The Analytics Revolution is Coming

How statistics born in other sports are permeating the golf world.

Thrash TalkIn February, nerds, statisticians, sports fans, and nerd-statistician-sports fans gathered in Boston, Massachusetts for the MIT Sloan Sports Analystics Conference. Since its establishment in 2006 by Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey, the conference has grown to feature athletes, media members, and statisticians from across the sports landscape.

Sean Foley, swing instructor to Tiger Woods, has been a vocal leader when it comes to the marriage of science and golf. He spoke at the conference alongside golf statistician Mark Broadie. One of the most outspoken adopters of TrackMan, an advanced launch monitor that uses Doppler radar to track ball flight and impact characteristics, Foley also coaches Justin Rose and Hunter Mahan, and is so busy that he recently had to turn away Luke Donald.

Analytics have revolutionized the way fans watch, talk about, and consume baseball and basketball, and now that’s finally coming to golf. Let’s dive in.

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2014 Masters Preview and Staff Predictions

It is hard to believe that the Masters is already here, and we here at The Sand Trap are ready for the first major of 2014. Let’s see what the staff expects to happen at Augusta.

Thrash TalkHello Friends, it is time for the 2014 Masters. The start to 2014 has left many of The Sand Trap staff confused about who to pick as a winner at Augusta. In a typical year, most of the staff goes with Tiger, but after the recent announcement that he will not play, many of us are left looking elsewhere for a winner. I think this makes the 2014 a complete toss up. There is no dominant player in the game now who you can point too and say they are guaranteed to be there on Sunday afternoon.

The 2013 winner Adam Scott looked very strong at Bay Hill until the final round where he let Matt Every slip past him. Rory had one slip away in 2014 at the Honda, which was positive to see him playing well again, but bad in the sense that he still hasn’t found his way into the winners circle other than in Australia. This makes our job as predictors tough, because we need to dig through the stats to find that special player that will have the magic at this seasons first major.

With that lets look and see how the staff predicts this years event:

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TaylorMade Tour Preferred CB Irons Review

TaylorMade’s flagship amateur irons have been updated for 2014, and we take them for a spin.

TaylorMade TP Irons 2014 CB HeroThe Tour Preferred CB irons are, I suppose, the spiritual successors to the RocketBladez Tour irons that I reviewed a year ago. They’re another cast set of irons with TaylorMade’s Speed Pocket technology (a polymer-filled slot cut out of the sole) that TM is hoping will appeal to a mass audience as well as the occasional better player. Ideally, these are a spectrum-spanning set of irons.

You might not expect it, but these have already made it into the bags of PGA Tour players and weekend hackers alike. Let’s see if they should earn a spot in your bag.

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Volume Three Hundred Eighty-One

Major season has begun, and is there any better week than Masters’ week?

Hittin' the LinksThe azaleas must be blooming. Are you ready for plenty of Condoleezza sightings and to hear “A tradition unlike any other” about a ka-zillion times this week? It will all be worth it come Sunday and the most famous back nine in all of golf.

The weather this week in Augusta looks good after Monday. With a little luck we might get treated to a hard and fast Augusta National, which is almost always to most exciting setup. We’ll be watching coverage all week, and DVRing the Par Three Contest and opening rounds. Cannot wait!

But first, let’s hit the links.

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TaylorMade SLDR Fairway and Rescue Review

Do the SLDR Fairway and Rescue live up to the hype of the SLDR Driver? And what’ s with this low-forward center of gravity concept anyway?

The TaylorMade SLDR FairwayOne of the most hyped family of clubs currently out there is the SLDR from TaylorMade. First came the driver with its signature movable weight that (yes) slides toward the toe or heel to adjust ball flight. This was not a new idea, as Mizuno and others had used a slide-able weight in the past. No, the real breakthrough technology in the SLDR family is the low-and-forward center of gravity (CG). And unlike the slider weight, the low-and-forward CG is found throughout the line, including in the fairway and rescue woods.

TaylorMade claims that the low-and-forward CG will let many players increase loft to achieve a higher launch with lower spin to promote maximum distance. This is a tantalizing prospect. In most parts of the U.S., golf remains an aerial game. Bandon Dunes and other truly firm and fast courses aside, players are almost always better off getting maximum carry rather than trying to run the ball along the fairway. Higher shots will land softer, giving us a better chance to hold the green and less chance of it running into trouble.

The SLDR Rescue looks all business at address.

There is no denying that SLDRs are generating a lot of buzz. You can spot the chrome accent all over every PGA Tour broadcast, and probably at your club, as well. The rumor is that several manufacturers will be moving weight forward and low in upcoming models. Will this be the next big thing? Let’s take a look.

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TaylorMade JetSpeed Driver Review

TaylorMade tries to step up their game with the release of their latest driver, named JetSpeed, I take it for a spin to see how it performs.

JetSpeedIn the past couple of years TaylorMade launched one of the most aggressive marketing campaigns the golf industry has ever seen around a unique club named Rocketballz. The Rocketballz line was a very popular line of drivers and fairway woods. Hoping to continue on the excitement TaylorMade released Rocketballz-ier line called RBZ Stage 2. The Stage 2 line was not nearly as popular as the original, and so once again TaylorMade decided to change it up with the JetSpeed line of woods.

The audience for the JetSpeed is average golfers for whom the excitement of the movable weight technology in the SLDR line does not tickle their fancy. I was the reviewer for the SLDR driver and I was very excited about the distance gains from the SLDR driver but I was unable to hit it straight. So when the opportunity to hit the JetSpeed came along I jumped at the opportunity.

Let’s take a look at how the JetSpeed stacks up.

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Volume Three Hundred Eighty

Phil’s oblique, Na’s not the only slow poke, and Bill Murray has great pants.

Hittin' the LinksDATELINE: Two Weeks Before the Masters–How will the Masters draw without the two biggest current names in the sport? We may have to find out. It will still likely command more eyes than virtually any other tournament could hope to. The Masters, after all, is not just a major, for the majority of us in North America it marks the end of winter and the beginning of golf season.

The TOUR is in Texas for the final tune-ups before the season’s first major. Next week’s Houston Open has a pretty solid field as all those players who like to play their way into the majors will be getting ready for Augusta. Are you getting as excited for the Masters as we are?

Let’s hit the links.

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New Shoes from TRUE Linkswear (2014)

The most comfortable shoe in golf debuts its 2014 line-up.

Bag DropTRUE Linkswear has long been one of my favorite brands of shoes and for good reason; they are super comfortable. While they have always had a slipper-like feel in the opinions of many, they were criticized early on for having, shall we say, a unique appearance. With each progressive release, the looks have improved without sacrificing any of the comfort. On top of that, the company continues to improve it’s sole designs for maximum stability. The new 2014 line-up should have something for everybody as the new additions include a couple of street style shoes, oxfords, and wingtips as well as more options for women.

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Volume Three Hundred Seventy-Nine

Bay Hill turns to into “Survivor” on Sunday, Tiger’s back keeps him out, and we get a new meaning for the phrase “my golf game’s on fire.”

Hittin' the LinksDid you take a break from NCAA basketball to play or watch golf this weekend? After Saturday’s round at Bay Hill, we were thinking that Adam Scott had weathered his “bad round” of the week and would surely play better and win on Sunday. We were wrong.

The conventional wisdom about anchored putters is that they are better at shorter putts than traditional putters. That did not seem to be the case for Adam Scott Sunday. One stroke back with his ball laying two on the 16th green, Scott three-putted from about 15 feet for a par. On the 17th he missed a shortish par putt. Sunday on the PGA TOUR again looked like the players were just trying not to throw up on themselves rather than win. While the suspense level remains high for viewers, we’d rather see players make birdies to win than bogeys to lose.

Here’s more about Sunday at Bay Hill and eight-plus other interesting items from the week. Let’s hit the links.

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