Because you make about 36 putts on every round of golf, shouldn’t it be the easiest way to lower your scores. Lydia Ko won the Lotte Championship in Hawaii with drives that were 30 yards shorter than the longest drivers but averaged 4 putts less per round than the longest drivers. That is great inspiration and wake up call for recreational players. You need to apply a unique strategy for every putt specifically if its a lag, uphill, downhill and sidehill putt.

A great starting point is to practice making straight putts by swing straight up your putting line. Your ball position should be slightly forward of the center of your stance to ensure a top spin roll without any bounce. Putt by rocking your shoulders and locking your wrists to make a straight putt. The best putters use their brains. They determine the speed of greens by using the practice green before they play a round of golf. They get a feel for the speed of up-hill, down-hill and side-hill putts as they are tuning up their brains. They also use these strategies:

Chip or Lag Putt Close to the Hole
Your good approach shot to every green is the starting point for your first putt. Of course you want to minimize the length of your first putt but if you don’t have the skill to stop on a dime, plan for a safe landing area on or near the green (avoiding perimeter sand traps and extreme slopes). Improve your chipping skills and lag putting skills to get your ball within the 10 foot of the hole where you have a real chance to sink your putt.

Strategic Putting
You need a different strategy for uphill, downhill and side-hill putts. Walk around your putting line to determine the direction of the slope and the amount of slope. The best putters will make a firm putt to minimize the break as the ball reaches the hole (at its slowest speed where it will break the most). Remember that all putts that dies short of the hole never goes in so plan putting with enough speed to pass the hole.

Uphill Putts (Make a firm putt and expect less break.): When your putt is primarily uphill, looks for the side hill break and make sure to account for that break but your FIRM PUTT UPHILL will limit the side-hill break. Make sure that you are putting to pass the hole by up to 2 feet to MINIMIZE the side-hill break.

Three-time U.S. Women's Open winner Annika Sorenstam is scheduled to compete in the U.S. Women's Senior Open Championship this summer, her first USGA event in 13 years.

Austria's Matthias Schwab continued his impressive run on the European Tour on Wednesday as an opening six-under 66 handed him a one-stroke lead at the British Masters.

The PGA Championship is a week away, but the tour first will head to Texas for the AT&T Byron Nelson. 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 2021 TaylorMade TP5x. 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.

About the TaylorMade TP5x

Of the two balls in the current TP5 retail family, the TaylorMade TP5x is billed as the higher-launching and lower-spinning. It’s also the firmer of the two though it’s not as firm as it used to be. A point of emphasis in the design of the new models was to remove any reasons not directly related to performance for golfers to choose one ball over the other.

The TP5 remains the only five-piece ball on the market from a major manufacturer. While its competitors would no doubt dispute it, TaylorMade’s position is that more layers provide greater opportunity to tune spin performance throughout the bag.

The manufacturing story remains a bit non-standard. You might even say odd. The cores and inner mantle layers are produced in Taiwan. The nearly finished balls are shipped to TaylorMade’s U.S.A. plant where covers are put on.

Bettinardi and Malbon Golf have collaborated to produce some dual-branded products.The release includes hats, shirts, headcovers, ball markers and limited-run putters.Products will be available on Thursday, May 13, at noon CST.

Tomorrow marks the release of a new collaboration between Bettinardi and Malbon Golf. While most of you are familiar with Bettinardi, that may not be the case with the newer Malbon Golf. At the risk of oversimplifying, Malbon Golf is a golf lifestyle brand geared toward the more youthful demographic.

According to the Malbon Golf site, “culture and golf enthusiasts Stephen and Erica Malbon” started Malbon Golf in 2017. As you peruse their offerings, it is obvious their target audience is on the younger side. These youthful golfers also likely fully embrace the modern social media-driven culture. Targeting this demographic is intentional. Their site says, “Our mission is simple: to inspire today’s youth to participate in the greatest game on Earth.”

.truegolffit-banner-inner-right { padding-top: calc(574/1020 * (100% - 430px)); } @media screen and (max-width: 991px) { .truegolffit-banner-inner-right { padding-top: calc(574/1020 * 100%); width: 100%; } }

So how does Malbon Golf connect to Bettinardi?

“Both our companies have mutual respect for the game, especially in terms of helping grow the game. My father and I investing in the inner city with The First Tee-Greater Chicago and, of course Malbon, with their events and programs, it’s been great to launch our first collaboration and look for future exciting products/events to bring both our loyal and growing customer base.”

Junior golf is more competitive than ever. There are more and more tournaments each year and a greater depth of talent and ability in every age group. To be competitive and reach a high level, a junior golfer not only needs good technical skills, but they need to develop a mental game that can allow them to access those skills under the pressure of such intense competition.

From my 15 years spent working with junior golfers on the mental game, I know that they can sometimes struggle with the following, all of which can prevent them from playing their best game in tournaments:

Losing confidence and self-esteemBeing too focused on score and the end resultBeing too nervous and having “performance anxiety”Not being able to rebound from poor shotsBeing too focused on what went wrongTrying to please parents and coachesComparing themselves to their peers and worrying about what they think

Parents and coaches have a big influence over the development of a junior golfer’s mental game and how well they cope with and overcome these struggles.

What they say before and after rounds can affect their junior’s state of mind and performance. When I do remote mental golf coaching sessions (link) with a junior, a parent or coach will often join us in the sessions, to learn the strategies to help them improve their junior’s mental game.

Fortunately, juniors are very “coachable” and can learn new mental skills and change thinking patterns quickly. If you are a parent or coach of a junior, I’d like to share 5 ways that you can begin working on it.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama returned to Japan after his victory but wasn't able to see his family until completing a two-week quarantine. During that time, he got to soak in his first victory in a major by reading articles and watching highlights.

Jordan Spieth said he tested positive for COVID-19 about 10 days after the Masters and had to withdraw from the Valspar Championship. He returns this week at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

PXG founder Bob Parsons joins us today with his take on the future of golf retail and how PXG is adapting their approach to selling clubs.

0:52 – An unorthodox approach to golf ads3:40 – Some retailers are reportedly charging customers to demo clubs11:29 – Could the solution be as simple as providing demo sets?19:08 – Does PXG have what it takes to be #1?24:39 – What does the game of golf look like in a year?30:32 – What’s PXG doing differently than the big 5?38:33 – The origin of “Parsons Xtreme Golf”39:44 – Bob’s favorite club & his philanthropic efforts45:07 – Ask Bob: What was your most difficult business venture?

Watch Now

Also available on:

iTunesSoundcloud

and all major podcast apps.

 

The post Should retailers start charging for demos? Ft. Bob Parsons | NPG 82 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Youth on Course Awards 20 Members With Scholarships

May 11, 2021

Youth on Course – the non-profit organization dedicated to opening doors, supporting dreams and transforming the lives of young people – has announced its 2021 scholarship awards granting $296,000 to 20 deserving high school graduates, continuing its commitment to providing youth with access to life-changing opportunities on and off the course.

Since the inception of the scholarship program in 2008, nearly 300 Youth on Course members have been awarded with financial support totaling $2 million. The graduation rate among all alumni and current recipients is 93 percent.

The class of 2021 will be attending the country’s most prestigious universities including Dartmouth College, University of California – Berkeley and the United States Naval Academy, among others. The average GPA of this year’s winners is 4.39 and six of the recipients will be playing college golf with five others possibly joining their collegiate team.

“Pursuing higher education, much like the game of golf, shouldn’t hinge on the financial burdens it places on young people,” says Michael Lowe, vice president of programs for Youth on Course. “These 20 students are among the brightest in the country and we, along with our scholarship donors, are proud to help them continue to work towards their dreams on and off the golf course.”

TaylorMade Sold – Key Takeaways:

Breaking News: TaylorMade sold to a Korean Private Equity firm for $1.6 billion.KPS Financial bought TaylorMade from adidas in 2017 for $425 million.Sold comes amidst reports of the highest industry-wide Q1 golf equipment sales on record.

We’re hearing rumblings this morning the rumored sale of TaylorMade is now a reality. Today’s Korea Economic Daily Global Edition is reporting that TaylorMade has been sold to Centroid Investment Partners, a Korean Private Equity firm for $1.6 billion.

The newspaper reports it is the largest-ever acquisition in the golf industry. The deal is expected to be finalized in July.

$1.6 billion is a hefty price tag. KPS Financial LP, a New York-based private equity firm, purchased TaylorMade, Adams and Ashworth from adidas four years ago for $425 million. At the time, it was believed KPS would streamline and restructure TaylorMade with an eye towards selling it at a tidy profit.

We’d say $1.6 billion – roughly four times the original investment – qualifies as mission accomplished.

TaylorMade Sold: Four Years Under KPS

Reports that TaylorMade was on the block first surfaced this past February. The New York Times reported the asking price would be in the $2 billion range.

Dustin Johnson won't play this week at the AT&T Byron Nelson, with the world No. 1 citing knee discomfort.

Tim Tebow is expected to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, which got us thinking ... what other sports comebacks can compare?

The Spectrum of NCGA Clubs: Happy 25th to Fore Women Golf Association!

May 10, 2021

We would all like to get the ball up and down from inside 100 yards, but the reality is that for majority of us we are more likely to take four to get down than we are to take two. Most of the top players and coaches I’ve discussed pitching with over the years have shared that they utilize some form of a template to encourage feel and familiarity with all the different shots we encounter from inside 100 yards. Here are a few ideas that I’ve found to work best for the everyday golfer. Watch….

I have three primary wedges that I might use for playing pitch type shots. There’s a strong chance that you have a slightly different wedge make up to the one I have. The idea here is to limit the two most lofted clubs to a comfortable distance less than a full swing. Here are my thoughts with each of my clubs:

58º

A full swing will carry 85 yards with this club but I never will attempt to hit it that far

I will use this club outside of the chipping zone all the way up to 60 yards and no further

A sensible “core distance” to practice with this club is 50 yards

The Travelers Championship, held the week after the U.S. Open, will welcome back fans but with a reduced crowd of about 10,000 each day. They expect to ask fans to continue wearing masks and maintain a social distance from one another.

As we look for ways to keep the ball rolling and leverage our Ball Lab to provide insights into the too-often overlooked golf ball category, we again wanted to step back and listen to what you have to say about the golf ball.

This 2021 iteration of our  Golf Ball Survey is an opportunity for us to learn about your buying (and playing) habits. In addition to taking the survey, feel free to share additional thoughts on all things golf ball in the comment section.

Oh … for those of you who have been asking, yes, another robot ball test is in the works for this summer. Stay tuned for details.

Take the Survey

Click here to take the survey.

The post 2021 Golf Ball Survey appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Alex Cejka won in only his third PGA Tour Champions start, beating defending Regions Tradition champion Steve Stricker in a playoff.

Rory McIlroy found his comfort zone at Quail Hollow, closing with a 3-under 68 on Sunday for a one-shot victory in the Wells Fargo Championship and ending an 18-month drought since his last victory in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.