TaylorMade Introduces 2008 Golf Ball Lineup

TaylorMade is ringing in the new year with some new LDP.

Bag DropTaylorMade Golf is kicking off 2008 with a bang by launching an entire lineup of revised and new golf balls that will give golfers a multitude of options to choose from based on what you are looking for in a golf ball.

Four of the balls will carry the TaylorMade name with the remaining two carrying the Noodle banner, and all will feature “a new proprietary aerodynamic technology called Low Drag Performance, which promotes improved distance on the most common types of off-center driver hits.”

With a pretty impressive tour staff that includes Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Natalie Gulbis, TaylorMade is continuing to make a name for themselves in the golf ball arena. I was impressed with how the original Tour Preferred Red and Black balls performed and I am eagerly anticipating giving version 2.0 a closer look.

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Volume One Hundred Twenty Five

Everyone Can Use a Little Masters

Hitting the LinksAs the holidays creep closer and closer, Hittin’ the Links would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and safe Holiday season. I also wish you all the new golf equipment you have on your list.

In this edition we investigate The Masters, Elin Nordegren’s lawsuit, golf course robberies, and Jim Furyk. Also we take a look at this week’s silly season event, a new professional golf tour, a golf marathon, and how The Grateful Dead helped win a golf tournament. Read on!

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Dear Santa, My 2007 Wish List

All I want for Christmas (and then some).

Trap Five LogoI’ve been a pretty good golfer this year. I generally played the ball down, I almost always took my strokes when I hit in hazards, and I hardly ever swore at all on the course. Well, two out of three isn’t bad.

It’s that time of year again, and I know I have nothing to complain about when it comes to golf equipment. But a guy’s got to dream. Right? There’s always room for one more golf doodad.

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Adams Golf Introduces Insight XTD Drivers

Adams is offering a new long driver. How long? Ask the Long Drivers of America.

Bag DropYou may think of Adams Golf as the company that is known for making some great hybrids that are usually at the top of every “hot” list as well as some of the most played on all the tours. You would be right. However, Adams is more than just a one-trick pony. They offer blended hybrid sets, forged irons for the better player, as well as drivers and fairway woods.

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Volume One Hundred Twenty Four

A Little Advice from Jack.

Hitting the LinksIn these cold months Hittin’ the Links will try to warm up your day with a helping of golfs finest stories. Remember it’s less than four more months until spring!

In this issue we contemplate advice from Jack, retirements, a super senior, and a young Aussie who wants a piece of Tiger. We also take a closer look at the LPGA and PGA Tour Q-Schools. Read on!

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Bobby Jones Hybrid Review

Bobby Jones was one of the greats. The hybrids that bear his name could also be considered great.

Bobby JonesAnybody who watches the Golf Channel has seen the infomercial. I’ve seen it and I’m betting, since you’re reading this review, a good portion of you have seen it as well. It’s for the Bobby Jones hybrid by Jesse Ortiz.

Now I’m not the kind of guy who sits around watching infomercials. I’m also not the kind of guy who will believe the five minutes or so that I catch of one. That being said, if the Bobby Jones Golf Company hadn’t promoted their hybrid as much as they did, I wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to review a couple of them. I’ve been on the hybrid bandwagon since 2005 and haven’t gotten off.

The Bobby Jones hybrid hasn’t had a breakthrough in a tournament like the Sonartec in the 2004 British Open. What it has had is some of the highest rankings in the Golf Digest Hot List in the past couple years though. Are those high rankings deserved? Can we actually believe an infomercial? Is this club worthy of having Bobby Jones’ name on it? Read on to find out.

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TaylorMade Burner XD Irons Review

Burning for distance?

TaylorMade Burner XD IronsIf you’re the kind of golfer who tends to hit the ball all over the face and would still like to hit a club less than everyone else in your group, then this review may interest you.

TaylorMade may just be the hottest brand in golf. Over the past few years, a ton of r7 drivers (followed by r7 fairway woods and, to a lesser extent, r7 irons) have found their ways into a host of pro bags, and subsequently into the bags of amateurs of all abilities with varying results. The new kid in the TaylorMade family is the Burner line. Released (or re-released) only a year ago, the Burner driver and fairway woods have been played on the Tour by players like Kenny Perry, Sergio Garcia, and Sean O’Hair, and has been well received by the masses, as well. Where the r7 line is most associated with movable weights, the Burner line hangs its hat on hot clubfaces and technology that increases clubhead speed. Now, the Burner line has brought that same technology to the irons arena.

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2007 Stories from the Tours

The 2007 tours have ended. One 2008 tour has begun. I guess it’s time to reflect.

Trap Five LogoThe 2007 golf year is all but over, but what a year it was! With the debut of the FedExCup and the emergence of a new number one on the the LPGA, the world’s top men’s and women’s tours had major stories. They weren’t alone.

Let’s review some of the best, if not necessarily the biggest, stories on each of the top tours.

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Pros and Cons of Amateurism

Think the USGA isn’t interested in what you’re doing in your spare time? Think again.

Thrash TalkOther than maybe Byron Nelson or Gene Sarazen after their 90th birthdays, can you think of a professional golfer with a double-digit handicap index? Well, I know one.

Me. Sort of, anyway.

It may well prove to be the high water mark of my life in golf. It was a cool, rainy Sunday in February, 2005. The location was the Dallas Convention Center. Perhaps the good karma was foreshadowed by how easily I obtained the Kitchen Pass from my wonderful wife to leave the house, the unfinished homework projects, and the bulk of my “honey-do” list to attend the Dallas Golf Expo. I figured it would be a way to kill a few hours, maybe check out some new equipment, and otherwise obtain a much-needed winter golf fix. It turned out to be much more than that.

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