Month: April 2015

Volume Four Hundred Thirty

Ko vs. Henderson (and Pressel), McIlroy vs. Spieth, and Rose vs. Day and Tringale (and the rain)

Hittin' the LinksGet your bracket ready. The WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship, the most unique of the WGC events, returns next week.

There’s a new format designed to keep the game’s best around for more of the tournament. Instead of single-elimination from the start, the event now features a round of pool play with the top points-earner from each of 16 groups advancing to the more familiar bracket.

There will be two notable absences from the star-studded field this year: Phil Mickelson will skip the event for personal reasons and Tiger Woods failed to qualify. Still, the field features the top 64 OWGR players (and alternates) and should be a fun watch with the TPC Harding Park as the backdrop and antagonist.

But before we get too far into next week, let’s hit the links.

Continue reading “Volume Four Hundred Thirty”

Sun Mountain Reflex Push Cart Review

Sun Mountain introduces the next generation push cart with an innovative folding mechanism and smallest folded size on the market.

sun_mountain_reflexSun Mountain has redesigned the Micro Cart with the next generation Reflex push cart. The Reflex has a new folding mechanism, a wider base when open, and folds up very small for easy storage in your car trunk. The dual strut design of the Micro Cart has been replaced with a single strut design for easier folding. Other additions are a second accessory compartment and adjustable handles.

This review will take the Sun Mountain Reflex Push Cart for a test drive and see how this next generation of push-cart from Sun Mountain compares to its predecessor and its competitors.

Continue reading “Sun Mountain Reflex Push Cart Review”

Volume Four Hundred Twenty Nine

Jordan Spieth is everywhere. And is Tom Watson pondering retirement?

Hittin' the LinksSpieth-mania was in full force and hard to miss in the week following young Jordan’s victory at the Masters. Among his appearances: the Late Show with David Letterman, the TODAY Show, CNBC Squawk Box, Morning Drive, CBS This Morning, the Dan Patrick Show, ESPN Radio, Mike and Mike in the Morning and too many more to mention.

Somewhat surprisingly, Spieth honored his commitment to the RBC Heritage when he could have justifiably begged off. Very surprisingly he didn’t just go through the motions, he was competitive, finishing T-11. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Spieth develops over the next few years and to see if the budding Rory-Jordan rivalry can be what we always hoped Tiger-Phil would be.

Let’s hit the links.

Continue reading “Volume Four Hundred Twenty Nine”

Mizuno JPX-850 Forged Review

Mizuno’s new JPX-850 Forged irons, “Born out of Boron,” takes their game improvement line to the edge of MP player irons.

mizuno_850_forgedMizuno has unveiled their new addition to their JPX series with a forged boron alloy iron. The addition of boron increases the strength of the steel by 30% and allows Mizuno to forge the face thinner to increase ball speed while still keeping that well-known Mizuno iron feel. This is Mizuno’s replacement for the JPX-825 Pro iron, which is seen as a bridge between the JPX and MP lines.

This review will take a closer look at the JPX-850 Forged and see if “Born out of Boron” really does have an effect.

Continue reading “Mizuno JPX-850 Forged Review”

Cobra Golf Releases Fly-Z Line-up

Covering everything from irons to woods, the game’s best to those that need more than a little help; Cobra’s newest line-up has something for everybody.

Bag DropCobra Golf may not have the largest tour staff, but a couple of the names that they have are big ones. Between the likes of Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, the company has successfully transformed themselves from the brand that “old guys” play to one that is more appealing to the younger golfer. This transformation really began with the release of the AMP product line a few years ago, and since that time, the company has followed those up with the AMP Cell and BioCell clubs. Now it’s time to replace that line-up once more. Building off the success of last years BioCell line, which got great reviews here at The Sand Trap, is the new Fly-Z line. With an array of different products ranging from drivers and woods to hybrids and irons, the Fly-Z has something for everybody no matter your need or ability level.

Continue reading “Cobra Golf Releases Fly-Z Line-up”

An Interview with The Dan Plan

The Dan Plan is one of the biggest and most active threads on The Sand Trap forum. In this interview, I ask Dan McLaughlin some questions from our forum members right before he heads out to knock off a few more hours from his 10,000.

Throwing DartsDan McLaughlin is the man behind The Dan Plan, a golfer striving to “test” the “10,000 hours to become an expert” theory espoused by a few. His goal? Become a PGA Tour golfer after 10,000 hours of dedicated practice.

I have obsessed over the Dan Plan right from the beginning. Well, maybe obsessed is a strong word, but I have definitely given it a great deal of thought. I was introduced to the idea by a friend who was a member at Dan’s first club Columbia Edgewater Country Club. He told me there was this guy out there practice putting everyday. His goal was to put the 10,000 theory of deliberate practice to the test. As an engineer, I was immediately drawn to the experiment.

Recently, Dan was introduced to the outstanding book Lowest Score Wins by Erik J. Barzeski and David Wedzik and as luck would have it I had an extra copy and was in the Portland area. I offered it to Dan and also the opportunity for an interview with questions coming from the forum members here on The Sand Trap. He happily agreed. Opinions on Dan here on the forum are mostly leaning toward the pessimistic side, primarily because his stated goal of playing on the PGA Tour is lofty. Calling it “lofty” is probably being nice. Perhaps Dan’s goal is closer to fantasy. As such, many of the questions target not only why he chose such a nearly impossible final target as well as why he started with one-foot putts and hit them for so long.

Continue reading “An Interview with The Dan Plan”

Volume Four Hundred Twenty Eight

An all-Masters Hittin’ The Links. (Well, almost.)

Hittin the LinksWe’re now three and a half months into 2015, and one major championship into the golf season. Jordan Spieth, runner up a year ago, outlasted charges from major winners Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, and Rory McIlroy to win his first green jacket (possibly one of many to come).

Spieth was dominant early on, and was able to coast to a record-tying final score of -18. He’s the second-youngest Masters winner even, trailing only Tiger’s 1997 victory, and he broke or tied just about every record his age didn’t disqualify him from.

Woods himself joined in on the low scoring for a few days before Spieth dominance, and Tiger’s own shoddy play on Sunday, knocked him out of contention.

We also take a look at great tournaments by Phil and Rory, a new limited edition shoe from Nike, bask in a bit of ’90s nostalgia, and check in on old friend Anthony Kim.

Let’s hit the links.

Continue reading “Volume Four Hundred Twenty Eight”

On Tiger Woods and Augusta

Tiger makes his return at Augusta National.

Thrash TalkI’ve started to question recently if I’m truly a golf fan.

Every now and then we’ll get a TST forum member who decides that no one is a “real golf fan.” They believe themselves to be, apparently, the sole member of this rare species. The rest of us are Phil fans, or Tiger fans, or Joost Luiten fans. Maybe they’re right.

I think I’m a real golf fan. I still love playing golf, and I love following it, but there are a lot of ancillary aspects of the sport that grate at me. Golf isn’t a particularly mainstream sport, and I think part of that owes to the general attitude of many golfers. Because allegiances aren’t (grain flow) forged at birth, golf fans tend to pick their favorite golfers irrationally, and that boils over into their general golf fandom. Black-and-white opinions bug me in general, but especially in the golf world, a sport built on a foundation of black-and-white rules, they tend to be the norm. Nuance is lost. Outrage and sensationalism wins out over enjoyment. It stops being entertainment.

Golf has always been entertainment for me. If it ever ceases to be, I’ll move on. Everyone keeps telling me hockey is great.

Continue reading “On Tiger Woods and Augusta”

2015 Masters Preview and Picks

It’s time for the Masters and in case you live under a rock, Tiger is back. This sets up a great 2015 event. Let’s see what the TST staff is looking for this week.

Thrash TalkThe dogwoods are in bloom and Tiger’s jet has been spotted in Augusta’s private airport, it must be time for the Masters. Tiger is playing so the “will he or won’t he” discussion is over and we now anxiously wait for him to miss a green to see if he flubs, shanks, or skulls his chip. Tiger always brings a buzz to the game and this year is no different. Traditionally The Sand Trap staff loves to pick Tiger but something tells me this Masters is going to be different.

Even with the all the buzz around Tiger there are a number of other story lines to talk about in the 2015 Masters. Is Rory going to complete the career grand slam and get the third leg of a grand slam? What about the defending champion Bubba Watson? Which rookies will you be looking out for this year? With that let’s dive into the questions.

Continue reading “2015 Masters Preview and Picks”