Golfing News & Blog Articles

Recreational golfers love to imitate the pros that they watch on TV but it may be doing you more harm than good. Of course we all want to make shots like the pros but their exceptional shots may be killing our mental focus and sending our games down the drain.

If the pros can land a 150 yard shot over a well trapped narrow green, why can’t we? For one thing, we don’t have the height and backspin with our 6 or 7 iron to hold the green. I tried this shot yesterday and it cost me 2 more shots to get my plugged ball out of the forward lip of a trap. What was I thinking?

Here are 2 more common sense thoughts that we should learn from the pros.

1/ Sinking 10-15 foot Putts: Last year’s leader in this category was Alex Noren. He sank 43% of those mid-range putts. The Tour average was just 30%. Recreational golfers should be happy to sink 10-15% of these putts. My point here is that you should not lose your cool if you miss a 10-15 foot putt. Plan on passing the hole (as the short ones never go in) to give yourself a chance for success but you should be happy with a 2-putt from that distance.

If you miss a 10-15 foot putt DON’T GET ANGRY WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE.

Comfortable with his position at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Rory McIlroy told reporters Wednesday that "consistency-wise, I've been as good as I have ever been in my career."

Beside good golf and the Super Bowl in the Phoenix area, there will be plenty of fun with the fans. Here's what else is happening on Tour this week.

Introducing the Takomo Golf 101T Irons. With golf equipment prices on the rise, a $589 golf iron set is an enticing option.

Takomo Golf is a relatively new direct-to-consumer brand based in Finland, of all places. Appropriately enough, they bring a Scandinavian mindset to their product by, as they say, “ensuring their timeless design encompasses quality and durability without compromising style for every golfer”.

Takomo Golf 101T Irons

The hollow-bodied 101T irons offer enough forgiveness to entice a broad spectrum of mid- to low-handicap golfers. Additional benefits include technology that should produce optimal ball speed numbers and a sleek topline with minimal offset.

We’ve seen the player’s distance hollow-bodied iron become popular over the past few years. Almost every prestigious OEM offers or has offered a player’s distance iron with the promise of being a perfect blend of forgiveness and distance. At just $589, Takomo Golf 101T is an intriguing option.

Product Specs

Right-handed only4-iron to pitching wedge7-iron loft: 32 degreesKBS Tour and KBS Tour Lite (regular, stiff and X-stiff)

Takomo Golf’s Mindset

Takomo Golf originated in 2019. Two years later, they produced their first iron, the 101 (101T’s older brother).

LIV Golf League lawyers said the PGA Tour has driven up LIV Golf's costs by "hundreds of millions of dollars" and driven down its revenue to "virtually zero."

Bettinardi Golf is releasing five new Studio Stock putter models this spring.The revamped line features milled 303 stainless steel construction and Bettinardi’s Roll Control face technology.Pre-orders begin Feb. 7 and will arrive first in the United States in April, then worldwide in May.

Keeping to their two-year release cycle, Bettinardi Golf has refreshed their Studio Stock putter line for 2023. “Refreshing” may be the wrong word as Bettinardi had decided to scrap all of the old Studio Stock models and release a completely new lineup this time around. Maybe “scrap” is too harsh of a word, too. Not like they were thrown away forever. Let’s go with Bettinardi has archived the previous Studio Stock models, possibly to return in the future.

Regardless, it is a rarity that a company does not keep a model or two in the lineup from cycle to cycle. Can you imagine Scotty releasing a new putter line without the Newport? What about PING without an Anser? Odyssey without a 2-Ball? Actually, that last one happened this year and it feels odd. How can you not include the iconic Odyssey?

Anyway, it is true that the entire 2021 Studio Stock model lineup has been relegated, with five new putter models replacing them in the 2023 cohort. New models are usually the best part of a release so what should we expect to see in a new Studio Stock putter? Of course you wonder about the models but maybe also if there are any left-handed or center-shafted models included as well?

Easy answers first: Yes on left-handed, no on center-shafted. Let’s explore the other questions as we take a deeper look at the 2023 Bettinardi Studio Stock putter line.

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PXG has released its first product in the golf ball category.The PXG Xtreme golf ball has three-piece urethane construction.Suitable for a range of players, PXG says the Xtreme is “one ball that does it all.”Retail price is $39.99. Available now.

PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons has stated: “Everything we [PXG] do starts with a question: ‘Can we make a better product?’”

As it relates to golf balls, for the better part of PXG’s existence, the answer was “no.”

A Slick Failure

When PXG engineers Brad Schweigert and Mike Nicolette left PING for PXG, certain contractual entanglements prohibited them from jumping right into golf club design. Instead, they spent their early PXG days working on a golf ball.

The result of those efforts was the Slick golf ball (I don’t recall why the one shown below is on a stick—probably some aerodynamics thing) and the mythology around its shortcomings have become the stuff of PXG lore.

Kicking off a deep dive into the 2023 U.S. Open course by looking at the first two holes at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.

This one is for the most devoted Quadrilateral subscribers, but there is still time to sign up to read about these two and the rest of this amazing George Thomas and Billy Bell redesign.

A mini-controversy over Aaron Rodgers' handicap, Augusta National makes a course adjustment and more from what you missed in golf this weekend.

The 2023 PGA Tour's next event is in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the WM Phoenix Open. Here is how you can watch all of the action.

Refresh Your Round Sweepstakes

Official Rules

February 14, 2023 — March 16, 2023

Refresh Your Round Sweepstakes

Official Rules

St. Andrews Links Trust announced on Monday that it will remove stone walkways it had recently added to the sides of the iconic Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole of the Old Course in Scotland.

Justin Rose took all the drama out of a long week with three quick birdies that sent him to a 3-shot victory Monday in the wind-delayed AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, ending four years without winning and making him eligible for the Masters.

Speed is king when it comes to putting and far too many golfers are wasting time and effort on trying to get the perfect read and line. Please watch the full 52 seconds of the following video for my full explanation…

The average PGA Tour golfer makes 1.5 putts from beyond 20 feet per tournament! Please read that stat again. They hardly make any longer putts and, unfortunately, neither do we. Of course we all make some, but let’s keep it real. When one goes in from the depths, celebrate and enjoy the moment. The key for most of us is to deliver the appropriate speed into the ball with a “good enough” idea pertaining to the line of the putt.

Putting Pact:

For all putts outside 15 feet I will simplify my green reading by selecting one of the five possible options: Straight; slight right to left or left to right; and big right to left or left to right.

We don’t need perfection when it comes to green reading as very few golfers actually start their ball on the intended line, but we do need speed and distance control when faced with these longer putts. My thinking here is that if we can mentally clear the way for more attention dedicated to the speed we will experience fewer three putts and be happier golfers…. and people!

Attorneys representing the PGA Tour plan to ask a federal judge to consider pushing back the discovery deadline and scheduled start of an antitrust lawsuit involving LIV Golf's claims that the PGA Tour is using monopoly powers.

What if I told you that, for me, the best part of the Masters has nothing to do with the golf?

Introducing the Air Max 1 G “Always Fresh”, the best (or worst) shoe we’ve seen this year. 

Each spring leading up to the Masters, soft-goods manufacturers open the creative floodgates with one goal in mind: to make the best Masters-themed gear. It’s my favorite time of the golf season because we get to see fun (often polarizing) designs like this one.

The “Always Fresh” NIKE Air Max 1 G and its peachy perfection are a fitting overture for the start of Masters’ gear releases. This one’s a bit out there but stay with me. The azalea theme has been overplayed for years. NIKE’s new, fresh take on the Masters is different, distinct and executed to perfection.

Peachy Keen

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Did NIKE really take the iconic Georgia peach and turn it into a golf shoe? Darned right, they did. Whether or not you’re a fan of this design, you’ve got to give credit where credit is due: NIKE left no room for interpretation. This is a Masters-inspired shoe through and through.

This article on the new MaGregor MT86 irons needs to start with a mea culpa.

In fact, it needs a mea maxima culpa.

In an old History’s Mysteries article on the life and death of MacGregor, I went all Monty Python on MacGregor and dubbed it, ahem, a dead parrot.

That didn’t age very well.

The legendary MacGregor brand is back and is being reintroduced with an iron that won’t just wake up the echoes of back nine roars at Augusta. It might just find its way into your bag.

An arbitration hearing that will determine the future of players involved in the breakaway LIV Golf tour began in London on Monday.

A Monday shootout awaits at Pebble Beach thanks to wind and modern green speeds.

Plus, other weekend winners are crowned and a round-up of the Swilcan Stone Patio disaster.

Justin Rose was a steady presence on a day of weather that changed by the minute, playing 19 holes in 9-under par and leaving the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the dark Sunday with a two-shot lead.