Darren Clark was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and Rory McIlroy a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours List. Neither permits the golfers to use the honorific “Sir,” but they do get to add it as a post-nomial (i.e., Darren Clarke, OBE)

The Order was initiated by George V in 1917 to honor people who had distinguished themselves in non-combatant roles during the Great War. It later was split into military and civil divisions.

US citizens can become honorary members—and several have—but full membership would require renouncing US citizenship.

Lacking any concrete information on what goes in inside secretive North Korea, analysts apparently are reduced to studying the leader’s golf scorecards:

In keeping with his orderly ascension from ranking army general to top political official to supreme leader of the last hard-line Communist country on earth, North Korea’s chubby young Kim Jong-un is expected soon to take up golf, where he will challenge his father’s record of scoring almost a dozen holes-in-one on his first try at the game.

Afforded little else in the way of information on the internal doings of the secretive country, observers will be reduced to parsing news of the young leader’s score, speculating on what it might mean should he fail to match his father’s 38-under-par.

Such is the fantasy scenario of North Korea’s notorious – often ludicrous – propaganda machine, which is operating at full throttle after the death of the country’s last demigod ruler. Observers question whether the regime can maintain the barrage of lies big and little it has used for so long to mislead and repress its citizens.

For those who don’t remember the story, the recently deceased Kim Jong Il was reported to have shot a 38-under-par round of 34, including eleven holes in one. It was his first, and apparently last round. Apparently the game was too easy for the godlike leader for whom the flowers bloomed in the spring, and in whose honor rainbows appeared on his birthday. He also apparently flew fighter jets, wrote operas and directed movies.

Sounds a lot like Buckaroo Banzai.

Here’s a good article from Sports Illustrated.

Anil Mane dreamed of wide fairways. He dreamed of a golf club in his hand and a white ball at his feet. Worry disappeared. Everything fell quiet, his fears silenced, his shaking hand calmed. He swung the club with tempo. He held the follow-through. The ball arced into the air, landed softly and rolled next to the cup. The gallery applauded, and he tapped it in. He dreamed of a shining trophy and a long sigh of relief. Sometimes, he laughed in his sleep …

… Anil woke up. He cleared his head and found that, yes, he was still on the floor of his 10-by-10-foot shack built on a Mumbai sidewalk. He was still 27, and his problems hadn’t vanished overnight. Outside, in the dusty blue of dawn, families slept on the pavement. Chickens crawled over their huddled bodies. The street smelled of burning trash. Human waste rotted in the gutters. The children were skinny, but the rats were fat.

Read it all.

I was afraid of this: golf has become an election issue:

As Donald Trump mulls scrapping a GOP presidential debate that has failed to attract even a foursome, perhaps a match-play tourney to determine who gets to face President Obama in 2012 would be an appropriate substitute. After all, with POTUS wannabe Mitt Romney making a campaign issue of the current Occupy Oval Office resident’s affection for a quick 18, news about Newt Gingrich’s Trump National membership making the rounds, and Rick Perry’s boastful disdain for the game, golf has already become an election theme.

Of course, this article is from a not-really-a-journalist in a not-quite-a-legitimate-news-outlet “Examiner,” but I’m afraid that the meme has legs.

I got an email today from the Mitt Romney camp taking a shot at Obama’s golf obsession. Here’s the text:

Since taking office, President Obama has repeatedly promised he would “not rest until every American who is able and ready and willing to work can find a job.” And 1,584 holes of golf later, the President has stayed true to this promise by staying busy on the links.
This figure doesn’t bode well with the twenty-five million Americans who are currently unemployed, underemployed, or have stopped looking for work.

I really hope golf doesn’t become an issue in this campaign.

Gulf Bloggers Sentenced To Prison

When I first scanned this headline, I had to do a double take: Why would anyone sentence a Golf Blogger to prison? Then I re-read it. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense in our Liberal American tradition of freedom of speech.

I am glad, however, that my hobby isn’t likely to send me to the slammer.

Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs’ vision impacted a lot of industries—even some you wouldn’t suspect, like golf.