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A few backhanded stabs at things that have captured my interest recently ...

Pre-Masters Meat-fest – with a Mission. One of the many famous traditions at the Masters is the Champion's Dinner, in which the defending champion treats all the surviving past champions to a special dinner of his choosing in the Augusta National dining room. Often, the champion chooses a menu that is reflective of his particular tastes or the culture of his homeland: in 1998, German Bernhard Langer served wiener schnitzel; Sandy Lyle, a Scot, served haggis in 1989; in 1998, 22-year-old Tiger Woods served cheeseburgers, french fries, and milkshakes. This year, 2009 champ Angel Cabrera plans to prepare a traditional Argentinian asado, which is basically a South American grilled meat extravaganza. (Photo: Pablo D. Flores, via Wikimedia Commons.)

But that's not the most-interesting part. While the Champions Dinner is typically veiled in a certain amount of secrecy (it's not open to the press and guests are generally not allowed), Cabrera plans to open things up a little by offering a "preview" of his dinner to 100 well-heeled guests – at $1,000 a plate. Proceeds will go to Cabrera's foundation, which supports needy people in his hometown of Cordoba (including caddies) and helps fund the local hospital. My knee-jerk reaction to this story was that he's devaluing the Masters tradition by doing this – but it's not like he's holding the dinner in the Augusta National dining room or anything; the dinner will be in Houston. I think this is a great idea, and if I were a past Masters champion, I'd offer to attend, write a big check, and challenge diners to donate even more.
      Good on you, Angel. Maybe this will be the start of a whole new Masters tradition.

I Don't Know Art ... but I know what I like. And I really like this Van Gogh-style portrait of Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. Willie is Scottish, and Van Gogh (1853-1890) could have painted such a picture in the early years of the Open Championship, so let's pretend, for purposes of relevance, that the scowling red-head is some nameless rival of the Morrises. Hey, maybe it's Willie Park Jr.! You can view more such artistic whiffles (including a haunting Rembrandt Homer) at www.limpfish.com.

Gunning for 36-Under? How often can a golfer say, "I eagled every hole today!"? It happened to Wisconsin's own Skip Kendall at the "opposite event" Puerto Rico Open on Thursday. Skip got off to the ultimate fast start by holing a 159-yard 7-iron on the 430-yard 10th, his first of the day. Unfortunately, bad weather quickly put out his fire, when the first round was suspended 24 minutes after it started. Only 18 players had teed off; only nine  had a chance to complete a hole. Why they bothered to start the round I don't know; it had apparently rained all night and was forecast to rain all day. Maybe they just wanted to avoid having to give ticket refunds. In any case, Skip's 2-under start reminds me a tiny bit of the time when a young Whiffler started a tournament round par-birdie-birdie – then proceeded to shoot 94. Hopefully, Skip will finish his round (and the tournament) a little better than that!

KENDALL UPDATE: OK, this is bizarre. On Friday in Puerto Rico, they apparently restarted play at 7:00 a.m. or so -- then suspended it again just a few minutes later. A few more players teed off, and now 12 players have completed at least one hole. Skip? He birdied the par-3 11th, and now leads by two at 3-under through two holes. (Can they just declare him the winner?) How frustrating it must be for the golfers to get up so early, warm up, play one hole (those who even had a chance to) and then get called in. Again, the only thing I can think of is that by sending the golfers out for such a short period of time they can officially declare "golf was played today," which perhaps voids requests for ticket refunds. If that's the case, it's ridiculous. But -- The Whiffler is not one to rush to judgment, and I'm not sure what the weather forecast is for the rest of the day. Perhaps play will resume. When I get the real story, I'll report it here. (And GO SKIP!)

UPDATE II: Here's an article at golfweek.com about Skip and his situation.

Waiting for Spring. Finally, what do we do in Wisconsin when the golf courses are covered with snow (besides go to the Golf Show)? We ski on them, of course! (A few more pictures are below the break, Mom. :)  Click to see full-size.)

The skiing pictured took place at Whitnall Park, one of the many Milwaukee County golf courses. It's not the most difficult course in the world, but it sure is pretty, green or white. It was such a beautiful, sunny day (temps in the low 40s), I think I got a little sunburned.