Author: Jack Waddell

Wedge Bounce and Grind: What it is and Why it Matters

Players preparing for this year’s U.S. Open made a rush on the equipment vans to come up with wedges with little bounce and fresh grooves. Here’s why.

Bag DropAs we saw this weekend, Oakmont Country Club proved itself capable of growing some of the toughest, most gnarly, luscious grass this side of Kentucky. So while some are calling Oakmont the true victor this year, I think it might have been modern agronomy that really won.

To deal with the combination of deep, thick rough as well as the extremely tight lies on fairways and in the runoff areas around some greens, players had to resort to wedges that could more easily cut through the thick stuff and not bounce off the tightly mowed turf and blade the ball (as happened to Tiger at the third hole Sunday).

Many opted to use wedges with less bounce and a grind that produced a sharper leading edge. Here’s what that means and why you might consider doing the same depending on the courses you play.

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SeeMore Putters Make a Comeback

When Payne Stewart died, so did interest in the putter he used to win the 1999 U.S. Open. With new owners and another major win, SeeMore is news again.

Bag DropIt’s always great to see a golf club become popular without endorsement or bonus money. For a PGA Tour player to give up income just to use a putter he believes in is pretty refreshing in these days of logo festooned shirts, caps, and bags.

So when Zach Johnson won the Masters this year with his SeeMore putter, it said a lot. It said even more when he won the AT&T Classic a month later. It also doesn’t hurt that Vaughn Taylor, who led the PGA Tour’s top 50 money winners in fewest putts on greens hit in regulation, uses it.

So while no less than Nick Faldo cast aspersions on Johnson’s putting style during the Masters broadcast, it obviously works. And that’s really the story of the SeeMore putters. They promote a specific kind of stroke and technique. Here’s the story…

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Father’s Day Gift Ideas 2K7

The U.S. Open coming up next week is the signal that it’s time to start thinking about Father’s Day. Here’s a rundown on some nifty items that caught my eye.

Bag DropGolfing dads are notoriously difficult to buy for. If they’re serious about their game they are probably already well equipped with clubs, shoes, and balls.

Shirts and sweaters are an easy way out, but are you really sure about his size? Plus who really needs a sweater in June? And you’re not really thinking about giving him another exploding golf ball, are you?

Luckily, however, golf is rich in lore, accessories, and gadgets. Just a little digging over at our friends at Edwin Watts website produced a number of items that I, as a golfing dad, would love to get. So, as we did last year, here’s our Father’s Day gift suggestions…

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New Sun Mountain Speed Cart V1 Rolls Out

There’s more than one way to walk the course. You can be caddied, you can carry, you can drag. But when push comes to shove, this may be your solution.

Bag DropMy memories of using a hand cart are not good ones. Invariably they were rentals at public courses weighing a good 15 pounds with wobbly little wheels and a propensity to tip over on anything but dead flat ground. Dragging one of those behind me up and down hills wasn’t any fun.

That’s why I always carried when I walked. It was simpler and definitely more fashionable. Somehow here in the U.S. using a hand cart just wasn’t the cool thing to do. But times change and so did I. I got older, my feet gave out (plantar faciitis), and I started riding instead of walking.

About the same time, while I wasn’t looking, a new breed of hand cart emerged. Sun Mountain introduced their first three-wheeled push cart in 1999. It was light, stable, and ergonomically designed. With the latest version introduced this month, they’ve raised the bar again on what a hand cart can be. Here’s the story…

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When Less is More: The Sunday Bag

Legs and double straps are indeed convenient. But it seems to me the current crop of carry bags has become a little bloated. Maybe it’s time to reconsider light.

Bag DropMy grandfather was a farmer and devout Protestant. He would not work his fields on Sunday even if looming weather threatened to wipe out his crop. Back in the day, that same ethic existed at many golf clubs and thus caddies were not permitted to work on the Sabbath.

Hence came the Sunday bag… a small, light bag originally made of canvas that players could use to carry their own clubs on the day of rest. While many believe it went the way of the dodo after Sun Mountain came out with the first stand bag back in the 1980s, it still survives.

And it still makes sense. Half the weight of a stand bag, the couple pounds it saves you (plus the weight of all the detritus it won’t hold) makes a difference. Here’s a look at some current options ranging from cheap to outrageously expensive…

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MacGregor Introduces Bobby Grace DCT Putters

Interchangeable faces and adjustable weights will give players a lot of options in achieving the feel they prefer for different green speeds and conditions.

Bag DropEver since I picked up a Fat Lady Swings putter more than a decade ago, I’ve been something of a Bobby Grace putter fan. His original designs always bear something of a rugged industrial look that just seems to mean business.

His latest line of putters for MacGregor comes with something called “Distance Corrective Technology” (DCT) that allows you to swap between a polymer and a milled titanium face to change the feel and response of the putter.

There are three putters in the line. Two are more traditional Anser-like heads while the third is a high MOI (moment of inertia) mid-mallet that looks a lot more conventional than Grace’s past V-Foil putters.

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Equipment Tricks for Faster Play

We kick off a weeklong chorus at The Sand Trap to speed up the game with some equipment, gadgets, and tricks that’ll help you break the four-hour barrier.

Bag DropSlow play is slowly killing the game I love and I’ve had just about enough. Five-hour rounds are becoming the norm and six-hour rounds are all too frequent. As a result, even avid golfers are playing less often and enjoying it less when they do.

I’m sure my fellow contributors on the site will weigh in this week with more on the reasons why we’re crawling around the course at a snail’s pace and what we can do about it. But for now, it’s my mission to pass along some observations on equipment that can save time wasted on things other than thinking about the shot and hitting it.

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Another Driver Recall: This Time it’s Callaway

It appears the self-policing whistle blowers in the equipment industry are on the case as a competitor has turned in Callaway just as a one did to trip up Nike.

Callaway Big Bertha 460 HeroAs of today, April 30, a specific version of Callaway’s Big Bertha 460 driver will be placed on the USGA list of non-conforming clubs. Just like the recalled Nike Sumo², the problem is the spring-like effect, which went over the characteristic time limit correlating to the USGA’s coefficient of restitution limit of 0.830.

The guilty party is the right-handed version of the Big Bertha 460 13° HT model. It’s distinguished by a raised dash in the letter “B” in the word “Big” on the sole of the driver.

Callaway has asked its retailers for information on anyone purchasing this specific model as a prelude to replacing them. It is not thought a substantial number had already been purchased. There’s no word yet on the Callaway web site as to the replacement procedure. Callaway said the issue involved a manufacturing problem with only one its suppliers and resulted in a small percentage of the shipments already made.

E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura – a.k.a. “Bomb and Gouge” – broke the story in GolfWorld on Friday.

20 Bag Drop Trivia Questions

Over the past year we’ve covered a lot of different equipment topics. How much were you paying attention?

Bag DropI wanted to do something special to commemorate an entire year of authoring The Bag Drop, so I took a peek back at some of those earlier columns for inspiration. As I did, it occurred to me just how much trivial information I’ve blathered on about week after week.

The exercise also made me curious as to whether any of this stuff really sticks with our loyal readers. So here’s a pop quiz… 20 questions to test your equipment and golf industry trivia knowledge based on The Bag Drop columns since last April.

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