04/20/24
December 28, 2010
Breaking a Clay Pigeon with a Golf Shot: The European Tour is back with another viral ad to top the 200 yard water-skipping gong shot. In Dubai, golfers Johan Edfors, David Horsey, Thongchai Jaidee and Simon Kahn try to break a clay pigeon with a golf ball.
My thoughts on seeing this immediately turned to Hunter Thompson and this article where he relates the story of phoning Bill Murray at half three in the morning to discuss his new idea - shotgun golf.
"... given the mood of this country, being that a lot of people in the mood to play golf are also in the mood to shoot something, I think it would take off like a gigantic fad."
That's obviously the money quote, but my favourite bit, which made me like HST even more than I already did, was the dual revelations that he he a) owned some golf clubs, and b) they were Ping (Eye 2) Berylliums. Presumably someone told him they had "illegal grooves" and he impulsively decided that was clearly something he needed to be a part of.
posted by JJ at 09:14 PM on December 28, 2010
That video with the gong shot I'd not seen, but it was most impressive that Howell won; he kept putting the best shots on, getting closer and closer.
But hitting a moving target with another moving target? Jesus, that's insane... with a gun it's easier when the bullet is moving in a pretty close to straight line at hundreds of miles per hour; a golf ball is arcing, moving slower, and trying to intersect a 3" target that's falling basically straight down- yikes! You have to have your ball in the same spot as the clay pigeon at the exact moment; even getting the paths to cross is difficult enough (as shown by the gong shot one, where the target was stationary) but getting the paths to cross in the same ~10 millisecond window? Wow!
I can't believe they pulled it off, and from the looks of it they weren't there all day either.