I’ve long argued for making bunkers on the PGA Tour penal. Too many good golfers, particularly on par fives, aim for bunkers and prefer a lie on the beach than any in greenside rough.
That may all change soon if the PGA Tour’s experiment this week at Muirfield Village during The Memorial Tournament proves successful. The Tour is trying out a new rake that gently furrows bunkers this year, and the early feedback is that it’s working.
The PGA Tour has, to this point, only talked about acting on their threat to do something about the bunkers, but in place of fine-toothed rakes, contestants (and their caddies) will find widely spaced and long-toothed rakes made of wood. The result: less consistent lies and tougher shots.
Continue reading “PGA Tour, Nicklaus Experiment with Furrowed Bunkers at Memorial”
Tiger Woods is skipping The Memorial, Michelle Wie gears up to qualify for the U.S. Open at Canoe Brook, and Darren Clarke does the honorable thing. Also, is Lorena Ochoa the best female golfer in the world? This week we talk about that, the 2007 FedEx Cup, Ian Woosnam and Luke Donald, and a whole lot more.
I play golf with Steve Brummer a few times per week, and I can safely say that the most consistent thing about his game is his inconsistency. Steve will play well for five holes, have a stretch where he doesn’t hit the ball well, and then finish out the round strong once again. While I joking refer to Steve as the “anti-Rotella” for his mental outlook (“even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then” he’ll say after a good shot), his mental game is probably responsible for three to four dropped shots per round.
Titleist has ruled the “premium ball” roost since, well, since there was a roost to be ruled. In the pre-Tiger era, I remember seeing advertisements that said “The last 47 U.S. Opens have been won with a Titleist ball” (or something like that). Eventually, Tiger and his Nike R&D chums managed to put a stop to that streak, but Titleist still owns darn near 85% of the premium ball market, leaving Callaway, Nike, Bridgestone, and others to pick up the scraps.
Not long after 
Dave Koster has the week off, so I’m filling in for him. This week, we’ll be talking about handicaps, course ratings, and slope, as well as how you can take this knowledge to improve your odds of winning a few more bets. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume that you know how to calculate your own handicap index. If you don’t, read the appropriately titled “
The distinctive black and grey color scheme of Never Compromise’s putters make them a stand-out on the PGA Tour. It doesn’t hurt that Cleveland Golf – Never Compromise’s parent company – has two of the world’s top eight golfers stroking putts with the black and grey putters.