This Week at TravelGolf.com: April 24, 2007

Can golfers get a fair shake if we don't have a Ralph Nader or Consumer Reports?

Where is Ralph Nader when you need him? Hopefully, not running for President of the United States again.

I hereby call for a Ralph Nader - any Ralph Nader - to become an advocate for the golf consumer. It doesn't have to be "the" Ralph Nader, just "a" Ralph Nader.

Look, golf is a huge, boiling vat of suckers and we will all willingly go out and spend an inappropriate amount of money on the hottest new thing if we think it will give us five more yards.

It's like an addiction. You get a great high off that one perfect drive and you know you'll never have the same feeling in life unless you can get another bogart like that. So what do you do when you can't? Fix your swing? Hell no, you try to buy it.

We need protection.

We need a Consumer Reports for golfers.

Now, I'm not saying I don't trust Golf Digest. Well, yes, that is what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying.

If the magazine really wanted its annual Hot List to be truly objective, the panel would blind-test equipment.

I know what you're saying: Why don't you guys blind test when you do equipment reviews for GolfInstruction.com? It's a point well taken. But the hard fact is TravelGolf.com doesn't have quite the resources of the biggest golf magazine on the planet. We have to do it piecemeal, but remember this: We aren't dependent on equipment advertising like Golf Digest. What's more, we are committed to reviewing new equipment offerings from manufacturers big and small, from the major players to up-start companies you may have not yet heard of.

Yes, yes I know Consumer Reports occasionally rates golf stuff. But golf technology is evolving so fast, we need a real magazine that rates equipment monthly, maybe even weekly.

We need a big, industrial-strength magazine that tests golf clubs and golf balls exactly like Consumer Reports. I can guarantee you that within a year, it would shoot past the combined circulations of every golf magazine that currently exists.

As always, TravelGolf.com welcomes your comments.

Great golf complements living past
down in Charleston, South Carolina

In Charleston, history has an authenticity to it - the city lives in it every day. Food is also taken seriously, with many foodies believing Charleston rivaled New Orleans as the South's most creative gourmet city even before Katrina. And while there are no golf courses downtown these days, the area does have some great options, including nearby Kiawah Island Golf Resort, which Charleston claims it for its own (who wouldn't?), and Wild Dunes Resort.

Also: Kiawah Island mixes prehistoric with modern luxury

Kingsbarns in St. Andrews: A
21st-century complement to
golf's most hallowed ground

Kingsbarns Golf Links in St. Andrews may have only opened in 2000, but it can hold its own against the most storied golf courses in Scotland. With its stunning, raw links location and sod bunkering, this 7,126 yard-course is second only to the Old Course in the hierarchy of St. Andrews golf. It's a fine modern edition to the game's old ground, and you certainly won't be disappointed playing here.

Also: Alyth G.C. makes the A-list in Perthshire

New Mexico's Santa Fe Trail, Kellie
Stenzel's tee placement tip, and the
LPGA's upstarts test Annika Sorenstam

Head pro Derek Gutierrez of Twin Warriors G.C. in Santa Ana Pueblo speaks with host Dave Berner about the great golf in New Mexico, and Golf on the Santa Fe Trail. PGA Professional Kellie Stenzel tells listeners how to use the tee box to their advantage. Plus, Wolfrum says Annika Sorenstam is "definitely at the midpoint of the second act of her career."

Also: Go deep into desert golf at Tucson's Starr Pass C.C.