In college I met a guy named Brian Weir, who is one of the most competitive and passionate people I’ve ever known. His willingness to do anything, no matter what the sacrifice, makes him a tough competitor. You know the type of guy I’m talking about. Prideful. Tough. Military guy. And one of my best friends.
One day he asked me to help him learn how to play golf, and it went all right at first, when we played together in college. Then he was commissioned and spent the next few years at different military bases, and we didn’t see each other for a while. Later we began meeting once or twice a year to play golf, and being the sentimental guy I am, I would bring my video camera to capture the essence of these outings.
So last January I see this ad in Golf Digest. Turns out they and The Golf Channel are on a hunt for the world’s worst golf swing. Send in your tapes, they say, and we’ll pick a winner. Well, I already knew who the winner was, but I needed to make sure the selection committee would agree. So I took footage from our golf outings, picked the absolute worst shots, performed a little creative editingand funny commentary, and sent it in. Like with Gift of the Geese, the production of this video made me laugh so hard that I could barely sleep that night. Picturing my friend, the tough and prideful guy, being selected as the World’s Worst Swing…I couldn’t imagineanything funnier.
And guess what? He won!
First Brian receives a call from a Golf Digest rep congratulating him as one of their ten elite semifinalists. He didn’t know what was going on, and when he called to ask me about it, I could barely get two words out I was laughing so hard. Then he was notified that he’d been voted by viewers as one of the top four–which meant Golf Digest would come out and take pictures of his swing with a high speed camera, and later he would appear on The Golf Channel for the big announcement. I was fortunate enough to join him for both of these events, and it’s something I’ll never forget–watching these photographers and writers capturing my friend’s horrible swing for millions of people to see.
After he won, he received six lessons from world renown instructor Dean Reinmuth, and was also featured in a three-page spread in Golf Digest. There are many professional golfers that never get three pages! The lessons were broadcast as a series on The Golf Channel, and he’s going to have a follow-up article in Golf Digest, and apparently I get to narrate another video of him. Can’t wait for that! He also received a brand new set of golf clubs, and believe it or not, Brian has a better swing than he did before.
So the next time you’re thinking about entering a contest, and you decide there’s no way you can win…think again! Someone has to win, so why can’t it be you? After all, Brian won the title of World’s Worst Swing!
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