June 18th Is National SortaGolf Day

For the SGA, National SortaGolf Day serves as an act of solidarity, recruitment and defiance against the USGA.

And it’s no accident that we schedule SortaGolf’s National Day each year on the Saturday during play of the USGA-sponsored U.S. Open. This year that falls on June 18.

On this day, recreation golfers across the nation are encouraged to play using the Sorta 7 Amendments and invite their friends to join them in doing the same.

For members of the SortaGolf Association, this is the celebration of your Independence Day and you are encouraged to wear and use your official SortaGolf gear with pride.

"Let Freedom Swing"!

Rule #2: Inside The Leather Is Good

Is there anything quite as irritating as missing a short putt?

It's become an epidemic. The continual missing of short putts has been diagnosed to be an insidious disease, called the Yips, and according to the Mayo Clinic it effects almost half of all mature golfers.

Recreational golfers traditionally have treated putts "inside the leather" (i.e. a putt that is less than the distance from the end of the putter head to where the grip starts) as good.

(a) SortaGolf recognizes and reaffirms this time tested practice.

(b)This innovation significantly reduces the incidence of the “Yips” and virtually eliminates the embarrassment of four putts.

When putts inside the leather are treated as good it has the added benefit of speeding up play for everyone on the course.

Rule #1: Improve Your Lie

The first rule of SortaGolf is to "Improve Your Lie"....... watch, know truth and set your golf game free.

Golf's X Prize From The AGA

We salute the Alternative Golf Association for helping unleash the creative talents of the golfing industry.  Put me down for an order of a box of the winning ball.

Create a 25 percent longer golf ball, win $10,000!

Alternative Golf Association challenges science
to make the game more fun for the ordinary golfer

PALO ALTO, Calif. (March 22, 2011) – The Alternative Golf Association today launched the $10,000 Longest Golf Ball Challenge to inspire inventors and engineers to add fun for players of its new game, testing under the name Project Flogton (“not golf,” backward).

AGA founder Bob Zider, himself an inventor of Flexon eyeglass frames and golf clubs, conceptualized and funded the challenge to unleash equipment developers from the USGA’s conformance constraints. The prize-winning ball will be used for long shots only, and it does not have to have dimples or otherwise look like a traditional golf ball. It must, however, test out for 25 percent more distance for players of swing speeds of 80 to 100 mph than current USGA-approved golf balls do, and meet the criteria listed in the Official Rules.

The criteria include that the ball must roll on impact, have no more force on humans or windows than conforming balls and be marketable at no more than $1 at retail. One dozen of the balls must be submitted to the AGA by the contest deadline of June 1, 2011.

“We are not ball designers,” said Zider, a bogey golfer out of Sharon Heights in Menlo Park, Calif. “In the spirit of Flogton and the AGA, which has set out to develop a game with the help and input of players, we’re doing this to find the people who are smarter than us. I’m not even sure it can be done, but it’s my guess this may come from somewhere outside the golf industry.”

In preparation for the challenge, the AGA and Hot Stix tested several existing nonconforming balls against a standard Titleist ProVI (with a conforming driver) and found that the nonconforming balls currently on the market offered marginal or no improvement.  “If it’s only a 10 percent difference, that is the difference between hitting the ball in the center of the clubface and off center, as most people do,” Zider said.

Zider, Commissioner Scott McNealy, CEO Pat Gallagher and legal counsel Damien Eastwood launched the AGA in January at www.flogton.com to foster the creation and evolution of new games – “golf for the rest of us,” they call it – that could be played on existing golf courses.

“The reaction has been extremely positive among the golf course owners and operators, the equipment manufacturers and, most important, the people who play,” McNealy said.

McNealy has established a committee to review various game and rule proposals, but, he said, “Equipment advances are essential components of what we’re trying to do to make the game more fun for the recreational golfer, the new golfer, the aging golfer. We’re setting aside USGA conformance standards, and we want innovation on what might be possible.”

Contestants may find the complete rules and entry form at the AGA’s www.flogton.com. If none of the balls submitted by the contest deadline of June 1, 2011 tests for at least 25 percent more yardage than the conforming ball, no prize will be awarded.  The AGA will, however, continue to partner with equipment companies to test the limits of what is possible.

Said Gallagher: “We are hoping this inspires all equipment companies, inventors and innovators to see partnering with the AGA as a new market opportunity for equipment that can make the game more playable.”

USGA Conforming Equipment - Listen To Arnie

You may be interested and surprised to hear his position on golf equipment:

“We should focus on people having fun playing golf and using the equipment they enjoy using.

 As
 a long time adherent to and supporter of the great traditions of golf,
 I do not believe that the [USGA non-conforming] ERC II Driver is a threat to the basic nature
 of the game," Mr. Palmer continued. "Rather, I believe that it will be 
a tremendous asset to people's enjoyment of recreational golf. I also 
think that making the game more enjoyable will help the game to grow in 
the United States, and this is very important to me."

Sounds like Arnie has a heart for SortaGolf.

PS.  The Commish’s wife met Arnie at the Shark Shootout. She got
 to join him for dinner at Greg Norman’s table and he gave her a signed
 golf glove.

5 Reasons Why Golfers Hate Florida Scrambles

1.)  Don't get to play out my own ball
2.)  Watching four people miss the same putt
3.)  Takes 5 hours to finish with lots of waiting
4.)  We use the ’A’ player's ball 90% of the time
5.)  The winning team is always stacked

SortaGolf Successories: Equipment

Golf Successories: Improve Your Lie

The Seven Stages of Golf Grief

The Seven Stages of Grief has helped people all over the world deal with grief, loss and change.

    1.    Shock
    2.    Denial
    3.    Bargaining
    4.    Fear
    5.    Anger
    6.    Despair
    7.    and finally, Acceptance

Whether it’s the death of a loved one, the death of a marriage, or other life-changing event, 
these seven steps identify the choices we make that allow us to move 
forward, making the changes that result in our integrating the loss 
rather than being stuck in it forever.

My research has confirmed that the same process applies to golf.  Coming to terms with the inadequacy and injustice of one’s golf game is acheived through the Seven Stages of Golf Grief:

Shock:  “I can't believe I'm still not getting any better at this game.  My dream is to play better, consistent golf.”

Denial: “Another crappy round. This isn't happening to me, I'll play better next round.  My golf dreams will come true.”

Bargaining:  “Ok, if I buy this new set of clubs and take a lot of expensive lessons then I'll get better, right?”

Fear:  “Oh no. what if I never get good at this game.  What will my friends and family think?”

Anger:  “I hate this game.  With all the time and money I spend on golf I deserve to play better.”

Despair: “I'm never going to be able to enjoy this game.”

Acceptance:  “This is as good as Iím ever gonna get.  My golf dream is dead.”

Grieve not golfers.  There is another group of seven that offers golfing fulfillment and satisfaction.  It’s the 7 Amendments to the USGA Rules of Golf.  It’s the way golf was originally meant to be played and enjoyed.

Where Did The Term Mulligan Come From?

But where did the term Mulligan come from?  After much search, here's the best summary I could find:

“The term Mulligan is an unusual one. Like many golf terms it is steeped in controversy. Just where exactly did this term originate? Is it a reference to a person, a combination of words, or is it derivative of another language.

One proposed explanation is that in the late 1920s, a Canadian Golfer, David Mulligan, played golf with a group of friends at the St. Lambert Country Club, outside Montreal. David being the only golfer with a car, ended up driving everyone to the course. The drive took him over many rough roads and a really bumpy bridge found at the entrance to the course. Due the rough driving conditions, Mulligan's hands were in pretty bad shape by the time the trip was over. His “buddies” were nice enough to give him and extra drive off the first tee.


Many other clubs have claimed to also have a golfer that the term is based on, either mulligan or Mel Egan, etc. who would hit another shot whenever he could think of a good excuse to justify it. Another theory is that a group of golfers all hit bad tee shots and declared that they would “hit 'em all again”.”

We at the SGA salute you David Mulligan for your pioneering efforts on behalf of recreational golfers.  You are truly the original SortaGolfer.



And to all you unsatisfied recreational golfers, remember to abide by SortaGolf Rules Amendment # 7, "A Mulligan Per Round".