SwingJuice Energy Drink

We all know hydration on the golf course is important. Let’s see if SwingJuice, a golf-focused energy drink, can find its way into the drink holders on our golf carts.

SwingJuiceThere’s been a change in the way players play and prepare for a round of golf. It used to be that players would eat a couple hot dogs and wash those down with a few cans of beer. There was no real thought to how nutrition might affect the player’s score. As many of us are aware, proper hydration can help a player offset fatigue and finish a round strong.

For me, a couple bottles of water throughout a round can get quite boring. Normally, I’m grabbing any type of sports drink I can to supplement the water intake. Prior to the 2005 Newport Cup, I was introduced to a new product, SwingJuice.

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Callaway’s New X Factor

Callaway has gone to the power of “X” in 2006.

CallawayThe 2006 PGA Merchandise Show is underway in Orlando. That means the action has shifted inside the Orange County Convention Center instead of yesterday’s massive Demo Day at Orange County National Golf Club.

Another big event under yesterday’s sunny skies here in Florida was Callaway Golf’s media outing. Olin Browne was the guest of honor, and Callaway took the wraps off the new X series woods, Big Bertha irons, X-Tour wedges and Odyssey Tri-Ball SRT putter.

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What’s Your Bag Worth?

There are two values of your golf bag, its real value and its sentimental value.

The Numbers GameI have friends that have had their golf bag stolen or lost. I’ve also heard stories of a bag being destroyed with all its contents… think of a Seinfeld episode here. Regardless, your bag and clubs not only hold a real value, but a sentimental one as well. The question is, how much is it all worth to you? I’ll run down my bag and tell you what mine is worth not only to be physically replaced, but in my mind (or heart) as well.

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Tour Edge Media Outing Roundup

Tour Edge has built some big buzz around their high-end Exotics line. The company’s new driver lives up to the hype.

Bag DropThe Bag Drop is live on the scene in Orlando, gearing up for the 2006 PGA Merchandise Show & Convention. The Show gets started on Thursday, but there are already happenings to report upon.

Tuesday brought a big media outing for Tour Edge, a company trying to make the leap from value brand to premium player. I had a chance to try their new Exotics driver and a cool new putter, and lots more. Also, I heard some interesting scuttlebutt from my fellow media types.

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Buick Invitational Preview

Tiger Woods is about the show us what 10 years on the tour has taught him as we enter the 2006 Buick Invitational.

buick_invitational_logo.jpgThe 2006 Buick Invitational starts today with defending champion, Tiger Woods making his 2006 season debut and hopefully with as good a start as last year. Tiger won the event after taking the lead from Tom Lehman in the third round in a weather delayed event. Tiger has finished in the top ten in all eight of his Buick Invitational starts, including seven top five finishes and three wins. He will face Phil Mickelson, who will be the only other player in the top five to make the event. Phil knows the course and event well winning back to back in 2000 and 2001 and coming off a T-5 finish at last week’s Bob Hope he looks to be in good form to defend his West Coast Swing title. That’s all great but what we really want to see is a repeat duel between Tiger and Phil like the 2005 Ford Championship at Doral.

This year players will face the North and South course at Torrey Pines Golf Course where the South Course recently underwent a 3.2 million dollar renovation and lengthened to 7,607 yards in anticipation to host the 2008 U.S. Open.

What else will players face in this year’s Buick Invitational?

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Sorenstam and Creamer Create Buzz in South Africa

The top two female golfers in the world are in the news this week. Annika consents to build a family-friendly golf course in South Africa and Paula agrees to play a Precept golf ball.

Sorenstam and CreamerThere were two reasons why Annika Sorenstam played golf at the World Cup this week. Not only was she intent upon winning her first tournament of the new year but she also had an announcement of grand proportions.

Sorenstam wasn’t the only LPGA golfer to create a buzz in South Africa although her news was directly related to this small country. The number-two player in the world created headlines of her own.

Paula Creamer is now playing golf with a Precept ball. Her intent? “Everything I do, I do with the goal in mind of becoming the number-one ranked women’s player in the world.”

The problem is that nobody told this to Annika as she soundly trounced Team USA.

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I Proclaim War on ‘The Deck’!

Upper Deck has tarnished my boyhood passion with its grotesque inflation rate of the all American hobby.

Thrash TalkI don’t know if I am particularly pissed or suddenly sullen. It has come to my attention as of late that there is a matter that needs to be addressed in a public forum. This issue has been festering itself in the sports card business for years now and it’s about time we do something about it, or at least try.

It appears that there are fewer companies with the cash and/or balls to manufacture golf trading cards. In fact, as of right now, there is only one such company, Upper Deck. Upper Deck is a private company whose headquarters is located in Carlsbad, California and has been printing sports cards since 1988 and issuing golf trading cards since 2001, when they saw their next latest and greatest serving of bread and butter vis-à-vis Tiger Woods.

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The PGA Show Goes On

The PGA Merchandise Show may not be what it once was, but it is still the greatest (golf) show on earth.

Bag DropThe Bag Drop is on the way to the Super Bowl of the golf industry. The PGA Merchandise Show opens this week, running from Jan. 26-29 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. In addition to the thousands of equipment, apparel, accessory and gee-gaw manufacturers showing their wares to club professionals and golf shop buyers, us media types will also be kicking the tires of the gear you’ll be buying this year.

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Volume Forty-Three

This week’s links are sure to jump-start your week.

Hittin' the LinksHope you all enjoyed the celebrity-infused golf this weekend. I sure did. There’s something about watching celebs play golf that completely entices me. I get sucked into the television and lose hours of my life watching A-C list celebs hack it around the course.

I think I need to see someone about this problem. Now, on to the links.

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