5 min read

THE STARTER SHACK

Oh, you didn't get invited to The Masters? Big surprise! We think The Masters Lottery is a giant scam symbolizing golf as a whole. You start out very confident and hopeful and by the end, you're angry and dejected...and yet you knew this was going to be the outcome the entire time.

šŸŖ“ Can a pro destroy your golf course?

šŸ’„ Lip Balm...the secret to longer drives

šŸš— Check out New Zealand's 17 Mile Drive

ā›³ļø Korean hole-in-ones can cost the entire group $3,000!


PGA TOUR

That's the site of Bubba Watson hitting bombs and throwing darts (no it's not)

Local Muni Destroyed By Pro

That's the site of Bubba Watson hitting bombs and throwing darts (no it's not)

We briefly noted earlier in the week that Bubba Watson played a local municipal track in Scottsdale as part of a Golf Digest article to figure out the age old question:

What would a touring pro shoot at your local course?

The course - Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale:

  • 6,106 yards, rating 72.3, slope 124
  • 1000 yards shorter than an average PGA stop
  • 18-hole main course, 9-hole loop called the Mulligan 9 (teaser: our kinda place!)
  • Now word on whether Bubba had to un-velcro his wallet and pony up the $36 green fee

The above numbers don’t seem daunting and that’s the point

  • Average Joe hits his drive about 220 yards
  • At that distance, USGA recommends playing anywhere from 5,800 - 6,000 yards

Combing through the story/infographics, Bubba’s round distilled:

  • shot 62 (8 birdies, 1 eagle, 2 bogeys, 7 pars)
  • Average drive - 325.8 yards
  • ~68 feet of made putts, longest was 30 feet, many short tap ins
  • Longest approach to par 5 was a 5-iron (second shot on 559 yard hole!)

A casual round 62 is impressive enough, but get a load of the description of some shots he hit:

  • 350-yard ā€œnice, easy cutā€ tee ball
  • piercing 310-yard ā€œstingerā€ on the #1 handicap hole
  • 300-yard drive into a three-club wind
  • a 198-yard 6-iron (worked 30 yards left to right), hit to 15 feet, reaching a par 5 in two

No word if our famous pity mulligans or 3 putt maximum rules were invoked, but we feel they may have been absent, much like the above shot descriptions in our game.

At the round’s conclusion, Bubba exclaimed ā€œProbably could have been lower, but you don’t want to disrespect a courseā€. We couldn’t agree more Mr. Watson (as we knowingly reach into our bag to grab one of the beers we snuck on the course that day).


GIMME

  • If you put lip balm on it: can you hit it long and straight? We have an uncle that carries around a Chapstick (cherry) and smears it on his driver before taking a rip at his tee ball. According to Golf Digest, this is a real thing. We've just ordered a case of Chapstick if anyone needs one.
  • The Perfect Burger: is made with 100 percent Japanese Wagyu at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, in Carlsbad. Here are the 4 steps to making this burger yourself.
  • Who's got The Best Balls: according to golf digest who tested 85 different types of golf balls. 28 made the list with one of them retailing at $20 per dozen. Unfortunately, our prized Pinnacle Gold's did not make the list, again.
  • Trick out your bag: want to find out what clubs you should buy but can't afford to buy? Use Golf Digest's interactive thingy ma'doo to fill your bag...with clubs you probably still can't hit. But they'll be clean of sky-marks.
  • 2022 starts in September: that is not a typo, the 2022 PGA Tour season starts September 16th in Napa Valley. Here is the full tour schedule.
  • All Hole-In-One's are not equal: especially if you're golfing in Korea. You can buy insurance before you tee off so the Clubhouse bar bill doesn't dip into your rent money. Or you end up having to gift the golfer with a trophy, adorned with real gold worth between $1,000~$3,000. Let me ask you, what if it's a shank that ricochets off a tree into the hole...do you really want to pay out $3,000 for a gold trophy.
  • The best courses in every state: as stated here by people we do not know.
  • New Zealand's 17 Mile Drive: Tara Iti has a little sister...Te Arai Linksthat will be open to the public. Tara Iti was designed by Tom Doak and Te Arai was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. But wait, there's more, Tom Doak will design a third course that will be a part of the Te Arai development.
  • Bullseye vs Modern Blade: we always wondered how our Bullseye measured up to the rest of the pack...now we don't have to wonder. MyGolfSpy did a test and came up with these results.

PIC OF THE DAY

It's that time of year!

It's kinda like Christmas but instead of getting presents you get kicked in the junk. Year-after-G@D-D&MN-YEAR. We're fine. We're totally fine. We should've seen this coming.


W(was)ITB

Gene Sarazen: has been recognized for designing the modern sand wedge...with an assist from Howard Hughes.

Not to toot our own horns, but we'd like to point out that Gene's sand wedge looks eerily similar to our sand wedge after we've dragged it behind the golf cart from the 5th green to the 6th tee box after a disastrous experience in the greenside bunker. I guess, technically, we can blame Gene for not being able to get the ball out in our first 6 tries.


INSIDE THE ROPES

Dechambeau in the mix: the argument is that Dechambeau made the cut at every major. The flip side is that Rahm, Morikawa, and Oosthuizen tossed him around like a rag doll.

Let's also take note that there were only 6 players who made the cut in all four majors who finished with a cumulative score under par.


GOLF GEAR

LinkSoul: why buy a fancy new driver that has incredible technology for $750 when you can buy a wooden club for $500?

LinkSoul is bringing some soul back to the game of golf with their line of persimmon woods. These just look good. We're sure they feel good. And in the right hands, "wood" work good too.

*not a sponsored post (may be affiliate links at times)


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