Month: January 2008

Kelly Tilghmangate: A Seventy-Eighth Look

Kelly Tilghman had golf on the front pages for a few days earlier this season. Check out one man’s (hopefully) unique spin on the issue.

Thrash TalkWhile I’m sure most people would be happy to have heard the last of the Kelly Tilghman Affair, after mulling the situation over for several weeks I’ve decided I would be remiss not to give it the once over in The Sand Trap‘s op/ed space. Let’s face it, January is a slow news month in golf (Tiger romps at Torrey Pines… why am I not surprised?), and this is a political issue in an election year (here in the U.S., anyway). Pass up reading this and just visit the forum if you will, but if you read on I can promise to give you a thing or two to chew on.

To briefly review, Golf Channel‘s team of Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo were engaged in some light-hearted repartee on the subject of Tiger’s dominance of professional golf. Faldo asked rhetorically what other players might do to possibly compete with golf’s version of a Superhero, said “gang up on him for awhile.” In the joking vein of their exchange, Tilghman suggested that other top players “lynch him in a back alley.” The racist overtones of this comment were too much for Golf Channel executives, who suspended Tilghman for two weeks, after which the anchor issued a public apology and resumed her duties as lead anchor.

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Golf Talk [Episode 076]

Our site’s odds that Tiger wins the slam this year: 9 to 1. Go ahead – take us up on that bet.

Golf Talk PodcastTiger Woods kicks off his 2008 campaign the way he ended last year’s: with a win. Go figure. Adam Scott shoots 61 to win and we talk about Michelle Wie, the U.S. Open, and much more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 076 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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Tour Edge Adds Two New Drivers to Exotics Line

Tour Edge would like to add some magnesium to your golfing diet.

Bag DropQuick, what is the first thing that pops into your mind when I say Tour Edge? Reasonably priced clubs that always seem to make all the “hot lists” and score well on club tests in various publications? A lifetime warranty for all their clubs? The crazy-long Exotics line? I’ve never heard of them?

If you answered one of the first three then you already know what I am talking about. If your response was more along the lines of “never heard of them” then you may need to get out a bit more as the folks down in Batavia, IL make some outstanding clubs. We came away quite impressed by both the Exotics CB2 fairway wood and the Bazooka GeoMax driver in reviews last year.

Keeping with that tradition, the Exotics line has added two new drivers for 2008, the XCG and the XLD. Sporting some fancy technology, these two new drivers should be on everyone’s demo list. Unless of course, you have something against hitting the ball far.

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Volume One Hundred Thirty

Hand Me My 5 Iron, And A Snow Shovel!

Hitting the LinksGood Monday morning to you all from The Sand Trap and Hittin’ the Links. We are again on the job bringing you the very best that the golf media has to offer. Think of us as your personal golf story locating service.

In this volume we take a glimpse at Kelly Tilghman’s return and subsequent apology, contemplate how good Tiger really is after his nine-shot victory in San Diego, and look in on Adam Scott and the nifty 61 he shot in Qatar. Also, we surveil snow golf, take a look at a ridiculous golf gadget, and peruse some other tournament winners from around the golf world.

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The Five Most Frustrating Shots in Golf

“If you watch a game, it’s fun. If you play at it, it’s recreation. If you work at it, it’s golf.” — Bob Hope

Trap Five LogoGolf is often called the most frustrating of sports. There are layers after layers of complexity to learn. Each time we think we’ve got it down, something new rears its head.

When we begin to play, most of us struggle to hit the ball at all, let alone hit it where we want to. After awhile we learn to advance the ball to the green without too much trouble along the way. Sure we still hit tee shots into the woods and approach shots into the water, but eventually we reach the green. But then there are all those individual skills to acquire around the green that help us shave strokes off our usual round. We have to learn to stop the ball on the green, to get it out of a bunker, to chip it close from a tight lie, to pitch it reasonably close from the lettuce, to hit it high and have it land soft, to hit it low so it runs, to get the speed of a putt right&ellip; Suffice it to say, golf ain’t easy.

For those of us in colder climes, winter might well be the most frustrating time of year. But when it comes to playing the game, we’ve probably all had rounds where our game has so deserted us that we’re ready to quit on the spot, to wrap every club around the nearest tree and throw the bag in pond.

That’s our topic today: those golf shots that afflict us and sometimes make us to contemplate taking up another sport, any other sport. The best way to cure these maladies is to see a PGA professional. But barring that, I offer some totally unauthoritative swing band-aids that I’ve used from time to time. Use them at your own risk.

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Golf Talk [Episode 075]

In other news, John Daly is getting yet another divorce… and suing yet another group of people.

Golf Talk PodcastWelcome to 2008. This year we start off with discussion of Kelly Tilghman and “Lynchgate,” “non-playing cuts,” and the PGA Merchandise Show. We also talk about D.J. Trahan, Vince Cellini, Bob Hope, John Daly, and much more in this week’s episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 075 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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Scotty Cameron Introduces New Studio Select Line

You like options for your putter? Then you are going to love the new Studio Select line from Scotty Cameron.

Bag DropScotty Cameron has made some changes over the years to his Newport-style heads, whether it’s using various finishes like the Oil Can Classics, inserts made from Teryllium and German Stainless Steel, or even adding them to his Detour line last year. This year, Scotty is raising the customization bar with his new Studio Select line of putters.

What makes these so different from Newports of the past? Options, options, and more options with the highlight being the addition of removable weights that will give you the putter weight you desire without having to add unsightly lead tape.

Come join me as we take a look at the latest incarnation of the Newport.

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Volume One Hundred Twenty Nine

Nice Shot, Here’s Your Yacht!

Hitting the LinksHappy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I hope this edition of Hittin the Links finds you with a day off or even a chance to play golf. There’s no better way to start off the week than with a holiday!

In this edition we ask what in god’s name were the Golfweek editors thinking, welcome back Vince Cellini to Golf Channel, and congratulate D.J. Tahan for his win at the Hope. We take a look at the opening week on the Nationwide Tour and with 65% of the PGA Tour being a Nationwide graduate we ask who’s the next star? Also off the web, we peruse the results at the Women’s World Cup and Champions Tour, see what you get for a hole in one on the European Tour, and check in again with American Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger.

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Five Things You May Not Know about Drug Testing in Golf

Will 2008 be remembered as the year of the sample cup?

Trap Five LogoGolf has long prided itself on being the sport where players are expected to call penalties on themselves and rules officials help players interpret the rules rather than calling fouls on them. This year, golf begins random drug testing. Will it change the game as we know it?

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