As the 2014 season winds down, there seems to be a lot of dismal buzz in the press about the state of golf and its future. But is it really all doom and gloom? Golf courses had been closing at an average rate of 100 per year (157 in 2011) and others are being sold for ridiculously low amounts of money. Since around 2000, shortly after Tiger came on the scene, more golfers began leaving the sport than those who were taking it up. The number of frequent golfers (golfers that play more than 12 times a year) has dropped by one-third in recent years. Why, you ask?

Some people chalk it up to the decline in the economy versus the cost to play the game. Others point to the amount of time it takes to play, that they are too busy, that they have less leisure time due to their jobs. family commitments and more work needed to get done around the house. While others just feel it is too difficult a game to play. They get frustrated and quit. This was something I felt was far-reaching until I recently played with someone who just returned to the game after a five-year hiatus having quit playing because he was too frustrated.

First of all, this “sky is falling” attitude toward the game of golf is precipitated by the golf equipment industry. Sales are down and they’re in a panic. Secondly, the industry is going through a correction, one they’d prefer not to admit. Tiger Woods created a golf frenzy which resulted in an over saturation of golf courses being built. According the National Golf Foundation, 4,500 courses opened between 1986 and 2005. Since, 2006, 643 courses have closed. That equates to less than 5 percent of the 14,564 golf courses in the U.S.

Mark King, President of Adidas Group North America, which owns TaylorMade, Adams, Reebok, among others, wants to grow the game by enlarging the cup size to 15 inches. He thinks it will be more fun for those entering the game. Please! It’s programs like the USGA’s Drive, Chip and Putt competition, that was debuted at The Masters this year, that will get young people excited about the game. The golf industry has to accept that not every person will take up the game of golf just as not everyone plays soccer. The sky is not falling, it’s just a little cloudy.

Stop slow play and may your lies be good ones!

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The holiday season is the last opportunity to secure multi-entry e-ticket packages

LANCASTER, Pa. – This year’s final ticket offering for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open in Lancaster will begin
Monday, Dec. 1, and will run through the end of the month. These offerings will be the last time flexible, multi-entry e-ticket packages will be available. Due to overwhelming demand, the exclusive 1761 Club week-long badges will only be available as inventory remains. To take advantage of this limited opportunity, the public should visit www.2015uswomensopen.com/tickets to purchase tickets. The first 200 customers to purchase their tickets on Cyber Monday will receive a gift — a commemorative 2015 U.S. Women’s Open hat.

“We’ve seen a huge outpouring of support and excitement for the 2015 Women’s Open starting with our very first ticket offering in July, and the excitement is continuing to grow,” said Barry Deach, championship director of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open. “Many ticket buyers are looking at the championship as a historic experience that they will share with friends, spouses and even their children with these valuable multi-entry flexible e-tickets. That type of support is completely humbling for everyone who is working behind the scenes to build the 2015 Women’s Open in Lancaster.”
Considered the world’s premier women’s golf championship, the U.S. Women’s Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association (USGA). It is open to professional female golfers and amateur females with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 2.4. Michelle Wie claimed the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open title at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2 in North Carolina and is expected to attempt to defend her title at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open.

The 2015 U.S. Women’s Open will be held from July 6-12, 2015, at Lancaster Country Club. It will be the first USGA event hosted by the club and the 83rd USGA championship conducted in Pennsylvania, making it the ninth time the commonwealth has hosted the championship. For more information about the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, visit www.2015uswomensopen.com.

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expresso-wr62-gps-golf-watch-2Links and Luxury: ESN WR67 and WR72

I road tested the Garmin when it first came out and it quickly became my “fifteenth club.” The only time I looked at a yardage marker was to check the accuracy of my Garmin. My only complaint with the Garmin was its short battery life and occasional loss of connection with the satellites.

About a year later, I stumbled upon a new, unknown branded GPS watch by a company named ESN (Express Satellite Navigation) which made the WR67. The WR67 claimed to connect to more satellites (67) and provide longer battery life that it’s competition (which, at that time, was the Garmin). Not only did it connect to the satellites quickly and stay connected throughout the round, there was still 75% battery life remaing at the end of the round compared to almost none with the Garmin. The WR67 also had features that the Garmin did not have such as the ability to set your tee time on the watch which will activate the GPS at that precise time. It also provides you with the total time your round took once you’ve turned off the device at the completion of your round.

The course mapping on the WR67 is provided by iGolf, a company that maps golf courses for a number of handheld distance measuring devices. I was playing Liberty National, in Jersey City, NJ and found that the distances the WR67 provided me on hole 18 were inaccurate primarily due to a redesign of the hole. I sent emails both to iGolf (who got back to me right away and provided me with an update within a couple of days) and to Garmin, who never got back to me, for three years now and counting.

Earlier this year, ESN decided to pick it up a few notches by releasing the WR72 (72 satellites), a luxury GPS watch designed to be worn as an everyday piece of jewelry. The WR72 comes in both polished and brushed titanium with an anti-reflective crystal, stainless steel buttons, leather band from Hadley Roma, and a smooth, curved face. The WR72 comes with the same great technology as the WR67.Brushed_Family The only indication that it is used for golf is by the tee flag image on the casing. Other than that, it makes a rich, classy presentation that I guarantee your favorite golfer will be thrilled to wear.

The reason you might never have heard of ESN is due to a licensing agreement between Bushnell and ESN who provides the technology to Bushnell for their watches. So, if you already own a Bushnell watch, you also won an ESN.

The WR67 is available on their website, www.golfesn.com for only $149.99 as is the WR72 which is priced at $249.99 for the polished titanium model and $269.99 for the brushed titanium. All three watches come with a 2 year warranty. They have great customer service and truly value their customers. Available at www.golfesn.com.

Do you think I like this product? Maybe just a little.

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As the 2014 season winds down, there seems to be a lot of dismal buzz in the press about the state of golf and its future. But is it really all doom and gloom?

Golf courses had been closing at an average rate of 100 per year (157 in 2011) and others are being sold for ridiculously low amounts of money. Since around 2000, shortly after Tiger came on the scene, more golfers began leaving the sport than those who were taking it up. The number of frequent golfers (golfers that play more than 12 times a year) has dropped by one third in recent years. Why, you ask?

Some people chalk it up to the decline in the economy versus the cost to play the game. Others point to the amount of time it takes to play, that they are too busy, that they have less leisure time due to their jobs. family commitments and more work needed to get done around the house. While others just feel it is too difficult a game to play. They get frustrated and quit. This was something I felt was far reaching until I recently played with someone who just returned to the game after a five year hiatus having quit playing because he was too frustrated.

First of all, this “sky is falling” attitude toward the game of golf is precipitated by the golf equipment industry. Sales are down and they’re in a panic. Secondly, the industry is going through a correction, one they’d prefer not to admit. Tiger Woods created a golf frenzy which resulted in an over satuation of golf courses being built. According the the National Golf Foundation, 4,500 courses opened between 1986 and 2005. Since, 2006, 643 courses have closed. That equates to less than 5 percent of the 14,564 golf courses in the U.S.

Mark King, President of Adidas Group North America, which owns TaylorMade, Adams, Reebok, among others, wants to grow the game by enlarging the cup size to 15 inches. He thinks it will be more fun for those entering the game. Please! It’s programs like the USGA’s Drive, Pitch and Putt competition, that was debuted at The Masters this year, that will get young people excited about the game. The golf industry has to accept that not every person will take up the game of golf just as not everyone plays soccer. The sky is not falling, it’s just a little cloudy.

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Heated Clothing
Mobile Warming Gear
Mobile Warming Gear
One of the items that caught my attention at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida, this past January, was a light weight, heated wind jacket. Traditionally targetted to the outdoor sports market that include snowboarding, skiing, fishing, motorsports, hunting, and all other outdoor activities where you need to stay warm, Mobile Warming Gear decided to add golf to that list.

Now, I am not a cold weather golfer. In fact, I am not a fan of playing golf in temperatures that fall below 55 degrees (I’ll only play in the upper 50’s if it’s sunny and the wind isn’t blowing). However, I know there are a lot of golfers that will play golf throughout the winter season as long as there is no snow on the ground and the golf course in open for play. If you are one of these people, then this garment might be just what you are looking for.

Mobile Warming Gear sent me a sample of their heated jacket this past February that I wanted to try out and if I thought it was something of value for our readers, to write about it for this issue of Publisher’s Picks since there would be enough time for you to purchase it prior to the cold weather this coming winter. I actually wanted to try the heated vest but I received the jacket instead. In full disclosure, I did not try the garment out on the golf course. I did, however, wear the heated jacket on a number of occasions in an attempt to mimic the amount of clothing I would have worn, had I been playing golf, to determine whether if would be of value to golfers for winter play.

The first thing I looked for was whether this heated jacket would reduce the bulkiness of the undergarments I would usually wear when playing in colder temperatures. Typically, I would wear an undershirt, a thermal undershirt, a mock or regular turtleneck, a thin vest sweater, and perhaps a light weight windbreaker. My goal would be to reduce the amount of bulkiness on my arms while trying to keep my body as warm as possible.

With the heated jacket, I was able to reduce a couple of heavy layers by eliminating the need for a thermal undershirt and sweater vest while staying very warm.

The jacket has three heating panels on the front and back of the jacket. In order for the jacket to work effectively, the panels have to be snug to your body since they heat up and will not warm you if they are not resting on you. Therefore, you want to wear a size that does not permit you to have enough room to wear a sweater or something similar underneath. The garment comes with a Rechargeable 7V 2.2Ah Li-Ion Battery that can provide you with up to 10 hours of warmth depending on your heat setting. Made of lightweight Windshark® 4-way stretch, waterproof, breathable windproof fabric, I put the heated jacket through the test of swinging a golf club to ensure it would not hinder my swing nor feel uncomfortable in the process. The jacket felt like I was wearing a rain/wind jacket but without the bulkiness from additional clothing you would expect to wear underneath on a cold day. It actually felt pretty good. I wish the manufacturer had sent me the vest, which is what I preferred, so I could have worn it underneath a very light weight windbreaker. However, the jacket seemed to enable me to accomplish what I wanted to achieve: to wear in 35/40 degrees weather what I would typically wear in 50 degrees. The Battery Heated Softshell Heated Jacket does the trick.

The Battery Heated Softshell Heated Jacket retails for $199.99 while the Battery Heated Softshell Heated Vest retails for $159.99 and are available on their website, mobilewarminggear.com.

PLAY GOLF FOR LESS
Tee Time Golf Pass

Adobe Photoshop PDF

No one needs to tell you how expensive golf can be, especially for the avid golfer. Even if you played twice a week at a county golf course, you could be paying as much as $80 a week!
The common statement that golfers, who have been using the Tee Time Golf Pass, say is, “Tee Time Golf Pass will pay for itself after the second time you use it.” I have not used nor tried the Tee Time Golf Pass. But, I have known a number of golfers who have and they swear by it. In fact, they do not begin their golf season until they have purchased a current edition for their area.

According to Tee Time Golf Pass, there are 218 golf courses who participate in the Northeast edition; there are 113 free greens fees at 56 courses; 78% of the courses that participate offer weekend discounts; and, there are additional Specials for seniors.

Here’s how it works: Purchase the passbook online and when you receive it in the mail, you call and make a tee time just like normal and then tell them that you are a Tee Time Golf Pass member. You then bring it with you to the course when you go to check in, show them your passbook and they will accept the offer for their course that is listed in the book. No need to cut out coupons. The course will just check off one of the boxes next to their offer. Offers can be valid from 1X to 4X up to 10X or even Unlimited usage, depending on the golf course.

Tee Time Golf Pass will provide readers of Great Golf Magazine with a 15% discount on your purchase for your 2014 Tee Time Golf Pass by using the code, GGM14 at check out. Sounds like a great gift idea for your favorite golfers for the Holiday Season!

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Dear Golfer,
If you don’t need anything from the beverage cart, then please
throw us a thumbs up so we can continue on our way.

Dear Golfer,
I’m sure your son is great, but I go to school one thousand miles away so I don’t see things working out between us. Respectfully, of course.

Dear Golfer,
No, I do not want to give you a hug.

Dear Golfer,
Please bear with us as we calculate the cost of your purchase. It’s hot outside so it may take a few extra seconds.

Dear Golfer,
Try to break any bills larger than $10 before leaving the clubhouse.

Dear Golfer,
Sorry, I don’t sell hole-in-ones. Just snacks and drinks.

Dear Golfer,
If you’re having a bad game, don’t take your anger out on us. We are more than happy to sell you a beer or two though.

Dear Golfer,
Keep your hands and feet outside of the beverage cart at all times.

Dear Golfer,
It’s dangerous for us to wait in front of you as you swing, so wave us up if we’re close enough or you think we’re in the way.

Dear Golfer,
Fill up the cooler on your cart with ice before teeing off so you don’t need to take ours.

Dear Golfer,
Please remind me what your usual is.

Thank you and enjoy your round!

Fondly,
Katie

Katie is employed as a cart girl at a golf course in the tri-state area.
She attends college at the University of Alabama. #RollTide
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I am very excited to be featuring Northern Michigan Golf on the cover and as our Featured Golf Courses in this final issue for 2013.

I traveled to Northern Michigan this past July as the guest of Michigan Tourism and was not only impressed with how beautiful Northern Michigan and the golf courses are but also how popular the game of golf is in that part of the country. You may already know how hard Michigan was hit by the financial downturn at the end of 2008 and its continuing struggle to regain some of the financial stability it had prior to the downturn. What surprised me was how busy the golf courses were and the number of retail businesses there were is the surrounding areas, especially Gaylord where Treetops is located. I was assured that even though the economy appears to be improving, most of the golfers I saw were from out of state and that Michigan still has a ways to go. So, if you are looking for a great summer golf getaway, consider visiting Northern Michigan and staying and playing at Shanty Creek Resort and Forest Dunes Golf Club.

Well, another year without Tiger winning a major. The good news is that Phil won The Open Championship at the age of 43 which has to make Tiger, at age 36, feel a bit better at the prospect of “next year.” And what about my man, Jason Dufner? Early in this year’s golf season, someone asked me which golfer I felt would win some golf tournaments. I said, Jason Dufner. I like his temperment and more importantly, his consistent and steady golf swing. Well, Jason proved me right by winning the PGA Championship. I suspect we’ll be seeing Jason in the winner’s circle again in 2014! War Eagle, Jason! Roll Tide, Amanda!

And finally, this past June you might have seen the USGA’s promotion, “While We’re Young” created for speeding up the pace of play. It was a great campaign with a great slogan. So, even though June has come and gone, the mantra continues…Be aware of those behind you and keep up with the group in front of you.

Stop slow play! While we’re young!

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Today is the last day the USGA has set aside for comments regarding the proposed ban on anchoring a golf club against one’s body when making a putting stroke. The PGA Tour came out earlier this week stating that they disagree with the proposed ban and would be concerned if went through. They feel that the long putter, and how it anchors against the body to swing the club, has been used for the past thirty years and their statistics show that there is no advantage to the golfer by anchoring the putter against his body over the traditional putter which requires the golfer to swing his arms freely when making a putting stroke.

Quite frankly, what else did we expect from the PGA Tour? Their interest is to keep their members happy, especially Keegan Bradley, a winner of their premiere tournament, the PGA Championship.

Quoting from an article by Steve DiMeglio, of USAToday.com, “The governing bodies (the USGA and R&A) said the proposed rule change is not based on performance, but instead deals with the fundamentals and traditions of the game.  “There is no compelling data to prove anchoring helps”, said the R&A’s chief executive Peter Dawson. “This is about defining what a golf stroke is.” Many players won’t shed a tear if anchoring ultimately is banned, including Tiger Woods, who thinks the “art of putting” is swinging the club and controlling nerves without a fixed point.

Opinion:

I agree with the USGA and R&A and feel that anchoring a club against one’s body could be an advantage to a golfer over another golfer when making a putting stroke. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Why do golfers switch or use a long putter to begin with?” The answer, I have frequently come across, is because it has helped them make a smoother stoke and they might have “quit” the game (which I also feel is an exaggeration) if they had to continue to putt using a traditional putter. The bottom line is that is has “cured” the yips for many golfers.

The responsibility of these governing bodies is to ensure that the integrity of the game remains intact for years to come and that the rules should be consistent for all players. This would not be the first time that the USGA has banned something that golf club manufacturers were making and golfers were using. They have overturned rulings regarding the size of the club head, the length of the shafts, the design of the grooves, and the face of the driver. These rules are primarily designed for the better golfers, especially professionals and single digit amateurs, who compete on a national level. However, to keep the sport consistent across the board, the rules also apply to the recreational golfers.

The main argument going against the governing bodies is the question as to why has the anchor putter been allowed to be used for all this time and why, after thirty years, is this suddenly an issue? The answer is because the club has made its way up to the professional ranks and tour players are suddenly winning using the technique, i.e.  Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley, Tim Clarke, Johnny Miller, Orville Moody, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, among a few.  According to TheLongPutter.com, after college, Scott McCarron gave up golf for four years. His return to golf was sparked in 1991 at a Champions Tour event at Rancho Murieta, CA. After watching seniors (who used the long putter), Scott went home and built a long putter in garage. He nearly won the U.S. Mid-Amateur with a homemade model later that year. Scott used a more sophisticated version to win his three Tour titles.

Those against the ban argue that it will chase the recreational golfer away from the game. Nonsense. If a golfer quits the game because he could no longer be permitted to use an anchor putter, then so be it. I suspect that number would be so insignificant that it will be almost incalculable. So I don’t buy that argument.

However, in order to compromise, which is what will need to be done at this juncture, I propose the following:

Ban the technique of anchoring any club against the body when making a golf swing or stroke at the professional level. For the amateur level, in competition play, consider it to be a “local rule” left up to the discretion of the tournament’s governing body to determine whether it would be permitted for their competition.

This will allow recreational golfers to continue to use the anchor putter and continue to play the game if they were considering quitting the sport had the ban was to be upheld for recreational golfers. Think of it as the same as the ruling that permits the usage of distance measuring devices. The usage of devices are permitted for recreational golfers and is left up to the discretion of tournament organizers for competition play.

I welcome your comments.

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Every year, new golf products that are “guaranteed to improve your game,” come onto the golf market as sure as the seasons change and the sun rises and sets each day. When I see some of these products, often at the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, I scratch my head and wonder why a new golf tee or a new, more absorbent towel or another, new and improved divot tool? Many of these items are brought to market by private “inventors” who have mortgaged their homes and kids in their pursuit of gaining financial success from their product. However, every now and then, a golf product comes along that might not necessarily be new technology but takes existing technology to a whole new level.

Distance or range finders and GPS technology have had an enormous effect on amateur golf. The inital object of these devices was to speed up play. This purpose has been the topic of many heated debates as to whether they actually do speed up play which I believe they do when used properly. What I mean is, some of these devices actually “backfire” due to the amount of time golfers spend reviewing the information provided on the devices which can result in the pace of play actually slowing down! For this reason, I have always preferred the Range Finder due to its ability to point and shoot in order to obtain the distance to my target. It’s quick, simple, and accurate. However, my world was recently  turned upside down with a device that will definitely speed up play, guaranteed, no arguments allowed, end of discussion!

Garmin recently introduced the  Approach S1 GPS Watch. In a nutshell, this device measures the distance from where you are standing, anywhere on the hole or in the rough or even on another fairway, to the Front, Middle, and Back of the green you are hitting to. It provides you with the same information as yardage markers with the exception that you no longer have to find a yardage marker and then pace off the distance from that marker to your ball. This time consuming activity is exactly why distance measuring devices were invented and permitted during amateur play. However, as I mentioned before, the debate continues as to whether they actually do speed up play. Well, the Approach S1 GPS Watch is answer!

The Approach S1 GPS Watch comes pre-loaded with over 14,000 (and growing) golf courses. There are no annual subscriptions or downloads required. all you have to do is select, “Start Round,” choose your course and you are ready to tee off. It will actually find which hole you are on and changing to another hole is as easy as pushing the “Up” button. The Approach S1 displays the hole number and par, and it automatically transitions from one hole to the next. Once you begin a round in golf mode, you can easily switch between the time of day and distances to green. The Approach S1 gives you the ability to measure the distance of your shots to improve your game or to shore up your bragging rights with your playing partners. For golfers who prefer to walk, the GPS-enabled odometer, in the Approach S1, can track the total distance you’ve walked during the round.

The Approach S1 is no bigger than your typical digital watch, is extremely light weight (1.8 ounces) and has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts for up to 8 hours in GPS mode and up to 3 weeks in the watch mode. If you wear a watch when you play, (and I do), you will never know you have it on!

I had the opportunity to try out the Approach S1 GPS Watch during 5 rounds I recently played in Florida. Up until then, I was a die hard Range Finder user. I also own a top of the line GPS handheld device, but always preferred the Range Finder (see GGM 2010 Issue 3 Publisher’s Picks). My first round was at Trump International in West Palm Beach. During my product test, I compared the distances on the Approach S1 GPS Watch with the distances my caddy was shooting with his range finder as well as with the course’s yardage markers. The Approach S1 was accurate enough for me to feel confident with the information it was providing when I was making my club selections. What it doesn’t do is measure the distance from your shot to a hazard or fairway bunker. That was when I would pull out my range finder which I referred to only a few times during each of the rounds. The Approach S1 GPS Watch made myself feel much more relaxed and I ended up shooting one of my lowest rounds in years!

The Bottomline: BUY THIS PRODUCT! It retails for $249.99 but Amazon sells it for $235.39. By the way, two golfers that played with me during separate rounds were so impressed that they purchased an Approach S1 GPS Watch right after they played. Get one. You will be glad you did!

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