I’ve joked for years about needing to design a “snow wedge” so I can play year round in Michigan. Someone apparently has had the same thought about playing on sandy beaches.

This prototype from Oakley is mostly hollow, except for the mesh screen at back. The head is adjustable from 12 to 64 degrees so you can use it for a variety of shots.

via: Yanko Design

When playing in casual groups, I’ve found that it’s a matter of good manners to complement your partners’ well played shots: “Nice drive” for particularly long pokes; “Good shot” for well struck irons; “Nice par” whenever appropriate; “Good save”; “Good putt”; And so on.

On a 525 yard par five recently, I uncorked the longest drive I’ve hit in years—a 300-plus yarder. The shot was soaring and long and straight down the middle. The ball bounced a couple of times and rolled for what seemed like ages.

My playing partner, Mike, said “Nice drive.”

For my second, I briefly considered a three wood to get to the green in two, but decided to lay to the 100 mark. Again, I stuck it well and Mike muttered “Nice shot.”

The shot played too well, though, and left me with 60 yards to the green. The flag was set just a couple of yards from the front. That’s a tricky shot: a three-quarter wedge with the potential to either come up short or – catching it thin – fly over the green. Three things could happen, and two of them were bad. To play it safe, I took out a seven iron and played a bump-and-run to a foot from the hole.

“I never would have thought of that,” Mike said. “Now THAT was a golf shot.”

I thought about that line over the next few holes. There is, I think, a discernible difference between a good shot, and a Golf Shot. An average amateur like myself might hit many good shots over the course of a round, but only one or two “golf shots.”

The drive was not a Golf Shot. It was just a long blast down the fairway; no thought there, nor planning. Neither was the second a Golf Shot. It was well struck, but I had intended to get to the 100 yard mark, where I could hit a full gap wedge into the green. Instead, I hit it too hard and left myself with a tricky third.

The bump-and-run was not pretty. Bounding and bouncing up to the green, it had none of the graceful arc of a lob off a sixty degree wedge. But it was a Golf Shot. It got the ball to the hole efficiently, and minimized the risk of error. I had considered all of my options, and successfully executed. It was exactly the play called for at that moment.

So on that shot, Mike had given me the best complement of all: I had made a golf shot.

Acer XP Hollow Core Ti Face

Hireko Golf’s Acer XP Hollow Core offers design features not normally found in an inexpensive club. The iron features a hollow core steel body to which a lightweight Beta Titanium face has been welded. This removes a high percentage of the weight from the center of the clubhead and redistributes it to the perimeter. The resulting increase in moment of inertia creates a very forgiving club. A rubber backing in the cavity helps to dampen vibrations and improve sound and feel.

As with all Hireko clubs, these come with a 60 day playability guarantee, so there’s no risk in trying.

I think I was propositioned on the golf course yesterday. But at this moment, I’m still not sure.

To he honest, I have never been very good at picking up signals send by the female of the species. It may have something to do with the fact—that with my severe hearing loss—female voices are generally too high for me to hear; I miss inflections and tones. If we lived in an earlier time when women simply waited for a man to take action, I would not be married—or even have been on very many dates.  My high school girlfriend—we dated for three years and were voted “cutest couple” as seniors (all the cuteness was on her part)—used to laugh that she tried to get me to ask her out for three weeks before she gave up and invited me to a movie. Looking back, I think I can pinpoint a number of times when I completely missed various girls’ signals.

I met Mrs. Golfblogger when the ladies of the church arranged things so we had to sit next to each other at several church socials. Seventeen years later, I am quite convinced that she put them up to it. After a couple of those events, she asked me if I’d like to go play miniature golf with her. We were married six months later.

Yesterday was another one of those days when—hours after the incident—I slapped myself upside the head. Not that I have any interest—Mrs. Golfblogger is more than I probably deserve—but it would be nice to see a train coming before it hits me.

The course was very busy and—playing as a single—I was stuck behind several quartets of retired gentlemen. They were playing from the blues and were appallingly slow. The course was clearly too much for them. Behind me were four ladies of uncertain ages. One was a grey haired grandmother type, two perhaps were my age, and the fourth might have been in her twenties.

While waiting for the retired guys to clear out, the ladies caught up to me several times. The first time, I said “hi” to be polite and told them about the slow foursomes ahead—mostly so they wouldn’t think that I was the problem. They said not to worry about it and enjoy the round.

On the fourth—or was it the fifth or sixth—time they caught up to me, one of the middle-aged women got out of her cart and walked over to mine as I was parked next to the white tees (it was a cart-only course). She was definitely my age, fit, but not thin, handsome and wearing a pink shirt and khaki shorts.

“I think that cart is your lucky number,” she said.

I said something brilliant like “huh?”

She explained. “Its 69 ... I think that’s your lucky number.”

I looked over the side. The cart was indeed number 69. I chuckled; that was a funny observation.

“You’re alone,” she said. “I could ride with you if you like.”

“No thanks,” I said. “I like to play alone.”

“You don’t have to play alone,” she said.

I said something about that being ok, and headed up to the tee box, hit my shot and played on. They didn’t catch up to me again.

It was on the ride home, as I was mentally reviewing the round, that the scene replayed itself. And I’m still not sure if I was being propositioned, or if she was just bored and being funny.

TaylorMade Rossa Giallo Inza Putter - New for 2007 !

I’ve seen these putters in play on several occasions recently, both on the course and on television. They’re weird looking, but like all of the strangely designed clubs, the goal is to maximize moment of intertia (resistance to twisting). The Inza also features TaylorMade’s ASGI anti-skid grooves on the face. These grooves are supposed to get the ball rolling sooner, producing a putt that stays on line.

There’s a new golf movie out: Who’s Your Caddy.

It looks horrible. You can see the trailer below:

Much will be made this week about the first appearance of the British Women’s Open at the Old Course and of the admitting of ladies to the R&A Clubhouse. It is, however, not quite the same thing as admitting a woman at Augusta.

The difference is that, unlike American courses, St. Andrews (and indeed, many Scottish courses) is owned by the town. Calling the course home are a number of clubs, including the R&A, the St. Andrews Golf Club, the “New” Club, the Thistle, the 19th Hole, the St. Regelus Ladies Golf Club, and the Ladies Putting Club of St. Andrews, which plays on the nearby Himalayas course. Each club organizes players, holds competitions and stakes out a claim to tee times.

So the R&A’s men’s only restrictions don’t have any real effect on the course. Lots of people play there who aren’t members of the R&A.

Unlike men’s only clubs like Burning Tree, women have been playing at St. Andrews for centuries. Mary, Queen of Scots played there back in the 1500s. (Her golf habit factored into her ultimate demise, as her subjects were distraught that she was playing golf while she should have been mourning for her husband.)

In more recent history, the Scottish Ladies Championship was first played there in 1903, and has returned on eight occasions. The St. Rule Trophy event has been held at St. Andrews since 1984. There has been a St. Andrews’ Junior Ladies Open since 1989.

It’s significant that this is the first tournament at St. Andrews that includes professional women. But its not really breaking any new ground for women’s rights.