Silly Season Excitement

The LPGA Tour spiced things up at the ADT Championship, and Tiger lost in a playoff. That’s a pretty solid week of golf.

Thrash TalkFootball season is entering crunch time, and many golf fans have gone into hibernation until 2007. That’s usually the case for me as well, but it’s been a little different this year. I’ve realized there are a lot of quality tournaments around the globe to keep me excited deep into the calendar. This part of the golf season is usually referred to as the silly season, but that can’t be farther from the truth.

I’ve never watched the LPGA Tour in November prior to 2006, but I’ve watched the last two events this season. The ADT Championship this past weekend was one of the most exciting LPGA Tour event I’ve ever watched. It seemed like I was watching a major championship instead of a regular event, and that’s a bonus this time of year.

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Callaway Reworks Online Sales

In the slow growing golf market, the relationship between manufacturers and retailers has become almost adversarial. Will Callaway’s recent move calm the waters or fan the flames?

Bag DropCallaway Golf introduced a new wrinkle in club marketing a couple weeks ago that, if nothing else, is pretty innovative. They’ve become the first manufacturer to sell their clubs and accessories online directly to consumers.

But perhaps the bigger news is that they’re attempting to channel those sales through traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.

Among those I know in the golf retail business, Callaway hasn’t engendered a lot of love. Their sales policies are often viewed as restrictive and unhelpful in achieving reasonable margins. The new concept sounds good, but will it work? Here’s the story…

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QuickRange GPS Review

This GPS unit will talk to you and give you yardage to the center of the green just like a caddy. You’re still on your own to decide what club you need to get it there.

QuickRange GPS LogoWith the USGA decision to allow the use of distance measuring devices, the market for laser range finders and GPS units has grown considerably in the last year with companies coming out with various approaches to help golfers judge distance. Can a talking GPS unit be far behind?

Well, look no further as it has already arrived with the QuickRange GPS unit. The QuickRange GPS bills itself as “the simplest distance to green device available” and while that may be true in some areas, there are still some issues that hopefully will be resolved in future versions.

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Celebrity Deathmatch – Carolyn Bivens vs. Tim Finchem

TV contracts, performance enhancing drug tests, promoting some of histories best players… how will the two commissioners handle themselves? Who will win this brutal Celebrity Deathmatch?

ProFilesNothing gets your blood boiling more than a showdown between two stodgy golf executives. And because I love to give people what they want, you get a front-row seat to our second celebrity deathmatch. This time LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem square off in the battle of the golf execs.

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2006 in Numbers

There were some players that surprised us with their play and some that disappointed. Tiger and Lorena Ochoa were on another level in 2006.

The Numbers Game2006 was marked by extrordinary play from a number of players. Some we’ve come to expect it from, and some we wouldn’t. This week in The Numbers Game, I thought I’d show some facts and figures from these players and just how impressive and sometimes ugly it got.

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Move Over Annika

Annika Sorenstam wasn’t necessarily ready to pass the torch, but Lorena Ochoa took it anyway.

Thrash TalkAnnika Sorenstam decided to play golf with the men this past weekend. The world’s number one female golfer teamed with Fred Couples at the Merril Lynch Shootout and finished in last place. While Sorenstam was playing a silly season event, Lorena Ochoa was winning her sixth LPGA Tour event of the season in dominant fashion (by ten shots to be exact).

The win was Ochoa’s third in a row, and she clinched the LPGA Tour Player of the Year title in the process. Annika and Karrie Webb have combined to win every player of the year award since 1996 which definitely blew my mind. I figured at least one golfer would have snuck in there and stolen the award in that ten-year time period. That makes Ochoa’s 2006 season even more impressive.

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Dick’s Sporting Goods Agrees to Acquire Golf Galaxy

Dick’s agrees to acquire Golf Galaxy. Here’s the official press release.

Dicks Sporting GoodsDick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. and Golf Galaxy, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger whereby Dick’s will acquire Golf Galaxy. Under the terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of Golf Galaxy common stock will be converted into the right to receive $18.82 per share in cash, without interest. The Merger Agreement also provides for the assumption of outstanding employee stock options and warrants of Golf Galaxy, except that, the holders of vested in-the-money options and warrants will be permitted to elect to cash out such options and warrants. The Merger Agreement contains a provision related to limited solicitation of third-party proposals and a customary fiduciary out for unsolicited proposals.

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Have Clubs, Will Travel

With winter fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about packing up and heading for warmer climes. Here are some ideas to make a golf trip easier.

Bag DropIt’s a grey, cold November day here in the northeastern U.S. and it’s days like this that drive me to the travel section of golf magazines to dream of a winter golf trip. Trouble is, to get to those places I have to fly. I hate flying.

I once flew a lot on business so I’ve seen first hand how struggling airlines and new security measures have turned a fun adventure into a gigantic hassle. Flying with clubs doesn’t make it any easier.

For me, it’s not just wrestling the bag around that’s the problem. It’s the worry factor. Are the gorillas on the tarmac going to snap my $400 driver? Are my clubs headed to Oshkosh while I’m headed to Scottsdale? Here are some thoughts, products, and services that may allay your worries…

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Bunker’s Dozen: November 2006

The PGA Tour season may be over, but The Bunker’s Dozen rolls along!

Thrash TalkThe 2006 PGA Tour season is in the books, and it’s time to start looking forward to 2007. The Bunker’s Dozen takes no vacations, however, so the show must go on. The golf world didn’t see Tiger or Phil in October, but there were still a lot of things going on around the world. Golfers made their final charge towards the top 30 and top 125 on the PGA Tour money list. Some were successful, and some came up short.

The European Tour also wrapped up their season in October, and the Order of Merit wasn’t decided until the last few holes of the final event. The LPGA Tour hasn’t concluded for the season quite yet, but a certain golfer won again and moved one step closer to becoming player of the year.

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