Quick Hits – Vol. 4

Even though this is supposed to be the winding down of the regular season and the off season is looming, there is a lot going on in golf these days! There was the Hall of Fame Induction last week, and Phil and Tiger paired in the final round at the HSBC Champions in China, and of course the final PGA Tour stop at the Children’s Mirace Network Classic at Disney. Next month we’ll have the drama of the PGA and LPGA Q-School to follow also. Without further ado, let’s get to this week’s quick hits!

Ryan Moore has signed with Scratch Golf to play their wedges and irons. The agreement also makes him part owner of the young company, who are known for making butter soft wedges. So now instead of wearing a drab grey painter’s cap, he’s wearing a drab grey ball cap with the Scratch Golf logo. Of course, it’s matched with his boring grey shirt and way too tight navy blue slacks, complete with what looks like skateboard shoes with spikes on them. Combine the street-bum wardrobe with the 5 days of facial hair and the “what the hell are you looking at” look he always has on his face, and it makes for a less than marketable image in my opinion. Moore manages to make Happy Gilmore’s caddy look good by comparison.

Woods vs. Mickelson, this time it’s in China at the WGC HSBC Champions. It is always a big draw when Woods and Mickelson are in the field, but on the final round Sunday they will go head to head again for the title. In the US, we can watch this battle on Saturday night at 11 EST. This is the first time since Doral in 05 that the two face off in a final round together, but the 25th time they have been paired together. Should be fun to watch!

Cleveland Golf has been nice enough to send me a set of the new CG7 Black Pearl irons and a DST Tour driver to test out. The irons look spectacular and perform just as well so far in early testing. The driver is very solid and should be very popular with the better players especially. All players should benefit from the sub 300 technology in the DST drivers. A full review is coming soon!

I recently played a round of golf at the much acclaimed Sugarloaf Mountain Club in Minneola, FL. Normally I call ahead to inform the head pro or GM before hand that I am going to do a review of the course, but this time I showed up incognito. The course is a true gem, designed by Coore and Crenshaw. The facility was built as a private club, but due to the economic downturn they opened to the public. We arrived just before noon to hear that they had no carts left, and had to wait almost an hour to get a cart. By then, several groups teed off before us because the staff were unorganized and being pressured by impatient golfers. To make matters worse, our cart ran out of steam half way up 18, making us walk the rest of the way in. You’re going to lose points for that one Sugarloaf! 🙂

I sat in front of Jeff Rude at the Hall of Fame Induction, and his column in Golfweek was written as if he had been reading my mind. There isn’t enough star power for these events. He suggested making the Hall of Fame ceremony a part of the Player’s Championship week, along with moving the Champion Tour Legends of Golf tournament back to the Slammer & Squire course at the World Golf Village so as to get many of the stars in attendance. This move would be a good one to boost the event to a must-attend. Of course, he failed to include the LPGA Tour in his suggestion. Shame on him, and shame on the golf world for turning the LPGA Tour into an afterthought…

Far too often I see some weekend players hitting off the back tees when they have no business being there. “I want to see the whole course” is no excuse to play the wrong tees, and neither is an inflated ego. If you can’t fly the ball 250 with a driver, don’t play a 7000 yard course from the tips! It slows down the game and frustrates the legit players to see you hit your weak push fade off the back tees. I wish courses in the states made you present a handicap card to play and make players hit off the proper tees. I have no patience for people searching for their ball because they failed to make the 230 yard carry to the fairway!

November and December are very busy months here at intothegrain.com! We’re working on a club review for the new CG7 Black Pearl irons as mentioned before, we’ll be attending the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney to report on the happenings there, I spent a few hours at the Rife Putter Studio for a fitting and we’ll talk about that, and of course the LPGA and PGA Tour Q-School Finals are approaching fast! Come back to check on the latest, or subscribe below to email updates to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox!