Year: 2009

TaylorMade Launches R9, Burner Irons, and Rescue 2009 Hybrids

TaylorMade tosses out enough options to make gear heads drool.

Bag DropTaylorMade Golf has released their 2009 golf lineup and it’s a doozy. Boasting some pretty snazzy technology and giving you enough options to make your head spin, TaylorMade has something to offer to every level of golfer from the high-handicap duffer to the gearhead who tweaks his clubs after every round.

Yes, we quite frequently poke fun at the folks at TaylorMade for releasing a new driver every other week, but once in awhile they release some equipment that causes you to stop what your doing and pay attention. And they have some of that with this new lineup. How good is it? Ask Pat Perez who won the Bob Hope over the weekend with the R9 driver in his bag. So join me as we see the latest and greatest from the folks at TaylorMade.

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Nine Holes with Boo Weekley

What’s not to like about a guy who wears camo and fights apes?

ProfilesThe odds-on favorite to win this year’s Verizon Heritage is Boo Weekley. He’s won the last two, so why not add one more?

What’s a little more of a mystery is why he hasn’t won anywhere else. In two full seasons on the PGA Tour, he’s had ten top-ten finishes, but has only managed to finish at the top of the leaderboard at Hilton Head. Obviously, the course suits him. It’s a ball-striker’s layout, it’s in the South (where Boo grew up), and with its small greens, putting is less likely to be the determining factor in a tournament.

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Getting Your Golf Fix In Two Feet of Snow: Stash the Clubs and Open a Book

Have a look at a few standouts I recently knocked off my reading list.

Thrash TalkSometime during the past week, immersed in the post-holiday languor, I revisited one of my favorite golf books from the past decade.

I am not a great fan of David Leadbetter. His accent and 17 Trion-Z accessories (they ought to come out with an “ionic” band for his inane hat) generally annoy me. However, it must be acknowledged that the man knows his stuff, both with respect to helping an individual improve and to poseessing an acute understanding of the historical development of the golf swing.

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The Sand Trap Rules Quiz Number Three

Tournament rules, read them, know them , love them

USGA LogoSorry for the TST Rule Quiz hiatus, Sand Trappers, but I am back and ready to test your rules knowledge. I mean you can never know the rules too well, right?

In this third installment of the Rules Quiz, we delve into some useful rulings for tournament play. My hope is that after reading this someone out there who is sitting on the fence trying to decide whether or not to start playing in their club’s tournaments will feel confident enough to go ahead and join up. The rules are there to help you, and for the most part are fairly simple if you get the basics down. For all the lesser known rules, you can carry a USGA Rule Book. The point is there is never anything bad about playing by the rules.

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Nike Golf Releases SQ DYMO Drivers

Nike Golf comes out with what they like to call “a Tour Van on a stick.”

Bag DropThe folks at Nike Golf aren’t wasting any time getting a new driver out to the masses in 2009 with their release of their SQ DYMO drivers. While billing itself as the winningest driver brand on the PGA Tour the past three years (it helps to have a guy named Tiger Woods on your team), there is no doubt the impact the SQ line as a whole has made on the golf industry.

The SQ DYMO line is the latest incarnation of drivers to come from the folks in Beaverton, OR and they utilize some fancy geometry in order to provide a better fit for today’s golfer. Tag along as we take a look under the hood at the latest from Nike Golf.

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Volume One Hundred Seventy Four

When Tiger hits a driver its news worthy?

Hittin' the LinksHello and welcome to the MLK Day edition of Hittin’the Links. With any luck some of you, like me, will get to tee it up on this extended weekend. If not, well, I’ll hit a drive for you. Lots of things going on this week. The inauguration is causing a big buzz, even in the golf world, with none other than Tiger Woods speaking.

In this volume of HTL we look at Derrick Fujikawa, investigate seamless golf clothing, and find out why its looking like Captain Monty. Also, we examine the Charles Barkley-Hank Haney connection, look at golf destination New Mexico, and check in on all the tournaments going on this weekend. Read on!

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Five Not-so-Fearless Predictions for 2009

A few sure things to look for in 2009.

Trap Five LogoMy crystal ball seems to have developed an astigmatism of late. My fantasy football team, the Big Darby Beer Mussels, finished 3-13. I was so far down in the office bowl picks that I nearly won my entry money back for coming in last.

So it was with some trepidation that I revisited the Fearless Predictions that I made for 2008 in golf. Here’s how I fared:

I predicted Tiger would win majors (plural). A balky putter at the Masters and a destroyed knee that made him miss the final two majors kept that from happening. But that U.S. Open win was really something! And it went extra holes… twice! Surely that counts for two, right? No, not buying it? Okay, 0-1.

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Golfdotz Golf Ball Tattoos Review

Golfdotz: Golf ball marking technology for the 21st century

PackagesRule 12-2 in the 2008 USGA Rules of Golf states “The responsibility for playing the proper ball rests with the player. Each player should put an identification mark on his ball.” Anyone who plays competitive golf knows the importance of being able to identify your ball. In fact, the people at Sanford, the makers of the Sharpie Marker, have made more than a little money from the golf industry by this very fact.

But what about those who find a simple dot too dreary? What about those golfers out there who want to express themselves artistically? Well, fear no more, decorative duffers, as Golfdotz is here to help.

Golfdotz are the new generation in golf ball marking technology. They are golf ball tattoos – tiny decals that transfer onto the cover of a golf ball. They come in many different designs including skulls, hearts, flames, ladybugs and more. The retail at $5.99 a pack which will get you enough for two dozen balls, and are offered in a wide array of designs.

But how do they work? Read on.

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What’s Ahead for 2009

The theme for 2009 will be the equipment-hopping game.

Bag DropWell, we’re back in the saddle for 2009 at the Bag Drop and I hope you got all the golfing equipment you asked for over the holidays. If not, there’s still plenty of time with some good deals floating around!

There’s been quite a bit of news as of late and while we have some new equipment to fill you in about, we’ll ease into 2009 with a few equipment/business stories you might have missed in the past few weeks. You might soon having to start filling out a spreadsheet to follow the equipment company switches.

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