Golfing News & Blog Articles

Adam Schupak’s exclusive chat with Camilo Villegas is both incredible and incredibly tough to read. But kudos to Schupak for so beautifully telling the story Mia Villegas, and for dad Camilo sharing so much in what can only be called unimaginable heartbreak of losing his child to cancer.

Please carve out a few minutes and hit the link here, but a sampling:

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

So, he and Maria slept at the hospital the night before the scan. Hours of waiting felt like days. It reminded him of visiting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He made it a habit of going to see the kids there every year during the PGA Tour’s annual stop.

“I remember walking in the lobby and seeing all the parents there. That to me was the really hard part,” he said. “All of a sudden I was one of those parents at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.”

When a knock on the door broke the silence, Villegas was greeted by an army of faces and he instantly knew the verdict was grim.

“You don’t need 10 doctors to tell you the good news,” he said.

So, he cried. Fresh tears.

For three days.

In his first start since winning the U.S. Open last month, Bryson DeChambeau had two-putt birdies on all three of the par 5s and two of the par 4s Thursday on his way to a 9-under 62 and a one-shot lead in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The Bryson DeChambeau show carried on in Las Vegas with a 62, a day after having a putt for 58 on his own pro-am ball.

At least in this case, as Steve DiMeglio’s Onionesque account of the Shriner’s Hospital For Children score shredding, DeChambeau was joined by four players posting 63 and five shooting 64.

[Pausing here for a response from those who say scoring hasn’t changed due to the de-skilling of the pro game.]

Still, good laughs should be had at the absurd state of the skill/distance balance, a real tribute to the total loss of control by the authorities going on two decades.

It wasn’t a fair fight on a windless, sun-drenched day as DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open at rugged Winged Foot in his last start, hit nine tee shots past the 300-yard barrier, including a 365-yard blast that reached the green on the par-4 7th. He is the first player in the ShotLink Era that began in 2003 to drive the green.

The No. 6 player in the world also drove the 315-yard par-4 15th – with a 3-wood. The longest iron he used for an approach was a 6-iron – and that was for his second shot on the 583-yard par-5 13th. Seven of his nine birdies came from within six feet and he was equally satisfied with two 10-foot putts he made for par.

Leaderboard: What's happening at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

Less than a 20-minute drive (abiding by posted speed limits) from Daytona International Speedway, where the roars of NASCAR engines and racing fans permeate along the Atlantic coast, you can find one of the most secluded, quiet and scenic golf courses in Volusia County, River Bend Golf Club. 18-hole River Bend Golf Club in Ormand Beach, Florida is […]

The post River Bend Golf Club is a quiet escape near Daytona International Speedway appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

Need to Know: GHIN Email Update January 2021

In order to improve data security and golfer privacy, golfers will need to create a digital profile to access the GHIN mobile app and ghin.com beginning in January 2021. Shared emails on multiple accounts will not be supported. Adult users are required to have a unique email address to create a digital profile for access to the GHIN products.

For more info, or to provide an email, please contact your Club Administrator.

-NCGA Staff

 

With this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Sophia Popov returns to a major from her non-LPGA membership exile and Bill Fields files a New York Times profile of the surprise Women’s Open champion.

A teaser:

Six months ago, Popov, was competing on the Cactus Tour, an Arizona-based circuit for fledgling women’s golf pros. Prior, she had competed on the Symetra Tour, the developmental arm, after having lost exempt status on the LPGA Tour, but it and most of the world’s other major golf tours were on hiatus because of Covid-19. Employing safeguards like cup liners and individual riding carts, the Cactus Tour played on.

Beyond getting in reps, Popov rediscovered her winning touch, claiming her first professional trophy at a tournament in mid-April and then taking two of the tour’s next five events. “It was important because I hadn’t won in six years, since I was a senior in college,” said Popov, who played at Southern California. By the time the larger tours resumed this summer, Popov had a dozen Cactus Tour events under her belt and renewed confidence.

“There is a craft to playing and winning no matter the stage,” said Rashell, who has worked with Popov since the spring of 2019. “You have to beat the players that are around you down the stretch. You have to get used to how that feels. There is pressure regardless of where you’re playing.”

For the first two rounds at Royal Troon, the field battled severe weather conditions — the wind was so strong Popov had to use a 4-iron from 126 yards on her approach to No. 1 the first day — that tested strategy and resolve.

She goes on to also discuss, among other things, the sight of her $650,000 winners check in her bank account.

Greenside Bunker Play – Key Takeaways

Lower handicaps have better chances to save par when in the greenside bunkerHigher handicappers miss the green 50% of the time once in the bunker

Improved Performance Through Data

Big data is a powerful tool. Not only does it allow golfers to assess individual parts of the game but it provides an opportunity to examine performance from a variety of perspectives.

Golf stat tracking and performance management companies like Shot Scope help golfers better understand their on-course performance. However, by aggregating data from golfers around the world, we get a more complete picture of the realities of amateur performance.

So, as we dive into a relatively straightforward topic, think about where you find the most difficulty on the course. How many shots does it take to get it out of the bunker? And what’s the proximity to the hole when you do get the ball out?

Results From the Greenside Bunker

Observations

Highest percentage of golfers that get the ball inside 6 feet are the two handicappers.The lowest percentage remains true with 2 handicappers regarding missing the green. 2 handicappers show a mere 10% and only 1% of the time the ball is being left in the bunker.The highest handicappers get the ball inside 6 feet of the hole only 5% of the time, miss the green 50% of the time once in the bunker and leave it in the bunker 21% of the time.

The trend shows the lower the handicap you have, the greater chance of getting it inside 6 foot. Lower handicappers tend to hit the green a lot more than higher handicappers. A 26 handicapper misses the green 50% of the time from a greenside bunker.

Proximity to the Hole and Up and Down Percentage

Observations

When hitting the ball out of the bunker, the average proximity to the hole by a 2 handicapper is 12.5 feet.The average proximity to the hole with a 26 handicapper is 17.7 feet.The up and down percentage is highest among the lower handicappers and in-turn the lowest with the higher handicappers.

Again, nothing surprising here. The lower the handicap, the better chances you have hitting it inside 6 feet, closer to the pin, hitting the green and getting up and down. The higher the handicap you have, the percentages go down, proximity to the hole increases, your up and down percentage goes down and you’re more likely to miss the green.

Though Bob Parsons has already let the cat out of the bag on Instagram, today marks the official release of the PXG Blackjack putter, the first in PXG’s new Battle Ready Collection line of premium putters.

When you first look at the PXG Blackjack putter, another mallet probably comes to mind. Undeniably, there is a whole bunch of TaylorMade Spider DNA in the Blackjack. However, the engineers at PXG have spun some new threads into that classic mallet fabric. Yes, I consider the Spider a classic putter head shape. It’s not an Anser-level classic as of yet but, based upon the number of takes on the design, it has achieved archetype status.

Let’s take a look at how the PXG Blackjack putter spins the Spider-verse.

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Tiger Woods, Lorena Ochoa and Serena Williams inspired Mariah Stackhouse and let her know that possibilities were limitless. Ahead of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Stackhouse reflects on being a role model for the next generation of golfers.

Thanks to reader John for Simon Cambers’s New York Times look at historic Wentworth as the rescheduled BMW PGA Championship begins.

Wentworth held the Ryder Cup in 1953, but to many golf fans the club will always be remembered for hosting the World Match Play Championship, which it held from 1964 to 2007.

Staged each October, shown live on the BBC and often played in challenging autumnal conditions, each match was played over 36 holes, a test of stamina as much as skill. Though it later expanded to 16 players, it began as an eight-man knockout event, with Palmer the first champion, beating Neil Coles of England in the final.

Ernie Els, who won the event seven times and later helped to redesign the West Course, loved Wentworth long before he got to see it himself.

“The history speaks for itself, especially the World Match Play,” Els said in an interview. “All the great players played there. Growing up in South Africa, we’d read all about Gary and Jack and Arnold winning there. Then watching Greg, Seve, Faldo, [Sandy] Lyle and Woosie [Ian Woosnam] in the 1980s. It was an iconic tournament and venue.”

Another range parking lot was inundated by Bryson DeChambeau drives before he was asked to move back, begging two questions: why does the ball need to go so far and who keeps putting parking near a range.

Anyway, check out Steve DiMeglio’s entertaining compendium of clips from Bryson’s pre-Shriner’s Hospital For Children press conference, as the U.S. Open champion returns to PGA Tour action for the first time since Winged Foot.

Four par-4’s figure to get a crack, and the iron distances are befitting the desert air and elevation. And the incredible distances DeChambeau hits the ball.

“There will be holes where I’m going to try and drive them, get it up as close to the green as possible,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just fun having a 7-iron go 220. That’s unique. And 4-iron, 265. There will be holes where I had to hit 3-wood and now I’m hitting 4-iron off the tees.”

I believe this was said in a serious tone:

Bryson DeChambeau said Wednesday that he's been working with a 48-inch driver with the hopes of unveiling it for the Masters at Augusta National next month in order to increase the length of his drives.

Brooks Koepka has committed to play in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek, the event moved from South Korea to the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will be Koepka's first tournament since August.

Charlotte Thomas will begin a 14-day quarantine after she was in close contact with her caddie, who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Golf is a strange game. Successful swings have evolved over the years. It really is surprising that we can almost recognize any golfer by their different profile and swing. They all have their quirks. Matthew Wolff and Bryson DeChambeau are 2 of the most quirky swingers but their risky swings are really turning out to be rewarding.

So what is this new quirky swing by Matthew Wolff doing? If you watched the US Open, you definitely saw that strange knee wiggle and looping swing by Mathew Wolff. He does a quick practice trailing knee bend to start his swing sequence. He’s actually feeling his impact position so that he can feel it before he swings. He knows where he wants to end up at the point of impact.

Matt also uses a wide takeaway (like Jim Furyk) with a loop at the top to swing from the inside to straight up the target line. His swing is risky because he doesn’t hit a high percentage of fairways but he certainly uses this power and swing motion to hit a lot of greens in regulation. Especially out of the rough.

Matt Wolff adds a knee wiggle, a foot lift waggle and a huge loop at the top. The pros don’t recommend this as there are too many angles that can go wrong. Matt has a high percentage of fairway misses but he sure can get them out of the rough and on the Green in Regulation.

Bryson DeChambeau’s collection of irons that are all the same length; adding on muscle for more swing speed and his leading arm-lock for every club in his bag are all new innovations. He starts with a FLAT WRIST and keeps it throughout the swing. He is just cutting down on angles for a square club face impact.

Why not try out something quirky to improve YOUR Game
1/Swing to Putt Straight Up Your Target Line: Release your trailing hand at the point of impact and swing your leading hand Straight UP YOUR TARGET LINE. (This is my favorite.)
2/ Trailing Knee Bend Wiggle: Find your point of impact with your trailing knee before you start your swing. (Ala Matt Wolff)
3/ Setup with a Straight Leading Arm: Moe Norman and Bryson setup this way for extreem direction control.
4/ FLAT LEADING WRIST: Either setup with a flat leading wrist or waggle your driver to flatten your leading wrist before you start your backswing (keeping your leading wrist flat). That flat leading wrist will force your trailing elbow to bend into your side for an inside to out swing.

This week, the LPGA tees it up in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, for the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Here's what to watch as the women compete for the $4.3 million purse.

A few folks old enough might remember that majors and Tour events did not always put leaders together or out last, so the rescheduled Women’s PGA Championship plan should not be a big deal. Nonetheless it will be odd to see leaders sandwiched in certain tee time slots Sunday to accommodate TV, which has NASCAR to get to.

From Beth Ann Nichols’ Golfweek story quoting Kerry Haigh:

NBC will air the championship on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. ET and on Sunday from Noon to 2 p.m., ahead of NASCAR. To make that work, the leaders won’t be teeing off last on Sunday. And if play from Friday pushes to Saturday morning, the same will hold true for the third round as well.

“We feel it’s important that everyone watching the telecast will see the leaders,” said Haigh, “see the leaders play all 18 holes, and we think that is important. And although it’s a little different and out of the box, we as partners with the LPGA and KPMG are prepared to make those changes for what we think will be a greater and a better championship for everyone to observe.”

With even less daylight this November and a thrilling NFL match-up to get to, I wonder if the Lords of Augusta might consider something similar to help ensure proper morning golf course preparation? Or split tees? To be continued.

MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at Costco’s Kirkland Signature Performance+.  An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.

Costco made a huge splash in the golf ball market in 2016 when it launched its Signature four-piece golf ball. Supply never quite matched demand. A subsequent four-piece offering was pulled due to significant quality issues.

Recently, the giant warehouser has expanded its reach deeper into the golf equipment world. Demand for Kirkland Signature putters and bargain-priced wedge sets is high. Throughout all of it, Costco’s urethane-covered three-piece Performance+ has been a mainstay on Costco store shelves.

In this report, we take a closer look at the Costco Kirkland Performance+ Three-Piece Golf ball and let you know how it stacks up against other golf balls on the market. Finally, we’ll give you the True Price – how much it costs to get a dozen “good” golf balls.

Derek Lawrenson explains how new LA resident—don’t get used to this blissful traffic Franky—Francesco Molinari is finally resurfacing this week.

The 2017 Open Champion is the last recent major winner to dust off the clubs and return during the COVID-19 era, teeing up at the Shriner’s over the European Tour’s BMW PGA. He hasn’t reached Anthony Kim levels of intrigue given the sheer absurdity of 2020, but it’s still remarkable how long Molinari has sat out. He has failed to register a top ten since the 2019 Masters.