Golfing News & Blog Articles

Spirit of the Game: Babe Zaharias

November 1, 2021

Olympic gold medal winner in track and field. All-American basketball player in college. Champion golfer. If there was a Jim Thorpe among women athletes, it was Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias.

As a professional golfer, she won 31 tournaments, including three U.S. Women’s Opens, and helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “Babe changed the game of golf for women,” said Patty Berg.

Didrikson didn’t even take up golf seriously until she was 21. She was introduced to the game by Grantland Rice in Los Angeles during the 1932 Olympics. Somewhere in between winning gold medals in the javelin and hurdles-she might have won the high jump, too, had she not been disqualified-Didrikson joined Rice and three other sportswriters for a round of golf at Brentwood C.C. According to Rice, the Babe shot 91 that day and regularly hit drives measuring 250 yards.

Rule of the Month: Unplayable Ball

November 1, 2021

If you are in a situation where you don’t want to or don’t think you can play your ball, you always have the option of taking relief under the unplayable ball Rule. The player is the only person who can decide that their ball is unplayable, and this can be done anywhere on the golf course except when your ball lies in a penalty area. If your ball is in a penalty area, your only relief option is to take relief under the penalty area Rule.

When you decide that your ball is unplayable, you have three relief options, all for one penalty stroke. Your first option is to go back to the spot of your previous stroke and play again (stroke and distance relief). Your second option is to go back as far as you’d like and drop on the line from the hole through the spot where the ball lies (back-on-the-line relief). Your third option is to drop anywhere within two club-lengths of where your ball lies, no closer to the hole (lateral relief).

If your ball lies in a bunker, you must remain inside the bunker under options two and three. You also have a fourth option for an extra penalty stroke (two penalty strokes total) which allows you to go back on the line and drop your ball outside the bunker. Click here to learn more about these options in our video on bunkers.

FAQs:

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Golf’s New Rules of Amateur Status

November 1, 2021

Golf’s new Rules of Amateur Status have been published by the USGA and The R&A ahead of their January 1, 2022, effective date.

The work is the latest step by the governing bodies to make the Rules easier to understand and apply and follows the modernization process of the Rules of Golf in 2019. The new Rules were informed by golfer and golf industry feedback as a part of a comprehensive review, to ensure they continue to reflect how the modern game is played by millions of golfers around the world.

This review, along with the global feedback received when the proposals were publicly shared earlier this year, reaffirmed amateur golf’s important position in the game and the value in maintaining amateur status Rules.

The result is a set of Rules that removes many of the restrictions that previously applied to amateur golfers, while ensuring that the integrity of the game is protected by limiting the form and value of the prizes an amateur golfer can accept.

The Electric Trolley Revolution is happening in North America. Slowly, yes, but it’s most definitely happening.

What started as an oddity a little over a year ago evolved to a rarity this spring. And, as we approach the end of Daylight Savings Time, it’s not all that unusual to see at least one or two during a normal round.

That may not sound like much of a revolution to you. But the people who make and sell these things will tell you it’s a certifiable big deal.

“When I first came here, it was a product for the elderly, to put it gently,” says Roger Teat, who started Motocaddy’s U.S. operation last September. “But now it’s amazing how many people in their mid-30s are using electric walking carts.”

You can call them electric pushcarts, electric caddies or electric trolleys, which is the term we’ll use here. Heck, you can even call them silly toys for rich golfers. But one thing you can’t call them is a passing fad.

Lucas Herbert clinched an invitation to the Masters for the first time by winning the Bermuda Championship for his first PGA Tour victory.

Taylor Pendrith is going for his first PGA Tour victory and he picked up a few late birdies to help. Penrith has a three-shot lead in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Taylor Pendrith took advantage of a much calmer day at Port Royal with a 10-under 61 for the lead in the Bermuda Championship.

In honor of the spookiest weekend of the year, we look at some of sports world's biggest curses and jinxes - and how and why they've come about.

Greg Norman will put his successful business enterprise aside to become commissioner of a long-rumored and long-discussed golf league that hopes to begin play in 2022, and he is seeking to sign players to lucrative guaranteed deals with big-money purses.

While some golfers might look to change their clubs annually, it’s generally accepted that most replace clubs every three to six years. In many cases, these clubs are still usable and retain plenty of value. Given the price of new clubs, it’s only natural to consider selling your old set to help offset the cost.

What’s the best way to go about that? Let’s look at two of the most common and convenient options: selling via eBay and trading in.

We’ll use the example of a golfer with a set of 2017 TaylorMade P770 irons in decent condition. After a transformative experience at a recent demo day (we’ve all been there), they want to upgrade to the latest model.

Let’s see the pros and cons of eBay and trading in and which potentially gives the best return.

Option 1: Selling via eBay

When considering selling clubs via eBay, the best first thing you need to do is get a general idea of what your clubs could sell for. The site will give a rough estimate during the listing process but we recommend searching completed listings. This will show you what’s been sold recently and for what price.

Brandon Hagy and Chad Ramey avoided the worst of the wind Thursday afternoon, each with a 6-under 65 to share the lead in the Bermuda Championship.

For the first time in nearly six years, Mitsubishi unveiled a new family of shafts. The surname, Kai’li, is meant to evoke a sense of “deep power” associated with the consistent ebb and flow of the tides.

If you want to go a bit deeper, I suppose that predictable power juxtaposed with a blue ocean of yet-to-be discovered advancements, works as well. If you’ve kept track of Mitsubishi shafts over the years, Kai’li likely sounds familiar. Over a decade ago, it was the model name of the Blue Board (mid-launch/mid-spin) shaft in the Diamana family. This Kai’li isn’t that Kai’li, but yes, it’s the exact same name. Something like when Run D.M.C. quipped, “not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good.”

All that aside, this is a pretty big deal for Mitsubishi Chemical. Its Tensei line launched in late 2015. And though the brand generally ranks in the top two in PGA TOUR weekly shaft counts, it’s still a what have you released to me lately sort of industry.

KAI’LI DESIGN OBJECTIVE

Every product is a solution to a problem. Or, put another way, an opportunity to give golfers a better answer to an existing question. In this case, the design objectives were two-fold.

Wouldn’t it be nice to score a round of golf where you could play a MULLIGAN every time you miss-hit a ball? I’m NOT talking about a shot that is a little off-line or short of your target. I’m talking about drives into the woods or fat fairway shots or thinned chips over the green. If you could cut out those miss-hits, you could shoot in the 80’s or even the 70’s. We have some suggestions to get you on track to avoid those miss-hits. [I wish we could totally eliminate miss-hits but I believe practicing as often as the pros could do the trick.]

Every successful shot has 4 DISTINCT STAGES. Don’t skip one: Preparation, Practice Swing, Mental Focus and Rhythm. Take your time and get these right to eliminate those miss-hits.

1/ Preparation
Take your time to chose the right club to reach your target and to setup on the right target line. Knowing your normal draw or fade or the slope break on a green are all critical to making a good shot on the right target line. Don’t try for the high risk shots. Hit a layup if you know your shot will not hold the green. Get rid of your dumb thoughts while you have plenty of time to sort this out.

2/ Practice Swing
After you choose your target line, take your practice swing stance. Make a perfect full practice swing with the exact backswing, lag and cadence that you need in order to hit your target line. Build confidence that you will swing with power for your drives; brush the grass with your fairway woods & hybrids and impact your ball before turf with your irons.

3/ Mental Focus
Establish your confidence by remember past excellent shots with your club, which were caused by a full backswing, smooth release and a balanced finish. Be confident that you are about to duplicate that amazing feeling. [NO negative thoughts.]

MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the 2021 TaylorMade TP5. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.

About the TaylorMade TP5

Of the two balls in the current TP5 retail family, the TaylorMade TP5 flies a bit higher and spins considerably more through the bag than the TP5x. It’s a bit softer too and while we don’t condone choosing your golf ball based on feel, it’s definitely a reason why some will choose the TP5 over the TP5x.

The TP5 remains the only five-piece ball on the market from a major manufacturer. While its competitors would no doubt dispute it, TaylorMade’s position is that more layers provide greater opportunity to tune spin performance throughout the bag.

In today’s episode the MGS team talks ball fitting, Trackman ups their ball game, and what would we do with a million dollars?

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A lot of what will happen to and for Rickie Fowler in 2022 could be decided over the final few weeks of 2021. Plus, Hideki Matsuyama's big win, whether players will be allowed to play in Saudi Arabia and the agelessness of Bernhard Langer.

MYSLOPE provides you with individual launch dataThe R1 gives targeted yardages, plus front/middle/back GPS measurements.New MYSLOPE feature uses particles in space to calculate your distance.

Bryson may want to spend his round doing math, but most of us would rather not. Admittedly, since golf is a game is based upon numbers, there is no way to completely avoid all the computations. However, when it comes to calculating yardages, the new Precision Pro R1 rangefinder with MYSLOPE technology could possibly become golf’s TI-89.

At its core, the Pro R1 is a laser rangefinder. Once you pair it with your phone, it becomes much more powerful than a simple laser. The new app and MYSLOPE technology could allow Precision Pro to make industry leaders like Bushnell a bit nervous. The MYSLOPE feature in the R1 is potentially industry-changing.

If you don’t care about the rangefinder marketplace, what if MYSLOPE could save you a couple of strokes a round? Now I have your attention.

WHAT IS THE PRECISION PRO MYSLOPE?

The R1 is a rangefinder on steroids. It gives you yardages adjusted for slope, wind, and temperature. It also gives GPS readings. Most importantly, MYSLOPE takes care of all of the data crunching for you.

MYSLOPE is an algorithm that provides the adjusted shot yardages by taking into account weather conditions, slope, and your own personal ball flight data. Why is that important? Think of the many factors you consider before you hit a shot. Where is the wind coming from? How warm is it? Am I uphill or downhill? What club to hit? The list goes on. The reality of this is that you’re essentially guessing everything and then hoping that your guesses and estimations work out. In contrast, MYSLOPE uses real data to make these calculations, relying on real science rather than guesses.