Arjun Atwal, the first ever PGA Tour player from India, appears to have been involved in a high speed crash traffic incident today. It is speculated that Atwal and another man were involved in a street race of over 100 mph and the other man lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree which killed him. Atwal was unharmed in the traggic event but he may face charges pending an investigation. You can read the full story here at ESPN.com.
The other day I was reading a very interesting article in the latest issue of Golf Digest about the way new wedges are made. Now days most wedges have what are called U-Grooves on their faces instead of V-Grooves of the past. The idea behind this change is that the U-Grooves will allow players to create more spin with the wedge than they could with the V-Grooves. I can say from my own experience that this is very true. In my review of the Mizuno MP-R wedges I said how impressed I was with the amount of spin that these wedges created - I guess this is why. In an effort to make missing the fairway more of a punishment the USGA wants to remove these wedges with U-Grooves. I have to say that I understand where they are coming from here, if you miss the fairway you should be at a disadvantage on the hole. You can find the whole article from Golf Digest here.
When using a 460cc driver (like the Nike SasQuatch), there are a few keys that you should keep in mind to get the most out of your drive. These tips will help you increase launch height and decrease the spin rate of the ball which will help your drive carry farther.
Tee the ball up so that the top of the club head is only about 1/3 of the way up the golf ball instead of the traditional setup where the club head is 1/2 way up the golf ball.
Move the ball up in your stance so that it is almost lined up with the middle of your left foot if you are a right handed golfer.
Hit the ball on your upswing. The previous tip helps you address the ball so that you can more easily hit the ball on the upswing. With most other clubs, you want to hit the ball when your club is level with the ground but the driver is slightly different and making contact of the upswing will increase the loft of your drive.
Hopefully these tips will help you add a little bit of distance to your drive. You know what they say, drive for show! Let us know if you have any tips that we might have missed!
When it comes down to it, good golf is all about hitting fairways and greens. This variation on the rules is a betting system that rewards those players who can hit fairways and greens that is best played with four players.
On each hole, before the players tee off, a bet is set for the fairway and for the green. On par 3 holes though, a bet is only made for the green. To win the bet, you need to be the only player to hit either the fairway or the green. If you are the only player to hit the fairway or the green in regulation, every other player pays you the bet. If more than one player hits the fairway or the green, no money is paid for that bet and that bet carries over to the next hole to be added to that holes bet.
For example, the bet for the fairway is $3 and the bet for the green is $5. Players A, B, and C all hit the fairway but only player A hits the green in regulation. Players B, C, and D all pay $5 to player A for hitting the green. On the next hole, the bet is $6 for hitting the fairway ($3 carries over from the previous hole) and the bet for hitting the green is $5.
As with any gambling game, you need to make sure that your group isn’t turned off by gambling before suggesting this rule. Also, be careful because the bets can add up pretty quickly if they carry over through a few holes!
Since I recently tested the Nike Sumo driver I figured that I should give the other square driver on the market a try. It didn’t take me too long to make my decision about this club. I thought that compared to the Nike Sumo this was a much better club. I hit about 10 to 15 balls with it and just about every one went dead straight. I was also able to work the ball a little bit when I tried to. I also like the way this club sets up to the ball much better than I did with the Sumo. It seems that the square shape is a bit less bothersome at address. One of my main complaints about the Sumo was the sound that it produced at impact, this club sounds just like you would expect it to, like a golf club and not like an aluminum baseball bat. The only real drawback about this club is the expensive price tag. But on a scale based on performance I would rate it a 4.5/5. If you’re interested in buying this club, have a look here for Golf Galaxy’s latest prices.
Here is a video that I found that is great for teaching beginner golfers the correct way to swing a golf club. The video is a little long and it only shows how to use an iron but the basic mechanics of the swing are basically the same when using your driver or other woods. So, have a look and hopefully you’ll find a few tips to take away and use in your game.
Something happened today at the Honda Classic that we don’t see every day. On his 3rd hole of the day John Daly had to withdraw because he injured himself when he tried to stop his back swing because someone took a picture. If this was me I don’t think I would have been very happy as I’m sure he wasn’t. Not only did this fan possibly cost him a pay check this week but possibly in events in the future. I would think that if someone was at an event like this that they at least should have some decency and wait until after he has hit the ball to take their picture. And in other news from the PGA it has been reported that Ernie Els has left Titleist and will now play for Callaway making him the first big name player to sign with them since Phil did.
Three-Putt Poker is another variation on the traditional golf rules that you can play to add some gambling excitement to your friendly golf game. You should only play this game with people that you are familiar with since there is a gambling element and some people frown down on friendly wagers. That being noted, here are the rules.
Before you tee off, each player puts $5 into the pot. This dollar amount can be changed to whatever you’d like but $5 is a good number to start with for a game with your friends. After paying the ante, each player receives one card from a traditional deck of playing cards.
The rules of the actual golf game remain the same but whenever a player three-putts a hole, that player adds more money to the pot ($1 is a good amount to use when the opening bet is $5). If a player one-putts the hole, that player gets another card from the top of the deck.
At the end of the front nine, whichever player has the best poker hand wins the entire pot. The game then repeats for the back nine. This is a great game to play that mixes the fun of poker with the fun of golf.
What a weekend at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. There was quite the showdown on Friday between Nick O’Hern and Tiger. A match that went to 20 holes after Tiger did what Tiger does best and birdied the 18th hole in regulation. Then on Sunday in the 36 hole finale we saw someone who isn’t very well known in the United States win the biggest tournament of his career. To be honest with you I had never heard of Henrik Stenson before this weekend. With the win this weekend Stenson will now take over the 5th spot on the World Rankings. What an impressive game this guy has. Not only was I impressed with him but with his opponentGeoff Ogilvy as well. All in all the final day of this event was a great duel between two players whose names were not Tiger, Phil, or Ernie. Great day for golf.
After reading about this club I figured I might as well give it a try. After hitting about three balls I had already made my decision on the club.
I would never ever buy this club, I will even go as far to say that if someone gave it to me I would tell them to return it and get their money back. I hated this club. The sound that it produces is ungodly. I know that having the weight distributed around the outside of the club will give it more forgiveness, but why make the club look like a box on a stick?
It does however seem very forgiving, just like Nike says, and because of that you can forget about working the ball off the tee with this club. If you are a lower handicapper this club is not for you. If you are looking for a club that will allow you to hit the ball straight no matter how bad your swing is or where you hit the ball on the club face then this club is for you. If you are interested in buying the Nike Sumo 2, have a look at Golf Galaxy for the latest deals.
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