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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Adams Idea Pro Hybrid Iron Review

Adams Golf recently released their new Idea Pro hybrid. Intended to fill a need for a non-offset players club it has found a good reception amongst professionals.

Adams Idea ProThe Adams Idea Pro hybrids follow in the footsteps of the popular Adams utility family. The difference here is that Adams is, with the advent of the Idea Pro hybrids continuing their foray into club-building for the player’s market.

They have been very well received on the PGA, Champions, and Nationwide Tours. Trevor Immelman won the Western Open with an 18° Idea Pro in his bag, John Rollins won the B.C. Open using an Idea Pro hybrid, Jason Wagner won the Nationwide’s Cox Classic with an Idea Pro, Kevin Stadler used one to win the Nationwide’s Xerox Classic, and Allen Doyle used one to win his second consecutive U.S. Senior Open Championship. This club has become very popular in a short amount of time.

Adams spent a considerable amount of time and effort getting this club in play on Tour prior to its September release so it will have been well tested before it makes its way into your hands.

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Best of the Numbers Game

Over the past year or so, I’ve covered a lot in The Numbers Game. Driving distance, the 40-30-20-10 rule, all were fun to research and write about. Next year, someone else will take the reins and still have plenty of numbers to look at.

The Numbers GameThis will be my last Numbers Game for a while. I’ve got a few things taking up my time and will be stepping back. I’ll be doing a review or two and hanging around, but The Numbers Game will be in the hands of another person come January.

That being said, I thought it would be good to hit some of the highlights over the past year and a half. This week it’s the best of The Numbers Game.

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Top Storylines for 2007: Part One

It’s never too early to talk about 2007, so that’s what I’m going to do for the next couple weeks.

Thrash TalkThe start of the 2007 PGA Tour season is only a month away, and the LPGA Tour season will start shortly thereafter. It’s good to have a break every once in awhile, but I’m already getting excited about 2007. The silly season has been okay, but it just isn’t the same as the real deal. The Mercedes Championship can’t come soon enough.

With the new season right around the corner, many questions instantly come to mind. Some are pretty self-explanatory, and some seem to be neverending. How many majors will Tiger win next season, and can he possibly improve on his spectacular 2006 season? Also, will Michelle Wie finally win something of importance, or will her résumé remain winless?

I’ll dive into these questions and more in this first of two installments of the top storylines for 2007. Let’s get this party started!

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A Lightning Detector You Can Carry

Other than perhaps rolling a cart over, the greatest danger on a golf course is lightning. If you’ve ever witnessed a strike, you know the risk is real and deadly.

Bag DropMost golfers know Retief Goosen’s story and some the tragedy at Hazeltine during the 1991 U.S. Open when one spectator was killed and five more were injured. A few may even recall when Lee Trevino and Jerry Heard were struck while sitting under a tree at the 1975 Western Open. Lightning is no joke.

I know. I lost a great friend to a lightning strike just this year. While it didn’t happen on a golf course, it happened 20 miles from my house. It was a heartbreaking and frightening reminder of strikes I’ve witnessed while playing.

That’s why a product I recently stumbled across while surfing the web seems like a must have, even if it is expensive. Here’s the story…

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Nine Holes With The Aussies

It was a successful PGA Tour year for the Aussies with one Major and another seven regular season wins among them. Karrie Webb nearly equalled the number of PGA victories on her own.

ProFilesIt was another successful year for the Australians in golf. With a history of producing successful golfers Australia is teaching their students the right thing. Foremost among Australian golf is Greg Norman, and while he’s hung up his spikes for the most part, the legacy he created and left for his country seems to be paying dividends.

Aussies were responsible for eight PGA and five LPGA victories in 2006. Out of a relatively small group of professionals has come a lot of success. Look for Aussie golf to continue to garner plenty of attention in coming years as a few of these players are really young and already successful. Join me for nine…

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Nuggets, Volume Three

More little tidbits of info show us that Tiger is still the best and that even guys who are the worst in one stat can still win tournaments.

The Numbers GameAnother edition of Nuggets for this week’s The Numbers Game. I’ve stuffed the column full of numbers and tidbits I collected while perusing stats and columns around the web. From majors to the “other” Singh, this week should provide even a golf nut with a couple facts they weren’t aware of.

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