I forgot where it happened but in the middle of a round which I was regarding with the usual distaste, a small voice within me said, you know, you don’t have to do this and I thought, No, by God, I don’t. A great wave of relief came over me and on D-Day 1968, I put the clubs up in the loft with the water tanks, closed the hatch, removed the steps and walked away. Nor have I for one second regretted it.
HENRY LONGHURST
The World Golf Foundation’s lobbying and educating efforts have a new name: American Golf Industry Coalition.
Clean. Tough. No grey area! We don’t need no stinking badges!
Let’s face it, the seemingly neverending threats to the municipal sport always seem to forget golf’s economic impact and it appears the group highlighting the $84 billion economy, 2 million jobs and $4 billion charitable impact decided it was time to send politicians a more pointed message with its name.
Acronym-wise it’s not ideal but neither was We Are Golf. But highlighting that there is a real industry with jobs and livelihoods on the line seems shrewd.
Say hello to OTTO, Bridgestone’s autonomous ball-fitting machine. He’s new, he’s unique, he needs no operator and is completely self-contained. Think of it as the R2D2 of ball fitting.
And may The Force be with you.
If nothing else, OTTO is unique. It’s a self-contained, operator-less machine that will watch you hit three driver shots. And then, according to Bridgestone, it’ll automatically process your swing data and fit you into a golf ball quickly, easily and with no human interaction whatsoever.
The tech that makes OTTO possible presents an interesting story and is the result of 15 years’ worth of Bridgestone ball-fitting data. Just how accurate it is, however, remains an open question. Let’s get down to some answers.
Bridgestone says OTTO can fit you into a Bridgestone golf ball after just three swings. And you won’t need a person there to watch you or even run the machine.
Titleist has announced the Vokey SM9 wedge lineup.The new models feature higher centers of gravity to deliver a flatter trajectory with increased spin.Retail price is $179.99. Available March 11
No matter where you are in the world … U.S. or Canada or Tokyo, Seoul … Vokey wedges are ubiquitous. One out of every two wedges on the PGA TOUR is a Vokey and 60 percent of Tour winners last season had at least one Vokey wedge in the bag. With the release of the Vokey SM9, you should expect more of the same.
Success, of course, isn’t without its challenges. Innovative opportunities within the wedge category aren’t nearly what they are in the driver space. Folks, this is not the era of the Carbonwedge. Advancement, improvement—whatever you want to call it—within the category is methodical by nature. For Vokey, that challenge is further complicated by a roster of Tour pros who would be more than happy with the status quo.
If nothing else, kudos to the entire Vokey team for continually pushing to improve a product for which simply not screwing it up would be plenty good enough.
With that said, let’s focus on what Titleist believes are three big-picture benefits of the Vokey SM9 line.
The new-for-2022 ShotScope H4 and ProLX+ should be music to the ears of non-watch-wearing golfers everywhere.
Ever since appearing on the scene in 2017, ShotScope’s wrist-mounted devices have been the choice of stat-tracking golfers who didn’t want to lug their phones with them. But it had no answer for golfers who hate wearing watches.
Other than to say, “Here’s ARCCOS’s number.”
The new H4 unit and the unique combo that is the ProLX+ laser rangefinder aren’t groundbreaking technology. But for the Scotland-based ShotScope, both products represent creative ways to get into, or onto, more golfers’ bags.
Thomas Pieters sealed his sixth European Tour title with a one-shot victory in a thrilling final round of the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
A new year of golf is upon us, does that mean it’s time for a new ball? We know that golfers regardless of level can benefit from playing a single type of ball every round, but what ball will be best? While there can’t be one ball that will be best for every golfer, we can at least use data to give a decent start. Through countless hours of testing and shots, the balls on this list deserve your consideration.
The Key Point: If you want quality, consistency, and performance ball after ball, the Pro V1 remains a no brainer.
This shouldn’t surprise anybody. For two decades, the conversation around the best premium ball to use has always begun with the Titleist Pro V1 and this list will be no different. Both in the Ball Lab and robot ball testing, the Pro V1 is the model of consistency and performance, taking top marks in both settings. The ball’s profile meets the widest variety of golfers of the Titleist lineup and rarely would ever be a bad choice. The Titleist Pro V1 comes at a price premium, but for many the value is still there for the level of trust it provides. It remains one of the best golf balls you can buy.
Flight: Mid-low – Feel: Medium – Spin: Mid
Hudson Swafford won the American Express for the second time in five years Sunday, breaking a late tie with an eagle in a closing-round 8-under 64.
Danielle Kang posted the low score Sunday at 4-under 68 and sprinted away to a 3-shot victory at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Sunday.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a player drop a big, whiny and strange rant about golf architecture. In this case it’s Kyle Phillips Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, home of the Abu Dhabi Championship won by Thomas Pieters.
But it was defending champion Tyrrell Hatton who unraveled after making nine to end Saturday’s third round. The Guardian’s Ewan Murray delivered a few account. From his story:
“It must be one of the worst par fives that I’ve ever seen in my life and, over the last two days, I’ve clearly played it about as well as it was designed,” said Hatton, who took seven there on Friday.
The problem seems to be the lack of reachable and a centerline bunker splitting a huge landing area, with the left round shortening the route to the hole.
Pressed on what precisely is wrong with the 18th, Hatton was not of a mind to back down. “What’s wrong with it? Where do you start?” he asked. “It shouldn’t have a bunker in the middle of the fairway and it shouldn’t be over 600 yards from a forward tee. If you hit a good drive as a pro you should have at least a chance to go for the green in two, otherwise the hole becomes a par three [after the first two shots] and that’s if you play it well. Hardly anyone will get there in two today.”
Aaron Jarvis picked golf over soccer. And now, with a win at the LAAC, he's got a spot in the Masters and The Open at St. Andrews.
Aaron Jarvis made birdie on the final hole Sunday for a 3-under 69 and a one-shot victory in a tense ending to the Latin America Amateur Championship
Scott Jamieson retained a one-shot lead going into the final round of the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi after a four-under-par 68 on Saturday ahead of Shane Lowry and Thomas Pieters.
Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Mitsubishi Electrict Championship at Hualalai for the third time.
Lee Hodges, along with Paul Barjon, took advantage of a late tee time on Saturday to miss the worst of a windy day and share the third-round lead at The American Express in La Quinta, California.
Nelly Korda is just ahead of a stacked field going into the final round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
No country has had more than one player with the Latin America Amateur Championship -- except Chile. Now, two players are in position to give the country its fourth winner.
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