Welcome back to another installment of History’s Mysteries. Think of this as MyGolfSpy’s WABAC Machine for golf. And we think you’ll enjoy reading today’s installment as much as we did writing it.

If you’re a sports fan of a certain age, there are moments that will be forever lodged in your hippocampus. Take February 22nd, 1980, for instance. Or January 12th, 1969. Or a personal favorite, October 27th, 2004.

For golf fanatics, that day was April 13th, 1986.

That was the day Jack Nicklaus gave us the thrill of a lifetime with a final round 65 to win his sixth green jacket and his 18th and most improbable major.

And he did it with, at the time, was about the funkiest looking putter you’d ever seen.

This game would be easy if we could hit every green in regulation. If your drive is reasonable and even if your drive is in the light rough you have a good chance that your next shot can reach the green. Unfortunately hitting the perfectly shaped shot to hit the green is the most difficult to make for pros and even more difficult for the Weekend Warriors.

When you are within 160 yards you can easily see the shot that will be ideal to land on or near the green and hold the green. You know the distance that your clubs will reach and you know that your lower lofted clubs will roll-out further on the green than on the fairway. So why is it so difficult to hit the green and stick on the green?

The Problem
For some strange reason, when the pressure is on to make the perfect shot we often push or pull the shot into the deep rough, a trap or the surrounding bushes. If your leading hand grip is completed correctly, the back of your leading hand should be facing directly up your target line. That is also the position that you want your leading wrist at the point of impact in order to hit directly up your target line.

If your club face is slightly open at impact, your ball will fade and if your club face is slightly closed at impact, your ball will draw. Your club face is just an extension of the position of the back of your leading wrist.

The Solution.
Colin Morikawa has the most consistent record for strokes gained when targeting the green. He slightly bows his wrist at the top of his backswing (which is nothing like the exaggerated wrist bow that Dustin Johnson creates and more like Jordan Spieth’s slight wrist bow). Colin’s goal is the same as all professionals. He wants his club to impact the ball when his leading wrist has a slight bow and is pointing directly up his target line.

After playing in 34 tournaments in 15 months, golfer Rory McIlroy says he's physically and mentally exhausted. McIlroy says he has been struggling to find balance between playing golf and being a new father. He plans a two week break before the Ryder Cup.

NCGA Golf Magazine Going Digital

August 25, 2021 

We Heard You

NCGA Golf Magazine is Going Digital Only

In line with feedback from our members and further efforts to reduce our environmental footprint, while also enhancing our communications with bonus content, the NCGA will begin delivering the award-winning NCGA Golf Magazine via email and our website only unless we hear from you otherwise. To continue receiving a printed version of the magazine please Click Here
Visit our website at NCGA.org, where the magazine can always be found on the homepage (see Featured Box) and at NCGA Golf Magazine under the News tab drop-down.

 

 

The PGA Tour head to Maryland this week with the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. Here are our best bets for the event.

A couple of months ago, we asked you take our Driver Satisfaction Survey. The objective was simple. We wanted to understand if buyers of some brands were more satisfied than those who bought others. It’s a simple but not unimportant metric. Sure, distance, forgiveness and optimizing the numbers on a launch monitor screen are all good things but there’s probably no better predictor of a repeat customer than satisfaction with a previous purchase.

All told, nearly 9,500 (9,470 to be precise) of you took the survey. Here’s what you told us.

The Demo Experience

We’ve discussed this before but it’s worth hammering home a few observations.

Golfers will typically try two to four drivers before purchasing a new one.Three is the most common number of drivers sampled during the buying process.Almost 18 percent of you report buying without demoing a single club. Whoa!

Top Demoed Brands

With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the brands that you tried before buying.

The LPGA Shanghai tournament, scheduled for Oct. 14-17, was canceled on Wednesday due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions, the association said in a statement.

Set Up:

Tee the ball high if you’re looking for max distance, lower if you’re looking for more accuracy.

Tilt your spine away from the target. Set up to hit up!

Drop the trail foot back inside the target line to aid in making a bigger turn.

At the Top:

The results of the biggest head to head ball test ever have been released. Today we break down our findings and give some recommendations for the best ball for your game.

0:56 Behind the scenes3:48 No Top 5?8:29 Soft is Slow BUT…10:28 Spin and speed stay relative13:32 Trajectory matters + The Golfer Mindset21:44 Recommendations22:05 High Swing Speed: Lower Spin25:44 High Swing Speed: Higher Spin28:01 High Swing Speed: Balanced30:02 Mid Swing Speed: Lower Spin31:50 Mid Swing Speed: Higher Spin32:59 Mid Swing Speed: Balanced36:34 Slow Swing Speed: Lower Spin37:25 Slow Swing Speed: Higher Spin39:29 Slow Swing Speed: Balanced41:52 Dispersion?45:05 Misc. Observations and Surprises49:16 How do I find the right ball for me?

Watch Now

Also available on:

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and all major podcast apps.

 

The post The Best Ball For You? | NPG 91 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

How Golf Courses Can Manage Drought

August 24, 2021

 

 

The post How Golf Courses Can Manage Drought appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

PING i59 Forged Irons – Key Takeaways

Replacements for the five-year-old iBladesi59 are multi-piece construction, better-player irons, with added forgivenessPresale and fitting starts today, retail availability later in September

We can tell you one thing for sure about the new PING i59 forged irons.

They’re forged.

Or maybe they’re not, depending on your definition of “forged.”

Can you call a multi-piece/multi-material iron forged if the piece that actually hits the ball isn’t forged? Does that count as forged? Does it really matter?

If you’re the type who swoons like a lovesick eighth-grader over a nice set of 1020 or 1025 forged throwbacks, you might consider the above a crime against humanity. But, then again, if you want to get the damned ball in the damned hole in as few damned strokes as possible, and do it with a little damned style, PING might have the attention-getter of the fall season.

PING Glide Forged Pro Wedges – Key Takeaways

Glide Forged Pro replaces three-year-old Glide Forged wedgesGlide Forged Pro wedges offered in two grinds and multiple loftsPresale and fitting starts today, retail availability later in September

You could say the updates to the new PING Glide Forged Pro wedges are only skin deep. But it’s more accurate to say they’re sole-deep.

It’s been a little over three years since PING introduced its first forged wedge, the PING Glide Forged. The new PING Glide Forged Pro wedges are a logical evolution of the original design with the goal of expanding the wedge offering for better players.

“We think there are a lot of options we can do off this design, both with lofts and sole grinds,” says Stokke. “We also wanted to focus on a smaller size to get into the better player’s size and proportions.”

And, as you’d expect, PING is promising more spin and better turf interaction, along with a forged feel.

PING Glide Forged Pro: A “Shotmaker’s Wedge”

Like its predecessor, Glide Pro Forged is an 8620 carbon steel forging. A typical 8620 forging is generally cast and then finished into its final shape by a forging process. The method produces far less material waste but some forging snobs consider 8620 a forged wannabe.

Since his first -- and only -- win on the PGA Tour in 2016, Tony Finau kept getting asked when he'd get another. On Monday, at the weather-delayed Northern Trust, he finally answered the question.

Only 70 players are still left in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Here are all the players still chasing the $15-million season-ending prize.

Since winning the Puerto Rico Open in the spring of 2016, Tony Finau had eight runner-up finishes, three of those in a playoff, and 11 finishes in the top three. But he broke through Monday at the rain-delayed Northern Trust.

J.R. Smith said his college golf experience will bring on similar emotions to those he had in the NBA. "It's still as nerve-racking as shooting a free throw in front of 5,000 (fans) instead of making a 5-foot putt in front of three."

Patrick Reed won't play in this weekend's BMW Championship after being hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia, according to the Golf Channel's Todd Lewis.

Bryson DeChambeau, the PGA's tops in driving distance, has accepted an invitation to compete in The Professional Long Driver's Association World Championship on Sept. 27th. DeChambeau averages 321.6 5 yards per drive.

OUR JOB IS YOUR GAME

Are you ready? The most comprehensive fairway wood test of 2021 is officially here!

This year’s test features 30 fairway woods. Let’s step up to the tee to see which fairway woods claimed the Most Wanted crown.

At MyGolfSpy, our job is to provide independent, unbiased and objective testing so you can make more confident purchasing decisions. Our 2021 Most Wanted Fairway Wood Test is an indispensable guide for the off-the-rack buyer or for anyone looking for insight before their next fitting.

Captain Catriona Matthew selected a trio of Solheim Cup rookies for Team Europe's title defence as the biennial tournament kicks off next week at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.