Crosshair Golf Blog
July 2, 2010
There Is More To Life Than Playing Golf
Or is there? Lets take a serious look at the question “Is there more to life than playing Golf?”
First, we have to eat and drink. I have yet to go to a golf club that does not have a restaurant or at least a vending machine. We can fulfill all our nutritional requirements at most golf courses.
Second, we need sleep. Have you ever tried, or know someone who has tried to get onto Bethpage Black Course. Where do they sleep, in their cars, that’s where. So let me ask you this. Why can’t you sleep in your car at any golf course in the country.
Third, we have family obligations. Well, this is easy. Most golf courses are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas anyway. And, if you have the resources a private country club has some great amenities that can keep the family entertained for a few hours.
Fourth, we have to work. Have you ever heard of vacation and sick time. Also, you will have to “entertain” clients from time to time. It is not written anywhere that your golf buddies can not also be clients. Use your head.
Like I said, there is more to life than playing golf. There is planning, a couple of holidays, and you might even be down for 3 days while your clubs get re-gripped.
Remember. Golf is Serious, life is a game.
Clone Golf Clubs, What are they
Clone Golf Clubs emerged on the Golf Club scene back in the 1980′s. When they first appeared they tended to be blatant copies of the more popular brand name clubs. More than a few of these copy-cat companies ended up in litigation due to copyright violations. These lawsuits, while detrimental to this emerging industry, had some positive effects. The more reputable manufacturers of “Clone Golf Clubs” rose to the top and the unscrupulous ones went by the wayside. Today you will find that the term Clone Golf Clubs is a term that has stuck with our industry, but our golf clubs are far from clones. Our clubs stand on their own merits. We use the same technologies and talented designers as the brand name manufacturers. We do not seek to copy we seek inspiration.
Today, Clone Golf Clubs is just a moniker that our industry has adopted. Our products are not clones of anything, they stand on their own merits. When you look at Clone Golf Clubs what you are looking at are Golf Clubs that meet the same stringent standards as a Brand Named Club.
A fine line separates a brand name golf club and a Clone Golf Club. The difference has nothing to do with craftsmanship, design, quality, or any of the other features that make you go “WOW” when you see that new Golf Driver. The only differences are cost and why the costs are so high for brand name clubs.
Brand name golf clubs have huge advertising budgets along with huge endorsement contracts with golf pro’s. How much do you think Tiger Woods gets paid from Nike or Phil Mickelson and his Callaway deal. I would venture a guess that these deals alone are worth Millions of dollars. Take a look in any golf magazine and you will see ads with Pro after Pro hawking their “Favorite” Golf Clubs.
Clone Golf Club companies do not have to worry about those costs and can therefore, pass those savings onto you the consumer.
One final thought. Just do the math. A Brand Name Golf Driver costs upwards of $500.00 and a Clone Golf Driver costs around $89.00 at about $35.00 for a round of golf you save 12 rounds of golf. Clone Golf Clubs, Heavy on Style, Heavy on Quality, Light on the wallet.
June 28, 2010
How Many Drivers Do You Have In Your Closet
This post is for all you multiple golf driver owners. How many of you purchase a new driver, or know someone who purchases a new driver, every year? Does it make your game any better?
I am personally acquainted with someone who, every year, needs to have a new driver. Just to make his game better. His game never gets better, he refuses to take a lesson, and he blames it all on his clubs with the driver being the ringleader.
If you are one of these people…STOP. You are not helping your game and your friends do not look forward to playing with you. You need to stop buying Drivers. What you need to do is improve your game in 3 easy steps.
1. Get properly fit. 2. Take a lesson or 2 with your new clubs. 3. Relax and gain your confidence on the course.
If you have confidence in your golf clubs you will probably only get new clubs when you need them not when you “think” you need them. As a purveyor of custom fit golf clubs I would love for everyone reading this to buy a new driver every year, need it or not. But, as a person who loves the game of golf, and loves to talk about the game of golf, I would rather have you buying a new driver or set of golf clubs every three years because you have worn your old set out.
If you are going to purchase your new clubs online, most golf club companies have some sort of “Get Fit” guide to follow. We have a module in which you input a few measurements and you will be able to get the clubs that fit you. I would suggest you get professionally fit for your clubs if you are a scratch golfer. You can do this at any pro shop, usually for no charge. You can then use these measurements to order from us or any online golf shop. If you have not established your swing yet, I would not suggest newer golfers get a full professional fitting. If you get fit for clubs and then take lessons and your swing changes your clubs might not fit you anymore.
Our custom club fitting module is a great way to get fit for a custom set of golf clubs
One set of properly sized, quality golf clubs should give you quite a few years of top notch performance and fun on the golf course. Clean your closet and sell all the clubs you do not use, Find a set of golf clubs that you feel comfortable with, have them custom fit to your specifications. Then, go take a few lessons, practice and enjoy years of fun on the golf course.
June 25, 2010
How far do you hit your 5 iron
How far do you hit your 5 Iron?
You will here this question or “what club do you use to hit 150 yards?” Either way, you should have a answer. Why, because if you are wanting to score better, then this is good information to have.
If you walk up to any Pro Golfer and ask “How far do you hit your 6 iron?” Their answer will be something like “163 Yards” not 160 yards or 165 yards, it will be 163 yards, they will know exactly how far they hit each club. The better Pro’s will know how far they hit all their clubs in different weather conditions, different altitudes, etc. You give them a situation or climate and they will know how far they hit the clubs in their bag.
For us weekend warriors we do not need to know exactly how far we hit each club, but we should have a good idea. We need to be close, 5 yard increments is probably fine for us. This information is good for scoring and for safety. For instance, A new golfer is out on the course. He is 150 yards to center of green. He does not know what club he uses for 150 yards so he grabs his 3 wood. He sends his ball through the windshield of a brand new Caddy in the parking lot, Loses $5.00 skin, and worst of all he got a quadruple bogey. But worse than that, he could have actually hurt someone.
OK, what do you do? After you have had a few lessons, get out to a driving range, preferably a driving range that allows you to hit off the grass. You might want to take several trips to the driving range. Each time you go try to hit 10 to 15 balls with each club and make notes as to distance. Once you know these numbers, you will see your scores drop and your enthusiasm for the game rise.
If you do not have the time to measure each and every club, then just take your 5 Iron. Lets say that after a few trips to the range, you have determined that you hit your 5 iron 160 yards. You can now estimate 10 yards per club in either direction. Your 6 iron 150 yards and your 4 iron 170 yards, etc.
Now you are ready to see a yardage marker, pace off your ball and put it in the center of the green.
So I will ask you again. How far do you hit your 5 iron?
June 23, 2010
June 4, 2010
Try the Putting Green for a change
How many times do we show up early for a round of golf, grab a bucket of balls, and head out to the driving range and hit all the balls with our golf driver? Too many times if you ask me.
I think it is time we start hitting the putting green and improving our scores instead of always taking out the driver and trying to improve our sexiness. Let me ask you this. What is so sexy about a 300+ yard drive followed up by a 4-putt?
A par 72 golf course has probably four par 5′s and some of those are probably dog legs that require a lay up. You might have some long par 4′s that you can get away with the driver, even though you should probably lay up.
All golf courses, regardless of length and number of holes, have one thing in common. To finish every hole, you must putt. That’s right, you have to take the putter out and use it at least once, probably twice, and all too often three times on every single hole you play.
So, don’t buy that bucket of balls and try to be the long drive winner. Instead, grab a handful of the balls you use every day, hit the putting green, and win the round, time and time again.
May 10, 2010
The Rhythm of the Game
I never really thought about how the Rhythm of the Game of golf could affect my score until I read an article about Skeet and Trap Shooting that involves the rhythm of the match.
When I talk about rhythm I am not talking about waiting, we wait for everything. Think about waiting for a moment. If you come to a four-way intersection and you are 20 cars back, you have to wait your turn. If all goes the way it should, one car at a time from each road goes in turn, you have rhythm. When this occurs you do not feel the wait, but let one person jump the gun and throw off the rhythm of traffic and you are now frustrated. These waiting/rhythm situations occur time and time again in daily life.
What about the rhythm in a game of golf. Here is an example. I was playing a round with some friends. We were waiting to tee off. Groups were teeing off at regular intervals, we were all behind schedule a few minutes but it did not matter as there was a steady flow, there was rhythm. Then behind us came a group, and one woman was complaining so much we let them tee off ahead of us, the first miss-beat in our rhythm. Then, this same woman on the second hole, parked the cart on the cart path, walked across the fairway to her ball walked back to the cart to get her golf club, then walked back across the fairway to play her ball. This totally threw off the rhythm of the game and our scores were not for the record books.
So remember, it is not the waiting, it is the rhythm. As long as you keep a steady rhythm to your game your scores will reflect it. Rhythm is not a fast game or a slow game, it is a steady flowing game of golf.
October 16, 2009
Tip #1 For the Beginner Golfer.. Take a Lesson
“Keep Your Head Down”
You will get a thousand bits of advice when you start the game of golf. Most of this useless information will come from the buddies you are going to play golf with. Keep your head down, bend your knees, loosen your grip, etc.,etc.
Now, I will give you some real useful advice. Do not under any circumstances go and play golf with your buddies unless they are all certified Pro’s. The worst lessons any beginning golfer can get are from their buddies. I am not saying they are not good golfers or they do not know what they are doing. I am saying, they do not know how to teach or observe.
The only thing your buddies are going to say is, “You picked your head up”. Well, maybe you didn’t pick your head up. A golf Pro is trained to observe your swing and adjust it for you.
So, my advice to you is to get a lesson. Most golf courses have a resident Pro and you can get a lesson for $50.00 to $100.00, you could also find a group lesson for around $25.00. A lot of new golfers, especially those that play sports, think they can teach themselves. Well, they are only kidding themselves. If you take that attitude you will be a lousy golfer and probably give up the game in a few weeks.
Get a Lesson!!! First, before you even buy your first golf club. Most Pro Shops that offer lessons will probably rent or loan a few clubs for a first lesson, just make a few phone calls.
