Here’s a worthy cause: The Warrior Open—a 36 hole competition featuring U.S. servicemen and women severely wounded in the global war on terror. It’s being hosted by President George W. Bush, and held in Dallas. Travel and lodging expenses will be paid for the warrios selected to compete.

I got this press release. Looks like a worthy cause:

I’m hoping that you’ll let your blog followers know about the “Ultimate Golf Experience” at the legendary Pinehurst Resort October 12-16, 2011. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is selling only 120 raffle tickets for $100 each for this fabulous trip for two, which includes:

· Round-trip airfare and ground transportation from airport to the
Pinehurst Resort

· Four nights of luxurious accommodations (October 12-16, 2011)

· Three days of world-class golf

· All meals (Wednesday evening through Sunday morning)

· Nightly cocktail reception

· An extraordinary gift package and nightly turn-down gifts

· Silent and live auctions featuring one-of-a-kind items

· Nightly musical entertainment and a special performance by award-winning comedian Lewis Black

· Unparalleled hospitality

Raffle tickets can be purchased online: http://www.centralohioevents.com/golf

Is there such a thing as too much golf? I suppose that like any addiction, you reach that point when the habit interferes with your family and your job.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) thinks President Obama has reached that point:

“He’s got to get off the golf course and he’s got to get engaged,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said.

As of Memorial Day 2011, it seems Obama has played 70 rounds. That’s about one every 12 days. I’m no fan of the man’s policies, but once every twelve days doesn’t seem like a lot for a golf addict. And given that the vast majority of the work of a president is done by appointees and civil service bureaucrats, I don’t really think that it’s cutting into his “running” the country.

A thought: if critics don’t like the job he’s doing, maybe we should encourage him to play MORE golf. The more time he spends golfing, the less he has to promote his policies.

Hot on the heels of the news about the closing of Brazil’s solitary public golf course comes a story about the proliferation of illegal courses in communist China.

China introduced a ban on the construction of golf courses in 2004 in an attempt to preserve dwindling farmland, save water and reduce the huge number of villagers thrown off their land as luxury real estate is developed.

“Since the year 2004 we have put a halt to the construction of golf courses,” Gan Zangchun, deputy chief supervisor of state land at the Ministry of Land and Resources, said recently. “Pending the formulation of any new regulation, the building of any new golf course is prohibited and is illegal.”

But despite the ban the number of golf courses in China has more than tripled from 170 in 2004 to nearly 600 now, according to figures from the golf education and research centre at the Beijing Forestry University.

I wonder what this actually says about the control the communist leadership has over China’s new class of capitalist entrepreneurs.

I find it hard to believe that Brazil has just one public golf course, but according to this AP story, it’s about to be destroyed for a highway. (Puts me in mind of the Hitchhiker’s Guide)Ironically, the highway is needed to alleviate traffic in Rio, the city which will host the 2016 Summer Olympics—which will feature the first Olympic golf in 100 years.

Even worse, the public course is known for its public works:

The city of Japeri is last in the state’s human development rankings, and the golf school at the course helps more than 100 poor kids—aged 7 to 17—by providing them with education, food and clothing, along with golf classes. Two times a week they spend half a day at the association and have free access to varied classes and activities. Whyte said there were some 40 kids on a waiting list to participate in the project.

She said the school was key for the future of Brazil’s golf, and that many of the kids who have been with the association are now appearing in Brazil’s junior rankings, becoming players that may end up representing the country when the Olympics finally arrive in 2016.

This can’t be good karma for Rio’s Olympic Golf efforts.

The golf apparel company Birdy and Grace is looking for nominiations for an “everyday” Golf Woman of the Year. I’ll confess that I’ve never heard of Birdy and Grace, but an award for the “common woman” is a nice idea.

Details from the press release below.

With little fanfaire, Bubba Watson recently donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross for Japanese quake and tsunami relief efforts. K.J. Choi gave $100,000—an act of charity that apparently is routine for him: according to the article,  from his first victory on the PGA Tour, Choi had given a percentage of his winning check to the church he attended in the city that week. The PGA Tour, of course, also benefits numerous charities each week, but I count individual giving as more motivating than corporate.

Watson’s giving apparently was inspired by a conversation he had with Ryuji Imada, who had pledged $1,000 for every birdie, and then didn’t get a single birdie in the first round.

I think it must be nice to have the financial wherewithall as an individual to be able to donate $50,000—or $100,000—to worthy causes. My own donations generally are in the $10 to $20 range. In spite of what you may have heard, teachers don’t make a lot of money. And neither do part-time golf bloggers.

Still, I like to occasionally daydream about what I would do if I hit the lottery, such as the recent $200 million Megamillions (of course, I’d have to actually play to have a chance to win). That’d leave me with some $100 million after taxes. Setting aside the $10 million or so that I’d want to live the rest of my life in comfort, I’d organize a foundation and spend the rest of my working career giving the money away. I’d set up an endowment for the music program in my church, and a similar one for the local Boy Scout Council. And after that, I’d spend my time sorting through applications, giving money to people and organizations who had solid, productive, economically sound plans for its use. I’ve always been inspired by the microcredit movement, and might move in that direction. That movement is aimed primarily at the third world, but I think a similar thing would work here in the US, albeit with more seed money.

But I’ll never win the lottery. So in a more realistic vein, I’m starting to think about ways that I can use the popularity of GolfBlogger.Com to do some good. I really can’t offer anyone money or things, but I’ll certainly pass on (and always have) information about worthy charity efforts. Perhaps I should set up a section of the site where people can add their own charity events to a calendar or somesuch.