Golf Talk [Episode 043]

Will Tiger and Elin’s baby be the sexiest and most dominating golfer ever – man or woman? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

PodcastThe PGA Tour season kicks off with a Vijay win in Hawaii and an absent Tiger and Phil. The Golf Channel showcases its new content with four days of coverage, golfers sweep the AP Athlete of the Year awards, and Michelle Wie is heading to Stanford in a year – by her choice or B.J.’s? All that and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 043 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

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The FedEx Cup is Off and Running

Vijay Singh and The Golf Channel started 2007 off in style.

Thrash TalkFans of the PGA Tour have been waiting for the start of the FedEx Cup since the official announcement nearly a year ago. It has only been two months since the 2006 PGA Tour season ended, but the start of the 2007 season couldn’t have come too soon. I’m glad the new era in golf has finally arrived, and it looks like things will be very interesting all season long.

Stuart Appleby failed in his bid to win four consecutive Mercedes Championships, and Vijay Singh took full advantage of the situation. Singh has been denied his win at Kapalua in recent years, but he finally got his win on the island this past weekend. The Fijiian obviously jumped to the top of the FedEx Cup standings with his impressive win in the season opener, and he will be tough to beat in 2007.

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Cleveland Introduces Two New HiBore XL Drivers

No other club category is as competitive as drivers with new head shapes all the rage. Cleveland’s newest entries refine its unusual and original HiBore model.

Bag DropWhen it comes to drivers, it’s a jungle out there. All the major equipment makers are clawing for market share as they pop out a steady stream of innovative new models in an effort to win your annual $400 contribution to the industry.

By most accounts, Cleveland’s introduction of the original HiBore last year was something less than the blockbuster they’d hoped for. In fact, here in the U.S. they’re giving them away free now through the end of January with the purchase of a set of CG4 or CG4 Tour irons.

The concave crown and overall performance characteristics seemed to produce a ball flight higher than many better players wanted to see. Plus, word was that you had to tee the ball lower to really catch the sweet spot. It looks to me like the two new HiBore XL models are meant to fix all that.

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Scotty Cameron Detour Putter Review

I call my Detour “Vera” after Vera Wang. I’ll let you figure out why…

Scotty Cameron Detour Putter HeroScotty Cameron putters are synonymous with tradition, elegance, and simplicity. With the exception of the geeky (and I mean that in a good way) Futura, Cameron’s putters feature simple, austere designs, clean lines, and a classic look that begs the owner to use the putter as frequently as possible. Once on the course, Cameron’s putters are often used quite infrequently – they’re as good as any on the market at getting the ball in the hole, and many of the world’s top PGA Tour stars rely on Cameron putters to earn a living.

So it was no doubt a shock when the “C-5” prototype putter became the August-released “Detour” putter. Essentially a blade putter with a curved alignment aid making for an askew “T,” the Detour is not what you might expect from Scotty Cameron.

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Happy Holidays from The Sand Trap

The Sand Trap is going on holiday until 2007. Thanks for an awesome 2006, folks, and merry wishes this holiday season!

St. Andrews SnowThe Sand Trap wants to take this opportunity to thank you and yours for stopping by. Everyone here at The Sand Trap wishes you nothing but the happiest of holidays and plenty of birdies in 2007.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank those who have helped us through our first full year, including Titleist, all the sponsors of The Newport Cup, and all of our readers.

Though this portion of our site will be “closed” until the new year (January 8, to be precise), we still invite everyone to join our forum (it’s free). Share with us what you want – or what you get – for Christmas!

We’ll be back soon. Until then, can anyone recommend a large-headed shovel with the latest in graphite shaft technology? I’ve looked everywhere at titleist.com and can’t find anything!

Boomerang Putting System Review

The Boomerang Putting System is an easy-to-use training aid that lets a golfer practice just about anywhere he or she wants. While a bit gimmicky in the promotion of the product, the Bommerang itself is simple and provides just what a golfer needs – a tool that provides instant feedback to groove your putting stroke.

Boomerang KitI’m one of the best carpet putters during the winter time, even in North Carolina. I usually have a couple putters and a ball in my TV room ready to go.

You can understand why I was excited to review the Boomerang putting system. Instead of putting at a coffee table leg or the corner of my dusty treadmill, I could use something that was not only more realistic, but could help my game.

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Bunker’s Dozen: December 2006

The Bunker’s Dozen ends 2006 with a bang and a new number one!

Thrash TalkThe 2006 season has been a long one, but golf fans have been treated to another exciting year in the world of golf. The past month has also been a crazy one, mostly outside the PGA Tour. The Tour Championship wrapped up in early November, and the golf spotlight then shifted towards the LPGA Tour and European Tour.

Lorena Ochoa held off Karrie Webb to win the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award, and Julieta Granada won a million dollars in the season’s final event. Padraig Harrington, coming off his recent European Tour Order of Merit title, beat Tiger Woods in a playoff to win the Dunlop Phoenix. How high will these golfers be in the latest edition of Bunker’s Dozen? You know the drill, so keep on reading!

If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in the forum. I hope you enjoy this month’s list.

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Top Storylines for 2007: Part Two

Part two of the top storylines for 2007 discusses The Golf Channel, Lefty, and more.

Thrash TalkWith the 2007 golf season right around the corner, I’m previewing some of the top storylines that will garner attention in the coming weeks. Last week, I published part one of the top storylines for 2007, so check that out if you haven’t already. It’s time to talk about five more golf questions that are on my mind heading into the new year.

The Golf Channel is going to be the new home for PGA Tour opening-round action starting in 2007 and will be for at least 14 years beyond that. Will the two make a great team, or will it be a struggle from the beginning? Also, it has been over two years since Ernie Els won a PGA Tour event, and it’s been over a year for Retief Goosen. Finally, Phil Mickelson hasn’t been the same since his collapse at Winged Foot this past June. Can Els, Goosen, and Lefty bounce back in 2007? You will read about all this and more in this week’s article.

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Tour Edge Introduces GeoMax High MOI Driver

With a limit on driver head volume, it appears the next frontier is increasing MOI (moment of inertia, or resistance to twisting). Tour Edge now joins the fray.

Bag DropFrom what I’ve read, one of the big advantages of a big-headed driver is that its mass helps prevent the face from deflecting when the ball is struck off center.

But there’s more to creating high MOI than just size… witness the square-headed drivers from Nike and Callaway we wrote about recently that added new shapes to the mix.

Tour Edge claims they’ve come up with a driver with a higher MOI than the Nike SasQuatch SUMO or the Adams Insight BUL by using geometry that doesn’t resort to the radical square shape of some of its competitors. Called the GeoMax, here’s the story on their latest introduction…

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