Volume Two Hundred Eighteen

Lots of free advice for Tiger, the PGA Tour Season gets underway, and Ogilvy already has a win

Hittin' the LinksHello golf fans and welcome again to Hittin’ the Links. Well the PGA Tour season is off and running, with or without Tiger Woods. Seems to me everyone surrounding the Tour is still trying to convince themselves they will be alright without him. Easy there boys, golf was here before him and will be around long after he is gone, you guys just might have to take a pay cut.

In this newest volume of HTL we begin with a look at the good and the bad, find out what Jack thinks about Tiger’s season, and see what advice Tiger got from Butch. Also, we investigate the Royal Trophy, take a look at Kapalua, and do a rundown on this week’s tour event. Read on!

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Titleist 710-Series AP1 Irons Review

Titleist’s improves on an already great set of irons with the new 710 AP1.

Titleist AP1 HeroLike a sports car (or any vehicle for that matter, I guess) evolves as model years pass, so has Titleist’s Advanced Performance irons. The newer models might look pretty similar at first glance, and in some ways, they are, although there are loads of significant updates that shouldn’t be overlooked. As you know, more weight here, less offset there, and some added horsepower under the hood can make a world of difference.

In 2008, Titleist broke their own mold a bit with the release of the AP1 and AP2 irons. Never before had the (in Alan’s words) “traditionally traditional” Titleist released irons with more visible technology and with that they stirred quite a buzz. Fast forward to August of 2009 where we learned that Titleist had done some fine-tuning and enhancement to both the AP1 and AP2 irons. Luckily, I had the chance to give the Titleist 710 AP1 irons a spin.

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Five Best Players Without a Major

Will these players ever win a major? Compare my top five to your list and see if we agree on the best active golfers without one of the four biggest prizes.

Trap Five LogoIn this Trap Five you are going to be reading about one of the many things that are up for debate within the world of golf. I’ve decided to give you my top five picks for the best active professional golfers to have not won a major. Although a few them will most likely be contested (and with good reason), I looked through about 50 players’ wins, top-tens, and stats.

These are my picks.

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TaylorMade R9 Iron Review

The R9 are said to be longer, more forgiving, have a better feel, and be more workable than any other game improvement club on the market. Do you believe the hype?

TaylorMade R9 Iron HeroTaylorMade seems to have made it its mission in recent years to reinvent what the phrase “classic golf club” means. For example, they have taken the pear-shaped driver and morphed it into a geometrical tinker toy that looks both modern and classic at the same time. Now, their researchers and designers have turned their attention to creating a classic/modern iron.

Given the success of the r7 line, the expectations for the TaylorMade R9 line could not be much higher. Is it possible for a club to gain 10% of distance over the already long r7? Can the R9 improve its forgiveness while incorporating several characteristics of a classic golf club? Can a game-improvement club have a soft feel? Since the initial announcement, the forum has been buzzing with golfers interested in whether the R9s can truly live up to those expectations. Read on to see some the answers that I found to those questions.

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PING G15 Hybrid Review

With a club as easy to hit as the G15 hybrid, why fight a difficult long iron? The new G15 hybrid offers great distance, incredible forgiveness, and loads of versatility in a new package.

PING G15 HybridPING has been a major innovator in the industry for quite a while. No one can argue the significance of the innovations they’ve created to help all players. Even in PING’s inception, Karsten Solheim made history as being the first to use heel-toe weighting in the custom putters he created. 50 years later, that tradition of forward thinking and advancement continues, as the new G15 lineup is evidence of how far along they’ve come.

Up until this point, my experience with PING clubs had been limited to their drivers and putters. Though I never pulled the trigger on it, the Rapture V2 was (in my opinion) one of the best drivers I had ever hit. The G10 however wasn’t too far behind it, which is the reason I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to review the hybrid in the latest of PING’s G-series.

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Volume Two Hundred Seventeen

The Worst Golf Year Ever, Stevie’s got some extra vacation time, and JD defends Tiger

Hittin' the LinksWelcome back Sand Trappers to the very first HTL of 2010. And what a break we had – it would be possible to link to nothing but Tiger stories if need be. But what fun would there be in that? There is much more going on out there besides Tiger.

In this first Hittin’ the Links of 2010 we start off looking at the loss of a pioneer, see what Stevie is doing on his indefinite vacation, and find out what we can take from Tiger’s debacle. Also on tap, we investigate Sergio’s newest injury, do a recap of the best tournaments of 2009, and see who has stepped up on Tiger’s behalf. Read on!

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“It’s All About Impact” Book Review

Many of golf’s greats have said that the secret to playing good golf is consistently arriving at impact. This book from Andrew Rice promises to help you with precisely that.

It's All About ImpactAndrew Rice describes himself on his site as a “golf swing junkie.” Unlike amateur golf swing junkies, Andrew has studied under some of golf’s greatest teachers and taught some of the game’s best players.

Originally from South Africa, Rice competed in junior events against Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. He played for University of Central Florida and finished Second Team All-American with Justin Leonard in 1991. He played the mini-tours before getting into instruction at David Leadbetter’s Junior Golf Academy.

Rice currently serves as the Director of Instruction at the prestigious Berkeley Hall in Bluffton, South Carolina. He’s taught PGA Tour players like Nick Price as well as other PGA, European, LPGA, Champions, and Nationwide Tour players.

As a “golf swing junkie,” Andrew has seemingly never been content to take what David Leadbetter or any one person says about the golf swing, and much in the style of Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, has spent time analyzing the great swings to discern the truth about what works and what doesn’t.

His first book – It’s All About Impact – The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It – is the result of such efforts.

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PING G15 Fairway Wood Review

PING had a big winner on it’s hand with the G10 fairway wood. Does the new G15 expand on that greatness?

PING G15 HeroThe folks at PING have been quite busy as they celebrate their 50th Anniversary and as a gift to you, they released two new lines of clubs. One of those is the G15 fairway wood which has the unenviable position of following the wildly successful and much praised G10 model.

Rather than leave “well enough” alone and just slap a new coat of paint on the G10 and call it a day, PING went out and changed things around a bit with the G15. While it’s more of an evolutionary change, it still boasts some pretty cool design features that should make you give it strong look.

So is the G15 one you should add to your list of fairway woods to try out during your next shopping trip to your favorite golf shop? What about the headcover? Is it forgiving? Most importantly, did it knock out my current occupant out of the bag?

Read on to find out the answers to those questions.

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“The Stack and Tilt Swing” Book Review

If you consider yourself a student of the game, you owe it to yourself – and your golf game – to own this book.

Stack and TiltI’ll plainly admit it (and have, a few times, in the forum): when Stack and Tilt first came out in Golf Digest in 2007 I said things like “I don’t know much about it, but it seems like they’re trying to sell it pretty hard and I’ll wait a little while to see if it’s still around in a few years before I really devote much thought to it.” I didn’t look into it, I didn’t seek understanding, and I kept tinkering away at my own “conventional” swing.

Ooops. My bad.

Earlier this year I hooked up with a Stack and Tilt instructor in my hometown – and given that there are only about 20 truly qualified instructors, I am fortunate to have one nearby – and my opinions about Stack and Tilt changed as I gained insight into the swing pattern built by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer.

Throughout the summer, my instructor applied a few “pieces” of the Stack and Tilt pattern to my golf swing. The more instruction I got the more the information made sense to me, and the closer I got to “full conversion.” Any objections or disinterest I had regarding Stack and Tilt slowly dissolved away in the face of information and consideration.

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