It seems strange that I was talking with Matt Kuchar on the Wednesday of The Wells Fargo Championship, remarking how he was having a really good year, but kind of flying under the radar just a bit. He said he was playing well, hitting the ball great and felt it was only a mater of time before he won again. Based on his solid performance at the Zurich Classic, I predicted that he would win The Players Championship. He laughed. A week and a half later he does just that.
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The so-called Fifth Major, the Players Championship, begins today, and we’re all really excited, right? Yeah…maybe not. I refer to the Players as the “so-called Fifth Major” because, try as it might, the PGA Tour has never been able to generate quite the level of enthusiasm for this event necessary to justify the “Major” tag. Despite having a deeper field than any of the four Majors, and despite playing at the same very tough TPC venue each of the last 30 years, and despite the Tour Commissioner’s entreaties to the public, we have said, simply: “Uh, not a Major.”
The reasons are as varied as there are opinions on most any topic involving sports, but it really boils down to the fact that while it’s entirely possible in these TV and social media-driven days to manufacture enthusiasm for something, even something entirely worthless– like the Kardashians–you can’t elevate that something to a status not attained by merit. The Kardashians, for instance, may be famous at the moment, but they’ll never be even remotely interesting. I have a great idea for ending terrorist threats, by the way. We should send the Kardashians over to meet with Iranian and other extremist Muslims to negotiate on behalf of the American people. After an hour or so, the terrorists would send them back with a note saying they won’t bother us again. We’re not worth the effort. I digress.
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Thank goodness! The long wait is finally over. We may all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Rickie Fowler finally, FINALLY (!) won a PGA Tour event. At the ripe old age of 47, and after 712 tour starts, Rickie finally gets his first win and the world can relax at long last.
Fowler, of course, is 23, not 47, and he’s been on Tour a mere 2 ½ years. It just seems like he’s been playing for so long without a win. The expectations were so very high. But he’s shown the promise of his “can’t miss” potential seemingly week after week, racking up a Ryder Cup pick his rookie season and 15 top ten finishes, including 4 second-places in that time. But the Tour is brutal and the level of play is so very good, and guys like me are so desperate for something to write about, that hardly an event has passed since Rickie’s rookie campaign that someone somewhere didn’t wonder aloud or in print about when he might notch that first win.
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This is the first in a series that will explore how we can get better without really trying, or as I have labeled it: “Quit Trying and Start Buying” That rhymes…and I promise not to do it again. But those who read my post about Demo Day know that I’ve been converted to the idea that even if you can’t “buy game” you can indeed buy a better game. It’s true! The game improvement clubs being produced today will let you enjoy the game as never before, so I’m going to periodically address specific aspects of technology and set composition in order that you may take advantage of 21st Century golf equipment. I am going to enlighten you. You can thank me later.
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Does your golfing wardrobe suffer from Khaki Overload? Do you match hats and shirts based on which shade of “Stone” most easily blends with your “Light Khaki” shorts? If so, then it’s time to let Nike take you out of your wardrobe default mode. The 2012 Nike Golf apparel collections feature contemporary colors and patterns in abundance with each item constructed from the latest performance materials designed to optimize comfort and enhance your playing experience.
Introduced with Nike’s new apparel is the Nike Contrast Stitch Cap, also known as the
Nike Bling Cap. This line features a traditional light structure ball cap style with contrast stitching for a contemporary look. The “Bling” comes in the form of a stylized swoosh with just a hint of gloss to it, so the logo stands apart. Bling calls to mind something flashy, or even a bit ostentatious, but the new Bling Hats are better thought of as being made-to-match. Available in Action Red, Bright Blue, Gym Green and Pewter Gray, the new Bling Caps won’t conflict with your wardrobe, rather they’ll complement it.
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Long gone are the days when golf shoes were primarily of the two-tone saddle variety, made from leather uppers and leather soles. There’s still a place in the game for those premium shoes, of course. In fact, everyone should have at least one pair of what I call “dress golf shoes” for those special events such as your member-guest, club championship, city championship, etc. And if that’s your personal style preference, then by all means keep buying and wearing the old school look exclusively. For many golfers, anything else is just not a golf shoe.
To an increasingly large number of players, however, the trend toward more athletic styling and construction has been readily embraced. For many years now the shoe manufacturers have added to their lines, in ever-increasing number, so-called “athletic” golf shoes. And the technology developed for the athletic lines has by and large been adapted to traditional styles so that all golf shoes, to varying degrees, feature performance-enhancing attributes that increase stability and comfort. The result is that now more than ever golf shoes are designed to make walking the course easier and more enjoyable, even for those among us who walk only from cart to ball–and from cart to beverage cart. I do not include myself among those lazy cart riders, by the way. I prefer to walk whenever possible. Ok, I admit that it’s frequently not possible for me to walk– because I’m usually in a hurry– and since jogging the course is absolutely out of the question, you can certainly understand that I must ride a cart. That’s ok though because I purchased a pair of
adidas Sambas that allow me to look athletic, or reasonably so, as I leap in and out of my cart.
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If you’re like me, every year you look forward with giddy anticipation to the beginning of the Masters and then fall into a deep funk at its conclusion. I used to sneak away to watch every second possible on Thursday and Friday before parking on the family room couch for days 3 and 4 on the weekend.
I still do that, of course, but now I can begin my Masters obsession on Monday of Masters Week by tuning into Live From The Masters on Golf Channel. And because watching guys talk about The Masters while offering “insight” as to which player is “on form” and who’s not is insufficient for Masters Junkies like us, we can supplement that coverage by reading internet stuff and re-reading our Golf Digest April Masters Preview issue, which arrives inexplicably in February. We can also feed our golf-addicted brains by downloading the free Masters App for our iPhones…unless we are too lazy to have downloaded any software upgrades over the previous year. Note to self: click the “Upgrade Now” button next time.
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There’s a new blogger in town. Me. You don’t know me, so you may wonder what qualifications I possess that allow me to presume to offer opinions, observations and information about all things golf, which is the purpose of this blog. First, let me tell you that I am known as “The World’s Most Knowledgeable Guy in the World”…about everything. Ok, that’s not true. But I love golf, and I know a fair bit about it, even though I am not a former pro, a former golf equipment executive, or even a traditional golf writer. If I were any of those things, I would be… really, really boring and that would make this blog like, well, oh so many golf blogs.
Instead, I will try to entertain, even as I attempt to inform. Sometimes, I might irritate or annoy. I apologize, because that is not my purpose, and I’m very certain it’s not my boss’s purpose. He would like you to buy stuff from Discount Golf World, and because he wants that, I want that. So when I irritate you (sorry, Boss – it will happen!) I want you to click right through and shop extra hard. Spend more than you can afford. Spend your mortgage and car payment. Do so that I might continue to write this blog. You owe it to society. Do not deprive the world of my gift.
So here’s the deal. I love golf and think about it with a frequency and intensity that some might find unhealthy. You won’t find my obsession unhealthy, of course. I mean let’s face it, you’re reading a golf blog, so, you know…. Anyway, here are my golfing bona fides, in no particular order:
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With apologies to the Beatles, and to those too young to remember their music, the working title to my as yet unpublished book used to be Can’t Buy Me Game. But I’ve had to revise the entire theme and concept of that book, which basically chronicles my ever- increasing ineptitude on the golf course as I’ve aged, and the title after I attended a Demo Day this past weekend. Demo Day changed my life forever…and it can change yours too.
I love buying new equipment, but like so many purchases in my life, I have tended to buy equipment on impulse without any thought or investigation (see e.g. Too-small chinos, rowing machine, time share condo, a BMW and, I kid you not, a house). I’m serious about the house, by the way. Imagine this conversation, or at least my end of it, which I actually had with my wife before she knew I’d even looked at, much less signed a contract for the purchase of, the aforementioned house:
“Hey honey, you know that really ugly house on the golf course? Well, it’s actually pretty nice on the inside.
“Yeah, I know it’s still ugly on the outside, but you should see the inside.
“Of course, I know you have to live with the outside, but you actually live in the inside, so you know the outsides not as important…”
You get the drift. That particular purchase did not end real well for me. And while I’ve made a number of impulse golf equipment purchases that have turned out ok, it’s not the best way to buy clubs. Shoes, hats, shirts, shorts, etc? Sure, go for it—if it looks good to your eye, buy it, unless you’re buying a pair of one-size-too-small chinos, because they’re on sale, and you’ve been meaning to lose a few pounds, so what’s the harm, since they’re a steal at that price…Trust me, never buy pants that are a size too small, or even “just a little snug.” If you do, you might as well just take them directly from the shopping bag to the Goodwill, or your other favorite charity. Don’t even give them a chance to hang in your closet where they will confront you each morning laden with an ever-increasing coat of dusty mockery.
I digress. We were talking about how Demo Day changed my life.
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April is just around the corner and for even the casual golf fan that means only one thing: The Masters is coming. It’s not the oldest Major championship, and it may not have the deepest field, but The Masters is universally revered by pros and amateurs alike as their favorite. The Masters is loved in part, but only in part, because it’s the first Major of the year. Far more important is the location of the event, Augusta National, and the unique traditions that have developed over the years since Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones first decided to hold their invitational tournament in 1934. And the most identifiable part of Masters Tradition involves the yellow Masters flag and the ubiquitous green which one finds well, everywhere in Augusta during Masters Week. In anticipation of the tournament, Nike will release three limited addition items to commemorate the year’s first Major.
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