Archive for July, 2010

Wedge Rule Causing Confusion…

by Annie Latham on July 30, 2010 in News, Golf Equipment, More..., Wedges with No comments

Golfweek’s James Achenbach has written a piece discussing the confusion being caused by the USGA’s new wedge rule.  Apparently, 18-year-old rookie pro Sarah Brown, was wrongly removed from the course and disqualified from a Duramed Futures Tour event because two rules officials “blew the call.”  They insisted that Brown’s 54-degree Ping Tour-W wedge was nonconforming (old grooves) when, in fact, it turned out to be conforming (new grooves).

First of all, Ping Tour-W wedges “can be conforming or nonconforming, depending on when and for whom they were manufactured.”

Also, Achenbach noted that for almost all amateurs, the old grooves can be used in everyday play and in competition until 2024. It is only the so-called “elite” amateur tournaments that will require the new grooves at an earlier date, beginning in 2014. 

Not sure where our “rookie pro,” Ms. Brown fits in.

Achenbach calls for a “School of Grooves” to be set up to get golf associations, organizations and players educated.  Not a bad idea!

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iGolf Unveils FREE GPS Rangefinder For Android

by Annie Latham on July 28, 2010 in News, More... with No comments

L1 Technologies, parent company of the iGolf brand, has just announced the release of iGolf Mobile for Android. This FREE app includes professionally mapped GPS data and course listings for more than 33,000 golf courses worldwide. iGolf Mobile allows golfers to improve their scores by instantly finding accurate distances to key points on every hole for detailed shot planning and club selection.

Along with offering precise distance to the front, center, back of the green and custom points (bunkers, water, hazards) on mapped holes, golfers can also use the app to measure shot distance, keep score for up to four players and track handicap/statistics.

Access to the latest golf news and exclusive opinion articles, as well as independent course, equipment and travel destination reviews are available within iGolf Mobile. An interactive map of the first hole on every course, showing the distance to any point on the hole, is also included for free as a premium membership preview.

Golfers who upgrade to a Premium iGolf Membership (available for $5 monthly or $50 annual)  can access detailed, interactive hole maps with multi-level zoom.

iGolf Mobile is now available as a free download from the Android Market (search for “iGolf”) or visit iGolf Mobile – Android for additional details.

Source: iGolf

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Wedge-a-Day Giveaway Announced…

by Annie Latham on July 20, 2010 in Golf Equipment, Wedges with No comments

Boccieri Golf just announced the “Wedge-a-Day Giveaway,”  a 60-day promotion starting July 19 through which the company will provide a game-enhancing Heavy Wedge daily to randomly selected winners. One grand prize winner will also receive a custom-built, C2-DF Limited Edition Heavy Putter.

Open to residents of the continental U.S., the giveaway includes all shipping costs, with complete details available on the contest entry page.

Introduced earlier this year, the Heavy Wedge is a traditionally designed blade with a head mass only slightly heavier than a conventional wedge. It is available in a variety of lofts including 52 (8 degree bounce), 56 (11 degree bounce) and 60 (4 and 7 degrees of bounce).

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New Putter for Tiger?

by Annie Latham on July 14, 2010 in News, Golf Equipment, Manufacturers, Nike Golf, Putters with 1 Comment

Golfweek’s James Achenbach has the scoop…

Tiger Woods, who has won two British Opens at St. Andrews, announced on Tuesday that he is switching putters for the 2010 championship, which starts Thursday.

Woods will carry a Nike Method 001 blade putter into battle, replacing the Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2 that he acquired at the Byron Nelson Classic in 1999.

He said the St. Andrews greens were running slow:

“I’ve always struggled when the greens are really slow. Using the new putter, he claimed, “It (the ball) comes off (the putter face) faster.”

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Great Weekend for Adidas/TaylorMade Golf…

by Annie Latham on July 14, 2010 in News, Golf Equipment, Manufacturers, More..., TaylorMade with 1 Comment

It was an outstanding weekend for Adidas and TaylorMade Golf.  To start, Paul Goydos became the fourth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a round of 59 in competition — relying heavily on his TaylorMade Rossa Monza Spider putter.

“I’ve used the model now for over two years. I’ve had a couple of different ones, but for the most part that’s the same putter,” he said.

Other TaylorMade Golf sticks in his bag:

Driver: TaylorMade R9 (9.5 degree; Aldila NV 65 shaft)
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade R9 3-wood (13 degree)
Hybrids: TaylorMade Rescue TP FCT (17 degree) and TaylorMade Rescue TP (21 degree)
Irons (4-PW): TaylorMade R9
Wedges: TaylorMade TP xFT ZTP (54 and 58 degrees)

*****

For the LPGA U.S. Women’s Open, Paula Creamer tamed the greens of Oakmont (PA) using her new TaylorMade Daytona Kia Ma Ghost putter.  She averaged just over 30 putts per round (1.68 putts per hole).

In a Golfweek story, she was quoted saying, “Last week I went through two putters, and the week before I had a (Odyssey) 2-Ball. I went back to just the standard-looking putter. I think that helped a lot, because there is so much going on in these greens that you just have to focus on that.”

An off-the-shelf version of the Creamer putter runs $300 at The Golf Warehouse.

The rest of Paula Creamer’s equipment included:

Driver: TaylorMade R9 SuperTri (10.5 degree; Graphite Design Tour AD prototype shaft)
Fairway Woods: TaylorMade Burner 3-wood (15 degree; Aldila NVS 65 shaft); TaylorMade R9 5-wood (19 degree; Aldila NVS 65 shaft); TaylorMade r7 7-wood (20 degree; Nippon GT 700 shaft)
Hybrid: TaylorMade Rescue TP FCT (25 degree; Fujikura 270 shaft)
Irons (5-PW): TaylorMade R9
Wedges: TaylorMade rac (54 degrees); Titleist Vokey (58 degrees)

One last note…  On the TaylorMade Golf website, the company claims to be the manufacturer of the #1 Driver on the tour.

Off the golf course, Adidas had a huge day (and month) with their ball being used for the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

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One Famous Quad to Another: Goydos Cards a 59

by Annie Latham on July 9, 2010 in News, More... with No comments

He was “famous” for the quadruple bogey he carded on the 14th hole at Pebble Beach during the AT&T Pro-Am back in February.

With that “quad,” Paul Goydos became one of four players score a “9” on that hole.

On Thursday, at the John Deere Classic, Goydos joined another “party of four” with an outstanding score of 59 on the Par 71,TPC Deere Run course  which was softened by three days of intermittent rain.  He joins David Duval (1999 Bob Hope Classic – Final Round), Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas Invitational at Sunrise Golf Course – 3rd round) and Al Geiberger, who was the first to shoot 59 (1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club – 2nd round).

An AP story quoted Goydos saying this about his performance:

“Today was a nuclear bomb. I don’t know where it came from. If I knew that, I wouldn’t be able to touch it.”

You can follow the John Deer Classic here.

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Doglegging it…New Putter Garners Superior Results for Moore

by Annie Latham on July 9, 2010 in News, Golf Equipment, Putters with No comments

It’s no secret that Ryan Moore is one of our favorite golfers on the Tour.  His second place finish at the AT&T National was incredible.  Other “seconds” for Moore were where he placed in putting average and putts per round for the tournament and where he came in with total birdies.

Again, he defied common wisdom — this time by picking up a brand new putter on Tuesday, playing with it on Wednesday in a Pro-AM and then keeping it in his bag for all four rounds of the AT&T.

The club was a Custom MACHINE Putter by Dogleg Right Corporation.  The Custom TIG Welded Center Shaft putter that the he picked up from Dogleg Right’s Tour Rep, Ken McDonald, features a CNC milled hosel that is TIG-welded to a custom milled micro pocket in the putter head’s topline to create a Center Shafted setup, which is very easy for players to line up and stroke confidently.

The putter also features an interchangeable flange system (and therefore the Converter name) to allow the user to change the shape, weight, balance and MOI of the putter.  With its separate adjustable weighting system, players have the option of dialing in their ideal weight, up to 28 grams in as little as 1-gram increments.

The face of the putter has a unique VMG (Vertical Mill Groove) face mill pattern that helps produce a true forward roll, improved alignment optics and a soft yet solid and responsive feel.

There was no indication of how much fine-tuning Moore did with his putter.

In the post tournament press conference, Moore talked about his new putter, saying, “Something about the alignment of it, it’s just helping me see my lines a lot better.”

Note:  Moore was under no obligation to use the putter.

Suggested retail price: Custom MACHINE M2A Converter Putter with TIG Welded Center Shaft in 303 Stainless Steel starts at: $399.99.  MACHINE putters by Dogleg Right are sold through the company’s exclusive network of Authorized Fitters and Retailers as well as online through its website and golf forums such as Golfwrx.com and Puttertalk.com that it participates in.

For more information, go to Dogleg Right’s website.

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Justin Rose & Fearless Golf…

by Annie Latham on July 8, 2010 in News, Golf Tips, Players with No comments

Apparently, Dr. Gio Valiante’s Fearless Golf Program played a leading role in helping Justin Rose, winless after nine years on the PGA Tour, secure his first PGA Tour title at The Memorial.  In fact, he said it himself upon walking off the green.

Dr. Valiante’s program provides a vision for competitive golf that allows golfers to remain fearless, focused, and committed to each and every shot they hit.  Rose began the program on May 22.  That makes the results even more impressive.

There were some bumps though.

You may recall that during the final round of the Travelers Championship, Rose lost the lead and finished ninth.

“After adversity is the best time to learn the principles of Fearless Golf,” said Dr. Valiante. “I told Justin, we needed this to happen to see where your game breaks down. I promise you’ll be better tomorrow than you are today.”

Seven days later, Rose was hoisting the trophy for his second PGA Tour event win, the AT&T National. During the post-round press conference, Rose again credited Dr. Valiante’s Fearless Golf.

Other PGA Tour Pros on the program include:  Camilo Villegas, Matt Kuchar and Heath Slocum.

The program IS within reach of mere mortals (AKA non-Tour golfers).  A  3-disk DVD is available for just under $100.

You can learn more by visiting www.fearlessgolf.com.

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Tip for Putting: Don’t keep your Eye on the Ball…

by Annie Latham on July 6, 2010 in News with 1 Comment

Bill Pennington, in a New York Times blog post, asked an interesting question:

Why do almost all golfers look at the ball when they putt instead of looking at the hole?

If you were handed a golf ball and told to roll it into the hole, you would look at the hole, not the ball, right? Why is the act of putting any different?  Pennington wrote the usual response is that to look away would cause a mis-hit, or worse, a whiff.

But would it?

His story quotes Dana Rader, one of Golf Digest’s top 50 instructors, who runs a golf academy in Charlotte, N.C:

“About 99 percent of my students putt better looking at the hole.  I make all my students try it, and they are amazed. When you look away from the target and stand over the ball for too long, your brain actually loses its memory of how hard to hit the ball. And sometimes where to hit it, too.”

That seems to make sense.

There is a scientific explanation  for why it is more effective to look at the target…

The brain more successfully interacts with the muscles of the shoulders, arms and hands with a continuous flow of visual information (i.e., the brain knows where the hole is because you are looking at it). But the second you take your eyes off the target, the brain has to interact with the muscles based on its memory of where the hole is.

Like anything in golf, the real question is, do you have the courage to try something others aren’t doing?  One thing’s for sure, nobody can argue with results.

Putt Different.

Your thoughts?

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