Keegan Bradley ran off four birdies over his last five holes on his way to a 64 and a two-shot lead at the Valspar Championship.

TENERIFE, Spain (AP) - Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen set a course record with a 9-under 62 Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Tenerife Open.

Phil Mickelson aid Thursday he has not decided if he will accept a special exemption from the USGA to play in the 121st U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Former world No. 1 Inbee Park hit a flawless eight-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the HSBC Women's World Championship on Thursday as the LPGA returned to Asia for the first time in 18 months.

The Spectrum of NCGA Membership–Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club

April 29, 2021

The Sacramento Chinese Golf Club was established in 1952 at the opening of the Bing Maloney Golf Course in Sacramento.  While the Sacramento Chinese GC was a Co-Ed club and women were actively engaged in the events and tournaments, the women decided they’d like to form their own autonomous club.  So, in 1989 they began the process of formalizing the club.  Initially, they had some problems having their club recognized, but with support from Ken Morton Sr. of Haggin Oaks GC, they received their charter and formed the Sacramento Chinese WGC.  Learn more about that here.

Ken continues to be an avid supporter of this club and still receives a special invitation to the Christmas luncheon each year.  The newly formed club joined the Pacific Women’s Golf Association, so members could play and compete with other women throughout the region. The Sacramento Chinese WGC members continue to rack up awards and recognition in Play Days and Tournaments.

2021 GOLF GPS BUYER’S GUIDE

Do you prefer a golf GPS or a rangefinder? If you vote GPS, we’ve tested and broken down the best golf GPS models on the market.

Many golf GPS models do more than just provide distances to front, middle and back pin locations. Some are in watch form and come with fitness components to help you track your health.

If you’re not a watch fan, you can buy GPS devices that are hand held and provide the hole layout, green depth, slope, the list goes on.

The golf GPS has so many capabilities it might just make rangefinders obsolete.

The Park family -- No. 2-ranked Inbee Park and her husband and caddie Gi -- led the way after the opening round of the HSBC Women's World Championship on Thursday.

Are you missing short putts that you expected to sink? I recently discovered an immediate solution using any conventional putter. I have been practicing my short putts with a GOLFSTR+ to putt with a locked leading wrist. That practice improved my confidence to putt with a locked wrist but using GOLFSTR+ during any competitive rounds of golf is PROHIBITED.

BINGO!!! I have now discovered a way to use my existing putter to lock my leading wrist and solve my problem with shaking, nervous hands for short putts under 6 feet.

I got this idea when I noticed Bryson DeChambeau, Webb Simpson, Bernhard Langer and Matt Kutcher using an ARM-LOCK TECHNIQUE with longer putter handles pressed against the underside of their leading forearm. I have seen the method used for some time but when the up and coming Will Zalatoris used this technique to win runner up at The Masters, I realized that shaky hands and wrists could be a problem for most golfers, young and old.

Solution
For my short putts under 6 feet I have now improved my putting by gripping down on my putter handle with both hands at the same level and allowing the extended putter grip to press against my forearm. To do this with my standard putter I just have to bend over a little further at my waist. I almost bend over like Michelle Wei West in her table-top putting stance. The good news is that if I choose a putting line, I definitely hit that line.

I just putt with a normal shoulder rocking motion to swing my putter directly up my chosen line. Shaking hands and wrists are no longer a problem. Now that I have more confidence I am hitting more firm putts to ensure that I have enough speed to pass the hole and limit the brake as the putt slows down near the hole. Short putts never go in.

Omar Uresti built such a big lead that even a 4-over 76 on Wednesday didn't keep him from winning the Professional National Championship and earn another trip to the PGA Championship.

Savannah Barker and Alexa Saldana won the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-ball Championship on Wednesday, surviving a 20-hole match in the semifinals and then pulling away late in the final.

Paul Casey, who has won the past two titles at the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship, said the impetus to get vaccinated was the overwhelming urge to "crack on with things and get back to normal."

The PGA Tour heads to the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook for this week's tournament. Here are our best bets for the event.

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 the TopFlite Gamer. 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.

Top Flite is a DICK’S Sporting Good’s house brand which gives the giant retailer the flexibility to make Gamer whatever it wants. With its urethane cover, the prior generation flirted with the “Tour” category. With this most recent iteration, the company is resetting the Gamer franchise. It’s revisiting its roots as an affordable ionomer-covered ball with a bit of a  performance slant.

About the Top Flite Gamer

The Top Flite Gamer is a three-piece ball with an ionomer cover.

Michael Visacki made it into the $6.9 million Valspar Championship when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt Monday in a sudden-death playoff to gain the last spot in the field .

Sepp Straka is the third player to withdraw from the Valspar Championship after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The post Ernie Pieper Santa Clara County Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

U.S. Women’s Open Qualifying–Half Moon Bay GL

April 27, 2021

Former University of Oregon standout Kathleen Scavo, former NCGA Women’s Player of the Year Lucy Li and Canadian Kelly Tan all punched their tickets to the upcoming U.S. Women’s Open after advancing through a 36-hole Sectional qualifier held Monday on the par-71 Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links.

Now a member of the Symetra Tour, Scavo was medalist with a score of 1-over 143 after rounds of 71-72. A former two-time winner of the California Junior Girls’ State Championship, Scavo posted six birdies on the day.

Li, who also made her rookie debut on the Symetra Tour in 2020, moved on with a third-place score of 3-over 145 (73-72). Still only 18, in 2014 Li became the youngest (age 11) to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, surpassing a mark that had been set by Lexi Thompson at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open.

Chances are “Penfold Golf” doesn’t mean much to you. There is, however, compelling evidence to suggest it might be golf history’s great “what if?”. Today, Penfold is a fledgling lifestyle brand using nostalgia as its hook. But there was a time when Penfold was poised to be a golf ball powerhouse on both sides of the Atlantic.

Based on what we’ve learned through some research, there’s a better-than-even chance Penfold could have become what Titleist is today. That is to say, the No. 1 ball in golf.

A provocative statement? Certainly. Crazy conjecture? Perhaps. But it’s a story worth telling and, we hope, worth reading.

Penfold Golf: A Little Background

We’ve given you the Cliff Notes version of the Penfold Golf story but here’s the full monty.

Albert Ernest Penfold was born in 1884. A natural scientist, Penfold was a rubber savant responsible for some of the biggest innovations in golf. His first breakthrough came while working for the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company, commonly known as the Silvertown Company. The gutta-percha was the ball of choice back then and the common “gutty” was a dull gray and hard to find, even on the fairway. Penfold developed a way to make a pure-white gutta-percha ball. It was a smash hit, and Penfold was named director of golf ball development for Silvertown in 1911. He started piling up patents for Silvertown almost immediately, retaining the rights to one, for a lattice-type dimple marking. That patent would eventually play a huge role for Penfold.

The JBEAM ZY-8 Driver!  Introducing the new ZY-8 by JBEAM, which is their newest flagship model for the better player.  When I say better player, I mean the characteristics cater to faster swing speeds that seek very low spin and a medium-high trajectory.

This is a 450cc driver that TourSpecGolf can handpick specific face angles and lofts.   For example, you may choose lofts anywhere between 9* to 11* even in increments of .25*.   We can also handpick face angles anywhere from square to the full 3* open, which many good players who try to avoid the dreaded hook will appreciate.

The ZY-8 has a traditional bonded hosel and features the tried and true JDM face material known as Forged DAT55G; this material and SP700 are becoming very rare; they are expensive, and stocks globally are dwindling.  In my opinion, it’s the best way to get amazing ball speeds,  no gimmicks needed,  simply the best face material that comes in HOT for faster ball speeds.

Other options from TourSpecGolf are hosel reaming,  face shaving to almost any C.O.R, and head foaming, which has been a popular option for players who enjoy that muted thwack dead feel.

Tourspecgolf is offering a variety of custom shafts and grips from Japan.  If you have any questions or need suggestions on specs, builds, and shaft options, please reach out to us.

Will Gordon and Brice Garnett have tested positive for the coronavirus and have withdrawn from the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship this week.