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aboutGolf commentary on the business and game of golf from the perspective of a technology company.

Golf's Greatest Day

By Bill Bales on October 15, 2009

For the last couple years I have sporadically presented my opinions through the Web site www.TheNext500Years.com. The site is home to a myriad of musings related to how we might assess the future of golf by reflecting on the approximate five hundred year history of our game.

With that as the preface, I assert that golf’s greatest day in its five-hundred-year history was October 9, 2009.

Hold the phone

By Bill Bales on May 10, 2009

Alright, I'll admit it...

I think the chances that Tiger will ultimately win twenty majors are darn good. Whether healthy, on broken leg, or wounded knee I think young Eldrick has a bunch more biggies in him.

And even though I'd like to see him retire at or near his prime-to preserve his mythical stature for all time'I'm betting his love of competition will keep him around until he gimps worse than Festus. So don't rule out twenty-five.

The Game of Life

By Bill Bales on December 7, 2008

If you've got a heartbeat and can, on a good day, walk and chew gum at the same time, it's pretty hard to not get emotional about what's going on with the world economy. Frankly, it's hard for me to write about golf. I can't help obsessing over the end of the world.

Ryder Cup Reflections

By Bill Bales on September 21, 2008

'I have a great book that was a gift from a great man, Mr. Sergio Gomez. Likely you've not heard of Sergio, but he's a strong force in European golf. Among other things, Sergio has been Jose Maria Olazabal's manager and mentor for decades. The book is a photographic study of the Ryder Cup recorded by a noted Spanish photographer who knows nothing about golf. Hence the photos are not typical of what you'd expect in such a book...

Healing American Golf

By Bill Bales on August 14, 2008

When my grandmother was succumbing to cancer, my uncle made a series of calls to my father to come pay a final visit. Over time the requests for my father's visit became more urgent. I accompanied him on the ultimate visit. We were both shocked at the degree of my grandmother's physical decline. Yet her mind and soul had sustained the same amazing luster and positive energy she had had in her prime...

The Monkey in the Mirror

By Bill Bales on July 12, 2008

My company makes indoor golf simulators and launch monitors. We've become pretty successful at it. We've got a rapidly growing staff, including a team of tech and service support folks that are very bright and very attentive to our customers.

We didn't have a big tech support team in the early days. I used to handle a lot of tech calls myself, even though in twenty-five years I never figured out how to set the time on my VCR (for you younger readers, a VCR is like a really ancient DVD player).

The End is Near

By Bill Bales on May 24, 2008

Over the course of two days, earlier this month, two of the world's top athletes announced their retirement. They were both at, or near, their prime.

World number one tennis star Justine Henin announced her immediate retirement on May 14 at the age of twenty-five. A day earlier Annika Sorenstam, the player Tiger Woods has called the greatest woman golfer of all time, announced she would retire at the end of this season. She is thirty-seven...