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Showing posts from July, 2013

Miura's New $2,275 Iron Set

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Miura Golf used to routinely price iron sets in the $2,000-plus range for the American market. But in recent years, the upscale Japanese forged irons leader has been offering iron sets much closer in price to the mainstream companies that dominate the American market. But not it's latest offering! The Miuru irons pictured above cost $325 per club, or $2,275 for a set. The high price is for two reasons: The Miura "Black Boron" irons have a finish that is, well, black boron, and that requires switching the usual nickel-chrome finishing production line over to this finish; and Miura says only about 10 sets a month will be available. That's what we call "limited edition." They do look sweet. But, in addition to having lots of money to burn on a new set of irons, you need to be a very good golfer to make the most of them. The Miura Black Boron irons are not game-improvement sticks. They are players' clubs. Also note that the Black Boron name simply d

Deaths on the Golf Course

People die on golf courses. It's not that uncommon, really. Lots of people die, lots of people golf, it's bound to happen. Sometimes it's a heart attack or some other medical issue; more rarely, it's the result of the actual playing of golf - someone gets hit in the head by a golf ball, for example. Other times it involves criminal activity - assault, murder. And sometimes the person who dies on a golf course is a celebrity or a famous golfer. Kidd Kraddick is the latest celebrity golf course death. Kraddick was a radio DJ who started in Texas, then went into syndication. He later was added to the television show Dish Nation . Kraddick died during his own charity golf tournament in New Orleans; cause of death has not yet been released. He was 53 years old. At the time of his death, his Kidd Kraddick In the Morning radio show was carried on more than 100 stations in the United States. The most famous celebrity to die on a golf course was surely Bing Crosby. The l

Inbee Park's $300,000 Ferrari

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Inbee Park is having one heck of a season on the LPGA Tour. Three majors, three wins. And how does someone in her early 20s celebrate? Drop a major wad of cash on a cool car. Here is Inbee with her new Ferrari FF in a pic she posted to Twitter: Good for you, Inbee, you deserve it. According to Golf Digest , the 2013 Ferrari FF starts at $300,000. Yowzah. But as amazing as the car is, I think the most amazing thing about this photo is that Inbee is not wearing white pants.

New Loud Designs from Loudmouth

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What's in store from Loudmouth Golf for fall? The designer of very loud, very garish golf apparel - what most golfers used to call "ugly" but now prefer to think of as "cool" (but crazzzzzeeee any way you look at it!) - has multiple new patterns ready. The Loudmouth Fall 2013 collection includes: "Crak!" - Inspired by 1960's pop art, Loudmouth has designed a golf themed comic book drama. "Paint Balls" - After the runaway success of Drop Cloth, Loudmouth has released a new colorway that is sure to make a splash. "Cheezburger" - This print is phat. 'nuf said. "Bent Grass" - Named after the smooth putting surface, coveted by a low handicapper. "Cowz" - What inspires pant design more than a holstein out in the pasture chewing on cud? "Blue & Gold Splash" & "Merlot & Chardonnay" - Designed specifically for the collegiate market, these prints are too good not to share with

Did Phil Mickelson Have an Affair and Spawn a Love Child? No!

No. The answer to the question in the headline is no. But many people apparently think otherwise, or at least have heard rumors to the contrary. It's a lesson in the power of social media to create very un social behavior on the Web by trolls who believe they are safe from having their identity revealed. Here's what happened: Back in mid-November of 2011, a commenter on Yahoo! Sports posted a series of comments attacking Mickelson. The commenter said, among other things, that Phil's wife Amy had an affair with Michael Jordan; and that Phil himself had an affair and was the father of a child with the alleged lover. (These attacks actually go back farther, at least as far back as 2006 .) None of that was true, but this commenter on Yahoo! Sports said it was. And that is how salacious rumors are born in the Internet age. From there, it was a short leap to posting on other sites, by both commenters and sometimes bloggers, "reporting" the "rumors" that

Mercedes-Benz's 'Golf Cart of the Future'

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What happens when Mercedes-Benz asks golf fans and auto fans to suggest innovations to golf carts, in order to create a "golf cart of the future"? This happens: You can click on the image to enlarge and read the type, as you can on the other two images below. The German automaker calls this the "Vision Golf Cart," and Gorden Wagener, Vice President Design Daimler AG, said this of its unveiling: "The Mercedes-Benz Vision Golf Cart has a refined, simplified yet functional shape that fits well into our 'Sensual-Purity' design philosophy. The flow shapes create a 'sculpture on wheels' impression. I was very inspired by the idea of designing a golf cart, giving it a new shape and new sorts of meaning. Why not treating a golf cart like a car, and making it a 'Golf Car'?" That's all well and good, but where do your golf clubs go? Here's the rear view: OK, so it has places to secure the golf bag. But what's even more

Graeme McDowell Calls Steve Elkington a 'Twitter Troll'

Graeme McDowell has had enough of Steve Elkington's potshots against other golfers on Twitter. During G-Mac's second round at the British Open, Elkington tweeted this: Does G-Mac wear the same outfit everyday?... Dude go buy some gear — Steve Elkington (@elkpga) July 19, 2013 McDowell was not amused: RT @elkpga Does G-Mac wear the same outfit everyday?... Dude go buy some gear >>elk go get a life — Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) July 19, 2013 G-Mac quickly added this: Sorry for the bite guys. Used to follow Elk but couldn't handle the bitterness any more. I don't generally glorify insults. #twittertrolls — Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) July 19, 2013 I say: Good for McDowell. Yes, what Elkington wrote that set off Graeme seems pretty tame. But Elkington has a long history of sniping at fellow golfers. He did it before there was Twitter, now he does it publicly because of Twitter. Elkington is someone who says exactly what he's thinking

On the Origins of the Word 'Choking' In Golf

How long would you say that "choking" has been part of the golf vocabulary, in its present sense? (Its present sense, of course, being that a "choking" golfer is one who loses his nerve under pressure, dropping shots and losing a tournament.) Johnny Miller likes to take credit for turning "choking" into a common term, since he started using it - to much controversy - early in his tenure with NBC Sports. Then again, Johnny Miller likes to take credit for lots of things, doesn't he? I was paging through one of Peter Alliss' many books recently, one published in the early 1980s. Writing about a golfer named Count John de Bendern (a k a, John de Forrest, the name under which he won the 1932 British Amateur Championship), Alliss said this: "He was a somewhat eccentric player, an extreme oddity of his play being the condition known as 'choking,' in which the afflicted player cannot take the club away from the ball, but waggles the clubhe

Rickie Fowler's Outstanding 'This Is SportsCenter' Promo

One of the best "This Is SportsCenter" promos in a long time, and it features orange-clad Rickie Fowler:

Is Howard Stern Really Hitting 300-Yard Drives?

So this came across the Twitter transom today: "It ain't that hard," says @HowardStern on golf, after claiming to drive the ball over 300 yards (with accuracy) at Jimmy Kimmel's wedding. — Craig Bestrom (@GDCraigeeBee) July 15, 2013 Really? Howard Stern? First, the dude is pretty old now. Second, he's never, in his life, demonstrated anything resembling coordination, balance or strength. But, luckily, we don't just have to take Stern's word for it. He posted a short clip of himself on a driving range. And so now we know that the answer to the question, "Is Howard Stern really hitting 300-yard drives?" is a resounding, "no."

Don't Be That Group

I like to play golf on cool, drizzly days, or just outright rainy days. I'm a fast player, and on these days I head out as a single to courses that are mostly empty and I play a quick 18, then head back to work. Of course, sometimes I'll run into other groups on the course. The links aren't always deserted. And most of the time, a group will quickly wave me through when they see a single rolling up in a cart behind them, and there's plenty of wide-open spaces ahead of them. But not always. Sometimes I run into that group. You know the type. Perhaps yours is the type. The group that never offers to let anyone play through, no matter the circumstances. This happened to me yesterday, as a matter of fact. There were two groups on the front nine - myself (a single), and four holes ahead of me when I teed off, a threesome. I caught the threesome when it was on the No. 6 tee. I finished on No. 5 green, and drove up behind them as the last of the threesome was heading

Natalie Gulbis is Getting Married

Congratulations to Natalie Gulbis who, she revealed to Golf World , is getting married later this year. Natalie is engaged to Josh Rodarmel, who was once a quarterback on the Yale University football team. We already knew Natalie likes quarterbacks, since she had a high-profile romance with Ben Roethlisberger a few years back. (Gulbis had another high-profile something with Dustin Johnson, a bizarre, short-lived, well, something , whose nature neither of them could agree on .) But Gulbis managed to keep this relationship quiet, and now they are planning a wedding for later in the year. The two met because of a business relationship Rodarmel once had with Natalie's hometown Sacramento Kings. Rodarmel was once co-owner of Power Balance, which at one time was the title sponsor of the Kings' arena. You know what I think of Power Balance (hint: it was a scam). But let's not bring bad thoughts into this happy moment. Congratulations to both.