Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord - Congrats to Brandt Snedeker!

The Corps are happy for Brandt Snedeker, a player that seems to have his game back in gear. But, while everyone else will be talking about Snedeker's high points, we thought we showed some low ones leading up to this win.



Golf Slang - Speak of the week

Have you ever wanted to increase your swagger on the golf course? In addition to sunglasses, a popped collar, and yellow soled Nike golf kicks, you will need to talk with a certain slang that shows everyone else you're up on the latest golf vernacular. That's why The Green Blazer is here to bring you: Speak of the Week . . .

Last week, we told you your clubs are not clubs, they're wrenches. But after another week hanging with some members of golf's brodier generation, we found that clubs can also be called hooks or bats.

Golf cars are also no longer golf cars or even golf carts ... They're buggies. Europe was well ahead of the U.S. on this one, but buggy is here now to stay. "Hey bud, will you throw my hooks on a buggy and bring it up front?"

Mizuno tries to play public for fools

Well browsing the latest Golf World magazine (somehow G-Blaze has have a free indefinite subscription to seemingly every golf related magazine) The Green Blazer stumbled across the "Mizuno Challenge" where they claim that golfers hit their new JPX 800 iron 12.48 yards farther than whatever current iron they're playing. They say it's due to the new "Hot Metal design" and "Ultra thin clubface" but The Blazer won't be fooled so easily.


Mizuno is right; numbers don't lie, just look at the lofts of their clubs, the real culprit for golfers' added distance.

Blaze doesn't need to poll 100 golfers to tell you that on average they hit their 5 iron farther than their 6 iron. Lofts have been continuously decreasing over the last ten years, mainly in the game improvement sector. If Mizuno really wanted to give a true picture of how much farther their clubs go, they should have compared them to clubs of similar loft (Callaway RazorHawk, Taylormade R9 would have worked). It's safe to say most golfers are getting new irons closer to every 10 years than every year. Below are the 6 iron lofts of some of the irons that their polled golfers were possibly using:

Ping i3 OS - 30.5 degrees
Cleveland TA5 - 30 degrees
Callaway X-14 - 33 degrees (2000)
Callaway x-20 - 30 degrees (2007)
Mizuno JPX 800 - 28 degrees

Mizuno is right about one thing, Numbers don't lie.

Lobster balls not delicacy

Golf's latest push toward greener pastures might be in the ball
Do you like Lobster balls? Do you find them to be an Easter delicacy? Do you like hitting the golf ball 60-70 percent of the distance you normally do? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then the University of Maine may have a product for you.

From http://technabob.com:
The researchers found a way to use those lobster shells to make golf balls; more specifically, golf balls that are biodegradable. The shells are held together with a biodegradable binder and coating. Presumably they will just melt away to lobster dust over time in the environment. The balls sell for a bit under $1 each and cost 19 cents to make.

These lobster balls are the latest in a push toward green golf balls (no we're not referring to a new Srixon Tour Green). Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. It is also estimated 300 million balls are lost or discarded in the United States alone, every year.

The Danish Golf Association found that during decomposition, golf balls dissolved to release dangerous levels of zinc and other heavy metals. When submerged in water, the zinc attaches itself to the ground sediment and poisoned the surrounding flora and fauna.

With all this said, we hope this isn't self defeating and that the Lobster shells they are using to make golf balls aren't already contaminated by golf balls.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord is back!

Was that a 15 Kevin? Na, it was 16
With the highest score on a single hole since John Daly made an 18 on the sixth hole at Bay Hill, Kevin Na made a twelve over par, sixteen, on the ninth hole in the first round of the Valero Texas Open.

Although hackers across the country stare back at the hole and point as they count their strokes out loud, it's unheard of to see a professional do it. Na actually ran out of beads at 15, but after reviewing the video discovered one more whack.

The Golf Channel struck gold by choosing Na to be miked up on that specific day and the scene was entertaining for all viewers. His caddy recommended Na go back to the tee, but instead of agreeing, Kevin said na-nah-na-nah and BOOM, he paid the price on what was otherwise a solid round.

Check out the video of the circus below and make sure to pay particular attention at 4:07 where the gallery applauded his 12th shot and 4:47 where Na hilariously twirls his club following his 13th shot.



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Speak of the Week

Have you ever wanted to increase your swagger on the golf course? In addition to sunglasses, a popped collar, and tennis shoe style Adidas golf kicks, you will need to talk with a certain slang that shows everyone else you're up on the latest golf vernacular. That's why G Blaze is bringing back: Speak of the Week . . .

Your clubs are not clubs and your grips are not grips. If you're confused the following sentence should clear things up: "Hey Pro ... Is it possible you could have the guys clean up my wrenches and put some new handles on them before my round Sunday?

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Golf course supervillain strikes up north
A horse is a horse but in Wisconsin, a course is no longer a course
Nike's new commercial caught G-Blaze's eye (an eye with a built in rangefinder, one of Blaze's many superpowers) when a horse is seen tearing through a finely manicured golf course causing significant damage to the grounds, but a stampede of horses couldn't have created as much damage in a year as one vandal did in a night to Whispering Springs Golf Club in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.









Chris Wood, the pro who found the 15th club that created a mini media frenzy last year, sent G-Blaze a message asking for a quick piece showing the damage this vandal did to a great golf course. Below are pictures from Whispering Springs website showing the damage.



















































From Whispering Springs website:

On the night of April 8th Whispering Springs Golf Club was the victim of a malicious act of vandalism. Trespasser(s) came onto our property during the night hours with a shovel and intentions to harm the course and our business’s well-being. The assailants dug over 200 holes throughout the green of significant size and depth. Not only did they dig out chucks of turf, the vandals proceeded to carry the pieces of sod 30 yards away near a creek. Anyone associated with, or has knowledge of the game of golf knows how much work goes into maintaining a golf course. This act was a direct assault on the hard work that the Whispering Springs staff puts into our establishment. We view this act to be one of someone who was not looking for sick fun, but rather, someone looking to destroy our business. For these reasons, Whispering Springs will not take this act lightly. We will do everything in our power to pursue these criminals and take full action to prosecute them.

Thanks Chris for bringing this to our attention. Rest assured we will put the full power of the Green Blazer Corps behind bringing this supervillian to justice.

Until next week, this has been The Green Blazer's Sunday Smorgasbord. Green Blazer Golf ... You no longer have to hit the greens to experience golf euphoria.