Grinding, Rory and Nike Golf

Labour Day. The unofficial death of summer even though there are still a few weeks left. With that means school. For some parents and children school is already back in class. For others (like myself) the respective parents are getting used to getting the "kidlets" back into the routine of "the grind". Grind... is there a word used more in describing golf? But what is exactly is the grind?

In this case the word grind is a verb. According to the dictionary it means "to reduce something to small particles" and when you really think about it... it really is a great adjective to sum up the game. We've all experienced the grind at one point or another because our love (see addiction) for the game is so strong. In my case, this meant going to the range/course daily to pound buckets of balls and play 18 or 36 holes afterwards to get ready for competition. Swings and changes don't really build themselves after all. For the last 5 years this was me in a nutshell. For guys and girls on Tour the grind can simply mean a dry spell in between wins or a period of playing a lot of golf week in and week out.

Photo Courtesy of TPC.com

This weeks winner on the PGA Tour and winner of the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs was a guy that we really haven't heard a lot from as expected. You heard more about him for declining to play in Rio than you did for his play on the golf course. In fact, it has been 16 months since his last victory before winning this week at TPC Boston during the Deutsche Bank Championship. Yet in a quiet sort of manner there he sits in the Official World Golf Rankings at #3 in the World. Much has been said about Rory in 2016. Most notably that he's massive and that his woes are that he became too big to swing. His workout regimen almost became a thing of notoriety when Brandel Chamblee of Golf Channel heavily criticised him (not to mention the Olympics regret thing) publicly. Honestly, I thought he was bordering on "too much" and if you followed his Facebook or Twitter feeds you were lead to believe that he had become obsessed. There is no doubt that for Rory it had been a difficult time in 2016. We saw him throw or break a club more than once and The Open Championship comes quickly to mind. Something that Tiger became notorious for. The rage out of frustration was something that might make a passive observer think "'Rhoid Rage" but that's a can of worms that doesn't need to be opened. But Rory stayed with the course and played through the "struggles" (again #3 in the world). But golf fans expected so much from him. Recently, Rory addressed his putting issues by hiring Phil Kenyon to fix his woes. Kenyon's other clients include the likes of Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose  and Lee Westwood to give you the idea that the man knows what he's going. Well something clicked and it's great to see Rory and Nike Golf back in the winning column. Congratulations Rory!! But as I sit and watch I cannot help but think about the proverbial "Elephant in the Room".

Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com

So the "swoosh" that is Nike Golf. Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Nike Golf is getting out of the golf equipment game. This was a move that I predicted after the 2016 PGA Show Getting right to the point... it was downright surreal that Nike had no presence in Orlando. As a matter of fact had I not visited the Oban booth I would never have seen a Nike club there. So if you ask me the writing was clearly on the wall. So Nike Golf has elected to get out of the golf equipment game (balls too) and focus on apparel which really is undoubtedly the king of the brand. So when Rory won this week does it mean that we have seen the last of the "Swoosh" ITB in the "Winner's Circle"? One can't help but think that's a possibility so moving forward where do the likes of Rory and stablemates Kevin Chappell, Michelle Wie, Suzann Pettersen, Paul Casey, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods go as far as their next sponsor. In a case like Tiger and Rory who no doubt are getting wooed by everyone and their collective uncles it's hard not to see them playing a brand like PXG and no matter what CEO Bob Parsons says that he chases nobody... you have to know that he is actively pursuing the two players to play his wares. But you can't blame him can you? Truth be told I could almost see all of the above playing PXG with an asterisk beside the names of McIlroy, Woods, Koepka, Finau and Wie as strong likelihoods. Pettersen I initially had thoughts of TaylorMade but for some reason I see her playing PING. However, getting back to Rory I never thought he looked "right" with the swoosh and I was relatively vocal about it on Twitter when he first went there. I really felt that he should have stuck with Titleist and the two parties fit each other. Remember, before Nike Golf Tiger played Titleist too.

All in all, I think the departure of Nike Golf is going to make an otherwise mundane (Ryder Cup notwithstanding) wraparound season exciting. Let the rumour mills churn.

Until The Next Tee!

Patience

Well, the changes have started here at alexandertothgolf.blogspot.ca and trying to get the blog to do what the website has been doing has proven to be a little trying.

I would be the first one to tell you that I am in no way a gadget or tech guy. I'm sure anybody that knows me would tell you as much. But the way that I have to look at it is like this. In a way it's like making wine, slow-cooking some ribs on the barbecue or working on a swing change or thought to shoot lower scores. We want the results "right now" but things take time.  If there is an operative word here I would say that it would certainly have to be "patience".

So, with that said I would like to thank all of my readers for their patience while I go through these changes. There will be days and nights where the blog may be broken and for that I apologize. I'm just trying to get the blog to be just right so my blog is enjoyable for you... my readers.

Until The Next Tee!

The Most Telling Training Aid That You Have... But Never Knew It

Truth be told, this first tip is so obvious that you might give yourself a smack of the forehead and think.. "why didn't I think of that". Have you been on the range working on your game and you're just randomly watching balls sail left or right? Sure, you might be striking the ball okay but that direction.. it's not even close. This tip is particularly great if you're a golfer who fights the slice.

If you were to line up 10 golfers I would almost guarantee that 9 out of 10 of them would be wearing something in common. Sure they are wearing shirts and bottoms but we have to look closer at the equator. Their belt. The belt is such an under rated piece of equipment and the fact is that our belts can tell us a lot about what's going on with our ballflight. Leaving shots out to the right? Hit your next shot and hold your finish and pay attention to where your belt or navel are pointing. Chances are it's pointing right in the general direction where your ball landed. If you have your belt pointing to the right (if right-handed or left for a left-handed golfer) chances are you slid (lateral shift) and you never cleared your hips. Keep this in mind.

Note: If your belt is pointing right and you hit a hook you have to know that you either lost connection, spun out of the shot or had a cast at the top.

Hope this helps.

Until The Next Tee

Patrick Reed Wears Callaway

It's really amazing how some things in this world come full circle. As an avid fly fisher I quickly think about how Pacific Salmon fight their way upstream to spawn... and die (Atlantic Salmon don't). However, in between all of this a legacy is passed on as salmon eggs turn into fry and then one day it happens. After spending their entire lives in the lake or ocean they turn into adults and return to the very creek that they were created in traversing rapids, anglers and in some cases hungry bears to create a brood of their own. I realize that this isn't a fishing blog so how does this tie in? 

Photo Credit: Disney

Well as it turns out, "Mufasa" was very wise lion and the "Circle of Life" was no joke. It's real. When I started my website alexandertothgolf.com it was on the heels of a severe diabetic foot ulcer. Not so much the heels of the ulcer but during while resting on the couch where I was hooked up to an I.V. I was bored and my brain was stagnating so I thought about writing. I previously wrote for an e-zine (now defunct) called "Fly Fish Ontario" and decided to revisit that "skill set". Here we are a few years removed and I'm right back where I was. Ordered to be off of my feet due to another infection that led to another diabetic foot ulcer. I haven't written in a while so what better excuse to get back on the horse? Full circle.

Can you believe it? It feels like the PGA Tour was just starting the season off in Hawai'i at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Here we are... it's September and all four Major's and a little thing called the Olympics have taken place. The respective champions crowned but of course that  wasn't the proverbial "be all, end all" to the golf season. No way.. not with "Straight up cash" to be won "homie". Right Jordan? With the FedEx Cup Playoffs there just happens to be another 10 million things to be awarded.

Photo Courtesy: PGA Tour

This past week the Barclay's Championship was contested in Farmingdale, NY at the public Bethpage - Black. While there were playoff points to be had there were also Ryder Cup points on the line. Emerging victorious on Sunday afternoon was American Patrick Reed. Love him or hate him you have to admire his game and his oozing confidence (the Top 5 player comment). Patrick Reed is a big-time Callaway Golf staffer but it doesn't stop with the clubs in his golf bag. Reed is also a healthy "endorser" of Callaway Apparel which I had the pleasure to review a piece from (it's at alexandertothgolf.com). I was fortunate to have had a press release given me to distribute. Here is what Callaway Apparel had to say.

Patrick Reed picked up his fifth PGA TOUR win on Sunday at The Barclays wearing essential styles from the Callaway Golf apparel collection. This is his fourth consecutive season with at least one win on the PGA TOUR.

Photo Courtesy: PERY

With this victory, Patrick jumps from the seventh spot to take the lead in the FedExCup standings and is now ranked 9th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He has also secured himself a spot on the United States Ryder Cup team for the second consecutive year.

For his victory on Sunday Patrick wore an OptiDri™ Solid Polo (CGKS60M6) in Tango Red. Which is a top performing polo packed with Callaway’s unique OptiSeries fabric technology: OptiDri™ moisture management, OptiStretch™ fabric for unencumbered golf swings, OptiShield
™ protection from the sun’s harmful rays with 50 UPF.


There is no denying the fact that Callaway Apparel knows what they're doing. Quality, performing fabrics and style that any discerning golfer would like. What's not to like? Patrick wears Callaway and maybe you should too. #IWearCallaway

Until the next tee!!

USGAffs and The Open

Well, it has been a little while since I last connected here. It feels like forever and I think that it's actually been around two months.  But in the golf world there really hasn't been anything to write over the last two months. Not like there wasn't a U.S. Open, a U.S. Women's Open and The Open Championship to talk about. But I digress. So where does one begin their coverage of recent events? I suppose the beginning would be a logical choice.

Photo Courtesy of PGA.com

So going back to June, the U.S. Open was contested at the beautiful venue Oakmont Country Club located just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylavania in the town that boasts the same name.. The U.S. Open was so much unlike the 2015 edition that was played at the unfair Chambers Bay. Honestly, last year was a true battle of attrition as we watched the field navigate a dried out, almost farce-like golf course. This inevitably as history now knows with American Dustin Johnson three putt the final hole giving Jordan Spieth the victory (I know.. he earned it). Admittedly, I have never really warmed up to DJ in the past and I don't know the exact reason why. Maybe it's his past transgressions but whom am I to judge? We're not perfect are we? As I say that I also felt awful for him going back to 2010 and the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The unintentional "grounding" of the club cost him his first Major. The uncertainty of "is it a bunker or isn't it a bunker?" is a question that really lingers. But then he was so close last year and then that nauseating three putt that cost him that "Major" opportunity. But 2016 was much different. Oakmont offered a different kind of course and much different conditions. Yes the rough was punishing if you missed the fairway but the course was green and lush with receptive greens. This time the U.S. Open would be his but not without a little controversy. It's almost like it follows him. Early in the Final Round (as we know) there was some question about a ball that moved on the green. It was clearly evident that DJ had not addressed the ball when his ball had moved. The USGA Rules Official stated that hadn't as the round progressed. But then someone in a trailer brought up some video and the USGA stepped in later assessing DJ a one stroke penalty. It was a poor judgement call and golfers too to social media to display their angst. Thankfully, he would play well to finish up his round and claim the victory penalty or not. Video...

Photo Courtesy of cinncinati.com

For as long as man and woman has played golf it has been referred to as a "Gentlemen's Game" and a "Game of Honour". It's a game where it is mostly officiated by the individuals themselves who are playing. This is what makes the game so endearing to many. I have called penalties on myself and there was one event on the Golfslinger.com Tour that I played in where I was walking to my ball from the cart, became disoriented and mistakenly kicked/tripped over my ball and made it move. It was a situation that I really should not have incurred the penalty but my playing partner insisted.

Anyways, the U.S. Women's Open was played recently in San Martin, California at Corde Valle Golf Club and the USGA pulled another slick move with the help of... video.  Sweden's Anna Nordqvist played a fantastic final round (and a terrific first as well) and she would find herself in a 3-Hole Aggregate Playoff with American Brittany Lang. As the two ladies battled it out over the first two holes they would find themselves all square after remarkable scrambling on the second hole. The two of them would hit their tee shots on the third hole and while Lang's shot found the right side of the fairway Nordqvist found herself in the fairway bunker that she had been in earlier in the day (I would have insisted on a 3 wood had I been her caddie). The ball was there, sitting up and clean. It was truly a good lie. She would hit a nice shot and play on. But then a cameraman from a FOX Sports tower brought it to the attention of the USGA. Through the use of amazing HD cameras Nordqvist apparently "grounded" her club. Grounded. I was in awe watching this and as much as I know that rules have to be enforced nobody... not Anna, her caddie, the USGA Rules Official, nor Lang were aware of an infraction. Looking back at it it was in my opinion that it was more like a "fluky clump" of sand that was sitting up and was "dislodged" as she drew her club back. So anyways, play continues and then right as she is ready to hit her next shot a Rules Official comes over and says that there might be a problem right before she swings. This information at this moment clearly would effect both players and the way that they would play the hole. When the HD Camera, sand and play stopped Brittany Lang would be the well-deserved winner. Anna... you were a true champion with the grace and dignity that you handled yourself. USGA... thanks for killing my buzz of enjoying some great golf

Photo Courtesy of chronicle.augusta.com

One other thing USGA... find yourself a new President because Murphy Brown (Diana Murphy) was a total embarrassment during the trophy presentation. #ItsBrittanyNotBethany I think that the USGA really needs to consider "The Birdman of Olympic" as its next president.

For the love of all things right in the world. Society, viewers and avid golfers please stop with the "do-gooder" telephone calls, tape review and so on. Let the player's do things the way that they are supposed to. Old Tom Morris, Bobby Jones, and the game got long well without you.

So, that was some weekend from Royal Troon eh?! As I sit here reflecting and writing I just shake my head. First there was the first round turned in by Phil Mickelson that would set the tone for the weekend. Then there's the Swede Henrik Stenson who through the weekend kept himself right there with Phil and who would take the lead after the third round. Really, it became very clear on Saturday that this Open Championship would be about two questions. The first of course is who would win and the other was who would finish third? Third? Why even mention third? Well that's because Phil and Henrik ran away from the field. It was totally clear this was a "two horse race". This tournament was living prof that life is unfair. When you finish a tournament... a Major with a total of -17 you almost expect to win. Especially when you go out and fire a cool 65 on the final day of said tournament. But some people are just icy and that's what Henrik Stenson was... icy. Honestly, a 63? Really Henrik.. a 63? That is insanity and that final round 63 tied him Johhny Miller for the lowest round ever to win a Major Championship. Too bad it wasn't a 62 because that would shut up the nattering Johnny Miller who drones on about it during telecasts. Not only did it tie that record but it also eclipsed Tiger Woods and his impressive -20 in 2000. Congratulations Henrik and could this be the first of many after 40?

Photo Courtesy of The Guardian

Stay tuned for my next article which will be real soon. One word.... Rio.

Until the Next Tee.