Over the last few years one company have dominated the driver count on the major Tours. TaylorMade drivers are found in the bags of more Tour professionals than any other manufacturer. Their latest driver, the R9 adds an adjustable hosel to the moveable weight technology that has been so successful.

TaylorMade are responsible for some of the most iconic drivers of recent years, most notably the 510TP and the R7 425 TP, and have been at the fore-front of driver technology. Bag Chatter got to look at the R9 to see how it compares against these past classics and how well it fares against the competition who have not been standing still. (continua…)

Kenny Perry is not playing golf like any 48 year old guy is supposed to play golf.  Not on the PGA "flatbelly" Tour anyway.  He’s won 5 time, gotten 12 top ten finishes, and not missed a cut in just over a year.  Pretty hot stuff. Oh, and he set a tournament record in winning the Travelers Championship by three shots over Paul Goydos and David Toms.  He opened his tournament with a nifty 61, nine under par, then followed that with a 68 which kept him in the lead after 36 holes.  On Saturday he shot a 66 and lost the lead to Mr. Goydos, whose third round 63 matched his opening round score.  Come Sunday though, it was all Mr. Perry after a 32 on the front nine, and had gave a five shot lead after the 14th hole.  “Everyone kind of asks about the Augusta hangover deal,” he said. “I guess I kind of shoved that aside a little bit. So that makes me feel pretty good.” 

That had to be a big shove, don’t let anyone ever tell you it’s easy to bogey the last two holes of a major championship to fall into a playoff, then lose the playoff and just shrug that off.  No that’s takes a kind of tough not everyone posesses.  “I knew that I had to keep making birdies,” he said. “I wasn’t going to let up. I wasn’t going to play defensive golf. I learned something from that mistake.”  That’s how you follow up with a back nine 31 and get a nice silver cup and a big pot of money at the end of the day. (continua…)

I must admit, I waited impatiently for a few days to post this congratuations because I did not want to take anything away from Lucas Glover’s spectacular and much deserved win this past weekend at the US Open. I would be lying if I told you that’s what this short story is about. It’s not. It is about David Duval, Mr. 59, former World #1, the guy hiding behind the darkened Oakleys, I always knew you had something left for the game of golf. Last summer while watching The Open Championship I hoped that you could make a run down the stretch and challenge Greg Norman, Ian Poulter and the eventual winner, Padraig Harrington on the last day. It didn’t materialize, but there was a glimpse of greatness shining through the clouds. I saw it. Many have heard you answer questions about your game with, I am playing great, but my scores just are not reflective of my efforts and work ethic. Not many believed in you David, but I did. Furthermore, I knew that once you started speaking to how much you liked Bethpage Black as a golf course, you would be a contender. Yes, a contender, and NOT an also ran. (continua…)

After days upon days of rain involving more pictures of grounds crew working squeegees across flooded greens than I ever cared to witness, the 109th playing of the US Open golf tournament ended in something like familiar fashion.  A guy most folks never would have selected as the winner of this event on Wednesday played better than anyone else on the back nine during the final round of the tournament and gets to take home a nifty trophy atop a wheelbarrow full of money. 

It took until Monday for the golf to overcome the weather as the story of the week.  Phil Mickelson finished in second place for a record fifth time, doomed by his putter and a week full of feast or famine shots.  Missing two par putts on the last four holes sent Mr.Mickelson home to more important matters with another almost but not quite finish in our national championship.  

 The fourth round began Sunday night with Rickey Barnes at 8 under par one shot ahead of Mr. Glover and five ahead of everyone else.  Even though Mr. Barnes had held the 36 hole lead in record fashion, and still led after 54 holes, I don’t think I was the only one watching who figured 3 or 4 under would be enough.  I mean really, when Mr. Barnes got to 11 under par and the talking heads were dragging out Gil Morgan and his sprint to 12 under at Pebble Beach followed by his drop thru all seven layers of hell, did anyone really believe he was going to continue to walk on water all the way to the trophy?  No.  He shot 40 on the front nine in the final round,  not surprising considering the circumstances.  Admirably he hung tough around the back nine to finish tied for second with Mr. Mickelson and a name from another decade, David Duval. 

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Hot on the heels of their new Dymo Driver is the adjustable version, the STR8-FIT. This version boasts an adjustable hosel with 8 different settings: from hard draw to hard fade and everything in between.

Nike have continued their real commitment to driver technology with the introduction of STR8-FIT. Having been one of the first to take head geometry into the mainstream with one of the first square headed drivers, such as the one played by 2009 US Open Champion Lucas Glover, they have now brought the adjustability that the tour pros enjoy to everyday golfers. Bag Chatter looked at the more traditional shaped version. (continua…)

Sponsored Advertorial By GolfWRX

TaylorMade Golf redefined their position in the iron market this season with their recent launch of the new Burner 09 Iron series. This release generated some serious buzzz in the industry that is sure to carry over to our forums more than it already has since we caught wind of this new set.

Longer, lighter, and more accurate, these clubs boast a series of innovative features which TaylorMade says sets them apart from the competition. TaylorMade succeeded in pushing the envelope of iron design by re-engineering these clubs from the ground up – focusing separately on three distance groups (long, middle, and short) to better define performance objectives and isolate physical variables specific to each group. The result was a new systematic analysis of club design named ‘SuperFast Technology’ in which each club not only provides marked improvement in distance and accuracy on an individual level, but compliments every other club in the set, as well. Gone are the days of inconsistent performance from club to club. With the Burner 09 Iron Series, every iron in your bag shares a common set of physical properties, allowing your swing to be more consistent from tee to green. Moreover, this attention to detail afforded to each individual club allowed TaylorMade-Adidas to build in a precisely controlled progression from long- to short-distance clubs, delivering meaningful and consistent distance gaps all the way from the 3-iron to the 9-iron.

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I am baring my soul about what happens to my golf game as I mature.  I want to warn you, it is not all good and if you want to read a little upbeat inspirational guide to senior golf, don’t read on.  That said, golf is still great fun if not quite as pretty as it once was.

My confessions are about my Playing Skills, my Equipment and finally my Course Management.

Playing Skills.

Plan and simple, at some point in our lives all of our golf games will decline.   For the most part I think the decline for me was rather gradual and consistent, but there is a lot of evidence from the PGA Champions (Senior) Tour that something rather abruptly happens to us in our late 50s.  It is a rare occurrence when someone in their late 50s wins on that tour.  I also noticed a rather big change in my golf skill about this age.  There maybe some other milestone years that someone else will have to comment on, and I would like to hear from readers about these other milestone years so I will know what to expect.

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