North Vancouver, known more commonly as the North Shore, is a community that honours the values of nature and recreation that are embedded in the fabric of British Columbia. It is here that Northlands Golf Course focuses on its site’s natural topography as a means to create a challenging and dynamic 18 holes of golf. Steep, rugged, and tree lined the course pays homage to its mountainous terrain featuring rock outcroppings, a 30 foot waterfall, and conifer-framed fairways. The result is a genuine course that will leave you wanting to play it again.

The Les Furber design opened in 1997 to rave reviews, including a Best New Course of the Year award from Golf Digest. The par 71 layout, with five par 3’s and four par 5’s, offers a variety of visually stunning holes. Ranging from 6504-5135 yards, the routing consists of two looped nines that meander up, down, and along the forest hillside of Mount Seymour, both beginning and ending at the clubhouse.

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VJ Singh overcame what has to be the worst putting from 4-8ft by a champion golfer in I’m guessing forever.  How you can make 9 of 19 putts from that distance and still win by a shot is mind boggling. Had Mr. Singh converted even 5 of those misses (which doesn’t include the eighteen inch putt he missed in the third round, i think it was the third round) he’d have run away from the field much like Parker McLachlin did at the Legends Reno Tahoe Open. 

Since he didn’t, Sunday in Akron was a whole lot more fun.  Unless you were Phil Mickelson, who had a 1 shot lead after 14 holes and proceded to bogey 3 of the last 4 holes. 

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The fall line of Adidas golf shoes is coming out  with an update to the TOUR360.  The shoes have a low-profile base which tout the ability to bring a player closer to the turf.  This is to give greater feel, feedback, control, and consistency to promote better ball-striking.  These shoes are poised toward the golf swing and needs of the better player.  The models are the TOUR360 LTD and TOUR360 3.0.  The TOUR360 LTD also includes the Teach edition that is designed for the teaching professional and is designed to go from the office to the course with ease.

The specs of the shoe are as follows:

3D FitFOAM insert for support, customization, and cushioning

THiNTech low profile outsole for improved feel response

10 cleat outsole that supports higher swing speeds

DTAC cleats

Hand finished full grain leather and 360WRAP with Mono-Tongue construction for a glove-like fit on the LTD.  This model also has a 2-year warranty and a suggested retail price of $250.

Rich full grain leather and 360WRAP featuring 3DFit moulded saddle and heel on the 3.0.  The 3.0 also comes with a 2-year warranty and has a suggested retail price of $180.

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I’m scratching my head so much over Michelle Wie that the neighbors have complained about the smoke.

Speaking of smoke — we’re all overcome by Michelle’s second-hand smoke, as she inhales and exhales the smoldering fumes swirling in the heat of her own personal spotlight. And we find it difficult to tear ourselves away from the mesmerizing reality show of her repeated George Plimpton-like feats of futility. I mean, how many times do you beat your head against the wall before the wall wins…unless you find pleasure in beating your head against the wall?

I just had a thought: Why hasn’t a male golfer asserted his machismo and played an LPGA event in an effort to wreak havoc on his way to a huge (and certainly inevitable) win? I’ll tell you why: because he wouldn’t want to end up shopping at Fred Funk’s Skirt Emporium. Oh yes, the hapless male pro who took on the LPGA would lose. Lorena would kick his butt and the Pink Panther would eat him for lunch. And, despite what he would say, he’d be humiliated. So why isn’t Michelle humiliated by her frequent smackdowns at the hands of the PGA?

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Grafalloy are far better known for their fairway and driver shafts like the Prolaunch and Epic than for hybrid shafts but the C-Note and C-Lite from their Tour Concept department have enjoyed a small but devoted following, both among the better players and on Tour. With the relaunch of these shafts - the C-Lite has morphed into the C-Note 85 and the C-Note has become the C-Note 105 and with new graphics for both - Bag Chatter took them out for a spin.

With the high volume of usage that Grafalloy enjoys across other areas of shaft usage it is a little strange that amongst hybrids, Grafalloy seem to lag a little behind the more popular brands like Aldila, UST and Matrix. These revamped versions look to move away from the somewhat gaudy versions previously and re-emphasize the quality.

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The World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational is happening this week at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio on the South Course.  With an $8 million purse, the winner takes $1.35 million.  The tournament happens this week (July 28 - August 3) and is a 72-hole stroke-play competition with no cut.  There are 26,250 FedExCup points to be had and 85 players that qualified for this event with 81 of them participating.  Those not playing in the tournament are Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mike Weir, and last year’s champion Tiger Woods.

Woods finished here 8-under par in 2007 and was the only player to break par for the tournament.  The South Course of the Firestone Country Club was considered one of the most difficult courses on the PGA Tour last year.

This event brings plenty of storylines to keep the fans interested.  For example, Geoff Ogilvy will attempt to win all three World Golf Championships events.  He’s got a legitimate shot at joining Tiger as the only other player to complete this feat.  Only one other player, Darren Clarke, has won more than one individual World Golf Championships title.  Geoff won at Doral earlier this year, recording his fourth PGA Tour victory with a one-stroke win over Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, and Vijay Singh.  His best finish at Bridgestone was T36 in 2006.

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A final round 68 ensured that Mikael Lundberg won the Interco Russian Open for the second time in 3 years. The Swede held off a spirited charge from Spain’s José Manuel Lara who carded a 64. Birdies on 16 and 17 meant that once his drive avoided the water that runs down the right of the 18 at Le Meridien Moscow, he could relax into his victory.

It all looked so different for Lundberg on the par 5 15th when a hooked drive saw him end up deep in the trees that line every hole on this tight and demanding course. his second shot cannoned off yet another tree and his third was only a prod back onto the fairway. A superlative 4th shot saw the ball stop less than 10 feet from the flag and the Swede duly converted for an unlikely par.

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