Golfing News & Blog Articles

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“We need to figure out North America.”

That was the stock business development objective from most every Japanese equipment manufacturer circa 2017. Walking the floor that year at the annual PGA Merchandise Show (aka home of the $19 chicken wrap), it was clear that a) the United States is still the No. 1 market for golf equipment and b) every brand without a footprint in the U.S. was looking to create one.

On paper, getting into the U.S. market makes sense. Actually, it’s a no-brainer. According to a report from Allied Market Research, the global golf equipment market was valued at $7 billion in 2020 and is projected to crest $10 billion by 2030. Diving deeper, golf clubs accounted for nearly half that total in 2020, a scenario experts expect to continue.

Beyond that, North America has the highest current ($3.5 billion) and projected ($4.75 billion) revenue contribution to the market. Even a very small slice of a multi-billion-dollar pie is enough to satiate a small brand looking to carve out a permanent, albeit modest, seat at the table. Sidenote – When companies mention North America, it’s often with an implicit understanding that while the U.S. is the focal point of the region, Canada ($1.3B in 2021) and Mexico are extremely important markets as well.

Boutique brands such as Miura, EPON, Yonex, Yamaha, Vega, Fourteen, ONOFF, PRGR, and Honma, among others, seemed poised to make a run. Five years later, the North American landscape is largely devoid of a serious JDM (Japanese domestic market) equipment brand.

Atthaya Thitikul shot a 9-under 63 to set a tournament record and lead after the first round of the BMW Ladies Championship

This is the second in a series of blogs to help you simplify your knowledge of golf and hopefully improve your game. [Includes abbreviated tips from an article published by Luke Kerr-Dineen for a GOLF franchise called “Play Smart”.] I have only distilled nuggets of knowledge from his article to provide you with a quick reference to sharpen your games.

5/ Understand the loft and spin relationship: A properly hit golf ball will create an undercut or reversing spin on every golf ball. [Not to be confused with side spins caused by the path of impact or the open or closed face of the club which cause a draw, fade, hook or slice.] Too much spin with a driver will rob you of distance. That’s why your driver has a very low loft and you typically gain height with the launch angle off a tee. (A topped ball is never desired as it creates an over-spin which will force your ball to dive down and along the ground.)

The more loft on your club, the more it’s going to spin the ball. That’s why your pitching wedge stops on a green much faster than lower lofted clubs. A little extra spin can help you hit the ball straighter off the tee or land softer on the green, but too much of it can send the ball ballooning up into the air. Less spin can help you hit the ball lower for more roll-out. The key is getting control over spin, which starts with a good club-fitting

6/ Adjust Your Tee Height: Changing tee height has a direct impact on the launch and spin of the ball off your driver and can be used to help you get more distance with a simple adjustment. A higher tee also creates the opportunity to hit the ball above the middle of the club face. These 2 factors increase launch angle and reduce spin, which, in turn, help optimize launch conditions for up to 25 yards more distance. So, if you’re struggling to keep up with your buddies off the tee, experiment with teeing the ball higher. You could pick up serious yards.

7/ Practice Swinging in Slow Motion: Will Zalatoris said “Whenever I’m working on something, I rarely ever do it at full speed. My practice? A lot of slow-motion work. It’s something my dad really drilled into me growing up. It helps me with my body awareness and matching stuff up.” [Will’s recent successes may indicate that he is on to something.]

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Cameron Young has been named the winner of the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour's top rookie on Wednesday.

Rory McIlroy disagrees with Phil Mickelson's recent assessment that the LIV Golf circuit is trending up and the PGA Tour is trending down.

Los Angeles Country Club is getting another U.S. Open before it even holds its first one, and the women will get their crack at the course on the edge of Beverly Hills.

Virtual reality golf is getting a star-studded, real-world shot in the arm today. GOLF+, the leading VR game in the metaverse, is bringing on a slew of new investors.

GOLF+ is announcing today that Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Mike Trout and Ben Crenshaw are all investing in the company. Additionally, big-money investors such as the Breyer Group as well as other financiers and hi-tech CEO mover-and-shaker types are kicking in funding.

“What got them excited is our audacious goal and belief we can use this technology to double the size of golf as a whole,” GOLF+ Co-founder and CEO Ryan Engle tells MyGolfSpy. “We believe this technology can make golf 100 times more accessible to people, especially younger people.”

What, if anything, does all this mean to you as a golfer? Unless you’re a VR gamer, you might think it’s just another video game. But if you dig a little deeper and peer into the future just a tad, the possibilities are intriguing.

Virtual Reality Golf: Just a Game?

GOLF+ is the number one golf app in the virtual world. But calling it a video game is like calling Bethpage Black a muni.

Inesis is “best bang for your buck.”Waterproof$154.98

A golf rain suit or even a golf rain jacket is a must, especially if you live in an area with variable weather conditions.

In the 2022 Most Wanted Rain Gear Test, Inesis was crowned Best Value. It wasn’t even close. We saw a  huge difference in price when comparing KJUS and Inesis. But was it worth playing in the rain for the price?

The question is: Why was Inesis good enough to win Best Value?

Inesis RAINWWEAR Construction

Every company that makes rain gear does it a little different. Whether it’s to do with the type of material or the way they cut the material, there’s something for everyone.

Inesis wanted their rainwear to be breathable, stretchy, comfortable and, of course, waterproof. So for all you geek heads out there like me, here are some of their technical features.

The WM Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship will have purses of at least $20 million in 2023, sources told ESPN.

The PGA Tour is moving the CJ Cup out of South Korea for the third straight year because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking a look at what's in store as the PGA Tour heads to South Carolina, LIV Golf prepares for its team championship and the LPGA visits South Korea.

What’s in a Name?

Originally worn by Michael Jordan in some of his biggest moments on the court, the Air Jordan 12 Low “Playoffs” are now ready for your biggest moments on the course.

Introducing the Air Jordan 12 Low “Playoffs” golf shoes, the newest addition to Jordan Brand’s lineup of nostalgic golf shoes inspired by one of basketball’s greatest.

The Air Jordan 12 Low model is nothing new but this pair is special. This unassuming black-and-white Jordan Brand golf shoe has a story behind it.

So what’s in a name? For the Air Jordan 12 Low “Playoffs”, the name is what separates it from the myriad of other golf shoes. To understand what makes this shoe unique, we need to first understand its history.

Winning Heritage

The Air Jordan 12 made its basketball debut in 1996. This exact same black-and-white colorway, dubbed “Playoffs”, was worn by Michael Jordan as the Chicago Bulls battled their way to the 1997 NBA Championship title, besting my hometown Utah Jazz.

PXG has introduced a new line of 0211 metalwoods.The new products offer value pricing without cutting corners on quality.List price for the driver is $299 ($219 at launch). Fairways and hybrids are $249 ($169 and $149, respectively, at launch).

It wasn’t that long ago that $300 got you entry-level driver. Like the 2022 PXG 0211 driver, it didn’t have the bells and whistles of a “flagship” driver. Maybe it didn’t have an adjustable hosel. It definitely didn’t have movable weights—but performance was typically strong.

If your memory is a bit fuzzy, I’m talking about a class of drivers with names like Burner, X Hot and RocketBallz.

Over time, $300 became $400 and before you knew it (apart from big box exclusives and some stuff explicitly designed for low swing speed), the semi-affordable stuff for the masses was gone.

Whether you knew it or not, most of the industry had collectively decided they were all “premium-brands” and, as such, there was no reason to sell golf clubs below the high-water line.

Majed Al Sorour tells The New Yorker he will "celebrate" a major championship ban on LIV players and says "all the tours are being run by guys who don’t understand business.”

Say hello to LIV’s newest star executive to prod at Five Families in my latest Quad entry.

I guarantee you or someone you know gamed the classic Titleist 975D.

Ring a bell?

It was in Tiger’s bag when he won Tiger Slam. It was David Duval’s choice the year he became world No. 1. To this day, it remains one of the best-selling drivers of all time. The catch? They stopped making them in 2001.

Yes, it’s been 21 years.

Today, we’re launching our brand-new YouTube series, Retro Golf, where we take some of the game’s most nostalgic clubs and put them head to head with today’s high-tech releases.

Fred Couples broke his age by three shots with the lowest round of his PGA Tour Champions career, a 12-under 60 that sent him to a victory in the SAS Championship.