Re-Grip Golf Clubs With Air!

Playing golf with grips in good condition is important for your golf swing. Worn grips become slick and require greater than normal grip pressure to hold adequately. In turn, this can add tension throughout your golf swing causing all sorts of problems.

The average golfer should regrip their golf clubs at least once per year. Aside from the cost of the grips, most golf shops will charge around $3 per club in labor cost. With 14 clubs in the bag, that cost can quickly add up over time. However, regripping is something that can be done quite easily at home with the right tools and equipment. The traditional method utilized nasty solvents that can be quite messy and cause pangs of guilt to the average tree hugger. An alternative method uses compressed air. Check out this video for the gripping details:

Golf GPS on Your Phone?

My first experience with GPS technology for golf occurred a little more than a decade ago. I was playing a nice but long-forgotten golf course with some friends. We had opted to splurge on a motorized golf cart and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it contained a magical video screen that displayed your current location on the golf course and yardages to important landmarks. I was amazed at the amount of accurate and useful information provided by this technology.

The only problem with golf GPS technology was access to it. At first it was only found in golf carts. Eventually, it made its way into handheld units. However, I found these units too costly to be worthwhile. While technological advancements and market forces over time have greatly improved the value proposition of these devices, I still never felt comfortable dropping several Benjamins on one.

But having recently joined the modern age by buying my first smartphone, I discovered that its embedded GPS receivers can transform it into a golf GPS device. With several golf GPS iPhone apps available, I hit the Internet to find the best one. I read through many relevant threads on the main golf message forums and one name kept cropping up: the $19.99 Golfshot: Golf GPS. I installed it on my iPhone 5 and hit the course!

Golfshot is a full-featured golf GPS app that replicates the primary features of a dedicated unit. The company has over 40,000 worldwide course maps available for download without a subscription fee. There are two main screens that are easily toggled while playing. One is the aerial screen that displays your location on an overhead map of the hole with basic yardage information. There's a target reticle that you can drag with your finger to pinpoint a location on the map to discover the distance to that point and the distance from that point to the middle of the green. The second screen is the GPS list view and displays detailed yardages from your current location such as distances to hole landmarks and the front, middle and back green locations. Both screens have access to a sub-menu where you can take notes, snap photos, and, most importantly, track club distances. Once you finish playing a hole, you can enter your score on the electronic scorecard.

After playing several rounds with Golfshot, I'm thoroughly impressed. Initially, my main concern was accuracy. However, I compared the Golfshot yardages alongside those from golfers in my foursome who used dedicated laser and GPS handheld devices and found that they were always within a few yards of each other. While the aerial screen is nice visually, the GPS list view is the most useful. In fact, if you're already familiar with a course, you probably won't ever need to access the aerial screen. The swing tracking function is an easy way to track your true club distances and accuracy. Golfshot will store this data and give you valuable statistics on your clubs. Be sure to only track full swings, otherwise you'll skew the data lower. In any case, don't be surprised if your true club distances aren't as far as you think. Try as I might, those 300 yard bombs in my mind never quite registered much more than 250!

I didn't expect much from Golfshot's electronic scorecard, but I ended up pleasantly surprised. It asks for your score, putts, the club used on the tee, location of the tee shot, sand shots, and penalty strokes for each hole. Once I became familiar with the input screen, I found it faster and more convenient to use than the old-school paper version. Once the scorecard is completed, Golfshot emails the scorecard and a link to the Golfshot website where you can view more detailed stats that are presented in useful charts and graphs. Very cool stuff.

So the question remains, can a smartphone golf GPS app take the place of a dedicated golf GPS device? For the vast majority of golfers, I say "yes" for the following reasons:

• Accuracy: While some dedicated golf GPS devices boast "sub-meter precision", that level of accuracy is just not needed for 99% of golfers. Golfshot was more than accurate enough for me.
• Inexpensive: If you already own a smartphone, the cost difference between a smartphone golf GPS app and a dedicated golf GPS device can be several hundred dollars.
• No added weight or bulk: Software is massless. When you're lugging around over 20 lbs. on your back, every gram counts.

However, if you're a very serious golfer, you'll still want a dedicated golf rangefinder because of the military grade accuracy and the fact that most smartphones are not legal for tournament play.

P.S. If you're too cheap to drop $20 on a golf GPS app, try Swing by Swing.  Among the free apps, it's the best because there are no annoying ads.  But like all of the free apps, it doesn't offer much beyond distance to the middle of the green.

Yelling "Mashed Potatoes"?!

The term "polite golf clap" arose from the type of applause that golf fans traditionally showered onto golfers during a live tournament. It was a light clapping of the hands meant to show appreciation for a golfer's shot while at the same time not disrupting the quiet serenity thought to be needed for the golfers to play at their best. However, "polite golf clapping" is being increasingly drowned out by "rude golf yelling".

All the way up through the Hogan era, anything louder than a light applause was considered verboten on the golf course. With the emergence of Arnie's Army and Jack Nicklaus, respectful cheers were added to the mix. But the floodgates really opened up when Tiger Woods grabbed the torch from Jack. He seemed to attract a much broader audience and that audience brought a different element to the golf course. Words shouted from the gallery began being heard distinctly within television broadcasts. It started with words of encouragement such as "get in the hole!" and "be the ball!". Soon yelling "you da man!" became the hip thing to do after every golf shot. That remained the norm for a good decade or so.

However, over the last year, yelling utter nonsense has reigned supreme. Sometimes it's an inside joke. For example, "Baba Booey!" is a calling card for shockjock Howard Stern fans and it's often heard after Stern superfan Keegan Bradley hits a shot. But more times than not, there are yells that make no sense whatsoever. One that keeps cropping up is "mashed potatoes". WTF? Why the heck would someone yell that at a golf course, let alone anywhere for that matter? At first I thought that it must refer to some creative marketing campaign. But I looked all over the Internet and found zilch. Maybe the yeller believes he is yelling something creative, witty or funny? For the life of me I can see none of those qualities in "mashed potatoes". After thinking about it for far too long, I've concluded that the only logical reason for someone yelling "mashed potatoes" is that they are a potato farmer trying to boost demand for his crop. Nothing else makes sense! Listen to it for yourself and let us know your theories:

Random Ryder Cup Thoughts...

Here are some of my random thoughts after watching this year's Ryder Cup:

• An American Cop won the Cup - Rory McIlroy barely made it to his teetime on Sunday. Apparently, overzealous Golf Channel watching the night before caused him to confuse his local time zone and he left his hotel an hour late. But lucky for him, there was an Illinois State Police officer at the scene that gave him a police escort to the golf course. WTF? Do you think that if the roles were reversed and an American golfer was late to a Ryder Cup in Europe that some doughnut dipper would rush him through traffic with lights flashing and sirens 'a blazing? If I were that Smokey Bear, I would have taken Rors straight to Gino's East and told him, "You just f*cked up the Ryder Cup. Be happy that you can drown your sorrows in the world's best deep-dish pizza."
• The Ryder Cup produces the best golf of the year - I know that it's not scientific, but it just seems that there are more great golf shots produced during the Ryder Cup than any other golf tournament. It's really amazing considering all of the pressure and crowd distractions.
• Ryder Cup singles match play is the best golf day - If I could only watch one day of golf, it would have to be the final day of the Ryder Cup. It seems that no lead is safe entering the final day. Unlike other golf events where only a handful of golfers really matter during the final round, every golfer matters at the Ryder Cup. Normally when I watch a golf event, I fast forward to just my favorite players and contenders. But for the Ryder Cup, I only fast forward through the commercials. Golf and excitement are two normally mutually exclusive terms. The Ryder Cup is one of the few exceptions.
• The Ryder Cup brings out the passion - Not since David Duval has there been a more stoic persona on the PGA Tour than Jason Dufner. He rides the emotional roller coaster of a golf tournament like it's Venice canal ride. But at the Ryder Cup, the guy was pumping his fists, shouting to the crowd and even smiling! Seeing that kind of passion is what's so great about the Ryder Cup.
• I don't understand European team pride - Don't the Germans hate the Italians, the Italians hate the Spaniards, the Spaniards hate the Brits and everyone hates the French? As an American, it's easy to understand American pride and cheering for your country. But I think I'd have a hard time feeling that way for a general region that my country happens to reside. The European team shares a common currency (for now) but I don't think much more. That's why it's puzzling to me why they care for the Ryder Cup as much as they do.
• Ryder Cup Uniforms are Uniformly Awful - I have yet to watch a Ryder Cup where the outfits matched the coolness of the event. I sometimes wonder if the costume designer for "Caddyshack" found a second job dressing the Ryder Cup teams. Maybe when he dies the uniforms will improve.
  
• Pros hit shanks too - Webb Simpson hit a hoseltoved shank iron shot off the tee earlier this month at the BMW Championship. Well he did it again on the final day of the Ryder Cup at Medinah’s par-3 8th. It seems that September is shank month for Webb since he hit a shank during the 1st round at last year's BMW Championship. According to Simpson, "I probably shank one every other day on the range because one of my focuses in my swing is that I try to put as much force as I can on my downswing trying to get my weight through the ball," Simpson said. "A lot of times that club will get a little behind me and that face is open and the heel gets there first."
  
  This is a guy who has won a U.S. Open for chrissakes! As someone who suffers from the occasional shanks, it makes me feel good to know that even pros aren't immune to this horrible affliction.

Michael Weaver: The Epitome of a Student-Athlete

This year's U.S. Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club produced one of the most exciting finishes since Tiger's string of record setting wins in the 90s. Steven Fox staged a dramatic comeback win in overtime over Michael Weaver after being down two holes with two remaining in the Sunday championship match. Weaver had a shot to win it in regulation on the 18th green of the day's 36th hole of regulation with a seemingly very makeable four-foot par putt. He rolled his putt pure and true, but the ball hit a house about a foot before the hole that slung the ball wide left of its intended path. It was perhaps the cruelest divine intervention by the Golf Gods all year.

But the greatest amateur golf event also produced a refreshing reminder of what is still good in amateur sports. In a day and age when minor-league professional sports teams are basically masquerading around as "institutions of higher learning", there are still clear examples where education is still held in high regard. Michael Weaver is one such case. Not only did he prove his superb golf abilities with a runner-up finish on the biggest stage, he is also a stellar student at arguably the best public college in America, the University of California. However, what is truly amazing about Mr. Weaver is that he redshirted the 2011-12 season after already playing two full seasons. He did so to focus on academics to try to gain admission into Cal's Haas School of Business, one of the best and most rigorous business programs in the nation. Furthermore, his teammate and U.S. Amateur semifinalist, Brandon Hagy, did the same thing the year before! Clearly there are still great college athletes that rightfully put education at the same priority as sports. So Weaver may have lost the U.S. Amateur but he will win in the game called life. Also, the next time you read about a college football scandal, think about the wholesomeness still found in golf!

I Hate Links Golf

Congrats to Ernie Els on an amazing come from behind victory at this year's British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. I can't be happier for the Big Easy who almost called it quits last year. However, it was truly sad to see good-guy Adam Scotts' wheels fly off at the 15th hole to ultimately lose the tournament. It was a dramatic finish and it proves that nice guys don't always finish last. They can finish first and second!

But whenever the British Open comes around this time of year, I'm reminded about my experiences with links golf. Before I ever set foot on a links course, I assumed that I'd love it. As a California-bred golfer who is used to courses defended by trees, I welcomed the idea of a barren track. I thought, "Without trees in my way, I could just bomb away and hit from wherever it landed. How hard could that be?"

My first true experience playing links golf was a week-long golf trip to Bandon Dunes, widely regarded as the best links courses in North America. I quickly learned that a links course is not just a course that I'm used to playing without the trees. The fairways are hard, rarely level and gives new meaning to the term "tight lies". The greens are large and so similar to the fairway that they are sometimes barely indistinguishable from each other. The rough is spotty and ranges from raw barren dirt to knee high fescue grass often within inches apart. The weather can change on a dime from pleasantly sunny and calm to miserably cold and blustery with pouring rain. But the most dramatic feature of links courses are the sand bunkers. They are constructed with lips so diabolically deep and steep that they resemble sections of the Great Wall of China. If your ball lands too close to the lip it is all but impossible to advance it towards the hole. It is paramount to avoid these contraptions from hell but it is a tremendous challenge as they dot the course like craters pockmark a lunar landscape.

Needless to say, my first experience with links golf was quite the culture shock. While I enjoyed my experience, it is certainly not something that I favor over the non-links variety. Call me a non-purist, but I'll take lush fairways, level lies, manageable sand bunkers, welcoming greens and calm and dry weather over links golf any day. After all, isn't golf hard enough?

While links golf is not my cup of tea, I do appreciate it. If variety is the spice of life, then links golf is like cayenne pepper for me. I can consume it once in a while to keep things interesting since it requires a different skill-set than I'm accustomed. If you're playing links golf for the first time, be sure to practice these areas:

• Ball-striking on tight lies. As with lingerie models, thin is always better than fat!
• Hitting low-trajectory shots. Hitting directly into the teeth of a gale force wind is not uncommon on a links course. The lower you keep the ball, the more you minimize the wind's impact.
• Lag putting from long distance. The greens are large and undulating. Getting the ball close enough to 2-putt is critical to scoring.

Lastly, make sure that you pack rain gear. There's nothing worse than playing golf while wet!

Golf Tips - Weight Transfer

One of the most important moves in the golf swing is weight transfer. Not only is it a main source of power, but it also positions your body to strike the golf ball properly.

In the golf swing, it is critical to transfer your weight to the inner back leg on the backswing and then to the outer forward leg on the downswing. As all things in golf, it is easier said than done. Part of the reason for the difficulty is that the weight transfer is the result of a proper rotation or pivot around the body.

Here's a great video that explains how to transfer your weight correctly in your golf swing:

Golf is Boring to Watch on TV!

I love to play golf, but it's quite another experience to watch other people play it. Before I took up the game, I found watching it on TV to be dreadfully boring. I developed a knee-jerk reaction to change the channel whenever I came across a golf telecast. But things changed after I spent my first real session at the driving range. I began to appreciate the skill needed to propel that stupid white dimpled ball into the air with power and accuracy. As a self-taught golfer, golf telecasts became an important instructional tool. Soon I became familiar with all the top pros and recognized their unique swings and tendencies. After understanding the difficulty and nuances of the game, I started to enjoy watching golf on it's own merits.

But that's not to say that golf is my favorite sport to watch. It still takes a back seat to basketball, football and soccer in my book. But here are some things that can improve TV golf watching:

1. Use a DVR: By far the biggest reason why people find watching golf on TV boring is the amount of "yawntime".  Over a typical 3 hour golf telecast there's probably only 30 mins. of real "action" including club swinging and ball movement.  A DVR allows you to fast-forward through the "yawntime" and get to the good parts.  Obviously, you can also skip through all the commercials and any players you could care less about.  I find that I can easily watch a golf telecast in half the time.
2. Bet on Golf: Nothing gets you more interested in something more than having a little cashola on the line.  Nowadays it's easy to open an online betting account to lay some duckets on your favorite golfer.  If you never thought you could yell at your TV over golf, you just haven't wagered enough.
3. Play Fantasy Golf: Fantasy Football has become a huge game over the last decade.  Millions of people play it every football season and it certainly amps up the excitement of watching football on TV.  In the same way, fantasy golf kicks up golf watching a notch or two.  There are actually a couple of free leagues hosted by bloggers that offer prizes.  The best one by far is the HOG Space fantasy golf league.
4. Play Real Golf: Only by actually playing golf can you fully appreciate the amazing skill of professional golfers.  Get out there and play so you can go inside and watch!

Holly Sonders: Hottest Golf Chick?

Ask any random dude on the street, "Who is the hottest woman in golf?" and I bet 99.9% of those that can actually come up with an answer will name Natalie Gulbis. Ask me that same question, and I'll name someone that I bet 99.9% of all guys have never heard: Holly Sonders.

After watching the Golf Channel over the last year, I have finally concluded that she is indeed the hottest girl in golf. Originally slated for the eye candy role on the daily live golf talk show "Morning Drive", she has been making the rounds on other Golf Channel shows such as "Golf Channel Academy" and "School of Golf". Like a master chef using just a bit of saffron to complete a gourmet dish, the programming big wigs at the Golf Channel use Ms. Sonders to spice up otherwise bland shows.

At first I thought that she was just another pretty face with a smile that rivals the Cheshire Cat, but she's actually an excellent on-air personality. She is smart and articulate and speaks with a sweet and pleasant voice. She's a natural in front of the camera and can handle the unpredictability and pressure of a live show. And to top it off, she's a legit golfer. Just check out this video from the 2012 CVS Caremark Charity Classic shot by my friends at Golfwrx:



Along with Win McMurray and Lauren Thompson, the Golf Channel has assembled quite a bevy of golf babes for us to feast our eyes upon. After watching the NFL Network, it's obvious that they could learn a thing or two from their dimpled, white balled competitor. But of course football is interesting enough that eye candy would just be a distraction!

A Tiger Becomes a Phoenix?

The phoenix is a mythical and sacred firebird. According to mythology, the phoenix builds a nest near the end of its life that eventually ignites and engulfs the phoenix in flames. A new phoenix is reborn from the ashes and the life-cycle continues.

Like a phoenix, Tiger Woods arose from the ashes of his recent past at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge with an emphatic win. We are all too familiar with Tiger's fall from grace starting with that fateful Thanksgiving Day car crash in 2009. It is arguably the biggest downfall in the history of professional sports.

Over that time, Tiger has had to deal with a number of obstacles both on and off the course. Chief among them was the self-inflicted pain and consequences of a sex scandal in the public eye. It ultimately led to an emotionally and financially costly divorce. Physically, Tiger continued to have trouble overcoming nagging knee and Achilles injuries. Hank Haney dropped him as his swing coach and he hired Sean Foley to overhaul his swing. Tiger released his longtime caddy, the fiery Steve Williams, in favor of Fred Couple's former looper, Joe LaCava.

But Tiger finally overcame all of those obstacles with his 72nd win on the PGA Tour. It took 923 days and 27 tour events, a long time to the casual observer. However, it's quite understandable if you consider everything that Tiger has had to overcome. Regardless, Tiger 2.0 is finally here and it will be interesting to see how far he soars.

Who Won? Huh?

Jeremy Lin is all the rage in the NBA these days. About to be cut, he came off the bench to play some of the best ball at his position and help elevate the bottom-of-the-barrel New York Knicks to a legitimate playoff team. Adding to his unbelievable ascent and growing legend is that he is an American of Asian descent. That's a first in the NBA.

Well the PGA has it's own version of Jeremy Lin. His name is John Huh and he is tearing up the PGA out of nowhere in Lin-like fashion. Huh started his rookie year making the cut at his very first start, finishing top 15 in his next two starts, and winning in his fifth start last weekend at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Like Lin, Huh was born in America to Asian parents. Huh played at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, California where he wasn't even the best player on his team. He was a virtual unknown on the junior golf circuit because of limited financial resources. After high school, Huh attended California State University, Northridge but left after two weeks due to scholarship ineligibility after the NCAA changed a rule. Huh turned pro in 2008 and played on the Korean Tour before qualifying for the 2012 PGA Tour by finishing T27 at Q-school. Huh has the hottest rookie start on the PGA Tour since Tiger and he's well on his way to the 2012 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors. So it appears that there are a lot of similarities between Lin and Huh. However, unlike Lin, we probably won't have to endure all those annoying puns!

Kyle Stanley: His future is so bright, he's gotta wear shades!

Sunglasses do more than protect your vision. In poker, they prevent your opponents from seeing where you eyes are looking and can hide certain "tells". In golf, they can hide your feelings and emotions and elevate the intimidation factor. Probably no one used this more effectively than David Duval and his Oakleys.

But I realized something else about sunglasses when I was viewing coverage of Kyle Stanley's meltdown during last week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines: sunglasses can change a person's appearance completely. When I viewed Kyle's official page on the PGA Tour website, I just about did a double take. Just compare the picture above to the one below from the PGA Tour website.
I swear that it's the same dude. He's like golf's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Let's hope that he can overcome his latest heartbreaking loss with a win soon. He deserves a win with his game.