I’d like to bring to your attention the lame attempt by Taylor Made to try to sell us more of their new TP golf balls. According to their recent press release, “My TP Ball allows golfers to connect with their number and make their golf ball an extension of themselves.” Oh boy! Even more, “the program allows golfers to design their own golf balls in a new and individualized way.” Golly gee! According to Taylor Made a golfer can print out a special form, take it to their local retailer, order at least three dozen golf balls, wait 2-3 ...

I’ve always felt that there is a huge bias in the golf course rating world. Admittedly great courses like Bethpage, Pebble Beach, Doral and Torrey Pines all deserve their lofty scores. But, how these scores are derived is what I find very suspect. As far as I know, other than Top 50 or Top 100 lists, there are only two national guides that attempt to rate golf courses across the United States: Golf Digest & Zagat’s. Just recently I ran across an article from the Orlando Sentinel that explores the ratings found at the website Golflink.com and its ...

Please refer to exhibit A: If Michelle Wie Makes The Cut, I’ll Do a Jean Van de Velte and Wear a Skirt “Is is with great sadness and regret that I will be unable to wear the aforementioned skirt, complete with green and blue flowers, because women’s golf’s answer to Tiger Woods couldn’t get out of her own way.” Signed, Bruce Teasing the golf world with a one over par first round of 73, Michelle Wie followed it up on day two with a quintuple-bogey 9 on the eight hole to push her score to 9-over 153 at the par ...

Okay, I’m taking bets. My bet is that Michelle Wie, probably the most poorly managed professional female golfer in recent memory, will miss the cut in next week’s men’s PGA Tour event. I don’t know who makes decisions for her, but in addition to being disqualified for a second time in a professional event (hasn’t she played this game on a national stage since aged 14), she decides to add insult to injury and accept a sponsor’s exemption to play in an eighth PGA Tour men’s event. I think at this week’s Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, she’ll fail like she’s ...

Remember when you were younger one of your parents said “Get up off your butt and do something. Hard work never killed anyone.” Well, according to the Japanese, it has. According to the Aichi Labor Bureau in Japan, the man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota’s Camry. In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month. It appears that this phenomenon in Japan is called “karoshi” and such deaths ...

Perhaps you may remember that I mentioned a story I found about how a fellow Minnesotan managed to impale himself while driving his golf cart? I thought you did. Unfortunately it wasn’t someone from Wisconsin and idiots on golf carts are staring to look like a trend. Well here we go again. Now another Minnesotan, this time from Faribault, has been killed after falling out a golf cart during July 4th activities. He in fact fell backward out of the cart. Standard golf carts are set so they can’t go faster than 14 ½ MPH and the back of most golf carts ...

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #46. Interview with the Guru: Audubon International. State of the Game: California golf industry sets up new advocacy organization called the California Golf Alliance. Golf Around the World: Spend your vacation at the GolfBall3000 Rally in Europe this September. Component Corner: Buying golf clubs starts even before the sale in assembly according to the Hireko Golf Blog. Website Spotlight: Golf joins the social media ranks with an impressive site called Stracka.com. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #45. Interview with the Guru: Black Ops Golfer. The Newstand: Annika Sorenstam to Retire and in tennis, Justine Henin does the same. Check out Golf Gear News 2.0 at Golf Gear News. State of the Game: Six Overrated PGA Golfers. Golf of the Weird: Golf Carts Don’t Make Good Getaway Cars. Golf Around the World: Golfing in Bagdad’s Green Zone. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

In an earlier post I pointed out how pathetic Michelle Wie’s performances have been and how worthless the media’s continued fixation with her is. I thought I’d provide a Day 2 update of the LPGA’s US Open. Let’s see now. Oh look. Christie Kerr, last year’s winner is only two shots off the lead. Paula Creamer is also two shots off the lead. Amateur Maria Jose Uribe, is only three shots off the lead. Where oh where is Michelle Wie? Only sixteen strokes off the lead after two rounds. Our local fish wrap the Pioneer Press showed ...

Why oh why do we waste good printers ink (or in my case bytes) talking about Michelle Wie? She’s an albatross around the neck of ladies golf, an asterisk on the leaderboard of history, a sidenote in the annals of LPGA lore. People will say “Remember Michelle Wie, couldn’t she hit the ball far.” “Wasn’t she the one that almost won an LPGA tournament?” “Didn’t she have nice legs.” Or some other similar drivel. Face it folks, Michelle Wie is done. Toast. Stick a fork in her. She’s been overhyped and overpaid. Nike should re-read their ...

In my fair state of Minnesota, on June 18th, vandals struck the greens of a golf course in Rochester . Although the estimated damage was minimal (around $2700), it got me to thinking. Why do vandals love to damage golf courses, especially the greens? Why don’t they drive their cars around baseball diamonds or rip up sod in the outfield? Why don’t the pour paint on the fifty yard line at the local high school? Why is it just golf courses these vandals hate? Some examples: twenty torched golf carts at Duck Creek Golf Course in ...

What is it with golf carts that bring out the stupid in people? Now here in Minnesota we usually blame stupid things on Wisconsin so this latest news story is kind of embarrassing. Our local fish wrap, the Star Tribune reported that 24-year-old Josh Skattum, ran his golf cart into a tree and impaled himself on a three foot tree branch. Was he drunk after too many beers at the 19th hole? Was he lost on the way home from the course? Did he get into some kind of cart accident? No he was just stupid. He was returning to his ...

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #44. Interview with the Guru: Clubmaxxgolfbags.com. The Newstand: Odds of Woods Winning the US Open, and Get a Tax Deduction for Playing Golf. Golf of the Weird: Black Ops Golf Psychology. Our new Golf Gear News Blog 2.0 is HERE!. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

It is amazing the spectacle of rabid celebrity worship. I just read a headline from Yahoo at the start of the second round of the Masters that said “Anyone’s Jacket” in big headlines. The subtext then said: “Tiger Woods is now six shots off the lead with second-round play under way at the Masters on Friday.” This makes it sound likes he’s dying out there. Let’s put this in context. For the last few weeks everyone was talking about Tiger as if he’d already won this year’s Master. It was a done deal. ...

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #43. Interview with the Guru: San Diego Golf Academy. The Newstand: Odds of Woods Wining the Masters, How Did Amen Corner Get It’s Name, and Last Remaining Living Player from 1934 Masters. Look for our new Golf Gear News Blog 2.0 coming soon! Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #42. Interview with the Guru: Femco Steel Technology (FST). The Newstand: Wie Drops Out of Safeway Event, Adam Scott Hates Slow Play, and Feherty Gets Hit By Truck. Golf of the Weird: Stopclubabuse.org. Golf Around the World: Old Works Golf Course. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #41. The Newstand: Ernie Els Supports Autism. Golf of the Weird: Golfer Kills Protected Hawk. State of the Game: Women Can Compete with Men. The Perfect Fit: Shaft Makers in the World of Adjustability. She Golfs Too: Golf’s Venus and Serena Williams. View the video. HERE. Component Corner: Scratch Golf Wedges is Growing. Component Corner: When Tiger Moves, Where Will His Home Course Be? Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

I commend the big brands in finding new ways to pick the pockets of the average golfer. In 2007, the USGA, decided to establish a new rule on club adjustability It allows for woods and irons to be developed with interchangeable heads, variable shafts and even customizable lengths, lofts and weights. If you read the trade ads you’d think just by buying one of these fancy new adjustable clubs, your score will drop by 10 strokes. Nonsense. Yet that is basically what the TaylorMades, Nikes and Nickent Golfs are saying: buy this over-priced, over-hyped, adjustable golf club with a ...

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #40. Interview with the Guru: Strategic Shaft Technologies. The Newstand: Tiger Woods Kicks Butt and Michelle Wie Sucks. She Golfs Too: Female Golfer Banned from Tournament. Component Corner: TaylorMade Sells Maxfli. State of the Game: Nine Hole Courses Could be the Answer. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

Listen to podcast Golf Gear News #39 Interview with the Guru: Sweetwood Golf Company. The Newstand: Siemens Embroiled in Norwegian Golf Bribe Controversy, and Mickelson Shoots an Eleven and Misses Cut. Golf of the Weird: Golfer’s Dog is Eaten. State of the Game: Marriot must allow accessible golf carts. Our show sponsor is Golfknockoff.com. Check out our new Media Kit.

The start of every PGA Tour season finds Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson missing from the ranks. Even V.J. Singh thinks they should have moved the tournament back at least a week to give the top dogs more time off. Some players like Jeff Ogilvie and Stephen Ames are complaining that the commissioner of the PGA, Tim Finchem is missing in action too. These players are complaining that it shows the lack of commitment to the Tour by the commissioner. Jeff & Stephen, nobody cares. I’d love to see the top players at every tournament. The sponsors like it, the crowds ...