On April 30th, 2012 Mike was a special guest on Vic Mc Carty’s radio show The Locker Room on WMKT. They discuss Mike’s new position on the Golf Channel SwingFix, Ask The Pro on Twitter, Mike’s Website, and much more. Enjoy!
Special thanks to Vic and Mel! I had a great time.
BOYNE FALLS — Golf has taken Michael Fay a lot of places, literally and figuratively.
Latest stop: The Golf Channel.
Fay, the PGA head professional at Boyne Mountain’s Monument course, has joined Golf Channel as an instructor in its SwingFix program.
He is one of 50 instructors worldwide and the only in Michigan in the network’s on-line lesson program.
“I’m excited,” said Fay, 40, who has been with Boyne for five years. “The people I’ve dealt with at the Golf Channel have been aces. It was unbelievable. I was like, ‘You’re kidding me.’
“I’m honored that they want to do this with me. It’s a great way to grow the game.”
The interactive SwingFix program allows players to connect with Golf Channel through its website. Players chose their instructor then download a video of their swing. The instructor, in this case Fay, takes a look at it and responds to the player within 24 hours.
Typically, Fay will respond with a combination of comments and instruction, and will include drills along with suggestions on training aids.
“It’s a huge tool as an instructor to help make people better,” Fay said, adding that part of his philosophy is to provide the “why” a golfer is doing something wrong along with the solution.
“If I can show somebody why they slice, we can fix it,” he said. “If you don’t have any clue why you’re doing something, you just keeping beating yourself up and it’s not fun to play golf.”
Fay, the director of golf instruction at Boyne Mountain, said on-line instruction and interaction is not the wave of the future. It’s already here.
“It’s different because you don’t even talk to the person,” he said. “This is another avenue to serve people who live a long ways away from here.
“It goes along with what has happened with golf professionals over the last few years. We have really turned into coaches rather than lesson-givers.”
Among the many pluses with an on-line instruction program, as opposed to a face-to-face lesson, is that the player can continually go back and review what Fay has provided.
The Golf Channel component is the latest in Fay’s ever-growing internet golf empire.
He started his own website, mikefaygolf.com, a year ago, has a professional Facebook page with some 2,000 friends, and he hosts Ask The Pro 9 p.m. Sundays on Twitter.
“It’s about growing the game of golf,” said Fay, who has more than 1,300 followers on Twitter. “The social networking stuff is just wild. I have so much fun doing this.”
On Ask The Pro, Fay takes questions from followers and passes them along to his extensive network, which includes the likes of fellow professionals, players, teachers, club fitters. Among those in his network are Hall of Famer Nick Faldo, and famed swing coaches Butch Harmon and Hank Haney.
His website features regular contributions from writers Scott Kapla and Frank Guastella. Kapla who played in the Detroit Tigers’ minor league system, focuses on the mental aspect of athletics with a specific focus on golf. Guastella is a PGA master professional and PGA rules official.
Fay is a native of the Detroit area who earned his degree in golf management from New Mexico State University. Before coming to Boyne, he was an assistant professional at Fairmont Golf Club in Chathem, N.J.; and an assistant at Shanty Creek in Bellaire.
At Boyne, he administers the For Ladies Only Program, runs short-game clinics, the Junior Program and the Advanced Junior Program, and, in addition to all he does with his internet endeavors, gives individual lessons.
The Origins of the Masters Theme Song
The Masters Green Jacket has been worn by members of Augusta National since 1937. That year the members used the jackets to identify themselves from the crowd to assist patrons of the event. The first Masters Jacket was awarded in 1949 to Sam Snead. The jacket symbolizes membership into the club and has become one of sports most famous awards.
References
CBS Sports
http://golf.about.com/od/majorchampionships/f/green_jacket.htm
PGA Director of Instruction
With over 30 years of teaching experience, it's easy to see why Mike has become a leader in the world of golf instruction. Everything from cutting edge social networking techniques to having his own podcast, Mike has helped to change the face of teaching golf. He currently is the Director of Instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan.
Email: [email protected]
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The History Of The Golf Tee
The history of the golf tee dates back to the 1500’s. The practice of getting sand wet with a towel and mounding up earth to get the ball off the ground a little went on for some 300 years. The late 1800’s changed all that. This is the history of the golf tee.
The original rules of golf from 1744 state that your ball must be “teed” from the ground. Golfers where allowed to go within one club length of the original hole and use elements from the ground to tee it up. As time went on the game grew and there was a need to separate putting areas from teeing grounds. The first course to do this was St. Andrews when Old Tom Morris redesigned the course.
You could imagine the mess you had with just creating one tee. The wet towel and dirty hands gave way to the first golf tees. Golfers where in search of reuseable tees. Starting with paper then cork and rubber. The world’s first patented golf tee was invented by two Scots: William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. Their patent document is dated 1889 and describes a small rubber plate with a raised ball support in the form of upright prongs or a hollow cylinder. This tee sat up on top of the ground and became cumbersome in windy conditions. There had to be a way to fix it to the ground.
The first invention to stop your ball from rolling away was the “Perfectum” The Perfectum was patented in 1892 by Percy Ellis of Surrey, England. It was made of an iron spike base and round rubber pegs to hold the ball in place. The Perfectum was the first tee to be placed in the ground. In 1897, Scottish inventor PM Matthews patented a tee called the “Vector” with a metal spike and rubber cup to hold the ball which further held the ball in place.
The first really famous patent for a golf tee came from inventor Dr. George Grant. A dentist from the Boston area and one of the first black graduates from Harvard Dental School, Grant invented the first American wooden golf tee. The tee consisted of a wooden peg attached to a rubber tube with a cup on the top to hold the ball. Grant designed the tee to be less rigid at the top and more stable at the bottom. Grant didn’t announce , promote, or sell his work and was unnoticed for a long time. Although not the world’s first golf tee Grant was credited by the USGA in 1991 as the original inventor of the wooden golf tee.
The first patented and marketed tee was invented by another dentist named Dr. William Lowell. Dr. Lowell’s patented “Reddy Tee” is the first modern golf tee. The familliar one piece wooden peg with hollowed out top became the standard even today. Dr. Lowell even had golf great Walter Hagen advertising his invention.
Although there where many other golf tee inventions, these are the main ones. Technology has brought golf a long way and the golf tee is no exception. What’s next for the golf tee? It’s all up to the Rules of Golf.
Sources:
http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/tee.asp
Golf Digest – Oct. 2000 “Birth of a Tee” by Peter McDaniel
PGA Director of Instruction
With over 30 years of teaching experience, it's easy to see why Mike has become a leader in the world of golf instruction. Everything from cutting edge social networking techniques to having his own podcast, Mike has helped to change the face of teaching golf. He currently is the Director of Instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan.
Email: [email protected]
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The Claret Jug
The first British Open was contested in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club and stayed there for some 11 years. Originally the winner of the British Open received something called the “Challenge Belt.” The Challenge Belt was created by the Earl of Eglinton. It was made of rich morocco leather and garnished with a silver buckle and many emblems. The first Challenge Belt was purchased by the Prestwick Golf Club.
In the Spring of 1871, Prestwick held a meeting and decided to open the championship to the involvement of other clubs. With no event held that year, the next decisions where made in September of 1872 when it was decided to have Prestwick, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club team together to find a solution. These 3 clubs joined together to create new awards. The winner of the event would receive the “The Golf Champion Trophy” commonly known today as the Claret Jug. The belt was no more thanks to Tom Morris Jr.
In 1920 the three clubs decided to hand over the trophy responsibility to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. After Bobby Jones’ victory in 1927 came more changes. Prior to that time, winners could take the trophy for themselves. The R & A GC decided to retain the trophy and a replica was made for the winner. Although 4 other replicas were made over the years for display purposes, winners have been getting replicas ever since.
That brings us to this year’s British Open to be held at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. The last time the event was held there was in 2001 when David Duval was the victor.
For more information on the qualifiers, players and the road leading up to the British Open.
Photo courtesy of AP, James Hardie/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
PGA Director of Instruction
With over 30 years of teaching experience, it's easy to see why Mike has become a leader in the world of golf instruction. Everything from cutting edge social networking techniques to having his own podcast, Mike has helped to change the face of teaching golf. He currently is the Director of Instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan.
Email: [email protected]
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