Golfing News & Blog Articles

Expanding the Official World Golf Ranking, awarding spots for high finishes at PGA Tour events, a points system for European Tour events and spots for Korn Ferry Tour players and amateurs are all part of the new exemption criteria for the U.S. Open.

We started Shaft University as an introductory journey into golf shafts focused on a single question. “What is involved in creating a golf shaft?” From there, we explored the topics of materials, design, and production, which brings us to the end of this design cycle – testing.

As a trusted colleague likes to say, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” Whether a shaft design results in a physical product that achieves the target objectives isn’t clear until the shaft is tested. Or, think of it this way – everything is theoretical until it isn’t.

In a sense, shaft testing is the seminal moment when a product either checks all of the boxes, or it doesn’t. This isn’t to suggest that every shaft manufacturer uses the same checklist or maintains identical spec tolerances. However, leading brands produce higher quality products more often and more consistently.

WELCOME TO THE END

With that, welcome to Testing 101, the final component of this edition of Shaft U. Particularly with high-performance (and high dollar) shafts, engineers are likely to argue that of all the steps, testing might be the most critical one.

…and in a charming, expedite-the-freak-show exposure of regulatory ineptitude as we wonder how much longer American tournament golf can be played without quarantining half the Tour.

Obviously, it is CLEARLY the better way to play the TPC River Highlands’ 17th by flailing away on a spectator-free course. I mean, who would play to that tiny water-guarded fairway when they could bomb away? Bryson? We need you in this time.

Luke Kerr-Dineen first posted this after DeChambeau’s practice round at the Travelers Championship.

Bryson tried driving the 420-yard 17th green during his practice round today. Reached 198 mph ball speed on the drive (!) and stayed dry, but says it's too risky to try in the tournament.

Was tempted to try and drive a few holes last week, but ended up "playing smart" pic.twitter.com/quAysDTpVb

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) June 23, 2020

But he has so far, decided not to do it, Brentley Romine notes here:

One was the greatest sprinter of all time, while the other rewrote record books in golf. Which one dominated their field like no other?

Too many golfers pull the trigger too early in their swing. I’m an active recreational golfer and I watch a lot of other golfers (as well as myself) who get so frustrated by their ability to hit a golf ball perfectly 100% of the time. They would even be happy with 50% or any improvement but they can’t seem to calm down and execute the shot. I know the secret.

Unfortunately golfers love to watch the pros on TV executing every shot perfectly. We rarely see the duck hooks or the fat shots or the topped balls, but the pros do it too. The program producers just make sure that they only show the best of shots unless they happen to be following one of the tournament leaders who happens to make a poor shot.

My point here is that the pros have an amazing ability to start the transfer of their weight from the trailing foot to the leading foot during their swing transition at the top of their swing. They have no problem doing this with amazingly fast swings. We see this and our minds think we can repeat it on the golf course.

In the Heat of Battle on the Golf Course
We are always wondering where our bad shots are coming from especially when we do them on the golf course. It seems so simple to repeat great shots on the driving range. But on the course it all changes. When our minds are caught up with our last amazing drive or our last disappointing flub, we tend to internalize our feelings and release them by pulling the trigger too early in our next shot.

Bro-Bumps: Jay Monahan and Rory McIlroy at Last Week’s 2020 RBC Heritage

Kudos to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for expediting his wheels up time to be out front on today’s hectic virus news at the Travelers Championship, apparently earlier than expected.

Also, kudos to the PGA Tour media team for axing all press conferences to focus on the matter at hand: more positive tests, more signs pro golfers are not immune to the virus, and more signs the that tour officials hear the bubble bursting.

And that’s about it for the compliment department.

The day that started with the news of Whoop’s for everybody! (Contrary to reports, the wrist devices do not inject you with anti-bodies OR zap you after walking into the Tour’s physio area without having tested negative).

Despite seven positive tests out of the 2,757 administered across the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, commissioner Jay Monahan believes "every number hurts" and that "we all need to remind ourselves that we're learning to live with this virus."

If the PGA Tour had gotten complacent after two relatively smooth weeks, that changed in a hurry. So what does it mean for this week and ones after it? What would it take to cause another shutdown? And will there really be fans next month?

June 24, 2020

Sharing the Game With Friends and Family

After some very challenging months, we are all now enjoying the perks of summertime golf.

In taking stock of the situation, we more appreciate and realize how smart and fortunate we are to have chosen a sport that is proving to be such a great outlet in the midst of a pandemic.

Hopefully you’re not only getting back out to enjoy a few rounds, but getting some friends, colleagues or family members to join you. It’s time for some fun games again – but to play the games at even odds, everyone ought to have a handicap index.

In sharing the game with friends and family, here’s a reminder that there are several ways to join the NCGA and obtain an official handicap index via the new World Handicap System.

June 20, 2020

18 Things to Like About the New World Handicap System

NCGA Director of Handicapping and Course Rating Jim Cowan presents us with 18 reasons to appreciate the new system: (as seen in the Spring 2020 issue of NCGA Golf Magazine)

Click Here for a Printable PDF 

Global reach – The WHS is…well…worldwide. By year’s end, wherever you go, wherever you play, Course and Slope Ratings will greet you. And, you will be able to return those scores. Daily Updates – Play today… post today… receive a new Handicap Index (HI) tomorrow morning. Talk about a “current” handicap!  my NCGA App – For the first time ever, more NCGA scores were submitted by app in 2019 than via the posting kiosks at golf courses. Capture your new HI in the morning…determine your Course Handicap (CH)…play…post before midnight. Rinse, repeat.Ghin.com – Check out the features. My favorite? The ability to “follow” a golfer(s). Look up your 10 golfing buddies once. Designate you wish to “follow” each. Click the “Following” tab thereafter to view their current handicaps. Best 8 of 20 calculation – The new math for determining your handicap is more responsive to the entry of a good score…less responsive to a poor one. Reducing the number from 10 to eight of 20 also rewards consistency. Fewer scores to acquire a HI – Brand-new golfers are issued a handicap faster. You only need to post scores for 54 holes… in either 9 and/or 18-hole increments.Maximum HI of 54.0 –Let’s face it, there are many golfers with games that fall in the high 40’s/low 50’s HI range, which rendered the old limits of 36.4 (men) and 40.4 (women) inaccurate and a source of discouragement. With a goal of greater inclusiveness, the WHS gives such golfers a meaningful number that they can track. Par is important – Par held very little significance within the USGA Handicap System (single-digit handicappers limited to a max hole score of double-bogey, “par, plus any handicap strokes” applied to unplayed holes).
Under the WHS, no change to the un-played holes policy. Par impacts the net-double-bogey procedure. And par is a factor in the computation of a course handicap (CH). Net Double Bogey – Easily the source of the greatest confusion surrounding the WHS. I like the maximum-hole score procedure because it is tried and true (been used worldwide for years) and is favored by the mathematicians to generate superior results…and it’s not rocket science!
Imagine mapping out your entire CH over 18 holes according to the Stroke Index rankings. A 25, for example, receives two pops on the 1-7 ranked holes; one stroke on the remaining. Gross double bogey plus these handicap strokes represent your max hole score for posting purposes.Course Rating minus par – Prior to 2020, a CH represented the number of strokes you needed to play to the Course Rating of the tees you were playing (i.e., achieve a net score equal to the Course Rating). Now a CH represents the number of strokes you need to play to par. This is achieved by factoring the difference between the Course Rating and par directly into the CH.
Where once your CH varied little between tees, now you will find you receive more strokes from highly rated tees/fewer strokes from tees that carry a low Course Rating. Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) – A score of 80 at Poppy Hills on a day the wind is howling is a better performance than an 80 on a dead calm day . . . that’s common sense. The old system could not detect this; the WHS can.
The PCC is an automatic scores-driven calculation performed each evening that determines if conditions on that day of play (weather and/or course conditions, course set-up, etc.) at that golf course differed from “normal” enough to significantly skew scores up or down. If so, those scores/performances will be adjusted down or up. Limit on upward movement of a HI – Caps are in place to prevent wild upswings in your HI. A soft cap starts pumping the brakes once you stray 3.0 strokes above your Low Index of the past twelve months. Without club intervention (for injury, illness, etc.), a hard cap prevents an increase of more than 5.0 strokes.Exceptional scores – Submit any score 7.0 – 9.9 strokes below your HI and you will be assessed an automatic 1.0 stroke reduction. 10.0 below and more, a 2.0 stroke reduction.The USGA Course Rating System – One of the wisest decisions made in devising the WHS was to adopt the former USGA Course Rating System. No need to re-rate all courses, current ratings will do just fine, thank you.Section 3-5…gone! – Section 3-5 was the adjustment for golfers competing from different tees. It awarded the difference in Course Ratings between tees to the golfers playing the set with the higher value.
No more.
With CH now calibrated to par, no adjustment required if the pars of the multiple tees are identical. If different, those playing the tees with the higher par receive additional strokes equal to the difference in par…and pars do not have decimal points!New Handicap Allowances – New and improved handicap allowance recommendations for popular formats of play have been developed. Everything from an individual gross/net competition (95% allowance for fields of 30 and above), to scrambles. Check out Appendix C of the Rules of HandicappingNew Stroke Index Allocation –The recommendation for the ranking of stroke holes is now based on a raw difficulty standpoint (difficulty versus par) and not from the match play perspective that prevailed for decades. As these stroke play derived rankings will likewise be used for match play, it is recommended that certain accommodations be made to spread out the strokes, to avoid back-to-back high rankings, etc. See Appendix E of the Rules of HandicappingNew CH Tables – The USGA has developed better, cleaner CH tables that we hope to distribute soon. CH can also be determined via app, kiosk and ghin.com.

 

The post 18 Things to Like About the New World Handicap System appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

Brooks Koepka, the world's No. 4-ranked player, won't play in the Travelers Championship after his caddie tested positive for coronavirus. Said Koepka: "We've got to do everything we can not to spread it."

Graeme McDowell withdrew from the Travelers Championship on Wednesday morning after being informed that his caddie has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The post Golf Pride MCC Teams Grips – Available Now appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

There's no Tiger Woods, but the PGA Tour has another strong field this week for the Travelers Championship. Here are our experts' best bets.

Golf brands come and golf brands go. That’s simply the way of the world. There was a time when Penfold Golf was the name in golf balls in Europe. That time, however, is long gone. So, it’s fair to ask why is an English squash pro living in Philly trying to bring the brand back in North America? It’s also fair to ask if we really need another Direct-to-Consumer golf ball brand.

Penfold’s history is a fascinating look at the way things used to be. The new Penfold Golf is an interesting look at the new reality of golf: if you have a story to tell, there’s a business opportunity.

Penfold. Albert Penfold

“There’s a massive nostalgic appeal to Penfold,” says Gavin Perrett, co-owner of Penfold Golf and the man in charge of bringing Penfold to life in North America. “It was the best golf ball in the world in its time.”

Never heard of Penfold? You’re not alone. But if you’re a European of a certain age or an avid James Bond fan, you may well know at least some of the Penfold story.

Albert Ernest Penfold made his golf ball bones back in the Gutta Percha days. He was a kind of rubber savant who figured out a way to make a pure white Gutta Percha that was easier to find than the normal dull gray ones. By 1919 Penfold went to work for Dunlop Golf and developed the very first ball to carry the name Maxfli.

Sunday TV Sports
* NASCAR Race Hub on Fox: 1.433 million viewers.
* NASCAR Talladega rain coverage on Fox: 2.059 million viewers;
* RBC Heritage final round on CBS: 2.044 million viewers;
* Everton-Liverpool on NBC: 997,000 viewers;
* Chelsea-Aston Villa on NBCSN: 612,000 viewers

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) June 23, 2020

The PGA Tour’s “Return to Golf” featured pretty solid viewer sizes given the Sunday rain delay, with noticeably strong performances during Golf Channel’s broadcast of PGA Tour Live’s Featured Group coverage.

The numbers were comparable on CBS and well up on Golf Channel compared to the 2019 Travelers played last year in the same slot.

From ShowBuzzDaily:

Note that Golf Channel picked up 1.2 million viewers when CBS signed off in part of the country due to teh delay.

Iain Carter pens this BBC piece on the PGA Tour’s first two weeks.

When filing he was not aware of two more players withdrawing to start Travelers Championship week when he noted the European Tour’s plans this July:

The bubble is leaky. When the European Tour resumes on 22 July stricter regulations will be in place with all participants, officials and media required to stay in designated and, where possible, on site hotels.

No one will be allowed to breach the bubble and, unlike in the United States, the media will also have to undergo testing before being admitted.

The PGA Tour is expected to announce some bubble patches Wednesday at the Travelers. Perhaps PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan may even appear to address the start like other leaders in sports have after a positive test.

Royal Liverpool clubhouse, photo by Geoff Shackelford

In his weekly Daily Mail golf column, Derek Lawrenson says news may be coming soon on Royal Liverpool getting pushed back in The Open rota so that Royal Troon can retain its 2023 centenary date.

The cancellation of the 2020 Open has pushed the schedule back a year, with Royal St George’s hosting in 2021 and The Old Course in 2022.

Lawrenson also tested out what will be the courses new par-17th hole whenever The Open returns (photo below). The new hole was created in addition to other adjustments by Mackenzie and Ebert.

Leaving aside the two new holes showcased when Portrush returned to the rota last year, this will be the first time we've seen a brand new hole on one of the established Open courses in recent memory.

It's good to report, therefore, it's a beauty, with dramatic views over to Hilbre Island, and quite a talking point too in these days of ever-longer courses, given it measures under 130 yards.

Week three of the 2020 “Return to Golf” has seen two more players withdraw or intend to from the Travelers Championship. And it’s only Tuesday.

Cameron Champ tested positive upon arriving at the event after not playing last week’s RBC Heritage, and according to GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall, must self-isolate for ten days.

Later in the evening, Graeme McDowell told Golfweek he is withdrawing Wednesday morning after his caddie, Ken Comboy, tested positive before traveling to the tournament. McDowell played the first two events, missing the cut in each.

From Eamon Lynch’s Golfweek story where McDowell and Comboy share the sequence of events.

Comboy suspects he may have been exposed to the virus after the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas two weeks ago. McDowell’s private plane was too small for his party, so his longtime bagman took a commercial flight to Orlando that he described as “packed” with passengers. On Monday, he and McDowell attended the funeral of a friend, then drove to Hilton Head, S.C. for the RBC Classic.

On Thursday, Comboy said he had a mild sore throat and went to bed early. After missing the cut Friday morning, the pair drove home to Orlando that afternoon with McDowell’s trainer, a six-hour journey.

Cameron Champ is out of the Travelers Championship after becoming the second golfer on the PGA Tour to test positive for the coronavirus.