Golfing News & Blog Articles

Patrick Reed had another rules controversy. Still, even if he did everything right, which he seemed to do at the Farmers Insurance Open, his history won't allow him the benefit of the doubt.

The rules issue that Patrick Reed faced at the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday is one that Rory McIlroy also confronted -- without a rules official and with virtually no fanfare. The PGA Tour said Sunday that both cases were handled correctly.

Paul Casey left behind one of the unhappiest years of his golfing career by capturing his first title since 2019 with a four-stroke win at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

Patrick Reed, who is tied for the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open, picked up his golf ball before a rules official could arrive, claiming he was seeking relief because it was embedded -- despite replays showing that the ball had first bounced.

England's Paul Casey carded an eight-under-par 64 in the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday to take a one-shot lead heading into the final round.

Viktor Hovland closed with a 7-foot birdie putt to take a 1-shot lead over a group of six at the Farmers Insurance Open on a rainy, miserable Friday at Torrey Pines.

The ability to control both the face angle and loft at impact is paramount to playing better golf! This element in the golf swing really plays a major role in my teaching philosophy. Here’s a simple, yet illustrative, video that shows what can go wrong and how it needs to work…

So much of what we do in our golf swings is dictated by the face angle in the early part of the downswing. An open face means a stalled pivot and handle to go along with too much loft and an inconsistent strike. On the other hand an overly closed face will encourage too much lateral drive in the downswing and cause the hands to ultimately be too far forward and de-loft the face too much. This image illustrates the two extremes…

If you can make, even subtle, upgrades during this all important part of the golf swing you’re going to see a marked improvement in both your ball-striking and flight. Give it a go!

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Belgium's Thomas Detry, eyeing a maiden European Tour title, surged to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.

Althea Gibson’s Second Act

Black History Month

February 1, 2021

Note: February is Black History Month. In celebrating, the NCGA will feature a number of articles on African-Americans who have had an impact on the game. This story was written by Rhonda Glenn and originally appeared on usga.org on Feb. 8, 2006.

Althea Gibson was famous for her amateur tennis career, during which she won one French, two Wimbledon and two U.S. singles titles in the pre-Open era, as well as doubles victories in all four Grand Slam events. Few remember that, in 1963, Gibson took up another challenge when she joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

As a young amateur who occasionally played in LPGA events, I first met Gibson in the snack bar of Delray Beach Country Club the day before the Louise Suggs Invitational began. I was introduced as a contestant and, accurately, as an announcer at a small Florida radio station.

“Oh, yeah?” Gibson said with a sunny grin.

The European Tour's Oman Open, slated for early March, has become the first event of the 2021 season to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Patrick Reed fired a bogey-free 8-under 64 on Thursday and is tied atop the Farmers Insurance Open with Alex Noren.

The Honda Classic has given Kamaiu Johnson a sponsor exemption two days after COVID-19 kept him from realizing his dream of playing on the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open.

USGA Announces Local Qualifying Sites for 121st U.S. Open

January 28, 2021

The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced local qualifying sites for the 121st U.S. Open Championship. The U.S. Open will be contested at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course), in San Diego, Calif., for the second time from June 17-20, 2021. Local qualifying, conducted over 18 holes at 109 sites in 43 U.S. states and Canada, will take place between April 26-May 18.

 

The post Sonoma County 2 Person Championship appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

South Africa's Richard Sterne got off to a good start at the Dubai Desert Classic carding a 64 in the first round to finish at eight under for a one-shot lead.

According to TheGrint founder Jose Torbay, the purpose of the phone-based application is “to make it easier to carry and maintain a handicap.”

I call it a handicap service with benefits.

Regardless, it started as most solid entrepreneurial pursuits do: a solution to a problem. It wasn’t the kind of solution that radically changed an industry or turned into a proprietary noun (e.g., Kleenex, ChapStick).

But it did result in more than one nasty gram from the USGA.

“TheGrint.” Say What?

After a one-year hiatus, the USGA on Wednesday announced that 109 local sites across 43 states and Canada will conduct 18-hole U.S. Open qualifiers from April 26 to May 18.

We love the game of golf because it’s a challenge for our minds and bodies to duplicate those EFFORTLESS swings that we see the pros make on TV. Striping a ball straight up the center of a fairway seems to be so easy when we watch so many professional golfers consistently making miraculous shots. I’ve done it myself but I just can’t maintain the consistency from the driving range to the course. Fortunately I learned that weekend warriors need more time in our back-swing to rotate my hips and shoulders as we create lag with my wrists.

We all know that a consistent rhythm or cadence in our swing gives us time to setup our bodies for the perfect transition, impact and balanced pose. When we are mentally and physically relaxed our backswing and downswing become effortless. Our minds and bodies are in sync. But what happens when our minds start to focus on the importance of the drive off the first tee or a shot along the side of a pond or over a mass of bushes. We tense up and our swing pattern changes.

The Problem
I discovered the problem for more consistent swings while watching recreational golfers execute the perfect practice swing and then destroy their swing when they move forward to hit a ball. We all pause to gather our thoughts before we execute our swing. We are actually building up TENSION in our minds and our bodies. We then speed up our backswing to hopefully create more power. BIG MISTAKE! Power comes from the speed of our downswing NOT OUR BACK-SWING.

When we execute a swing, we tend to speed up our back-swing with our arms but we lose the timing to allow the pressure to shift from our back foot to initiate the downswing. A rushed back swing results in swinging OFF OUR BACK FOOT. If we don’t give ourselves time to transfer our weight during the transition at the top of our swing we tend to fall back at the start of our downswing. That results in mishits where the ball squirts off the toe of our club face.

The Solution
Slow down and take more time in your back swing. Intentionally practice the same speed of backswing that you plan to use when you are swinging at the ball. Use that extra time to start the transfer of your weight to your leading foot as your hip bumps forward to start your downswing from the ground up. [The pros don’t need the extra time as they make all the right moves at high speed.] Give yourself that extra time to start your forward press with your weight shift before your hip rotation starts your downswing.

The PGA Tour heads to Torrey Pines this week for the Farmers Insurance Open. Our experts offer their best bets for the event.