You’ve seen those SkyMall catalogs on airplanes. The Japanese apparently have something similar with their Train Shop magazine. The MyCaddie.JP photo blog, which I follow for its beautiful and often unusual golf photos, has a series of photos from the Train Shop catalog.

Ultimate Golf Songs
Grade: A

Ultimate Golf Songs is a fun little collection of nine golf themed soft-rock songs. The tunes are catchy, the lyrics (mostly) clever, and the entire thing professionally done. Here’s a stanza from my favorite, One More Bird

Each hole is an opportunity
A chance for all to go right
To execute each shot perfectly
And bring feelings of joy and delight
One bird, want to yell the word, I want just one bird
One bird, it is not absurd, to want just one bird

and from Long Way, about the aftermath of a poor drive:

Head to the bag for something to assist
Look for a club that does not exist
Even a cannon could not shoot it that far
Select a mutant club, with dreams of a par
Even with its promises it is still hard to see
Reaching in anything less than three

Lots of good stuff here. Even my teenage boys thought it fun to listen to on a Geek-Dad-and-Geek-Boys Road Trip.

Recommended.

Donald Trump contemplates selling cemetary plots at his high end Trump National Golf Course. Memberships for the living there cost $500,000. There’s no word on what it would cost for a plot on the proposed 1.5 acre cemetery. Golfers also may be able to have their ashes spread on the course.

As a (probably cheaper) alternative, a cemetery in Washington State has a design for a golf themed memorial park.

I actually think that there’s an additional revenue stream here for many golf courses. Many wouldn’t want graves alongside the fairways, but I should think charging people a fee to scatter their ashes on the course would be in the realm of possibility. Local ordinances probably would require permits, but I can’t imagine that would be a big issue. I’m sure that there are many golfers who would like to spend eternity on their favorite track. Courses could also put up a wall with plaques on it to commemorate the golfers whose ashes were scattered there. As the median funeral cost is around $6,500, that would be a great deal for many courses.

Seriously.

A guest editorial:

Most sports can be enjoyed only in certain capacities. You may play the sport, or you may be a fan of watching it, but for most sports, that’s about the extent of what you can get out of it: play it, watch the games, and follow the teams and players. For golf, however, things are often different for true enthusiasts of the game. There are a number of different reasons for this, one of which is that golf can be watched and played by people of all ages, and in all different walks of life, whereas other sports tend to be more restricted to certain ages.



To begin with, many golf fans make good use of services like those offered on satellitetvfamily.com, in order to gain tv access to more tournaments and events. Because golf, like tennis, is a sport that to some extent follows warm weather around the globe, there are tournaments being held during most of the year. With an expansive cable package geared specifically toward these events, a golf enthusiast can be able to keep track of these events much more closely. This can be very nice, as there is little that is more relaxing than watching a round of golf.



One thing that can be just as relaxing, however, is, of course, playing golf. For true fans of the game, nothing really beats heading out to the course with a friend or two in nice weather to shoot a round. In fact, there are so many fans of this sort of activity that there are now entire vacation packages geared toward golfers. Because there are so many different places in the world that are renowned for their golf courses, these vacation packages can be very interesting, and can lead to travel to some of the most fascinating parts of the world.



These are just a few examples of how golf can become, not just a game, but a lifestyle. In fact, people who really get into golf even go as far as structuring some of their clothing, or their food and drink, around golf. The simple fact is that this game is so popular, and so unique in its setting, that it has evolved from a sport into a culture that can be enjoyed by professional players and amateur fans on a very similar level. This can be a wonderful thing to have in your life, as it is centered almost entirely on relaxation, and can last for your whole life.

The Coolist has some neat photos of London’s “Urban Golf Club.” When I hit the lottery, I’m going to build a man-cave just like this one.

A cemetary in Belleview, Washington has come up with an idea that’s so obvious I wonder why no one has thought of it before: a golf themed memorial park. From the press release:

Golfers understand the simple joys that accompany a day on the course: the smell of a freshly cut green, the sound of a well-hit drive and the satisfaction of watching a long putt fall into the hole.

It is with these joys in mind that Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home dedicates its new Memorial Golf Park, a complete golf hole which allows committed fans of the game to be buried or placed in a permanent golf setting, the nation’s first golf-themed memorial park.

The Sunset Hills Memorial Golf Park, located near Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue, can accommodate more than 1,281 golf enthusiasts, between full-casket plots and cremation placements. The golf memorial also features an ossuary located under the green, accessible through the actual golf hole.

Designed by a professional golf course designer, the park includes a tee-box, 820-square-foot green, fairway and sand trap. The green features a custom-made bronze cup, which will be used as a passageway to the ossuary.

You can also get your name put on the leaderboard behind the green.

Genius. It’s certainly a lot better than this cemetery I spotted in the middle of a course this summer.

Michelob has put together one of the great all-time sweepstakes for golfers. The grand prize is a trip for four to four US courses of your choosing, transportation by private jet, $25,000 in cash and more.

The entry form won’t you what courses are available, but from the listed cities, you can guess. It’s too bad Bandon/Pacific Dunes isn’t there, though.

To enter, follow this link to the ULTRA Foursome Sweepstakes on Facebook.

Contest Rules:
MICHELOB ULTRA® “ULTRA FOURSOME BE READY. BE ULTRA. GOLF TRIP” SWEEPSTAKES
No Purchase Necessary. Sweepstakes open to residents of the United States (except CA), who are 21 years of age or older. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 a.m. Central Standard Time (“CST”) on 3/1/11 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time on 3/31/11. To enter, text “FOUR” to shortcode ULTRA (85872) or visit ww.facebook.com/michelobultra and follow the online instructions to complete and submit an online entry. See Official Rules for complete details. Void where prohibited. © 2011 Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Michelob ULTRA® Light Beer, St. Louis, MO