. I followed this group until the 16th, which featured some fine play from Robert-Jan Derksen (although he didn't score too well in a comfortable 70, -1) and unfortunately some not so fine from Lowry (he went around in 81, +10). At this stage, a severe dehydration headache and a waiting taxi driver meant the end of a highly enjoyable day where I got to interact with several pros much more than I would ever have thought possible. I can hardly next for the next trip!


p.s.: I thought it apt to photograph the golf balls on the exotic cushion cover I bought (read "paid over the odds for"!) in Morocco!

Golf Predictor Birthday Competition

Yes, Happy Birthday to us again - just where has the last year gone?! On the 25th May 2008, Golf Predictor was launched with a whopping dozen or so charts. Now, two years later, there are 229 (and counting) charts on Golf Predictor and many more statistics than were available on that momentous day!

We would like to thank all our users (and especially all our subscribers) for your support in the past two years. To celebrate, we are giving away 3 one month subscriptions (non-subscribed) or top ups (subscribers) to those who send us the nicest birthday wishes!

It's that simple. You have until midnight (BST), Saturday May 29th to email our support line, so what are you waiting for?!

Fantasy Golf Leagues Still Available

It's not too late to join a fun fantasy golf league this season. Our friends at Pro Tour Fantasy Golf have the following leagues starting at the Masters:

1. Majors 1 - $10 entry ($500 for 1st place, $650 in other cash prizes)
2. Majors 2 - $25 entry ($1,000 for 1st place, $100 for high weekly score, $1,100 in other prizes)
3. League 4 - $25 entry (Extend your fantasy golf season by playing through the FedEx Cup)

We here at Golf Predictor can personally testify that these leagues are very easy to manage and great fun to play. You also have a much greater chance of winning a cash prize than other leagues. So why not sign up and enjoy the rest of the season (with Tiger!) even more?

Who Would Win More Majors - Jack or Tiger?

An interesting ESPN discussion on whether Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods would win more majors if both were playing in their prime at the same time over a ten year period or so. We here at Golf Predictor would love to see that!

Golf Predictor Birthday Competition

Yes, Happy Birthday to us! It's hard to believe that it has been a year already since we launched, but it's true! On the 25th May 2008, Golf Predictor was launched with a whopping dozen or so charts. Now, one year later, there are 206 (and counting) charts on Golf Predictor and many more statistics than were available on that momentous day!

We would like to thank all our users (and especially all our subscribers) for your support in the past year. To celebrate, we are giving away 3 one month subscriptions (non-subscribed) or top ups (subscribers) to those who send us the nicest birthday wishes!

It's that simple. You have until midnight, Friday May 29th to email our support line, so what are you waiting for?!

'Happy' Harrington's Running Swing!

In the name of science, Padraig Harrington tried out the 'Happy Gilmore' swing (notable for its run up to the ball)! Unbelievably, as shown below, it works and Padraig hit it an extra 30 yards. Even more unbelievably, his swing was almost identical to his conventional tee shot. While we don't know how many takes he needed to hit it flush, we here at Golf Predictor are planning on incorporating a sprint from the back of the tee box into our pre-shot routine from now on!!

Saint Patrick's Day Competition!

Begorrah and bejaysus, tis Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow, so it is! To celebrate our national day here in Ireland, we are offering a free one month subscription to Golf Predictor. All you have to do to have a chance of winning is email our support line with your user name and wish us a happy Saint Patrick's Day! We may even award a number of free subscriptions if we receive particularly nice entries. You have until 9am (GMT) this Saturday, March 21th, to enter.

If the winner is not already a subscriber, the subscription will run for one month from the day of notification. Otherwise, it will be added to the winner's existing subscription.

Good luck!

Henrik Stenson to Star in Stiptease 2!!

Henrik Stenson risked causing several heart attacks among Florida's senior golf fans at the WGC - CA Championship on Thursday. Having landed in the muck on the third hole, Stenson decided to play the ball as it lay. Fortunately for his most ardent fans, this involved disrobing down to his kacks and his glove!

Those interested in Henrik's lunchbox, can see a picture here. It is unknown whether he used one of his socks to, err, enhance his profile!! In fairness to the Swede, he took the whole episode in good humour, not that he had any choice in the matter!

Tiger Vs Phil

Hear the guys at ESPN have a ding-dong over Tiger vs Phil:



Golf Predictor still gives Tiger the clear edge, despite his long absence. Mickleson has played poorly this season, despite winning last week (and he did his best to throw that away too). It's all down to how Tiger's knee holds up and how quickly he shakes off the competitive rustiness.

Phil's Winning Tools!

If you want to know what Phil Mickelson won with yesterday at the Northern Trust Open, check out this US PGA Tour video:



Interestingly, he keeps a few accoutrements in his bag to help with his putting and alignment. And I thought it was just hapless hackers like the Golf Predictor Guru who used such gizmos!

Yet Another Teenage Golfing Sensation

We here at Golf Predictor are starting to believe that pregnant mothers are playing golf tapes to their stomachs! How else do you explain the outstanding achievements in the professional game of increasingly younger sensations? Already this season, we've had Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa and now we have Noh Seung-yul. The 17-year-old South Korean shot the lights out in the first round of the Malaysian Open on the European PGA Tour, carding an incredible ten under par 62. Of course, he's won already (in last year's China Classic) and also had three second place finishes, so he shouldn't be too fazed.

The situation is even more extreme in the woman's game with a pair of 12 year olds acquitting themselves quite well in the Australian Open this week. Of course, they are of Korean extraction. The almost depressing thing is even they aren't the youngest to ever have played professionally. That honour goes to (then) 11 year old Ariya Jutanukarn in 2007. It's almost enough to make you give up the game!

Samson McIlroy!

Apparently Rory McIlroy is not too worried about his unruly mop despite a US PGA Tour official recently talking of grooming "guidelines". McIlroy, who is about to debut on the US PGA Tour following his meteoric rise up the rankings, will never win 'best in show' having admitted to not getting a trim since "last July or August"!

Indeed, the teenager joked of losing his power if he shaved his locks, as superstition threatens to take hold. Personally, I (the Golf Predictor Guru) would grow my hair past my arse (if I could!!), if it would allow me to play decent golf!

Tiger Cub Born

Young golfers and their parents everywhere are praying that golfing ability isn't genetic as Tiger Woods announced the safe arrival of child number two, Charlie Axel. The young man arrived on Sunday and Golf Predictor send our congratulations to the Woods family. In addition, we wish Mrs and Mrs Woods well in their quest for a good night's sleep in the foreseeable future!

Speculation has begun over the name choice. "Charlie" is reckoned to be a nod to Charlie Sifford, the first African American PGA Tour member. As for "Axel", our initial thought was that the Woods' are Guns N' Roses fans! However, Mrs Woods is Swedish and Axel is a name from her native land meaning "father of peace".

The arrival of Woods Junior paves the way for the much anticipated return of his father to competitive play in the near future. While he is back playing golf without restriction, Tiger admits that his stamina is not up to scratch yet. Another few weeks of basking in fatherhood and building up endurance should ready the great man for action again. We speculate that Tiger will return the week he is likely to lose the world number one spot, at the latest.