This week’s Thrash Talk dives into some of the things that upset me about golf.
The Target World Challenge has come and gone, and the 2006 PGA Tour season doesn’t start for a few more weeks. That being said, I’m taking a break from the usual PGA Tour discussion this week. Instead, I’m going to talk about some of the things that bother me when I go out and play. I’ve selected eight things that really get under my skin when I go play by myself or with friends.
Matt Killen is young enough to be PGA Tour winner Kenny Perry’s son. In fact, his best friend IS Kenny Perry’s son. Yet he coaches a winner. Find out more about the rising young teaching star in this interview.
Today’s interview is with Matt Killen, Swing Coach for PGA Tour standout Kenny Perry. Matt has known Kenny nearly his entire life and grew up playing golf with Kenny and his son, Justin. He and Justin are best friends and were roommates in college at Western Kentucky University.
Kenny introduced Killen to Ron Gring when he was a freshman in high school. Ron helped him with his game but eventually helped him branch over in to teaching. Over time he became extremely interested in how the golf swing worked and began teaching as a sophomore in high school. He took him under his wing, and studied with him and tried to learn as much as possible about the mechanics of the golf swing.
Read on to find out more about Matt.
Mark Hensby can’t keep his mouth shut: this week, he’s criticizing Greg Norman. To Hensby I have but one thing to say: put up or shut up.
Mark Hensby isn’t one to keep his mouth shut. First he ran his mouth about Michelle Wie, saying “I don’t think a 15-year-old girl who’s done nothing at all should get a sponsor’s invitation to a PGA Tour event.” A lot of articles start the same way this one does, “Australian golfer Mark Hensby has slammed (fill in the blank).”
This week, the tiny Australian’s target is none other than the gigantic Greg Norman. Norman’s fault, which Hensby can’t resist pointing out? The Great White Shark, recently voted Australia’s golfer of the century, apparently doesn’t do enough to support Australian golf.
Continue reading “Big Mouth Mark Hensby Criticizes Greg Norman”
The LPGA Tour will feature a season-ending playoff in 2006, beating Tim Finchem to the playoff punch by a year.
According to an AP article, the LPGA will beat the PGA Tour to the punch in offering a season-ending “playoff” system. New LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens today announced the 2006 LPGA schedule. That schedule included details on a playoff system that will be the first of its kind in golf.
Instead of the top 30 players on the money list qualifying for the season-ending ADT Championship, the field will be comprised of 30 players who have racked up points throughout the year along with two wild cards for a total of 32. The field will be cut to 16 players after 36 holes and to only eight players after 54 holes. The eight remaining players will start the field at even par, leading to a $1M payout for the winner of the 18-hole shootout.
The R7 Quad driver has been a huge hit for TaylorMade, which has become the top driver brand at retail. Now the company is refreshing the driver, and adding some irons to the R7 family.
Just two days ago, the Bag Drop brought you the skinny on Callaway Golf’s new 2006 lineup. Now our operatives have come through with information on one of golf’s other equipment heavyweights: TaylorMade.
Given TaylorMade’s ongoing success with the r7 Quad driver, it is no surprise that the company’s four major upcoming new products all bear the r7 badge. Read on to learn more about two new r7 drivers and two sets of r7 irons.
Continue reading “Sneak Peek at TaylorMade’s 2006 New Products”
Scotty Cameron introduced custom and restoration services in April, and we take them for a test drive with an old, beat up Coronado.
Scotty Cameron is an artist. Modern artist to some, renaissance artist to others, and an artist of his own breed to a thoughtful few. Though he doesn’t work with oils, he does offer his pieces of art in an oil (can) finish, and while you may not find him among the lilies at Giverny, you will find him among the mills at his California studio.
Scotty Cameron makes putters. Far from ordinary putters, many believe them to be the best in the land. What began as a hobby has turned into a world-class business and a long-standing association with Titleist. Scotty’s works of art routinely top the professional golf tours in putter counts and can be found in the bags of players like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Brad Faxon, Davis Love III, and more. These pros and more trust Scotty with their “gamer,” the putter they know will make the crucial 10-footer to win a major.
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We’re live blogging Tim Finchem’s speech on the changes coming to the PGA Tour season in 2007.
PGA Tour.com is carrying a RealAudio stream of Tim Finchem’s announcement (see previous coverage here), so we’re going to do something a little different: live blog it.
10:05 – Someone can’t figure out how to use the microphone, as it’s on. We are treated to interesting talk about how we’re going to leave the A/C off until Tim is done with his talk.
10:08 – Casually late, Tim eases into his speech.
10:10 – Tim says “we’re not gonna talk about the details of our schedule today.” Someone in the back groans.
10:15 – Tim, despite saying we’re not going to talk about it, talks about it. Details include:
Geoff Shackelford, a golf course architect, takes issue with the answer the R&A’s Peter Dawson gave to a question about technology.
The Secretary of the R&A, Peter Dawson, has recently opened himself up for Q&A from the golfing public. Recently, a man named Neal Walker Coventry wrote in to ask “Should something be done to prevent technology’s influence on the game?” In this day and age, “technology” is being blamed for just about everything that’s “wrong” with the game of golf, and the Secretary’s answer to the question bothers at least one of the self-appointed guardians of the game. On his blog, Geoff Shackelford, a small-time author and golf course architect, replies with the blather typical of his side of the technology debate.
I spent a day and a half with the Titleist Science Van. Here is what I learned.
Your first shot on any par four or par five sets up the rest of the hole: are you pitching back into the fairway or attacking the flag? Do you have a wedge or a 6-iron in your hands?
Pros and high-level amateurs have been repeating the mantra “high launch, low spin” for a few years now. In January, we even published a chart showing optimum launch angles and spin rates. Great, you’re thinking to yourself: “I’ll get fitted for a driver and soon I’ll be crushing the ball off the tee, long and straight.” And you may… so long as you can get fitted.
I spent a day with the guys of the East Coast Acushnet (Titleist, FootJoy, etc.) Science Van at Tam O’Shanter of Pennsylvania and watched several fittings. The next day, I underwent a fitting myself as they ventured to Kahkwa Club here in Erie, PA. This is my first-hand account of that experience.
Continue reading “A Fitting Experience: The Titleist Science Van”
