Augusta National drops from #2 to #3?

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, March 29th, 2007
Categories: Golf Courses

Can’t resist… The Masters and Augusta National posts are on the way…

augusta national the masters Someone at Golf Digest apparently didn’t get the Masters tickets they requested. Join the club. Augusta National will be dropping from No. 2 of “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses” to No. 3. The new No. 2 is Shinnecock Hills. Pine Valley is the perennial and uncontested No. 1. Anybody want to get me a round at Pine Valley so I can confirm how good it is?

When asked about the Augusta ranking Tiger Woods said “Maybe they can’t draw the ball.”

Golf Digest’s top 10:
Pine Valley
Shinnecock Hills
Augusta National
Cypress Point
Oakmont
Pebble Beach
Merion
Winged Foot
Seminole and Crystal Downs

Augusta only cracks top 10

Augusta National only came in at No. 10 on their list of “Top 100 classic courses” built before 1960. #10?

Does your putter “want” to stay on line?

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Instruction • Golf Videos

I’ve been tinkering with putters, pictures and videos in the putter category this spring. This post relates to a putter’s “desire” to stay on target.

I see a lot of players who can’t keep their putters traveling on the target line. Much of this is due to the fact that they have poor technique I’m sure. But how much of that could be the putter? More than any other club in the bag, putters are very personal and very “feel” related. When I pick up a putter for the first time the first thing I do is see if it likes to be square to the target when I take my address position. I’ll hold the putter just off the ground at address lightly and then let go and see if it wants to remain square. Some putters stay square and some fall open or closed. If the putter wants to fall a few degrees open, then if you get lazy or lose concentration on your putt you may push it.

So here’s a video showing the unscientific way I like to test putters to see if they “want” to stay on the proper line:

Video of the perfect golf swing

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Categories: Golf Videos • Hackers

I’m really having a lot of fun going through my golf videos and putting them up on YouTube. Here’s a video I forgot about. It’s of some guy which ended up playing as the 4th in my group. Mind you, this group’s highest handicap other than this guy was a three.

2007 Masters Field

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Categories: European Tour • PGA Tour • Tiger Woods • Web.com Tour

Once again all the trips I spent running to my mailbox and I never got an invitation. There’s always next year. Here are those who are lucky enough to get an invitation to play in The Masters:

Tommy Aaron (1)
Robert Allenby (Australia)(15,16,17)
Stephen Ames (Canada)(5,10,14,16,17)
Stuart Appleby (Australia)(14,16,17)
Aaron Baddeley (Australia)(15,17)
Severiano Ballesteros (Spain)(1)
Rich Beem (4)
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)(16)
Gay Brewer Jr. (1)
Bart Bryant (17)
Jack Burke Jr. (1)
Angel Cabrera (Argentina)(10,16,17)
Mark Calcavecchia (15)
Chad Campbell (10,14,16,17)
Michael Campbell (New Zealand)(2,16,17)
Paul Casey (England)(16,17)
Billy Casper (1)
K.J. Choi (Korea)(14,16,17)
Stewart Cink (10,14,16,17)
Tim Clark (South Africa)(10,14,16,17)
Darren Clarke (N. Ireland)(16)
Charles Coody (1)
Fred Couples (1,10)
Ben Crane (16)
Ben Crenshaw (1)
Ben Curtis (3,14)
Chris DiMarco (12,16,17)
Luke Donald (England)(13,14,16,17)
# Bradley Dredge (Wales)(16)
Joe Durant (14,16,17)
# Johan Edfors (Sweden)(16)
Ernie Els (South Africa)(3,12,14,16,17)
Nick Faldo (England)(1)
Niclas Fasth (Sweden)(16,17)
# Kenneth Ferrie (England)(11)
Raymond Floyd (1)
Doug Ford (1)
Rod Pampling (Australia)(10,14,16,17)
Tom Pernice Jr. (14)
Carl Pettersson (Sweden)(14,16,17)
Gary Player (South Africa)(1)
Ian Poulter (England)(16,17)
# Brett Quigley (14)
#* Richie Ramsay (Scotland)(6-A)
John Rollins (15,17)
Justin Rose (England)(17)
Rory Sabbatini (South Africa)(14,16)
Adam Scott (Australia)(13,14,16,17)
# Jeev Milkha Singh (India)(16,17)
Vijay Singh (Fiji)(1,4,10,11,14,15,16,17)

Fred Funk (5)
Jim Furyk (2,11,12,14,16,17)
Sergio Garcia (Spain)(13,16,17)
Lucas Glover (14,16,17)
Bob Goalby (1)
Retief Goosen (South Africa)(2,10,14,16,17)
Paul Goydos (17)
#* Julien Guerrier (France) (7)
Todd Hamilton (3)
Padraig Harrington (Ireland)(11,16,17)
# J.J. Henry (14)
Tim Herron (14)
Charles Howell III (15,17)
David Howell (England)(16,17)
Trevor Immelman (South Africa)(14,16,17)
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain)(10)
Zach Johnson (14)
# Robert Karlsson (Sweden)(16,17)
Shingo Katayama (Japan)(16,17)
Jerry Kelly (14)
#* John Kelly (6-B)
Bernhard Langer (Germany)(1)
Davis Love III (14,16,17)
Sandy Lyle (Scotland)(1)
# Troy Matteson (14)
Billy Mayfair (10)
Shaun Micheel (4,13)
Phil Mickelson (1,4,11,14,15,16,17)
Larry Mize (1)
Colin Montgomerie (Scotland)(11,16,17)
Jack Nicklaus (1)
Arron Oberholser (10,14,16,17)
Geoff Ogilvy (Australia)(2,10,14,15,16,17)
Nick O’Hern (Australia)(11,16,17)
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain)(1,10,14,16,17)
Mark O’Meara (1)
Arnold Palmer (1)
Jeff Sluman (11)
Craig Stadler (1)
Henrik Stenson (Sweden)(15,16,17)
Steve Stricker (11,14,17)
# Hideto Tanihara (Japan)
Vaughn Taylor (14)
David Toms (14,16,17)
Scott Verplank (10,14)
# Camilo Villegas (Colombia)(14)
#* Casey Watabu (8)
Tom Watson (1)
Mike Weir (Canada)(1,10,11,14,16,17)
Lee Westwood (England)(16)
# Brett Wetterich (14,16,17)
# Dean Wilson (14)
#* Dave Womack (9)
Tiger Woods (1,2,3,4,10,14,15,16,17)
Ian Woosnam (Wales)(1)
# Y. E. Yang (Korea)(16,17)
Fuzzy Zoeller (1)

Number after each name indicates the basis of qualification. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.

1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
2. US Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
3. British Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
5. Winners of The Players Championship (2005 and 2006)
6. Current US Amateur Champion (6-A) (Honorary, non-competing after 1 year) and the runner-up (6-B) to the current US Amateur Champion
7. Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after 1 year)
8. Current US Amateur Public Links Champion
9. Current US Mid-Amateur Champion
10. The first 16 players, including ties, in the 2006 Masters Tournament

11. The first 8 players, including ties, in the 2006 US Open Championship
12. The first 4 players, including ties, in the 2006 British Open Championship
13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the 2006 PGA Championship
14. The 40 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for 2006
15. The 10 leaders on the Official PGA Tour Money List published during the week prior to the 2007 Masters Tournament.
16. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for 2006.
17. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the 2007 Masters Tournament

# Denotes first Masters * Denotes Amateur

New products from GRIP: Golf Research In Play

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, March 26th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment

GRIP: Golf Research In Play is a great friend of HOG and The Golf Space. GRIP makes high performance golf clubs which can compete with the big names, but at a fraction of the price. GRIP’s current lineup includes hybrids, putters and wedges. Coming in April 2007, GRIP will be adding a KILLER 460cc driver (which I’m playing now), 3-wood and wide sole irons. Here’s our first look at their new product offerings for 2007: