Golfing News & Blog Articles

Marcus Byrd's quest to become a professional golfer has persisted through all sorts of obstacles -- but it has never wavered, even after the death of his father. Now, his hard work appears to be paying off.

Zebra AIT Putters – Key Takeaways

Four putters modeled after the 1976 original ZebraAI-designed face technology and high MOI headsCNC-milled stainless steel face insert reduces skid, promotes better rollThree mallets at $249.99; wide-body blade at $219.99Available now at ZebraGolf.com

The new Zebra AIT putters are another chapter in 2023’s “back-from-the-dead” golf story. If it were a sitcom, we’d call this year Welcome Back, Lazarus.

We’ve already shared the new MacGregor MT86 irons backstory with you. Well, Zebra is joining MacGregor and another long-lost classic brand – Ram – in this unexpected resurrection. And all three revivals come courtesy of the Nevada-based Golf Brands, Inc.

And like its MacGregor cousins, the new line of Zebra AIT putters is a from-the-ground-up creation. They are all designed by the same mind that gave us $ 5 billion worth of classic putters, irons and metalwoods.

Zebra AIT Putters: Hello Old Friend

Do you remember the original Zebra putter? Released in 1976, it was quite possibly the first face-balanced mallet putter that went mainstream. It was also the first putter to feature interchangeable sole weights, unheard of at the time. Within weeks of its introduction, Ray Floyd put one in his bag and proceeded to set the 72-hole scoring record at the 1976 Masters. A decade later, the Zebra was still in Floyd’s bag for his U.S. Open win at Shinnecock. And in 1994, Nick Price gamed one for his Open Championship victory.

The Zebra name came from the putter’s distinct black- and white-striped alignment aid. And the original remains an iconic favorite. For instance, Golf.com lists the Zebra in its Top 18 Most Famous Golf Clubs in History. And Golf Monthly named it one of six putter designs that changed the game, joining Calamity Jane, the Bulls Eye, the PING Anser, the MacGregor ZT Response and the Odyssey 2-Ball.

 

The Best Cart Golf Bags of 2023

Picture this: You’re playing by yourself . You’re on the 12th hole and down to your last ball. You tee it high and let it fly … right into the water. With no one to borrow a ball from, you’re left to scavenge in the woods for anything to use on the next hole.

What’s the solution to this amateur-hour nightmare?

Buy a new cart bag!

The best golf cart bags in 2023 feature so much storage you’ll never be (golf) ball-less again. But the best cart bags offer much more than just ample storage space. We’ve tested 25 cart bags in order to help you find the perfect one for your game.

Jennifer Kupcho fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 to share the lead alongside four other golfers after the opening round of the LPGA Thailand.

No, I don’t mean that you should beat-up on yourself. Every time you play a round of golf you should be using your strengths to improve your game. Why not play a game against your current handicap or an average score that you would like to beat. Or you may plan to shoot a round under 100 or 90 or 80. The best way to succeed is set a realistic score for each hole that you are about to play based on the handicap level for each of the 18 holes.

You will never improve your game if you keep taking the same approach to every hole.

Every hole on every golf course is rated from 1 to 18 based on the hardest hole being the #1 handicap hole and 18 being the easiest. Before you start a round of golf decide on the number of strokes that you will allow yourself over par and mark your card on each of the lower handicap holes (difficult holes) to play those holes as a bogie or double bogie hole.

Stay in the Right Frame of Mind
1/ Take the pressure off your mind and relax the swing with each club. You will be amazing at how easy it is to hit every shot to 80% of your expected distance with your chosen club.

2/ You will lower your scores if you take the pressure off your game by playing shots to a safe area at the front of the green and then chipping for a 1 or 2 putt green.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, double major winner Dottie Pepper and swing coach Butch Harmon were among 12 finalists announced Wednesday for the 2024 class of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The Spaniard joins the storied list of LA champions and is quite giddy about winning an historic event.

Plus, Max Homa is emotional after battling Sunday, Tiger finishes with 73 and other random observations from Pacific Palisades.

The Grant Thornton Invitational, the new mixed event that is replacing the QBE Shootout, will include 16 teams of players from the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour competing in a three-day tournament for a $4 million purse.

The story of the new Penfold Ace golf balls is actually two stories.

The story of the golf ball itself is interesting in a “retro-brand-bringing-back-a-classic-name” kinda way.

But the story of how that ball came to be, and the path Penfold had to take to make it a reality, is a little more interesting.

Let’s talk about the ball first.

Penfold Ace Golf Balls

We’ve given you the big-picture scoop on Penfold before so here’s the short version. Penfold is a long-forgotten British golf ball brand that at one time could lay claim to making some of the best balls in golf. Founder Albert Penfold, while working in R&D for Dunlop a century ago, developed the very first golf ball to carry the name Maxfli. He started his eponymous company in 1927 and immediately began making a name for himself on both sides of the Atlantic.

The PGA Tour can amend its counterclaim to add Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and its governor as defendants in the tour's countersuit, which alleges LIV Golf interfered with its contracts with players.

Some of the more notable LIV golfers exempt into the July 20-23 tournament include past Open champions Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen and reigning winner Cameron Smith.

Reigning LIV Golf champion Dustin Johnson's 15-year sponsorship deal with Adidas has come to an end, with a source telling ESPN's Mark Schlabach the split is an "amicable separation."

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy break ground on the site that will house the duo's new high-tech golf league.

Suzann Pettersen, who represented Europe as a player on nine Solheim Cup teams, will be the captain for the squad in 2023 and 2024.

Golf ball fitting is complex.

Kinda.

A bit ago, I posted a thread on Twitter addressing the topic. The text of this post comes mostly from that. I made a few changes here or there to try and add a bit of clarity but, frankly, instead of continuing to dumb down ball fitting, I thought it was time we collectively acknowledged the complexity.

That means I can’t provide easy answers. I can’t tell you what ball to play (unless you’re Scott Beckwith, who should definitely play a first-generation OnCore ELIXR) but I’m hoping I can at least get you thinking about golf ball fitting in a more complete way.

And so here we go.

Phil Mickelson's HyFlyers GC will welcome Brendan Steele and James Piot to go with holdover Cameron Tringale as the second season of LIV Golf tees off Friday in Mexico.

Interesting news out of Chicago this morning: Tim Clarke is out as president of Wilson Golf.

Clarke had been with Wilson for more than 25 years and president since 2007, making him one of, if not the longest-tenured, leaders in the golf equipment industry.

Neither side is providing details on the decision. Global R&D Director Bob Thurman is taking over as interim golf GM.

Seventeen Years at the Helm

Clarke started with Wilson in the 1990s in sales and was elevated to president in 2007. At that time, Wilson was at its nadir. Bad decisions, a revolving leadership door and a quickly evolving golf market had made Wilson an also-ran. When Clarke took over in 2007, Wilson’s market share in irons was roughly one-half of one percent and annual losses ran into the $15-million range.

Wilson was in grave danger of going the way of other ill-fated legacy OEMs such as MacGregor, Spalding, Hogan and others. In fact, Wilson’s parent company—Amer Sports of Finland—was seriously considering shutting down the golf division. This was the situation Clarke inherited.

Our Job Is Your Game

The most comprehensive review of the best blade putters of 2023 is here.

Here at MyGolfSpy, we are committed to providing data-driven product reviews. For this Most Wanted Test, 20 testers each hit eight putts from five, 10 and 20 feet with each participating putter model.

If you’re in the market for a new blade putter, this review will be invaluable.

Most Wanted Blade Putter 2023: Cleveland HB Soft Milled 1

Bottom Line

Cleveland HB Soft Milled 1 takes home the best blade putter for 2023. One of its key attributes is the UST All-In multi-material putter shaft.

Pros

The best-performing putter across our testing pool from 20 feet. As well, it performs well from 10 and five feet.

From Jon Rahm's third win of the year to Tiger completing 72 holes, here's everything that went down at the Genesis Invitational.