DogBalls Blog

What's in your bag?

  Bag 2.0 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Web Golf 2.0. Call me a walking bill-board for TaylorMade Golf right now. It just so happens that I decided to upgrade my woods all at once. The jury is still out on the dual-rescue 3 and 5, but the new r7 Ti Fairway 3-wood and 425 driver are amazing. In fact, results to date, the 3-wood is my favorite (my sincere apologies to the "3rd and 4th port teams" at TMAG!) ... I hit a shot off the fairway that was good for 250 yards yesterday with the 3-wood.

He wins...barely

  Van de Velde 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Jean Van de Velde redeems himself after his 1999 meltdown at Carnousite to win at Madeira Island. Van de Velde took a four-stroke lead into the 18th hole and nearly lost it to his nearest competitor because of a double-bogey.

He lost his tour card last year, so this win guarentees his appearance at next year's Open Championship at (you guessed it) Carnoustie (picutred at right) where he nearly posted his own Dogballs with a triple on the 18th.

Hey Mulligan Man!

Finally a golf tourney for the rest of us! Dave McCracken comes up with the 'one man scramble.'

The one man scramble allows players to take a mulligan on EVERY shot. (We've always called it the Schlosser rule.) Can you say '8 hour round'?

Worse than the pace of play, Mr. McCracken (Yes, that's his real name) is attempting to exterminate dogballs from the lexicon....and that is unforgivable! ;

Happy Birthday to Me!!

When John Daly was onsite here at TaylorMade last month, DogBalls reported that he knocked a drive close enough to a  banner on the hill across the street that he earned a day off for all TaylorMade employees.  Well, it's official now...October 20th of this year is the day off.  Coincidentally, it's also my birthday. Thanks, John!!

And if you're into reality-tv, check out The Daly Planet on the Golf Channel.

I am a Golfer

TaylorMade Golf has launched a 'flashy' new site to support their new ad campaign, "I am a Golfer." The campaign features several of their tour pros and a double-amputee who speak of their love for the game. Mike Wier, Sean O'Hair and Paula Creamer are among them. (I can't wait to see John Daly on the subject.)

What also struck me were the visuals. The imagery is great because several of the shots are unique and stand-out to the avid golfer. The one above is an example. Can you tell what is in the foreground? [Hint: It's not a black golf ball.] Check the comments section for the answer.

I nutted it!

Time for the PR folks at Taylormade Golf to brush up on their Russian skills. BBC News reports: It looks like a couple of Russian Cosmonauts are going to attempt a record-breaking drive (that even resident TMAG-pro, Jon Daly couldn't break).

They're hoping to drive a little white dimply ball into the Earth's orbit from the International Space Station. If NASA gives the go-ahead, the attempt will take place this year. If the attempt is successful, they expect that the golf ball will orbit the Earth's atmosphere for four years ... talk about roll!

The ball will (of course) have a GPS chip embedded in it like this one. [I had the idea first!] :P

There are some dangers associated with this stunt though...

In a worst-case scenario, the ball would remain at the same altitude long enough for its orbital plane to shift so it could hit the station side-on.

An orbital debris expert at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, told New Scientist magazine that it would be like a head-on collision with an impact speed of about 9.4km (5.8 miles) per second - equivalent to a 6.5-ton truck moving at nearly 100km (62 miles) per hour.

If they're looking for volunteers to tee-off on this ball, I know a couple of others that would be willing to suit up! We have a couple of glow-balls left over from Scotland too! :)

Planet John Daly

Big day at Taylormade Golf as 'big-bad-boy' John Daly joins the team for world domination... Taylormade Golf. He signed his phat contract (which presumably) included a rider for a lifetime supply of DietCoke and M&M's.

Man on the scene, Scottish Lasagna, phoned in with crowd euphoria in the background as Daly hit a 300-yard drive into a Maxfli banner that scored everyone a free day off from work to play golf.

Time to update the outgoing voice-mail...

Wanted ... Dead or Alive

Any information leading to the capture of this man's appointment and address book that leads to the successful booking of a tee-time at BigHorn will result in a handsome reward.

Dogballs @ Lost Canyons

Well despite at least one dogballs on a par-5, I can't blame the new Taylormade equipment for my lack of playing that led to a gross-score of 99. Off the tee, the standard r7 set-up produced drives that were by-far longer and straighter than my previous club. 

It was a beautiful day ... just a little on the chilly side.

I'm looking forward to more practice so I can begin experimenting with the weights. I've only gone to the range once with the r7 and the results of the weight-change were there, but could have been psycological rather than a true measurement of the impact 10 grams +/- left-of-center has on the ball-flight from the 'talented hands' of a 14-handicapper... time will tell!

I did feel as though the Taylormade Rescue Dual clubs were more forgiving than my previous TP model. I don't think I'll be toying too much with that standard-draw set-up that the factory has in place though.

Had a great time today ... great to get out of the house for a little golf. I missed yelling at the ball. :)

Taylormade Golf v. my swing

  Mr. Pitt and Craig 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Looking forward to my first round of golf with the new equipment (thanks Mr. Pitt.) My bag has been freed from the non-tm-equipment. Good-bye seven-wood, so long (non-dualy) rescue and adios area-code for South-Dakota...aka 483k.

I'll be at Lost Canyons tomorrow morning to test the beast and see what $1,600 in new equipment buys you!