We’re only hours away from the start of the Open Championship… it’s like Christmas Eve but without the snow and the turkey. Before I get to anything else I should probably make my picks. Let’s quickly review my picks this year… I took Tiger at the Masters (Win) and Sergio at the U.S. Open (T-3)… I’d say I’m doing ok.We’ll go way back to my predictions on December 19th, 2004 and see that I picked Darren Clarke to win the Open. Now if you don’t know already… Darren is my favorite player and I know he’ll have the “almost hometown crowd” on his side. He also finished T-2 last week at the Barclays Scottish Open. As for an underdog… SirPuttsAlot whines that my underdogs are never really underdogs… so here’s one just for him. My underdog for the Open Championship is Jean Van de Velde… SirPuttsAlot can’t whine about that one!
I think we’ll dive into the mailbag today… SirPuttsAlot answers a ton of email each day but I think I’ll answer a few on here too. We have been getting a lot of email concerning the Tour Edge Exotics fairway woods. We gave them a great review last week and we included them in our “Top Five Fairway Woods” section yesterday. Most of the email we get concerns the high price of these clubs. Looking for a Tour Edge Exotics fairway wood without paying the high price? Some of our readers report that Tour Edge demos are available for sale at their local shops. I know Tour Edge has a pretty good demo program so there should be some clubs out there to try and maybe even buy. Our local rep here is selling off all of his demos and I’m thinking his 3 wood might find it’s way into my bag! The other place to look is Ebay. I’ve seen a few of them on there and the prices were pretty decent. There are cheap ones out there… you just have to do some looking! As for the Tour Edge Exotics driver… my rep is off to sales meetings and he should see it then. I’ll pass on any new information as I get it!
Next up… an email about the poor durability of the new Callaway HX Tour 56. I played with one the other day and also noticed some scuffs after just a few holes. Callaway says the HX Tour 56 has a “softer feel and more spin” which usually means a softer cover. I have had a few customers complain about the durability of the ball and I usually put them into the HX Tour. The other Callaway golf ball that isn’t getting much attention is the HX Hot. This ball is long… as long as the HX Tour. It doesn’t spin nearly as much but the cover is pretty durable. Most golfers would benefit from a lower spinning ball like the HX Hot. I think our reader that emailed us is a pretty good player so I’d recommend the HX Tour or the Titleist Pro V1. Thanks for the email!
A quick email from a reader in Las Vegas… lucky guy. He was interested in the PGA Show that is coming to his city in September. The show is September 28 and 29th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. You have to be a PGA member, an industry buyer or a media person to get in. I would talk to your local pro and see if you can tag along… especially since you live in Vegas. I’ve been to it in the past and it’s fun… it has lost some of it’s luster over the past few years but it’s still a good time. Oh ya… and if you’re ever looking for a couple of golf bloggers to work in Las Vegas… let us know! Haha.
A few odds and ends from the equipment side of things before I call it a night… the TaylorMade R7 Quad recorded it’s 50th worldwide win over the weekend. Not bad for a club that got it’s first win only 14 months ago. The Nickent Genex 3DX hybrid dominated the Nationwide’s Pete Dye Classic over the weekend. There were 37 3DX’s in play… the next closest hybrid was 16 clubs behind. Try the 3DX… I think you’ll like it. Srixon Golf got another win over the weekend when Tim Clark won the Barclays Scottish Open using the Z-UR ball. Clark is becoming an amazing investment for Srixon… he’s now #17 in the World Rankings.
Well I think I will go try to catch some sleep before the golf starts. I was considering calling in sick tomorrow but I think I’d lose my job. Hmm… if I lost my job then I’d have the whole weekend off… something to think about!