New Stat for Measuring Putts… ‘Putts Gained Per Round’

by Annie Latham on March 14, 2010 in News with No comments

New Stat for Measuring Putts

The Wall Street Journal’s John Paul Newport (Golf Journal) did a story about a new way of measuring putts.  Sure that sounds odd, but it is just because golf hasn’t come up with cool stat names like baseball has (OBP, WHIP, etc.).

The traditional way measuring putting skill among the world’s best golfers is  “putting average” which measures the number of putts that a player takes per round when his ball lands on the green in regulation.

Newport points out “Not only does this approach exclude about 30% of putts attempted on the PGA Tour (those made on greens not reached in regulation), but it also rewards the accuracy of shots into the green as much as it does putting skill.”

One example he provides is of someone who lays up and then chips to a one-putt.

Apparently, none of the current statistics take into account the relative difficulty of the greens played. “Players who compete on a higher percentage of courses with tricky greens, such as at the majors, get a bum deal,” he said.

Throw some MIT researchers (Sloan School of Management) and some computing power (care of PGA Tour’s technology partner, CDW) and what do you get?

A metric called “putts gained per round.”

It starts with creating a baseline from which the golfers will be measured.

  • From 10 feet, the average number of putts that Tour pros take is 1.63.
  • At around 30 feet, the putts-to-go average starts exceeding two. From 40, the average is 2.15.
  • Then there is an adjustment for difficulty of the green.

The model compares the results of each putt a pro takes to the expected putts-to-go average on that particular green by a hypothetical average field If a player holes a 15- footer whose value is 1.82, he gains .82 strokes on the field. If he needs two putts, he loses .18 strokes on the field. At the end of the round, the model adds up all the pluses and minuses to produce the net putts-gained statistic.

Cool huh?

Newport noted that Luke Donald was the best putter in 2009 based on this stat.  Tiger Woods showed favorable numbers too.

It is nice to see the PGA Tour “smartening” up when it comes to offering meaningful stats for such a key aspect of the game.

The complete story can be found here (subscription required).

5 Fun Facts About Doral’s ‘Blue Monster’

by James on March 13, 2010 in Courses with No comments

Doral's Blue Monster

With the World Golf Championships-CA Championship coming to a conclusion at Doral this weekend, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some facts about this tricky track. Sure, we all know the Doral Resort and Spa Blue Course is dubbed the ‘Blue Monster’ due to its length and abundance of water… but did you know some of these interesting tidbits below? Check ’em out to find out for yourself!

1. The course was designed by Dick Wilson and Robert von Hagge in 1961. Together with the PGA Tour and the folks at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, Raymond Floyd gave it some redesign attention in 2006. The course plays to a par 72, and houses 110 bunkers, 11 mammoth water hazards, and greens of Bermudagrass.

Robert Allenby

2. In tournament play, there have been 10 hole-in-ones recorded at Doral. The most recent of which came from Robert Allenby on the 233 yard 13th hole. The club he used to sink the magical ace? A 5-wood.

Hole-in-ones by hole: 3 at #4, 3 at #9, 3 at #15… and Allenby’s ace at the 13th was the first ever recorded on the hole in tournament play.

Stephen Ames

3. The course record at Doral is 61 by Stephen Ames. The 11-under round was shot back in 2000 in the Doral-Ryder Open (as it was known at the time). By the end of the tournament, he finished 8th.

4. In terms of difficulty, the Doral ‘Blue Monster’ is ranked 40th out of 54 tracks on the PGA Tour (this ranking is from 2008). With a total yardage over 7,200 yards, it is indeed a ‘Monster’, yet, many of the pros do use a lot of fairway woods off the tee.

Top View of the 18th at Doral

5. The most difficult hole on the course? That would easily be the finale at the 18th. A par 4 at 467 yards, this tough one will play havoc with your mind. An extremely tough (and precise) drive is needed. The fairway narrows to only 32 yards roughly 275 yards from the tee. The trick is to avoid the water left, while keeping your shot from sliding right into the rough. A ball played from the rough for a second shot will require an exceptional effort to reach the green (guarded by water and 2 bunkers) safely in two. The finisher at Doral has consistently been among the toughest holes on tour, with stroke averages ranging from 4.10 to 4.63 in recent years.

So there you have it. 5 fun facts about Doral’s Blue Monster… Hopefully the info will give you some more background and appreciation for the tough track our beloved pros are navigating this weekend. Get ready for an awesome finish on the 18th… no lead is safe!

Golfsmith Announces Callaway Driver Contest: If Phil Wins…

by Annie Latham on March 12, 2010 in News, Contests, Callaway, Drivers with 1 Comment

Golfsmith, the golf specialty retailer, has teamed up with Callaway Golf to offer folks an opportunity to win a new driver if Phil Mickelson is victorious this April in Augusta at the 2010 Masters.

The announcement states:

Starting today and ending April 7, golfers who purchase one of three new Callaway drivers – the Diablo Edge™, FT-Tour™ or FT-iZ™ – at any Golfsmith store across the country will have the purchase price of their Callaway driver fully refunded by Golfsmith if Phil wins the Masters at Augusta, April 8-11.

The rules say, “No purchase is necessary.”

To enter without buying a driver, what you have to do is go to a Golfsmith retail location and ask them for an official “Win With Phil” entry form to fill out and mail in.

Golfsmith estimates thousands of people will take advantage of the promotion, which is available through more than seventy stores from coast to coast. To learn more about Golfsmith’s promotion with Callaway Golf, stop by any Golfsmith store or visit www.golfsmith.com/winwithPhil. This promotion is available only in Golfsmith’s U.S. stores.

‘The Donald’ Scrambles Helicopters to Dry out Trump National

by James on March 12, 2010 in Humor with No comments

Trump International

What do you do when you’re Donald Trump, you own a golf course, and need to dry the darn thing out? Well, logic says that you get a helicopter to hover over wet areas of the course to speed the drying process, of course!

Courtesy @golfviews, the image above is of a chopper drying out the first fairway at the Trump Inernational Golf Club. The first round of the Puerto Rico Open was delayed due to a torrential downpour… Let’s hope they can get the full first round in today.

Note: I suppose this could just be a helicopter landing on the course… but that wouldn’t be much fun now, would it?… and heck, why would a helicopter come in for a landing in the middle of a fairway? Especially when a tournament is on the cusp of starting up? Yeah, it’s drying the fairway, for sure 🙂

Fleischer Hired to Help Tiger Strategize Return

by Annie Latham on March 12, 2010 in News with No comments

Seems like the New York Post has the inside scoop on Tiger’s return to golf.

A story posted on Thursday and referenced by other media organizations, stated “Ari Fleischer, the former presidential advisor to George W. Bush and the man who was brought in to help repair the steroid-shattered image of Mark McGwire, has been huddling with Woods, plotting a strategy for his return to golf — at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fl.”  The sources were two people from “the golf community.”

The date of the return is encouraging.  His choice of advisor isn’t.

The man who claims on his website to be able to “help you handle the bad news and take advantage of the good” which includes sharpening messages and improving images,” did not exactly hit it out of the ballpark with McGuire.

Ari FleischerIn the San Francisco Chronicle, John Shea wrote a story talking about how McGwire’s admission became a denial.  He called out Fleischer, saying:

How could a former White House press secretary not see it coming? How could he miss on prepping McGwire on the benefits of steroids? Having worked under President George W. Bush, he should have known to cover all the basics. Like, what if someone, say Bob Costas, asks McGwire if he would have hit all those home runs without juicing.

When McGwire said “absolutely,” it reminded everyone he hit home runs as far back as Little League and legion ball, and talked about his “gift (from) the man upstairs,” his admission suddenly became a denial. McGwire wasn’t apologizing as much as justifying.”

In commenting on today’s news, Gene Wojciechowski, the senior national columnist for ESPN.com remarked,

“The best Tiger Woods could do is hire the guy who orchestrated Mark McGwire’s bungled re-entry into baseball? The guy who shills for the galactically stupid and indefensible BCS? The guy who counseled the Green Bay Packers on how to deal with their Brett Favre divorce proceedings?”

“Woods doesn’t need to be managed, especially by someone who appears to think the BCS is a brilliant idea. He doesn’t require advice from the same person who signed off on McGwire’s delusional steroids-didn’t-help-me-hit-home-runs explanation.”

Looks like the crisis/reputation management guy needs a crisis/reputation manager.

Circling back to the alleged return to golf, Bay Hill is a short drive from Tiger’s home and he has been a six-time winner on that course (including being the defending champion).

GolfLogix Expands GPS App line to Include Support for the Motorola DROID

by Annie Latham on March 11, 2010 in Golf Equipment, Golf GPS, Technology with 1 Comment

Got a Motorola DROID smartphone? There’s a new app in town. GolfLogix of Scottsdale, Arizona has just unveiled a version of its popular GPS distance and stat-tracking app that works on Motorola DROID.   GolfLogix claims to have the #1 Golf GPS app worldwide.  It provides golfers with useful information like distances to the front, center and back of the green, as well as points out major hazards.

The DROID version joins the ones running on other popular smartphone platforms:  iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Bold and Bold2, BlackBerry Tour and BlackBerry Storm, Storm 2,  HTC Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2.

DROID’s large screen and high-resolution makes it an ideal host for the GolfLogix app.  In a prepared statement, Pete Charleston, president of GolfLogix said,  “Our development team is keeping pace with the cell phone industry. We are the only golf app provider who is focused on making our application available on as many phones as possible and allowing golfers to transfer their membership and keep all of their statistics when they change to a new phone.”

GolfLogix uses a subscription model that runs $39.95 a year.  If you want to try it out before committing, the company provides a non-industry standard 24-hour free trial period to accommodate one round.

Payment of the yearly fee makes you a member of the GolfLogix community where you’ll have access to  more than 25,000+ professionally mapped golf courses worldwide, a personalized statistic tracking website, distance information on every round, score tracking, club data, accessory discounts, free data upgrades and more. Plus, members receive all application upgrades and can transfer memberships to new compatible phones at no extra charge. GolfLogix’ golf application can be downloaded directly from the Company’s website (www.golflogix.com).

If you have tried it out on your DROID or other smartphone, please let us know how you like it.  Specifically, how well it worked under the various lighting conditions.

Crenshaw and Coore Tapped to Restore Strategic and Aesthetic Character at Pinehurst No. 2

by James on March 11, 2010 in News, Courses with No comments

Pinehurst No. 2

Looks like the design team of Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore have been hired to do some restoration work on the classic Donald Ross design at Pinehurst No. 2. The work is being commissioned with the 2014 US Open and US Women’s Open in mind. The two major events will hit No. 2 in consecutive weeks, four years from now. Time to make the changes, and in a few years, all will be ready for the big events!

The goal of the course changes will revolve around restoring the strategic and aesthetic feel that Donald Ross so aptly built into the original design. That being said, Coore commented on the task at hand:

‘It is not our intent to radically change this golf course. We’re trying to uncover it, not recover it.’

Sounds like Coore knows what he’s talking about. Taking a dozer to a classic like Pinehurst No. 2 would be tragic. Revealing and slowly chipping away at some of the finer details would be clearly the way to go. Look for Coore and Crenshaw to restore sandy waste areas, widen some of the fairways, and bring some of the native wiregrass and natural bunker edges. I can already see it now. No. 2 is going to look great.

[Via: GolfWeek]

Slazenger Heritage Polos Now Available

by James on March 11, 2010 in Style & Fashion with No comments

Slazenger Heritage PolosI have to admit, when I think Slazenger, I think of Wimbledon. I think of their tennis balls, of the fortnight in London to crown the champion at the ‘All-England’ club each year. That’s just me… But if you take a look at the golf fashion Slazenger is pumping out these days, it looks like they’re trying to change my mind.

The other day I noticed the good folks at TrendyGolf posted an offering of the new ‘Heritage’ line from Slazenger. At first glance, I loved the look of them. At second glance, I loved them even more.

Made of 100% cotton, the Heritage line from Slazenger is without a doubt, one of the more classic polos from the 80’s. Emblazoned with the ‘golden cat’ logo, put one on and I bet you couldn’t help but feel like Seve celebrating his Open triumph with a few fist pumps.

Available now from £39 (around $58USD), head on over to TrendyGolf for a look at their selection. Many colors and sizes are available!

Puma Acquires Cobra, Acushnet to Focus on Titleist and FootJoy Brands

by James on March 10, 2010 in News, Cobra with 1 Comment

Now this is big news. The latest out of GolfWeek has the Cobra brand (owned and run by the Acushnet Co.) sold off to the rising stars at Puma AG. Of course, no terms of the deal have been disclosed as of yet, but this could be a great win/win for both sides. Let me explain why.

Ricky Fowler in Puma GearPuma has been making strides in the last year or so, making more and more of an effort to penetrate the North American golf market. Chances are you’ve seen the young gun Ricky Fowler out on the course in his colorful gear. Well, you guessed it, Fowler has an apparel deal with Puma, and I have a feeling more deals are to come.

For the Acushnet Company, the deal will allow them to focus on their core competencies, or in this case, their core offerings from Titleist and FootJoy. Wally Uihlein, chairman and CEO of Acushnet commented on the deal:

“With the sale of Cobra, we have the opportunity to devote all of our resources to the global growth of (the two brands).”

So there you have it. Cobra is sold off to Puma, and Acushnet is now focusing their efforts 100% behind the FootJoy and Titleist brands. Sounds like a winning formula on both sides. I wonder how long it will take until we see Ricky Fowler hitting some Cobra blades? Oh, and I just thought of this… David Feherty is always out and about promoting Cobra gear. Maybe he’ll be a key face for their marketing efforts in North America (and around the world)? And what about Ian Poulter? So many marketable Cobra staffers are on-board. Big things are surely on the horizon for Puma!

Guerin Rife Island Series Bimini Blade Putter

by James on March 9, 2010 in Golf Equipment, Guerin Rife, Putters with No comments
The Guerin Rife Island Series Bimini Blade Putter

The Guerin Rife Island Series Bimini Blade Putter

I’m a huge fan of the old-school blade. Doesn’t matter where it is, on the fairways I currently pull out my Titleist 690MB’s, and on the greens, I’ve got a nice selection of blade putters I roll the rock with. At the moment, I’ve got a Scotty Cameron Circa 62 No. 1 in the bag, and while it’s a slightly different take on the classic blade… I love it. So buttery.

At any rate, getting back to the matter at hand here, the other day I was checking out some of the specs on the Guerin Rife Bimini Blade, and gosh darn it, the putter looks darn sweet. Based on the classic Wilson blade, the 8802, the Bimini Blade caught my eye the moment it arrived on the market. Part of Rife’s Island Series line, the Bimini has a slightly raised toe, and Rife’s patented ‘RollGroove Face Technology’ to help you get the ball rolling early and true. The top line of the Bimini Blade is free from notches and alignment lines. From above, all you’ll see is the 303 stainless steel head. A classic look.

Guerin Rife Bimini Blade PutterThe stock Guerin Rife Bimini Blade Putter comes built to the following specs:

  • Loft of 2 degrees
  • Lie angle of 71 degrees
  • 33″, 34″ and 35″ lengths available
  • Headweight: 345 grams
  • Swingweights available: D6-D8, E0-E2, E4-E6
  • 303 Stainless Steel head material
  • AVS Winn Custom grip
  • Island Series Blade Headcover with magnet clips

Last I checked, the Guerin Rife site and other large retailers were completely sold out of the Bimini Blade. A true sign this baby is a hot item. I’d love to get my hands on one of these for a round or two, so if anyone from Rife is reading this, please give me a dingle, would ya? 🙂

For more info on the Bimini Blade, visit Guerin Rife.

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