Golfing News & Blog Articles

No lack of viewing options and hi-tech upgrades will be available with coverage of the 2023 PGA at Oak Hill. Who actually watches all of these feeds is another matter.

The golf ball pattern wars are heating up – even if it’s mostly just two brands fighting them. 

If you’re keeping score at home, we’ve got Truvis, Triple Track, Pix, Matryx, Stripe, MySymbol, Fade, Triple Track 360—and now TruTrack.  

One of those is made up and it’s certainly possible I missed one or two other real ones but, regardless, it’s pretty wild that four of those have emerged in just the last month. 

I suspect it won’t be long before we see more. 

About Callaway Chrome Soft USA TruTrack 

Today, we’re going to focus on Callaway TruTrack. It’s Callaway’s latest golf ball pattern and it will be available on Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft X LS. 

Sei Young Kim shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Thursday at tree-lined Upper Montclair Country Club to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour's Founders Cup.

PGA Tour Champions golfers Billy Andrade, Timothy O'Neal and Paul Broadhurst each shot 67s to share the first-round lead at the Regions Tradition.

The DP World Tour has issued more sanctions against players who competed in LIV Golf or Asian Tour events without permission.

S.Y. Noh has taken the early lead at the Byron Nelson after tying the course record with a 60. Noh decided against going for the green in two on the par-5 18th and finished at 11 under.

Royal County Down Golf Club is renowned for its stunning scenery and challenging links course located in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. Here's a hole-by-hole description of the Championship Course at Royal County Down:

1. Hole 1 - "Annesley": A par 5 that requires a precise tee shot to avoid the deep bunkers on both sides. The fairway narrows near the green, guarded by bunkers.

2. Hole 2 - "Ninewells": A long par 4 with a fairway that slopes from left to right. Accuracy is crucial to avoid the bunkers and find the well-protected green.

3. Hole 3 - "Brandywell": A challenging par 4 with a narrow fairway and a blind tee shot. The approach shot must carry a deep chasm to reach the green.

4. Hole 4 - "Sleeve Donard": A par 3 that demands accuracy, with the Mourne Mountains providing a stunning backdrop.

Sweden's Simon Forsstrom carded a 7-under 64 on Thursday to grab a 1-stroke lead at the Soudal Open on the European tour.

2023 PGA Championship futures heading into one of golf's four majors.

For 2023, Vokey appears to be using its limited-edition WedgeWorks platform to explore the tail end of the wedge grind alphabet.  

As you may recall, the Masters was the occasion that warranted the release of the aggressively lofted 64-degree W grind.  

As we creep towards summer, Vokey is following the W with a high-bounce lob wedge option: the 58- and 60-degree V grind. Both are listed as 10-degree bounce offerings. 

According to our recollection, this is the first time the V grind has been offered since 2016. 

About the Vokey V Grind 

I expect most of you won’t be familiar with the V grind. It’s one of several occasional WedgeWorks offerings that’s generally considered a bit too niche for the Vokey retail lineup. 

Consider this a friendly heads-up. If you’re in the market for a launch monitor and aren’t looking to spend more than you would for a used Honda Civic, our pick for the Best Personal Launch Monitor of 2022 – the Bushnell Launch Pro – has just been reduced to $2999.

That’s $1000 less than it was at launch.

To get the most out of the Bushnell Launch Pro launch monitor, you’ll still need one of Bushnell’s annual subscription packages, but with the price cut, in addition to being best-in-class, the Bushnell Launch Pro is as now as affordable as anything else in the category.

To be sure, we’re anxious to see how the new SkyTrak+ performs, but Bushnell Launch Pro is a proven performer in the personal launch monitor category and at $2999, it’s more appealing than ever.

If you’ve been on the fence, now might be the time to jump.

The PGA field is set and it may be a hot topic. Plus, Oak Hill from above, stories from Local Qualifying, Ryu's in Pebble Beach, Task Forcers added to Ryder Cup cart team and Reads.

Scottie Scheffler is eager to get back on the course this week after having not played in a PGA Tour event in nearly a month.

I have always wondered why all of my golfing buddies and I rarely hit our drives over 220 yards when I see some recreational golfers and all of the pros hitting over 280 yards. In Jon Rahm’s case its strength and club head speed but I’ve seen scrawny golfers drive 280 yards too. I just watched a 110 pound golfer hitting a 290 yard drive and demonstrating 3 things that he did to gain 50 yards. We can all do this.

In all cases he hit each drive dead center and used a swing monitor to verify a consistent swing speed just over 100 MPH. [Recreational golfers swing at about 85 MPH so that accounts for a gain of 35 yards but it would still be nice to hit 255 yards on every drive.]

POSITIVE ATTACK ANGLE
All 3 of his recommendations were focused on generating more power impacting the ball TEED UP HIGHER to allow an upward attack angle and to reduce ball rotation from 4000 RPMs to 2000 RPMs. Most recreational golfer impact their drive with a downward (negative attack angle) swing. Hitting with a positive attack angle is the best solution.

1/ Shoulder Angle: Setup with your trailing shoulder below your leading shoulder and your shoulder line parallel with your target line.
2/ Head Back at Impact: This is totally different than swinging with an iron where you swing to hit down to impact the ball before you skim the turf. Keep the leading side of your head behind the ball at impact.
3/ Ball Forward: Setup with your ball lined up with the toe of your leading foot (instead of your leading heel). Adjust your stance to make sure that you are still driving the ball up your target line. Moe Norman used a slightly closed stance with his driver starting on the ground about 4 or 5 inches behind the ball to launch it in a positive plane upward.

These are pretty simple adjustments that every golfer should be doing immediately to gain more distance with your driver. Adding head speed (to gain 2.5 yards/ MPH) requires more strength for a more powerful release of lag through your ball. Exercise when you can but practice with GOLFSTR+ to launch your straight arm drives. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Brooke Henderson will sit out this week's Cognizant Founders Cup on the LPGA Tour because of an illness, TSN reported.

Tiger Woods officially won't be playing in the PGA Championship, while Jordan Spieth is entered after missing the AT&T Byron Nelson with a wrist injury.

Fred Couples was named a U.S. vice captain Wednesday for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.

The PGA Tour is returning to the Grand Strand. The tour announced Wednesday a four-year agreement to hold a full-field event with a purse of $3.9 million starting in 2024 at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

K.H. Lee goes for a three-peat at AT&T Byron Nelson, LIV heads to Oklahoma, and Minjee Lee looks to defend her Founders Cup title.

The Q1 financial reports for golf’s two top dogs are out. And if you’re adept at reading tea leaves, you’re going to have a field day. Both Acushnet and Topgolf Callaway are presenting investors with rosy scenarios and there are no real danger signs.

But both companies are hedging their bets for 2023.

Acushnet’s numbers are typical for the company, with one glaring outlier. Net sales for Q1 topped $686 million, up over 13 percent from last year. Net profits are up over 15 percent at $93 million for the quarter.

The Topgolf Callaway Q1 press release, however, didn’t even lead with sales or profit figures. The top-of-the-page bullet points only said Q1 revenue and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) “exceeded expectations” and it got even less sexy from there.

Let’s break both Q1 financial reports down but first here’s our standard disclaimer: