From cacti to bikini shots, Michael Sam to Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Hello fans of golf, and welcome to this week’s Hittin’ the Links. We take a look at the PGA Tour’s first great finish at 2014 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, then meander our way from Michael Sam to Miguel Angel.
During a week when the northeastern United States experienced it’s first snow melt of the year, the PGA Tour heated up just as fast, thanks to a few unbelievable shots from Frenchman Victor Dubuisson. Let’s hit the links.
Whether you are a pro or amateur, TaylorMade says they have the right ball for you.
Like most things, the golf equipment market tends to follow certain trends and this is no different with regards to golf balls. One of the trends that we’ve seen over the last handful of years is the development of “tour” quality balls built for the amateur. There are a lot of us that want to play the absolute best that we can get our hands on, but truth be told, many times balls in that upper echelon just don’t fit our games properly. New from TaylorMade this golf season are three new balls. For those at the very top of the game, they have their new Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred X balls. According to the company, these balls have over a decade of research in them and they believe that these are the best balls that they’ve created to date. In addition to the new Tour Preferred balls, the company has also released the Project (a). As you probably could have guessed, the (a) stands for amateur and TaylorMade says that these balls will give amateurs help where they need it the most.
A major loss at a major venue and a past major winner finally wins again.
The winter weather continues to make news around the U.S., while in Sochi at the Winter Olympics, it seems like spring has arrived. If you are in the north (as we are), you are probably wishing for spring to arrive where you are. Well, fear not, the calendar tell us that spring is right around the corner, just a month to go.
Are your brackets filled out for match play yet? Play kicks off at Dove Mountain on Wednesday with the round of 64. But before we make our picks, let’s hit the links.
In recent years golf has been in steady decline, I discuss some of the causes and how we as golfer are responsible for turning this around.
Golf, like any leisure activity, is very closely tied with the ups and downs of the economy. The economy in its current state appears to be making headway in the right direction; golf on the other hand has continued its decline. Mostly it is a decline of participation, more directly it is not attracting as many new golfers as it is losing. For us golfers, this is going to be a bad thing. More and more courses are going to be forced to close because they just do not get enough play to remain open.
When I think about how we got here, we must first remember that golf has gone through ups and downs in the past. This is certainly not the first decline. Likely it will not be the last and golf will grow again soon. But we should analyze why we have had this recent decline.
Woods wins, Allen ties Champions Tour record, and “Are you choking? Well, are you, punk?”
Even in the wind and rain, Pebble Beach is still an astounding location. And the fact that you can play golf there, makes it that much better. Even watching a bunch of famous and not-so-famous hacks playing forgettable golf is tolerable because of that spectacular backdrop. We’re glad it’s not every week of the year, but we are glad that it is one week of the year.
In case you missed it, Jim Renner and his amateur partner John Harkey, Jr., took the pro-am competition at -31. Here’s the rest of the week in golf in HtL…
PING adds to the True Roll putter line-up with the Ketsch as well as bringing back the Rapture fairway woods.
Coming this month, PING has announced two new products, the Ketsch putter and the Rapture 3 wood. PINGs new putter incorporates the company’s True Roll technology as well as providing a very high MOI all in a package that the company says is easy to aim and fits nearly any stroke. The new Rapture 3 wood is a great option for those who are looking for a driver alternative off the tee or want a hotter-faced fairway wood.
The loudest hole in golf, the biggest crowds, and more stories about Tiger than his play this year deserves.
What a great weekend of sports! You had the 25th Dubai Desert Classic with Tiger and Rory in the field and the Waste Management Phoenix Open with the loudest hole in golf. And then there was that football game.
Next week we get plenty of eye-candy with the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. While it’s not exactly what I’d call a deep field (the player photos are oddly entertaining), it does have its marquee names: Mickelson, Snedeker, Day, and Furyk, to name a few. There will even be Daly and Duval sightings. What we don’t get is Bill Murray. The comedian reportedly will be on the set of a movie. Though it would be just like Murray to show up anyway.
But that’s next week, let’s hit the links for this week:
What to expect in the upcoming year.
2014 is going to be an interesting year. We’ve got Rory McIlroy trying to recapture his pre-2013 form; Phil Mickelson giving the career grand slam another go at Pinehurst; Jordan Spieth and a number a young players looking to make the leap; and of course Tiger Woods six years removed from his last major championship win.
Let’s get to it.
Whether you are a laser guy or a GPS guy, Bushnell has you covered.
Perhaps one of the most popular accessories on the golf course today is the rangefinder. While not really a necessity on the course, both GPS and laser rangefinders allow the user to get accurate yardages to their target, and I can tell you first hand, once you get use to having one, you all of a sudden feel lost without it. Over the last few years, we have had plenty of debates on the forum about which type, laser or GPS, is better and the merits of both, but whether you like the pinpoint accuracy of a laser or simple functionality of a GPS Bushnell has you covered.
