The Shark, Greg Norman, has swum over to TaylorMade, according to a March 31, 2009 press release. The 50-year old, who spent 331 weeks as the number one player in the world during the 1980s and 1990s and shocked the golf world last year by leading the 2008 Open Championship (a.k.a. The British Open) going into the final round, has been a long-time MacGregor player. According to the press release, though, he was so impressed by the TaylorMade TP Red golf ball with Low Drag Performance (LDP) at last year’s Open, that he decided to go switch to TaylorMade. The move represents ... full post »

Since we’re on the topic of “Official Oufitters,” it is worth noting that Sun Mountain, maker of some of the most stalwart outerwear in golf, has been named “Official Outerwear Provider” for Fred Couple’s 2009 U.S. Presidents Cup team. Sun Mountain’s rainproof, windproof gear will likely come in very handy at this year’s venue: Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco. The players’ uniform for The Presidents Cup will include a full-zip jacket, long sleeve pullover, short sleeve pullover, vest and pants that will handle any weather situation. Caddies’ uniforms will include a long sleeve pullover, short sleeve pullover and pants. ... full post »

Swedes are hot. Case in point: Elin Woods. Swedes are also warm and dry. Warm and dry, that is, when they’re wearing Abacus outerwear, like the Abacus Pitch rain jacket ($240). Abacus is a Swedish apparel company specializing in golf wear and outer wear, whose Pitch jacket was named “Best Functional Apparel” at the 2009 Golf Europe Show. It has also been tapped to be the official outfitter of the 2007 and 2009 European Solheim Cup teams. The Swedish brand is preparing to take on the U.S. market, and as far as I’m concerned, the more hot Swedes over here – or even ... full post »

I have to be perfectly honest: I do not know precisely what Twitter is. I’m not saying I’m proud of it. Just that I’m being honest about it. But if you happen to Twitter, or Tweet, or whatever the verb is describing this time-sucking activity, then take note: Tour Edge Golf is now on Twitter. According to the Illinois-based manufacturer of increasingly mainstream and popular clubs, those folks following the company on Twitter will be able to get up-to-the-second news on the golf business, Tour Edge on the PGA Tour, breaking news inside the golf industry, special promotions, and new product ... full post »

It is never a good sign when the namesake of a company leaves said company. I mean, when the clown walks out of McDonald’s in his big red shoes, it’s all over, right? So when I received a press release two days ago announcing the resignation of Bruce Sizemore, Jr. from boutique putter company The Sizemore Collection, I felt my heart sink a bit. You see, I test an awful lot of putters. In fact, I go through putters faster than some golfers go through beers. But during last year’s season, after dutifully testing and reviewing each new putter (some of which ... full post »

A couple years ago, I was scanning the wine sales at my local supermarket, and was very pleased to find a wine on sale for around $7 a bottle that I had seen for about $17 a bottle a few months earlier in California. I stocked up on the pinot noir (with a few pinot grigio tossed into the mix), and the additional bulk discount brought the price down to close to $6 a bottle. The wine was Mirassou, made by the oldest family-owned winery in the country, going on 105 years of operation. The pinot noir was quite fruity, ... full post »

As I write this, Old Man Winter is expelling one last, violent, frigid gasp over the good folks and ardent golfers in Minnesota. But as they look forward hopefully to the coming regular golf season, they will also be looking back over yet another ice-golf season come and gone. As reported last month, the silver anniversary of the Chilly Open was played this past season on the frozen Lake Minnetonka. And true ice-golfers will have to wait another year for the pallid, virginal, icy fairways to form again. Until then, let us relive the 25th Chilly open through some pictures sent ... full post »

It has been many years since Charles Barkley has been called “The Round Mound of Rebound.” Oh, he’s been called a lot of other things since those days, including, quite recently: problem gambler, drunk driver, horny, and “under arrest.” But he has never been called a “good golfer.” The Golf Channel, though, might just be calling Sir Charles “cash cow,” as the ratings for The Haney Project with Charles Barkley smashed the network’s previous record for ratings for a series premier. Here’s my theory why the show was, at least for the first episode, such a success: Misery loves company. You see, just ... full post »

A few weeks ago, I tried to make some sense of the ongoing kerfuffle between Callaway Golf and Acushnet (parent company of Titleist) on the TravelGolf.com podcast. In short, a couple of years ago Callaway sued Acushnet for patent infringement. It seems Callaway feels that several of the design innovations incorporated into Titleist’s ProV1 and ProV1x golf balls were already covered by Callaway patents. A court order was issued to cease production of the ProV1 and ProV1x, which Acushnet appealed (and subsequently lost). However, Acushnet also changed production specs on the balls, coming out with new 2009 models, and allowing ... full post »