Walter Hagen SB5 Pro Irons (Graphite)

I was very much impressed with the Walter Hagen driver that I had a chance to test drive last year, and so I have high hopes for the rest of the Hagen line.

The SB5 Pro is—in spite of its name—a game improvement set. It includes a five through pitching wedge, and matching adjustable weight hybrids for the three and four. A vibration dampening system also serves to move the weight around as necessary for each club.

The Walter Hagen clubs are made exclusively for Dick’s Sporting Goods by Nicklaus Golf.

First Nancy Lopez ... now Tony Jacklin. This coming-out-of-retirement thing seems to be catching on.

Tony Jacklin, one of the best and most popular of the British golfers of the 1960s and 1970s, will play the British Open this year at age 62.

Jacklin won the 1969 Open Championship, becoming the first British player to do so in 18 years.  He won the US Open in 1970—the first and only by a British player since 1920. He also won eight events on the then-fledgling European Tour, as well as events in Europe, South America, Africa and Australia.

Jacklin’s biggest claim to fame, however, was as a playing member of a series of losing European Ryder Cup teams, and the Captain of the 1985 European team, which racked up the first Euro victory in 28 years.

Jacklin was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

Hall of Fame LPGA star Nancy Lopez says that she will return to the tour at age fifty and that she expects to make some top tens.

“I know I have to get in real good shape to try to compete with the young girls, but I think I still have the mental capacity to go out there and play good golf,” Lopez said Tuesday at a news conference before a University of Nebraska at Omaha women’s athletics fundraiser. “Let’s just see if I can make it in the hole a little faster than I have the last few years.”

I can remember when Lopez was the main attraction of the LPGA Tour, but my only recent image of her is as a rather frumpy looking gal doing Florida real-estate commercials. Nonetheless, Lopez says that she has lost thirty pounds and is ready.

I hope so. I would hate to see her tarnish her reputation with a silly Michael Jordan-like “comeback.”

Lopez joined the LPGA Tour as a rookie in 1978 and went on a five-event winning streak that year enroute to nine victories and a Rookie of the Year award. She won a total of 48 events in her career, including three majors. A four time LPGA Player of the Year (1978, 1979, 1985 and 1988, she was admitted to the Hall of Fame by the time she reached the age of 30.

Lopez also has been a great ambassador for the sport. The USGA awarded her the Bob Jones award in 1998 for her distinguished sportsmanship.

The problem she’s going to have on this comeback is that she’s not an exempt member of the tour. So that means she’ll have to rely on sponsors exemptions and whatever she may have from the majors she’s won. Lopez says that she’ll try five or six events.

Good luck, Nancy.

The Golf Ball Launcher almost made it to the Ridiculous Golf Item of the Week category. I don’t care how hard the game is, or how little time you have to practice, there isn’t any reason to shoot a ball out of a tube at a hole.

But then I noticed that one of the target audiences is people with disabilities and mobility issues. As a hearing impaired person, I have tremendous sympathy for people whose bodies won’t let them live “normal” lives. So in that light I have to say that the golf ball launcher is a great idea.

Golf Chair

Ridiculous Golf Item Of The Week

A father in Wales has placed a bet—at 1,000 to one—that his son will win the British Open by the time he (the son) is fifty.

A win would net the old man a hundred thousand pounds sterling ($192,000 at today’s rate).

The bet was placed when the son was fifteen. He’s now twenty five and has just now finished his first season as a professional golfer (apparently on a European mini tour).

I don’t think he’s going to collect.

Dynacraft is an old line component club manufacturer, perhaps most famous for its early hybrid, the Jackaroo. I’ve built several Dynacraft woods and iron sets over the years and really enjoyed them—so much so that I once made a trip to visit the factory showroom in Newark, Ohio. The company now is owned and distributed by Hireko Golf.

The new Dynacraft Offset Titanium Driver uses cup face technology that moves the weld away from the club’s face. The effect of this, Hireko says is to increase the spring effect over a huge section of the club face. This should produce better results on those inevitable off-center hits.

The 460cc clubhead has an elongated shape and an internal weighting system that shifts weight back for a higher launch angle and more distance. Finally, the club’s offset will help a player close the clubface at impact, reducing the distance-sapping slice.

Hireko offers a 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee.