Golf Practice-zine Newsletter
for Winter 2011 - 2012
Happy New Year everybody! Thanks for signing up to receive the Winter 2011-2012, Issue (#33) of the Newsletter.
This issue deals with another proposal to deal with the threat of distance to the game of golf, the latest driver report, the PGA Centre for Learniing and Performance, Golfshot and Golfplan tracking and performance software, and Matt Every's scary new putter . Of course, we add News Tidbits from around the world of golf.
Golf Practice-zine Newsletter Contents:
- A Proposal: What to do About Distance
- Equipment Guide: 2012 Driver Report
- PGA Centre for Golf Learning & Performance
- Golfshot & Golfplan - Score Tracking & Analysis
- Matt Every's Humungous Putter
- News Tidbits
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1. What to do About Distance
John Solheim, chairman & CEO of Ping, believes golf's distance issue is on the boil again, and he thinks he has an idea that might bring reason to an emotional debate.
With the PGA Tour average driving distance average soaring past the 290-yard mark , Solheim is concerned about how the USGA and the Royal & Ancient in St. Andrews, might react.
Solheim presented his proposal to the ruling bodies and major manufacturers in Winter of 2011. In summary, the proposal calls for a new "ball distance rating" system (BDR) that would define specifications for three types of golf ball. The three types of ball are:
- the first ball would be same as the current ball standard in terms of distance capability,
- a second ball with distance potential up to 30 yards longer than the current ball, and
- a third ball that would yield distances 30 yards shorter than current balls.
Courses, tournaments, tours and even individual players could choose their ball based on the course they're playing or the skill level of the players in the event. Solheim equated the BDR system to varying tee boxes. He envisioned a system which even might allow opportunities for average golfers playing their home course to have slower swingers using the longer-distance-standard ball while faster swingers would play the shorter-distance-standard ball with both players teeing off from the same marker. To make this work from a competitive standpoint Solheim suggested the handicap system incorporate a "ball rating" element.
Wally Uihlein, chairman and CEO of the Acushnet Company, commented on the distance issue; his response was described in a Golf Digest story reporting on Solheim's proposal as saying that he,
"isn't as alarmed by 2011's driving distance numbers, and more specifically doesn't believe rules proposals should be originating from manufacturers."
Further, Uihlein, as quoted in the Golf Digest story, stated that, "Under the guidance of the [Joint] Statement of Principles, the regulatory bodies have taken the necessary steps to insure the ongoing balance between skill and technology," said Uihlein. "We continue to believe that it is the responsibility of the regulatory bodies to make and monitor the rules of golf, and the responsibility of manufacturers remains to provide input and comment upon proposed rule changes. We consider the minor increase in driving distance on the U.S. PGA Tour for 2011 part of the normal movement (up and down) of that statistical category since 2004. We would be surprised if the ruling bodies considered it significant or appropriate for action under the Statement of Principles."
The USGA announced it was conducting research on shorter distance golf balls in March 2005. As recently as the summer of 2010, it was conducting research with mini tour players using shorter-distance golf balls, but that research has not been made public to date. USGA senior technical director Dick Rugge said in an interview Saturday with GolfDigest.com that no distance rule changes are imminent, but that he appreciated the thoughtfulness behind Solheim's proposal. Rugge released the following statement:
Read more about John Solheim's distance proposal and get the full text outlining his argument in the Golf Digest article.
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2. Equipment Guide, 2012: Driver Report
Golf Digest has published recent survey results based on golfer testing of new drivers.
Twelve drivers were reviewed. Reviewers were grouped into Low, Medium and High handicappers. Clubs were rated according to four categories:
- Performance (weight: 45%): What happens to the ball when hit by the club.
- Innovation (weight: 30%): How the club technology advances the category.
- Look, Sound, Feel (weight: 20%): What the golfer experiences before, during and after impact.
- Demand (weight: 5%): The relative interest in a product and its reputation.
Methodology for scoring the categories is explained here.
Personally, Innovation and Demand categories don't matter to me. Performance is what counts, if a club performs well when I hit it, the club will feel good. So look/feel and performance are most relevant. I don't particularly care if the club is "innovative" or has a "popular" reputation.
Rating Results
Gold Rating
- Callaway Razr Fit (5* Performance)
- Titleist 910D2/D3 (5* Performance)
- Cleveland Classic (4.5* Performance)
- Cobra Amp (4.5* Performance)
- Nike VR_S (4.5* Performance)
- Ping G20 (4.5* Performance)
- TaylorMade R11S (4.5* Performance)
- TaylorMade Rocketballz (4.5* Performance)
The top two Callaway Razr Fit and Titleist 910D2/D3) are relevant because they rate a full 5 out of 5 stars for both performance and feel categories. Callaway gets the overall nod as Editor's Choice.
Silver Rating
- Adams Speedline Fast 12LS (4.5* Performance)
- Callaway Razr X Black (4* Performance)
- Cleveland CG Black (4* Performance)
- Ping I20 (4.5* Performance)
For a the full article, follow this link.. There is also a link to a podcast (available on iTunes) that contains a discussion of all the 2012 Hotlist results.
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3.PGA Centre for Golf Learning & Performance
The PGA Centre for Golf Learning and Performance is an innovative 35-acre performance enhancing golf facility at PGA Village, St. Lucie, Florida. Here, students are able discover their limitations and weaknesses and receive corrective training programs that enable them to achieve their goals and succeed their expectations. The student is guided by the nation’s premier PGA Professionals – the recognized experts in the game and business of golf. At this one-of-a-kind facility, each student is able to receive proper instruction in all areas of golf which include but are not limited to Mental, Physical, Technical, Equipment, and On Course Application.
The PGA Centre for Golf Learning and Performance(CGLP) is open to the public on a daily fee basis. Weekly, monthly and annual membership packages are also available.
PGA Learning Centre at St.Lucie features the following practice facilities:
- More than 100 Full-Swing Practice Stations
- World-Class Golf Fitness and Performance Centre
- 9 varied Bunkers that Simulate Play from around the World
- Pitching and chipping practice areas
- 7,000-Square-Foot USGA Putting Greens
- 'Discover Golf Course' a 3-hole Teaching Course
- TEMPO
- PGA of America Golf Schools
- Private Instruction
- Golf Fitness Evaluation for Maximum Performance
In the picture above, you see different bunkers; there are actually nine of them. Each has a different type of sand - this is what they mean by "simulate play from around the world"; the sand comes from Australia, Africa, China, North America, etc. Fantastic. Likewise for the putting greens, different grasses. Oh, and get used to Bermuda grass rough while you're at it. That stuff will drive you crazy - moss with attitude is what I call it.
Show up at the CGLP as a public visitor and it costs you $34.00 for an Adult day pass. That gets you a key to the ball machine, unlimited balls for the day and entry into the range, pitch, chip and putting practice areas. There are other options, including weekly, monthly and seasonal memberships. A weekly pass ($175.00) gets you everything in the Adult day pass for a seven day period. A ticket to practice heaven. My kind of place.
There is also a Fitness Centre, you can book group or private lessons and a six-hole short course where beginners and family can learn the game at a great pace for novices. For players, there are three courses nearby (within 1 to 1.5 miles of the CGLP) that are full 18 hole facilities: the Wannamaker, the Ryder and the Dye courses. To stay and play, 3 hotels are right nearby: the Sheraton, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Mainstay Suites.
So, here's my dream vacation: Book a flight, stay in a reasonably priced motel/hotel in the quiet season (December or January). Stay two weeks. Practice at least six times (3 times a week) at the CGLP plus play 3 times a week at local golf courses. First week you acclimatize then by week two you are supercharged for your upcoming spring (in my case it's British Columbia, Canada) where I can pounce on my golf homies with outrageous new skills and solid ball striking.
A dream vacation if there ever was one
For more information follow these links:
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4. GolfShot & Golfplan - Score Tracking & Analysis
Golfshot: I've found a great application to partner with in my never-ending quest to better my golf game. Developed by Shotzoom LLC, Golfshot is designed to be a mobile golf aid. The application runs on iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and now Android systems and is designed as a tool to track your score, follow your shots and provide you with visual tips from pro, Paul Azinger, as a training guide to improve your golf game.
Founded in 2007, Shotzoom saw its Golfshot release "zoom" to one of the top 10 grossing apps in the Apple App Store in 2009 and 2010. When you buy Golfshot, register your free account on the website, this gives you access to your historical scoring, swing videos and provides Shotzoom with a way to compare your performance with other golfers with similar handicaps. Sharing your info helps you with your game as you compare your progress to that of your peers.
From the image of its opening screen shown at right, Golfshot has a rich, easy to use feature set that appeals to golfers at any level:
- HD video and imagery
- GPS tracking of courses and your game
- Course library of over 38,000 course with yardages and satellite images
- Video swing capture
- Handicap recording and tracking (USGA or RCGA)
- Hole by hole scoring for all in your foursome
- Post round and historical scoring stats and analysis
- Links to email addresses and contacts database
Scoring and Post-Round Follow-Up
I'm on Vancouver Island and I first used Golfshot on my iPad2. All my local courses were in the existing Course Library. All the holes are mapped and viewable from aerial images, from all the tee boxes. As a longtime Apple fanboy, the roster of my contacts (including all current golf buddies) was automatically captured by Golfshot when it came to setting up my list of golfers. This is very cool, since I could track all scores for my foursome, all stats (fairways hit, missed, penalty shots, birdies, bogies, sand saves, etc.), store the round to my web-based Golfshot account and email their scorecards, complete with stats and analysis to their email addresses after the round.
For a great guide to Golfshot's feature set, I recommend the Golfshot: Golf GPS User Guide.. This is a well-written manual, thoroughly complemented with screen shots of the app's details.
I found the app very easy to use but my iPad2, though I love it dearly, isn't my favourite mobile device to lug around the golf course. Sure, it fit easily in my bag and I even used a Ziploc bag to protect it from the rain and it worked flawlessly, but it's too big for on course use, in my opinion. I switched to my iPhone, which I find completely perfect. The iPad2 is ideal for viewing the course maps, especially when playing new courses or those you don't play that often. Otherwise, the smaller iPhone gets you at the scoring stuff quicker so you can quit fumbling with the app and focus on playing your game.
You can own Golfshot for $29.99, from Apple's App Store; it's currently free as Golfshot Lite (minus the GPS ) on the Android Platform. The upgrade to GPS on Android costs $28.79 from the Android Market ($ Canadian).
Very Honourable Mention: Golfplan
Paul Azinger is principal architect of training videos in this excellent accompaniment to Golfshot. For $4.99 you can take the weak areas of your game (highlighted in the game analysis provided by Golfshot) and get video lessons to fix these flaws from Paul Azinger.
Azinger partners with Shotzoom to provide lessons and an Action Plan of instructions and drills to help you, practice with a purpose in order to fix your game. Practice plans are organized into groups of drills by category:
- Driving: 16 videos
- Greens in Regulation: 15 videos
- Short Game: 10 videos
- Bunkers: 9 videos
- Putting: 13 videos
- Indoor Drills: 28 videos Currently, Golfplan is only available for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms.
Your practice plan is geared to the game analysis / stats in your Golfshot app. Golfplan uses this analysis to select the two categories where you need to focus most of your practice time. That is, by comparing your stats in relation to other golfers in the Golfshot database with handicaps similar to yours, Golfplan comes up with the two practice plan categories you need the most help on. Golfplan then outlines a plan, complete with video lesson selection and timeframe (week by week schedule) that it recommends for your game improvement.
You got the former Ryder Cup captain as your coach - how great is that! Check it out, at $4.99 you cannot lose Golfplan with Paul Azinger.
If you're interested in more mobile apps on golf, there's a link in the News Tidbits section (6) below.
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5. Matt Every's Humungous Putter
Did you watch the Sony Open last week? Matt Every played his first PGA Tour Event and led after 3 rounds. Everybody was talking about Every's putter. Did you see thing? It is scary looking; I'm not going to lie. It has to be the biggest putter EVER. It looked like a fireplace shovel on the end of a stick. The phone at the PGA Tour office must have been ringing off its hook. Fan interest went wild.
Apparently, after Matt had qualified for the PGA Tour last year, he was practicing over the winter in Florida where he and a bunch of other pros were approached by a group test-marketing their new putters.
BlackHawk Putters
An engineer, David Kargetta, asked Every to try the contraption and Matt's results were better than good. Kargetta's marketing strategy was to build a base through word-of-mouth testing at on course facilities and let the demand build organically. So, testing has stayed pretty much in North and South Florida Sections. So far, Matt Every is the only PGA Tour player using the club but interest exploded after Matt's results on television.
Kargetta's newly formed company also got a boost in exposure with an interview by Alex Miceli in Golfweek this month.
Although Every didn't finish the final round at Sony all that well, he still captured a Top Ten and is off to a flying start on his 2012 season. We'll see if he can keep it up and hope that BlackHawk putters maintain their momentum. Regardless of the increased attention, Kargetta remains determined to offer the BlackHawk and BlackSwan putters through pro shops exclusively. This one putter that won't let success go to its head.
Related links:
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6. News Tidbits
Other News bits of interest:
- More News: Golf Practice News,is a daily news paper published by me. It covers news highlights around golf as well as some links to the non-golf world. Have a look, and if you're interested you can subscribe from this link.
- Peter Uihlein Turns Pro from ESPN Golf. As a former US. Amateur Champion, Peter has signed with Chubby Chandler's ISM Group and will begin his career on the European Tour. First tournament for him will be in Abu Dhabi at the HSBC Golf Championship January 26-29.
- Mike Weir starts 2012 a sponsor's exemption has been granted to Mike Weir for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Check out news from Mike in his January-Update on his webpage. If Mike's progress after elbow surgery continues, he'll know just before the tournament start date whether he's healthy enough to play or not.
- LPGA Golfer Ryann O'Toole has signed a contract with James Lepp's Kikkor Golf. Kikkor's shoe designs have taken off. Ryann is James Lepp's first pro contract and a great looking start to pro endorsements, if you ask me.
- Perfect Putting Practice For a great video and tips on setting up a perfect putting station in order to improve your putting this Winter, check out the video from Dennis Sales of Dennis Sales Golf (via Swinkey Golf)
- Mobile Golf Apps From an article at golfshake.com, a company called iGolfApps has developed some interesting golf apps for the iPhone: SwingPlane; SwingPlane HD (iPad), iStimp, NLP Golf. Honestly the supply and creativity of golf app developers is endless and overwhelming.
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