Category: Equipment

Golf News for April 8, 2017

April 15, 2017

Courtesy Old Golf Images [oldgolfimages.com]
MSGA Spring / Summer Tee Times Released — With the first MSGA event of the year only a few weeks away, we’re happy to announce the tee times for the Spring and Summer Weekly and Mid-Week events. Click here to view the times.

2nd Assistant Golf Course Superintendent — Golf Club in Kennebunk is looking for a 2nd Assistant Golf Course Superintendent.

It’s Time For Golf—Yes, Golf—to Get Political — The social engineers are coming for golf!

Your best golf purchase in the last 5 years? — Equipment discussions on-going at GolfWRX.

9 Ways The USGA Has An Impact On Golf — USGA by the numbers. How do they love golf? Let us count the ways…

Anderson Finds Trust in Srixon Golf Balls — University golf coach puts Srixon in team’s bag. “I tried a lot of different golf balls and some felt ok but would get sticky after a while.” Anderson said. “I like how the XV you can play 18 one day with the same ball and feel confident taking that same ball out the next day for another 18.” We’re lucky if we get the same ball around an entire 18!

Rock’s Best Handicappers — Sometimes even some of the world’s greatest rockers need a break from their busy schedules of debauchery. Some invest their off time in fine wines, businesses, acting, or other arts, while others will happily try to take each other down in the calming sport of golf!

 

Golf News for April 7, 2017

April 15, 2017
Follow the Money-colored Golf Balls!

Why does Bubba Watson use pink golf balls? — He uses green ones, too, so look for those on the weekend — or maybe even on Monday, after everyone’s left you can hunt for the green balls he couldn’t find.

Sorry, it’s not for sale: Meet the homeowners who have resisted Augusta’s advances — Living in a sea of parked cars for one week a year is only a minor hassle, the Thackers say, and it doesn’t prevent them from going about their daily routines. Come Masters week, Herman still fires up the grill while Elizabeth rakes the pine straw in the yard and keeps her landscaping immaculate. The other 51 weeks they enjoy their privacy.

Fantastic Four Lead at Augusta — “I love looking up and seeing the big leaderboards,” Fowler said. “It’s a cool thing about Augusta, very old school with the non-electronic leaderboards out there. It’s a lot of fun to see your name up there, so hopefully I can go ahead and keep it up on the big leaderboards.”

Fought, ASGCA, and Fry, ASGCA, provide their perspectives on Augusta National — As part of a roundtable discussion on Augusta among golf course architects with Epoch Times, John Fought, ASGCA, and Dana Fry, ASGCA, included their viewpoints on the best the course has to offer – and a couple suggestions for improvement.

GCSAA Job Board — Did you know Golf Course Superintendents Association hosts a nationwide Jobs Board?

As we all get out for our first rounds of the season, here is a refresher course on Etiquette Around the Greens:

Golf News for April 6, 2017

April 15, 2017
DSG 100e – A hi-tech premium ride built for both serious and casual golfers.
Field Staff – South Central Regional Representative — The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) is seeking a dedicated professional to serve as a conduit to the nine affiliated chapters within Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Snoop Dogg played golf in Augusta and it was marvelous — Wuh-woh, Snoop Dogg wants to Rap Up The Masters!

Trump Wins Privacy Rights Case in Scotland — An anti-Trump activist urinated on his golf course, then sued when staff cameras filmed her. It’s what we might call a wicked pissah!

How exactly is Bernhard Langer still so damn good? — Langer’s greatness lies in his organized, consistent but also intuitive approach to patient improvement. If you’re a golfer, it’s worth paying attention.

The snitch speaks! A conversation with the fan who ratted out Lexi Thompson — Why is The PGA encouraging this behavior? “I’m the Henry Hill of golf! I’m the guy who nailed Tiger with a four-stroker at 15 at Augusta in ’13! Remember? Cost him the green jacket? His wedge hit the stick and ricocheted back into the water. And he lost his mind and dropped a full yard BACK from the original spot? What a fraud! Anyway, I didn’t catch that one until dinnertime. Same with that time I nailed Padraig Harrington nicking the water from that riverbank lie that one time. Slowed it down 50x. Nailed him good. What a scammer!”

Golf Cart of The Future — It looks like you could fit an entire foursome in there!

Opinion: Golf’s Leaders Must Take Stand on TV Call-Ins — In the pre-Twitter era, the O’Meara incident faded away quietly. But the issue of amateur rules officials phoning in potential violations from home continues to rage. Hopefully, leaders in our game will take a stand and end this scourge once and for all.

Golf News for April 5, 2017

April 15, 2017
Michael Bruce of Fort Fairfield follows through on a drive.

Bruce places third in putting in national youth golf contest — Michael Bruce will be honored by proud citizens of his hometown of Fort Fairfield Thursday, April 6 at a reception beginning at 5 p.m. at the Fort Fairfield Elementary School. The 9-year-old has just returned from an expenses-paid trip to the national Drive, Chip and Putt Finals, held at Augusta National, the home of The Masters golf tournament, where he placed third in his age bracket.

Golf for Life promotes golf in Houlton — Golf is a lifelong sport. Some take the game up as children and other wait until later in life to learn to play. Last year over 50 beginning golfers took part in the program and that exceeded expectations.

The 6 best quotes from Jack Nicklaus’s Masters press conference, ranked — Old School: “We wanted to grow up with our kids, so that’s what we did.  And so we got married and we waited 14 months before our first one. Sometimes the first one comes anytime.  The second one takes nine months.”

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan weighs in on the Lexi Thompson ruling — We think the entire rule allowing viewers to phone or text infractions to the Rules Committee is outrageous. Imagine if other sports allowed this behavior?

Embracing events and other streams of revenue could help golf courses increase their popularity — On top of business outings on the course, which can be very lucrative, golf courses are also becoming popular spots to hold events. From small business meetings to award ceremonies to charity tournaments, golf clubs have opened themselves up to the public on a broader basis, whether the event directly involves the game or not.

New Vertical Groove Driver golf club being used by Rocco Mediate and John Daly — Feeling groovy? “We’re the only club in the world that has vertical grove face technology.  What the vertical grove’s do, carries a tighter dispersion down the fairway and we’re getting more carry distance. It’s a disrupter to what’s out there today.”

Golf News for April 3, 2017

April 14, 2017
Meet the newest staff members of your local driving range

Where have all the golf writers gone? — “Jordan Spieth wins the Masters, and the Dallas Morning News isn’t there? Are you kidding me? It has been pretty much across the board ever since the 2008 market crash and other economic and market factors severely impacted media companies. Most newspapers, beset with reduced resources and staff, no longer cover majors and many don’t even have a reporter assigned to golf.”

Golf Course Mechanic, Sugarloaf Golf Club — This full-time, year-round position is responsible for the repair and maintenance of all golf course equipment, detailed record-keeping and a preventative maintenance program.

Ranking the Top 20 Golf Courses in the World — “The modern game of golf has been played since the 15th-century in Scotland. And from the humble, rolling sheep-grazing spaces of the early courses of the British Isles, through the grand venues of the Open rota and similar, to the wide-ranging masterpieces in the U.S., there is no shortage of brilliant golf courses to choose from. To that end, feel free to disagree or debate. Any and all discussion ultimately betters the game we all love and serves to enhance future venues.”

Why choose robots for driving range outfield maintenance — Truebot robots are an alternative to traditional driving range maintenance equipment and can offer facility overall cost savings of between 30-50%. There energy cost is a third of what thermal machines would cost, and can provide significant savings on human resources. Another beneficial feature is how quiet the robot are which is a huge advantage in a golf-playing environment.

Rules Question of the Week — If a player’s ball lies in a water hazard, which object in the hazard may he touch with his club during the backswing for the stroke?

A) A branch of a bush growing in the hazard.
B) A small insect moving along the ground near his ball.
C) A small mound of sand directly behind his ball.

Answer.

The non-golf fanatic’s complete guide to the 2017 Masters — This article isn’t for the serious golf fan. That group already knows everything inside of this. This is to help out the sports fan wanting a quick crash course on what has happened since the last time they checked in on the sport, at last year’s Ryder Cup.

And now for something completely different…

Our only question is, what type of shoe do you wear, golf or bowling?

Golf News for March 25, 2017

April 10, 2017
“I guess the beaver got the short end of the stick.”

Titleist maker teed off over Costco’s cheap golf balls — As golf product makers scramble to avoid new hazards, Costco is not conceding anything. In fact, the dispute raises the question of whether publicity about Costco’s ball will only send more golfers on a long, straight drive to its warehouse stores.

Only serious golf nerds will score 10/10 on this impossible golf course quiz — We scored 7 of 10, plus the bonus round!

WATCH: LPGA launches clever new ad campaign to attract more girls to the game — Currently, fewer girls than boys play golf, but as the new LPGA’s new advertisement points out, girls are now the sport’s fastest growing segment. The biggest factor behind that growth is Girls Golf, which now has more than 400 program sites at golf courses across the U.S. and 60,000 participants between the ages 5-18.

Limited-edition shoe from Adidas Golf is pimento-cheese inspired — A shoe that even Charlie Chaplin could eat.

Trump National Golf Club offers $10,000 reward to find vandals — How many golf courses does Trump Own? We predict this sort of destructive behavior to continue throughout Trump’s four eight years in office.

Under Par: How Golf Courses Are Fighting for Survival — Rounds are down, water’s a wild variable. What can course owners do to cope?

5 Gadgets to Improve Your Golf Game — After spending the $1,500 or more for these five gadgets, we hit our first drive of the season into the pond to the left of the first fairway anyway.

Birmingham golf course beaver kill a dystopian Caddyshack — You thought life served you a raw deal? Think again. The beavers out at Roebuck got it the worst. Consider this life calculus: The beavers naturally create the environment for the watercress darter to live, and then get blamed for also destroying that environment, at which point the beavers have to die so the watercress darter can live. “I guess the beavers caught the short end of the sticks, so to speak,” Howell said. “It’s the beavers that have broken the law, and not man.”

Golf News for March 22, 2017

April 10, 2017

Bangor Municipal Golf Course re-certified as ‘Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary’ — Bangor Muni is one of three courses in Maine and 892 courses in the world to be so recognized. To reach certification, a course must demonstrate that it is maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas, including: Environmental Planning, Wildlife and Habitat Management, Outreach and Education, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation and Water Quality Management.

Rumor mill: Will Tiger Woods play at a high level again? — Will he, or won’t he? Part IX

The fight over Sharp Park isn’t just about saving one golf course, but muni golf overall — We’ve long been aware of the tensions between municipal golf courses and anti-golf forces. Good piece on the topic using a San Fran course as a study of how environmental activists can threaten a classic golf treasure. “Trying to preserve municipal golf courses against the forces of commerce, culture and ideological agendas is hard work. The enemy is everywhere. Realtors, recreation minded community leaders and adherents of open space all covet the land. And the special interests know there is blood in the water as golf continues yearly to lose more courses than it is building.”

Tip the Scales: Change your shafts to add 10 yards instantly — Odds are, you’ve tinkered with your driver shafts to help squeeze every last yard out of your swing, while paying little attention to your iron shafts. Big mistake. You hit more iron shots than drives in a typical round.

Golf Equipment Market and Golf Apparel Industry 2017-2021 with Key Manufacturers Analysis — According to this report, the global golf equipment and apparel market is supported by various growth drivers such as rising number of high net worth individuals in emerging economies, growing participation of golfers, development of new golf courses, rising numbers of rounds played and launch of online booking portals.

MGM’s new Golfstream attraction to host skill-based indoor golf gaming events — With Maine’s long winters, this concept could take off at clubs around the state. “Golfstream, billed as the world’s first indoor laser golf course and private lounge, tests different types of skills — putting, long drives and accuracy.

Tiger’s new Masters book lacks one crucial element: What Tiger was really thinking — A critical look at TIger’s new book: “I believe the ideal audience for this book is middle-school readers, young people interested to learn about the sacrifice it takes to become excellent at a difficult thing, young readers who do not already know Tiger’s story from the 1997 Masters.”