Christina Kim, John Raser show the future of golf media, loudly
Christina Kim is fast becoming the LPGA's version of Stewart Cink, a pro who invites the entire world into their life via Twitter. And while Christina's feed has about 1/200th the followers of Mr. I-Beat-Up-An-Old-Man-For-My-Major, she's nonetheless doing what she can to spread the gospel of golf through a variety of new media.
Recently, she and fellow pro John Raser challenged each other for a little match play, the stakes being a caddying gig for one another. All well and good; this kind of stuff happens all the time. What was unique about this little match was how it used all kinds of social media to play itself out. The two trash-talked on Twitter prior to and during the match, then got a uStream feed cranking where the players could connect with viewers as the match went on. Now, this is a bit like watching somebody's home movie, but still -- baby steps into the future:
Raser ended up winning by one hole, but that wasn't the point, nor was the fact that Kim will now caddy for Raser at one of his events as he tries to make the PGA Tour. No, this was a victory -- well, at least an exhibition -- of the potential for golf fans to stay in touch with their favorite pros via social media. (By the way, John invites you to keep up with him at his website, the cleverly named Go Speed Raser.) Waggle Room's Ryan Ballengee of Waggle Room wrapped it all with a postround video chat with both of the pros.
Very cool stuff, all the way around. Congrats to everyone involved!
