It seems to be the season of the older golfer. Two weeks ago we saw 53-year-old Greg Norman contend for Britain’s Open Championship. This week it is 48-year-old Juli Inkster leading the field at the British Women’s Open Tournament in Sunningdale, England. She carded a record-tying 7 under 65 for the first round, with an eagle and five birdies.

Inkster has seven major championships to her name, the last at the US Women’s Open in 2002.

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It’s “bloggy giveaway” week and here at “Green Posse” we’re offering a copy of Carl Hiaasen’s new humorous look at golf, “The Downhill Lie: a Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport.” Hiaasen is best known for his satirical and funny mystery novels set in south Florida. He also writes a regular column for the Miami Herald.

In “Downhill Lie,” Hiaasen answers such questions as how to retrieve a sunken golf cart from a snake-infested lake and which club is best suited for combat against a horde of rat? He also describes his return to the game of his youth–a game he hadn’t played for more than 20 years. His anecdotes have just enough truth to them to make the 205-page book extremely funny and easy to read.

To enter to win the book, simply leave a comment below with the name of your favorite golf course. The contest is open to US residents ages 18 and older. (be sure to include your email address with you post your comment, so I can get a hold of you when you win.) The contest ends at midnight on Monday, August 4. Good Luck!

Note: this giveaway is now closed for new entries. The winner will be announced later on Tuesday.

^{(cover art courtesy of Knopf)}

Image details: 137th Open Championship – Round Two served by picapp.com

Greg Norman’s having quite a month of July! He got married; led the British Open into the final round and finished a very respectable third; and finished fifth in the British Senior Open last week. So much is the interest surrounding the 53-year-old, two-time British Open champion that the PGA offered him an exemption to play in next month’s PGA Championship. This to a man that played no professional golf in the month of May and only a few tournaments before that.

However, Norman declined, citing previous personal and professional committments. (After all, he is on his honeymoon.) Said Norman on his Web site, Shark.com, “I wish the PGA and Oakland Hills all the very best for what I’m sure will be a great week for golf.”

Just a week after his spectacular fifth place finish in the British Open, 20-year-old amateur, Chris Wood is joining the ranks of the pro golfers. The 6′ 5″ native of Bristol, England announced his intentions his morning. Wood won the Welsh National Amateur Championship earlier this year. He has already been invited to play in the British Masters, which will be held at The Belfry September 24 -28. I’m sure we’ll see more from this talented young golfer.

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This weekend’s golf events include the Canadian Open and the Senior British Open. Below is the entire schedule:(all times are ET).

Saturday, July 26
8am – 11am – European Tour – Inteo Russian Open Championship in Moscow – Golf Channel
1pm – 4pm – LPGA – Evian Masters in Evian-les-Bains, France – Golf Channel
1pm – 4pm – Nationwide Tour – Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Ohio – Golf Channel
130pm – 3pm – Champions Tour – Senior Open in Ayrshire, Scottland – ABC
3pm – 6pm – PGA Tour – RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario – CBS

Sunday, July 27
8am – 11am – European Tour – Inteo Russian Open Championship in Moscow – Golf Channel
1pm – 4pm – LPGA – Evian Masters in Evian-les-Bains, France – Golf Channel
1pm – 4pm – Nationwide Tour – Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Ohio – Golf Channel
130pm – 3pm – Champions Tour – Senior Open in Ayrshire, Scottland – ABC
3pm – 6pm – PGA Tour – RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario – CBS

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The top 75 golfers in the world are heading to my part of the country next week, to Akron for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The four-day tournament will be held at Firestone Country Club from July 28 to August 3. Barring rain, I hope to bring you lots of photos from the practice rounds.

This is historically Tiger Woods’ tournament. He’s won seven times, including last year, so it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be taking home the trophy this year with Tiger sidelined after knee surgery.

The Bridgestone Invitational Tournament (previously the NEC Invitational) begins at 1130am on Thursday and Friday, July 31 and August 1 and at 730am on Saturday and Sunday, August 2 and 3. Practice rounds are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Single day tickets for the tournament start are $55.

Firestone Country Club is located on the outskirts of Akron at 452 E. Warner Road, about 45 minutes from Cleveland.

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Infiniti is giving away a new 2009 Infiniti FX35 AWD vehicle, but it’s the two first prizes in this sweepstakes that are perhaps of more interest to golf fans. The company is drawing for two trips to attend a golf championship (you get a choice of locations), including airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the golf tournament, and $500 spending money.

To enter, visit the Infiniti Web site. The sweepstakes is open to those 18 and older who reside in the 48 contiguous United States (no Hawaii or Alaska).

Blog Talk Radio and Golf Magazine have gotten together to create Golf.com Radio, an interactive twice-weekly Internet radio broadcast, each 11am (Eastern) Monday and Friday. The 60-minute show is hosted by Golf Magazine veterans, Tommy Dee and Jessica Marksbury. Listeners can also call in an join the discussion. Not available on Monday and Friday mornings? You can access past broadcasts anytime. To tune in, follow this link.

^{(logo courtesy of Blog Talk Radio)}

Michelle Wie may be having trouble over at the LPGA Tour. She was disqualified in last week’s State Farm Classic and without a top-three finish in August’s CN Canadian Women’s Open, she is likely heading back to qualifying school. However, none of that is stopping the 18-year-old from testing her skills against the gentlemen of the PGA Tour–again.

Wie has secured a sponsor’s exemption to for the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open in Reno, beginning July 31. That’s the same week as the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, where most of the top players will be competing. This is the 8th time that Wie has competed against in a PGA event. She has yet to make the cut.

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Irishman, Padraig Harrington (pictured above with his family) quietly won Britain’s Open Championship yesterday, his second Open victory in a row and his first win since he was awarded the Claret Cup in 2007. While the world was fascinated by 53-year-old (and two-time Open winner) Greg Norman’s place at the top of the leaderboard, Harrington played solid golf all week, despite an injured wrist and brutal weather conditions that included up to 40 mph winds.

Though Norman was leading by one stroke going into the back nine on the final round, Harrington rose to the occasion, sinking three straight birdie putts and scoring an eagle on the 17th hole. It was enough to win by 4 strokes over Ian Poulter and 5 strokes over Norman and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who tied for third.

Another noteworthy performance that got lost in all of the excitement was the 5th place finish of 20-year-old British amateur golfer, Chris Wood. Said Wood, “It was the best week of my life.”

…and they said that golf without Tiger would be boring!

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