Golfing News & Blog Articles

Controlling Emotions in Golf with Self Awareness or “Mindfulness” 

“Being your best means creating a space between stimulus and response, and in that space you have the freedom and power to choose a response that is in alignment with your values and goals.” – George Mumford

Part of doing the “Inner Work” for golf is reflecting on your rounds and identifying the events that can trigger the thoughts, feelings and emotions which hold you back. Once you’ve done this, you will know what to look out for on the course. Noticing your thoughts, feelings and emotions will help in your controlling emotions in golf, rather than them controlling you.

The key word in the previous sentence is “noticing” and this is what Self Awareness or “Mindfulness” is all about.

To illustrate this, let’s take look at the behaviour cycle:

As you can see above, emotions, thoughts and behaviors are all connected in a loop. Without noticing, the loop just continues, i.e., emotions create feelings, which trigger thoughts, which increases the potency of emotions which changes our mood and “performance state”. Remember that one of the main goals of improving your mental game of golf is being able to upwardly maneuver between performance states. The first step in this process is mindfulness. This is an especially valuable skill in golf. In most other sports, the game happens faster so there’s less time to be influenced by your emotions and thinking (engagement in the game keeps your mind focused on the present). But in golf, for most of the time you’re “playing”, you’re in between shots with plenty of time to let your emotions and thoughts around them interfere and affect how you play.

Here are some of the career highlights of John Daly:

• Winner of the 1991 PGA Championship: Daly won his first major championship at the age of 25, becoming the youngest PGA champion since 1921.

• Winner of the 1995 Open Championship: Daly won his second major championship at the Open Championship, beating Constantino Rocca in a playoff.

• 5 career PGA Tour wins: In addition to his two major championships, Daly won three other PGA Tour events: the 1990 PGA Tour Championship, the 1992 B.C. Open, and the 2004 Buick Invitational.

• 2 European Tour wins: Daly also won two events on the European Tour, the 2001 BMW International Open and the 2001 WGC-American Express Championship.

The PGA Tour has released its 2023 fall schedule, which features seven official events with over $56 million in prize money up for grabs.

Customization and personalization are a trend, not just in golf, but pretty much everywhere. The desire to have it your way (regardless of what it is) is the reason TaylorMade is launching MySymbol – a golf ball personalization program for its TP5 and TP5x golf balls.

Golf Ball Customization Today

Fun fact: Roughly 15 percent of the golf ball market falls in the category of souvenirs, novelties and corporate gifts. That covers anything from a logoed golf ball at the resort course you just paid way too much money to play (looking at you, Andy and TPC Sawgrass) or the buckets of logoed balls that litter the high grass and tree lines after every large tournament at your local course.

A good bit of the rest of the custom side of the ball business is your custom player number stuff. Too cool for 1-4? If you’re willing to pay a bit more, most ball manufacturers will print a custom player number for you.

I see you, Mr. 47.

That’s fine, I guess, but with its MySymbol Golf Ball program, TaylorMade hopes to take golf ball personalization to the next level.

Despite an Easter Sunday finish and Saturday's mess, the 2023 Masters scores impressive ratings. Plus, a notes on CBS's added production touches.

Jon Rahm's chase down of Brooks Koepka at the Masters delivered the tournament's highest final-round rating in five years.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf world that doesn’t always fit into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried

PUMA Ignite Elevate Wide Spikeless Golf Shoe

Your Thick Kick Tester

Dave Wolfe– Though I mainly talk about putters, I also have feet so wide that ducks hide theirs in shame.

We Tried It: Puma Ingite Elevate Wide Golf Shoes

The Wide Golf Shoe Search Continues

Welcome back to Dave’s Fat Foot Follies, my ongoing series exploring the available golf shoes for the thick of kick. Last time, we took a look at the adidas S2G Wide BOA Spikeless golf shoes. Since that review, the adidas S2G Wide BOA has continued to perform well, even through the nasty winter we had here in NorCal this year.

This time, I’ll be taking a look at another spikeless shoe, the PUMA Ignite Elevate Wide spikeless golf shoe. 

Everybody stay calm! It’s finally happening.

Today adidas announced Ultraboost Golf, the first golf variant of the ever-popular adidas Ultraboost. Based on the original 2015 design, the all-new adidas Ultraboost Golf shoes feature the same comfortable technology that made the OG a fan-favorite silhouette.

Release Details

Three distinct styles including two limited-edition colorwaysSpecial silver/olive colorway available to adiclub members on April 13General release at adidas.com and limited retailers on April 21Golf-specific updates to Ultraboost model include rubber lugs, reinforced PRIMEKNIT upper with hydrophobic yarn and anti-slip sockliner.Retail $200

OG with a Twist

What makes the Ultraboost Golf different from its casual counterparts? At first glance, it’s clear adidas wanted to keep the DNA of the Ultraboost largely the same. And why not? The Ultraboost is one of the most successful shoes of this decade, after all.

I, for one, love that the shoe is instantly recognizable as an Ultraboost. Between that and the nod to the OG design with the release of the iconic black/purple colorway, there’s no doubt this pair will excite even the most hardcore Ultraboost fans.

“At the heart of Ultraboost is a silhouette that perfectly blends high performance with streetwear fashion and that’s something we wanted to bring to the course,” said Masun Denison, Director of Global Footwear, adidas Golf. “Even though it’s been around for less than a decade, it’s such an icon within the brand, so we took our time to only add pieces that would benefit golfers while still keeping the DNA that make this shoe so great.”

You’ve heard about them, maybe even seen them. Everyday products are being hyped in your Twitter and Instagram feeds. They’re sometimes endorsed by pros, celebrities and influencers alike. But do they live up to the hype? We take a closer look.

Jordan Golf Shoes: What’s Feeding the Beast?

Between Tony Finau, Nelly Korda, Justin Rose and Keegan Bradley, Jordan golf shoes are becoming more mainstream on the pro tours. There’s no denying their popularity among the amateur ranks as well. I can hardly walk onto a golf course or scroll my social feeds without the iconic Jumpman logo staring into my “sole.”

Nothing fits the definition of “hype” quite like an Air Jordan golf shoe. Think of hype like an engine. In this scenario, Jordan golf shoes are the fuel. Influencers, celebrities and professionals are pumping the accelerator.

With no brake lights in sight, it’s fair to ask: Will the Jordan golf shoe hype ever stop?  If I were a betting man, I’d have a hard time picking against MJ and his squad. The Jordan brand has the formula down and, thus, the hype machine keeps on turning.

So, do Jordan golf shoes live up to the immense hype?

The PGA Tour announced Monday that world No. 3-ranked Rory McIlroy has withdrawn from this week's RBC Heritage tournament but did not specify a reason.

What happened to Rory? What's next for Tiger? Can Phil keep this up? We answer all the big questions coming out of the Masters.

Will Zalatoris, who pulled out of the Masters just before the event, underwent successful back surgery and will miss the rest of the golf season.

Welcome back, my fellow time-traveling GolfSpy, to a long overdue dive into History’s Mysteries.

Let’s pop some crystals into Uncle Rico’s Time Machine Modulus and place the Tee Handle in accordance with the user’s manual. Throw the switch, Kip, our mission is to go back in time and examine the birth, life, death and rebirth of Ram Golf.

Ram never reached the heights of Wilson, MacGregor or Hogan, but the company had more firsts to its credit than you might realize. In its heyday, Ram had more than 50 PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour pros in its stable, headlined by Tom Watson.

And the crazy thing is that Ram started as a family business that got into golf almost entirely by accident.

History’s Mysteries: The Strange Story of Ram Golf

Before Carlsbad became golf’s equipment mecca, there was Chicago. It was home to some of the biggest companies in golf back in the day. There was Wilson Staff, of course, along with Northwestern and Lamkin. PGA Golf, which eventually became Tommy Armour, was in Morton Grove.

Possibly the only confirmed golf ball from the final round of Tiger Woods' first major championship, the 1997 Masters, has sold at auction for $64,124.

Rahm's rampant run had nothing to do with the much debated divide in professional golf, but whether he acknowledges it or not, his was a win for one side.

LIV Golf's representatives fared well at the Masters, led by Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, who tied for second. "We're still the same people," Koepka said.

The Spaniard holds off Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson to win by four. Final round notes, quotes and anecdotes from a long-but-exciting Sunday in Augusta.

There's losing and then there's watching a win slip out of reach. For Koepka, Spieth, Mickelson & co. the pain was too familiar.

Jon Rahm turned a 4-shot deficit to start the day into a 4-stroke Masters championship, becoming the fourth player from Spain to win the tournament at Augusta National.

After a convincing performance on Masters Sunday, the green jacket belongs to Rahm.