Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Lord Of The Pings

All of you need this in your life. The guys at Ping have put together a lovely little micro site to encourage you to purchase their sticks. Ping have provided  a plethora of product information including a breakdown of the technology used, specifications and you can hear the engineers thoughts. Our favourite bit is the 3D feature that allows you to view the G10 and i10 irons from all sorts of fancy angles.




After going in there and having a play around I can think of no nicer environment to be cajoled into buying golf equipment, apart from the GOLFPUNK shop of course.

Check out the Ping mini site at www.pingpowerof10.com



9/25/2007 1:32:44 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [3] 

  Monday, September 24, 2007
Westwood Wins At The Belfry

Congratulations Lee Westwood for his triumph at the weekend. The man The Foozler routinely mistakes for Radio One’s rap DJ Tim Westwood posted a 15 under par 273 to take the Quinn Direct British Masters ahead of fellow golf punk Ian Poulter.
At the scene of his 2002 Ryder Cup heroics Westwood secured his 18th European Tour title with a blistering 65 yesterday to win by five shots. We hope that’s made up for the disappointment of losing his '00' status in GP26.

Check out the whole story below.


"That's the way it goes down, were getting ready to jump off. Exactly, dropping bombs (and so on)"

“Lee Westwood renewed his love affair with The Belfry after he won the Quinn Direct British Masters with a flawless final round of seven under par 65 to claim a victory he described as being “right up there with winning the Ryder Cup here in 2002

After winning three points for Europe and Captain Sam Torrance in their 15 1⁄2 to 12 1⁄2 success over the USA five years ago at The Belfry, Westwood gave himself more memories to cherish from the Brabazon Course as he secured his 18th European Tour title in style.



Westwood’s 15 under par 273 total secured a five shot triumph from fellow countryman Ian Poulter, who shot 70 for a ten under par 278 total and admitted he had been floored by his rival’s birdie-eagle run on holes 16 and 17.

Fellow Worksop resident and Westwood’s good friend, overnight leader Mark Foster, shot 73 and finished third on nine under par 279.

Both Foster and Poulter threatened during an enthralling final round tussle between the trio, but Westwood pulled clear down the stretch – and the manner of his triumph was emphatic.



A packed 18th hole, from fairway to greenside grandstand, cheered Westwood home, and the delighted golfer said: “I am feeling very happy. I’ve had some special moments in my career here – and this one is right up there. I don’t think I’ve ever been clapped the entire length of the final hole, which is obviously very, very special.”

On his round, he continued: “I barely put a foot wrong out there and made some key putts when I needed to on the back nine.

“On the 16th, I holed a big 35 footer like that in the 2002 Ryder Cup against Tiger and Davis, and I said that to Alastair my caddie after it went in. We went on to lose that match in the last two holes, but this time I managed to follow it up with an eagle. That put the icing on the cake."



Westwood, who was able to celebrate with his wife Laurae, and two young children, Sam and Poppy, once completing his round, added: “The Quinn Direct British Masters is a great title on The European Tour and it was one of those I was building up to. It’s great to win it here at The Belfry. It’s only an hour away from where I live, so there’s a lot of family and friends here to support me.”

Talking about rediscovering the winning habit, having claimed his 18th European Tour victory and second win of 2007, following his success at the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia, Westwood reflected: “I waited four years to win again, and it came in Spain earlier this year, so now I’ve got the second one, I’m very happy….”

For more on this story click here…








9/24/2007 11:39:33 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [2] 

  Thursday, September 20, 2007
Fancy A Quick 17 Holes?

Houses huh, who needs them? Granted there are humans and domesticated animals, but we can tell you who doesn’t need them - Langland Bay Golf Club. This exclusive Welsh course known as ‘The hidden gem of the Gower Peninsula’ counts the Zeta-Jones’, Gareth Edwards and Michael Douglas amongst its admirers. But it will take more than celebrity endorsement to prevent the Liberty Homes housing development building 12 luxury homes.

To say Langland Bay GC was under threat would be overstating it. There may have to be some tinkering with the design or the erection of high safety nets around the 256 yard third hole, ‘Wicked Well’. Obviously the locals aren’t too happy about it, the council has received 199 objection letters so far. You can’t really blame them. From the sounds of things the course and the surrounding areas have not changed much since 1904 when LBGC was opened.

The developers counter with a reasonable argument. Liberty Properties say, “Indeed, this is very much seen as the way forward for the sustainability of golf courses around the world, with the award winning Pentre Nicklaus Village at Machynys, Llanelli, being a perfect local example.”

Now this is a serious issue and raises questions about the future of golf and how will it sustain itself. But. What really stood out were the comments made by Club Chairman, Tony Vaughan. Tone reckons Langland Bay might lose it’s third hole, making it a 17 hole golf course. This has split the office. Some of us are of the opinion that it would be terrible. The rest know it flies in the face of 103 years of tradition, but think it would be brilliant. From the following points you can see why we’re torn. Firstly the course would be world renowned, but mainly from a novelty point of view. Secondly you can never get beaten 10&8 again, but you can never beat anyone else 10&8 again. Finally, you get to the clubhouse ten minutes earlier, which is hard to argue with.

For more on this story click here…




9/20/2007 1:23:15 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 

  Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Golf Embraces Anti-Doping

Golf is taking doping seriously. And about time too. Professional golf has taken another step away from its antiquated past when the worlds major tours decided to introduce drug testing at the highest level of the men’s game next year. The assertion that there are drugs in golf has gone from widely ignored to attention stealing headline in recent years with this move seen as admission something has to be done about it.



This move is seen by some as opening the door for golf to become an Olympic sport, however the European, PGA and Asian tours have not adopted the full list of substances proscribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, including human growth hormones. At first we thought this was not a big enough step but golf has argued that HGH testing is in it’s infancy and is not regarded as infallible. We think this is a reasonable stance. After all we don’t want a golfing Marion Jones on our hands, where one of the games top players is falsely accused of gaining an unfair advantage. Incidents like this unfortunately colour public opinion about the player and raise doubts about the validity of testing.

But the fact that some drugs are tested for and others not got us thinking. Should testing be about performance enhancing drugs or drugs full stop? Is it up to sport to set an example that it will not tolerate the use of illegal drugs or just to catch people who use drugs to cheat?

We’d love to know your thoughts. Either vote, post a comment or join the debate on the GOLFPUNK Forum thread Drugs In Golf.

Or post on anything else at www.golfpunkonline.com/forum

For more on drug testing in golf click here…

Five Things We’d Like Added To The ‘Banned’ List.

M&Ms – It may spell the end for John Daly but at least Marshal Mathers won’t be the new Tarby.

Belly Putters – If taking Nandrolin is cheating these pendulum putting monstrosities deserve at least a caution.

Tiger’s Trousers – They are bound to put his opponents off.

Fans Screaming “Get In The Hole” No Matter What – No further explanation needed. We need this blight out of our game.

The Leather Wedge – (It is – Rules Ed)




9/19/2007 2:02:21 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [3] 

  Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Did Dottie Go Potty?

Congratulations to Team America for their Solheim Cup triumph. However like any bad losers, we were more interested in the incident that dominated the press centre on saturday. Namely the comments made by Dottie Pepper.

 
'Team America Well Pleased'

Dottie, doing a Ron Atkinson, got caught out when an outburst she thought private was inadvertently broadcast on the Golf Channel.  Unsurprisingly, being called, “Chokin' freakin' dogs,” did not go down well with the American players, and the inevitable retorts followed. From the ‘I’m not angry I’m just disappointed’ camp came assistant captain Beth Daniel, "It was hurtful, very, very hurtful to all of us on the team. Dottie's been there. She knows what it's like. Even if she said it off the air, it was ill-spirited." But perhaps the best jibe of the day came from US captain Betsy King, "You usually retire when you can't play any more. That is why you become a television commentator." Hark at her.

But was this the ultimate sacrifice? It certainly had the desired effect. Pepper may have lost a few friends but her comments seemed to galvanise the troops, despite their claims to the contrary.


'Dottie Pepper, popular'

Let’s look at the facts. Going into last day the American’s were one down. Dottie made her comments. USA trounce the Europeans 8 ½ - 3 ½ in the Sunday singles to win the Solheim Cup.

Now, it would be lazy journalism sprinkled with sour grapes to suggest this was the only reason for the victory, but as we said at the top of the blog, we’re bad losers.

For more on this story click here…

For all things Solheim Cup click here…



9/18/2007 4:49:39 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [1] 

  Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fed Up Of FedEx?

Jack's back with a rant about the FedEx Cup. Give 'em both barrels lad.

They wanted it to be the biggest thing since sliced bread, but somewhere along the line, someone, somehow made a pig’s ear of it all. We’re not talking about the appointment of Steve McClaren as England manager, we’re talking about the FedEx Cup and all of that playoff stuff.

Love it or hate it, there’s no escaping the fact that the FedEx Cup has been a disappointment. Let’s make no mistake about it; there’s nothing like a good playoff. When two teams go to war over a period of seven games, be it in ice hockey, basketball or baseball, the intense nature of the competition and edge of the seat drama on offer is like nothing else you’ll ever see or feel within a sporting context.

What the PGA’s big boys failed to realise, however, is that this unrivalled sense of excitement doesn’t transfer to golf. For whatever reason, quite possibly the fact that golf isn’t a team sport, the playoff format just doesn’t lend itself well to the game. And what happens as a result? You get golf’s biggest names dropping out of tournaments, which poses the question: if the players don’t take it seriously, why should the fans?  

Moaning aside, the Tour Championship is upon us, and with Phil and Tiger’s rivalry back on track, it’s set to be a cracker. What better way to finish the year than with a punt? Put your mortgage on Tiger if you’re feeling safe, or a tenner on Steve Stricker (20/1) or Camillo Villegas (50/1) if you need to regain losses. Dare we say Masters champ, Zach Johnson (66/1)?



9/13/2007 11:29:54 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [2] 

  Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Golf Punt Long Shot

Calling all golf fans. Whilst having an idle wander through the web, masquerading as work, I’ve seen the bookies are already offering odds on who is going to be the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The gala night is not until December but motor racing phenom Lewis Hamilton is the favourite by a considerable margin. In fact, to use gambling parlance, he’s nailed on to win the thing.

And good luck to him.

First place is out of sight but there is still plenty of prestige in being placed in this event, just ask Darren Clarke. And this is where you lot come in. Searching through the runners and riders I noticed Justin Rose as a bit of an outsider at 50-1. We can all make a bit of money here before he finishes in the top ten of the PGA Money list, goes and wins the World Matchplay Championship, World Cup and European Order of Merit


“You wait ‘till next year Hamilton, this is going right up your exhaust”

A £10 each way bet would trouser you over 170 notes which, as you will all agree, is better than a kick in the ProV1’s.

You heard it here first.

To find out more about the BBC Sports Personality of the Year click here…

To find out more about the lovely Justin Rose visit http://www.justinrose.com/ of click here…



9/12/2007 12:57:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 

  Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Legend Begins At 60?

Who would have thought it, eh? Tiger Woods taking a backseat to the Walker Cup on GOLFPUNK’S blog, which only seems fair considering what a rollercoaster ride of a weekend McIlroy and co had at Royal County Down. So what’s new pussycat, or should we say Tiger? Well, nothing really… unless you were oblivious to the fact that Tiger was a complete and utter perfectionist.

Striving for perfection is certainly not a bad thing- who are we to argue with 60 PGA titles and the small matter of 13 majors? However, when Tiger goes and shoots a third round 65 at the BMW Championships and is still not completely satisfied, well, that quite frankly takes the biscuit. 65 golf shots, six under par; a figure sculpted in the golfing heavens, reserved for the game’s elite… a mere dream for us mortals.


We think this lad has a future. You heard it here first.

After two opening rounds of 67, Tiger had this to say following his lacklustre 65. “That’s probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today. I felt like today if I could have made a few putts, it could have been a really deep round.” Tiger’s interviewer could only manage the following reply. “You don’t look terribly excited about a 65.”

What’s a 65, however, when you can pull a flawless 63 out of the bag on the final day’s play to take your 60th PGA tour title? There are a handful of things in life that I’ll never quite get my head around; the appeal of rugby, quantum physics and Tiger Woods.

To find out more on exactly what is Tiger Wood’s problem click here…



9/11/2007 1:02:18 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #  Comments [0] 


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