I recently went shopping for a Sun Mountain Speed Cart, and as an experiment, decided to buy it from online retailer Austads, instead of my local Golfsmith.

Austads is a brick-and-mortar retailer with stores in South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota. The online store stocks every major brand of club and some of the minor ones, such as Tour Edge. They also have an in-house brand called Arsenal.

Their website is user friendly and quick loading. You can find your products through a keyword search, by searching for a particular brand, or by drilling down through the various category areas.

Austads offers a triple guarantee: Quality, Playability and Low Price. If the product is defective, they will replace or repair it. If a club is not satisfying, you can return it within 30 days of purchase less a 10% restocking fee. And they will match any price from any authorized dealer, or refund the difference within 15 days of purchase.

The Speed Cart’s price was as low as I had seen anywhere.—and as much as twenty dollars lower than I some retailers. I also paid a $15 shipping fee because the item was oversized. Normally, orders of more than $90 come with free shipping (there are some restrictions—including—inexplicably—all Ping products).

I ordered the Sun Mountain Speed Cart on a Sunday afternoon. The transaction went smoothly, and I quickly recieved an email confirming the purchase. I was told that I would get another as soon as the product shipped.

I got the second email on Tuesday, along with a tracking number and a link to the UPS tracking site. The package arrived on Thursday. It was in a huge box, and a couple of other smaller boxes were packed inside to hold the cart in place. It was in pristine condition and ready to play.

I’m completely satisfied iwth my shopping experience at Austads, and based on that experience would recommend them.

If you’re going to go on a golfing trip over Easter Break (as it seems that all my friends are doing), you might want to look into a bag cover. With the price of clubs these days, it makes no sense to have your sticks clanking loosely around.

The brand most used by the pros is Club Glove.

The Last Bag Travel Cover is made of rip proof DuPont Cordura, has extra padding on the top and crown, lockable shoe pickets, wheels and a bottom shield. Its pricey, but not as much as your driver—let alone your woods, irons, etc.

And, right now, Club Glove has a deal going—if you buy one, you can get a one way voucher (value at $140) for golf club delivery by Golf Club Delivery Sports Express.

CLUB GLOVE The Last Bag Travel Cover

Defying the LPGA’s youth movement, Julie Inkster has retooled her swing and gotten back into the game.

The results have been stellar. She won the Safeaway International in her third start of the season, and finished fifth at the Nabisco Championship. The players ahead of her all were at least 14 years younger: Karrie Webb (31), Lorena Ochoa (24), Natalie Gulbis (23) and Michelle Wie (16).

The 45 year old Inkster was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1999. She has 31 career victories, including seven majors, but hadn’t won since 2003.

Her amateur career was just as distinguished. She won three consecutive US Women’s Amateur titles (1980-82) to become the first woman since 1934 to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles. Only four other women and one man have won the U.S. Amateur three consecutive times.

There’s a nice article on Inkster in the San Jose Mercury News.

Lets be clear about this. Barring a miracle on the scale of parting the Red Sea, Ben Crenshaw is not going to win the Masters. But his first round 71 is the feel good story of the first day.

Crenshaw, 54, won the Masters eleven years ago in the week following the death of his friend and teacher, the legendary Harvey Penick. His caddy, Carl Jackson, comforted him as he fell to his knees on the final hole, weeping. It was one of the more emotional moments in Masters history.

Five years later, Crenshaw learned that Jackson had been diagnosed with colon cancer. He called Jackson and offered to pay for his treatments. Jackson already had resigned himself to dying because he could not afford the treatments.

“He’s been there for me when I needed him. He’s like a brother,” Jackson said. “We just have a love for one another. I like him and I think he likes me.”

Now, Jackson is on the bag once again for Crenshaw, as he records the most surprising round for an old guy since Jack’s victory twenty years ago. Crenshaw is not supposed to be able to compete on the new, longer Augusta, but his short game and putting may keep him in the game. Consider: he hit only eight of 18 greens in regulation yesterday.

Crenshaw has not broken par in 22 rounds since his last Masters victory.

Jackson is one of two Augusta caddies in the tournament. He is working his 45th Masters—his 30th with Crenshaw.

The Ben Hogan Company has unveiled its new Ben Hogan Apex Edge Irons, a forged, game-improvement iron with a classic look.

It’s an unusual combination, since most game improvement irons are cast and have that “game improvement” iron look. Forged irons, on the other hand have had the reputation of being for “players” only.

The Hogan company hopes to disabuse those notions with the new Apex Edge. The club is forged from soft 1020 carbon steel, and is designed to look more like a classic player’s club. I like the look.

To help the higher handicapper, the club offers a couple of game improvement features. First, it’s got a 180-degree undercut channel that’s designed to move the center of gravity lower and back in the club. At the same time, it moves weight outward, raising the moment of intertia (resistance to twisting).

The Apex Edge also has a wide sole design to help the iron glide through the turf. The Hogan company says that this improves the club’s playability from a variety of lies.

“When it comes to classic golf clubs, Ben Hogan takes a back seat to no one,” said Drew Isaacman, Vice President, Brand Management for the Top-Flite and Ben Hogan brands. “But as good as these Apex Edge Irons look, the game-improvement technology they incorporate makes them an ideal high-performance option for players looking for a little more help from their equipment.”

The Apex Edge Irons will be available at retail on April 15 and carry a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1080 per set for graphite and $1000 per set for steel. You can get them at GolfSmith.