Ian Poulter does U-Turn

August 29, 2008 | 2 Comments

Ian Poulter has stabbed me in the back and made me look a right idiot! Having previously held him up as a paradigm of virtue he’s now backtracked on his commitment to the Ryder Cup and instead chosen to chase the yankee dollar. Poulter has decided to remain in America to compete in this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship rather than play at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles - the final Ryder Cup qualifying event.

A top five finish at Gleneagles would have almost certainly meant automatic Ryder Cup qualification, but Poulter must now instead rely on a wild card entry. During his press conference Colin Montgomerie was uncharacteristically diplomatic when asked to explain the move, although there was veiled astonishment at Poutler’s decision.

Poulter has now cited commitment to his schedule as the reason, although some are speculating that he and Faldo may have already done a deal. The Ryder Cup is history but world ranking points and prize-money will always be there.

Given that the Ryder Cup is hardly an unexpected surprise (it’s been around since 1927) it does make you wonder why it couldn’t have been accommodated much earlier in Poulter’s schedule anyway.

I apologise to those people I may have misled in my previous article, who perhaps have drawn the conclusion that Poulter was a principled man with the best interests of golf at heart.

Stack and Tilt

August 29, 2008 | 8 Comments

While watching some recent PGA Tour coverage the commentator mentioned something that was the hot new concept in Golf and apparently all the rage on Tour, being used by more than 20 of the Pros - The Stack and Tilt Golf Swing. Intrigued by this statement I dug a bit deeper to see what all the fuss was about.

The best explanation I found was over at Gold Digest where they describe The New Tour Swing and how it works. They use Aaron Baddeley who they say has been ’stacked’ since last year, to demonstrate the technique. If you’re like me and you prefer to see video demonstrations then Golf Tips has more analysis on the Stack and Tilt Swing.

The essence of the swing seems to be in the weight distribution, which is moved forward toward the front foot and stays there throughout the swing. This avoids the weight transference associated with the more conventional swing and by doing so, offers greater control in hitting the ball.

Hear what Mike Bennett, who is credited with being the innovator, has to say in the following video.

This all looks and sounds very interesting and anything which shows such a high take up rate among the Pros, deserves to be taken seriously. Personally though, having just changed almost everything in my own swing, and got it a lot closer to where I’d like it to be , I’m not about to start buggering around with it again now.

Irons Club Test

August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Jack Nicklaus - CEO Nicklaus Golf

A previous post on a Hybrid Club Test proved to be so popular that I thought it would be worthwhile doing the same for Rankmark’s latest Irons Test (not least, given the somewhat surprising outcome).

Rankmark tested 28 sets of Irons, by dividing the clubs into groups of four (although it doesn’t seem clear how this grouping was determined). Each of the group winners received a ‘Best of the Best’, award, with the following shortlist for the overall winner.

Callaway FT Irons
King Cobra S9 Irons
MacGregor MT MID Irons
Nicklaus Polarity MTR Irons
Ping G10
TaylorMade r7 CGB Max Irons
Titleist AP1 Irons

Each of the testers hit all of the above seven sets of Irons and were asked to pick just one manufacturer’s clubs based on looks, feel, closest-to-the-target, and overall satisfaction.

And the winner of the Rankmark 2008, Irons test was the Nicklaus Company’s Polaris Irons……..surprising eh?

Nicklaus Golf now proudly display the Rankmark ‘badge of honor’ on their website.

Golfing Break

August 11, 2008 | 2 Comments

It’s now been over two years since I took up golf seriously and aspired to be a better player. In this time I’ve experienced a roller coaster ride, something I’m sure all players will have gone through. Despite all the contrasting emotions I’ve stuck with it; times when I could no longer hit a ball if my life depended on it and performing consistently poorly in my local golf societies.

Around about 4 weeks ago I hit a new low and decided it was time for action -it was time to deconstruct my game and have lessons. I’ve now had four or five sessions, in between hitting balls down the range until my forearms have felt like they were going to burst. All this additional work has paid off and I’ve had a small epiphany and eureka moment on the course which has left me with a very positive attitude, now feeling the only way is up.

Ryder Cup

August 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

Hunter Mahan has a rant at HUGE Ryder Cup dinners! This week there have been two interesting and opposing points of view on the Ryder Cup. You could argue that perhaps these comments run much deeper and provide a zeitgeist to attitudes both sides of the Atlantic.

Earlier this week Hunter Mahan criticized the Ryder Cup by saying that players are treated like slaves during the tournament - ’slaves’ in the sense that players are forced to sit down and eat dinners - “not little dinners, but huge” ones. Perhaps Mahan believes the traditions of the Ryder Cup could be better preserved if everyone ordered room service.

In his interview with Golf Magazine, Mahan implies that his fellow players are also not fans of huge dinners and may boycott the event (it will be interesting to hear if there is any support for this statement over the next few days). For an event that relies on teaming, and coming from someone who’s never played a Ryder Cup, I’m sure that this is exactly the sort of esprit de corps Azinger is looking for.

Meanwhile Ian Poulter, who takes a slightly different stance, says he’s prepared to sacrifice his lucrative FedEx Cup campaign in order to make the European team. Recent success has put Poulter within reach of the final qualifying spot, but says he will reschedule his itinerary if he has to, so that he plays the right tournaments in order to make the team.

Guess who will win the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla?……again!

August 2008 Golfing Calendar

August 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment

August 2008
5th - 8th WAGR: Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, Royal Colwood GC, Victoria, BC.
7th - 10th Ladies European Tour: Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika, Frosaker G&CC, Vasteras, Sweden.
7th - 10th USPGA Nationwide Tour, Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, Crestview Country Club, Wichita, KS.
7th - 10th US PGA Championship, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
8th - 10th European Seniors Tour: Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, Golf Club Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.
11th - 17th Canadian Tour : Desjardins Montreal Open pres. by Lexus, Ile Bizard, Que..Course: Saint-Raphael Golf Club.
11th - 14th WAGR: Scratch Players, TBD, North Carolina.
14th - 17th USPGA FedEx: Wyndham Championship, TBD, Greensboro, NC, USA.
14th - 17th USPGA Champions Tour: JELD-WEN Tradition, Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, OR.
14th - 17th Ladies European Tour: S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe, Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club, Carmarthenshire, Wales.
14th - 17th European Tour: Scandinavian Masters, Arlandastad GC, Stockholm, Sweden.
14th - 17th LPGA Tour: CN Canadian Women’s Open, Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
14th - 17th USPGA Nationwide Tour, Xerox Classic, Irondequoit Country Club, Rochester, NY.
18th - 24th WAGR: US Amateur, Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, NC.
20th - 23rd WAGR: European Amateur, Esbjerg GC, Denmark.
21st - 24th USPGA Nationwide Tour, Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, Glenmaura National Golf Club, Moosic, PA.
21st - 24th European Tour: The KLM Open, Kennemer G & CC, Zandvoort, Netherlands.
21st - 24th USPGA Champions Tour: Boeing Classic, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, WA.
21st - 24th Asian Tour: Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational, TBC.
21st - 24th European Seniors Tour: 52nd PGA Seniors Championship, De Vere Slaley Hall, England.
22nd - 24th Ladies European Tour: SAS Masters, Haga Golf Course, Oslo, Norway..
22nd - 24th LPGA Tour: Safeway Classic Presented by Pepsi, Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Portland, O.R, USA.
25th - 31st Canadian Tour: Seaforth Country Classic, Seaforth, Ontario. Course: Seaforth, GC.
28th - 31st European Tour: Johnnie Walker Championship , Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland.
28th - 31st USPGA Champions Tour: Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Golf Links/Del Monte Golf Course, Pebble Beach, CA.
28th - 31st Asian Tour: Brunei Open, Empire Hotel and CC, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei .
29th - 31st European Seniors Tour: Travis Perkins Group Senior Masters, Dukes Course, Woburn GC, England.
29th - 31st Ladies European Tour: Finnair Masters, Helsinki Golf Club, Tali, Finland.