Links
Laughs
Reprinted from the Jan. 14, 2002 issue of Sports Illustrated
For anyone who has ever topped, shanked or sliced, a website makes good sport of bad golf.
For Robert Lewis the ugliest moment in a life misspent on the links came during a cursed round in the spring of 1997 at Steamboat Golf Club and Resort in Steamboat Springs, Colo. On the 6,906-yard Robert Trent Jones II layout, Lewis ran out of balls by the 12th.
After the fellow he was playing with was bitten by a snake while searching for a wayward tee shot, they decided to call it a day. However, their debacle inspired Lewis, an Internet entrepreneur and 30-plus handicapper, to buy and redesign badgolfmonthly.com ("The Site for the Golfer Who Really Sucks!"). [ed. note: BadGolfMonthly.com has been renamed BadGolfer.com.]
"Believe me," says Lewis, 33, "I can relate to
the bad golfer."
Badgolfmonthly provides comic relief for the duffer by letting him know that, as inept as he is, there's probably someone worse. Take Tom (no last name given, for obvious reasons), who revealed on the Hall of Shame message board that he shot a 132 on a par-62 executive course (ouch!) after firing an 83 there the week before.
The site also features lighthearted advice: The Anti-Pro points out how well-paid instructors have a long history of ruining swings. Need therapy? Each month the Golf Shrink, psychologist Mark Shats, tells how to let go of masochistic thoughts like "I'm not worthy of this Big Bertha."
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The torment of badgolfmonthly is that it's part of Lewis's travelgolf.com network. So even as you're feeling better about your shortcomings, you're bombarded with ads for and links to gorgeous courses that you have no business playing.
By John O'Keefe
