How good is -1 on tour

I found this post over at Golfwrx. Good reading


Here's something i did a while back for another forum, interesting statistics for sure

:As some of you know i am a Financial Analyst by profession. I sit around financial data all day long and practically LIVE in Excel.

So for fun i did a VERY BASIC analysis of how good -1 par on the PGA Tour really is.

If you could make the tour and average -1 par PER ROUND (total tournament score of -4 par) how would you fair?Note: these statistics do not include any majors or world golf championshp events, however all other events played this year (through the travellers, i haven't kept up with the data)

Here you go:
Best Finish: 4th
Worst Finish: T59th
Average Finish: 26.35
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 1
Top 15s: 3
Top 20s: 7
Top 30s: 4
Cuts Missed: 1 (Buick Invitational)
Total $ Won: $1,523,411
Best $ Won: $264,000 (finished 4th)
Worst $ Won: $12,720 (finished T48, note this is not the worst finish of the year either, worst is T59 but won more money)
Average $ Won: $76,171
Scoring Average: 70.05
Money List Rank: 24nd
Scoring Average Rank: 21st
FedEx Points Rank: 25th

Looks like if you could make the show and average -1 par each round you'd be sitting pretty good. This was a quick and dirty analysis and it was not adjusted for course level of difficulty. This was simply what could -1 par each round under any condidtion (except majors) produce. This one also includes the results from the Travelers. Lastly please note that i did not recalculate what this player would have won if they were simply added to the field. Meaning if 3 people tied for 12th and this new player tied as well the money might be a bit lower. I simply took the numbers and found if you were one of those people where would you stand on the PGA tour.

Also here is what someone else posted in this thread i started which is interesting about what -1 each round would get in regards to Q-School performance:In fact...-4 would get you through all but two of the first stage qualifiers (the other two it would miss by one shot). It would have gotten you through three of the six second stage qualifiers. You would have missed making it to the PGA Tour by two shots in final stage of Q-School. (8 under got in after six rounds). So still, -1 is pretty darn good.

The golf gods are conspiring

I've got the local pennant finals this Sunday. Semis in the morning and the (hopefully) final in the afternoon. BUT the golf gods seem to conspiring against me. I've had a bad week. First off we're working out of town at the moment and aren't home till about 8 so its dark by then so no practice. I managed to put neat little gouge in my left thumb from the bottom knuckle to the nail so that should make holding the club interesting. And to top it off I just remembered that after my round last week the shaft in my driver snapped when I was putting them back in my car, shut the boot lid on it.. Stupid I know so that means I'll be heading in with another of my drivers.. GRRRRRRRR I loved that one.

Screw it i'm staying in bed all day tomorrow !!!!!!!!!

Japan Issue Clubs

Not many people seem to know that Japan is the world epi-centre for golf technology. They are premier worlds clubmakers and what club designs are hot in the world now were out in Japan probably about 2 years ago (exclude square cos that ain't gonna last)

Their are many manufacturer's that the average everyday golfer have never heard off. The stuff is great buy I'm warning you now, be prepared to pay. This stuff isn't cheap. Be careful because are sometimes 2 different versions with only 1 of them meeting the COR rule.

If you want too know more head over to www.tourspecgolf.com and look in the pro-shop. These guys are based in Japan and are one of the top sources for Japanese golf equipment.


Here's a few pic's to get you started

Tigers Handicap

A friend of mine just sent this to me. Amazing!

Consider this...

If Tiger Woods played you, how many strokes would he be giving up to
make a fair match? The answer may shock you.

You may consider yourself a fine player with your 3 handicap. Or
perhaps you frequently play to your 15 handicap. You may even think that
Tiger Woods could spot you a stroke per hole and you'd have a close
match.

Turns out a stroke per hole would be about right if you were about a 3
handicap. And Tiger would still probably win.

The handicaps of our favorite PGA Tour pros remain a mystery. Sure, we
know they're in the "+" realm (which, oddly enough, means better than
scratch, but how far?

Calculations
PGA Tour courses don't have established ratings. Pros often play from
tees used only in PGA Tour events, the rough is grown extra long and
thick, and greens are sped and firmed up. Each of those changes has a
dramatic effect on the course rating and slope, making it difficult to
ascertain the true nature of a pro's handicap index.

Normally we apply a 0.96 multiplier to a person's average differential
in calculating handicaps. This is to help figure in the
"potential" of a player. A golfer with an un-adjusted handicap index of
5 becomes a 4.8 index after the 0.96 multiplier is applied. It would
make little sense, however, to take a plus-5 handicap to +4.8, so we
must instead divide by 0.96. That would make a +5 golfer a +5.2 golfer,
again figuring in the "potential."

At the Top: Tiger Woods
What does it take to be the top golfer in the world?
Here are the shocking figures:

Used | Date | Score | CR/Slope | Diff. | Tournament
> > * | 01/28/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 15.3 | Buick Invitational
> > * | 01/27/07 | 69 | 78.1/143 | 11.5 | Buick Invitational
> > | 01/26/07 | 72 | 78.1/143 | 7.7 | Buick Invitational
> > | 01/27/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 8.3 | Buick Invitational
> > * | 09/04/06 | 63 | 74.8/143 | 14.9 | Deutsche Bank
> > * | 09/03/06 | 67 | 74.8/143 | 9.9 | Deutsche Bank
> > | 09/02/06 | 72 | 74.8/143 | 3.5 | Deutsche Bank
> > * | 09/01/06 | 66 | 74.8/143 | 11.1 | Deutsche Bank
> > | 08/27/06 | 68 | 75.1/128 | 8.0 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > | 08/26/06 | 71 | 75.1/128 | 4.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > * | 08/25/06 | 64 | 75.1/128 | 12.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > | 08/24/06 | 67 | 75.1/128 | 9.2 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
> > * | 08/20/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/19/06 | 65 | 78.1/151 | 17.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/18/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
> > * | 08/17/06 | 69 | 78.1/151 | 12.2 | PGA Championship
> > | 08/06/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/05/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/04/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
> > | 08/03/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open

Average Differential: 10.6
Best 10 Average Differential: 13.2
Handicap Index: +13.75
Now, take a deep breath and read that again. +13.75. Tiger's WORST ten
differentials average out to +8.05.

Something like 10% of golfers ever reach single digit handicaps.
Tiger's not only done that (while still in the womb, no doubt), but he's
blown through the single digits on the OTHER side of scratch and is in
heretofore unexplored territory at +13.75. That may be the single best
handicap index ever!

Pick a winner

Byron Nelson won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945, a record that may never be matched. Which of the following records do you think is the most impressive?

• Nelson's 11-straight victories
• Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs
• UCLA's run of 10 NCAA basketball titles in 12 years
• Wayne Gretzky's 2,856 career points

Raise your Geek Flag High

Ladies and gentleman I have discovered the holy grail. It is the bomb!!! Damn I hate that saying, shoot me now people.. Ok back on topic.

Anyhow the grail is of course a new driver. Of course it is... this is me your reading about. Sure I just got a new Burner and I'm killing it...... but theres always that feeling that there could be something better out there.... Behold they mother of ALL driver and i bet 99% of you have never heard of it...

The Geek Golf Dot Com This.. It's a beauty and is THE up and comer in the driver market. They are a component company that is gaining a bigger name all the time. The designer is Steve Alamo who formerly worked for Bang golf among other golf industry names before striking out on his own.

I mated my 10.5' (yes I went up in loft) with a Graman UL780 Limey shaft. This is a killer combo and is the longest driver I've ever hit. I've been in places that I've never been to at my home course, the best part is that these places actually involve the fairway of the hole I'm playing..

Try one for yourself...

Favourite

Its official I have a new favourite pro golfer. Yep thats right Boo Weekley. I love this guy.

He's soo laid back he's barely awake. And to top it off he is one of the premier ball strikers on the PGA Tour. Big call I know but this guy is good. He lead the Nationwide Tour in GIR's last year with a massive 74.something%

He has always admitted putting he his weakness, as shown when 3 jacked at the Honda to lose the playoff . 3 footers still give him the shakes. Well I say your not real golfer unless your a little apprehensive over a 3 footer.... Anyway you don't have to worry about that if you chip in on the last 2 holes to hold out Ernie Els do you?

http://feed.insnews.org/v-cgi/feeds.cgi?feedid=144&story_id=2849429

Golf Course Facts

• Approximate number of golf courses in the world: 31,857.
• Proportion of humans who are golfers: 0.94 percent.
• Countries with the most courses per capita (minimum 500,000 population): Scotland (9,379 people per course), New Zealand (10,374), Australia (11,063), Republic of Ireland (14,127), Northern Ireland (14,353), Canada (15,480), Wales (18,321), United States (18,514), Sweden (21,295), England (27,725).
• Countries with the highest density of courses (minimum 500,000 population): Singapore (one course every 10 square miles), England (27), Northern Ireland (40), Wales (50), Scotland (56), Japan (59), Netherlands (75), Mauritius (87), Republic of Ireland (95), Denmark (117).
• Most populous countries where we could find no evidence of golf: Ukraine (population 47,732,079), Sudan (39,148,162), Yemen (20,024,867), Mali (11,956,788), Belarus (10,310,520).
• Most northerly course: Sondie Arctic Desert G. Cse., Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
• Most southerly: Ushuaia G.C., Argentina.
• Most easterly: Tonga G.C., Nukualofa, Tonga.
• Most westerly: Faleata C.C., Apia, Samoa.
• Ratio of courses in the U.S. to courses in the African continent: 20 to 1.
• Amount of earth's land mass devoted to golf courses: 0.014 percent.

Kiwi hits MySpace

As per normal I'm slow to take up another installment of web technology. Hell I'm still mastering the whole tieing shoelaces thing

Here we go http://www.myspace.com/3underkiwi Go there and you should find me

Keep an eye out

Keep an eye out for my fellow and more regular blogger Luke Swilor (Swilors road to tour) . This man has some serious game and just last weekend won himself a Canadian PGA Tour Card. This is a massive achievement in my eyes and I'm sure many others (among the whole 2.5 people that read this).

If you want want to keep an eye out for Luke check out www.cantour.com

Oh well Nike will give him a new one

Man it must be good having a rep just giving you new clubs when you need them. I think I do my fair share of keeping my local pro shop in the red. Heres a great pic of Tiger's break at the Masters

New Cleveland offerings

And these here are the new CGRed from Cleveland golf. The good news is that they aren't made from the CMM material the last models were.

Bright colors Thermoplastic (TPU) insert for vibration damping (feel) MCT - Next generation Micro-Cavity Technology displaces weight for lower CG (stability) Hosel markings for custom fitting These replace the CG2s and CG4 Tours Then we have to CGGold irons, same basic principle but a little more forgiving/ These replace the CG4's. Personally I think they are both hideous but meh what would i know

By the way

Congrats to Zach Johnsone for winning the 2007 Masters.

I've been shopping.

I decided it was time for a little bag update. Sure it was damn near midnight and I'd had a few rums. After buying the Burner the other I decided to fit out the rest of my bag.

I decided to go the component route again and get a set of Purefit MB's to replace my aging CG2's. The 3 wood and Hybrid stays the same. I've picked up a Tad Moore TM2 putter. Which shock horror is std length. Well 33 inches anyway. Thats a big drop for me from my belly putter. And to top it all off I picked up a set (ok 2 sets) of Adam Pugilelli wedges from www.gppgolf.com. They were a steal.

Don't know when they'll all be here. Might be a while for the irons. I don't think the distributor down here has anymore in stock. They're getting Femco White X-Stiff shafts +1 inch... Lovely....I love getting golf parcels....Hmmmm now that gets me think, I need a sweet looking bag to put them in.




## Patrica I anwsered your question for you

The new Burner

Well I finally hit the new TaylorMade Burner today.. WOW TaylorMade bought out a new driver now theres a surprise... Not.

Anyway back on topic I quite liked it. Nice shape. The graphics are sweet man, damn I like that look. My forgivings being that it sat wayyyy closed. I had to open it up a little to get it to fly right and that is definitely not a feeling that makes you all that comfortable with a driver. The shaft also felt a little light for liking (50 gram) but I did like the extra length it was. But then again I order all my clubs plus an inch anyway.

The reason I'm in the market for a new driver is I cracked my beloved HiBore, I was not impressed. I had my J33R in the bag for a while but sold that so now just have a piece of crap Titty 905T I found in the garage that I don't remember buying. Oh well time to go shopping again

NZ PGA starts tomorrow.

Well NZ's only link to the US Tours begins down here tomorrow. It's part of the Nationwide Tour which swings down here every year for a stop and one in Australia as well. I have been up to see it once but was pretty damn impressed with the talent on display. Not going this year tho, got this work that gets in the way.. (It does it for about 50 hours a week just to annoy me)

The have tricked the rough up a little I hear, that should be interesting. Clearwater Resort is a great course and if the wind gets up the scores will follow. If it stays calm I expect them to tear the course to bits. But then again its in Christchurch and I don't think I've ever been there when it hasn't blown for more than 3 days so I don't like there chances

My M/P picks for Day 1

Ok I'm going to try and throw a few picks out there for the first rounds. Might just do what I see to be an upset. I'm to lazy to do them lol

Katayama will take out Baddeley
Clarke will thrash Garcia. (i assume this is Darren)
Edfors will beat Monty
Micheel will show Scott the door to the airport

Really slight chance....... Rollins beats VJ in sudden death

So whats that 5 matchs, knowing my track record in picking sports I'll be lucky to get 1, no way more than 2.

Dr Pepper.

Ok so I'm 24 years and only just had my first Dr Pepper today. Sad huh, well its not the easiest thing to get down. First impressions were that it wasn't bad. But then I just decided it was well fairly average. Thats just me. It's got nothing over Coke. And Coke in turn has nothing over Beer...

Can you tell I'm bored ........

Nice... very nice

Wow now this is impressive........ Read on

12 February 2007 Wallace shoots back to back albatrosses

Auckland’s Ben Wallace achieved an amazing feat earlier this month when he shot back to back albatrosses on the fourth hole at Auckland Golf Club inside the space of a week.
The talented Titleist Academy player scored his first albatross off the back tees during a tournament at the course on Saturday 3 February.
He was then out playing with Australian professional Peter Fowler and his coach on the following Tuesday when he potted another albatross on the par 5 hole after Fowler challenged him to see if he could do it again.
Fowler said it was an amazing feat as he had only seen one albatross in his entire career, which spans more than 25 years. Fowler has also just qualified for July's British Open.
Wallace's back to back albatrosses are the talk of Auckland Golf Club and the club made a special presentation to Wallace in recognition of his achievement.

(courtesy of the NZGA website)

3 is a bad number

Not all the time but this weekend it was just well.. a fugly number. Sure scoreing a 3 on a hole is pretty much always a good thing... Just not if your only counting the number of shots taken on 1 green as well all know.

I was up in Te Anau in the weekend playing in a 36 hole tournament on the Saturday and the 1st round of pennants on the Sunday. Well I finished up 4th in some fairly average conditions (summer time my ass) with an ok I suppose 79 in the morning and a level par 72 in the afternoon. That 79 I actually hit the ball better than in the afternoon round but I had 6 putts in the morning. I don't think I've ever had 6 3 putts in a round since about the 4th round I ever played. Wasn't good. I was not impressed. I had just put a new std putter in the bag too. Needless to say it got pulled at lunch and the belly put back in..

Today (Sunday) It was the 1st round of the pennants series. This involves the 7 bigger clubs in my province playing in 6 man matchplay match's. My team is the defending champions having gone undefeated in the round robin and cleaning up in semi's and final. This year we started off with a 3 each Halve. Not great but not bad. It actually came down to my match, it was the only one that went the distance. The other team were leading 3-2 when I was all square with 3 to go. I was actually 2 up with 5 to go back snapped to consecutive drives on 2 holes OB. 16 I flushed rescue down the middle. Wedge to 12 feet, miss the putt. He missed from 25 Halve.. #17 He lays up with 3 wood. I take driver and stripe it to about 35 yards from the green. He's just short with the approach. I semi-skull mine out the back. His chip was awful and I 2 putt for the win... Sweet 1 up 1 to go. I can't and don't wanna lose the hole. We need my win to halve the team match. #18 is 456 par 4, dogleg right. I smash one but block it a little right but gets great bounce to centre f/w way down. He's straight and perfect. He stiffs 6 iron to 3 feet.... Gee no pressure.. I hit wedge 20 feet past the pin that just misses the pin on the fly. I hole my putt after it sits on the lip for a second. In the process nearly giving me a heart attack. But it falls and his putt is pointless. He needed to win the hole.

Pity it was the only putt I holed all weekend, but then again it was when it was perfect timing.

BTW I 3 jacked once Sat Afternoon for a total of 7 in 2 rounds.. None Sunday SWEEETTTTTT

Draper collects 1st win

Australian Tour professional Scott Draper collected his first professional golf win. Draper is also a former World ATP touring tennis pro. He reached a career high ranking of No42 in singles and won the Australian Open Mixed doubles in 2005, playing the Australian Golf Open the nest week.

He recently turned down an offer to coach Leyton Hewiit to concentrate on his career as a touring golfer.

Draper finished at -20 the card over the four round, playing great golf with only a solitary bogey over the 4 days. He now heads to South Australia to attempt to qualify for the Nationwide co-sanctioned Jacobs Creek Open

It has to be a world first for golf/tennis player to win professionally in both sports professional ranks, espically only over a 2 year period

Importance of speed control for lag putt

Ben Crenshaw (1980) stated:
"Most amateurs don't know how hard to hit a putt. They are too line-conscious and don't pay enough attention to the speed of a putt. Most three-putt greens are the result of hitting the first putt very long or very short, rather than far to the left or right of the hole."

Woods (2002) stated:
"One of the keys to effective lag putting is a good read with proper speed. That's particularly true on a big breaker. What good does it do me to get the ball rolling on the correct line if I knock it six feet past the hole?"

Sorenstam (2004) stated:
“If your speed is right, it’s almost impossible to three-putt.”

A key factor in determining proper ball speed to travel the distance to the hole is whether it travels uphill or downhill. Some players have a problem in determining ball speed on sloped greens.

Editors of Golf Magazine (1973) stated:
"There are thousands of players who are consistently short on every uphill and consistently long on every downhill putt. And we mean every."It's convenient to imagine a change in hole position to account for the slope of the green. If you are putting uphill, imagine a hole that is farther away. If you are putting downhill, imagine a hole that is closer to you.

This imaginary hole position is termed the virtual hole, which defines the effective ball-hole distance required to putt on level ground.

Great advice this and so true as well

CHOKE

Well I finally get rid of the shanks, had a little bit of the yips as well but they seem to have disappeared as well. The game was going down the sewer there for a while.. As can see in the post below I had a 71 in the final round of the Club Champs..

.Here's a little about the round. I birdies 1,3,5,7 to finish the front nine at -4. Par 10, 11, and birdie 12 to get to -5. Its about now I start getting weird strange ideas in my head. After all the course record is only -5 (67). Par 13 after hitting a wedge to 3 feet and snap hooking the birdie, yes, I didn't know it was possible to snap hook a putt either. Get to 14 tee, fairly straight forward Par 4 as long as you don't go left. I take rescue and put the worst swing I've put on a ball in weeks. A shank would have better. It goes about 3 miles right of the fairway into the amazon jungle (trees). I chop my way up the hole. Make a tidy (fugly) triple 7 which kills my card. 15 I was a tad pissed off and ripped off a 310 metre drive. Another bogey on 17 and you have my -1 71. I don't think I've ever been so moody about an under par round. Granted I still won the Champs and the few beers/rums in the 19th made me feel a little better

Kiwi actually wins something!!!!

Guess what............ I actually won a golf trophy. Sweetttttttttt. Today I won my clubs Strokeplay Club Champs. Top grade/flight. I had a 2 round total of 142 (-2), 2 rounds of 71. I'm positive I've never actually won a golf trophy before. First time for everything I suppose.

Sorry crappy photo I know, camera's busted had to resort to the old cell phone.

I also qualified No2 for the matchplay section as well. First rounds in a few weeks

First Grafalloy Epic hits E-Bay

For all you ho's who just have to have it:
http://cgi.ebay.com/First-Production-Grafalloy-Epic-Shaft_W0QQitemZ130077482619QQihZ003QQcategoryZ83028QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's the press release from True Temper
GRAFALLOY TO MAKE FIRST PRODUCTION EPIC® SHAFT AVAILABLE FOR BID ON EBAY

Memphis, TN…On Thursday, February 8th at 8:00 AM EST, Grafalloy will make the first production Epic shaft available for purchase on the online auction site eBay®. The shaft, listed as item number 130077482619 is being sold directly from Grafalloy to offer one lucky consumer the chance of a lifetime…to own the first production Epic shaft over 3 years in development. The winning bidder of the 5-day auction will also receive a letter of authenticity from the company. The shaft available for auction is a 68 gram S Flex 46” driver shaft in a .335” tip configuration. “Everything about Epic is one-of-a-kind, so this is a fun way to create additional excitement around the shaft and give one person a unique opportunity,” states Chad Hall, Director of Marketing. “I can’t wait until the bidding begins.” Constructed from revolutionary Nanofuse® material, Epic was introduced at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida in late January and will be available to the public in mid-March in driver, fairway wood and hybrid designs. Through extensive robotic and player test data, Epic has shown to produce increased distance with up to a 35% improvement in shot dispersion compared to graphite shafts on the market today. Additional information is available at www.epicshaft.com. The Epic series of shafts are designed and manufactured by True Temper Sports, the leading manufacturer of golf shafts in the world and consistently the number one shaft on all professional tours globally. The Company markets a complete line of shafts under the True Temper®, Grafalloy® and Rifle® shaft brands, and sells these brands in over thirty countries throughout the world. True Temper Sports is proudly represented by over 800 individuals in ten facilities located in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Australia.

Now I was waiting to see the bit about $$ from the winning bid going to a golfing charity, ie The First Tee but not so far as I can see. BTW its up too $600 at the moment. Lotta cash .......... And no its not my bid

This is impressive

Damn this is impressive. Now living down here I know nothing about ice hockey but this is impressive !!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6anJc6c_dX8

Sh@^&s

Guess what happened to me........ I've developed a maddening case of the SHANKS........ It's not pretty. I've hit the odd one before but I hit 4 today...... On 1 hole.A grand total of 8 of them. A nice solid of 87. Not good. Oh well of too the range to try and get rid of it.

ProPlay fitting systems

This is one of the best aids I've ever come across. Doesn't help that I know the guys who came up with it either... I know kind of biased isn't it.

As we all know the basis for a good swing is a good frip, sure you can make a decent swing with an incorrect grip but it ain't that easy. This system aims to give the perfect grip form beginner to pro. It's perfectly legal and is approved by both the R&A and USGA as far I know.

The system itself is colour-coded. It starts out with you picking a glove that fits your hand (about 8 or so sizes) You then pick a grip with the same colour and have it installed on a club. The glove has little coloured panels on the fingers that are supposed to match up with little coloured corresponding panels on the grip. Damn I'm making an ass of trying to explain this.

Lets just say to me its a great product. Give it a try

http://www.proplayfittingsystems.com/

Tattoo Update

I see Tattoo Golf have updated there site. Spent some $$$ about this time last year and got some great looking stuff. Check it out. It's top quality stuff.

TaylorMades new stuff

SuperQuad





Meet the all new TaylorMade R7 SuperQuad. It features a 460cc chassis with 4 weight ports. It also features an All Black Head, sole and face included. It was supposed to be limited edition, but then again so was the 510TP and we all know what happened there.......... Gosh, a 460cc head with 4 weights, Damn never seen that coming............












Burner Series

And this would of course be the Burner series. Sorry no bubble shaft. Its another new model and a lower price point that the R7 model/s. Inc driver's/fairways and rescue clubs at the moment.

# The Burner driver was in John Dalys bag at the Buick this past week

Big JD

I've just finished John Dalys new book last night "In & Out of the Rough".. Wow!!! Great read. Quite one on the most honest, and entertaining books I've ever read.

Biographys by and large bore to tears. You can almost predict the order the chapters will be in. Kind of a little the same but just damn funny. He talks about everything from his upbringing, his golf career, women in his life and of course his drinking and gambling habits.

By the way this book was really hard to find in down here in NZ, I got kinda pissed waiting so just ended up buying it off amazon.com. Picked up the new Ben Hogan book as well.

I get to the course after work for a quick nine holes and lo and behold one of my mates see's the book lying in the back of my car. It didn't stay there long and now has a waiting list if people to read it of about 7. Best thing is though I'm charging everyone a 6 pack a piece.. Sweet

Great read 5 *****

Congrats

Congrats to Luke Swilor on his first win of the year. The first of the many I'm sure. Lukes blog is great to follow during the year if you want find out a little about the life of mini tour pro golfer.

I follow Brian Quackenbush a little as well

FUGLY!!!!!!!!

Words cannot describe what the designers were smoking when the came up with this..........

Closeouts

After a comment about a new driver from Speedy (theres a link there on the left) I thought I'd write up a post about drivers that are great sticks and can be had for a great price, the reason...... or catch whatever you like to call it is that are last years model... Big deal.

Heres a few of them. . . . . . .

NIKE Mens SasQuatch 460 Ti Drivers

Great driver, ugly as sin to my eyes but it goes, damn does it go long. But the powerbow is just hideous. Stock shaft is pretty crap, I'd recommend going up a flex, they play about 1/2 a flex softer than normal. TGW.com has them for $199 but they probably can easily been found cheaper. After all the square version is on the way.

Orlimar Golf HTi440

Very very very underated driver. I've got one around here somewhere.. or I lend it too someone, I forget. Anyhow rockbottomgolf.com has em for the baragin price of $69, don't let the price fool you. It is a great whooping stick

PING G2

Nice club this one, only $159 at gppgolf.com but if you offered them less they'd take it. One of the most forgiving drivers around. The moon alignment aid is ugly but I just painted over it on the one I had.

TM R5

Solid driver, miles ahead of the original R7 in my opinion. Silly easy to hit, as normal the stock TM shafts are just well... arse........ Sounds like a good description to me. Great stick too. Can be bought in Neutaland draw bias and of course this a TP version as well

HiBore

Yes I know I'm completely awfully biased here, it is after what I have in my bag but well I don't care. Great club. Long, easy to hit. I actullay like the shape and they can now be had for around $179 at rockbottom. Of course if you stick a Graman Limey shaft in it it will be even better, yep got one of those too.

Now don't forget e-bay, plenty of bargains to be had there, just watch out for all the clones and fake crap floating around. Another tip is when your buying a driver from the previous year, never ever pay the retail price. The retailer will be open for bit leeway in the price, they will want too move them before all the new models turn up in store... And don't be afraid to walk away......

Will Wilson make it back

For the young bucks reading this, Wilson Staff blades were once "it." Look in the bag of a professional or a top amatuer, chances are - gorgeous chrome plated staffs would be the weapon of choice.

Unfortunately, the advent of CB's, metalwoods and later titanium woods shocked their world. While they continued to make great irons, companies like TM and Cally sold millions of high dollar metalwoods. BUT - Wilson woods kind of sucked (actually really sucked).

The slow decline culminated with the dreaded FATSHAFT era. Although you can find a ton of hackers who love them, they looked awful and I honestly hadn't seen a Wilson in the bag of a decent golfer in years (except for a few oldtimers with old blades - they were very good).

A few years ago, Wilson got new ownership and tried to rebuild their brand. While it hasn't been a smashing success, they seem to be getting a little "buzz" for the first time in years. Paddy is winning the order of merit. They even have a very small tour staff.

My review of their current equipment;

Fi Irons - arguably the best looking irons on earth - you better have game b/c they are all blade. I have never actually seen them outside a golf store.

Pi Irons - IMHO - oneof the most underated iron on the market. These babies caused me to buy an extra set of irons despite having new TM TP's. At address, they look like blades. They have great forgiveness and perfect balance.

Ci Irons - look perfect for a mid-handicapper. GI without going off the deep end.

Di Irons - well, they brought back the FatShaft, but had the brains not to tell anyone. If you need/want ultra-GI shovels, these babies have it all.

Drivers - still kind of blow - not bad, but always about 2 years behind. The new one is looking promising though

FW - No idea I've never actually seen one in person, which of course is a bad thing.

Putters - Kirk Currie might be a great designer, but his putters are fugly. The weird balance weights are not mainstream enough to be a big seller.

My marketing plan to finish the job:1. Tour Service - set up their own version of WRX. Staff can be hard to find in proshops. If guys can special order custom irons with frequency matched shafts, dead on SW's, custom grips, they can start getting the top amatuers at clubs to start playing them. Offering custom grinds on those gorgeous wedges would a special touch. 2. Tour Guys - instead of the Adams (senior tour) strategy, I would go with a few young guns. Someone with game and a big mouth would be nice.

Enough already

Taylormade golf do exactly nothing to help a club ho like me to stop buying new drivers, sure I play a HiBore but thats not the point. Heres a list of what TGW.com currently have for sale in Taylormade

R7 Quad
R5 Dual
R7 superquad
R7 Quad HT
R580XD
R7 draw
R7 460
Burner 460
R7 425
Burner 460 TP
R7 Quad TP
R7 425 TP
R7 460 TP
R5 TP

Thats 14 models Enough already. Imagine the number of drivers just sitting in proshops/ warehouses in just the USA alone, the number would be huge. And I wouldn't be surprised to see at least 3 models before Xmas either. Ok thats enough of my rant for the day

I'm alive!!!!

Guess who forgot about their blog ! ! ! ! Yep that'd be me. Thanks to speedycat hollydale for reminding me. I'll be sure to post more often soon.

Speaking of disappearing acts... Where the hells Jamboy gone again, he must be off on another crack fueled love fest..