Betting Games

If you’re tired of just playing the standard betting games – skins, match play, and so on – check out our list of top five betting games.

Trap Five LogoGolf is a great game that affords – if you’re bad enough – a near infinite number of betting possibilities. 😉 This week we’re going to have a look at the top five alternatives to standard old stroke or match play. Many of the games are betting games, but some of the formats are used in tournaments. The International, on the PGA Tour, uses the Modified Stableford format as its scoring method.

What betting game do you play most commonly? What is your favorite? What should have been on the list, but isn’t? Leave a comment below (at the end of the column) or post in our forum.

TaylorMade Rossa AGSI Putters Review

The 2005 line of Rossa putters features TaylorMade’s innovative “AGSI” technology for a smoother roll, but do the putters make the cut?

Rossa LogoI’ll make you a bet. I’ll name an equipment category and you name the top three brands on tour. If you lose, you have to read this whole review. Ready?

Putters.

If you didn’t name TaylorMade, well, consider yourself average… and wrong.

TaylorMade has made serious inroads on the PGA Tour in a variety of categories in the past few years, including putters, where they’ve surpassed Ping and are slowly gaining ground on stalwarts Scotty Cameron (Titleist) and Odyssey (Callaway). The success of their drivers and now their irons and wedges has allowed TaylorMade to get their putters in the hands of some good golfers. For example, both Sergio Garcia (Booz Allen Classic) and Sean O’Hair (John Deere Classic) have won this year with a TaylorMade putter.

Kenny Perry

Kenny Perry has quietly build one of the most successful games on the PGA Tour. He is a man who has not only made a place for himself, he’s made a place for others as well.

ProFilesKenny Perry looks like he’d be more at home in the front seat of a big rig than he would on the many golf courses he visits on the PGA Tour circuit. Despite his unassuming nature, Perry has made a place for himself in the world of golf. Golf fans have become accustomed to seeing Perry stroll fairways on weekends but Perry remains the same guy who people have come to appreciate in his home town of Franklin, Kentucky.

Perry’s steady work and persistence have secured him a top spot on the PGA Tour. He is currently 10th in the World Golf Rankings (still a whopping 12.8 points behind Tiger Woods) and 6th on the 2005 money list with $3,282,605. His current career earnings total $19,404,890.

Tiger

Tiger Woods is an astounding creature. Let’s have a look at his statistics to see if we can determine why – and how – Tiger goes on being Tiger.

The Numbers GameI’ve been waiting to look at Tiger’s stats in awe. Well, the time has come. Tiger has had an amazing season and without a doubt and in my mind he has rightfully earned Player of the Year honors. If Vijay’s putting hadn’t left him at crucial points of the year, I might be talking more about him than Woods.

Let’s go down the list, shall we?

Buick Championship Preview

The PGA Tour heads to the TPC at River Highlands this week.

PGA Tour LogoMost of the world’s best golfers are taking the week off after playing the PGA Championship at Baltusrol and WGC-NEC Invitational back-to-back. However, the show must go on, and there are still come very good stories for this week’s Buick Championship. The presence of the WGC-NEC Invitational on the schedule has hurt this tournament, but there have been some very notable winners in the past. This list of winners includes Greg Norman, Nick Price, and Phil Mickelson (twice).

This year, however, the highest-ranked golfer in the field is Kenny Perry. Perry comes into the tournament ranked 10th in the world, and he has been playing good golf lately. He has three top-ten finishes in his last five starts, including a tie for sixth last week at Firestone. Perry also has two victories on the PGA Tour so far in 2005. It’s no secret he will be the favorite this week at the Buick Championship.

Wendy’s Championship for Children Tournament Preview

Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer duke it out with the top golfers on the LPGA Tour at the Wendy’s Championship for Children.

LPGAWith only five events remaining in the offical LPGA season the ladies fly to Dublin, Ohio to compete in the Wendy’s Championship for Children Tournament this weekend.

Nineteen of the top twenty female golfers will be in attendance this year, some eagerly looking forward to a another win in 2005 while others attempt to get their season jump-started.

Annika Sorenstam is in the mix this week after a brief layoff. She won the inaugural event in 1999 and finished second in 2001. I’m sure that another trophy would look great next to the six (including two majors) she’s attained earlier this season.

Rosasen Apparel Review

Is it possible to look cool in golf clothes? Rosasen thinks so. Find out what we think.

Rosasen LogoThis might just be me, but I hate having separate clothes that I wear to golf in and that I wear everywhere else. I consider myself a stylish guy, and since I can remember, I’ve had a separate wardrobe dedicated to golf appropriate attire (Ashworth polos, khakis, etc.) and then my everyday clothes (more stylish shirts, pants, etc.). Having all those different clothes drove me crazy, it was just too much. Not to mention my golf clothes were really dorky looking, and I hated that. I remember in high school, grabbing a bite to eat after a tournament and seeing a girl I liked at a restaurant and being embarrassed because of my golf attire. It just wasn’t cool.

Sometimes Less is More

Is the PGA Tour season too long? I know one person who thinks so.

Thrash TalkThe length of the PGA Tour season is a topic that has been discussed in detail for a few months now. There have been a couple articles about this here at The Sand Trap, but nobody has really voiced their opinions yet. I have thought about it many times in the past few months, and I finally have enough courage to speak my opinions on the matter. It’s not an easy topic because it would affect so many around the golf world. But would the effect be good or bad overall? That is the question I am going to answer.

PGA Championship Club Counts

Club (and shoe, ball, and glove) counts from the last major of 2005 are out. Any surprises? You betcha.

pgachampionship_baltusrol_logo.jpgThe PGA Championship has been over for awhile, but club geeks are still talking about the fact that Phil Mickelson used both a TaylorMade r7 TP 3-wood and a Titleist 980F 4-wood in his victory (see SirShanksAlot for more).

Late last week, GolfWeek published the official club counts, and geeks dove right in. Can you guess who the five players using the Titleist hybrid woods were? How about the three lonely souls playing Maxfli golf balls?