Champ Spikes sent me this email about their Breast Cancer Research Foundation fundraiser:

CHAMP Spikes has expanded its highly successful Pink on the Links program for 2008 by adding an eBay charity auction and increasing player participation across all tours. Pros will be asked to wear CHAMP’s commemorative pink and white spikes during Mother’s Day weekend tournaments across the globe and CHAMP will make a donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) on their behalf.

The Pink on the Links program also includes a charity eBay auction which is new for 2008 where items up for bid include:

- Autographed shoes from Tiger Woods
- Autographed shoes from Lorena Ochoa
- Autographed shoes from Padraig Harrington
- An autographed golf bag from Paul Casey
- Autographed shoes from Se Ri Pak
- Golf foursome with winner’s choice of FUTURES Tour player (conditions apply)

In addition to CHAMP’s donation on behalf of Tour players wearing the pink and white spikes, 100% of proceeds from the Pink on the Links auction
items will benefit the BCRF. Please visit the auction through the CHAMP website, http://www.champspikes.com or directly at http://www.stores.ebay.com/pinkonthelinks, starting May 10th. The auction runs until May 20th.

Maybe Champs will send me some pink spikes for my Eccos. Then I can tell my wife that I absolutely HAVE to go to the course on Mother’s day to show my support for the cause.

Frank Thomas, former USGA Technical Director isn’t going to make any friends among the equipment manufacturers.

“Golf equipment makers are in the business of selling things,” Thomas writes. “But just as the word new on your toothpaste tube doesn’t mean that your previous brand will make your teeth decay, the presence of a new model club or ball doesn’t mean that the stuff you already own is holding you back.”

Still, amateurs see players going for the green on what were once par-4s of a decent length and think the equipment pros use will help them. Yet, as Thomas points out, amateurs drive the ball an average of 192 yards. Most golfers routinely overestimate how far they drive the ball. Their egos — well, the male ego anyway — keeps many from using cheaper balls and sticking with older equipment that’s good enough.

“I hope I get people thinking a little bit more,” Thomas said in an interview at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando last week. “Guys, let’s be real about ourselves. We drive the ball 192 yards. Don’t tell me you drive it 250.”

In an article in the Globe and Mail, Thomas, an expert on golf equipment, says that equipment is “maxed out.” He also says that the pros’ game has deluded the average golfer into thinking that with top line equipment they can hit the ball much further than they actually can. That in turn leads amateurs to play from the wrong tees, hurting their scores and slowing down the rounds.

Frank’s latest book is Just Hit It, in which he writes about the way the equipment has changed the game.

A great quote: “Standard clubs will do fine until you shoot consistently in the mid to low 70s. Until then, work on improving you instead of your clubs.”

The Sports Economist links to a bit of research that reveals that:

Since 1947, English football teams wearing red shirts have been champions more often than expected on the basis of the proportion of clubs playing in red. To investigate whether this indicates an enhancement of long-term performance in red-wearing teams, we analysed the relative league positions of teams wearing different hues. Across all league divisions, red teams had the best home record, with significant differences in both percentage of maximum points achieved and mean position in the home league table. The effects were not due simply to a difference between teams playing in a colour and those playing in a predominantly white uniform, as the latter performed better than teams in yellow hues. No significant differences were found for performance in matches away from home, when teams commonly do not wear their “home” colours.

Hmmm. Red shirts result in more wins.

Tiger has known that for years.

A new study suggests that the most dreaded of golf problems—the Yips—may be cured with an injection of botox.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University are taking a look at brainwaves and muscle activity in the hands and wrists. The research follows up on 2001 and 2005 studies by the Mayo Clinic that show that golfers with the yips suffer from “focal dystonia”, a tightening of muscles similar to writer’s cramp.

That’s led to the theory that the yips could be cured by injections of Botox.

When injected in small doses into muscle, the botulism toxin blocks the chemical signals that cause muscles to contract. Botox is the brand name for treatment. The idea is that the muscle spasms that cause the yips could thus be eliminated.

Even better: Botox isn’t on the list of banned performance enhancing substances.

It’s an interesting theory and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already being used.

It was a good win for Phil Mickelson at Riviera. Down at the turn, he played very strong golf coming in. He’s looking very good in the early going. Can he detrail Tiger’s quest for a Grand Slam at the Masters? I hope so. I can’t bear the thought of listening to the media hype over a possible Tiger Grand Slam this summer.

I love the finishing hole at Riviera. The tree lined curve heading toward the clubhouse on the hill is absolutely beautiful.

Tiger Woods will face JB Holmes in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona. It’ll be a great way to start off the event, but the sponsors have to be a bit nervous. Holmes is one of those golfers who I think could give Tiger a run for his money. If Holmes eliminates Tiger in the first round, ratings are sure to fall for the rest of the weekend.

For me, match play is the best form of golf to watch—although with its unpredictable finishes, it’s terrible for television and the advertisers.

It was good to see Anika Sorenstam back in the winner’s circle this weekend. It was her 70th victory, but only her first since Sept. 2006. Sorenstam carries with her the same sort of greatness that Tiger does on the men’s Tour. We have all been fortunate over the last decade to be able to watch perhaps the two greatest golfers of all time.

It’s interesting that the New Zealand PGA this past weekend was also a Nationwide Tour Event. Michael Campbell, native New Zealander and the 2005 US Open Champion, finished in 98th place. O, how the mighty have fallen.

Donald Trump has fallen afoul of the law for failing to register a heraldic crest that he wants to use to promote his new Scottish Golf club. Who knew there even was such a regulation.

A British court convicted a man of aiding and abetting terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Among his schemes was a plot to ship golf rangefinders to terrorists to help snipers target western soldiers.