The Masters are next month and there has been much speculation to who will take home the coveted title this year. One name that has been in the middle of the speculation this year is Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is the current World Number One player and a four-time champion in the PGA Tour. Although he is only 25, he has already had an extremely successful career.

McIlroy is a Northern Irish golfer who was born in 1989 in Holywood, Northern Ireland. He began his professional career in 2007 and has had a successful career ever since. It was in 2007, at the age of 17, that he topped the World Amateur Golf Ranking for an entire week. He had his first professional win on the PGA Tour in 2010. Along with playing professional golf on the PGA Tour, he also plays in the European Tour.

At the U.S. Open in 2011, at the young age of 22, McIlroy took home the first place trophy. Not only did he win, he set a record score of 16-under-par on his way to an eight-stroke victory. The following year he took home his second major title at the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

McIlroy is one of the many players you can pick to be your partner for our Pick a Pro contest. In this contest, you can pick one of the pros playing in the Masters tournament as your “partner”. Your scores are added together to come up with your score for the bracket.  If you’re looking for a fun way to follow the Masters, make sure to come join our Pick a Pro contest! 

In today’s world it is too easy to come up with excuses as to why we don’t have time to exercise. It is also too easy to swing through the drive-thru on the way home and pick a dinner that has more calories than we should consume in an entire day. Exercise does take work, but you don’t have to feel tortured! Find a form of exercise that you love to do – try golf!

While golf is not a fast-paced sport, it is a sport that can help you be physically active and burn a few calories. In the game of golf, it is easy to make a few, simple changes that can help you be more fit. For example, a study done by Reebok showed that golfers who walk and carry their clubs instead of riding in a golf cart burn over double the amount of calories than those who choose to ride. Just that simple change can turn your favorite hobby into a great form of exercise!

We did some research and found that carrying your clubs and walking the course for 18 holes will burn a little over 1,442 calories. If you pull a cart with your clubs behind you while walking you will still burn 1,430 calories. Just walking 18 holes will burn 1,200 calories and even if you ride in the cart, the activity you get from actively swinging the club, will burn 820 calories.

Don’t let excuses get in your way of being physically fit and healthy. You don’t have to associate exercise with something unenjoyably; find a hobby that you love (like golf!), and turn it into a form of exercise that can keep you healthy. 

It is a topic that you hear about frequently: environmental sustainability. Not only should it be a concern, but a must. Across the country many golf courses have decided to make their courses more on par with environmental sustainability. After much research, The Oaks Course, too, has decided to encourage environmental sustainability.

Just as we were, you may curious about how to achieve environmental sustainability on a golf course. We found five major practices that can help sustain the environment of our course. These five practices are: planning and siting, design, construction, maintenance, and facility operations. Each of these can greatly encourage more friendly environmental practices.

For example, implementing a tactic that controls sediment and minimizes topsoil loss is a simple change that can better sustain the course’s environment. Maintenance can play a large role in sustaining the course. It is vital to keep in mind what type of plant protection is in place on the course as well as monitoring pests on the course in an appropriate manner.

Although a lot of environmental sustainability responsibilities can fall on the golf course itself, there are ways that you as a golfer can help. When on a golf course, be sure to respect designated environmentally sensitive areas within the course. You can also support maintenance practices around the course that protect wildlife and the natural habitat. Helping a golf course maintain its environment may seem like a big job. However, if we all respect this initiative, we can keep golf courses environmentally friendly for a long time. If you are interested in learning more about environmentally sustainability within golf courses you can visit USGA.