Iss. #286 | Getting Better with Age—HBD to Us!

"This is embarrassing, I didn't even hit the green!" - Melanie Green, the leader after R1 at the LPGA Riviera Maya Open after unknowingly canning a hole in one.

Happy Birthday... to Us!

GOLF—EVOLVED

It's Bad Birdie's birthday and as I considered how best to celebrate the occasion, I ran across this series on Reddit (and somewhere on my IG For You page) and knew I had to take a shot at doing one for golf. How it ties into the birthday? Something about getting better with age, we'll say.

PROGRESSION #1—SICKO GOLF DESTINATIONS

BANDON --> SAND VALLEY --> EAST LOTHIAN

Once you play Bandon, you understand why golfers travel to the ends of the Earth to play. But it's still a pretty popular destination. So that opens the door to Sand Valley which, in my opinion, is a weirder place to travel to—seeing as Bandon has the coastline and Wisconsin has... cheese curds. And then you reach the ultimate evolution, the Scottish coast pilgrimage, playing courses I could barely pronounce. Absolute dream.

PROGRESSION #2—CHILL AF GOLFERS

Rickie Fowler --> Michelle Wie West --> Fred Couples

This one is a more personality driven one with Rickie as the perfect "nice guy on Tour" starter. Conveniently, Michelle retired so despite being a year younger than Rickie, I still feel like her demeanor is a step up evolution wise. And all culminating with the chillest dude around, Freddie Couples.

PROGRESSION #3—HALFWAY HOUSE TREATS

Snickers Bar --> 10th Tee Bar --> Glizzy

Nothing enrages me more than when I ask for a power bar of some kind from the halfway house and all they've got is a Snickers. Don't try to pass that off as anything other than candy. My rage typically subsides in 3-4 seconds, and I order said Snickers bar. But the real star I chase is the peanut honey 10th tee bar; literally no different than a candy bar but they label it as energy so I've convinced myself it is an evolved state. And obviously the halfway house glizzy is peak treat.

This is how you design a prize.

IT'S THE CADILLAC OF TROPHIES

Cool story out of the Cadillac Championship this week for those of you design-minded people out there. At first glance, the trophy looks like it might be a rendering for a new skyscraper concert hall concept.

But then I caught the rationale and I warmed up big time. As you see in the image above, the form is inspired by the geometry of a perfect golf swing. Now I can't unsee it, and it makes me think that all the tournaments that give away glass plates or brass cups kind of just phoned it in.

My advice, either do something like the Cadillac or go full weird and give me a crocodile skull with a golf ball in its mouth, ya know?

New Golf Artist Alert

TOP GOLF GOES ZEN

Kamber Carroll is the artist behind the table you see above. He does these super ornate, realistic looking coffee tables and partnered with Top Golf for this snack table.

Easily the coolest feature is the Zen garden-style bunkers throughout so you can really let that stress melt off you and rake out some patterns while you wait for your next shot.

For those curious about the other types of tables he makes... I submit Ice Cream Sandwich.

As Kamber puts it; "His creations transcend the realm of mere decoration, serving as conduits for emotional engagement and inviting viewers to embrace and appreciate the intricate narratives woven into each meticulously crafted piece."

The intricate narrative here appears to be, hungry and hot.