The Nine Biggest Things in 09
Share/Save/Bookmark

The Nine Biggest Things in 09

Twitter, 2010, A Remarkable Journey, and More - What a Year of Golden Tee

It's that time again. A time to reflect and look back on the year that was. In the world of Golden Tee, 2009 was loaded with more excitement and newsworthy items than ever before.

With the calendar set to flip, we thought we'd take a look back on a year loaded with excitement. While there are literally dozens of items that just barely missed the final cut, our nine final selections just seemed to stand out above everything in 2009. What a year...

Listed from nine to one, here is what made GT headlines in '09.


Breaker


9. The Games Away From the Game

Stats Cards and Dress Your Golfer

In previous years, much of the customization in Golden Tee had to happen while you played on a GT game. Those days, however, are now a thing of the past. In 2009, we saw the addition of Dress Your Golfer, Stats Cards, and more customizable options than ever that could be made with a few clicks of the mouse. These handy features weren't just minor additions; they were a sign of the times and perhaps a foreshadow of bigger things on the horizon.

If anything, these applications are the perfect way to kill boredom and keep you occupied at work. And we're not stopping with these. These advances are just the beginning - look for much more of this to debut early on next year!


8. Brian Bernhardt's Super Albatross

Nailing a super albatross (aka a hole-in-one on a par-5) might be the greatest achievement in Golden Tee. Illinois pro Brian Bernhardt managed to nail the first super albatross of the year on one of the biggest stages of the year.

Playing in a practice game at the Minnesota Open back in July, Bernz nailed this beauty in front of the best trackballers in the world. While there was one other super albatross hit in 2009, no shot was as spectacular, timely, and exciting as this YouTube gem. This doesn't guarantee Bernz the Shot of the Year trophy just yet, but you have to imagine that he will be in the running come early January. Much more on that and his shot coming soon…


7. Andy Haas Dominates the TOC

Haas

This certainly isn’t a shocker for many that have attended live events over the past few years, but Andy proved that he is without question the best Golden Tee player in the world with his latest win. The Ohio native tore through the entire field at Club Lucky's Tournament of Champions this past October. With this latest win, he took home a cool $8,000!

This came only a year after Haas bested the largest field in Golden Tee history at the Golden Tee Worlds in Las Vegas. Haas also added some more hardware to his mantle in 2009, winning the Denver Open back in August. Did I mention that this guy is really, really good? Congrats to Andy on another fantastic year of Golden Tee!


6. Steve Sobe Leaves IT

Sobe

This is no doubt this is the toughest news item in the group, but it was certainly newsworthy nonetheless. Late this past summer, three-time Golden Tee national champion Steve Sobe decided it was time to leave IT and move back home to North Carolina after five years of fantastic work for the company.

Sobe and his family reopened Sobe's Backstreet Pavilion and so far Golden Tee's Golden Boy is doing wonders with his new/old job. While he no longer works directly with IT, there's no denying that he has impacted the game in a positive way more than any other person on the planet. All of us at IT are ecstatic for Sobe and wish nothing but the best for his business and his family, but we were definitely sad to see our old friend go.


5. "It's Golden Tee!"

Golden Tee got its official anthem in 2009, and what began as a trailer for the latest update turned into something much larger than anyone could have envisioned. Up-and-coming country star and ginormous GT fan Ira Dean wrote and recorded "It's Golden Tee!" and the popularity of the song grew over the course of a few months. The song debuted in the trailer of Golden Tee 2010 earlier this year and immediately began to resonate with fans all over the globe.

The song got so much pub that Touchtunes eventually picked it up, and it can now be heard on more than 40,000 jukeboxes in bars and other locations all over the world. It's also now available on iTunes so you can take "It's Golden Tee!" with you wherever you may travel.


4. Jim Little Design-a-Hole Win/Golden Tee 2010 Premiere

Design-a-Hole

Mansfield, Ohio's Jim Little became our second Design-a-Hole winner with his hole design Tropical Torment earlier in '09. The voting was off the charts, most of which ended up going to his design seen above. Little managed to grab almost half the votes over the voting period (almost 30,000), on his way to becoming a part of Golden Tee history and getting his design in GT 2010.

To honor Jim, the IT crew, Golden Tee world champion Andy Haas, and Little's family and friends held an event at Jim's home bar Boomer's Bar and Grill to celebrate his win and bring in the Golden Tee 2010 era. Jim hit the first drive on his design, his fans roared, and everyone played Golden Tee 2010 while admiring and appreciating Jim's triumph on this unforgettable evening.


3. Golden Tee 2010

GT 2010

The release of the latest Golden Tee update is always HUGE news, even if many of you have grown accustomed to seeing the latest and greatest GT game in the fall. 2010 came with the most unique combination of courses ever created along with new groundbreaking features that have further progressed the game everyone loves. The debut of a new game is always exciting news for GT fans, and the thoughts and curiosity surrounding the new courses provides intrigue for everyone leading up to the big day.

Let's face it. Without new courses that continually push the envelope and creativity from the previous years, Golden Tee wouldn't be nearly as successful and more importantly, as fun as it is year after year.


2. Social Media Madness

twitter

The most popular Internet search of 2009 was Twitter, and over the past 12 months social media has become a staple feature in all of our lives. Golden Tee jumped on this bandwagon early and throughout this time a strong, vocal community away from Goldentee.com has developed and grows stronger by the day.

The Golden Tee Blog, the Golden Tee Facebook page, and the Golden Tee Twitter feed have become sensations over the course of this year. These pages are constantly being updated by players and fans of the game, all looking to gauge thoughts from other players across the world. Ridiculous photos, YouTube shots, legitimate questions, Facebook Friday caption contests, Twitter Thursdays, and the list goes on. Golden Tee is more places than ever. And social media changed the face of the game, away from the game in 2009.


1. Golden Tee Boards the USS John C Stennis

No GT made bigger waves (literally and figuratively) in 2009 than when the IT crew boarded one of the world's largest aircraft carriers with a brand new Golden Tee Showpiece cabinet. The team left the Showpiece onboard after their journey, while also documenting their stay on the ship through an unforgettable video.

At the end of the year, all of us can reflect on what is important in our lives and what deserves to be celebrated from the previous 365 days. The unbelievable work and sacrifices that the men and women aboard the Stennis make on a daily basis is something worth honoring and needs recognition.

While a Golden Tee machine won't simplify all the difficulties of being away from your loved ones for an extended time frame, it does give the crew aboard the ship a taste of home. Golden Tee is a game, but in this instance it meant so much more. The Stennis trip was no doubt the largest and most meaningful GT event of 2009 and we at IT are proud to see we were apart of it.

What a year. Have a safe and fantastic holiday season and we will see all of you in 2010!

Golden Tee 2010

Rock On.