Interesting Golf in October....Say it Ain't So, Joe !!!

Today, as I was trying to recover from a nasty cold, I had some free time to veg in front of the tube...scrolling past the golf channel, I saw not one, but TWO fairly engaging tournaments in action. The Nationwide gang is slugging it out at Pete Dye's Valley Course at Sawgrass, while the last season PGA crew teed it up in Sin City at the Justin Timberlake/Shriners gig.

I've played Dye's Valley course 4 times this year, so it was pretty darn cool to watch the pros playing somewhere I visited as recently as 4 weeks back. These guys are currently scrambling to make it into the Nationwide's version of the FedEx Cup, with only the top 60 finishers this week making it into next week's season ending Nationwide Championship. It was good to see the crop of NW'ers who will make it onto the PGA Tour next year by virtue of finishing in the top 25. Among these are Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey (formerly of The Golf Channel's "Big Break") and Jhonattan Vegas - both very good players and a lot of fun to watch.

JT's brought more than "Sexy Back" this year to his signature event - as a fair number of top tier players are in the field ( Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, et al). It's been wet in Vegas this week, so the scores are low - be sure to check this out in between football games this weekend.

One last thing before I go - be looking for some kick azz new irons from the boys at TaylorMade golf - I've only seen photos (and have not read anything about them - so consider this a SCOOP !). More info coming next week as I start digging around on this story.

Oh, as a matter of fact...It IS good to be back.

That Boy has some GAME....

If GLOBAL WARMING Climate Change (and the blizzard of 2010) has forced you to run your generator just to catch a few holes of the the West Coast Swing (sounds like a soft core porn convention to me), you have probably made a few observations from the events thus far. Among those you may have noticed:

1. Titleist has been dominating the events, with the winners of all except one event playing Titleist Irons and Balls.
2. Rickie Fowler is either colorblind, is being paid an obscene amount by Puma to wear those outfits, has absolutely the worst taste in golf fashion on the planet, or all of the above.
3. Even when he is not playing, a certain someone STILL dominates the news.
4. Dustin Johnson is a sure fire bad a$$ n.

I've already written about #1 and #2, and if you want to learn all about #3 you can go here, but here are few facts about the guy known as "DJ"....

• Currently #1 in FedEx points (and already within shouting distance of his 2009 total)
• 2nd on the $ List
• 2nd in Driving Distance
• 2nd in Top 10 finishes thus far
• 4th in Top 25 Finishes
• 8th in Scoring Average
• Ranked #25 in the (bogus) World Golf Rankings

I've watched Dustin play quite a bit last year and thus far in 2010, and I can assure you he has some game. He isn't flashy, doesn't talk a lot, and doesn't court attention - he just knocks the living crap of of the golf ball. With all the attention that McIlroy,Fowler, Ishikawa, and other young guns are getting, the folks at Bushwood have their money on Dustin Johnson. As Sir Mix a Lot would say, he is "Long, Strong, and About to Get the Friction On"...

P.S. - Here's a look at "What's in the Bag" (courtesy of Golf Digest)

Am I in love ? Ask my Taylor Made r9 Driver and 3 wood....

Earlier this year, I switched to Taylor Made's (revolutionary at the time) r9 driver. I wrote my initial evaluation of it in June (you can read it here), in which I was quite impressed. This post will focus on my "extended use" review of the r9 driver, as well as the r9 3 wood, which I put in my bag mid-summer. Since the initial post provided all of sorts of technical stuff, I'm not going to rehash all of that (you're welcome....). Rather, I will provide you my full impressions after playing the club for (most of)a full season - hopefully, for those of you who are looking for a new driver or 3 wood this Christmas (yep, I still call it Christmas...feel free to use your own terminology,tho) this info will prove helpful to you or to Santa.

The specs on the clubs are as follow:

• r9 driver, 9.5 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• r9 3 wood, 15 degrees of loft, stiff shaft (stock TM Motore)
• both are set with the weights "neutral", and the faces one degree open

Since my initial review, I've played over 40 rounds of golf with the clubs - much of it in a competitive situation (The Golf Channel Amateur Tour, primarily). I think this is relevant because one learns quite quickly in these situations that control of your driver and 3 wood is at least as important as distance. Having set the stage, following are my observations on the two clubs:

r9 Driver

• The r9 driver is the longest driver I've played to date, and as a long time TM driver user, this is a good sign for prospective buyers.
• The adjustable face technology really DOES work. As I have improved my skills on the course, and worked hard to learn a correct weight transfer, I had fixed any tendency to hit a tee ball to the right side (aka a slice). However, in the process I had overcompensated to the degree that my "misses" were now left - and those misses tended to lead to big numbers on the card. My efforts to use the movable weights (a hallmark of the r7 series) were fairly effective - however, the adjustable face angle REALLY nailed this issue. By setting the face 1 degree open (effectively de-lofting the club), I found that I was able to really go after the ball, swing as aggressively as I wanted, and rarely have to worry about snapping it left. On the days I was really in a groove, I could tell because my drives were long, with a boring trajectory, and a slight fade at the end. The point here is simply that between the movable weights and an adjustable face, anyone with a "consistent problem" can improve their ball flight.
• Since I settled on a "neutral weight,1 degree open setting", I have not made subsequent adjustments. While frequent adjustments are easy and straightforward, I was happy with my settings and never saw fit to change them. The tool that's included is easy to use.
• I'm a mid handicapper (fluctuating between 8 and 12 throughout the year) - and I found the r9 to be plenty forgiving. It's not what I would consider a "players club" in the sense that you must hit it exactly on the sweet spot to get good results. I did notice (after reading a great review on another blog) that shots hot in the center of the clubface flew the "expected" distance, but a shot hit above center ( a little high on the face) REALLY took off. Once I figured this out, I gained at least 15 yards on my tee shots. That being said, the club retains some workability if you need it - when I was hitting the ball well, I could draw or fade it on command....but on the days I wasn't striping it, I could just as easily play for the center of the fairway and generally hit it straight.
• The face and head still look good after much use - no unusual wear or premature fatigue. The sound is pleasant (no "aluminum baseball bat" like ping, or dull, muted "thud") - and this has been consistent since my first shot with the r9. If sound is important to you, this won't disappoint.
• As much as I liked the Matrix Ozik shaft in the r7 Classic, I've been very pleased with the Fujikura Motore that comes standard in the r9. It's lively, consistent, and looks good with the red and white paint. The only complaint I have with this shaft is that it tends to scratch easily. Hopefully,no long term damage here - but it's worth noting.
• Overall impression of the r9 driver after a full season is a resounding "thumbs up with a snap" (that's for all of you In Living Color fans out there)... I highly recommend this driver.

r9 3 Wood

The 3 wood has been the most frequently changed club in my bag (except for putters) over the past 10 years. Unlike my driver, I've played many different brands - Callaway,Ping,TaylorMade, Titleist, Sonartec ('memba them ?), and Orlimar. Prior to getting the r9, I was playing the TM Burner, and was pretty happy with it. However, my fondness for the r9 driver, and my propensity to experiment with 3 woods, led me to decide to give the r9 3 wood a shot. Oddly, when I got the club to the range for the first time, the face was already set at 1 degree open...a strange coincidence for certain. Here are my observations on the r9 3 wood:

• Initially the larger head was visually distracting - and I struggled to hit this club solidly off the deck. Accepting this as a temporary issue, I decided to hit some off the tee. After hitting 10 shots off the tee, WOW... a very similar experience as with the driver. Long, predictable, and right where I was aiming. I went back to hitting balls off the deck, and had some improvement - but still could see I needed to work on this.
• Taking the r9 3 wood to the course, I decided to use it on all par 4s that were less than 400 yards. My great results from the range carried over to the course - my tee shots were long, accurate, and I was able to go after the ball aggressively without worrying about hooking - thanks to the 1 degree open face. I was hooked...
• Throughout the remainder of the season, my shotmaking abilities with the r9 3 wood continued to improve. In tournaments, this became a real "go to" club when hitting the fairway was a must. I also found the distance with this club to be incredible. In some of the late season events, I was sometimes hitting this club 240 yards plus off the tee. No question, its long...
• I was also able to overcome the early problems hitting the r9 3 wood off the fairway - practice and a focus on tempo seemed to cure this - so it was obviously user error!
• The face and head had held up well, and remain in great shape.
• The issues with shaft scratching that I described above also presented themself with the 3 wood - not really sure of the cause here, as I'm pretty careful with my sticks. At any rate, its something that we hope TM pays attention to and addresses.
• My overall rating on the r9 3 wood is a big thumbs up. If you are in the market for a 3 wood, I highly recommend you give this one a try - I feel sure it will be among the finalists for the VP slot in your bag for 2010 !

As I've lamented before, there is no telling what the Golf gurus at Taylor Made are cooking up for 2010 - but for right now, the r9 driver and 3 wood had a secure spot in the bag at Bushwood. I've paid careful attention to the TM staff players, and practically all of them have switched to the r9 - so even the pros seem to agree with me here.

If any of our readers are r9 users, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them !

Picking a Golf Ball - What is Important ?

Picking a golf ball today is pretty confusing. I've seen all of the Titleist commercials, and the PGA leaderboard that shows how many players use Titleist balls....but what is REALLY right for the Average Joe/Jane golfer ? Here are the factors that I think are important:

(1) Spin - Do you prefer a ball that spins a lot or one that spins less ? Do you even know how to tell ? One good way is from your tee shots - if you tend to favor the right side of the course (for righties) - I hate to say "slice", chances are that you hit shots that spin a lot - and thus would be best served by a low spin ball. However, the best way to determine this is to vists a golf shop and hit a few on the launch monitor and see what it tells you.
(2) SwingSpeed / BallSpeed - This is a topic that will require some professional intervention, but can really help in selecting the right ball for you. The same trip to the golf shop mentioned above can offer you insight into your swing speed and ball speed.
(3) Affordability - Let's face it - a lot of us just cannot stomach $45 smokes for a 12 kit of Pro V1s...what's a duffer to do ? Well, you have two options - select less expensive balls (there are lots to choose from) OR buy used high end balls from folks on eBay (this is a great option, BTW).
(4) Brand Loyalty / Perception: Let's face it, golf is a VERY mental game, and some of us just feel better playing a brand that we recognize or like.


At the end of the day, the best option is to make a visit to the golf shop of your choice (Edwin Watts, GolfSmith, etc) and let the pros there help you out. Explain to them that you need help selecting a ball, and want to get on the launch monitor to help identify the right one. Do not be afraid to tell them that you need to stay in a price range - remember that they are there to help you. BTW - you may have seen Bridgstone commercials lately where they are doing comparison with average Joe/Jane golfers hitting various balls to help them select the one that is best for them....clearly an indication that the industry is "getting it" as it comes to golfers selecting a ball that is right for them.

Here are some to consider:

High End Balls:

• Titleist Pro V1 (high spin, soft) and Pro V1x (less spin, a bit firmer)
• Taylor Made TP Black (high spin, soft) and TP Red (less spin, firmer)
• Bridgestone B330 and 330 s
• Nike One Black , Nike One Platinum (high spin, soft)

Middle Tier Balls

• Titleist NxT and NxT Tour
• Taylor Made Burner Red and Black
• Bridgestone e5
• Callaway Hot X
  

What do you play ?

ed note: Da Judge plays ProV1x, and chokes every time he has to pay full retail for them....