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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Pinemeadow Excel Hybrid Review

Pinemeadow makes affordable clubs, but can they stand up to the stiff competition in the hybrid market?

Pinemeadow Excel HybridPinemeadow Golf has been around since 1985, but I didn’t know much about them until this year. After checking out their website, it’s easy to see they are looking out for the “average” golfer. Most of the die-hard golfing fanatics want the most expensive and popular golf clubs, whether it’s TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, etc.

Pinemeadow Golf takes a different and much more affordable approach, and it’s very respectable. I started my golfing career with a Dunlop driver from Wal-Mart, a Dunlop putter from Wal-Mart, and some King Snake (knock-off of King Cobra) irons. All in all, my first set of clubs cost about $200 total. I played with these clubs for almost ten years, so I always have a soft spot for inexpensive golf equipment.

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Golf Talk [Episode 042]

Tiger Woods may have taken the week of the Tour Championship off, but we didn’t.

PodcastThe PGA Tour season is over, but we’ve still got a lot to talk about. Paul Azinger is named the 2008 Ryder Cup captain and introduces a new qualification system. Fallout aplenty about Tiger’s decision to skip the Tour Championship. Michelle Wie is smacked down by the Euro Tour Director, and, oh yeah, Adam Scott gets a victory. All that and more in this episode of Golf Talk.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 042 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 Tiger Challenge

Adam Scott moved his name to the top of the “next to challenge Tiger” list this past weekend at East Lake.

Thrash TalkHow nice would it be to win The Players Championship and Tour Championship before turning 27? Adam Scott knows how that feels now, yet he is still considered an underachiever by golf fans worldwide, including myself. The young Australian burst onto the scene a few years back and was quickly labeled the next Tiger Woods. That was unfair to Scott, but it’s just part of the game.

Adam Scott’s golf swing is very similar in mechanics to Tiger’s old swing, but that’s about all the two have in common. Scott is laid back and never seems to change emotion, while Tiger lets the world know what he is thinking throughout his rounds. In the grand scheme of things, Tiger had eight major championship victories before turning 27 compared to Scott’s zero.

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Clubs I Loved and Why I Loved Them

Golf clubs have changed. Product life cycle is measured in months. Beauty gives way to bizarre. Technology trumps tradition. And I’ve fallen out of love.

Bag DropAs I wrote last week’s Bag Drop on the new Nike and Callaway square drivers, it occurred to me that despite all the proven and promised performance improvements over the past few years, golf clubs have lost something, at least for me.

The clubs in my bag do work better than any I ever used before. But I don’t love them. Somewhere along the way they’ve become simply tools to use until something better comes along. Which, thanks to constant innovation by clubmakers, happens more and more often.

Outside of perhaps my wedges and putter, none were selected for their looks. All are free agents subject to waiver at any time. Despite shooting a career round with them this year, there’s no emotional attachment. And that’s kind of sad.

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Volume Eighty

Adam Scott may have won the Tour Championship, but does that give him the right to be considered the next best contender to battle Tiger Woods on tour?

The final putt by Adam Scott at the Tour Championship signaled the end of the 2006 PGA Tour season. While the season might be over for the pros, that doesn’t me Hittin’ the Links will be going into hibernation!

This week we have a recap of the Tour Championship, and an absurd article about Adam Scott being the next player to battle Tiger Woods for the top spot in the World Rankings.

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2006’s Hot and Not

2006 is all but over and it has been a trying year for some. Some have played exceptionally well and others who have lost that loving feeling.

ProFilesThe 2006 season had plenty of drama. At the end of it all there some who were hot and some who were not. Phil Mickelson finished fourth on the money list, won a Masters, choked away a U.S. Open, and is looking forward to returning to the winner’s circle after coming away from his extended vacation.

Tiger was Tiger and there were a few names who emerged from this season with some shine. Let’s take a look at who was hot and who was not in 2006.

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2006 Versus 2005 in Numbers

The numbers in 2006 show a slowdown in distance and more accuracy from players. These trends are small in effect compared to the drop in tournaments played by golf’s top players… which could mean a strange situation for the FedEx Cup.

The Numbers GameI know there is still one tournament left. Sure the numbers may change a little bit, but that won’t stop me from comparing 2006 to last year.

Is Driving Distance up? What about accuracy? Are the top performers in these stats making more or less money? These are just a few things I’ll be answering this week in The Numbers Game.

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