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February 2010
Monthly Archive
 I played in the 2nd annual Future Stars Foundation Future Stars Pro-Am on February 20th. The Future Stars Foundation is a grass roots effort to raise money for the players on the Duramed Futures Tour. I was honestly scared about playing with a pro, but these young women need the support of others (like me) to try and make their dreams come true. Many of the ladies on the Futures Tour do not have the funds needed for travel and entry fees for all of the tournaments. So I sucked up my pride and decided to play. I got my husband, Darren, and my father, Jeff, to play with me to make up our foursome with a Futures Tour Pro. Our pro was Garrett Phillips, a University of Georgia graduate. (Check out here bio here). Garrett is a lovely young woman and a great athlete. I was nervous about messing her up or doing something wrong, but she really put me at ease, although this was her chance to make some money. Playing in this pro-am was a wonderful experience. I got to play golf on a beautiful sunny day in Florida. Some dude there asked if I was a “pro” when I walked up near the registration table-I was excited that I looked the part! I helped others else by entering a pro-am. I got to spend time with my dad and husband. I got to know someone new, Garrett, and learn a little bit about what it is like to be a professional athlete. And I stretched myself beyond my comfort zone. If you play golf I highly suggest that you come and play in next year’s event. Nothing is better than the Florida sun, great golf, helping others, and having fun.
To say I have been working hard for the past three years developing the Business Golf Country Club would be a gross understatement. I am very excited to report the club has 639 members all of whom have been screened to be actual bonafide golfers…hint, hint, Mr Advertiser,..these are Real Golfers..not play like golfers. Great place to market. NEW BGCC Blog Today, the BGCC launched its new blog Read More
 Photo: GolfRulesMadeEasy.comP.S. The item with the cross over it is an embedded rock, from which there is no relief.A few questions that I have received concerning loose impediments:
Are you permitted to move a loose rock lying inside a water hazard that interferes with your intended swing when your ball lies just outside of that hazard?
Yes, except when both the loose impediment and the ball lie in or touch the same hazard, any loose impediment may be removed without penalty, providing the removal of the loose impediment does not cause your ball in play to move, Rule 23-1.
If your ball lies on the edge of water inside a water hazard are you permitted to kick aside stones to improve your stance?
No, before making a stroke at a ball that is in a water hazard you must not touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching that hazard, Rule 13-4c. Read how Aaron Baddeley disqualified himself from a PGA tour event last year when he realised that he had broken this Rule.
Can you break off part of a large branch of a tree that has fallen off in a storm and is interfering with your intended area of swing?
Yes, if the branch is detached from the tree and is too big to move, you may simply break off part of the branch and play away, Decision 23-1/4. You may also obtain assistance to remove any large loose impediment, Decision 23-1/3.
Am I permitted to remove clumps of sand from the apron of the putting green when they are in my line of putt?
No, sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere, Definition of Loose Impediments.
Could you clarify if grass cuttings are considered to be loose impediments? I believe they are not when adhering to the ball.
This is correct; anything adhering to a ball is not a loose impediment. Grass cuttings piled for removal may be treated as ground under repair and grass cuttings not intended to be removed are loose impediments and may be brushed or moved from the line of play, except when they lie in the same hazard as the ball, Rule 23-1, Definitions of Loose Impediments and Ground Under Repair.
Do you have to pick-up loose impediments or can you brush them away with your hand?
Loose impediments may be moved by any means, except that, in removing loose impediments on the line of putt, the player must not press anything down. Decision 23-1/1.
Finally, keep in mind that loose impediments are natural objects (i.e. not artificial) that are not fixed or growing, solidly embedded, or adhering to the ball.
Good golfing,
Barry Rhodes
P.S. My thanks to all of you who have emailed compliments to me about my weekly blogs and also to those who have forwarded the link to others who may be interested. It pleases me greatly to know that others are benefiting from my efforts.
 
 Oops, she did it again. The LPGA has played two tournaments so far on its 2010 schedule, and Ai Miyazato has won them both. What other golfers in LPGA history have won the first two tournaments on the schedule? Not Annika or Karrie or Se Ri; not Inkster or Sheehan or Bradley or King; not Lopez or Whitworth. Only Babe Zaharias, Mickey Wright, Louise Suggs and Marilynn Smith - four Hall of Fames, two of whom have their supporters in discussions about who is the best female golfer of all time. That's a good list to add your name to. The Constructivist over at Mostly Harmless was liveblogging Ai's win, and expect him to have a great wrapup post, too. As soon as he's finished doing cartwheels, backflips and raising the roof. 
Decidedly, Ai Miyazato is off to a stellar start in 2010. With her ten-under-par 278 victory this week at the HSBC Women's Champions, she became the first LPGA player in over four decades to start the the season with back-to-back wins. Her ultra-impressive, come-from-behind victory last week in Thailand started the sweep.Meanwhile Cristie Kerr reaffirmed her place as the USA's top golfer, and
.Earlier today I came upon a 1999 profile of Juli Inkster in the archives of SI Vault. Described in the quaint parlance of the day, as a "Soccer Mom", Julie was in fact, a mother of two at that point, and had just won the 54th U.S. Women's Open at Old Waverly Golf Club. With that win she effectively advanced a couple of points toward her Hall of Fame goal and proved that her "comeback from the
Driving across Alligator Alley early Tuesday morning I was staring directly into the sun and wondering what the week held. Sunday I’d hooked up with Jim Roy, some amateur who played a fabulous final round 66 at the Q-school to get his card. Could he really play? Was this going to be only a job for the week or maybe the year? What kind of guy is he? Is the pay going to be any good? All these questions were running through my head as I cruised into Boca Raton and the Old Course at Broken Sound.
The Champions Tour has been playing here for four years and I worked the first event in 2007. It’s a rather short challenging track with difficult winds, hard fast fairways, and treacherous Bermuda greens. With good tee balls all the par fives are reachable so the guys usually score fairly low. I walked the course finishing just after noon and waited for Jim. It was nice sitting in the lot with a job instead of searching for one.
There was a junior pro-am on the back side so we played a quick front nine. We got to know each other a bit, Jim’s buddy “Killer” tagged along, and we had a good time. First impressions mean a lot. Jim was a good guy and could play; this was going to be a good week and something for the future. During the pro-am Wednesday Jim shot a smooth 68 with a double bogey and we laid out our plans for the week. He was great with the amateurs and everyone had a good old time.
I didn’t realize Jim’s story was that big until Dave Kindred, Golf Digest writer and new inductee into the Golf Writer’s Hall of Fame showed up Thursday asking questions and following us around. There was a picture shoot for the magazine article that will be published in May. This is the first time an amateur has had full time exemption on the Champions Tour and Jim had a lot of Syracuse friends following him along with well wishers who had heard about his feat.
We were the first group off the back side on Friday with another couple of unknowns but we had a rather nice crowd. There was an early birdie on eleven, a stupid bogey on twelve, then he made a bomb on the par three fourteenth. He seemed to have things under control and we were working well together making the turn at two under. After the earth stood still for Tiger’s announcement at 11:00 the crowd rejoined us and I noticed Dave Kindred following along jotting notes; it was time to put on a show.
Jim hit a perfect drive on the par five first hole, knocked his trusty rescue club just short of the green leaving a perfect pitch shot across the Bermuda. Standing along the ropes waiting for our partners to play their third shots we noticed a young boy with his parents. I walked up whispered, “Guess a number between 2 and 4.”
He looked quizzically at me and his mom nudged him. “Between 2 and 4” she said. He responded with a giggle, “Oh, three.” I handed him Jim’s used ball and a couple minutes later Jim pitched in for eagle. Crossing the sixth fairway, a reachable par five we bumped into the kid and his parents again, chatted a bit and proceeded to knock our ball pin high short of the green in two. Again, with the kid standing directly across the green, Jim made another chip shot for three. He took the ball from the cup signed it and handed it to the kid. Talking with reporters after the round Jim introduced his good luck charm to the crowd and told him to be here tomorrow.
Every Friday night there is a Champions Tour fellowship meeting. Church on the move without the church stuff and Bernhard Langer invited everyone over to his home for dinner. The double gated community was very impressive, the Langer’s were gracious hosts, and we stuffed ourselves on flounder, pasta, chicken, and dessert table filled with goodies. There’s a lot more camaraderie on the Champions Tour among players and caddies, everyone had a great time.
We were six under, two shots out of the lead and in the next to the last group Saturday with Tim Simpson and Mike Reid. I could tell Jim was nervous, tried to calm him a bit but our good luck charm didn’t show up and we struggled shooting 73. It’s a learning curve and you have to be in the position a few times before you get comfortable. I have a feeling he’s going to be in position quite a few times before the year is done.
Saturday Jim was asking questions about the next tournament in Newport Beach, wondering about the course, and then asked who I was working for. When I told him nobody he offered me the job and I quickly accepted. I think this is going to be a good match, a little bit of a challenge, and a lot of fun. We shot even par on the weekend finished six under and made about $10,000, not bad for an amateur’s second tournament.
We’ll see, another caddy thought he had the job lined up but Jim said he never made a commitment. There may be a bit of a riff in the parking lot next week but for right now I have the job and it’s a good feeling.
 PutterZone.com today launches a new series called Putter Fitting Tips, in which we demystify putter fitting jargon to give you practical information for raising your game.
We begin with "putter lie angle," which is the angle at which the shaft intersects the horizontal sole of the putter.
For visual reference, consider that a croquet mallet has a lie angle of 90 degrees, because the shaft is perpendicular to the head. On a putter, however, the shaft intersects the head at a shallower angle. A typical lie angle for a putter ranges from 70 to 72 degrees.
When you see a golfer address a putt with the toe of the putter raised off the ground, that’s a lie angle issue, because the lie angle of that putter doesn’t properly fit the physique or mechanics of that particular golfer. When the lie angle is properly fitted, the sole of the putter will be flush with the ground, with neither the toe nor heel sticking up.
An improper putter lie angle can cause persistent performance problems with pushing or pulling putts.
There is no “right” lie angle. The lie angle that works for you might be the wrong lie angle for someone else. Again, it depends on your own personal physique and mechanics, and overall approach to putting.
Some companies, such as SeeMore Putter Company, offer custom lie angle options at the point of purchase. Rife Putters makes several models with a special LieAline technology, whereby you can safely and easily change the lie angle of the putter. But most putters come with a fixed lie angle, and if you want to change it, you need to find a trained professional with the right bending tool.
While 71 degrees is probably considered the “average” lie angle, there is considerable variation in the marketplace. For example, the Yes! Dawn putter comes with a lie angle of 72 degrees; the Mizuno Bettinardi Black Carbon putter comes with a lie angle of 71 degrees; and the Cleveland BRZ bronze putter comes with a lie angle of 70 degrees.
So how do you apply this information to your own game? For starters, make sure that the lie angle on your current putter isn’t out of whack. Have a friend watch you putt and tell you if the toe or heel is sticking up.
If the toe is up, you likely need a flatter (smaller number) lie angle. If the heel is up, you probably need a more upright (higher number) lie angle—assuming that you don’t plan to make any drastic changes to your putting setup anytime soon.
Similarly, if you are in the market for a putter, pay attention to the lie angles of the putters you are sampling. Of course, you can always have a putter’s lie angle adjusted, as long as you don’t mind finding and paying someone to do it.
The bottom line is that lie angle can have a significant impact on your putting results, so keep a close eye on it.
P.S. Stay tuned for future entries in the Putter Fitting Tips series. For additional putter fitting insights, consider purchasing PutterZone.com's Ultimate Putter Buyer's Guide.
Every year UK sends over 600 million batteries* to landfill which in weight alone equals 110 jumbo jets. And what’s more by 2016, the UK will be required by EU directives to recycle nearly half (45%) of all new household batteries sold Something needs to change. More info http://www.yourenvironmentalguide.com/Articles/34.aspx
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 David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer for the Nintendo Wii was unveiled in the U.S. at the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show.
It looks like a very cool and very useful tool for golfers who are looking to improve their game without having to brave the elements or find time to head to the range.
Incorporating David Leadbetter’s Seven Steps to a Better Golf Swing, “My Personal Golf Trainer” analyzes: grip, posture, alignment, ball position, coil, swing shape, and tempo. Offering instructional videos and drills within each of these seven basics, players can improve their swing step-by-step and then graduate from training mode to the practice range and onto a full 18-hole game where after each shot the golfer has the option to get feedback from David Leadbetter and suggested drills for improvement.
Taking advantage of the new gyroscopically controlled MotionPlus controller, introduced in June 2009, David Leadbetter’s “My Personal Golf Trainer” is the first home golf product to record and analyze a full golf swing from address to backswing, impact to follow through, in three dimensions and over time. It then offers the opportunity to compare the users own swing with an ideal swing to identify areas for improvement. Swings can then be replayed in 3D so the user can view his/her swing from any angle for detailed analysis.
This trainer then goes further and provides step by step corrective drills which it guides you through in an interactive process. To date, a few golf training devices have been available for the home, but have only given basic feedback limited to just the impact portion of a swing. “My Personal Golf  Trainer” is comparable with professional golf trainers costing thousands of dollars and similarly provides complete analysis of clubhead speed, angle and force through the entire swing process, and includes weight transfer, swing plane and tempo.
My Personal Golf Trainer features an hour worth of golf video featuring David Leadbetter demonstrating a series of swing drills and fourteen interactive drills designed to correct various aspects of your golf swing.
Every swing you take is analyzed and gives you immediate feedback on what you’re doing wrong and how to improve it. Once swing faults are identified, David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer suggests drills that will improve the particular fault that’s been identified in your golf swing.
According to the gents at the booth, it is incredibly accurate, the Wii Motion Plus is a gyroscope designed to give you one to one feedback capturing a detailed swing that some of the big dogs in the space cannot duplicate.
As you play and get some swings logged, the software will customize for you a series of golf drills for you to follow to aid in improvement.
Presently the software only offers full swing golf tips, evaluation and drills and no short game or shot shaping drills or training are included.
 That is something that they’re going to be implementing in the next iteration of the software.
Something else that broke my heart, this release of the David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer is for right handed golfers only, there’s been no functionality built into it for us southpaws.. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? First club manufacturers and now software companies! Curses on you all!
David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer release date is sometime in March, 2010 with a suggested retail price of $99 and they’ll be available in golf shops and sporting goods retailers throughout the country.
Something that shocked me and something, from a business standpoint, I disagree with, they’re not going to be selling them in electronic retailer or gaming stores. They’re very adamant that David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer is NOT a game, but a training tool for golfers who are looking to improve their game.
Does this look like something you’d be interested in using and if so, do you think it’s worth the $99 SRP?
Here’s more 2010 PGA Merchandise Show posts.
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I played in the 2nd annual Future Stars Foundation Future Stars Pro-Am on February 20th. The Future Stars Foundation is a grass roots effort to raise money for the players on the Duramed Futures Tour. I was honestly scared about playing with a pro, but these young women need the support of others (like me) to try and make their dreams come true. Many of the ladies on the Futures Tour do not have the funds needed for travel and entry fees for all of the tournaments. So I sucked up my pride and decided to play. I got my husband, Darren, and my father, Jeff, to play with me to make up our foursome with a Futures Tour Pro.
