Another victim of the economy. The Kapalua Land company in Hawaii has cancelled its contract—which ran through 2012—to organize and host the LPGA’s Kapalua Classic. The company apparently is experiencing financial difficulties.

Expect the LPGA to see the company in court.

I spent the day at the LPGA’s Jamie Farr Classic in Toledo yesterday and shot 200+ photos. My theory is that if you take a lot, a few will turn out ok. Here’s one of Natalie Gulbis—she of the cheesecake and semi nude calendar photo fame. More to come.

You can see more in the LPGA Photos Category.

Photo taken with a Canon Rebel XSi and 55-250mm lens on a monopod.

From the Lake Forest Golf Club. Mrs. GolfBlogger points out that there are neither lakes, nor forests present in this picture.

Izzo Golf Medicine Ball

One of the first training exercises I practiced was with a medicine ball. Holding it in my hands, I would make a short backswing, and then follow through. It was great for developing the proper weight shift. The one I have isn’t anything special—it’s just one of those designed for school gymnasium use. This one, however, seems to come with a dvd of additional golf exercises you can do.

My friends at the Golf Instruction Courses have done some research on amateur swing speeds and tempo times at a local (Michigan) best ball golf outing. There’s a lot of data in the post and I found it very interesting reading.

Among the findings:

  * Swing speed range for men was 79 mph to 122 mph with the average being 105.
  * Swing speed range for women was 71 mph to 94 mph with the average being 79 mph (Note: only 7 ladies participated in the measurement survey).
  * Tempo time range for men was 0.78 sec to 1.40 sec with the average being 1.03
  * Tempo time range for women was 0.88 sec to 1.47 sec with the average being 1.28 sec.
  * The longest drive for men, approximately 270 yards, came from a swing speed of 109 mph with a tempo time of 1.14 seconds.
  * The longest drive for women, approximately 215 yards, came from a swing speed of 94 mph with a tempo time of 0.88.

Read the rest of the post.