In the Rough

Many of you would of read my last article on the comments of South African Ernie Els about Rory McIlroy been the next heir to Tiger Wood’s throne of World Number One Golfer in the World but the next few days should see him take a big step to taking Tiger’s throne with a big win at WGC Championship.

McIlory is through to the quarter finals and faces arguably his toughest test next with Geoff Ogilvy waiting for him in the last 8. Ogily has won the World Golf Championship, been runner up and also has a major win. If Rory McIlroy can beat him then i don’t think their is anyone left in the draw who could beat him but only time will tell.

The remaining fixturs for the quarter final of the WGC are Ernie Els v Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair v Paul Casey and Ross Fisher v Justin Leonard.

Okay this headline is probably a couple of year’s off been true and on the cover of all golf magazine’s, newspapers and Internet sites but one day it will be true - according to South African Ernie Els.

After impressive displays since his tour debut McIlroy has won many fans on tour and is arguably one of the main attractions left at the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play with World number Tiger Wood’s already out to another South African Tim Clark.

McIlroy who is only 19 years old has a very strong game and if he carries on down the right path could well be Golfs next Number One Golfer. It could be a long wait though for the Northern Irishman with Tiger Woods now back on the course surely he will be back to his best soon and extending that world number one lead.
The conqueror of Tiger Woods, Tim Clark found Rory Mcilroy too much to handle and lost 4 and 3 to him.

Rory McIlroy World Golf Champion 2009 is a more realistic target and could become true in a few days.

With every golfer their comes a time when new golf clubs are required, more and more golfers are going online for purchasing for many reasons. But be careful as you could make a costly mistake.

The next few posts I will concentrate on the best tips to follow when buying golf clubs online.

The Seller
Online golf companies often have the best prices for golf clubs however by shopping for golf clubs online you lose the lack of being able to feel or test the clubs. To counter act this problem some online retailers will offer a refund scheme or even a short trial period of a few days. Both very much worth while checking before purchasing.

Danish golf shoe manufacturer Ecco have announced their new golf shoe range for 2009 with the “Ultra Performance” leading the way and been seen as the most advanced golf shoe to date for Ecco.

The Ultra Performance will be available in three colours black, white and a unique buffed silver and should be available in 2009 at a retail price of £150.

Now yes that could be a bit steep for the average golfer but the Ultra Performance shoes have been designed for long lasting comfort and durability.

Ecco golf shoes are worn by top golfers through the world including Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie, Stuart Appleby, Thomas Bjorn, Arjun Atwal, Thongchai Jaidee and John Bickerton.

With Spring round the corner and hopefully some better weather coming our way the fair weather golfers will be dusting of the golf clubs and looking for the promotional vouchers that makes it a good value day out.

In the golfing world their is a few ways of getting a “cheaper” round some courses may give some good discounts for group bookings, promotional websites offer golf gifts and some golf courses offer societies group discount but the best way to pick up a good round of golf is through vouchers.

The most popular golf vouchers available at date the 2 fore 1 vouchers, which as you probably can guess offer golf players a 2 for 1 discount - simple. These vouchers are taken by nearly all golf clubs but it is still worth checking before you turn up.

The 2 fore 1 vouchers are also available to use within groups so when the good weather comes a golf day out is the answer.

You can pick the 2 fore 1 vouchers up from many websites by looking through all Search Engines, also a few golf subscription magazines have the facility for ordering through the magazine and also offer from time to time a free 2 fore 1 voucher with the magazine, which is worth looking out for.

In the current economic climate Golf Clubs are not exempt from feeling the struggle with less players signing up because of cost and the general day to day cost of supplies also seemingly on the up.

A company in Indianapolis may have come up with the answer. At the recent 2009 Golf Industry Show in New Orleans Precise Path Robotics announced the first fully automated mower - RG3 (yes it even sounds like a robot).

The RG3 happens to be electric, which will be greener for the planet firstly but also should help Golf Clubs keep the green’s tidy and save cash. A triple winner really for the planet, pocket and players of golf courses.

The robot will help condition and maintain the turf without emitting any harmful Carbon Dioxides with it being an electric engine.

Now I don’t think their has ever been a round of Golf where i haven’t either stopped at the clubhouse after the ninth and bought a snack, brought several food items in my golf bag already or stopped the food cart during the round and munched through several bars of chocolate or on a good day a few pieces of fruit.

This must be a common element of a golf round for any player and it is something Michael Smoak picked up on.

Smoak’sstory starts back in early 2000 when he was playing a round of golf and also eating a bag of pretzels. After the round of golf Michael Smoak contacted several businessmen friends who also played golf and developed a snack for all golfers. The Pretzel shaped Tee.

Quickly after this a company was formed and the original Pretzel inspired the company name Tee-Zel, which has developed into a company producing mass golf snacks that are available throughout most golf shops (mainly in the US) .

The “America’s Original Golf Snack” as it has been nicknamed by Michael has since developed a few different snacks but to this day the Tee shaped Pretzel and the Cheez-Teez which is a cheese cracker snack.  

Even the oldest of traditions are moving with the times and going online. Forgan who were established back in 1860 are one of the oldest golf club manufacturers. Over their 149 year history they have created some of the most innovative golf clubs and always maintained a high level of attention to detail. 

Recently Forgan have taken their presence into the Cyber world and created a six easy step process on their website to finding the right clubs for you.  By following the six easy questions it enables them to distinguish the clubs that are right for you.

The online service allows golfers to be “fitted” for their golf clubs online and then proceed through to check out and order from the comfort of your own home or clubhouse.

So now golf fitting is done online is it starting to spell the end for small golf shops? The current financial climate doesnt help but golf is going 21st Century and this cannot be ignored.

European Tour Professional Simon Hurd finally brought his popular belts and buckles a step closer to the end user last week with his appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show, which was this year held at the Orange County Convention Centre in Florida.

The show ran for three days from last Thursday and featured some of golf’s biggest brands with many different products and technologies on show one of which was Druh Belt’s and Buckles.

Okay it doesn’t physically help your game but it can make you look good on the course, which can be very important to some players.

Up until the PGA Merchandise Show Druh Belts were only available to and worn by top golfers with 2 current Ryder Cup Players, six major winners and over a 100 players from the European and Asian Tour all wearing the Druh belts.

The leather Druh Belts compromise of 10 different water snake skins, which target both males and females with the turquoise to pink colour range.  

Now every golfer in some point or in most cases several times intheir golfing life would of either taken a putt on a green only to find it hit an uneven bobble you failed to see, which in fact was someone else’s failed attempt to repair the pitch mark or repaired a pitch mark yourself that accidentally was less than satisfactory. Well this could now be a thing of the past thanks to Softspikes.

Softspikes are a leader in manufacturing green-saving products and their enhanced technology seems to have come up with the best product yet.

The new repair tool has a push type feature that encourages and makes it easier for golfers to push the tool into the ground and correctly repair the pitch mark. By aiding golfers in pushing the pitch mark in it allows the roots to be savoured and therefore cutting down the recovery time of those pitch marks on the greens.

An average pitch repair could take 2 - 3 weeks to fully recover after the golfer has torn the roots up but with the new tool used properly it could mean that pitch marks are repaired with days not weeks.

A great idea and hopefully to be seen and available very soon.