Golf Blog

Archive for April, 2008

The short game is the most important part of the game and an area of the game where huge numbers can be taken off your score. Sadly the short game is an area that is all too often overlooked both in terms of practice and golf equipment. Moreover golfers are using the pitching wedge and sand wedge from their sets rather than looking at the specialist wedges. If we look in Tour Professionals’ Bags we will see that many of them now carry up to 4 wedges. This means they have every distance and every possible shot covered, resulting in them being able to get up and down every time.

We need to follow their lead and carry more wedges to include a Pitching Wedge, Gap Wedge, Sand Wedge and Lob Wedge. This will mean that from 4 -9, GW, PW, SW and LW will have 4 degrees difference per club throughout the set. Most sets of Irons have a PW that is 47 degrees and SW of 56 degrees meaning that we have 8 degrees between our wedges and are therefore actually missing a club.

The market leaders in wedges are Titleist Vokey along with TaylorMade, Ping, Mizuno, and Callaway.

Loft- When selecting loft we should consider four different wedges; the (60 Degree).

Finish- the two different finishes available for the wedges are the Chrome and the Oil Can (Dark). The chrome is for the more traditionalist golfer and the Oil Can make aligning the wedge easier. A white golf ball on a dark face makes it very easy to align the club at the target.

Grooves- another consideration is the groove design. Wedges now come with Spin Grooves which increase the backspin rate of the golf ball which offers more control in to the greens. One thing to consider is that the golf ball wears quicker with the spin grooves.

Bounce- is a very important area to consider and one that many people fail to understand. The bounce angle is the angle between the leading edge and the ground. The lower the bounce the nearer the leading edge is to the ground. Generally Lower Bounce is better on hard ground conditions. If you tend to take big divots with your wedges then the higher bounce will help prevent it.

TaylorMade player Darren Clarke claimed an emotional triumph at the BMW Asian Open this weekend with an impressive 40 foot putt on the 18th hole, beating Robert-Jan Derksen by one shot winning his first title in nearly five years. After some notable displays in recent months he has now found his way back into the winners’ circle and looks to have rediscovered his appetite for the game.

Clarke told reporters “If anything, my win today has given me renewed vigour to carry on and keep working, because I want more of this.” If his performance this weekend is anything to go by, we’re sure he will.

Clarke’s golf bag includes:

TaylorMade Burner TP Driver,

TaylorMade Burner TP Fairway Woods,

TaylorMade TP Forged Irons,

TaylorMade TP Red Golf Balls.

If you are a beginner then you should be looking for plenty of loft (maybe 10.5 degrees or more) with a Regular Graphite shaft. By keeping the loft high and the shaft flex regular we can achieve the optimum launch conditions and thus resulting in straighter, longer shots.

Driver Technology

Square Headed Drivers: A vast array of Square Headed Drivers have appeared on the market from companies such as Callaway and Nike etc. The idea is that the square head increases the Moment of Inertia which increases the resistance of the club to twisting and thus resulting in straighter shots even on off centre hits.

Moveable Weight Systems: Many of the top brand drivers now come with the moveable weight systems, which allow the weight to be moved around in the head of the club. Companies such as TaylorMade and Mizuno are leading the market in this technology allowing golfers of all levels to benefit. This allows the golfer to change the weight in the driver which changes the way the club reacts at impact. For example, by putting more weight at the heal of the driver it allows the toe to move faster through impact thus squaring the driver at impact. The result for a slicer of the golf ball would be that the driver would no longer be open at impact and the slice would be reduced.

A Guide to Buying Drivers

Beginners should opt for plenty of loft on the driver with the minimum being 10.5 degrees. Unless they generate a huge amount of club head speed then the Regular Flex in Graphite would be perfect.

Slicers of the ball should opt for maximum loft combined with a regular flex shaft. It is also recommended that they opt for an offset driver or a driver with moveable weight technology.

Intermediate level golfers should opt for 10.5 degrees of loft (unless they are producing a launch angle over 15 degrees). If their club head speed is under 90 mph then stick with the regular flex. If the club head speed is over 90 mph and no slice is involved then opt for the stiff flex.

Advanced golfers should generally opt for lower lofts and more specialised stiffer, lower torque shafts.

Remember the sales team at Golf Buy It Online are all PGA experts who are on hand to offer you all the help and advice you need. You can also visit our Dynamic Fitting Centre and be fitted by one of our PGA Fitters using our Launch Pad Facility.

The most recent Golf Datatech UK retail audit reveals that Footjoy recorded high market shares within golf glove sales last year meaning not only are they the Number One Shoe in golf, but are also the Number One Glove in golf.

Such is the strength and depth of their product line-up, Footjoy gloves were also on top in the breakdown of total unit model share sales. The WeatherSof was Number One with 12.6% of the market sales, closely followed by the WeatherSof GTX (10.5%) and Sciflex (7.7%) that were Number Two and Number Three respectively.

Golf Buy It Online is Europe’s Number One Footjoy Internet retailer and guarantees the lowest prices and fastest delivery around. Not only do they offer Footjoy Shoes and Footjoy Gloves, but they also offer Footjoy accessories such as shoe care kits, laces, umbrellas and more.

Footjoy are continuing to refine their products and should once again be at the forefront of the UK golf glove market in 2008 and no matter what new golf products Footjoy release you can rest assured that you’ll be able to pick them up from Golf Buy It Online.

If you want to improve your putting, the new Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5 Detour Putters are the best solution. They are designed to include a uniquely arched T-6 6061 Aircraft aluminium face and body which help to show the golfer the correct path of the putting stroke for optimal ball performance.

The Newport putters feature a curved profile and sightline Milled 303 Stainless Steel frame and back weight and also feature an Accident Orange Studio Design grip with an Accident Orange head cover.

If you’re looking for a putter with superior detail and craftsmanship, and a great look then the Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5 Detour will not disappoint you. Amaze your group with your putting as Cameron putters are truly special and the Newport 2.5 Detour is a worthy addition to the line.

Drivers and Fairway Woods have come a long way since they were first introduced. Years ago most new golfers opted for the three woods as a replacement of the driver as the drivers were just too hard to hit. However the great news is that with the introduction of the new big headed titanium drivers, this is no longer the case and golfers of all levels can hit them with ease. If you are a beginner then you should be looking for plenty of loft maybe 10.5 or more with a Regular Graphite shaft. By keeping the loft high and the shaft flex regular we can achieve the optimum launch conditions. Resulting in straighter longer shots

Driver Technology-

Square Headed Drivers – 2007 saw a vast array of Square Headed Drivers appear on the market from companies such as Callaway and Nike as well as others. The idea is that the square head increases the Moment of Inertia which increases the resistance of the club to twisting, resulting in straighter shots even on off centre hits.

Moveable Weight Systems – Many of the top brand drivers now come with the moveable weight systems, which allow the weight to be moved around in the head. Companies such as TaylorMade and Mizuno are leading the market in this technology, allowing golfers of all levels to benefit. This allows the golfer to change the weight in the driver which changes the way the club reacts at impact. For example by putting more weight at the heel of the driver it allows the toe to move faster through impact thus squaring the driver at impact. The result for a slicer of the golf ball would be that the driver would no longer be open at impact and the slice would be reduced.

A Guide to Buying Drivers

Beginners should opt for plenty of loft on the driver with the minimum being 10.5 degrees. Unless they generate a huge amount of club head speed then the Regular Flex in Graphite would be perfect.

Slicers should opt for maximum loft combined with a regular flex shaft. It is recommended that they opt for an offset driver or a driver with moveable weight technology.

Intermediate golfers should opt for 10.5 degrees of loft unless they are producing a launch angle over 15 degrees and if their club head speed is less than 90 mph then stick with the regular flex. If the club head speed is over 90 mph and no slice is involved then opt for the Stiff.

Advanced golfers should opt generally for lower lofts and more specialised stiffer lower torque shafts.

Remember, our sales team at Golf Buy It Online, are all PGA professionals who are on hand to give you all the advice you need. You can also visit our Dynamic Fitting Centre and be fitted by one of our PGA Fitters using our Launch Pad Facility. Please feel free to call on 01443 222806.

We are delighted to have been able to test the new Ping G10 Irons and the results were staggering.  PGA Professional Richie McCowen carried out the test. What he found was that the G10 offer a huge amount of consistency and forgiveness while retaining exceptional distance.

This has been achieved by building them with a very low toe weight meaning that the Moment of Inertia is increased. Put in to simple terms it means that the Ping G10 Irons are more forgiving than its predecessor, the Ping G5, as the cavity is bigger with more weight positioned to the perimeter of the club. They have placed the weight very low down in the head, which means that the longer Irons are very easy to hit even from bad lies.

Richie fell in love with the new Ping G10 Irons, he felt that not only was he a club longer with the G10 he hit more greens with the Irons as they offered such a high level of Forgiveness. Even when he put a bad swing on it the G10 Irons allowed him to get away with it.

“For the mid to high handicapper there is no doubt that the G10 Irons would offer golfers the chance to greatly improve their golf. The help they offer the golfer is unique to the Ping G10 Irons as they come fitted with the custom tuning port that gives the golfer an excellent feel from the golf club.”

The key to purchasing the new Ping G10 Irons is to get them custom fitted, which can be booked in our dynamic Fitting Centre at Hensol Golf Academy. Here you we will make sure that the G10 Irons are the perfect fit for you which will then be built to your personal prescription by Ping themselves. To book yourself in for a custom fit call our Hotline on 01443 222806.

Here at Golf Buy It Online we continue to test all our products meaning that we can offer you a unique review before you decide to purchase. The Callaway X20 Iron features again in our tests as it performance is quite simply awesome, outperforming most of the competition.

The Callaway X20 Iron has some unique features, which means that not only does it produce exceptional distance it more importantly is very, very forgiving. The head of the Callaway X20 Iron has a very low centre of gravity meaning that they pick the golf ball up of the ground very easily which makes the X20 Irons a delight to hit. Callaway have added to the forgiveness by adding the weight removed from the True Bore to the perimeter of the club, so off centre hits don’t lose any distance.

Callaway X20 Irons also offers golfers of all ability exceptional feel as the True Bore shaft means that the shaft tip extends through the club head sole. This feature means that the X20 will produce superior playability in the shorter irons, which will offer even more control.

Mat Vanstone PGA Pro commented, “The Callaway X20 Irons are unique in that it will suit golfers of varying ability. The X20 is a set of Irons that will offer the 20 handicap golfer superb forgiveness and as they improve their handicap the clubs will grow with them, meaning that they won’t have to change their irons even as they move in to single figures, there aren’t many Golf Sets that offer that. If you are looking for a long, forgiving and superbly playable Iron then look no further than the Callaway X20.”

The Callaway X20 Irons are available in steel, graphite and Ladies. Don’t forget that we offer the full custom fit package at our Dynamic Fitting Centre at Hensol Golf Academy. You can call our sales team on 01443 222806 to book your dynamic custom fit.

Golf’s a tough enough game as it is so why not make it easier by taking advantage of Golf Buy It Online? With over 30 years experience in golf retail, we are innovators in custom fit systems. Golf Buy It Online is accredited by some of golf’s top brands including Ping, TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway and Mizuno.

• We are the Number One Independent Ping Fitting Centre and supplier of Ping Equipment in the South West Region of the UK.

• We are the largest TaylorMade supplier in the South West of UK and have TaylorMade’s latest fitting system arriving soon.

• We have the largest Titleist account in the South West of the UK and have Titleist’s new Fittingworks System coming soon, which will be one of only 15 in the UK.

• We are Callaway Optifit Custom Fitters and Callaway asked them to test a new prototype system before it is fully launched in the UK next season.

• We are a Mizuno accredited regional fitting centre.

Golf Buy It Online use the latest Cswing computer systems to analyse your swing and Vector launch monitor for custom fitting, measuring EVERY aspect required so that we can custom fit you correctly. No stone is left unturned to help you, the golfer, improve your swing and provide the absolute correct equipment for your game.

Golf Buy It Online’s reputation is such that European Tour Players, PGA Golf Professionals, Lady Professionals, International Golfers and Low Handicap Club Champions as well as Amateur Golfers book in for fittings on regular basis just to check if the manufacturers have done it properly. Golf Buy It Online provide the same level of service to all our customers so the next time you need custom fitted clubs see what we can do for you.

Nike Golf and its athletes continue to work together in generating major successes and dominating the win category; this combination seems to be working as verified by its first, second and tied for third place finish at on of the most important championships on the PGA Tour, The Masters.  Nike Golf Tour Staff member Trevor Immelman emerged as champion. He withstood swirling winds and the tough Augusta National course to take his first green jacket.  Following Immelman at the top of the leader board were Nike Golf’s Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink, who finished second and tied for third, respectively.

Immelman ranked first in the field in driving accuracy, hitting 48/56 fairways and averaging 85.71% thanks to the use of Nike Golf’s SQ SUMO 5000 driver and the new Nike ONE Platinum ball featuring Power Transfer technology.

Nike Golf currently leads the PGA Tour in driver and iron wins with five in 2008 and it’s no surprise with Immelman, Woods and Cink all using Nike Golf equipment and wearing Nike Golf clothing.

Nike can add The Masters to their four other PGA wins in 2008 which include the Buick Invitational, the Sony Open, World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Immelman’s golf bag contained:

Driver: Nike SQ Sumo 5000,

Irons:  Nike CCi Cast Irons (4-PW),

Wedges: Nike SV 50˚, Nike SV 54˚ and Nike SV 60˚,

Fairway Wood: Nike SQ SUMO 17˚,

Hybrid: Nike SQ SUMO 21˚,

Ball:  Nike ONE Platinum.