Taylormade r9 Driver
When I heard Taylormade were bringing out the new r9 driver, I pondered the question of how many more different combinations/weights/features could they possible add on to the new driver? Well………….now that Its out, they’ve added quite a few. I have to admit, It does look pretty awesome. Im still pondering the question however when will It all end? I mean, how much more can you add to your driver? I guess Its the same situation as razorblades. Just when you think 1 blade Is sufficient, they add an extra one. Last time I heard, they have razors with 5 blades. They’ve probably got them with 10 blades but Ive lost count. Surely It cant continue till Infinity? It’s like world records for sport, surly the body must reach a point where It cant physically go any faster?
Anyway, back to the r9. As I’ve said before, It does look good, and it plays even better. The driver I feel Is a better improvement from the r7. I was never able to hit the r7 drivers well (so instead, I’ve got a taylormade burner driver in the bag). In basic terms, the technology allows you to change the face angle, loft and lie. Being able to change the settings to correct your swing flaws certainly is appealing. The ball certainly does ping off the club.
The thing about being able to change the clubs settings is that a terrible swing becomes flawless. Sure people may Improve their scores but I feel that people will not Improve their actual game. The price of the r9 is a bit excessive. Aus$649 Is quite excessive for everybodies dream golf club. It’s cheaper to go get lessons and learn how to swing the golf club properly than to buy the r9.
Cleveland HiBORE XLi Irons
If you love hitting hybrids, well then this Is your perfect set of clubs. These clubs have a seamless tansition from the long Irons, becoming more compact to the short Irons, but still maintaining the hybrid benfits and looks. These clubs are what Is known as super game-improvement Irons. Cleveland has made a vast Improvement from the predecessor of these clubs, making them more sleeker at address. I’ve never been a big fan of hybrids and I’m still not but these clubs do hit the ball crisp. These clubs provide a sweet sound and feel. I do like how the club head glides through the turf. This club would benefit many weekend hackers. I’m very impressed at the number of stock shaft options. Very rare for super game improvement Irons.
Not the most cheapest of clubs out on the market, at a street price of $145/steel, $159/graphite. Not sure If the average weekend hacker would be prepared to pay the money for these clubs. Im still coming to terms with the concept of a hybrid sand wedge. I’m really struggling to find any benfits of this, I can only see it as a hinderance. If anybody uses the hybrid sand wedge of these clubs, please leave a comment, I would be very interested to read your views.
The Masters 2009
Anegel Cabrera held his nerve to win the 2009 Masters, his second major of his career. It was a dramatic sudden-death playoff In which he defeated Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell to claim the coverted green jacket. Kenny perry and Chad Campbell played some gutsy golf but in the end, it was the steady game of Cabrera which claimed victory. Sudden-death playoffs are a cruel way to decide a tournament, however, Cabrera truely deserved victory.
It was a relatively unusual Masters this year. With benign conditions for most of the days play, the course wasn’t at It’s menacing playability. A few players got caught out on the first days play by showing the great Augusta national course a little too much respect. Chad Campbell capatilised on these conditions however on the opening round by carding a 7 under 65, which included 5 birdies on his opening 5 holes, which was the tournaments best start by any player.
I was expecting to see Tiger Woods to be pushing the leaders In the final round but he hadn’t quite captalised on the conditions In the earlier rounds. He did finish off the tournament strong carding a final round 4 under, to finish up with 8 under for the tournament, posting a tied finish for 5th.
Johnnie Walker Classic
As a Perth native, It’s great to see the Johnnie Walker Classic return to The Vines Resort & Country Club. It was a great tournament, with the promising amateur Danny Lee from New Zealand winning by 1 shot. This kid has game. He’s got a good temprament, and an all round package from a powerful long game to a tidy short game. He’ll turn proffesional after the US Masters and I feel he will have a successful professional career.
The fashion was great too. From superstitious #89 shirts to Ian Poulters Johnnie Walker red label and black label clothing outfits. I have to say I feel for John Bikerton. He was co leader going Into the final round and didn’t have a bad last round but he just couldn’t get an ounce of luck. Anthony Kang’s another person I feel sorry for who Imploded in the 3rd round. After leading the tournament after round 2, he shot a 77 and then a 71 final round to finish tied for 48th.
I was a bit dissapointed at seeing Greg Norman and Camilo Villegas miss out on the cut, as well as a whole host of local Australian Players. Still, It was a great tournament with a deserved winner In Danny Lee.
Ping iWI Anser Putter
Moveable weights In clubs which famously are In Taylormade’s leading r7 series drivers have now entered the market In the putter form. Pings new flat stick range ‘iWI’ feature interchangeable weights In the sole of the club. I think this Is a great Invention. Players can find the correct weight combinationation In the head to suit their set up and stroke. A possible nine different weight combinations can be made as long as you buy the seperate weight kit. Left handers will be happy with Ping. Not only Is the iWI anser putter available In a left handed model, the rest of the iWI series Is available In the left handed model as well.
Personally I didn’t like the putter. I didn’t like the feel of It. The pick up felt too heavy for me. Personally, I like a balanced feel putter. Neverless, people who like a heavy feeling blade putter which Is good to create a stable putter face would like this putter.
Ping Black Nickel Tour Wedge
This wedge Is a very versatile wedge. Many shots become playable with this wedge. Bunker shots a great with this club. The ball flight Is more penertrating than most wedges which Im undecided about. If there’s a resonable amount of green to work with or you hitting from further out of the green, this wedge works well. However, I found flop shots In close to the green (for instance pin tucked in close behind a bunker), with no green to work with (especially playing on hard, fast greens) became hard to get close. Neverless, these shots are hard to knock In close as It Is. The penertrating ball flight Is good on windy conditions as the ball will not balloon up In the air. I can see this wedge being Ideal on links style courses.
This wedge can produce alot of spin which Is a big plus. There Is also a variety of loft/bounce options which makes It more likely everyone can find the perfect wedge to suit their game. This Is excellent as some of the other top leading wedge brands produce a limited variety of loft/bounce options.
Better Golf Solutions ebook
I am yet to do a review on golf books so I thought I might review one. I’m generally pretty cynical when It comes to improvement books, they seem like a waste of money. However this book has some credability. It covers all aspects of the game, from the swing to the mental game. The book mainly focuses on game awareness and all the mental aspects. Golf Is majority mental and this book gives you Invaluable Information on how to Improve mentally.
I would say this book Is for the average golfer, looking to Improve to take their game to a whole new level. Most of the Information covered In this book Is already known by good golfers so I wouldn’t recomend this to good golfers. Providing personal assesments and questionaires Is a very smart Idea, which this book provides. The average golfer looking to Improve their golf game by a whole new level would benefit greatly by reading this book.
The link for this book Is at;
http://www.wisdomebooks.com/nk/bettergolf.html
SureShot 8800 GPS
Good concept, great little device but It’s unusable. The reason I say It’s unusable Is that there Is a ban from using GPS out on the course In competitions. You can use It during non competition rounds but you would really want to use It during a tournament or competition, where acurate distances are vital. In saying that, It Is a great device which can help you get to know a course. Distances to hazards and the green, from front, middle and back Is very handy to know, especially If you dont know a particular course that well. Apart from key acurate distances, the ergonomically designed light weight device Is able to record key statistics which Is handy. It’s able to record how far you hit the ball so club selection can be more accurate. It’s able to be used all around the world, as It comes with a world compatability charger. Over 12 000 worldwide courses are available on the database so you can play anywhere.
Dubai Desert Classic
The 19 year old superstar Rory MCILROY put In a fantastic performance at the Dubai Desert Classic, scoring 19 under to win by 1 shot from Justin Rose. I heard somewhere that Rory McIlroy has achieved more than what Tiger Woods had at the same age. That Is a fair effort. Maybe this guy will become the new Tiger Woods. Rory has had a great amateur career, where he used to be ranked as the number 1 amateur in the world. His amateur form has been carried through Into his short profesional career. Rising through the world rankings, this kid has great potential to be one of the best golfers In the world. I’ll be watching closely how well he performs this year. The usual suspects were up the top of the leaderboard, with Rose, Stenson and Casey all putting In good performances to claim some of the dough.
Callaway FT-i Driver
Alot of technological scientific crap has gone Into producing this club which In the end, has produced something that Is so over-rated that I can’t even compare It to anything. Where should I start talking about this club. Looking at It, It looks like an absolute joke. Nothing need to be said. Just when the you get over the looks and think It must surely play decent with the value of It, you start to realise what a waste of money buying this product Is. It would have to be the worst sounding club In the world. I would much rather listen to those god awful chickens on “The View”, clucking their heads off than listening to the sound of the golf ball clanging off this driver.
The manufacture claims that this driver is designed to be the worlds straightest driver but to be honest, It’s no more straighter than pretty much any other driver out there. For a new technological driver, there Isn’t really any distanced gained. If anything, distance has been reduced. For the price of the driver, there are plenty of cheaper drivers which are quite frankly better.
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