Mother's Day is this weekend, so hopefully plans are in place for a festive celebration and some great golf gifts...and maybe a spa treatment or two. Mom's deserve pampering, that's a fact.

Then, right around the corner is Father's Day. it's just over a month from now, and you're probably already worrying fretting thinking about a gift for that delightful Dad in your life. You might be considering the new clubs he's been longing for or maybe that high tech range finder...and don't get me wrong, those are both wonderful gifts.

But maybe this year is really special.  Perhaps it's a landmark year and you want to celebrate with an extraordinary and truly memorable gift.  How about this:  A chance for him to join the Pro Sports Team Challenge Pro-Am and spend a weekend with sports history.

The Pro-Sports Team Challenge; Is a unique charity tournament being held on June 7, and June 8, at beautiful Eagle Falls Golf Club in Palm Springs, California. Among the iconic sportsmen playing will be, Charles Barkley, Mario Lemieux, Ozzie Smith, John Elway, LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Strahan, George Brett, Pierre Larouche, and Jason Kidd. There will be a team for baseball, basketball, football and hockey and they'll be competing for a $250,000 purse that'll go to their favorite charities. Some really great ones.

And as for that special Dad, this will be rare and extraordinary opportunity for him. Not only will he play  in the Pro-Am with these legendary athletes, but he'll get VIP treatment for the entire weekend at all tournament events.  The package includes: a ticket to play in the June 6th Pro-Am round with an All-star or celebrity on a world class desert golf course, 2 tickets to the star studded pairings party that night, hosted by Charles Barkley. 2 VIP gallery seats for the matches Saturday and Sunday June 7-8, as well as lunch daily at the resort, ground transport between the golf course and hotel, and four nights accommodations at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino. And, with the event being covered wall-to-wall by Fox Sports Net, your special Dad will be at the center of the week's biggest event in golf. 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime gift that he'll remember forever.

For additional details on the Team Challenge, go to www.teamchallenge.com, and to purchase Pro-Am slots, please contact Tom Belton at 609-694-0621 or Mike Paul at 917-359-1431.

It's springtime in southwestern Connecticut. 

Flowering trees soften the landscape in a fragile haze of pink, white and lavender.  Meanwhile, tiny leaf buds are beginning to open, scattering dots of vivid green throughout once bare branches. 

Last year blustery winds and endless gray, rainy days kept us indoors for most of this enchanting season.  By the time we got out onto the golf course in late May, the flowery magic of early Spring had given way to the more uniform green of summer.

But this year it's different. We've had ample days of early warmth and very little stomy weather. Right now the Connecticut hills and valleys are awash in the soft colors of spring.  Yesterday we played golf at Candlewood Valley Country Club and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of cherry trees in full bloom. The course was in great shape, and because it was Monday, and so early in the season,there were few golfers... thus no waiting.

These ideal conditions set the stage for an awesome round of golf, and one of my lowest scores ever, a 111.

OK, I know... some of you are probably laughing right now at the idea that a 111 could ever be considered low, but I've only been playing for two years, and I live in the Northeast where are golf seasons are short.  And I'm somewhat  uncoordinated. So I feel like I'm doing pretty well.  And this year, I'm taking the Golf for Women challenge. My goal is to break 100 and I'm feel confident that I can. My driving is doing really well thanks to some help from Debbie Doniger, a top 50 teacher, and my putting has definitely improved, probably due to the drills I learned from Annika. Yes, that's one of the benefits of the challenge; access to tips and instructional videos from some of the greatest golfers and teaching pros out there.

Well, today's another gorgeous day here in CT, one that I'll unfortunately have to spend working not playing. It won't be long before summer's in full swing and this soft spring season is just a memory. For the time being though, I'll be out there as often as possible, enjoying the fresh and flowery days, and (hopefully) improving my golf game.

http://www.thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

Certain things just go together.

Like Frank Sinatra said, "Ask the local gentry And they will say its elementary".

Well OK, he was talking about love and marriage, I'm talking about wine and golf, and I'm not the only one seeing the affinity.

A friend of mine sent me this article from yesterday's Seattle Times. It talks about the growth of Golf & Wine tourism, with a wealth of hotels in the Pacific Northwest now offering "Golf in Wine Country" vacation packages combining golf, accommodations and wine tastings. A bit of web research revealed that there are similar offerings all over the US and in many foreign countries.

Then there are the the many professional golf oenophiles who reinforce the symbiotic golf/wine synergy.  One of the most passionate  (and certainly the most beautiful) of these is Cristie Kerr, who in a recent interview with Golf for Women magazine revealed that she intended to earn her sommelier certification and hopes to someday own a vineyard.  For the time being the talented golfer and dedicated philanthropist is in discussions with a winery to produce her own signature wine to benefit her charity Birdies for Breast Cancer. 

On the guy's side there are many professional golfers who are already producing and selling wine; Ernie Els and David Frost making their wines in their native South Africa where some of the world's best wines are produced. Frank Nobilo is the brand ambassador for New Zealand wines, and I can tell you first hand, some pretty wonderful wines are produced by iconic Australian, Greg Norman. I hosted a Greg Norman wine tasting dinner a couple of months ago and it was a huge success.

As for me personally, I just know that after a round of golf you'll always find me at the 19th hole with my beverage of choice;  a scintillating chardonnay or a voluptuous Cabernet or a seductive Pinot  or... well you get the picture.  Cheers.

It's amazing how much things change in twenty years.

I'm not talking about major things here... like the fall of Communism or the rise of the Internet... but rather subtle things, like language usage, clothing styles and color pallets; the kind of changes that evolve so gradually you don't really notice until you find a piece of the not-too-distant past and realize it looks strangely dated. That's what happened to me when I came upon this LPGA Player Guide from 1988. 

I was an art history major in college and I've always had an appreciation for vintage graphics and 20th century art, so soon after I became obsessed with took up golf, I started collecting golf memorabilia.

When I spotted the Player Guide the first thing that struck me was the demure pose and downcast gaze of the cover girl, Hall of Fame golfer, Ayako Okamoto. Rendered in soft shaded pastels, the illustration seemed remarkably muted, its subjet almost...disempowered. 

I can only imagine the 2008 Player Guide, if a paper copy is even produced, will feature an assertive, high contrast photograph of Lorena or Annika or Paula, confidently addressing the camera or captured in powerful mid-swing. The photo will exude the kind of strength that says, "These Girls Rock". 

Looking at the 1988 Ayako Okamoto cover it seems the LPGA marketing slogan of the time must have been, "These Girls Whisper... Politely".  Obviously the LPGA has changed, along with our times. Like everything else, it's become much more marketing and media oriented, and the glitz, glamour and excitement are part of what many of us love about it.

I'm happy to have found the 1988 Player Guide though. Through it, not only did I learn about the amazing Ayako Okamoto, a golfer who, I've got to admit, I didn't know anything about before, I also gained a renewed appreciation of the cultural shift that's taken place in just the past couple of decades. 

http://www.thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

OK, there's no denying the beauty of his Tiger inspired swing, and we now know he can sink a 49 foot birdie putt when the need arises, but in the wake of his playoff win yesterday at the Byron Nelson, one burning question remains about Australian golfer Adam Scott:  Is he hot or not? 

This is a legitimate concern in light of the fact that lately, he's being touted as Tiger's top challenger.  If that's the case we should at least agree on his hottness level.

A couple of months ago I responded to a post by the bloggers over at oobgolf in which they presented  their female readers with this glamourous photo of Mr. Scott as a token eye-candy offering.

Though I appreciated the gesture  --after all photos of Natalie Gulbis are often presented to male readers for the same benevolent reason-- I argued that Adam Scott was simply not the type of guy most women found sexy.  The  smoldering sales pitch and cosmetically enhanced metrosexual persona, while pretty, simply does not resonate with the majority of women. Am I right?

Anyway, I was of course, asked to suggest a golfer I thought would be more appropriate, eye-candy wise, and I came up with fellow Australian Geoff Ogilvy, my theory being that women tend to prefer a cute, cuddly guy over a slick, polished one.  To that another commentor suggested that if I wanted cuddly I should probably opt for a shirtless John Daly. Hmmm, no, not at all what I had in mind, so you see...we do have a problem here, and now that the outback boy is so assertively on the rise, we need to decide.

Is Adam Scott hot or not?

Let me know what you think, is Adam eye-candy...yes or no?   BTW, I've already got one vote of yes from tennis champion Maria Sharapova who said she'd like to have Mr. Scott as a doubles partner in a "night match".

(Note: I realize this post is a tad bit frivilous and superficial but it's a dark, cold, rainy Monday so frivilous and superficial are just what I need)

http://www.thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

You may or may not know this, but I'm an identical twin.  My sister Cathleen (aka Cat) is five minutes younger and five pounds lighter than me. Normally, I would hate her for those things, but she's so nice, and in the end, it doesn't matter because everyone says we look exactly alike. 

Cat plays golf too, poorly like me and not as often.  She owns a restaurant and she's ultra busy, but I'm going to try to get her out on the course more this year... and I'm hoping she'll join me in the Golf for Women challenge.

Cat and I have pretty much the same taste in golf clothes, and sometimes we even dress the alike on the course. I know, I find it ultra-dorky when adult twins dress alike too, but you can't believe how much fun it is. The reactions we get are quite hilarious. 

One thing we don't see eye-to-eye on however, is golf shoes.  Actually the disconnect applies to shoes in general. As far as footwear is concerned, our tastes couldn't be more divergent.

I'll walk all over Manhattan in stilettos where Cat will insist on sneakers. While I'm prancing by on platforms Cat's in ballet flats.    And that brings us to golf sandals.  Cat just went out and bought a pair of golf sandals... and she says they're ultra comfortable.  Well, guess what? I don't like golf sandals. As I see it, they're just one step up from Crocs. I like my golf shoes to be elegant. I like leather and laces and eyelets and contrasting colors. I like a polished look.  Admittedly, I spend a fair amount of time in the sand traps, but to me sandals are for the beach.  Cat doesn't agree and that's problematic because we're supposed to be dressing alike for a charity tournament we're involved in next month, and now we have to rethink our whole outfit.

Cat suggested we just go with the casual flow of the sandal, in shorts,polos and baseball caps, while I had picked out adorable golf dresses and matching bucket hats.  The  tournament is in mid-May so we have a couple of weeks to decide .  Hmmm, we'll see who wins this one, I think it'll be me. Remember I'm five minutes older. That should count for something.

I'll write more about the tournament we're involved with ... and what we decide to wear... in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned!

http://thegolfgirl.blogspot.com/

This is a trend that's going to have legs...if you'll pardon the pun. 

I started noticing it at the start of the LPGA season and it's quickly spread to the golf clubs and resorts. It's the golf skirt, and it was all over the place this past weekend, on several gals at my golf club and on the the pros playing in Orlando.

I know... skirts have been worn on the golf course forever, but they've generally been kind of... shall we say ... frumpy? Volumnious swaths of dull kakhi or powdery pastel...bulky, heavy...yes, frumpy was the right word.

Well these new skirts are anything but.  They're actually being called "fitness skirts" or "athletic skirts", and they were originally concieved for running, track & field events and  triathalons, but they adapt perfectly to golf. They're made with stretchy lightweight breathable performance fabrics that wick sweat away.

I got a few of these before going to Florida last month and they're all I've worn for golf since. Well not all I've worn, but ... oh, you know what I mean.

The thing is, they're so comfortable! Not only do they feel great on...like wearing nothing at all... but most fitness skirts have built in undershorts that actually contour and provide some lift where... it's always appreciated.  And they actually stay in place, which assures that you won't expose more than you want to no matter how big your swing is. After all who needs that kind of distraction.

Contrary to what you might imagine, these skirts work on women of many different ages and sizes.  My friend Lily who is an unabashed size 20 loves the way she looks and feels in her mojito green Super Girl skirt from SkirtSports, and my Aunt Elizabeth, a stylish Sarasota septegenarian, adopted the runningskirts.com golf skort before I even saw the trend coming...but then she runs 5K's and half-marathons regularly.

Let's face it, scratch golfer or high handicapper, we all want to look good on the course, and that means different things to different people. Women's golf consultant Nancy Berkley, writing for Cybergolf, has an interesting take on all this and encourages women of all ages to go for a shorter more stylish look in order to feel better and have more fun on the course. 

The best part is that fitness skirts are available from dozens manufacturers, at all price points. I bought several in awesome colors for under $20.00 each...at the always chic and continually cost-concious Tar-zhay!  ...And I've listed a few other sources below.

RunningSkirts.com

SkirtSports.com

Target.com

AdidasGolf.com

NikeGolf

So girls, it's time stop skirting the issue girls.

http:www.thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

If you read my blogs, you know I'm totally passionate about golf.

You see me writing about it all the time, and playing every chance I get. I love watching golf on TV and reading about it in my favorite golf magazines. And, when I meet someone who's heard about me through a friend or relative they inevitably say, "I hear you're really into golf."

All of those things might lead you to believe that I'm an excellent player, a low handicapper ... or at least a relatively low handicapper, right?  Well, the truth is I'm not. My first exposure to the sport came two years ago, and during those two years I've taken many lessons, spent countless hours at the practice range, and (even with our long winters) played over 100 rounds.  But the fact is, I've never gotten around to establishing a handicap and rarely even keep score beyond my first blow-up hole... which is usually three or four. 

I've enjoyed every minute of it too, aware that I was improving, but not obsessed with it, my golf has been purely recreational. Not a competitive person by nature, and with no affinity for numbers and statistics, I've just played. Till now.

Now...there's the Golf for Women Challege. It's a game improvement program that's so simple and user-friendly, it's encouraged me to take my game to the next level. "Finally", some would say, because there are those who've always looked askance at my easy going golf attitude.

The Golf for Women Challenge which is part of the Golf Digest Challenge, includes an amazing selection of on-line lessons, health and fitness tips, free swing analysis and a lesson track to map your progress. There's a great sweepstakes too, with weekly golf travel and equipment prizes.

So, this past weekend at Richter Park here in Danbury, I played AND keptscore.  Our game was awesome and, I'll admit, I was quite pleased with my 121. So many good shots went into that score...and lots of bad ones too.  Now my goal is to break 100 and with this progam I'm pretty sure I will.

This is fascinating stuff!

New research, out of Cambridge University, suggests a distinct connection between turbulence in the financial markets and ... hormones. 

A group of financial traders in London participated in a controlled study in which their testosterone levels were tested several times a day, over eight business days. Traders who began their days with high testosterone levels appeared to be more confident and more aggressive. They made bolder decisions, which resulted in above average gains.  That is, until it all came crashing down in a testosterone overdose.

You see, when the levels remained high over an extended period, the extra confidence and aggression began to provoke irrational risk-taking. And really dumb decisions.

In another fascinating bit of neuropsychology news, a brain-scan study that took place at Stanford University indicates that sex affects the state of our financial markets as well. This experiment used a random chance game and a series of images and focused on an area of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. It's a type of pleasure center. When a group of young men were shown erotic pictures they were much more likely to make a large financial gamble than if they were shown something creepy,like a scorpion, or neutral, like a paper clip.  Using MRI images the scientists concluded that activating the pleasure center with the sexy photos caused the risky decision making.

And how does this connect to golf?  Well, when I'm playing with guys and happen to be wearing one of my rather-revealing-but-always-tasteful golf outfits, or when there are some particularly seductive cart girls about, a disproportionate number of balls end up in the woods or the water, because very few shots are set up... even when it's ultra obvious they should have been. To me that looks like irrational decision making fueled by something going on in someone's nucleus accumbens. 

Now I would never be so politically incorrect as to suggest dressing sexy to gain an advantage. But it might not hurt to leave a couple of those Victoria's Secret catalogs lying casually in the golf carts.

llustration - Patricia Hannigan/Golf Girl Media

http://www.thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

As a golfer and a golf fan, this weekend was a revealing one.

First of all, from Augusta National, came the realization ... sorry, the confirmation... that golf is an extraordinarily unpredictable game, not only for me, and my husband and the other hackers recreational golfers we play with, but for everyone, even the pros. 

Recent Rookies of the Year and Golf Gods alike were taken aback by unexpected outcomes among the azaleas.   It was reassuring... in a way... to see the pros playing more like us, and also somewhat disappointing. We all want to believe in perfection. Especially in golf. Finally, despite a number of foibles of his own, Trevor Immelman struggled through and donned the green jacket.

While Tiger was momentarily made to look mortal, and the endearing Brandt Snedeker was openly emoting  over the highs and lows of his tumultuous first Masters, a quite milestone was reached by Lorena Ochoa in her native Mexico. She discretely became the second-youngest LPGA member to meet the points qualifying criteria for the World Golf Halls of Fame.  She got there with an 11-shot victory at the Corona Championship.  There was very little US coverage as the Masters overtook our golf media, But for Lorena that hardly seemed to matter. Speaking of the awesome achievement she said, ''It was really special to be here in my home country.  Things happen for a reason. It's something I'll be able to say for the rest of my life.  Everybody saw me do it (in Mexico).  I think that's for sure the best memory''.

In golf, like in just about everything these days, it's often not the biggest story that gets the most coverage.

Photo of Lorena Ochoa by Patrick Micheletti