We have a different way of golfing during the winter months in Buffalo. Golf ceases to be the pastoral endeavor known to most. The advent of ice summons a more combative brand of kolfen, often played between moving cars, without clubs. When the roads are un-iced, as they currently are, the element of the car crash adds intrigue and danger. The winner is decided by one tenet: whoever has the most balls at the end, triumphs. As you can see, we’re nuts about winter golf. full post »

Mr. Joe Gomes was courteous enough to fire me off a personal email today, concerning the ongoing litigation ‘twixt Callaway and Acushnet (parent company of Titleist). Here are the first two paragraphs: Fairhaven, MA (December 29, 2008) - Acushnet Company, the golf business of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), announced that in relation to the ongoing patent dispute with Callaway Golf, it has initiated a product exchange program to eliminate any market confusion and minimize the business impact to retailers of the court injunction against certain Pro V1 products. The injunction is scheduled to take effect on January 1, ... full post »

I have to give my colleague Kiel C. deserved props for shining a light on some desirable holiday gifts this month, and for lighting a fire under my lazy keyboard. Having countered his Sun Mountain blog with my own Sunice submission, I’ll now attempt to block his Golf Rules Made Easy Entry with a Footwear Follow-Up. If the names Muntadhar al-Zaidi and Ramazan Baydan are not familiar to you, allow me to shed a little light. al-Zaidi is the Iraqi journalist who demonstrated remarkable accuracy when hurling shoes at President Bush, while Baydan is the Turkish shoemaker whose sales ... full post »

My cyber friend Kiel professes his respect and enthusiasm for Sun Mountain outerwear in a recent blog entry. I, too, have much respect for the Idaho company that began the golf outerwear renaissance stateside, but I also look north to America’s Hat (or, as they like to call us, Canada’s jock) for additional inspiration in Sunice. I have two pieces from their 2008 collection that I presently sport on all sorts of days, in all sorts of weather. I have a model 2117 ultimate gore-tex jacket from the Hurricane collection and a 2118 Carnegie pullover. In case you’re ... full post »

In Anchorman, by his own admission, Champ Kind was known for his catch phrase: Whammy! It may not have been the first exclamation to escape my lips when I finished a round with the uPro gps device but, looking back, it now seems to be the most appropriate reaction. The uPro device is Whammy! uPro is a cell phone-sized mechanism that provides gps on the golf course, eliminating the need to consult fairway disks, 150-yard markers, or oddly-shaped bushes and trees that offer a rumor of distance remaining to the green. uPro is so convinced that its ... full post »

59 – 7 birdies in a row on the back nine, consecutive 2 birdies-1 eagle-1 birdie on the front, plus one more birdie equals 59 for Harrison Frazar. Bravo! full post »

There is a fire burning today, scorching the earth at LPGA tour qualifying school. Stacy Lewis, Amy Yang and Beth Bader are each at -5 through 2/3 of their round. Louise Stahl is -7 and has moved from 41st to 14th. Michelle Wie is -2 and tied for 4th spot with Mollie Fankhauser, the third-round leader. A good handful of players are -3 or -4, showing that even-par equals reverse gear on moving day. full post »

When they need to be called out, call them out. When Carolyn Bivens raised xenophobia to new stature this year with the English-Only rule, she was dutifully called out by the media, both traditional and cutting-edge. In the past, I had a great time calling out Michael “Bam-Bam” Bamberger for his Flintstone-esque assault on Michelle Wie. Whether she took a bad drop or not, it was not a self-aggrandizing reporter’s place to insert himself into the story. Today I’m putting the squeeze on a guy I usually look to for leadership, Golf Observer’s Sal Johnson. Salacious Sal went a ... full post »

Good things are happening in Florida this week. An apparently more humble and certainly wiser Michelle Wie is currently -5 on the day, -8 over two rounds, and in second place at Q-School. Stacy Lewis, the “I finished third at the Open but I am not exempt” kid, is at -1/-4 and in the top 6. I cannot think for any two young golfers I would rather see with LPGA cards next season. full post »