Golfing News & Blog Articles

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Quadrilateral: Major(s) News & Notes: January 20, 2022

Allan Robertson, that great giant of the game in the days that are gone, was no gigantic driver. It was his accuracy, combined with his imperturbable sangfroid, that pulled him through victorious in so many fights. HORACE HUTCHINSON

Change Your Setup & Swing Thought for Every Type of Club

Golf is not a casual game that you can play without changing your swing thought for every type of club. The most dramatic change should be made when using your driver and your irons but every club requires attention. These swing thoughts can revolutionize your game.

Every golfer has different physical injuries, flexibility, and strength as well as clubs with different weights and shaft flexibility. I am recommending that you test all of your clubs at a practice facility using the recommendations below and then make slight adjusts for your stance, grip and ball position to accommodate your physical issues. Determine your ideal setup for each type of club.


There are some basics that never change for your setup and swing sequence:
–Your grip should be light and relaxed. Tense muscles used by Bryson DeChambeau will NOT improve most golfer’s games. Muscle tension only changes the consistency of your game. You may even have to adjust your stance and swing as your body and mind relax or tense over 18 holes of golf.
–Avoid swinging over the top by keeping your leading wrist flat to help you shallow the downswing for all of your fairway clubs (driver, woods, hybrids and irons).
–Your backswing should take at least double the time of your downswing to give you more time to coil your body and to add wrist lag. (Rushing your backswing limits your swing and power!) Hideki Matsuyama showed us that a slow backswing can create powerful results.

Hideki Matsuyama won the Sony Open with an amazing pause at the top of every swing. His backswing takes about 3 times as long as his downswing.

Each Type of Club Requires a Unique Swing:
Driver: Position your teed-up ball forward of the center of your stance so that the arc of your swing is RISING to launch your ball upward. To optimize your swing, tilt your spine to your trailing side for more power to launch your ball upward as you push forward with you trailing foot.


Fairway Woods and Hybrids: These clubs are designed to slide over the surface of the ground to avoid slowing down their impact speed at the launch angle of the face of the club. Impact should be at the bottom of your swing arc. You can’t afford to be swaying back on your trailing foot during impact. To optimize your impact, rotate your hips and shoulders around your straight spine over your ball and avoid swaying back during your backswing.

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CBS Returns With Saturday Farmers Finish And More Technology

The CBS golf gang briefed media on plans for the upcoming 2022 season, the 65th consecutive for the network. A few highlights:

CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said the relationship with the PGA Tour “has never been better” as they start a new production arrangement

The Tour provides “below the line” personnel and pictures, CBS retains control of personnel and ability to deliver enhancements

McManus credited Farmers for “coming up with” this year’s Saturday finish to avoid AFC and NFC Championship games

Jim Nantz will work the opening Farmers event remotely from the AFC Championship game site and said “my longing for golf is the one that I feel the most” of sports he covers.

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Titleist AVX Golf Balls

 The Titleist AVX golf ball is a bit of an enigma.

Based on its material make-up, it doesn’t fit with the three-piece, TPU-covered Titleist Tour Speed or two-piece Titleist Tour Soft. Yet, without any obvious connection to the Pro V1 franchise (say, like calling it Pro AVX or something), it exists in golf ball purgatory. It’s not a value-priced option aimed at the golfer who wants to play Titleist without paying a premium. However, it lacks perhaps the most identifiable moniker in the golf ball industry—Pro V1. For those of you who enjoy pop-culture references, the AVX is like working on Dutton’s Yellowstone ranch but without the “Y” brand.

So, that roughly covers what AVX isn’t. But what about what AVX is?

Back It Up

Titleist introduced AVX in 2018 primarily as an alternative to the bellwether Pro V1 and Pro V1x offerings. The intent was to give golfers softer overall feel with less spin and a lower trajectory. Point of reference: Titleist Pro V1 is billed as mid-launch/mid-spin while Pro V1x is high-launch/high-spin, relatively speaking.











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COBRA LTDx Fairway Woods and Hybrids

When any brand launches a new family of metalwoods—in this case, the COBRA LTDx—the blueprint remains largely the same. Put another way, manufacturers generally apply whatever technology makes sense, either from a story-telling or performance standpoint, in the accompanying fairway woods and hybrids.

It’s also no secret that sell-through of fairway woods and hybrids depend a good bit on the retail success (or lack thereof) of the driver. So, while fairway woods and hybrids deserve some individual attention, the familial context is just as important.

COBRA LTDx Fairways

The COBRA LTDx drivers are the hopeful reboot of the original LTD drivers. And the inherent challenges of sequels are noted though it’s fair to point out that the original LTD fairway launched in 2015.

That aside, the performance objectives of the COBRA LTDx fairway woods and hybrids aren’t the same as the drivers; still, COBRA believes this iteration is more Godfather Part 2 than Jaws 2.











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COBRA LTDx Irons

COBRA LTDx Irons – Key Takeaways

New PWR-COR weighting systemVariable and ONE Length options$899 in steel, $1,099 in graphiteAvailable at retail Feb. 11

Want to know what the new COBRA LTDx irons are all about? Simple …

Distance.

Pure, unashamed, unabashed, unadulterated distance.

You can add undaunted, unapologetic and unflinching, as well.

When COBRA makes an iron for a purpose, it doesn’t screw around. You want sleek, sexy, traditionally lofted forged blades? COBRA has the blad-iest of blades. Looking for futuristic manufacturing methods? COBRA does that, too.

Cobra LTDx irons
Cobra LTDx Irons

Cobra LTDx irons

Cobra LTDx irons


COBRA LTDx irons
COBRA LTDx irons








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COBRA LTDx Drivers

Not all that long ago, I was what you might call a COBRA driver guy. The flirtation started when COBRA started making blue drivers. AMP and BIO Cell made me COBRA-curious and by FLY-Z, I was all in. LTD (not blue), F6 and F7 were all mainstays. After that … Yeah, not so much, but with the launch of the LTDx family of drivers, I could see myself being a COBRA driver guy again.

Not that you asked but my amicable breakup with COBRA started with F8. There was nothing particularly wrong with the driver but, by the time F8 and its CNC-milled face launched, the PING G400 LST had captured my heart. SpeedBack, SpeedZone and RADSPEED all followed and, despite COBRA innovating every step of the way, nothing took.

I’ll level with you. I think the sound of everything after F7 left something to be desired but, in hindsight, I think the thing is that I just wanted another LTD. I think a lot of us did.

And so here we go.

a really cool photo of the Cobra LTDx driver


a photo of the Cobra LTDx driver family
A closeup of the Cobra LTDx PWR-CORE

close up of the CNC milled face on the Cobra LTDx LS Driver



an image of the Cobra LTDx LS driver

an address view of the Cobra LTDx Driver
the Cobra LTDx MAX driver
An address view of the Cobra LTDx MAX driver

A photo of the Cobra LTDx driver

An address view of the Cobra LTDx Driver

































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A quick break from day jobs could lead a player at the Latin American Amateur Championship to the Masters

Not every player at the Latin America Amateur Championship has hopes of playing on a professional tour. Some are here on breaks from work. But all have the dream of the Masters.

Does Phil Mickelson have more magic in store for 2022, or was that PGA Championship the last of it?

Phil Mickelson is the host this week at The American Express. That got our experts to thinking -- can he produce more magic in 2022? Plus, a look at the next breakthrough 40-something and more.

PGA Tour best bets: The American Express

The PGA Tour heads to La Quinta, Calif. this week for The American Express. Here are our best bets for the event.

How to watch the PGA Tour's The American Express on ESPN+

PGA Tour action expands to four feeds this week at The American Express. Here is how to watch on ESPN+.

From Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko to big money, everything you need to know for 2022 on the LPGA Tour

The chase for No. 1 is on. There's a new commissioner. There's more money at stake. A big season opens on the LPGA Tour. Here's a look at the things to watch.

Reminder: Latin America Amateur From Casa De Campo This Week

It takes a strong mind to choose a route which requires three strokes to reach the green if one sees an opponent take a route which, if all goes well, will bring him home in two. ROBERT HUNTER

/ Geoff Shackelford

The event returns after a year off and will offer the winner a spot in The Masters, The Open at St Andrews, The Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.

Two hours will be broadcast daily from Pete Dye’s masterpiece, with live streaming at LAACgolf.com and these outlets across the globe:

ESPN2/ESPNEWS (United States), Fox Sports (Australia), SuperSport (Southern Africa), TSN (Canada), Sky (New Zealand), GolfTV throughout Europe, SBS Golf (Korea) and Sky Sports (United Kingdom). 

All times ET:


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Monty: "There is a one-dimensional quality to it that was never the case back in my day."

It takes a strong mind to choose a route which requires three strokes to reach the green if one sees an opponent take a route which, if all goes well, will bring him home in two. ROBERT HUNTER

/ Geoff Shackelford

GolfDigest.com’s John Huggan talked to Colin Montgomerie about a wide range of topics and since this is a state of the game blog, I’d be remiss in now sharing this which includes some vintage third personspeak. But that should not take away from the essence of what he’s saying:

“And it has gotten worse since then,” he continued. “Not worse. Although that’s me saying that it has. Now they’re hitting wedges. I see them all on the range. There’s 131 of them this week—because I’m 132nd—and they all seem to play the same game and in the same way. There is a one-dimensional quality to it that was never the case back in my day. I know I sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but golf never used to be one-dimensional. It’s not the same now. It’s all about brute force.”

Indeed, like so many of his generation, Monty bemoans the relative lack of nuance and subtlety present in modern-day tour golf. He yearns to see players “holding up” mid-irons against left-to-right breezes, displaying the artistry that has been lost amidst so much science.

“I don’t think ‘peak Monty’ would do as well on this tour as he did when he played here full-time,” he said. “I would have to find a way to add more distance, just to compete. Nick Faldo would be the same. And so would Luke Donald, even more so. Luke holed everything for 18 months and got to World No. 1, which is hugely commendable. But how he did it was never going to be a sustainable formula. Not now anyway. Luke couldn’t survive now. And neither would I. I’d have to adapt. I’d have to become one of those guys on the range hitting the ball the same way as everyone else.”

MyTaylorMade+ – A New Digital Golf Ecosystem

MyTaylorMade+ represents a significant overhaul of what was TaylorMade’s MyRoundPro App. If you’re not familiar with MyRoundPro, it was TaylorMade’s foray into sensor-less shot/round tracking. With the rise of mostly automated shot-tracking platforms like Arccos and ShotScope, unless you’re willing to go full DECADE, entering every shot by hand is neither appealing nor necessary. Golfers should want more.

With that in mind, MyRoundPro needed to evolve.

Where evolution might creep towards revolution is a new structure which arguably makes TaylorMade the first golf company to offer a rundle.

What’s a rundle, you might ask?



Free instructional content is included with the MyTaylorMade+ App


a image representing the Tour Trash section of the MyTaylorMade+ App
A MyTaylorMade+ subscription gives you unlimited free club demos


Unlimited instruction is included with your MyTaylorMade+ Legend membership




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How colleges in the United States are heavily represented at the Latin America Amateur Championship

More than 50 United States colleges will be represented at the Latin America Amateur Championship, including five players from Arkansas. All arrive with the same goal: a spot in the Masters.

How to watch the Latin America Amateur Championship on ESPN networks

The Latin America Amateur Championship has a spot in the Masters riding on it. Here's how you can watch this week on ESPN's family of networks.

Telegraph: Stenson Facing Decision On Ryder Cup Captaincy Or Saudi's $30 Million

The task confronting the architect is to provide a scene of action that adapts itself to the play of each player impartially. It will be necessary briefly to consider how all the different classes of players are affected and to what extent their claims must inevitably influence the architect. TOM SIMPSON

/ Geoff Shackelford

James Corrigan says Henrik Stenson has been given an ultimatum: take $30 million for the apparently-coming Saudi Golf League fronted by Greg Norman, or the 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy in Rome.

Traditionally the captain is named around this time (just under two years away), and was expected this week in Abu Dhabi. But these are not normal times, as Corrigan notes.

Along with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, Stenson has been linked with the SGL, with reports indicating he has been offered $30 million. So will he opt for the Saudi gold or the blue and gold? “It is a heck of a decision,” an inner member of Stenson’s coterie said. “It’s complicated not only by the huge amounts on offer.

“This [captaincy] could be his one and only chance with so many big Europe figures about to come into the picture for future matches. But then, it’s far from guaranteed he will get it this time anyway, with Luke obviously having a strong shout and the case for Karlsson seemingly strengthening by the day.”


Sony Open Finish Highlights What We Should See More Often In Big Time Golf

The task confronting the architect is to provide a scene of action that adapts itself to the play of each player impartially. It will be necessary briefly to consider how all the different classes of players are affected and to what extent their claims must inevitably influence the architect. TOM SIMPSON

/ Geoff Shackelford

Hideki Matsuyama's tactical decision and a go-for-the-green 3-wood shows what can make pro golf genuinely thrilling. Gosh it’s fun when to see a player go for a par-5 in two with a wood!

The latest Quad is free for all to read because this is not about a major and I know there are Cowboys fans across the globe grieving today.



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