Golfing News & Blog Articles

Getting out of any bunker with a short or long shot is every golfers dream. A recent blog by GOLF Magazine gave us the 10 steps for success. These steps may not guaranty that you make more SANDIES (a bunker chip plus 1 putt) but they should at least help you reach and stay on the green.

1/ Balanced Stance: Setup with equal weight on both feet.

2/ Forward Ball Position: Your club must contact the sand before it slips under the ball so place the ball a few inches forward of the center of your stance and aim for your club to enter the sand directly in the center of your stance.

3/ Shuffle Into the Sand: You want to lower the height of your body to ensure that you club will power through the sand. Dig your feet down so that the soles of your shoes are below the level of the sand.

4/ Swing to Take a Dollar Bill of Sand: Your swing needs to enter the sand just before the ball but more important it needs to take sand under the ball and well after the ball. Imagine that you are placing a quarter after the ball and that you have to clear the ball and the quarter out of the trap.

Trackman and Titleist have partnered on a new (sorta) golf ball. The Titleist Pro V1 RCT is the first golf ball specifically designed for use with Trackman in an indoor environment.

What?

Let’s back up a bit.

Golf is traditionally, perhaps even fundamentally, a game played outdoors. But, when you consider lessons, fittings, and a fully simulated golf experience, there is inarguably a massive number of shots being hit indoors. It’s also true that we live in the age of data. Very few of us are banging balls for the sake of banging balls. The shots we hit indoors need to be measured, and they need to be measured accurately.

That’s where the Titleist Pro V1 RCT comes in.

Spirit of the Game: Al Espinosa

October 19, 2021

Al Espinosa, a native of Monterey, was one of the earliest Hispanic golfers to play on the pro tour in the United States. He was active on the PGA Tour in the 1920s and 1930s, with multiple victories.

Among his most significant victories:

1924 Missouri Open1926 Oklahoma City Open1928 Florida West Coast Open1928 Mid-America Open1930 Houston Open1932 Ohio Open1933 Ohio Open1934 Miami International Four-Ball*1935 Indianapolis Open

*with partner Denny Shute

Highest and Lowest Courses

October 19, 2021

 

Our Course Raters spend time traveling to courses throughout Northern California rating courses for our members.  A recent road trip really spoke to the diversity of golf courses we get to enjoy in our part of the world.   The team visited Furnace Creek GC the world’s lowest elevation golf course at 214 feet below sea level, located in Death Valley.  That same week the team made the trek to Mammoth to Sierra Star GC – at a full mile and a half (8,000 feet) above sea level it is the highest-elevation golf course in California.

The team rises early to get the job done and according to Jim Cowan, NCGA Director of Course Rating the Sunrises at Furnace Creek GC are pretty spectacular as the sun first hits the mountain peaks to the west and then descends to the valley floor where the golf course is located.   Palm and tamarisk trees frame the fairways and majestic mountains are visible from all areas of the course.  Playing and rating this course present unique challenges as you test your mettle against the low elevation and the low barometric pressure.

The rating team really has stayed focused at Sierra Star GC as they took in the rolling hills, the tree-lined fairways and some of the most breathtaking views of any course in North America.  They also have to pay attention to their calculations, the course sits at an elevation of about 8,000 ft., meaning your ball can fly a long way.

Welcome back to the latest installment of History’s Mysteries. MyGolfSpy is jumping into the DeLorean and taking a 1.21 jiggawatt-fueled look at the long life and quick death of Spalding Golf.

Titleist has been the Ball King for so long, it’s hard to remember a time when it wasn’t. Turns out it was just 20 years ago. Throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s, Spalding and Titleist were running neck and neck in golf ball production.

Spalding spent over 125 years as a sporting goods giant. As the 21st Century dawned, it had impressive sales and deep-pocket owners, but in reality, it was staring down the barrel of a gun. Within three years, it would be gone for good.

This is the story of Spalding’s Final Countdown.

 

Too many golfers that I teach are struggling to compress the golf ball! There is a distinct lack of energy being transferred from the clubhead to the ball. Getting the club face in position in the early part of the downswing is tremendously helpful in increasing compression and the sizzle factor off the face. Here’s how…

When trying this drill look for the following:

Don’t try to hit balls with this - it’s all about getting the correct feel

Hold the club at the bottom of the grip in your lead hand with the clubhead well off the ground

As you get to the top you should see the handle out in front of your forearm

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

WHAT WE TRIED

The Foresight Sports GC3

WHAT IS THE FORESIGHT GC3?

Golfers are looking for the next big thing, and the Foresight GC3 might just be it.

The Personal Launch Monitor space has, shall we say, left plenty to be desired when it comes to accuracy. The entry of the Foresight GC3 may have pushed the cost of ownership above the $500 point that golfers have become accustomed to, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

The GC3 PERSONAL LAUNCH MONITOR

The GC3 retails for $7,000, which admittedly might be out of reach for most golfers, but with that, not only do you get more data than you get with other personal launch monitors, that data is actually reliable. With the GC3, Foresight provides a robust number of data points, including the most important/relevant data that consumers need.

Rory McIlroy is the 39th player to win at least 20 times on the PGA Tour, and it's his fifth straight tour season with at least one win.

Lee Janzen holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff to win the SAS Championship, his second senior title.

Matt Fitzpatrick made 15 straight pars then rallied with two birdies on his last three holes to win the Andalucia Masters by three shots.

Rickie Fowler returned to the spotlight Saturday in the foothills above Las Vegas with his best round in three years, a 9-under 63 that gave him a 2-shot lead over Rory McIlroy going into the final round of the CJ Cup at Summit.

Miguel Angel Jimenez is tied with Alex Cejka for a share of the second-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions' SAS Championship.

English golfer Laurie Canter is eyeing his first European Tour win after taking a 3-shot lead of the Andalucía Masters heading into the final round.

Casey Martin, the Oregon golf coach who successfully sued the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart because of a rare circulatory disease, had his right leg amputated in what he told Golf Digest was always going to be "my destiny."

His putter finally cooperating, Adam Scott has surged into contention for a 15th US PGA Tour victory with a scintillating second round at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas.

Keith Mitchell has gone 62-64 at the CJ Cup and leads by 5 over a group that includes Jordan Spieth.

Top-ranked Jon Rahm shot 3-over 74 through the second round, finishing with a share of 99th place and 14 strokes off the lead of Romain Langasque.

Scott Parel shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions' SAS Championship.

2021 NCGA Tournament Official of the Year–Drew Boyd

October 15, 2021

A general interest got Pleasanton resident Drew Boyd hooked.

Following retirement after a 43-year career managing corporate training and customer service operations, Boyd one fateful day in 2009 was perusing the NCGA Golf magazine when he noticed an article on becoming an NCGA volunteer.

Boyd went on to apply, and a year later joined the tournament official corps. Eleven years on, the 77-year-old Philadelphia native not only is a volunteer, but has numerous times been the tournament chairperson for NCGA qualifiers and major championships.

NCGA Course Rater of the Year—Jerry Zavagno

October 15, 2021

 

Once a salesman himself, it was a friend who pitched the idea of becoming an NCGA course rater to Novato resident Jerry Zavagno.

“Russ Adamson, a longtime friend was an NCGA volunteer course rater. At the time, we both were members at Peacock Gap. We had qualified for a Zone Championship,” Zavagno said. “While at NCGA headquarters, I went ahead and filled out the form to become a course rater.”