The Ben Hogan Tour Deep is a new high-end ball desigend to compete with the likes of the ProV1, the HX Tour and the new TaylorMade TP.

The centerpiece of this ball’s technolgy is the ultra thin cover—which Hogan claims is the thinnest available. the thin cover, Hogan says, allows for a larger, softer core, which helps with distance. The mantle is designed to interact with the cover to provide the spin that better players demand.

What’s most interesting to me is that, among the 382 dimples are six “deep” dimples that Hogan says is designed to hold the core perfectly centered. That, of course, would end any off-kilter spinning. It makes me wonder what other manufacturers do to ensure that the core is in the exact center of the ball.

Ben Hogan Tour Deep Golf Balls

ESPN is reporting that the USGA has increased proposed limits on clubhead moment of inertia from 4,750 grams-centimeters squared to 5,900, with a tolerance of 100.

The change was made after manufacturer input and applies to woods and drivers.

Moment of Intertia is a measure of a clubhead’s resistance to twisting. It’s generally achieved by moving weight to the perimeter of a clubhead.

I just ran across this little tidbit on a British oddmaking site.

Odds on Phil Mickelson competing the Grand Slam: 250-1
Odds on Phil completing a Tiger Slam: 40-1

I still think that his toughest challenge is going to be winning the (British) Open Championship.

The same site has odds on who wins the US Open:

Tiger: 4-1
Mickelson: 8-1
Goosen: 12-1
Els: 14-1
Singh: 14-1

PineMeadow’s White Polymer Putter offers many of the features of Odyssey’s White Hot Putter at a third of the price.

The putter is constructed of stainless steel; Pinemeadow says that the weight creates an evenly balanced putter. The soft white polymer insert is intended, like the Odyssey to offer soft feel and touch. Unlike other low priced putters, the face of the Pinemeadow is milled for flatness.

If you’re a bargain hunter, PineMeadow is a line of clubs that you should consider. Each club comes with a thirty day playability guarantee that minimizes your risk. PInemeadow also has a one-year warranty.

White Polymer P727 Putter

I haven’t read the issue because I don’t subscribe, but Consumer Reports has apparently rated golf balls in their April 11 issue. According to their press release, they tested 25 balls for distance, spin and feel.

Some of their results:

• When struck by an Iron Byron, every ball went pretty much the same distance. Three of the under $15 a dozen balls went farther than 7 higher priced balls.
• In some cases, the less expensive balls had a softer feel
• All of the balls had a low spin rate off the driver
• The more expensive balls were more accurate, but they discounted that, saying that most players aren’t good enough to take advantage of that.

The best expensive balls were: Nike One Black, Callaway HX Tour, Titleist Pro V1, the Ben Hogan Tour deep and the Top Flite Strata TL-Tour. For most golfers, they recommended the Nike Power Distance Super Soft, the Callaway HX Hot, the Pinnacle Gold Distance and the Pinnacle Exception. For those with slower swings, they recommended the Titleist DT So-Lo, the Precept Lady and the Pinnacle Exception.

All that said, I think that you have to be a bit skeptical of Consumer Reports. These are, after all, the same people that failed to list a single American car in their last auto report.

And before you start making cracks about American cars, consider the flawed Consumer Reports methodology: their system was weighted toward the cars chosen by their subscribers. Then consider who actually subscribes to the magazine rather than going to the library to look at it: upper income, liberal, college educated types—people who would look down their noses at a Chevrolet even if it were proven beyond a doubt to be the best car in the world. That’s the same sort of flawed methodology that sunk the 1936 Literary Digest presidential poll.

So before you can take anything Consumer Reports says seriously, you have to look at their methodology. And there just isn’t enough in the press release to do an analysis. I will say, however, that there is a lot more to rating a ball than individually considering distance, spin and feel. You have to consider thiese things in combination with each other, with sacrificing a little of one for a little of another. And there’s also the ability to shape a shot, launch angle, how long it hangs in the air, etc.

Take the distance rating for example. I would not only like to know how far it went, but how far it carried, and how long it rolled.

Guess I’m going to have to got to the library with all of the other Chevy drivers and take a look at the issue.