Volume Three Hundred Eleven

Sean Foley says be nice to Tiger!

Hittin' the LinksHello out there fellow duffers, and welcome to another Hittin’ the Links. Is it me or does the TPC San Antonio look like a complete nightmare of a golf course? I mean a bunker in the middle of a green, really? Greg Norman must have been having a bad year when he designed this atrocity. I guess that’s why nobody we care to watch showed up to play this week and Tour players consistently rank it in the bottom of Tour courses.

In this edition of HtL we begin with a look at Sean Foley, then check out a record breaking 13 year-old. and find out who has Bieber fever. Also on tap, we investigate Kevin Na and a chainsaw, take a different look at Augusta National, and do a wrap-up of the week’s winners. Read on!

The Big Miss: A Book Review

Hank’s book is pretty revealing, but mostly about himself.

Thrash TalkI must admit, the day Hank’s book came out I went out and bought it. It was not really the excerpts that got me interested but listening to the interviews Hank gave, he gave the impression not of a rat that everyone had made him out to be, but someone who had a story to tell.

After reading the book, I have very mixed feelings, but I will say it has cleared up some real misconceptions in my mind about both Tiger and Hank. I really didn’t learn anything new about Tiger. Hank paints him as a troubled, self-centered, egotistical, golfing genius. All those things are not news, I have always thought those things about Tiger. The big revelation was that Tiger lied to the media… yeah, I knew that too. I would rather watch paint dry than a Tiger press conference, he never says much new and looks like he wants to be there less than I want to watch him. So all in all not much learned about Tiger.

Callaway Introduces HEX Black Tour Ball, Odyssey Metal-X Putters

Callaway rolls out its new five piece ball while Odyssey introduces the Metal-X putter with a two layer face insert.

Bag DropCallaway Golf has always been on the leading edge of golf. The new HEX Black Tour ball continues Callaway’s use of the HEX dimple pattern but adds a host of new features, which the company says separates it from every other ball available, while Odyssey (Callaway’s putter division) introduces yet another face insert for their new line putters.

Volume Three Hundred Ten

It’s the Bubba and Tebow show.

Hittin' the LinksGood Day golf fans and welcome to another edition of Hittin’ the Links. Its been quite a week for Bubba Watson. I have been following him on Twitter and he has been just about everywhere talking to just about everyone. What a guy, and what a shot he hit to win the Masters.

In this edition of HtL we begin with a look at one of Bubba’s events, then check out what’s going on with the World Golf Rankings, and find out who got married. Also, we investigate an alligator encounter, see what Tiger thinks about his play at the Masters, and do a wrap-up of the week’s events. Read on!

Benderstik Training Aid Review

The more you practice with feedback, the more ingrained the new motion becomes and the more reliable the new swing. We’ll see how effective the BenderStik training aid is at improving your golf swing.

Benderstik Banner What if I told you that after the first five years of playing golf the odds of lowering your handicap by three strokes or more, is unusually rare? It almost never happens. The reason is because golfers revert back to our old habits. That’s why trying a tip in the latest golf magazine or listening to the Golf Channel doesn’t improve people’s games. Here to help is golf’s new training aid, the Benderstik. It’s designed to help you consistently working on a better motion by giving you instant feedback.

The Benderstik is literally a stick that is adjustable, bendable, and has a large foam ball attached to one end. It can be set it up for each golfer’s individual swing needs and if you revert back, there will be immediate feedback. You can set the Benderstik in the ground and adjust it where your head is against the foam ball to work on keeping your head steady or adjust it to avoid hitting the foam ball in the backswing or followthrough.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Review

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13: where it excels and where it falls short.

tiger_woods_13_cover.jpgAs I do nearly every year, I was quick to pony up a good deal of cash for the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game. Like with most good video games I’ve been engrossed with it since the day I bought it, but that doesn’t mean I love the game.

There are good things. For instance, the online country club feature is awesome, and we here at The Sand Trap have set up country clubs for Xbox 360 and PS3 to take advantage of that. But there is a plethora of shortcomings, not only in this game but in the series overall, and there simply has not been enough of an effort to overcome those. Numerous decisions clearly illustrate that EA Sports values the form over function when it comes to this game, and that comes at a detriment to the gameplay.

This year’s edition is available for $60 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and there is a Collector’s Edition for $70 also sold for both systems. We’ve already arrived to the first downside of Tiger 13, which is that last year’s game was also available for Wii, Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS. Kinect and Move are supported, but I have neither so I won’t be commenting on them. Read on to see if the price was worth it.

Can Keeping Stats Help Your Game?

Is keeping stats just a waste of time or can it actually benefit your game?

The Numbers GameGolf is a game where progress and ability can be measured in many different ways. There is, of course, the raw score; whether one is a scratch golfer or shoots in the 100s, for many of us, this is the only number that matters to us.

However, many golfers take that to another level. For some that means posting their scores and keeping a handicap whereby they can “level the playing field” and compete with others of differing abilities. Others keep different stats to track their abilities and improvement in different areas.

PING and P2G2 Offer New Putters

P2G2 introduces their line of custom fit putters while PING rolls out the first USGA approved adjustable belly putter.

Bag DropOver the last couple of years in golf we have seen a couple of big trends pop up. One of them has been the introduction of adjustable clubs. Companies such as TaylorMade, Titleist and more recently Callaway have produced drivers, fairway woods, and the occasional hybrid that can be adjusted easily by the user. The other hot trend that we have seen is more and more players, both professional and amateur, making the switch to belly putters. With the introduction of the Nome 405 putter, PING has combined these two trends to bring about the first USGA approved adjustable belly putter.

The guys over at P2G2 also have released new putters with the same aim of fitting players better. While it is not adjustable like the Nome, it promises to correct deficiencies found in nearly every putter model on the market.

2012 Masters Tournament Final Round Live Chat

Peter Hanson leads, but can he hold off Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, and a lot more at -4 and -3? Tune in and join us to talk about it as it happens.

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