‘Tis a New Season for the LPGA Tour

A new season of golf has finally begun. The ladies of the LPGA are slowly returning to their practice routines ready for another exciting year on tour. The rookies will also be in the mix and anything can happen in 2006.

LPGA logoWelcome back to my section at The Sand Trap. I hope everyone has had a nice, relaxing holiday season fortified by the company of good friends, shared family traditions and hearty food.

Frankly it’s nice to be back! I don’t know about you but I’m tired of watching Big Break IV reruns, Tiger’s amateur flashbacks and skills challenges on television. Thank goodness the New Year and a new golf season has finally begun!

I’m especially excited about the 2006 LPGA season and the eclectic mix of both older and rookie players who will surely make this a year to remember. Let’s meet some of the new kids on the block and recall a few interesting moments from some of the more established players.

Continue reading “‘Tis a New Season for the LPGA Tour”

Champions Tour Wins Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge

The seniors still have what it takes to beat the other two tour teams. The LPGA and PGA Tours just couldn’t stand up to the challenge and were soundly defeated.

Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge WinnersThis final “hurrah” of the season couldn’t have been any more fun for both the golfers and true fans of the sport.

The Champions Tour team took control of the second nine holes of the two-day television tournament from Lake Las Vegas and never gave an inch. Craig Stadler made everything look easy, but how couldn’t he? Stadler was shooting from the whites! Kind of unfair, don’t you think? Why would the post-season 3-Tour Challenge allow guys like Stadler, Irwin and Haas (who can crush their drives as easily as guys on the PGA Tour) to step forward? Why would the Seniors even want to play the whites?

Continue reading “Champions Tour Wins Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge”

Episode 007

The golf season may not be in full swing, but we’ve still got a lot to talk about: one-irons, Retief Goosen and Ben Hogan, the LPGA leaving a mark on the general public, and much, much more.

PodcastWe’re back and three strong once again as Everardo once again joins Jeff and Erik for the “James Bond” (007) episode of “Golf Talk Podcast.” You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 007 as an MP3 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

This week, and though even the silly season is taking a few weeks off before the PGA Tour cranks back up in January, we still have plenty to talk about. For this week’s Show Notes – links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information – just read on.

Continue reading “Episode 007”

Titleist Forged 735.CM Irons Review

Titleist’s 735.CM irons were some of the most eagerly awaited products of 2005. Do they stack up?

TitleistRarely are a set of irons so lusted after as Titleist’s Forged 735.CM irons. The 735s – Titleist’s first foray into “combo” or cavity-to-muscle “progressive” irons – were a rumor in March, reality in August, and had already earned a place in my bag by the time the Newport Cup rolled around in October.

Titleist 735.CM Spread OutIf you don’t read past the first two paragraphs, take one thing away from this review: these clubs were worth the wait. It takes a lot to knock a set of irons out of my bag, but these irons effectively replaced the irons I was playing (Titleist’s Forged 680) by the turn the first time I played with them. The 680s are a forged, muscleback club with a great amount of feel and feedback, which I had always deemed important to improving my golf game. I never thought a cavity-back club could replicate the feel of a finely crafted muscleback. Until I tried the 735s. They felt so good, I came up with a phrase that I’d rather not repeat here… (but you could find it in the forum quite easily).

They’re that good.

Continue reading “Titleist Forged 735.CM Irons Review”

Troy Matteson

Setting a new Nationwide Tour earnings mark is Troy Matteson. He and a handful of his peers are about to embark on a year in the PGA Tour.

ProFilesThe 2005 season on the Nationwide Tour will probably be remembered for Jason Gore’s battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour following his U.S. Open performance, but no one earned more money on the Nationwide Tour than Troy Matteson. He made the cut in 25 of 27 events, had 10 top-10 finishes and thus played his way onto the PGA Tour for 2006.

Continue reading “Troy Matteson”

Tying Up Loose Ends

Which driving stat helps GIR more, accuracy or distance? Does hitting more GIR mean your putting will suffer? Both are good questions stemming from some comments and forum threads last week that are answered.

The Numbers GameIn the past week or so there has been a good discussion in the forum and a comment in last week’s Numbers Game (thanks to valued reader Rafi). One sparked a lengthy discussion and the other peaked my thirst for all things numbers related.

In the heat of the “Drive for show, putt for dough” thread, I thought some things through. GIR is important, but driving is a component. The question is which part, accuracy or distance, is a more critical component. The second area had to do with GIR and its relationship to putting stats. The question raised was, if you hit more greens do your putting stats suffer? Read on and I’ll answer that.

Continue reading “Tying Up Loose Ends”

Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge Preview

The Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge is an engaging event without the frazzled nerves. Sit back, relax and watch the best golfers from all three tours shoot the breeze and have fun! And it’s all for a good cause.

Wendys 3-Tour Challenge logoAlthough the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge has already been played and its outcome determined, it’s still worthy of some commentary. It’s the only tournament of the year which features golfers from each of the big three tours going head-to-head to determine which tour reigns supreme.

Continue reading “Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge Preview”

Cleveland Introduces CG11 Wedges for Women

Cleveland has pink wedges for women. Hey, at least they’re not stereotyping! No, this is marketing, baby!

Cleveland LogoWe’re having a bit of a lazy day, so here are the relevant portions of a Cleveland press release:

The makers of the most famous wedges in golf are proud to announce the expansion of its W-Series line with the introduction of the W-Series CG11 wedge. This new wedge marks the first time that Cleveland Golf has incorporated their revolutionary CMMTM metal into their women’s line which now offers that same exceptional feel, versatility and dependability to men and women alike.

Continue reading “Cleveland Introduces CG11 Wedges for Women”

The Negatives of Golf

This week’s Thrash Talk dives into some of the things that upset me about golf.

Thrash TalkThe Target World Challenge has come and gone, and the 2006 PGA Tour season doesn’t start for a few more weeks. That being said, I’m taking a break from the usual PGA Tour discussion this week. Instead, I’m going to talk about some of the things that bother me when I go out and play. I’ve selected eight things that really get under my skin when I go play by myself or with friends.

Continue reading “The Negatives of Golf”