Joost Luiten

[Silent]

The entry list of the Czech Masters next week has been announced, and surprise surprise: Joost Luiten is on it! So he does want to show himself once again to McGinlay, hoping to be a captain's pick. Derksen, Huizing, Besseling and Sluiter are also on the entry list, so that is where the Dutch party will be RJH ;)

Maarten Lafeber is on top of the 'reserve list' so with one withdrawal another Dutchy will appear at the party.

[FarawayFairways]

Darren Clarke 2016 and Miguel Angel Jiminez 2018 might be on his radar as players he needs to think about coming to the attention of

As a matter of interest Silent, do you think you could tell us what it would mean for the Dutch to get their firts player on the team? Would it register, or would it pass by unnoticed?

I should say as well that this mornings newspaper is slightly concerned that Stephen Gallacher playing three tournaments is likely to overtake Graeme McDowell playing the one. Personally I think this bad news for Luke Donald who would get shuffled further back, as McDowell would probably win a vote off between the two at the moment even if it opened up a potentially damaging rift with McGinlay giving an Irishman (even one from the other side) a pick

I do recall Woosnam getting some slagging from Tomas Bjorn for picking a UK facing team (Europe won comfortably) so it didn't affect them then. I also have a recollection that Seve picked a lot more continental Europeans in 1997?

[Silent]

As a matter of interest Silent, do you think you could tell us what it would mean for the Dutch to get their firts player on the team? Would it register, or would it pass by unnoticed?

Oh, it would defenitly not pass by unnoticed. It will mean a great boost for Dutch golfing as well. Last year when Luiten won on home soil (and on the say day Huizing won on the Challenge Tour) it was already big news and a boost for golfing. Golf is by far not as popular as football (what they call soccer in USA), and in fans tennis and cycling is also bigger I guess. In the past golfing was very expensive here and a bit of a elite sport (you had to join a club, we have examns for some kind of golf pasport otherwise you are not allowed to play, etc.). Since 10 years (or little longer, not sure) we have also 'country clubs' without courses, with a cheaper subscription fee so it gets more attractive for people to play golf. And that is already visible, more people play it now then a few years back.

A selection from Luiten for the Ryder Cup would mean a lot. Young boys will see that, and want to achieve that also. More people here would watch the Ryder Cup, which is such an amazing event, and might catch the golfing virus as well. Yes, that would be a big boost.

[Silent]

Interesting to read. Also underlines a little bit about what I was saying in my previous post:

Joost Luiten, top Dutch golfer and winner of the KLM Open 2013, will be blogging in the run up to the KLM Open 2014. He will write about the preparations and his role as title defender and ambassador for the sport.

Rich Kid’s Sport

Golf used to be a sport for the wealthy, but that hasn’t been true for a long time. Of course, you still have traditional clubs where membership costs a fortune, but there are now plenty of clubs which are accessible and friendly. You don’t even have to be a member of many clubs to be allowed to knock a ball around. You can simply pay by the day, which works out no more expensive than many other sports.

A lot of schools introduce young people to the sport by arranging special courses to give them a chance to practice on a golf course. They soon find out it’s not boring at all. There is so much involved – loads of technique, mental development, and it’s really exciting and relaxing at the same time.

Start young…

As with many sports, the sooner you begin the better you get. And the more time you spend training, the more you gain. If you look at it technically, the golf swing is a really unnatural movement, so you need to have lessons to learn it from the start. You’ll soon find out that you miss nine shots out of ten. It requires a huge amount of concentration, particularly because golf isn’t a reaction sport. In football or tennis you react to the ball, you have almost no time to think. Golf is different. The ball is still and you have to think about how hard and where you are going to hit it. You only have to change the position of your blade by a millimetre for it to change where the ball ends up over a distance of 40 to 50 metres.

Career as a ski jumper

I started playing golf at the age of three, because my uncle was a golfer and I often went along with him. But I played football too, and I liked table tennis and ski jumping. When I was 10 I broke my elbow ski jumping and dropped that sport. I carried on with football and golf. At around 15 I had to make a choice. I played so many golf tournaments at weekends, I could hardly ever play in the football matches. So I got moved from the first team to the second and that, of course, was too much for my pride. I chose golf because I enjoyed it more and I came to realise that I am more an individual player than a team player. If you play on your own you can’t blame anyone else when it goes wrong. It’s just you and your stroke.

Strongest at 34

One tournament goes better than another. One day goes better than another. It depends on so many factors. Weather, opponents, type of course, whether you like the ground. The Official World Golf Rankings are the expression of how good you are. At 28 I am in the top 50 and that’s good, though I would like to be higher. In 2009 I injured my wrist and that held back my development by six months. The lads I played with then are now higher than me. But I’m still young, I still have time to get my revenge. On average, golfers are in their prime at around 34. That’s when you reach the ultimate combination of experience and mental fitness. But it’s still tough. A tournament lasts four days, 156 players take part and you have to beat all of them everyday. If you manage to win just one tournament a year you are having a great career. You play about 25 to 30 tournaments a year and an average is taken over two years to decide your ranking. I want to make the top 20 as soon as possible. The highest achievement is taking part in the Ryder Cup in Scotland. That’s where the best 12 European players play the best 12 American players. The atmosphere is amazing! Usually you play on your own against the others, but in this tournament you really do play in two teams: Europeans versus Americans. 50,000 people go to watch everyday.

Ambassador for Golf

I am trying to put the Netherlands on the golfing map by playing as well as I possibly can. Golf is huge worldwide. In America it’s the most important sport after basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey. America is very sports-minded and a lot of air time is dedicated to it – golf even has its own TV channel. In the Netherlands golf is less well known. If I and other Dutch players take part in important golf tournaments, TV won’t be able to avoid us. More people will then come into contact with the sport and come to understand and appreciate it. Golf will be an Olympic sport from 2016, so that will definitely help. People watch sports during the Olympics they would normally never see and that could be enough to light the flame of enthusiasm for this fantastic and multifaceted sport.

[Gunther]

Interesting to read. Also underlines a little bit about what I was saying in my previous post:

Joost Luiten, top Dutch golfer and winner of the KLM Open 2013, will be blogging in the run up to the KLM Open 2014. He will write about the preparations and his role as title defender and ambassador for the sport.

Rich Kid’s Sport

Golf used to be a sport for the wealthy, but that hasn’t been true for a long time. Of course, you still have traditional clubs where membership costs a fortune, but there are now plenty of clubs which are accessible and friendly. You don’t even have to be a member of many clubs to be allowed to knock a ball around. You can simply pay by the day, which works out no more expensive than many other sports.

A lot of schools introduce young people to the sport by arranging special courses to give them a chance to practice on a golf course. They soon find out it’s not boring at all. There is so much involved – loads of technique, mental development, and it’s really exciting and relaxing at the same time.

Start young…

As with many sports, the sooner you begin the better you get. And the more time you spend training, the more you gain. If you look at it technically, the golf swing is a really unnatural movement, so you need to have lessons to learn it from the start. You’ll soon find out that you miss nine shots out of ten. It requires a huge amount of concentration, particularly because golf isn’t a reaction sport. In football or tennis you react to the ball, you have almost no time to think. Golf is different. The ball is still and you have to think about how hard and where you are going to hit it. You only have to change the position of your blade by a millimetre for it to change where the ball ends up over a distance of 40 to 50 metres.

Career as a ski jumper

I started playing golf at the age of three, because my uncle was a golfer and I often went along with him. But I played football too, and I liked table tennis and ski jumping. When I was 10 I broke my elbow ski jumping and dropped that sport. I carried on with football and golf. At around 15 I had to make a choice. I played so many golf tournaments at weekends, I could hardly ever play in the football matches. So I got moved from the first team to the second and that, of course, was too much for my pride. I chose golf because I enjoyed it more and I came to realise that I am more an individual player than a team player. If you play on your own you can’t blame anyone else when it goes wrong. It’s just you and your stroke.

Strongest at 34

One tournament goes better than another. One day goes better than another. It depends on so many factors. Weather, opponents, type of course, whether you like the ground. The Official World Golf Rankings are the expression of how good you are. At 28 I am in the top 50 and that’s good, though I would like to be higher. In 2009 I injured my wrist and that held back my development by six months. The lads I played with then are now higher than me. But I’m still young, I still have time to get my revenge. On average, golfers are in their prime at around 34. That’s when you reach the ultimate combination of experience and mental fitness. But it’s still tough. A tournament lasts four days, 156 players take part and you have to beat all of them everyday. If you manage to win just one tournament a year you are having a great career. You play about 25 to 30 tournaments a year and an average is taken over two years to decide your ranking. I want to make the top 20 as soon as possible. The highest achievement is taking part in the Ryder Cup in Scotland. That’s where the best 12 European players play the best 12 American players. The atmosphere is amazing! Usually you play on your own against the others, but in this tournament you really do play in two teams: Europeans versus Americans. 50,000 people go to watch everyday.

Ambassador for Golf

I am trying to put the Netherlands on the golfing map by playing as well as I possibly can. Golf is huge worldwide. In America it’s the most important sport after basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey. America is very sports-minded and a lot of air time is dedicated to it – golf even has its own TV channel. In the Netherlands golf is less well known. If I and other Dutch players take part in important golf tournaments, TV won’t be able to avoid us. More people will then come into contact with the sport and come to understand and appreciate it. Golf will be an Olympic sport from 2016, so that will definitely help. People watch sports during the Olympics they would normally never see and that could be enough to light the flame of enthusiasm for this fantastic and multifaceted sport.

Seems a good dude. Tks for posting.

[FarawayFairways]

Suggest you email him Silent regarding this sentance

Career as a ski jumper

I chose golf because I enjoyed it more and I came to realise that I am more an individual player than a team player. If you play on your own you can’t blame anyone else when it goes wrong. It’s just you and your stroke.

You might be helping if you suggested that perhaps it's served its usefulness now and should be humanely suffocated. If they can see the potential damage it does, they'll appreciate you looking out for him I reckon. Try something like

"I was a keen footballer but had to choose. I chose golf, but my formative experience of football gave me some insights into team dynamics which I'm sure helped me on the Eurasia cup and in the Seve Trophy. I still hope to use this on the biggest stage of all one day"

Personally I love the line

"I got injured ski-jumping, so decided to play golf instead"

I'd have that in h2 banner text on any website, as it'll be the first thing that anyone researching him with the view to writing an article will read. Now how many golfers can really say they came to the game because they got injured ski-jumping? That's a fantastic bit of personality placement. Any journo or blogger would latch onto that in quotation marks straight away. The fact that he's Dutch just lends it some comic irony too

[Gunther]

Suggest you email him Silent regarding this sentance

Career as a ski jumper

I chose golf because I enjoyed it more and I came to realise that I am more an individual player than a team player. If you play on your own you can’t blame anyone else when it goes wrong. It’s just you and your stroke.

You might be helping if you suggested that perhaps it's served its usefulness now and should be humanely suffocated. If they can see the potential damage it does, they'll appreciate you looking out for him I reckon. Try something like

"I was a keen footballer but had to choose. I chose golf, but my formative experience of football gave me some insights into team dynamics which I'm sure helped me on the Eurasia cup and in the Seve Trophy. I still hope to use this on the biggest stage of all one day"

Personally I love the line

"I got injured ski-jumping, so decided to play golf instead"

I'd have that in

banner text on any website, as it'll be the first thing that anyone researching him with the view to writing an article will read. Now how many golfers can really say they came to the game because they got injured ski-jumping? That's a fantastic bit of personality placement. Any journo or blogger would latch onto that in quotation marks straight away. The fact that he's Dutch just lends it some comic irony too

Agreed but what he didn't say was that ski jumping in Holland consists of gliding over 15cm snow drifts.

[Gunther]

That was weirdly formatted.

[FarawayFairways]

Interesting - better now?

So the posting page will read and translate HTML?

I left the tag h2 unclosed without the backward slash on the closing anchor tag, not releasing that the editor will read HTML, assume it'll read CSS too then?

[Gunther]

Interesting - better now? So the posting page will read and translate HTML?

I left the tag h2 unclosed without the backward slash on the closing anchor tag of

Looks same, I know nothing of html. I just look for the /quote in brackets and start typing immediately after.

[FarawayFairways]

Right that's because I closed it this time, but now I've removed it completely it shoudl go to the default font size

[Silent]

I think most of his ski jumping took place in Germany. But since my brother is living in the same town Luiten is originally from, I do know they have some artificial thingie there for ski jumping.

[FarawayFairways]

It's still a great story and I'm sure the details (he was only 10) are a let less dramatic but that wouldn't stop the media spinning it out. Joost just needs to feed them that line. My own guess is that its an indoor thingy, or that his parents took on holiday to Garmisch

[Silent]

What do you think? Should Joos Luiten play on the PGA Tour full time, or keep playing on the European Tour and only participate in the majors and some other big tournaments in the states?

[Gunther]

Obviously it will be better for him financially and from an exposure standpoint to play in the US but I'm not sure he qualifies currently to do so full-time. Keep rolling in Europe and move over like GMac or a host of others have done, once he's earned his stripes.

[RJH999]

What do you think? Should Joos Luiten play on the PGA Tour full time, or keep playing on the European Tour and only participate in the majors and some other big tournaments in the states?

I definitely think he should move over at some point. I don't think he should now, though. There has been a lot of good Europeans who came over and struggled(Ross Fisher comes to mind) and haven't really been back. I think he should make a gradual transition. Play the majors, play a few on the PGA, and if he does well, pursue a PGA Card.

[FarawayFairways]

I think the comment you hear with the greatest frequency is that the culture of the two tours is very different. The US tour is more competitive and has nothing like the camaraderie of the European tour. If you're gregarious by nature (Woosnam) you struggle. If you're secretly android and isolated anyway (Faldo) you can prosper

I do remember reading a paper once about the performance tapering in travelling cricket teams - what!!! - you say, has this got to do with golf?

Well a little bit more than you might realise. An overseas cricket tour lasts anywhere between 10-12 weeks albeit they select different squads for different formats of the game now. You also have the support network of a team, it's management, and a travelling support, which on a big tour to somewhere like Australia can run to about 10,000. This paper demonstrated that they peaked between weeks 3 and 6 (obviously didn't survey Englands last tour) but after week 6 their performance starts to taper off for a number of reasons (England's normally tapers after 6 days)

I can  only imagine that an isolated golfer is even more exposed and I'd have thought Joost's best strategy would be to try and play 2-3 week blocks

It's true that the likes of Justin Rose and Luke Donald have carved out their reps etc on the USPGA tour, but they were more established than Joost coming over, and also look how long it took them. I'd have thought the Graeme McDowell approach of building up with a few smash and grab raids is the best strategy, so to would be to try and identify a buddy and come over together.

Incidentally, another young Irishmen watching McDowell win his major remarked "If Graeme McDowell can win the US Open anyone can"

A year later he did.

[Ernest Jones]

I think the comment you hear with the greatest frequency is that the culture of the two tours is very different. The US tour is more competitive and has nothing like the camaraderie of the European tour. If you're gregarious by nature (Woosnam) you struggle. If you're secretly android and isolated anyway (Faldo) you can prosper

I do remember reading a paper once about the performance tapering in travelling cricket teams - what!!! - you say, has this got to do with golf?

Well a little bit more than you might realise. An overseas cricket tour lasts anywhere between 10-12 weeks albeit they select different squads for different formats of the game now. You also have the support network of a team, it's management, and a travelling support, which on a big tour to somewhere like Australia can run to about 10,000. This paper demonstrated that they peaked between weeks 3 and 6 (obviously didn't survey Englands last tour) but after week 6 their performance starts to taper off for a number of reasons (England's normally tapers after 6 days)

I can  only imagine that an isolated golfer is even more exposed and I'd have thought Joost's best strategy would be to try and play 2-3 week blocks

It's true that the likes of Justin Rose and Luke Donald have carved out their reps etc on the USPGA tour, but they were more established than Joost coming over, and also look how long it took them. I'd have thought the Graeme McDowell approach of building up with a few smash and grab raids is the best strategy, so to would be to try and identify a buddy and come over together.

Incidentally, another young Irishmen watching McDowell win his major remarked "If Graeme McDowell can win the US Open anyone can"

A year later he did.

The bolded made me laugh!

I also remember the comments about Rory seeing Graeme win the US Open. "Graeme?? Graeme ****ing McDowell won?? I beat him all the time! I gotta get over there!" I think it was from a Feherty special with Gmac. Lol. I love how Gmac and Rory are with each other. That would be a dream pair to play a round with and then grab some pints.