The Duffers Golf Club - the virtual Golf Club for all golfers with handicaps of 19 or more. Click here to enter if you are a member. If not, sign up here - it's free!

Natalie Gulbis sparks calendar boom!

Click me to enlarge this picture

August 7, 2004; Source: AnyoneForTee
Natalie's bikini is banned by USGA, but inspires some unexpected imitations!

LPGA rising star Natalie Gulbis, 13th in the recent Women's British Open, has just released her 2005 golf glamour calendar. The 16 month calendar, her second, is proving a runaway hit with fans, featuring Natalie in sportswear, evening wear, golf apparel and - for the first time - a bikini! And all for just $12.99!

Natalie - an Anyone For Tee Fairway Lady - says she got the idea for the bikini shots after looking at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. "The fans have liked it, and there aren't really a lot of calendars that sports fans can buy of female athletes," she said. (Click the picture above right to enlarge.)

But although the fans may like it, the calendar has not gone down well with the USGA. 100 copies were due to go on sale in the merchandise tent at the US Women's Open, and Natalie was booked for an official signing session on the Wednesday before the tournament. But after seeing the calendar Anne McCarthy, merchandise director of the Women's Open, decided to withdraw it and cancel the session. "Basically, it was a case of the subject matter being inappropriate to the event," said USGA spokesman Marty Parkes. "I wish they were selling it here, because so many people have been asking me about them," Gulbis said. "A couple of USGA officials have come up to me and asked me for them." You can see why below.

Click any picture for a slightly larger version
Rocky January	Green February	Mini July
Swinging August	Athletic September	Roll on 2005

Gulbis is frequently compared to Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova (whose own glamour calendar is produced by the same company as Natalie's), and is not worried by the association, despite the Russian's legendary lack of tennis titles. "I’m flattered to be compared to Anna," she says. "Anna’s probably the most successfully marketed female athlete, on or off the court. I’m a big fan of hers, and I consider her a role model for how I want to be viewed off the course. You know, you can be an attractive athlete, sexy and appealing and all that — and still kick ass when you compete."

Determined to succeed, Natalie works hard on her game. "Here’s the thing," she explains. "You’ve got to perform on the course. The looks, the image — none of that matters if you can’t back it up with strong play. That’s why I work so hard. I realize that as a golfer, I’m a business. I’m the product. And I wouldn’t want any of the attention and the merchandising if I played bad."

Like every successful product, Natalie's calendar has inspired imitations. Perhaps the most surprising of these is a calendar by Craig Stadler, veteran PGA Tour player, and now also a star of the Champions Tour. But there the similarities end.

At 5 feet 9 inches tall, Natalie has blue-green eyes and a mere 8 percent body fat - the result of many hours spent every day working out and drilling balls on the range.

Craig, on the other hand, is an inch taller at 5 feet 10, has red-brown eyes and a walrus-like 88% body fat - the result of many hours spent every day eating out and swilling wine from his large personal collection.

In his calendar ($1.99 - remaindered at Walmart), Craig portrays what he feels is an alternative body image. "I want folk to see that you don't have to be in the gym all day and munching lettuce in order to be an athlete," he says. "I don't just play golf. When I'm in Japan I like to train a little with the sumo wrestlers - not wrestling, you understand, just the eight meals a day part of the training. And I like to go diving and swimming - but then I guess every walrus does."

Indeed, diving is featured on the front cover of this year's calendar, while elsewhere he is seen in sumo dress, golf attire, taking a sauna, and sleeping off a good meal on the beach. (Persons of a sensitive nature are advised to look away now.)

Do not click - on the grounds of good taste, there are no larger versions
Japan in January	Swinging in March	April Fool's shirt
Midriff May	Sauna in July	Sunburnt September
OB October	The backside of the calendar

"I hope my calendar makes those of us with a little meat on their bones feel good," Craig told Anyone For Tee. "If I can do it, so can others. I'd like to see Meg Mallon and Laura Davies do a calendar. And why not your Colin Montgomery? Maybe the US fans would take to him if they saw him in no more than his Calvin Kleins."

So how about it Monty?

This page © Copyright 2004 by Duffersgolf

The original Calendar Girls