I got this book to review over the summer, and have been waiting for it to show up at Amazon so my US readers could get it if they wanted ... but its already the holiday season, and its still not showing up ... so I’ll review it anyway and leave you to your own devices to find a copy ...

The Top 100 Golf Courses is a gorgeous little book that offers reviews and commentary on the best courses of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. While its unlikely that I’ll ever get a chance to play any of those courses (hard to do international travel on a teacher’s salary), the pictures are gorgeous, and I’ve spent more than a few moments browsing and dreaming.

It’s a small book, so it doesn’t quite qualify as a coffee table display piece, yet it has found a place on one of ours. People who visit like to pick it up and browse.

If you are going on a golf holiday to tbe British Isles (or if you live there), I’d say that this is a book that you must get a copy of.  Each course is rated using a 1 - 6 golf balls scale. And reading the commentaries will let you know if the course that you’re planning to play really fits your style. (I find that I often don’t really enjoy the highly ranked courses. But if the guidebook offers a commentary on the play and feel of a course, I have a better feel for whether I would like it.) All in all, its a great little book. You also should visit the website: Top 100 Golf Courses of the British Isles

You can customize this golf themed mouse pad in a variety of ways: male or female, light or dark skin color and black, brown, red or blonde hair color.

Personalized WoArtoon Mouse Pad

I did some Christmas shopping this weekend, and like many, stared in amazement at the in-store demos of the new Xbox 360. All of the ones I saw were running demos of the Call of Duty World War II first person shooter game, but while I liked it, that alone wasn’t going to be enough to get me to buy one.

Then I did a little surfing around the web and came across the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 for the Xbox 360.

And after looking at the screenshots, all I can say is “holy cow.”

There are more screenshots here.

The Personalized WoArtoon Coffee Mug lets you customize the mug in several ways: choose from a male or female version, light or dark skin tone and black, brown, red or blonde hair. Finally add up to 50 characters of text in upper- or lower case.

At a press conference for the upcoming Lexus Cup (an international team v asian team event), Annika Sorenstam said it’s unlikely the Men’s and Women’s Opens will offer equal prize money anytime soon.

The prize for the 2005 USGA’s Men’s Open was $6.25 million, while the Women’s Open was just over $3 million.

Tennis, on the other hand, does offer roughly equal prizes at the US and Australian Opens. The US Open, for example, offers a $1.1 million payout to both the male and female winners.

Annika’s statement got me to wondering about how the USGA gets away it. The USGA certainly a public organization, and subject to US anti-discrimination laws.

I’m not clear as to the USGA’s tax status. It’s listed on the IRS site as a charitable organization, but there is no associated tax code. But if does receive tax breaks—either from the US government, or from the state of New Jersey, where it’s headquarters is—then it is absolutely subject to laws against discrimination.

I’m sure I smell a civil rights lawsuit in the making. Perhaps a lawyer out there can clarify this for me.

Now, I’m not a radical feminist—far from it. (I’m a card carrying member of the Conservative Movement.) And I’m not a big fan of lawsuits. So perhaps the best plan would be for the members of the USGA to put pressure on the board. I don’t know what percentage of the USGA’s membership is female, but if you include them, plus every man who has a golf playing wife or daughter, it’s probably a big number.

So in the interest of kicking off a campaign, I’m calling on the USGA to work (if I may borrow a phrase) with all deliberate speed to equalize the payments. Certainly not next year, or even the next after that, but they ought to show some progress.