Bubba Watson has released a new video of his drive to the course in the General Lee, which he recently purchased.

Bandon Dunes

Here’s an event I’d like to attend: A golf and wine tour at Bandon Dunes. The cost of the trip is $4,750 based on double occupancy and includes: four nights’ lodging, four rounds of golf as well as a round on the new Par 3, all meals, four evening winery dinners, all wines, gratuities, and much more.  Reservations are limited to just 20 participants on a first come/first serve basis.

There’s a terrific book on the building of the Bandon Dunes complex. You can read my review of Dream Golf here.

True Linkswear, who produce some of my favorite golf shoes, offers limited edition sets throughout the season. The first are in—a pair designed for the Phoenix Open. If these don’t strike your fancy, stay tuned. I’m sure there will be more. I particularly liked last year’s white with green soles Masters’ offering.

You can read my review of the Stealth model here.

And you can get True Linkswear at GolfBlogger sponsor GolfLocker.

Donald Trump contemplates selling cemetary plots at his high end Trump National Golf Course. Memberships for the living there cost $500,000. There’s no word on what it would cost for a plot on the proposed 1.5 acre cemetery. Golfers also may be able to have their ashes spread on the course.

As a (probably cheaper) alternative, a cemetery in Washington State has a design for a golf themed memorial park.

I actually think that there’s an additional revenue stream here for many golf courses. Many wouldn’t want graves alongside the fairways, but I should think charging people a fee to scatter their ashes on the course would be in the realm of possibility. Local ordinances probably would require permits, but I can’t imagine that would be a big issue. I’m sure that there are many golfers who would like to spend eternity on their favorite track. Courses could also put up a wall with plaques on it to commemorate the golfers whose ashes were scattered there. As the median funeral cost is around $6,500, that would be a great deal for many courses.

Seriously.

This is the tenth in a series on things to do to feed your golf addiction in the off season:

Sort Through Your Old Golfing Magazines

Thanks to annual gifts from relatives, I get Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Golf Week and Golf World. They’re all fun reads—full of tips, equipment reviews and other things to entice a Golf Blogger. But it’s a lot to read, and during the season, I tend to only really delve into the two weeklies, Golf Week and Golf World, new equipment reviews, and the relevant tournament previews. Most of the remainder of the magazines—that is, most of Golf and Golf Digest, and especially the features and tips—wait until the off season.

So it comes to pass that, by December, I have twenty four combined issues of Golf and Golf Digest, as well as a random pile of Golf Weeks and Worlds with things I wanted to save. It’s only after the snow flies that I begin to work my seriously through the volumes. I read every article, consider every tip, and then discard the issues in the recycling bin. I used to tear out articles that interested me for future reading, but with everything on the web these days, I don’t need to create my own archives any more.

What I find interesting about reading a year’s worth of two golf magazines in a relatively short span is just how similar these magazines are from issue to issue, and to each other. They’re virtually indistinguishable, both in tone and content. To the extent that anyone “needs” these Golf or Golf Digest, one or the other should be more than enough. Indeed, it’s likely that I could get by with picking up the just four “Majors” issues of the monthlies at the News Stand.

Still, having a pile of golf magazines to browse through on a cold winter’s night does a lot to feed the golf addiction.

Dynacraft Prophet Tour CNC Forged Irons

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: My testers loved these clubs

I think that it must be the aspiration of every serious golfer to play a set of forged irons. There is absolutely nothing as sweet as striking the sweet spot of a forged blade.Two things, however, typically stand in the way of this dream: forged irons typically are hard to hit and they’re expensive.

The Dynacraft Prophet Tour irons tackle both these objections. Dynacraft has managed to include some game improvement functions such as a cavity back and undercut stablity slot, while keeping the price to half that of similar clubs.

Realizing that I don’t have the game to fully appreciate these beauties, I passed the set on to two single-digit handicapper friends of mine. Their regular sets include Mizuno blades, so I was confident they could offer informed opinions. One tried them this past summer, the other, a retired gentleman, took them to his fall and winter golf escapes.

I’ve just gotten the set back from the second player, and the combined verdict is in: the Dynacraft Prophet Tours are at least as good as their regular Mizuno forgings. They’re just as long and just as accurate as anything they’ve played. The feel also is substantially the same.

That’s high praise for a set that comes in at around $450. Similar irons from Mizuno, Nike, Titleist and Callaway run at least $900.

In addition to offering a better price, Hireko/Dynacraft offer better technology. Unlike most standard forgings, the Dynacraft Prophets feature a shallow cavity and an undercut stability slot to add forgiveness. These are added to the club after forging through a CNC milling process. Dynacraft also has shortened the hosel to shift weight forward for a more centered sweet spot. This, they claim, solves the heel-bias of most forgings.

From a mid handicapper’s point of view, I found the clubs not nearly as difficult handle as I expected. I still get much better results from my game improvement sticks, but the Prophet Tour Forged clubs were not a handicap killer. With more practice, they might have found their way into my bag. But I frankly don’t have time for that practice.

Better players looking for a set of forgings owe it to their pocketbooks to try these Prophet Tour Forgings. Hireko has a 60 day playability guarantee, so you’ll have ample time to see if they fit your game.

More photos follow:

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