2013 British Open Staff Picks

The 2013 Open Championship is being played at Muirfield and should be a great event, lets see what the staff expects for the event.

Thrash TalkThe 2013 edition of the British Open moves to Muirfield Golf Club. The story lines for this year’s event look great. Phil Mickelson is peaking with a win last week at the Scottish Open, Graeme McDowell is also riding high with a win at the French Open and of course there is always Tiger. There are certainly some questions around if Tiger is going to be his best this week after sustaining the injury at the U.S. Open. Let’s see what the staff expects for this year’s event.

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Why Hank Shouldn’t Talk About Tiger

Recently Hank Haney tweeted his opinion on why Tiger struggled at the U.S. Open, I give my opinion on why he should keep his trap shut.

Thrash TalkHank Haney should really learn to keep his mouth shut. In a recent tweet, Hank Haney shared the idea that Tiger’s reason for struggling at the 2013 United States Open at Merion Golf Club was because Tiger did not prepare well enough before the tournament. Hank went on to say that he has seen Tiger prepare in the past when he was Tiger’s coach and in his opinion it was not enough preparation for Tiger to win the event.

Beyond the fact that Hank really has no direct knowledge of what it takes to win a major tournament, Hank should have refrained from making any comments about his former pupil. For starters, he has no first-hand knowledge of what Tiger did to prepare for Merion. Yes, he’s watched Tiger prepare for majors in the past, but he has no idea what Tiger did at Merion. None.

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Callaway Debuts New Woods and Wedges

Callaway adds to their line of drivers and woods with the addition of the FT Optiforce while also introducing new wedges with new (and conforming) Mack Daddy Grooves.

Bag DropThere are a couple of things that nearly every golfer, regardless of their ability, would take to add to their golf game; more distance (especially off the tee) and more control around the greens. With the release of two new product lines, Callaway golf is looking to help golfers in both of these areas. Later this month, the company will be releasing a new family of woods, the FT Optiforce, which includes two different drivers as well as fairway woods. In addition to that, they are releasing the Mack Daddy 2 wedges, which they claim have grooves that are even better than the original.

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TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour Irons Review

Do TaylorMade’s newest flagship irons live up to their inflated marketing? Hint: you bet they do.

TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour
Last year, with the release of the RocketBallz line of woods, TaylorMade unleashed a massive marketing blitz unusual for the golf market. While their irons have long been solid, TaylorMade still hasn’t cemented themselves as the same dominating force from the short grass as they are off the tee.

Enter RocketBladez. TM’s newest line of irons were leaked back in October, and they claim to have brought the same (or similar) Speed Pocket technology from the woods. The Tour model that I have been testing is, of course, aimed at the better players, with thinner soles and toplines, minimal offset, and a straighter leading edge.

Ever since I played my first set of wide-soled super-game-improvement irons, I’ve been of the opinion that most people can get away with (or even benefit from) playing irons slightly better than their skill level. That was the main take-away when I reviewed the Adams CB3 Black irons last year, and that’s what I’ve come to believe here again. Read on to find out why.

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Adams Super S Fairway Woods and Hybrids Review

TaylorMade’s little brother looks to the RocketBallz for inspiration.

Adams Super S Fairway SoleAbout a year ago, TaylorMade-adidas Golf announced that they had acquired Adams Golf for roughly $70 million, a large sum of money but a price that the most profitable company in golf was willing to fork over. Adams had purchased the putter makers Yes! a few years prior, and between the two they held a sizable sum of patents, all of which TaylorMade now controls.

Adams has become TM’s little brother; a place for the big boys to take risks, test things out, and share in the mutual spoils. TaylorMade has worked to integrate aerodynamics from Adams, and, as the crowns of this Super S line of woods show, Adams has integrated some of TM’s technology into their own clubs.

The Super S fairway woods are along the lines with what Adams has been cranking out for a few years now (including the Fast 12s that I reviewed last year), but the hybrids are a bit of a departure. Adams held onto a more iron-like hybrid design much longer than most OEMs, but they too have transitioned to a more fairway wood-like sole and crown design.

Has Adams managed to balance their own traditional design with the influence of TaylorMade? Read on to find out.

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2013 Adams Golf Idea Super LS Hybrid Review

I take the 2013 edition of the Adams Idea Super LS hybrid for a test drive. Let’s see how it performs.

Adams Super LS HybridAdams Golf has undergone a great deal of change in the past few years. After the company was purchased by TaylorMade many thought that they would kill the Adams line. In the short term at least that does not appear to be the case. Which for those of us who have liked the Adams clubs is great news.

Since their introduction that Adams hybrid line has been the number one hybrid on the PGA Tour, and even though that doesn’t help you or I hit more greens, it does say something about the quality of the clubs. For this season Adams has announced the Idea Super LS hybrids along with the Idea Super S line. Even more recently they have announced the Idea Super DHY and the Idea Super 9031 as well. For this review I was give a 19 degree Idea Super LS with a Stiff Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 graphite shaft.

Join me as I take this hybrid through its paces.

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Callaway Forged Wedges Review

Clean look, soft feel, and durability; the blueprint for great wedges.

Callaway Forged WedgesWedges really have not changed much lately, especially since the inception of the new groove condition of competition back in 2010. We used to hear from OEMs yearly about “Y-Cutter” grooves or “Mack Daddy” grooves or “Zip Grooves,” and now – nothing. In the ever-popular evolution vs. revolution dichotomy, what we have seen with wedges doesn’t even register on the scale.

We have seen refreshes and we have seen steps-up, but nothing show-stoppingly innovative, nothing that will truly blow your socks off with technology.

Callaway isn’t necessarily here to change that. Callaway is going to offer their typical brand of understated refinement, and to bring a certain amount of elegance to the wedge game. After the slightly flashier X-Forged and JAWS lines of wedges, the Forged Wedges are minimalist, simple, and great-looking. And from a variety of lies, they perform great.

That’s as good a reason as any, but is it enough of a reason to buy a few over similar offerings from Titleist and Cleveland? Read on to find out.

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Volume Three Hundred Fifty Three

Its three in a row for Inbee Park

Hittin' the LinksTiger Woods must have been hurting a bit this week to miss his own tournament. He was still there as a gracious host to shake hands as they finished up. David Feherty even had a chance to talk to him about his hosting duties. It was still a good tournament, even without its host in the field. Personally, I didn’t miss Tiger at all.

In this edition of HtL we begin be investigating a mid-round caddy firing, then check out a different kind of bird on the course, and look at one hole that meant business at Congressional. Also, we take a peak in some of the big boys’ bags, find out some things about Stacy Lewis, and do a wrap-up of the weeks events. Read on!

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Brex Golf BG-1 Putter Review

The Brex Golf BG-1 Putter looks unique. How’s it work?

Brex BG-1It’s easy to see that the big boys dominate the golf club industry. Big companies like TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway, and PING sell a lion’s share of the clubs purchased by the millions of duffers every year looking to improve their games. So when a small company like Brex Golf pops up and gets some attention, it is often worth it to take a better look.

Brex golf was nice enough to allow me to get a first hand look at their unique putter and fitting system, and put it into play for several weeks. It was an eye opening experience; lets see how it went.

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