Augusta National dethrones Pine Valley as #1 on Golf Digest’s Top 100. Kenny G #1 on my list of kazoo players who golf.
Golf Digest’s top 100 U.S. courses for this year (see below if you click “read more”) has Augusta National (The Masters) at #1 now, over long time #1 Pine Valley. I guess they like distance in their ranking equation? Beginning to wonder about Golf Digest’s “rankings” Golf Digest loves to rank everything. While browsing their
Greg Norman’s Endorsement Deal With TaylorMade Is Official
March 31, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Golf Equipment
TaylorMade Golf announced on Tuesday that 54-year-old Greg Norman, who will be competing this week at the Shell Houston Open and next week at the Masters, has signed an endorsement contract with the company. Norman will use the company's clubs and have a TaylorMade logo on his bag and hat as part of the deal, which had been reported previously. Norman had been using MacGregor equipment. The start of Norman's relationship with TaylorMade began last July at blustery Royal Birkdale , the two-time British Open champion told me on Monday. “It was extremely windy, blowing 35-50, so I needed to get my ball flight down,” he said. “So on the driving range I grabbed a bucket of TaylorMade Reds, started hitting those and saw a dramatic difference in the ball flight.” Norman used the TaylorMade TP Red all week at the British Open and tied for third to earn himself an invitation to this year's Masters . The Shark has no qualms about making a major equipment overhaul just days before the start of his first Masters since 2002. “I've always been a believer that a good player can pick up any golf club and in five hits know what it is going to do,” he said. “A good player has his golf clubs built to his exact specifications. I know the gram weight of my head, I know the gram weight of my shaft, I know the gram weight of my grip. It doesn't take long to get used to something that is close to what you like.” A three-time runner-up at the Masters, Norman laughed when he described how easy it was to get fit for his new driver. “You just take the head off and move the weight around; It's just as simple as that,” he said. “What sometimes used to take days or weeks now can be done in about 90 minutes or two hours.” Norman used a TaylorMade R9 driver (8.5) last week at the Cap Cana Championship on the Champions Tour. It's fitted with a Fujikura Motore F1 shaft that is set in the Neutral (N) position, and the head has an 8-gram weight cartridge in the toe, a 6-gram cartridge in the back and an 8-gram cartridge in the heel. This setup is designed to produce drives with lots of roll for increased distance on firm fairways. “If conditions look like it's going to be wet at Augusta and there won't be any roll, I might reconfigure my weights,” Norman said. Norman said that he is hitting his new TaylorMade Tour Preferred irons about six yards farther than his prototype MacGregor bladesand the feel at impact is much softer as well. “I couldn't believe it when I was on the launch monitor,” he said. “I was hitting the same clubs I have been hitting for 30 years, and then I was six yards longer and it was like, 'Wow!' I mean, that six yards is a lot with an iron.” Surprisingly, Norman, who still has an ownership stake in the MacGregor Golf Company, says that he has not kept up with advancements in equipment technology as much as he should have. “Shame on me. I've been the old dinosaur really.” In fact, the Shark admitted that when he was fit for his new TaylorMade clubs, it was the first time in 12 years that he had been on a launch monitor. Even with the added length of his new clubs, don't be surprised if Norman forgoes long-irons completely at Augusta National and carries as many as three TaylorMade Rescue clubs. “I'm doing that specially for some of the par 3s,” he said. “You look at the fourth hole for example. When I played there the other day it was 254 yards! Sure it's downhill and maybe a little downwind, but you need some elevation into that back right pin position, so a hybrid-3 or hybrid-4 might be the perfect club for that.” Norman says the longest iron in his bag at the Masters could be a 5-iron. Here is a complete list of the clubs Norman used at Cap Cana last week: Driver:
Golf TV ratings highest since last year’s US OPEN
After two rounds at Bay Hill, Sean OHair is looking very solid at -8 and hes got a three shot lead over Jason Gore. Tiger sits five shots back.
How good would Tiger Woods be if he could hit a fairway?
Tiger sits in 5th place so far. Not bad for somebody who hit is averaging only 50% fairways hit, tied for 65th place. The other parts of Tigers game are so good, he can still contend when his driving accuracy is so bad.
Really smoke and mirrors so far – a.k.a. amazing short game
Tigers short game has been amazing so far. Thats the only way he could hit 50% of his greens in regulation and still be in 5th place. YES, 50%. Hes hit 18 out of 36 possible greens so far. Miss that many greens and thats how you can log only 24 and 25 putts per round respectively.
Long weekend
It is a long weekend ahead for Gore and OHair. Tiger is well within range on a course he loves and plays so well. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. Ill be watching closely.
SKLZ Gyro Swing and other training aids, Golf Fore the Good, Mick Gyure on the ‘Everyday Golfer’s Guide to Shooting Lower Scores’
March 30, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Golf Courses
Click here to hear this latest episode of TravelGolf.com This Week . In this week’s podcast, host Dave Berner talks to Equipment Editor Kiel Christianson about a few full swing aids available this spring, including the SKLZ Gyro Swing. “They each target a different aspect of the swing, although they all seek to do the same sort of thing,” he says. Velia Pola of Golf Fore the Good talks about how her organization blends charity with golf. “What we’re focusing on now is that I’m going to do a sort of auction/commercial Web site,” Pola says. “The products [people] want me to review – as opposed to reviewing them, they will go onto the Web site. We’ll auction off or sell the products and then donate proceeds to charity.” Plus, author Mick Gyure talks about his book, “Everyday Golfer’s Guide to Shooting Lower Scores.” “It’s partly my story,” Gyure says. “I thought there were a lot of things that the beginning golfer could learn from my basic experience.” This podcast is supported by Walter’s Golf in Las Vegas and San Diego Golf Central .
Continued here:
SKLZ Gyro Swing and other training aids, Golf Fore the Good, Mick Gyure on the ‘Everyday Golfer’s Guide to Shooting Lower Scores’
Tiger Woods’s Bay Hill Winning Clubs
March 29, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Golf Equipment
It took Tiger Woods only three events to break into the win column in 2009, coming from five shots behind on Sunday to dramatically catch Sean O’Hair on the 18th hole at Bay Hill. If Woods hits a poor iron shot, he certainly can’t blame his clubs. The world’s No. 1 player was the inspiration for, and helped to design, the new Nike Victory Red TW Forged Blades . Tom Stites, Nike’s director of product creation, explains in this video: Here is a complete list of the clubs Woods used last weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Driver:
How good would Tiger be if he could hit a fairway?
After two rounds at Bay Hill, Sean OHair is looking very solid at -8 and hes got a three shot lead over Jason Gore. Tiger sits five shots back.
How good would Tiger Woods be if he could hit a fairway?
Tiger sits in 5th place so far. Not bad for somebody who hit is averaging only 50% fairways hit, tied for 65th place. The other parts of Tigers game are so good, he can still contend when his driving accuracy is so bad.
Really smoke and mirrors so far – a.k.a. amazing short game
Tigers short game has been amazing so far. Thats the only way he could hit 50% of his greens in regulation and still be in 5th place. YES, 50%. Hes hit 18 out of 36 possible greens so far. Miss that many greens and thats how you can log only 24 and 25 putts per round respectively.
Long weekend
It is a long weekend ahead for Gore and OHair. Tiger is well within range on a course he loves and plays so well. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. Ill be watching closely.
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How good would Tiger be if he could hit a fairway?
Tiger driving issues in round one at Bay Hill
The best play Tiger Woods has made today with his driver at Bay Hill so far (through 12), was when he used it to take two club lengths of relief from an electrical box. Otherwise people in the gallery should be wearing safety equipment.
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Tiger driving issues in round one at Bay Hill
Golfsmith promises free TaylorMade drivers if Sergio Garcia wins the Masters
March 26, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Golf Equipment
If you weren’t a fan of Sergio Garcia before today, you now have a good reason to join his fan club. According to Advertising Age , anyone who buys a TaylorMade R7, R9 or Burner driver from Golfsmith by April 11 will get a full refund if — and that’s a big if — Garcia wins the Masters. The good news? Garcia played great in several big events last year, and he won the Players Championship. But he has yet to win a major, and his record at Augusta isn’t stellar — he’s missed the cut three of the last four years. Still, according to the article, Golfsmith isn’t taking any chances: (Golfsmith) purchased an insurance policy against the odds of Mr. Garcia winning The Masters and so will not be giving away millions. For complete details on the promotion, click here .
Sacrificing life and limb to retrieve lost ProV1’s
Every year there’s a story of some crazy golfer drowning, falling to his death, or being eaten by alligators while trying to retrieve lost golf balls. My last round (before the three straight days of snow) I was in the midst of evaluating the new Titleist ProV1x. I didn’t realize how much damage I’d done to
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Sacrificing life and limb to retrieve lost ProV1s
Gunslinger Accident
Golf blogging while eating chips and hot sauce can be dangerous. Perhaps it is time to clean my keyboard after my tragic hot sauce accident. It is a shame to let my favorite hot sauce, Arizona Gunslinger, go to waste.
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Gunslinger Accident
