Archive for April, 2010

A Drive Down Magnolia Lane with Ian Poulter

by James on April 2, 2010 in News, Courses with 1 Comment

Chances are very few of us will ever get the opportunity to drive down Magnolia Lane at the famed Augusta National. The privilege is reserved for members and their guests, and, once a year the very best players in the world. Thank goodness for good guys like Ian Poulter… While driving up Magnolia Lane earlier today, Ian shared the above video for all to see via Twitter.

Thanks Ian, and play well next week… I’m hoping that one day it’ll be me driving down that lane… oh wouldn’t that be sweet 🙂

Magnolia Lane at Augusta National

PGA Pros Offered FREE GolfLogix Membership

by Annie Latham on April 2, 2010 in News, Golf Equipment, Golf GPS with No comments

This week, GolfLogix posted a Tweet aimed at PGA Pros offering “a FREE Champion Membership to the #1 golf gps and stat-track app.”  Card carrying members can go to  www.golflogix.com/pga to register.  A Champion GolfLogix community membership runs $39.95 per year.

GolfLogix GPS gives golfers convenient distances to the front, center and back of the greens as well as layups and major hazards on more than 25,000 golf courses worldwide. In addition, golfers have access to GolfLogix’ scoring and round tracking technology allowing them to analyze and compare round data such as fairways hit, greens in regulation, distances of each club and more right on their smartphones or on a personalized website hosted by GolfLogix.

GolfLogix can be downloaded to more than a dozen GPS-enabled phones including the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Storm, and Storm 2, Motorola DROID, and HTC Touch Pro.

It will be interesting to see how many Pros take them up on the offer.

They’re Back! Couples and Norman Named Captains for Presidents Cup 2011

by Annie Latham on April 2, 2010 in News with No comments

Earlier this week, it was announced that Fred Couples and Greg Norman would be returning as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, for The Presidents Cup 2011 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, at Royal Melbourne Golf Club — site of the 1998 event. Couples, who is competing in this week’s PGA TOUR event, joined PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem in the media center for the announcement, while Norman joined via teleconference from Europe.

“There could be no better choices to serve as captains of The Presidents Cup 2011 than Fred Couples and Greg Norman,” said Finchem. “Fred and Greg bring not only their extensive experience as Presidents Cup participants to the table, but also what they learned in 2009 as captains. They stepped into their roles last year with a strong passion and commitment to elevating this international competition and handled their responsibilities with ease. I am confident they will once again showcase the incredible sportsmanship, leadership and camaraderie that is the hallmark of The Presidents Cup.”

The Presidents Cup 2011 is scheduled for November 14-20, 2011. The Americans currently hold an all-time 6-1-1 lead in the competition.

“Terrific!” A First Look at Augusta in 3-D

by Annie Latham on April 1, 2010 in News with No comments

The New York Times is reporting that test footage shot recently at Augusta National to demonstrate 3-D looks pretty darn good.  Richard Sandomir wrote, “One look at Augusta in 3-D will make high-definition seem obsolete.”

Too bad many of us don’t own the equipment to see it for ourselves.  Anyway, the article describes what works and what doesn’t.  On the plus side:

  • putts moving toward a camera;
  • a chip shot flying out of a bunker with the individual grains of sand moving into a new dimension in front of the golfer;
  • yellow flags fluttering at the hole in the foreground while water courses through a creek in the background;
  • the slow panning of the most topographically interesting holes to show the changing elevations.

Sandomir  remarked, “The closer the cameras get to the action, the better the picture. It may be too much to expect the 3-D cameras to get close enough for a driver to look as if it is coming through the screen.”

As for flaws:

  • When the sun glinted off water, the picture blurred.
  • When trees or bushes came into view too quickly, it was visually jarring.
  • When a camera panned the grass too rapidly, the effect was dizzying.

Seems to me that if this experiment works, golf clubs may have a new potential revenue stream — hosting viewing parties.

Newer Entries →