Here are the latest odds for the 2007 British Open Championship, provided courtesy of Bodog.Com, the world’s largest online sports betting destination.

I think I’d take the field on this one, at 11/4. I just don’t have a sense that any of the top players are a lock.

The Golf Blogger is going to be in San Diego the second week of August and would very much like to play a round at Torrey Pines South. Is there a reader or three out there who would like to play a round with the Golf Blogger? I’d really appreciate it. Please contact me using the link to the contact form above.

I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!

JGH Divot Candle Tin

Smells like fresh dirt.

Ridiculous Golf Item of the Week

As a dedicated walker, I am in the habit of looking down on most motor cart golfers as a morally inferior species (yes, I know that makes me insufferable). While I know that there are some who have legitimate issues that prevent them from taking a hike, it’s been my observation that most who ride would be far better off walking.

But I found myself in an unexpected position of moral inferiority recently when my playing partner and I—in a cart—were paired with a couple of walkers.

Normally, I ride a cart only under three conditions: if the course insists (and I avoid those courses); if Mrs. Golfblogger tells me that it’s so hot that walking would endanger my health; or if my partner wants to ride (and I’ll try to talk him out of it).

This round fell under the third category. There was nothing wrong with my partner’s health, but he insisted on riding. Something about not being in shape (of course if he walked, he WOULD be in shape).

So there I was, sitting in a cart, while two guys in their twenties were schlepping their bags around on their backs. I wanted to shout: “Hey, I would walk, too, if it wasn’t for the lazy guy in the shotgun seat.”

I’ve never felt so old. I was sure that they were thinking that we were a couple of guys who were so decrepit that we couldn’t get around a course any more.

I don’t normally play well when riding, but on this day, I was hitting fairways and getting up and down for bogey and par (more of the former than the latter, of course). By the end of the first nine, I had managed to shoot a 41.

One of the two walkers was not having such a good day. It was pretty clear to me that he was a decent—if not good—player, but that nothing was working. He were hitting balls into the woods,  skulling wedges and missing short putts. He was clearly embarrassed at first; then his embarrassment began to turn to anger. He started pounding clubs on the ground after a poor shot.

At the turn, the other walker, who I am sure had shot under 40, begged off to go to work. I was hoping that his friend also would quit, sparing me any further feelings of golf cart moral inferiority. No such luck.

On the tenth hole, the walker shot a ten.  On the eleventh tee, he hooked three straight balls into the woods.

Then I witnessed something I never thought I’d see. He flung his $500 Ping driver into the woods. Then he pulled another club from the bag and smashed it against a tree. Leaving both where they lay, he picked up his bag and stalked off without saying another word.

And I was left in my cart with an astonished look on my face. But then I smiled. In spite of the golf cart, my moral superiority had been restored.

Mantara XL Titanium Driver

In a summer of unusually shaped drivers, the Mantara might take the prize. As with all of the non traditional shapes, this one is designed to maximize the distribution of weight throughout the head.

Featuring the same radical square design as the original Mantara, the XL version is broader from front-to-back (8mm), but slightly shallower (4mm) to retain the 460cc limit. This moves the center of gravity not only further back, but lower as well. This helps to maximize the moment of inertia, resulting in less twisting on off-center shots, making it quite possibly our most forgiving driver to date!

The easy to align aerodynamic profile is constructed from a 6-4 titanium face and a thin, lightweight titanium crown, skirt and soleplate.

Carlos Monarrez in the Detroit Free Press has written a column about why he loves watching the LPGA.

The LA Daily News has a preview of The Golf Channel’s new show, Fore Inventors Only, in which inventors of golf gadgets compete against one another. At the bottom of the article is a list of inventions by show.

I just hope it’s better produced than The Big Break.