LPGA Ups and Downs

The LPGA season is in full swing, and it has definitely seen its ups and downs so far.

Thrash TalkThe ladies of the LPGA Tour are three months into their 2006 season, and there have been a lot of things to talk about so far. The season’s first major championship, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, may have produced the best finish of any golf tournament in the world this year. There were a lot of big-name contenders fighting for the victory, including past stalwart Karrie Webb and young guns Natalie Gulbis and Michelle Wie.

The Kraft Nabisco Championship was one of many bright spots for the LPGA this season. However, there have been some disappointments along the way as well. I’m going to break down the early season into the good, bad, and ugly.

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Nick Von Hofen, Ritz-Carlton Members Club

Nick Von Hofen comes from a golf-crazed family. It only makes sense that he would end up at one of southwestern Florida’s swankiest new resort courses.

Ritz Carlton SarasotaNicholas Von Hofen stood on the 12th tee of the new Ritz-Carlton Members Club – elevation 65 feet above sea level – and smiled.

“You wouldn’t think you’re in Florida,” Von Hofen said as he surveyed the immaculately landscaped Tom Fazio-designed golf course.

Indeed. With its pastoral setting and rolling terrain, the Ritz-Carlton Members Club looks like it could have been lifted in from Von Hofen’s native Ohio. But this is southwest Florida, where golf courses are often shaped and molded out of a tough land. Fazio molded this 7,033-yard, par 72 masterpiece from pasture land that was once used to grow fruits and vegetables.

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Cobra’s Optica SL Putters: Star Wars on the Putting Green

With the introduction of its Optica SL putter, Cobra Golf hopes its future’s so bright you’ll have to wear shades.

Bag DropIt had to happen sooner or later. Golf design has advanced so far it has entered into the realm of science fiction. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda have apparently conspired with Cobra Golf to design a putter that is half golf club, half light saber. Armed with the new Cobra Optica SL putter, you’ll have to tell your foursome to stand back and watch out. You are a Jedi knight about to light it up on the putting green.

I’ve played golf an awful long time. And during that time I’ve seen some awfully strange putters. But Cobra’s latest design just proves no matter how long you hang around, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Where do I begin?

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Volume Sixty

LeBron James? BJ Wie versus Earl Woods? BallFinder Scout? It could only be one thing: Hittin’ The Links.

When is Hittin’ the Links not random? Well this week’s edition is no exception and features everything from an Earl Woods / BJ Wie comparison to a Tiger / LeBron James comparison to the correlation between learning golf and chronic pain.

Anyways, hope you enjoy this week’s Hittin’ the Links.

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Steve Brummer Swing Analysis

Steve Brummer plays to his 12-handicap very frequently, but he’ll mix in every sort of bad shot imaginable in the process.

Swing CheckI play golf with Steve Brummer a few times per week, and I can safely say that the most consistent thing about his game is his inconsistency. Steve will play well for five holes, have a stretch where he doesn’t hit the ball well, and then finish out the round strong once again. While I joking refer to Steve as the “anti-Rotella” for his mental outlook (“even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then” he’ll say after a good shot), his mental game is probably responsible for three to four dropped shots per round.

But here in Swing Check, we can’t analyze a person’s mental game, so we’ll fall back on Steve’s swing. It’s a swing which Steve has built over the 40+ years he’s been playing golf, and it’s a swing that, with a few tweaks with an eye on consistency, could generate a very repeatable golf swing.

Let’s have a look…

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Golf Talk [Episode 023]

Wie, Mickelson, Woods, Norman, Couples, and Wasylowich? Which name doesn’t seem to fit?

PodcastHalf of the season on the PGA Tour is in the books, and we’ve got some first-half awards to hand out. Plus, Michelle Wie makes it through local qualifying for the U.S. Open, Greg Norman to divorce, a man shoots 57 (!!!), and Tiger is skipping The Memorial. This and a whole lot more in the 23rd episode of the Golf Talk Podcast.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 023 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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Bunker’s Dozen, May 2006

Was Lefty’s great month of April enough to overtake Tiger in the latest Bunker’s Dozen?

The month of April is in the books, and boy did it fly by! The first major championships have come and gone for the main professional tours, and they left us with some great memories. Phil Mickelson won his second green jacket in three years, and Karrie Webb defeated Lorena Ochoa in a playoff at the Kraft Nabisco. Other than that, it was just another solid month for golf fans worldwide.

The Bunker’s Dozen is back for another month, and business has definitely picked up in the golf world. The list has changed quite a bit, but there are still some familiar faces as well. Without further ado, here is the latest Bunker’s Dozen.

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TaylorMade TP Red/TP Black Ball Review

A challenger to the throne that Titleist built? TaylorMade, surprisingly, has more than this: they have a potential successor.

Taylormade TP Ball SleevesTitleist has ruled the “premium ball” roost since, well, since there was a roost to be ruled. In the pre-Tiger era, I remember seeing advertisements that said “The last 47 U.S. Opens have been won with a Titleist ball” (or something like that). Eventually, Tiger and his Nike R&D chums managed to put a stop to that streak, but Titleist still owns darn near 85% of the premium ball market, leaving Callaway, Nike, Bridgestone, and others to pick up the scraps.

Today, a new player officially enters the market: TaylorMade. We covered the launch of TaylorMade’s “Tour Preferred” line of golf balls in several articles (here, here, here, and here), and since then we’ve been playing with both the TP Red and the TP Black.

Here, finally, are our exhaustive thoughts on the newest challenger to the throne the Pro V1 built.

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Cleveland HiBore Driver Review

The Cleveland HiBore is a radically shaped driver that boasts, for perhaps the first time in the age of the titanium driver, a sweet spot that perfectly lines up with the center of gravity.

Clveland HiBore SoleCleveland’s HALO Hybrid is one of the more unique hybrids to hit the market. Featuring a “scooped back” design, the HALO succeeded at getting the ball in the air with a good amount of spin. Consumers voted with their wallets, and the HALO is the third-best selling hybrid at retail.

Cleveland, spurred on by the success of the HALO, has forged forward with the scoop-back design with the HiBore driver. The HiBore driver not only features the same dome-less crown as the HALO, but also the wider stance and lower center of gravity (CG). These changes, Cleveland says, marries the location of the CG with the center of the clubface, resulting in a super-long, super-forgiving clubhead.

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