Month: August 2007

The Lighter Side, Volume One: Golf Fashion

With apologies to Billy Crystal, one of the saving graces of being a recreational golfer is that, even if you didn’t play well, you can certainly look marvelous.

Thrash TalkIt is often said that one of the most alluring facets of recreational golf is the close connection we have to the professional game, something unique in comparison to other spectator sports. We can play the same courses, use the same equipment, and, thanks to the handicap system, even play against our idols if the opportunity ever arises.

But there is yet another way in which we can emulate our professional heroes: we can dress like them, too! Not sure you can? Well, I happen to have spent more than my fair share of time thinking about golf fashion (probably to the detriment of my swing), and so if you’re not Marty Hackel or one of the cast of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” you may learn a thing or two from what I have to say about golf’s sartorial side.

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Golf Talk [Episode 69]

Nick Flanagan earns… a month off on the PGA Tour with his battlefield promotion from the Nationwide Tour! Maybe he’ll go to Disney Land.

Golf Talk PodcastTiger Woods skips the first FedExCup playoff event, Lorena wins north of the border, and Nick Flanagan earns himself a month off with his battlefield promotion. Plus, a candidate for Jackass of the month and a nifty win by Brandt Snedeker and more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 069 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Money List vs. FedExCup Points List

Why do we have the FedExCup points list, and how does it differ from the money list? How much is a FedExCup points list worth? Let’s find out.

The Numbers GameWhen the FedExCup was announced way back in 2005, the questions began. Does golf really need a playoff system? What kind of playoffs doesn’t eliminate people? Why do 144 people qualify for the playoffs when only 125 keep their PGA Tour cards?

The question I asked myself (and which Dave Koster asked last year) was a simpler one: isn’t this just another way of rejigging the money list? The formula for handing out FedExCup points is very similar to the way in which prize money is handed out.

So why create a separate measure at all? Wouldn’t using the money list be “good enough”? PGA Tour fans have watched the money list for years. It’s a simple value that makes a lot of sense.

Let’s have a look at how things shook out. Are the money list and the FedExCup brothers from different mothers?

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Volume One Hundred Eleven

Who’s excited about the FedExCup? Anyone? Anyone?

Hitting the LinksWell, the FedExCup excitement is off to a raring start after the best player in the world has decided to skip Week One of the playoffs (yawn). Speaking of the world’s best, Lorena Ochoa has left no doubt about who is the best player on the LPGA Tour is as she notches her fifth win of the year at the Canadian Open.

This week, we have several links from a first time winner, honors for the “Great White Shark,” and a girl who just wanted to play golf.

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Avalon Lakes (Warren, OH) Review

Avalon Lakes is typical Pete Dye, but set in the middle of Ohio. Renovated in 2001, the course shows plenty of Dye characteristics.

Avalon LakesAvalon Lakes Golf and Country Club is located in Warren, OH about 40 minutes southeast of Cleveland and 45 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh, PA. Avalon Lakes was created by Pete Dye in the late 1960s and is one of the esteemed architect’s earliest creations.

In the late 1990s, Dye came back to rework his diabolical magic. Avalon Lakes underwent massive renovations that cost somewhere between four and six million dollars. The change took the original course from a great Fowler’s Mill style Dye course into a modern-era Dye course: target golf along the lines of the famed TPC at Sawgrass.

Avalon Lakes is ranked 67th on Golf Digest’s list of Top 100 public courses. Avalon Lakes previously hosted the Giant Eagle LPGA event for four years. The final year – 2000 – was the only time the LPGA players competed on the redesigned course.

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Nine Holes with Rodman Wanamaker

A brief history of the Wanamaker Trophy and the man for which it’s named.

ProfilesOn Sunday when Tiger raised the Wanamaker Trophy, a lot of people around the country might have wondered why it’s called the Wanamaker Trophy and just who or what is a “Wanamaker.” Something about the name “Wanamaker” made me think of Walter Matthau’s character in The Bad News Bears. But a quick Google search revealed that it was Morris Buttermaker who showed up to coach youth baseball with a beer and a cigar in hand – not a Wanamaker.

Though I knew the trophy preceded Matthau’s role by some 60 years, I didn’t know much about the man it was named for or about the history of the trophy itself. Thanks to PGA.com and a handful of other sites, it’s pretty easy to learn more about a very interesting man who helped lay the foundation for golf’s popularity today.

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The 89th PGA: Getting Back to Basics

Tiger mixes old school common sense with his modern power game to win at Southern Hills.

Thrash TalkOther than the fact that Tiger Woods removed any doubt about his place in the hierarchy of golf, is there anything we can learn from the PGA Championship at Southern Hills? I think so, if you’re willing to keep an open mind and scratch below the surface, that is. Pick your favored quote – “things aren’t always as they seem,” or “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Either way, the season’s final major reinforced some of the lasting truths about golf, and don’t let some golf prophet of doom tell you otherwise.

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Golf Talk [Episode 068]

Stephen Ames and Sergio Garcia: two of our favorites. One’s full of himself and one seems to have an empty head. Can you guess which is which?

Golf Talk PodcastThe 89th PGA Championship has come to a conclusion with a familiar winner: Tiger Woods. Woody Austin and Ernie Els gave him a run, Sergio Garcia was DQed, Phil Mickelson was a non-factor, and Zach Johnson and Angel Cabrera missed the cut. Full PGA discussion and more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 068 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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Ping Introduces i10 Irons, G10 Series Woods, Irons, and Hybrids

The last time anyone released this many new clubs they were named “TaylorMade” and it had been two months since their last new product release.

Bag DropPing has long been one of the top club manufacturers of game-improvement clubs. Their latest innovations continue along this track as they plan to release two new sets of cavity-back irons, the G10 and i10, along with a new addition to the G-series of drivers with the G10 and G10 Draw Drivers. And that’s not all: Ping is also releasing new fairway woods and hybrids to accompany the drivers and irons.

Let’s take a look at Ping’s latest clubs.

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