Golfing News & Blog Articles

Scotland's Calum Hill took full advantage of favourable conditions to claim a narrow lead after the opening round of the Scottish Open at Fairmont St Andrews on Thursday.

Justin Thomas did the math. He totaled up all the miles he has traveled going from PGA Tour events to European Tour events to The Open to the Olympics and back. The number was staggering. And he isn't alone.

“Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.” ~ Jack Nicklaus

I agree with Jack 100% – that confidence is a huge factor in a player’s success, but building and sustaining it requires work. But what sort of “work”?

Research shows that up to 70% of our confidence is trainable and has nothing to do with the personality traits we were born with.

In this week’s lesson, I’d like to show you 7 ways to begin building confidence for golf and life, from the inside out.

1. Self Talk

We become the stories we tell ourselves every day. Do you think you are great? You should. Tell yourself why you think you are great and why you believe you can achieve your goals, every day. I do this as part of my daily morning routine.

2021 GOLF HITTING MAT BUYER’S GUIDE

If you have a hitting net, you need a golf hitting mat to save your precious grass or carpet.

Golf mats have evolved, allowing you to keep your wrists intact instead of shattering them every time you hit a ball. There are also mats on the market that can replicate grass for those weekend warriors and practice addicts.

We tested the most well-known golf hitting mats to provide you with the best information possible. Manufacturers included Rukket, Swing Turf, Wittek, and Safeplay. They offer an array of price points, different grass types, and features.

Breaking Down Hitting Mat Details

Whether you’re looking to buy a new hitting mat today, looking for some buying advice, or just want a closer look at what’s on the market, this guide will help you find the right mat to fit your needs.

Rukket Golf Standing Turf Mat

The Rukket Standing Turf Mat is an add-on for their Twin Turf and Tri Turf. The Standing Mat places the golfer to be on the same level as the hitting mat. This is a better setup as the golfer doesn’t need to change their swing to accommodate for simulated uphill or downhill lies. If the mat isn’t grounded, it can slip during the swing.

Aditi is tied-second on nine-under 133 with the Danish duo of Nanna Koerstz Madsen (64) and Emily Kristine Pedersen (63).

Nelly Korda took a big step toward a gold medal Thursday with a 9-under 62 that tied an Olympic record and gave her a four-shot lead.

American Lexi Thompson had a new caddie on her bag for the second round of the Tokyo Olympics women's golf tournament.

Defending champion Rose Zhang tumbled out of the U.S. Women's Amateur in the first-round of match play Wednesday, with qualifying medalist Rachel Kuehn one of seven of the top eight seeds to fall.

If you really want to improve your game, you need to track your successes and focus your efforts on what works for YOUR game. During your round of golf keep track of your performance. You should also keep a list of swing tips that are working for YOUR drives, fairway shots and putting. When you know what’s working for every type of shot you will build confidence in your game and the emotions that works best for your game.

Track Your Success and Failures
Focusing on what works for YOUR game will give you a fresh outlook at the start of every hole. To keep your mind focused on improvement at the end of each hole record your Fairways Hit in Regulation (mark “1” in the upper left corner of your score box); Greens in Regulations (“1” in the upper right) and Number of Putts (in the lower right) on each hole. Below your score box add any problems that may have increased your score: “R” for rough, “S” for sand, “C” for chip, “T” for tree and “W” for water. Of course your scores will drop if you have a full card of “1’s”.

List Your Success Factors — and use them! (This list will give you some ideas)

I can’t give you a solution for emotion because that is a very personal issue for every golfer. I can only remind you that your reaction to your last great shot or your last poor shot can destroy your next shot. Focus on being calm and relaxed before every shot to control your direction and distance.Wind in your face or wind behind you are both your enemies as they destroy your cadence. Slow down your backswing and take time to make your full swing to finish in balance.Eliminate Slices by taking your driver straight back, looping slightly at the top and shallowing your downswing so that your elbow almost grazes your side.Your driver is longer and takes more power to get down to your ball. Take double the time in your back swing as compared to your down swing. [I mentally say the words “one and two” where “two” starts the downswing.] You may also want to try opening your stance to make it easier to power drive up your target line.Use a Distance Finder to determine the distance where you want your ball to stop rolling. Get confident with the distance that each of your clubs can easily reach in flight and also how far your ball will roll out.Always swing with a full swing for any club above your wedges. Choke down on your grip when you want a shorter distance. Never swing 20% harder to reach a target or you should expect to pull your shot.Slow down your backswing to give more time to cock your wrist for lag before your downswing.Putt with your ball slightly forward of the center of your stance to ensure that you are forcing the ball to roll over the top (instead of hitting the ball into the ground so that it bounces on its way to the hole). [If you are missing 3 to 6 foot putts this is an amazing fix.]Feel Your Swing: This may sound strange but you will learn to “feel” your swing when you slow down your backswing and take full control of my downswing and the swing up my target line. You know when you have made the right swing the same way you know that pros twirl their club or drop their club at the finish of their swing.Sand Traps and Green-side Rough Shots are the most difficult shots for all golfers. Of course hitting the Green in Regulation avoids these shots. We all need to spend more time practicing different chipping techniques to improve our success in different grass and different sand conditions.

Yesterday I was 4 over par after 13 holes and then I lost my concentration or was it my MoJo ( or my real excuse: the humidity factor was 104 F). That’s exactly the reason why I decided to create this list. Plan to use this list or modify it for your personal list. Practice with GOLFSTR+ to get more consistent. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Golf Truism #69: The shortest distance between any two points in a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

With raised concern around recent surges in the coronavirus, the PGA Tour this week re-implemented an indoor mask policy for all individuals but stopped short of resuming its COVID-19 testing.

An International Golf Federation official says that ideally organizers for the women's Olympic tournament would let players know prior to the start of the third round that the event would be shortened due to a looming tropical storm.

A positive COVID-19 test kept Bryson DeChambeau from competing in the Olympics and still has him searching to regain energy as he competes in this week's WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. But he said he does not regret his decision to not get vaccinated.

The PGA Tour heads to TPC Southwind this week for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Here are our best bets for the event.

India's top-ranked female golfer is currently tied for second place at four-under 67, one shot off the lead. But she has already made waves back home.

Bettinardi evokes 1990s’ nostalgia with their new Forever 90’s limited-run Studio Stock 9 putter.This SS9 features unique aesthetics and design elements.Only 325 of this uniquely crafted Studio Stock 18 will be available Aug. 5.

Just when we thought we had recovered from seeing Fred Durst’s nookie at Lalapalooza, Bettinardi’s Forever 90’s SS9 drags us back again to the end of the 20th Century. Oh, snap!

This Bettinardi putter will make you want to pull those JNCO jeans out of the drawer, put your hair up in a scrunchie and dip deep into your chain wallet.

The Forever 90’s limited-edition theme is set 10 years after last summer’s Totally 80’s putter. Like its predecessor, the Bettinardi Forever 90’s putter brings you back to days gone by, evoking memories of, if not simpler, then definitely more colorful times. If ’90s’ nostalgia is your thing, you’ll have no problem showing Bettinardi the money for this putter.

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Hit Me Betti One More Time

Madelene Sagstrom shot a 5-under 66 to hold a one-shot lead after the first round of the Olympic women's golf tournament, as heat soared and a tropical storm approaches.

Xander Schauffele had the presence of mind to bring his Olympic gold medal with him to Memphis, just not enough bravado to wear it around his neck as he emerged to resume life on the PGA Tour after winning the Olympic men's tournament on Sunday.

Spirit of the Game: Renee Powell

August 3, 2021

From Clearview Golf Club

Renee Powell is one of the most resilient and persevering athletes of our time.

Raised on an East Canton, Ohio golf course built by her father, William “Bill” Powell, during times of racial adversity and segregation, Renee learned early on what it meant to excel against the odds. By the age of three she was swinging a golf club for the first time, and early into her teenage years she had won more than 30 tournaments.

The PGA Tour announced significant changes to its 2021-22 schedule, collaborating with the European Tour to co-sanction three events, dropping two World Golf Championship events and relocating the first FedEx Cup playoff event.

Top U.S. Golf Courses by Region

Fundamentally, ranking golf courses is a subjective exercise. Better players often prefer more challenging layouts. Less skilled golfers might appreciate wider fairways with fewer forced carries.

That said, the validity of any individual review isn’t tied to whether that golfer has a degree in golf course architecture or a preference for certain types of grasses.

If you’re a golfer, your opinion matters.

To build our list of the best golf destinations, we turned to TheGrint and to real golfers just like you.

ABOUT THEGRINT’S RANKINGS

To generate our rankings, we leveraged data from TheGrint, a golf handicap and stat-tracking service that also allows golfers to rate the courses they play. Think of it as something similar to Yelp for golf courses.