Tiger Woods
There are SO many websites covering Tiger Woods 24/7/365 that I try to stay away from Tiger play by play and reporting PGA Tour news. I can’t help myself this rainy evening. Honestly, I don’t watch the PGA Tour that often. It all starts to look the same after a while. The last golf I actually watched on TV was the Masters Tournament. I’d much rather play golf than watch it. Even in person.
Instead of watching the Memorial 3rd round today, I was hiking in the beautiful mountains of Northern Utah, my back yard. When I got home and powered up the MacBook Pro, I was flooded with the number 85 and news of Tiger Woods’s worst round in his professional career. He chased down another one of Jack Nicklaus’s records. Jack’s worst round as a pro was 85 as well. The only difference is that Jack was 63 years old and playing the Masters. Details details.
I have not heard or read of any post round commentary or interviews. If and when I do I hope I don’t hear “it’s a process” and “I’m close.” There are no health issues we know of. No excuses. It doesn’t matter if he can hit hundreds of perfect shots in a row on the practice range. Anyone with a brain knows that whatever Woods is doing is not working, be it mental or physical.
After a decent spring I’ve reached the first bump in the road of my golf season (yawn). I’ve shot my three worst rounds of the year in the last four or five rounds. The worst of those is 85. Those rounds have had me toying with the thought of quitting golf and doing something else more fun, like jabbing myself in the eyes with an ice pick. I’m a hack amateur so that’s expected. I can’t imagine what’s going on inside the cerebral cortex of Woods. Imagine being what appeared to be the best player the game has ever seen and suddenly losing your game.
I lose my game, my swing, my scores 2-3 times per year. It’s like clockwork. I go from low-single-digit hack to mid-single digit hack and back over the season. In the end it doesn’t matter at all. But for Woods the psychology must be incredible. The player who in years past could seemingly win tournaments by sheer confidence, has lost it.
What’s different between now and when Woods was dominating? He was certainly younger. 39 isn’t a spring chicken in golf. His body has broken down quite a bit. The sick and sarcastic part of my mind can’t help thinking perhaps testosterone is the missing ingredient, if you know what I mean.
Last night the HOG Twitter account recorded its 3,000th follower!
Promptly after announcing that on Twitter, some joker unfollowed and put it back to 2,999. That’s my kind of humor for sure.
If you haven’t already, give the Hooked On Golf Blog Twitter a follow:
Give my personal Twitter a follow as well. That one is up over 4,200 followers:
There are not too many people who know as much about golf gadgets as yours truly. In fact, I know too much. That’s a discussion for another day.
Today I’m happy to post a golf blog on the best Father’s Day golf gadgets. The gadgets below have all been reviewed here on Hooked On Golf Blog. You can click the link to read the full review or the link to buy one directly. I try to make it easy for you.
High End Golf Laser Rangefinder – $464
Though I have not posted my review yet, I can tell you this is one badass golf laser. Quickest and most accurate unit I’ve tested to date. The price is a bit steep, but this is a quality piece.
Budget Golf Laser Rangefinder – $172
The most reasonably priced, accurate laser I’ve tested. A great deal for dad (or mom, or son, or sister, or priest, or rabbi).
Putting Analyzer for iOS or Android – $199
User your smartphone or tablet with this device to hone your putting skills.
Pocket Golf GPS – $99 (no-brainer)
This golf GPS goes in one’s pocket, or on one’s belt. Super light. Clear display. Easy to use. Great for senior golfers.
Golf Practice Chipping Net – $34.99
This chipping net can be used indoors or out. Less than $35? Money well spent.
Game Golf Score/Shot Tracking System – $199
Game Golf was one of Hooked On Golf Blog’s 2014 products of the year. It is an awesome system that tracks every shot and lets you analyze on your computer at home. Shots are plotted over a map and every club distance is measured. Many more cool features included. Very cool golf gadget!
Personal Golf Launch Monitor – $198
Another one of the best products of 2014. This unit shows golf club head speed and all sorts of other great golf launch characteristics. Great for practice and club testing.
Frogger Golf Cart Poncho – $44
Very affordable golf cart cover by Frogger. The “poncho” is so portable it can fit inside a golf bag!
Bushnell NEO Golf GPS
I certainly can’t blame my golf accessories if I miss a green or a target! When I’ve got the Bushnell NEO Ghost pocket golf GPS on my person I have a light and easy to read yardage. Let’s take a look at the NEO Ghost in detail.
Features
- Preloaded with 33,000+ courses
- 14 hour battery life. Number of holes or rounds obviously depends on pace of play.
- Auto course recognition
- Auto hole advance
- Clear and large yardage numbers, easy to read
- Up to four hazard distances per hole
- Easy-to-use interface
- Multi-function clip and USB charging cable included (clip to belt or golf bag)
- Super light
- Available colors: black, charcoal, green, white
On The Course
First things first. To get the NEO Ghost ready for a round it needs to be charged. Unlike many golf GPS units, the NEO Ghost has a standard micro USB port. It can be charged with a regular micro USB cable one might use for a smartphone or other USB peripherals. Since it has no proprietary bizarre cable to charge it, you won’t end up on your first trip to Bandon Dunes realizing you can’t use your GPS because you forgot the funky charger. Rant over…
A full charge lasts forever, or up to 14 hours. I say forever because I can go several rounds before having to charge the unit. Other GPS units I’ve reviewed barely last more than one round.
The size and ease of use of the NEO Ghost is a big selling point. The soft edges and rounded corners slide in and out of my pocket easily. Nothing sharp to bug me when the unit is in my pocket. It is so light that I can hardly tell it is on my person.
Invaluable and accurate golf data in the palm of my hand!
Looking at the display is refreshing. It is super simple with big clear yardages. The big number is the center of the green. The smaller numbers represent yardages to the front and back of the green. The unit will also provide crucial information regarding hazard yardages, like greenside bunkers. It is always great to know the exact yardage to “cover” a bunker.
The unit powers up quickly and automatically knows the course I’m playing. With 33,000 courses it is unlikely a user will run across a course which is not in the unit.
Conclusion
Ranging from $99 to $129, the NEO Ghost golf GPS by Bushnell is a very affordable and easy to use golf measuring device. It delivers solid data, is sharp looking, light, charges easily, and lasts a long time. Fantastic.
The NEO Ghost would make a great golf gift for Father’s Day, Christmas, Birthdays and more.
Nike Golf TW Vapor Speed Driver – click to view larger version
Who do you trust more, fish oil salesmen, politicians, or golf marketing? These “what’s in the bag?” articles and limited edition clubs setup like the pros are so funny to me. Now you can buy a club custom fit to someone else, who has swing characteristics completely unlike yours!
The latest is a promotion by Nike Golf, where you can buy the exact driver Tiger Woods is using. The Nike TW Vapor Speed is available for purchase today (June 1, 2015) and has the exact same specs as Tiger’s gamer driver. What bonehead would want this club, other than perhaps a collector? According to other marketing themes we as golfers should be getting a custom fit driver for our swings, right? So buying Tiger’s driver would be idiotic to say the least, unless of course we have the exact same build, height, weight, swing speed, technique, swing plane, takeaway, release, tempo, launch angle, grip, head dip…. I could go on forever.
Before you make that big decision to buy a club nobody in the world could probably hit, take a look at some of these numbers below. Tiger hasn’t played enough holes this season to qualify for the Tour stats apparently, since he isn’t even on the driving statistics listings on the Tour site for 2015. I’ve done some analysis for you.
Driving Distance: Tiger’s average driving distance right now is 297.1. That would be good enough for 26th place at this point on Tour.
Driving Accuracy: Tiger’s driving accuracy is 50.71%. That would put him at 199th on the PGA Tour in 2015.
Tiger has no ranking for total driving and it is not possible for me to calculate it. By my guesses, it would be near or at the bottom of the entire PGA Tour’s list.
Conclusion
If you love Tiger Woods and have $399 to spend for a driver you probably can’t hit, this one is for you.
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