Jack and Roger Federer...Role Models. Tiger?

Jack and Roger Federer have proven to me today that they are indeed champions and understand the relevance of what's truly important in life.. I had a boss once who  when he became my boss, introduced himself to me by explaining that he was a simple man. "I take care of my health, my family and I work", he said. He also Drank, Danced and Ducked but that's another story for a different Blog..;)

Watched RF win his second round match at the the Australian Open on Jack's 70th (or so) and was somewhat fascinated by a post match interview conducted by Jim Courier who asked him primarily personal questions about his new family. Roger's friendship with Tiger has been well documented and I couldn't help but think how decent this guy is and how hopeless Tiger is... I know a bit about addiction having helped hundreds of people change over the past 30 or so years... We have failed a lot more than we have succeeded.. the odds are terrible.. three "experts" put their best guesses on the success rate of our best practices as 3%, 7% or 12%... how they come up with those numbers I'll never know... I know this: The most important statistics in Jack life are 5 and 50. He and his wife Barbara will soon celebrate their 50th anniversary. and they have raised 5 decent children to become contributing members of society.. with 22(?) grandchildren..

At some point in every addict's life they come clean or they die. Their priority must be recovery with any reservations. They are not in denial. They are mental and spiritually defective. Very Sick....and without any concern for their place in society or history they need to spill the beans (with some guidance from someone who has been there and done it). This is not a management/spin issue.. this is about life and death. There are years of work for Tiger to do. He will need to unwind everything he has learned and perhaps never play Golf again... and it will take years of concerted effort and giving back to others ...not with a check, but with his time. The odds are terrible... few ever change. One of the most accomplished therapists in the business puts the odds at 100 to 3... and what made Tiger a great Golfer will work directly against him. Self knowledge and will-power do not work... nor does fear... Faith does however.. it will be a long road.. and his friends who are leading decent lives will never understand. Only those who have recovered will. Luck has very little to do with it.. and the longer he stays out of the Public Eye, the harder it will be for him to begin the process of coming clean. He has a chance. It seems he is getting more bad advise. Advise based on Money... not life. He has met his toughest opponent.. and it is him. Welcome to the club!

In the Groove Box...Much Ado about Nothing?

"The only clubs I have had to change are my wedges, they are a little more inconsistent from rough, from a tight lie no real change at all." -Ian James Poulter

So Bob Estes says that Mark Wilson and John Daly have not complied with the spirit of the rule change ( by using Eye2 wedges with "exempt" box grooves)  and the amateur message boards have been lit up for months about who will be impacted... I had a very fine national class Am wonder aloud what happens in a Pro_Am with a National Class Am (Groove rule applies) and a 10 'capper (Rule does not apply) ... think most of the Pros I talk with are somewhat amused that the only people who really seem to care are guys outside the ropes... Think Christina Kim has is down: "Got satin finish wedges in 52/54/56/58/60 degree with bounce varying from 8-12degrees. Gonna see what combo I need to make some magic!!"... seems much ado about not that much... less wedge spin seems to help some of the super high spin guys like DL III... as he holed out in the Hawaii... guess he thought... "No Problem..."

BTW--Gotta Get one of these:

The Christina Kim.. "Swinging From My Heels"

Alan Shipnuck facilitated and This has got to be the most anticipated golf read in a while...She's gonna have a good year too (you can feel it). Release date is April 27. Looking forward to this one...Love good Golf Books! Rocco's was good.

Christina has a new Blog up and growing as well....She is  the Real Deal!

The Ball Four of the LPGA —a funny, bold memoir of life on the women’s golf circuit, from one of its most unique and memorable players.

Christina Kim is the brashest, bawdiest, funniest player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. Golf fans know her for her colorful wardrobe, even more colorful on-course antics, and an explosive game. But in this rollicking account of the 2009 season, Kim invites readers deep into her life, providing an intimate diary of a young woman’s struggles on and off the golf course, and revealing the glory and heartbreak of life on the tour.

Once known as a prodigy who shot a 62 in her first LPGA event some six years ago, Kim has newly rededicated herself to realizing her potential, and she takes readers between the ropes for all the action, including her nail-biting near misses at two major championships. She also goes inside the team room at the Solheim Cup, revealing the hijinks and late-night gab sessions that bonded the victorious U.S. team. Along the way we get intimate portraits of her close friends on tour, including tour leaders such as Michelle Wie, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, and Natalie Gulbis.

In this courageous telling, no topic is out-of-bounds, as Kim dishes about the LPGA’s sexual mores, the culture clash of an American-based tour increasingly dominated by Koreans, the tumultuous economic forces squeezing the players, and her own battles with body image and her traditional upbringing. Winsome and good-natured, but never afraid of a laugh line or choice profanity, Christina Kim provides a must-read for anyone who loves golf or has wondered about the inner self of a professional athlete.

Alan Shipnuck has been covering professional golf for Sports Illustrated since 1994. He is the author of the national bestseller Bud, Sweat, & Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour. He lives in Northern California with his wife and children.

a Tiger-less Tour? No Problem?

Nothing too crazy here... I am a former CEO and ran a 450 million dollar company with a few thousand dedicated and valued employees taking care of 60,000 customers... so I get what Tiger has done for the purses and what the ratings do when he's not around...but if he never comes back, I would be alright with that. The game is bigger than he is despite his obviously monstrous ego .. (exemplified by the attitude of "I won't get caught").

I wrote earlier that he has brought a lot of football/basketball game influences to the game that this conservative (in many regards) guy could do without...and frankly would not miss... there are plenty of good players around that I stay away from because of all sorts of little things that amateurs do on the course that as a former professional caddie I just find inexcusable.. and I'm good with that... I have seen plenty of commentary lately about Tim Finchem's state of denial when asked about Tiger's absence. Of course sponsors and advertisers will not pay as much for a Tiger-less tour. Nor will the Networks... The Golf Channel btw deserves one more year to get their act together... as in pick the anchor who can really do the job... not one of Arnie's favorites. Dump the Goof-Balls too... no names necessary.. the on-line forums have done the list.. many times over. They also have neutered, to some degree, Johnny Miller. I enjoyed the tell it like you see it JM. After all he did shoot a final round 63 to win the US Open on a mean course... Hogan like if you ask me...love faldo but he's no Miller..and vise versa.

So Tiger will come back to a media circus.. He may win and he may be distracted but the human spirit is resilient and everything will adjust to some level less than what we had a few short months ago when the elite on tour played for close to 2 million a week at times... and a Mill every week... or maybe the economics gets cut back a little if Tiger is taken down by all this. I'll wait and see. Either way the game will be fine. The Game is Grand and will remain. Bigger than even the Greatest Player to play the game. That name, for now, remains Jack Nicklaus.

a peek inside The Titleist Performance Institute and How the Pros Train...

The Key to Fixing Your Golf Swing Is Synching It With Your Physical Limitations.

 Found this article in the Wall Street Journal... really worth the reading...

...and Love the Conclusion: 

"Ideally you want a team approach—a physical guy to evaluate your body and a coach to work on your swing in coordination with the trainer," said Mr. Phillips. Even golfers who have no intention of going to the gym can benefit because the instructor can build a swing around his known limitations, he said. More typical clients, however, are avid 10-handicap types who want to get down to scratch and say they will do whatever it takes.

"When a guy tells me he's willing to work out for 90 minutes four times a week, I interpret that, from experience, as 15 minutes, three times a week," Mr. Gill said. "But I can give him a focused 15 minute workout that will make a big difference in his game."


That's sounds very familiar..;)...just what I need!

The Golf Ball 2K10 from a Pro's perspective...

Got the following email last week and thought it had a good perspective on competition, the new groove rules and it's impact on balls:

These sentiments by you are sounding like the Penta ball is TM's answer to a softer, balata clone that will deal with or be their option for those that will be forced to use non-aggressive groove wedges. Most of what you are describing in your blog about the Penta ball appears to be very similar to balata ball performance characteristics.

Just from one day of short game testing with the Bridgestone e7, it is obvious that this ball's drawback is the lack of spin around the green. Almost impossible to impart enough spin for delicate touch shots. Most people who are up in arms about the USGA conditions of competition groove rule, to me, are clueless to just what impact this rule will have on wedge play. Without enough spin, many shots from 100 yards and in are going to be impossible to hit well. Especially shots close to the hole where the ball is nestled down in longish grass. Those shots were extremely difficult with balata balls, let alone, with whatever the OEMs come up with today and in the future. No way could I hit shots with the e7 that I can hit with a Titleist Pro V1.

I'm looking forward to the Penta TP, I'm sure it will perform beautifully with those shots around the green, especially with my MD groove Cally tour wedges. But, dealing with my reality of less clubhead speed, I will have to lean towards insuring enough distance, especially off the tee, than having ultimate spin for delicate lobs and pitch shots. Fortunately I'm very adept at short game shots around the green. The RX sounds like a ball that may address both issues well for me, so I'm very anxious now to play with that ball.

I can see having to switch balls when playing with non-aggressive grooves, but, I don't think that will be a huge issue as long as I'm playing with other senior players. Against the kids, I need plenty of roll off the tee and a hot putter. This year will be an interesting one for me. I'm either going to be able to take all this technology and excel as a competitor or be sadly and rudely disappointed.

Nippons Shafts

This was originally written to one of the great PM's I get from members at BombSquadGolf.com (BSG) and Golf WRX: Recently I went from True Temper r300 DGsl to s 950 nippons... smoother, higher ballflight and very consistent feel...and the finest clubmaker I know has for years proclaimed them the finest shafts made... tightest manufacturing tolerances and so forth.. he started putting them (and steelfiber's which I turned him onto) into top Am, LPGA, Champs Tour and a couple of PGA guys' irons.. I'm not sure how these play out for a guy who needs x100 iron shafts (legit-not the posers on the forums) with 115+ss but for the rest of us mortals I really think they are the way to go... I played them when I used 690.cb's as Titleist was the only oem that had them available and I played good golf with them... DGsl's were the new thing for a couple of years and I got most of my buddies to play them....but going back to nippons now I'd have to agree with the fitter...and they are better now than when I played them last... less dispersion I think... (although I hit the ball a lot better than I did 10 years ago...just not quite as far..:).. One very fine Pro friend plays the 850 nippons and says they are more alive than the 950's... very few companies offer them as an option (if any) so I take what the OEMs offer and try not to tinker until I'm blue in the face any more... hope that helps! Chilly, rainy and cold today in paradise...

The Penta Ball by TaylorMade - follow-up

Needed to do a little follow-up to my first note about the first 5 layer "superball".. I continue to be told it is the greatest ball ever by at least one guy who absolutely, positively has switched... Today it was hit by a Tour Pro who has 14 pro victories... (for three holes against his ProV1 black).. he will not be switching. He liked the way it putted and that was about it.."too soft"..."who cares?"..."what's the big deal?" about sums up his response... he hit about ten extra putts and chipped it from inside 30 yards and then hit a few green-side chips as well... so he was completely unimpressed.. I seemed to have distance control problems with it today and played it for 9 holes before being a little frustrated and going back to the rx-300 which I will not be switching from... I will likely return the last two sleeves of Pentas... I don't get the love frankly and am done with the Penta test... nothing there to really get my attention... I do like the way it putts but I have more control with the rx  with the irons and woods. It also seemed to me that a few shots I hit today with it ballooned just a bit... Noticed the sidespin off the driver again and was happy to have the experience over with... I remain firmly in the Bridgestone camp...Boomin' the RX with my old buddies Freddy and Lee...

Are You Kiddin' Me? Rocco Mediate

Are You Kidding Me? is the story of Rocco Mediate's  battle with Tiger at the US Open in San Diego at Torrey Pines in 2008.... But not for me... For me the story is about drive and courage...about stickin' with it when things aren't going so well.... of course that happens in every round of golf... the trick is to get over it in one hole with perhaps two poor decisions and two bad shots at most... to win on tour there is very little margin for error... a bad round and the train just goes blowing by you.

In the product description on Amazon a reviewer states that this is a story about five life changing days.... Like the overnight success it took years... all most folks see is the five days... but the story is about a decent High School player who caught fire through a series of circumstances and made himself into a great player... a player who, though he hits the ball only reasonably long, is as smart and savy as anyone on tour.... and never stops talkin'.

What makes Rocco cool to me is this... like Fred Funk's wife who walks around Pebble barefoot, Rocco's main squeeze does the same thing.. I like the Peace Sign Belt Buckle and the beer he shared at 10 in the morning as he put on a clinic out there on one of those days that has made Pebble one of Golf's great destinations.... too bad the place isn't better run but that's a story for another post... one day at Pebble in a Pro-Am called the Callaway Invitational which is a low key, ~$80,000 to the winner, end of season event, Rocco has his girlfriend walking with his group... holding his cigar when he hits and sharing sips of beer that was only a 1/3 finished by the time it was warm... Or the time he showed for the ATT and walked down to the caddie bench before heading to the range to practice just to say hello to a couple of old friends...On the range he made bets on Ball games and chattered non-stop as he peppered every flag on the range.. talking in his own backswing ...excited to be alive on a beautiful day at Spyglass in Pebble Beach... He makes everyday great... A true hero of the spirit.. The game could use more Roccos... Oh and BTW he plays those darn easy to hit type clubs.. X-22 Cally's the last time I noticed.. why make the game more difficult than it is? Dunno my friend...Dunno...but Rocco's is my kinda hero... a decent guy with the good word for everyone... Great read BTW.

Author's note... I have never been a JF fan.. Loved  Bruce Edwards and what he did for the art of being a caddie... Tried "Caddy for Life" and was overwhelmed by the superlatives and overblown/over-the-top language... there is a little of that here... Golf is just a game... a glorious game, but play it long enough and though when you wake up you still want to get out there, some days you can wait... This is a little better than the life and death stuff... Any good?... there is a big difference between casual, competitive and tournament golf... but it ain't religion... Good job JF.. Great Story.

In Praise of SKYCaddie Customer Service

So not to get into the range-finder debate of laser vs range finder (I own both)  but the Bushnell is great and so is the Skycaddie. This is about service... I plugged my SG5 in last night and being impatient I reacted to a non-responsive box for a software upgrade and ended up with a dead Skycaddie that would tell me: "no application found call customer service"... maybein the morning... I also have an SG4 so I powered it up, renewed the membership plan and discovered in the process that a non-responsive notification simply meant "you need to wait".... So now I have two functioning Skycaddies..because...

I called this morning and was put through the menu maze and became mildly annoyed as I was told I could solve my problem on-line... I was dead in the water here afterall... and then the miracle happened... about a minute into the "wait" the call was answered... the account identified and the problem explained... Opened IE and typed in the support address, agent took over my computer and a total if 15 minutes later I was good to go with a fully functioning SG5...

I am one who remembers this company when customer service was a sleepy guy with a cell phone (having owned these things since 2004) and I will never take anything away from the Bushnell Pro but the 'caddie for my amateur purposes has represented some of the best money I've spent outside of those 100 lessons with the Pro... and now SKYGOLF has the service to back up the product... Highly recommended...

The Penta Golf Ball is released at Retail

The Good Guys at GolfMart and Seaside were kind enough to put a dozen of TaylorMade's new balls aside for me .. I picked them up  this morning and off to the course I went... I have been warned. The Head of TaylorMade, Mark King,  told one of my partners that TM has never had Pros switch so fast. My friend went on to say, "The ball is unreal. For me it’s better everywhere. Longer with driver, rescue, and irons than any other ball. More spin around the greens. Putts great. Wears much better than a ProV." This is no slacker talking either... he's a scratch player who has shot 68 this year and has a lot of game. Also the wherewithal to test the best and not shy with an opinion... and very serious about his golf...A tech CEO told me today, "Titleist better have something very special in the lab ready to release or they are going to lose a lot of market share.".. so you get the picture.. I'm built up and here's what I found... Though not a player of this caliber, I currently play to just over a 4.. have a slightly higher than 100 swing speed and most of the guys who play with me know that if I drive the ball well and am reasonably solid with my irons I will shoot close to par (or slightly better).. I putt well and average around 28 putts per round (helped by the fact that I play a course with very small greens).. I played the pro V1 (black... for years) and have tested a lot of balls as they come out looking for an edge.. 

So I tee it up and put a good swing on it. Perfect position and I am 10 yards short of where I'd be if the ground were dry and I had hit the Boom-Boom Bridgestone 330-RX (my ball)... 4 wood up the hill - nice sound and feel... excellent distance and a sandwedge into the elevated par 5 1st green... all good.... nice feel and 8 feet for birdie... As I hit the putt (no warm-up btw) I like the sound and feel.. like the ballata... serious... and I like making putts... first hole and -1... par 3 second is playing 115 into a slight breeze... 9i and the ball flys just left of target and a bit longer than what I'd be used to with my ball...and (only one more shot before conclusions)... on the 3rd tee I pull my drive left and it double bounces on a cart path and sure to be rashed up... hit a gap wedge over a tree to 10 feet and inspect the ball... playable... OK... at one point I hit a 3/4 lob wedge and I use an x forged mac daddy groove lob wedge and it shreds everything... certainly took some hide but it was alright...

Had one little delicate shot to hit over a bunker and small hill..had 2 feet to land the ball and needed to have some spin on it. The ball was sitting down just a little... I fatted it just a touch and it landed a slight bit short but bit perfectly and left me a 2 footer uphill for par... Made. 

So the Penta putts great, is longer off the irons and woods and is a little shorter off the tee.. very durable to boot ...someone who has played it said they thought they got too much side-spin off the tee with the driver... had a little of that perhaps but I did knock one drive to a rare place today and was pleased with the distance. One kicker... ProV's are now 39 dollars at GolfMart.. the Panta is $45/46 depending on where you buy them... One top Am told me yesterday that unless "they give them to me, I'm not paying $6 extra for a ball that might sound better".. We are hoping to do some extensive coverage of the balls available for the coming season and this will be the first in a series..

..as for me? well I still have a couple of boxes of RX's around and the test will be what I will play when I'm really ready to buy the next "batch".. If the weather holds up (it was 65 here today)...I'll be out tomorrow and will play the RX... and we'll go from there... One TaylorMade exec wrote  me today: "It's the buzz on tour. People are going crazy for it. We can't come close to making enough to meet demand... it's the first real ball that You can really play.. the results aren't really even close.. It's just math. We're better. Especially for the average good player!"... hmmm that's me.. We'll see. Could be.

So while Tiger is away I'll be hoping....

Have had this thought ever since I heard the News that he would take an "Indefinite Break" from golf. Just maybe some of the negatives he brought to the game might disappear. Starting with guys circling their putts endlessly  during casual or competitive rounds and taking 5 hours plus to play 18 holes.. The process that Tiger goes through, is I believe, against the rules and  certainly the spirit of the game. While a case may be made to support him running out the clock on every green (like he's playing for a lot of money) amateurs with 15 handis should be banned forever (18 holes of Golf should never take more than 4 hours-3 3/4 is about right)...and number two: Could all the beer soaked spectators who scream, "In The Hole" and "You The Man" go back to watching NASCAR and College Football.... I  sincerely hope Tiger and Elin can sort out whatever it is that has caught up with them. The screamin' meanies and slow players I just don't have a good feeling for... 'nuff said.

Adjusting Lofts

Most everyone knows how important correct lie angles are..too flat and you'll be going right (assuming you are in the majority and right handed-- trust me, I feel for you lefties) no matter how "good" your swing is.. Lies too upright?...you pull 'em... but how about loft? Important to consider changes in bounce angles and weighting but I've never gotten used to a 45 degree PW for a few reasons and so think this through a little with me.. 1 degree of loft adjusted will add or subtract 3-4 yards for the average decent player but what I have found (courtesy of one of TaylorMade's execs) is that  weakening loft a bit increases spin andhelps us to be more accurate and hold greens better.. I played Taylor Burner's for the past two years.. Tour Burners and then the 09 "set is dead" version.. no problems with the TB's except they were harsh and the 09 Burners felt super and had a great sole grind. When I got the PW up to 47 was able to not run through greens as I was when I was hitting into flags with a 45 degree PW or a 41 degree 9i (etc.).. So without going on and on about the nuances of tinkering with lofts, if you find that you are getting too much "rollout' with your short irons, think about sacrificing a couple of yards for shots that stay close to where they land... helped me out a lot... for you 110+ swingspeed studs this is meaningless other than perhaps the reverse may hold true. Everyone has a optimal launch angle and some work at a great fitting center will give you all the info you'll need to get that dialed in.... or be like me and just try bending your irons. BTW-the easiest way I know to make sure your lies are correct is to pay attention to your divots.. they should be symmetrical essentially and nice evenly cut rectangle. Check yours out on the range where it's flat or take them into your local shop now and then and make sure that bad case of the lefts you've got is not just a set that's too upright...

Best Irons Ever...

What a Set-Up... I know you are smarter than that but here we go:  the Mizuno mx-300's I put in my bag a couple of months ago are just impressing the hell outta me and are tied for number 2 all-time. The Callaway x-tours were a super design for me and I played my best competitive golf with them... numero uno are the tour issued (to only their marque players) satin miura forged 05 tp cavs with milled faces (so how the hell did I get my paws on em?)... they were just too sweet (and still get a lot of tour play of course)... I also think the mp-60's and 33's deserve some mention ...even before I get to the miura cavs I played a couple of years ago... btw the 300's will never have the soft, smooth feel of the tp cavs but they are a just super design for the mid single digit guy... and that's an important distinction... Guys like me need forgiveness.. the TaylorMade '09 Burners were fine when I was shooting 80 (which I still do a lot) but there are better days on the course coming and there is enough precision in the 300's for my current low 70's good efforts...BTW... it's getting cold here (30's and 40's) so will not be out much until it stays above 50 for more than a couple of hours a day... getting nice and soft in my old age..will be 58 in June...perfect candidate for Nippon shafts... more and more I think we amatuer men should be taking our equipment cues from the LPGA girls.. What's in Stacy Lewis' bag? Pic of my unbadged mx-300 courtesy of one of my favorite websites: GolfWRX