ArmourBite Mouthpiece

At first glance, the idea of a mouth guard for golf doesn’t make any sense. But I warmed to the idea when I read UnderArmour’s explanation:

The ArmourBite® Mouthpiece’s patented construction pivots the jaw forward to reduce the production of cortisol, a performance-sapping stress hormone. The result is a more open airway that helps increase endurance, and a more balanced jaw that helps improve strength, speed, and reaction time. The perfect combination to unlock the best athlete you can be.

Translation: wearing the guard prevents you from clenching your teeth, which relieves stress and tension.

The more I think about it, the more it sounds like a good idea. I’ve been wearing a mouthguard at night for a year or so and I swear I sleep better while wearing the guard—it reduces jaw clenching and tension.

I just might give this a try. My only concern: will it interfere with cigar smoking?

The HIGH Museum of Art in Atlanta is opening an exhibit on the art of golf. I REALLY want to see this one, but a trip to Atlanta isn’t in the family budget at this point. It’ll be there Feb. 5 - June 3, 2012. From their description:

The Art of Golf explores the royal and ancient game as depicted by landscape and portrait artists, photographers, Pop artists and sculptors through the ages. This is the first-ever exhibition devoted to the game by a major American art museum. Comprising approximately 90 works from artists as diverse as Rembrandt, Charles Lees, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol, The Art of Golf examines the game’s origins, its foundation in Scotland and its growth in America in the 20th century. The exhibition also features a contemporary and interactive video component and large-scale photography, and is accompanied by a full-color catalogue. The Art of Golf continues the High’s multi-year partnership with National Galleries of Scotland.

The exhibition begins with a display devoted to the depiction of kolf, a cousin of the modern game, as depicted in early Dutch landscape and genre paintings of the 17th century. This section will include Rembrandt’s famous etching The Golfer (1654) and winter landscapes by Hendrick and Barent Avercamp, which depict kolf being played on the frozen canals of Holland. Following in the display will be Scottish artworks of the 18th century, including the earliest known depiction of golf being played in Scotland (ca. 1740). Also included will be a series of iconic Scottish golfing portraits from the National Galleries of Scotland, including a stunning full-length portrait of the tartan-clad Sir James and Sir Alexander MacDonald (ca. 1749) by William Mosman and an incisive portrayal of William Inglis, Captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (ca. 1790), by Sir Henry Raeburn, the preeminent portraitist of the Scottish Enlightenment. Among many objects that will be lent from the collection of the world-renowned Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews, Scotland, is the charming portrait of Old Tom Morris by Sir George Reid. Morris was one of the great early players, winning four British Opens in the 1860s and also earning fame as a clubmaker and course designer.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is known as greatest golfing painting in the world: Charles Lees’s The Golfers, which portrays in detail a match played on the Old Course at St Andrews in 1847. Jointly owned by the National Galleries of Scotland and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, this masterpiece has never before traveled to the United States, though reproductions of it hang in golf clubhouses around the world. Displayed alongside the painting are several preparatory sketches, all portraits of individuals who can be identified in the painting, and an early photograph by Hill and Adamson to which Lees referred as he composed his painting. Also included in this section is golfiana (antique balls, clubs and clothing) to illustrate the very different equipment used in the earliest days of the sport.

Moving into the early 20th century, the exhibition presents a series of elegant golfing scenes by Sir John Lavery, which capture the chic glamour and appeal of the game in the Roaring Twenties. This section also features Art Deco railway posters advertising Scotland’s premier courses to an expanding audience in Britain, and a series of photographs by Harold Edgerton, developer of strobe photography, that features the great Bobby Jones, Jr., hitting a golf ball. Other artists featured in this section include Childe Hassam, James McNeill Whistler, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol (an iconic screenprint of golfing superstar Jack Nicklaus, 1977, part of Warhol’s Athlete Series).

Fittingly, the exhibition also features a special section on legendary American hero and Atlanta native Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones, Jr. (1902–1971), who popularized golf on the international stage. The exhibition includes portraits of Jones, notable photographs, sculpture and film footage that illustrate his importance to the game and the bond he created between the United States and Scotland, where he came to love and admire the Old Course at St Andrews.

The Art of Golf will close with a series of aerial photographs, newly commissioned by the National Galleries of Scotland, which capture the beauty of iconic Scottish golf courses including the Old Course at St Andrews and other great seaside courses (“links”) such as Carnoustie, Royal Aberdeen and the beautiful inland golf complex of Gleneagles, set in the majestic beauty of the Perthshire, “gateway” to the Highlands.

The New York Times’ Karen Crouse uses Joe LaCava’s decision to dump Dustin Johnson for Tiger Woods to take a look at the hiring and firing of the Tour Caddy:

LaCava’s decision to leave Johnson for Woods surprised some caddies, who are like horsemen when it comes to picking their rides. They place great weight on recent performances, which makes sense since, in addition to a base salary for the week — roughly $1,500, a large chunk of which goes toward travel and lodging expenses — they also receive a percentage of their boss’s earnings: 6 percent for a made cut, 8 percent for a top-10 finish and 10 percent for a victory.

Over the past two years, Johnson has had 13 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, including three victories. Woods has no victories and four top-10s. Johnson is ranked fifth on the current money list, 113 spots ahead of Woods.

“Dustin Johnson’s an A.T.M. machine,” said the veteran caddie Ricci Roberts, who is two weeks into his latest tour of duty with Ernie Els.

The instability of these relationships makes the Mickelson/Bones pairing nothing short of remarkable.

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Part of the Fall Series, the McGladrey is one of the newest stops on the PGA Tour. It debuted in October 2010 in St. Simons Island, Georgia at teh Sea Island Seaside Golf Club. The tournament’s sponsor is an accounting, tax and business consulting firm.

The event has a purse of $4 million and the principal charitable beneficiary is Special Olympics

The Seaside Course, which opened in 1929, was originally designed by noted architects Harry S. Colt and Charles Alison, and in 1999 was renovated by Tom Fazio. It measures 7,055 yards and plays to par 70. The resort also features the Plantation Course, designed by Walter Travis and renovated by Rees Jones in 1998.

The inaugural event was won by Heath Slocum with a 266 (-14). Runner up was Bill Haas.

In 1960, the average golf score was 100. Forty years later, in spite of all the innovations in clubs, balls and instruction, the average golf score is ... still 100. In fact, only 20 percent of all golfers will ever break that mark.

Here’s the problem: Even with all the improvements, the one thing we haven’t been able to improve is the golf intelligence of the players. Most hackers—and more than a few better players—just play dumb golf. So here’s part of a series on playing smarter golf. I’ve been collecting mental game golf tips for years in a series of notebooks, on my palm pilot and in various computer files. They’ve helped my game. I know they’ll help yours

Know Your Tendencies

As important as knowing your distances is knowing your tendencies. I’m always amazed when a playing partner steps up to the tee, plants his ball in the center, and announces: “Look out. I have no idea where this is going.” Often as not, the high-handicapper takes a mighty swing and slices the ball into the treeline. It’s probably the same result eight out of ten times.

Rare indeed is the player whose swing is so erratic that he truly has no idea where the ball is headed. More likely, the weekend warrior is either delusional, or uninformed.

The delusional player knows he’s going to slice (or pop it up or hook or whatever), but because he once in a great while hits a ball that behaves, has convinced himself otherwise. A related delusion says that even though it’s always a slice, THIS time, I’ll figure out the magic move and drive it right down the middle. The uninformed player has simply never thought seriously about his game and really doesn’t have a clue.

Knowing your ball flight tendencies can save you pile of strokes on the course. If nine times out of ten you slice a club, you can plan for that by aiming to compensate. Similarly, when lying behind a line of trees, it pays to know which club will carry you over the leaves.

The solution to knowing what your ball is going to do is to collect raw data. The next time you play, ask the appropriate questions. Does your driver slice, draw, fade or hook? How high does it fly? What does the three wood do? The five iron? Your pitching wedge?

Chances are that your shot shape varies from club to club. One will induce you to a low draw, while another consistently slices. I tend to slice my longer clubs, except for the driver, which I hit with a fade or a hook. The shorter clubs also trend toward a fade.  Knowing how each club tends to perform will allow you to choose the correct tool for each job.

As you play your next few rounds, keep track of the ball’s flight path. Note both the shape of the horizontal flight and also of the height. I found that a good way to do this is to draw a sketch of each shot on the illustration of the hole on my scorecard. This method allows for quite a bit of post round analysis.

The trick, as with most mental golf tips, is to actually remember to put them into play. If you already have a handy card with your club distances recorded, include a note about each club’s shot shape. Then, when setting up to take your shots, remember to play your percentages.

This tip is an excerpt from The Five Inch Course: Thinking Your Way To Better Golf. The complete book is available in Kindle format at Amazon.com.

I saw these Seiko golf clubs on Craig’s List. As far as I knew, Seiko made watches and optics, so I thought at first the advertisement was in error. A little research, however, shows that Seiko does indeed dabble in sporting goods.

Who knew?