First LPGA Caddy for a Cure Opportunity Announced

This week, the Caddy For A Cure organization announced an auction is being held to caddy for Natalie Gulbis at the LPGA’s second major of the season:  Webman’s LPGA Championship.

Caddy For A Cure offers a way for folks to have a PGA/LPGA experience “inside the ropes.”   Opportunities can be found through its website (www.caddyforacure.com) which links to auctions. 100% of auction proceeds are donated to charity.

For the LPGA Championship, funds will be directed to the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, the Wounded Warrior Project, the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program, the United Way Graduation is the Goal Fund as directed by tournament sponsor, Wegmans, and Natalie’s charity, The Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas.

In a written statement, Russ Holden, Caddy For A Cure founder said, “To be able to launch our program at the LPGA Championship is a perfect fit given the charitable history and heart of Wegmans. We think it’s an especially exciting opportunity to be inside the ropes at a venue like Locust Hill which is deep in LPGA tournament history. The winning caddie will not only be shoulder to shoulder with Natalie, but will also be among the world’s best women golfers competing in this Major tournament.”

On the PGA side, examples of some of the auctions are being held include: Boo Weekley (May 26), Zach Johnson (July 7), Paul Casey (July 21), Lee Westwood (August 4) and a host of others.  See site for details.

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DQ’d for Goofing About Score – Golfer Learns Tough Lesson…

A senior at Notre Dame learned the hard way that verbalizing a score while playing a round is the same as writing it down.  It all started when Notre Dame senior, Annie Brophy, while playing in a NCAA Central Regional tournament, told people keeping track of scores every three holes to post on the leaderboard that she had five birdies, an eagle and a bogey through the first nine holes Saturday on the par-72 course.

She later claimed she was just “goofing around.”

Brophy needs to find a better way to stay loose and relaxed on the golf course if that was the case.  The NCAA disqualified her.

Brophy was “shocked” apparently because her actual scorecard was accurate (she hit 85 and 81 in the first two rounds) and she never intended to turn in a false score.

What she didn’t grasp was the ripple effect of her actions.

According to Nancy Cross, a senior associate athletic director at Purdue and chair of NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Committee, the problem was that because of the scores Brophy was verbalizing, three teams (Florida State, Oregon and Kent State) ended up waiting around to see if a playoff might be needed to determine which teams would advance to the finals. Only eight of the 24 teams advance.

Bad Brophy!

Lesson learned (hopefully).  Perhaps next time, if the urge to emote hits her, she’ll just Tweet something silly to get it out of her system.  A Golfweek.com story includes Brophy’s apology.

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Note:  Original photo from Notre Dame via Golfweek.

Lost & Found Balls: Times Story on Boon/Burden

Did you catch the story in The New York Times Golf Blog about lost golf balls?

Written by Bill Pennington, it started off by talking about the 100K golf balls found in Scotland’s Loch Ness (as in monster).  Clearly, there’s a lack of actual driving ranges in Scotland, so why not?

Okay, all kidding aside.  The story goes on to discuss the negative ecological impact of lost golf balls.  For most of us, the negative impact is on our wallets.

Pennington mentions how “the retrieval and discount repackaging of lost golf balls has mushroomed into a lucrative business expanding into global emerging markets.”

A year and a half ago, I wrote a story about one such business: Lostgolfballs.com. What they do is retrieve golf balls from the lakes and water hazards of over 2000 resorts, private facilities and top daily fee courses in 32 states. The balls are then shipped to one location where they are cleaned with soap and water and sorted by hand into various brands, models, conditions and offerings, which are then made available for purchase.

The company offers a huge selection of “perfect” and “near perfect” golf balls from most every renowned golf ball manufacturer.  At the time of my article, Lostgolfballs.com had retrieved and sold over 220 million golf balls.

Most golf courses discourage “ball hawking” because it tends to slow up the game.  There are benefits to finding lost balls while searching for your own.  You may discover a brand that works for you.  Plus, there’s nothing like playing with a lost ball over a long carry or near water — it’s like playing with house money.

Check out the article and the comments (Quite amusing actually!).

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Poll: Are Your Playable Hours Up This Year?

According to Pellucid’s weather impact report, the numbers for April were quite encouraging, with April’s Golf Playable Hours (GPH) up 20% for the Total US vs. April 2009. That completely erased the weather deficit caused by unfavorable January and February months with the Year-to-Date (YtD) GPH figure now reading + 6% through April.

The announcement included a quote from Pellucid President Jim Koppenhaver, “The great news is that many of the northern climes are off to a fantastic start with solid April weather that appears, at least among our client courses, to have driven rounds which were well over their April plans (again proving Stuart Lindsay’s “Golfers are more like bears than squirrels” theory)

Are your available playable hours up this year?

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Win McMurry Describes Tiger’s Bulging WHAT?

Win McMurryOh Winnie… Winnie, Winnie, Winnie. Win McMurry, (one of my favorites at The Golf Channel) had a little slip up over the weekend. I do truly feel for her, but I hope and pray she can see the humor in it… and I trust the good folks at The Golf Channel do to. These things happen… No ill intentions were had, this was just a mistake.

That said, check out the video clip from coverage of Sunday’s final round at the TPC Sawgrass. Reporting on the situation with Tiger, she was heard to remark:

‘he says he’s been playing with a bad back for about a month, and thinks it could be a bulging dick’.

Oh Win. Chin up, have a laugh.

[Via: WaggleRoom]

Picture of the Day: Local Rule on the 17th at TPC Sawgrass

My bud Robert Matre snapped another gem at TPC Sawgrass yesterday. Take a look at the notice of a local rule on the island green at 17. Makes sense to me… I’ve never played the hole myself, but if I did… I might have to follow the local rule… 2 in the water isn’t out of the realm of possibility 🙂

Local Rule at the 17th at TPC Sawgrass

Thanks Robert!

Be Like Phil: Buy the Limited Edition ProType Putter

Callaway Golf announced the introduction of the Odyssey® ProType™ 82 Putter, a limited edition design inspired by the same model Phil Mickelson used to win his third Green Jacket. There will be only 82 right-handed and 82 left-handed ProType putters will be available for purchase in the United States starting on Monday, May 10 at 11:00 AM ET (8:00 AM PT).  The asking price is $500.

Anyone, interested in owning one of these limited edition putters can sign up to be eligible for purchase on a first-come basis at OdysseyGolf.com. Each of these 164 individually numbered, limited edition putters features a green highlight on the sole, a nod to Mickelson’s win at Augusta earlier this month.

The ProType 82 features Odyssey’s new White Ice insert, with a Tungsten weight behind it, along with a single white sightline that stretches from the face of the putter down the back flange-a look requested by Mickelson himself. These limited edition PT 82 putters will also come with a Phil Mickelson Limited Edition headcover and a Black Series grip, identical to what the four-time major champion used to win at Augusta.

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It’s Official: Introducing Cobra-Puma Golf

Cobra-Puma Golf

Cobra-Puma Golf

We’ve known of the deal for some time now, but it appears as though all of the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted. Today, I received note from my favorite contact at Cobra, informing me of the official announcement of the merger. Welcome to the golf scene, Cobra-Puma Golf!

The purchase of Cobra Golf by PUMA AG means that two very powerful brands will be working together to produce not only killer equipment, but stylish and effective apparel as well. Both brands will continue to be developed separately… But folks from either side will collaborate when necessary to no doubt share in the knowledge and wealth found within each brand.

Honestly, I’m quite excited about this merger, and for all of the people at Cobra and Puma. I’ve been a long-time fan of both brands, and joining them together while retaining both brand identities is going to mean great things… I can just feel it.

Keep reading after the jump for the official press release.

Continue reading →

‘Tiger Slam’ Iron Set up for Grabs on eBay

Tiger Woods' 'Tiger Slam' Irons up for Grabs on eBay

UPDATE: During his press conference at The Players, Tiger just commented that ‘he may have a set’… but the clubs up for auction are not the ones used to win the ‘Tiger Slam’. Woods went on to mention that he has possession of all clubs that he has won major championships with. So there you have it… the clubs may indeed be from Tiger’s bag, but they are NOT the ones used to win the Tiger Slam, as claimed.

What if I said you could get your hands on the very same clubs Tiger Woods used to win the ‘Tiger Slam’ in 2000-2001. You’d say I’m crazy, right? Well, think again.

Tiger Woods' 'Tiger Slam' Irons up for Grabs on eBay

Going on right now is an eBay auction featuring a set of clubs claiming to be the same ones Tiger had in the bag for his historic run. Where did the clubs come from? They were said to be a gift from Tiger himself, that is, according to the person putting the clubs up for sale, one ‘aphotoshop1’. I wonder if aphotoshop1 is a guy or a girl?… 🙂

At any rate, as you can see the irons are 2-PW, and have a ‘T’ stamp on the back toe. They are 681 forgings custom made by the great folks at Titleist to emulate his trusty Mizuno MP14 and MP29 hybrid set. The 2-iron is 39″ long and each club through the order is 1/2″ shorter than the next. The wedges are Vokey’s, a 56 degree (58 bent to 56) and a 60 degree. Both have ‘Tiger‘ stamped on the back toe.

The seller ensures these are the real deal, and he/she has a certificate of authenticity. For all the details and specs on the clubs, or to place your starting bid (starts at $250,000), head on over to eBay.

What say you? Are these real or real fake?

Atlanta Braves Rookie First to Win Callaway Golf Clubs

By swatting a 476-foot home run on opening day, Atlanta Braves rookie, Jason Heyward has won himself a a full set of Callaway Golf’s new Diablo Edge golf clubs, the longest of their kind that Callaway has ever developed

At the beginning of the 2010 MLB season, Callaway Golf made an announcement about the promotion: Callaway will provide the  full set clubs to any big league player who hits a home run that travels a distance of at least 470 feet.

The write-up about this in the Wall Street Journal mentioned that according to hittrackeronline.com, which collects data on every long ball, there were 10 such home runs in 2009. An additional 27 home runs traveled between 460 and 469 feet.

It’ll be interesting to see who else will win this year.  And the real question is, will Heyward be asked to join the famous golfers affiliated withe the Atlanta Braves (John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine).

To read more about golf and baseball, check out this story from Golf.com.

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