Golfing News & Blog Articles

As LPGA Tour players compete this week in the last major of 2020 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, don’t be surprised to see many of them pull out hybrids and cavityback irons from their bags. This is true for the longest hitters as well as the most accurate players. Why? Because these clubs are more forgiving than long irons and blades.

And, truth be told, the average male golfer would benefit from a bag makeup that’s more like an LPGA player’s.

Before you argue, let’s look at the facts.

Average Joes versus The Best Women in the World

The average male golfer swings his driver at 93.4 mph. The average LPGA player has a driver swing speed of 94 mph. So, unless you’re swinging at 114 mph like the elite men, put away that extra-stiff driver in favor of a more flexible shaft.

But for most men, the fascination of what is in a pro’s bag centers around PGA TOUR players. With rare exception, the victims of this misguided focus are male amateur golfers.

Amy Olson, helped by a hole-in-one on No. 16, shot a 4-under 67 in Thursday's first round to lead the U.S. Women's Open by 1 shot.

Cristie Kerr was determined to play in the U.S. Women's Open just six days after dislocating three ribs when her golf cart slammed into a pole in darkness. The surprise was when she broke down in tears after an even-par 71.

Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie West and Bryson DeChambeau won't be playing in golf's final major of 2020, but they are hyping Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda and more.

France's Victor Perez carded a five-under-par 67 to take a one-shot lead in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship, the European Tour's season finale, in Dubai on Thursday.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly 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

The Sun Mountain Sync golf bag. This new golf bag was “purpose-built” to be used on push carts.

Product Expert

Dave Wolfe – Though most of you know me from the putter corral, I am also a dedicated push cart user, preferring to walk with a cart whenever possible.

The Need For the Sync

The new Sun Mountain Sync golf bag was designed to meet the needs of the walking golfer who uses a push cart. Historically, the push cart user either needed to strap a carry or cart bag to the push cart. Neither of those bags was designed to be pushed and, as such, neither is perfect when latched to the push cart. Traditional cart bags tend to be too large and carry bags are often too small.

What Makes It For Push Carts?

There is a fine line between a poor golf shot and a wonderful shot. Imagine the success in your game if you could perform the same swing with each club to impact exactly on the sweat spot of your club face and directly up your target line. An inch of impact error on your club face (up, down, out, in or any combination) or a few degrees off your target line can destroy any shot. When you consider the action required by every bone and muscle in your body, it’s actually amazing how we hit as many good shots as we do.

The human body is an imperfect machine but our brain somehow makes corrective actions to compensate for the different strengths of muscles on each side of our body. Past injuries like torn muscles, a strained tendon and broke bones all must have an impact on the way we swing a golf club. The older we get the more inconsistent our bodies become.

We are all frustrated with missed shots. But we all believe that golf perfection is within our grasp and that’s why we keep coming back to this game. YOU need a plan for consistency.

It’s risky to plan and then visualize your shot drawing into the green over water. Let your mind control your shot and enjoy the view.

How do We Maintain Consistency in our Swing?
1/ Have you ever noticed that you have played some of your best golf when you are injured with a muscle strain or playing in a mental fog while suffering with cold medication? Your new found success occurs when your mind is minimizing that monster inside your brain. Give yourself more time for a good backswing and time to follow through to a complete finish. Admire your shots.

2/ Why do they call Ernie Els “The Big Easy”? His backswing and transition are slow and in control. Slow down your backswing to give yourself time for hip and shoulder rotation as your wrists cock to create lag.

Tim Tucker, the caddie for Bryson DeChambeau, is working with Lexi Thompson this week.

Less than a week after a golf cart crash sent Cristie Kerr to the hospital, she will play in this week's U.S. Women's Open, her husband told ESPN.

Andrea Lee has withdrawn from the U.S. Women's Open after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Just in time for Christmas. Footjoy have released a new line for you men and women golfers out there. The FJ Stratos to be exact.

The Stratos shoe is designed to blend in on and off the course. Not to mention the Stratos being 100% waterproof, having a new VersaTrax+ outsole and a new cushioning system.

Although they do remind me of another shoe model, you might want to take a deeper look into these ones.

Grab yours today for $199.99.

The post NEW RELEASE – The Footjoy Stratos appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

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 Bridgestone Tour B RX. 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.

Before Tiger Woods became a Bridgestone brand ambassador, the RX franchise was the best-selling ball in the Bridgestone lineup. The RX’s popularity makes the argument that before Tiger, Matt Kuchar’s dad was the biggest needle mover for Bridgestone ball sales.

Go figure.

For what it’s worth, its popularity was the reason we chose it as the official ball of Most Wanted testing. As we came to understand the implication of lower compression for higher swing-speed golfers, we moved on to the Tour B X. However, because of its softer feel, the RX remains popular with slow to moderate swing-speed golfers.

December 8 2020

2020 NCGA Annual Meeting (Virtual)

Bob Goldstein was officially named the 94th President of the Northern California Golf Association at Tuesday’s NCGA Annual Meeting, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other board members for the 2020 NCGA golf season were also confirmed at the meeting.

Goldstein, a member at Sequoyah Country Club in the Oakland hills, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2013. Goldstein, whose wife is Christine, is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith College and Brooklyn Law School.

In this article I’m going to share three helpful exercises to help you smooth out the tempo of your golf swing. Let’s get the oil of the golf swing flowing through your engine! Watch….

I work with golfers on an almost everyday basis to help them complete the backswing and ultimately improve the rhythm and flow in their golf swings. These three drills will help:

Three Ball Drill

Tee up three golf balls and do this drill with a 9 or 8 iron

Keep in mind that the rhythm does not have to be slow here

When on the fairways of Legends Golf Club at Temeku Hills in Temecula, Calif., your golf ball isn’t the only sphere that will be getting your attention. Located in the heart of Temecula Wine Country, this area is also well-known for its hot-air balloon enthusiasts. So a round here, especially in the morning, may be […]

The post Course Spotlight: Legends Golf Club a standout in SoCal appeared first on Golf Blog, Golf Articles | GolfNow Blog.

Cleveland CBX2 Black Satin Wedges

Key Takeaways

Cosmetic update for Cleveland’s popular game improvement wedge.Cleveland uses a proprietary Black Satin PVD finish it says will maximize durability.Available Dec. 18. $139.99 in steel, $149.99 in graphite.

Today’s news announcing the Cleveland CBX2 Black Satin wedges really shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s Year Two for the CBX2 line and Cleveland, like the rest of the golf world, is looking to spice up a popular offering and give second-year sales a little kick in the pants.

The cynic may call it a cash grab but the pragmatic will call it smart business. We, however, will call it what it is: the same wedge with a new finish, and there’s no upcharge.

If you’ve read this far, you probably have questions, so let’s get to them.

CBX2 Black Satin Wedges – What’s the Deal?

Cleveland first introduced the CBX wedge in 2017 with a very simple message: most of us were doing it wrong.

COBRA RADSPEED Irons – Key Takeaways

COBRA RADSPEED irons are sleeker and slimmer than last year’s SpeedZone irons.3D-printed medallion helps maintain the lowest CG in the game improvement category.ONE Length option features even lower and deeper CGs for improved launch.Combo sets and a black PVD finish are optional.

Every golf journalist going is wearing out the rad references today in their launch articles on the new COBRA RADSPEED irons. Just so you’re forewarned, we’re going there, too.

If you’ve already read Tony Covey’s article on the COBRA RADSPEED drivers, you know RAD stands for Radius of Gyration. If you haven’t, go read it now, as Radius of Gyration is what makes the COBRA RADSPEED irons so gosh-darned rad.

I’ll wait…

OK, now that we’re all caught up, COBRA acknowledges its last two game improvement irons, the F9 Speedback and the SpeedZone, had a couple of issues. While both – particularly the F9 – performed well in our Most Wanted testing, it’s fair to say golfers weren’t terribly enamored of their looks.

So, yes, the COBRA RADSPEED irons are getting prettied up. But while beauty may be only skin deep, this makeover goes to the bones.

Cobra RADSPEED Fairway Woods and Hybrids – Key Takeaways

For 2021, COBRA is introducing three RADSPEED fairway woods and two RADSPEED hybrids.The RADSPEED Draw fairway wood is the first dedicated draw-biased fairway wood in COBRA’s flagship line up.The retail price is $279 fairway and $229 hybrid – full availability Jan. 29, 2021.

As with the COBRA RADSPEED driver family, the RADSPEED fairway woods and hybrids are built on a gnarly foundation of some pretty hella smart weighting technologies and bodacious engineering.

Hey, COBRA opened the door  – I’m just walking through it.

1980s lexicon aside, the COBRA RADSPEED fairway woods and hybrids maintain a good bit of the tech platform and aesthetics of the RADSPEED drivers. However, the most integral underpinning being the keystone radius of gyration.

After all, that’s what the RAD is for.

Cobra RADSPEED Driver – Key Takeaways

For 2021, Cobra is introducing three RADSPEED models.Low spin and forgiveness are key elements of all three designs.The retail price is $449 with full availability beginning Jan. 29, 2021.

If we’re going to wrap our heads around the story behind the new Cobra RADSPEED Driver family, we’re going to need to establish a basic understanding of where the name comes from.

“Speed” is because it’s fast. Every driver is fast. But even if we all know it, there remains a compulsion to say it.

“RAD” is an obvious play on 1980s’ slang. In that context. it’s short for “radical” which I suppose could apply to Cobra’s weighting strategy across the RADSPEED lineup – though that’s not it entirely.

The RADSPEED name itself is meant to be both memorable and fun in much the same way as Rocketballz and Big Bertha were for TaylorMade and Callaway. That’s some of it but far from all of it.

No Spectators for 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Dec. 7, 2020

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, preparing to commemorate its 75th anniversary, announced today spectators will not be permitted at this year’s event, scheduled for Feb. 8-14, 2021.

“Unfortunately our ’21 event will be unlike any of the previous editions of the tournament since Monterey County remains in a tier that will not permit live audiences at professional events in California,” said Steve John, CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our guests, partners, vendors, volunteers, PGA TOUR professionals, caddies, their families, and our community. We continue to work closely with the PGA TOUR, as well as local officials, to determine what our event will look like in February.”

John added that everyone associated with the tournament is “incredibly grateful” for the support the event has received from the community throughout the years. Since 1947, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has generated more than $176 million for charities in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties. Last year;s tournament was won by Canadian Nick Taylor (pictured, above), who edged co-record five-time champion Phil Mickelson.

Despite the ongoing challenges being faced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, along with the PGA TOUR, remains committed to supporting its charitable partners. John said opportunities to give are still possible and pointed to a recent example where an anonymous person donated $50,000 to the non-profit Foundation.