USGA Makes Landmark Acquisition of Howard Schickler Photography Collection

As the primary steward for preserving and celebrating the history of the game, the USGA has expanded its extensive golf photography holdings with the recent acquisition of the Howard Schickler Photography Collection, the world’s most significant private collection of original early golf photography. 

 

The collection contains more than 1,000 high-quality, historically and artistically important golf images from the 19th and early 20th century. Many photographs feature top American and British golfers, both men and women, from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection was amassed over decades by collector Howard Schickler, sourced from the collections of some of the game’s most influential figures, including the personal collections of Old Tom Morris and F.G. Tait, the Auchterlonie and the Foulis families, the estate of Billy Burke and the collections of Ed Dudley and Bernard Darwin. 

PUMA Golf Introduces Excellent Golf Wear Collection: Inspired by Sport, Lifestyle, and Street Culture

PUMA Golf revealed its new Excellent Golf Wear collection (EGW), performance sportswear designed to meet the needs of the modern golfer; equally suited for a drink with friends or an afternoon nine. This versatile collection blends golf and streetwear through lifestyle silhouettes that are fabricated to perform on the course yet deliver comfort and style for everyday life. 

 

For EGW, PUMA Golf designers took inspiration from sport and street culture, designing for every aspect of a golfer’s life, re-working classic lifestyle pieces including Henley shirts, hoodies, shorts and joggers with subtle branding elements, for the perfect blend of technicality, style and comfort. 

Reynolds Lake Oconee Earns Best Courses You Can Play in Georgia

Five of the top-10 golf courses you can play in Georgia are conveniently located at one venue — Reynolds Lake Oconee, a resort community situated on 19,000-acre Lake Oconee between Atlanta and Augusta. That’s according to Golfweek, which this week released its “Top Courses You Can Play in the State” rankings. 

 

This is the first time Reynolds Lake Oconee has placed five courses in the state’s Top-10. 

Shot Scope V3 Debuts First GPS Smart Watch to Feature Artificial Intelligence

Shot Scope (www.shotscope.com), a leading international manufacturer of GPS-based golf management systems has introduced the V3 Smart Golf Watch, the first multi-function watch to feature artificial intelligence and offer golfers real-time on-course performance tracking capabilities. V3’s patented Power-Sense AI strap technology captures data on every shot, delivering golfers instant feedback to better understand their swing and reach optimal performance. 

 

Complementing the performance tracking capabilities, the V3 is the game’s most accurate lightweight, high speed golf watch, backed by proprietary dual GPS antennas (30cm GPS accuracy) that provide unmatched connectivity and syncing, compared with competitive products, for precise distance measuring and pinpoint accuracy on 35,000 pre-loaded courses worldwide. 

Galvin Green Celebrates 30 Years of Pioneering Golf Apparel

Galvin Green, the brand that revolutionized waterproofs in the 1990’s and has taken technical golf clothing to another level during this millennium, celebrates its 30th birthday this month and enjoys a global status that founder Tomas Nilsson could once only dream about. 

 

As an entrepreneur and recreational golfer in the Swedish town of Växjö back in 1990, Tomas saw an opportunity to invest in golf and create a global brand. “My goal was to produce the best quality golf clothes on the market and we’re now a decade ahead of where I believed we could be on a global scale,” said Tomas. “Functional clothing is especially important in golf, where you’re often exposed to sun, rain and wind.  It is incredibly important that you have the right clothing regardless of the weather, so you can continue to enjoy your round and play to your best. That’s why we’ve always selected the very best materials, matched with the best styling and details possible,” he added. 

Cleveland Golf Introduces RTX ZipCore

Cleveland Golf is proud to announce their latest flagship wedge, the RTX ZipCore. Cleveland Golf’s RTX ZipCore will launch in North America on Aug. 14, 2020. 

 

RTX ZipCore is both radically new and ultra-familiar. On the inside, its new core has unlocked design freedoms pushing the performance beyond any wedge in Cleveland Golf’s history. Yet on the outside, the sleek yet traditional design is familiar and inspires confidence at address. 

Galvin Green Launches Stellar Part 2 Line for 2020

Galvin Green, the leading premium golf apparel brand that looks to deliver stellar performance from every single garment, has turned to the ‘Science of Excellence’ for inspiration for its 2020 Part Two clothing range launched this month. 

 

Calling on 30 years of experience in performance-driven design and passion for the game, the brand  set out to provide technical clothing that would give golfers an extra edge, while adding new styles and color combinations to provide a feel-good factor unrivaled in the golf apparel market. 

USGA Announces New Media Rights Partnership with NBCUniversal

The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that the United States media rights for its championships have been transferred to NBCUniversal (NBCU), effective immediately.   

 

With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the shift in dates for the U.S. Open from June to September, finding the necessary broadcast hours presented a challenge for FOX Sports, given their commitments to the National Football League, Major League Baseball and college football. What started as an exploration of how FOX Sports and NBC/Golf Channel could work together this unique year led to a broader conversation and eventual agreement for NBCU to take over the USGA media rights. 

USGA Announces Exemption Categories for 2020 U.S. Women’s Open Championship at Champions Golf Club

The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced the exemption categories for the 75th U.S. Women’s Open Championship, which will be contested Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club, in Houston, Texas. As previously announced, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open field will be comprised entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Full exemption categories can be found at uswomensopen.com. 

 

“We are extremely pleased to still provide the world’s best professional and amateur players the opportunity to compete for this historic championship, despite forgoing qualifying,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “After carefully examining previous years, these exemption categories allow us to closely mirror a traditional field, and we are excited to witness one of these players win what will truly be a milestone 75th U.S. Women’s Open.” 

TM Rewards from Travis Mathew: Jump on in because the Fun Never Ends

You guys already know Travis Mathew and Cuater are two of my favorite golf brands.  I've become a big fan of their shirts, pants, and shoes and when they launched their TM Rewards Program I was pretty pumped. 

 

If you're a fan of Travis Mathew, you really want to sign up.  I did and it took just a few minutes.  And was greeted to a 15-percent off code any purchase in my email.  BOOM!

Asher Golf Gloves Introduces Patriot Collection for Fourth of July

Ask any golfer and they'll tell you the right glove can make all the difference.  Superb feel, grip to keep your clubs from slipping, and comfort and protection to prevent or limit callouses and blisters.  These are all important.  But a golf glove doesn't have to be just a golf glove. 

 

Asher Golf Gloves has released their new Patriot Collection golf gloves, drawing inspiration from classic symbols like the American Flag and bald eagle.  And these high quality, patriotic gloves will raise your style game while still delivering on the performance you expect from Asher. 

USGA Announces Exemption Categories for 2020 U.S. Open Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club

The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced the exemption categories for the 120th U.S. Open Championship, which will be contested Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course), in Mamaroneck, N.Y. As previously announced, the 2020 U.S. Open field will be comprised entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

“The decision to cancel local and final qualifying for this year’s U.S. Open was deeply disappointing, but we are pleased to still provide the world’s best professional and amateur players the opportunity to compete for this historic and coveted championship,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director, Championships. “The exemption categories for this year’s championship at Winged Foot Golf Club were carefully developed to mirror a representative U.S. Open field, and we are excited that players will still have an opportunity to earn a place in the field through a variety of categories.” 

PGA Tour Covid-19 Testing Summary Statement

We have been working since March to develop a comprehensive health and safety plan that would be considered a best practice among professional sports leagues. While we have been thorough in building and implementing a program that mitigates as much risk as possible, we knew it would be impossible to eliminate all risk – as evidenced by the three positive tests this week. 

 

We need to use these developments as a stark reminder for everyone involved as we continue to learn from an operational standpoint; we are making several adjustments to our health and safety plan, as noted in the memo sent to players this morning, and we will continuously reinforce to all players, caddies, staff members and support personnel on property at PGA TOUR events to adhere to social distancing and other safety protocols that further minimize risk. 

The Sea Pines Resort to Host Lighthouse Invitational in September

The Sea Pines Resort will host its annual Lighthouse Invitational–a two-person team competition for men and women amateurs—from Sept. 17-20, 2020. 

 

The “destination tournament” showcases the Hilton Head Island’s top three ranked courses, all part of The Sea Pines Resort—Heron Point by Pete Dye, Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III, and historic Harbour Town Golf Links, home of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing and rated the #1 course in South Carolina in 2019.  All three courses are Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries. 

PUMA Golf Joins the RS Revolution, Bringing Retro Running Shoe Vibes to the Links with RS-G Shoes

PUMA Golf, long revered as a trend-setter and innovator in the golf footwear space, continues to push the envelope, with its new RS-G shoe. Inspired by PUMA’s extremely popular RS series of shoes first introduced in the 80’s and recently rebooted with multiple drops in 2019 and 2020, the RS-G (Running System – Golf) delivers unconventional, lifestyle-inspired vibes with all the performance technologies needed to play 18. 

 

Incorporating the same, bold, chunky silhouette as the sportstyle version, the RS-G’s reengineered upper is seam-sealed and completely waterproof, with microfiber leather and TPU skin that delivers protection from the elements, keeping your feet dry all day long. The outsole traction pattern has exaggerated and pronounced Carbon Rubber lugs strategically placed in different zones of the outsole to provide traction while the performance Fusion Foam midsole delivers improved, bounce-back cushioning combined with a Softfoam sockliner for the ultimate step-in comfort. 

COBRA Golf Launches Limited Edition Red, White, and Blue Speedzone and Speedzone Xtreme Drivers to Celebrate Fourth of July

Cobra Golf has introduced its new Limited-Edition Pars & Stripes SPEEDZONE and SPEEDZONE Xtreme Drivers, available for a short time in a new color scheme that celebrates America and pulls inspiration from our national championship, featuring a white crown, with red and blue highlights on the sole, and an exclusive blue PVD milled infinity face. 

 

The Pars & Stripes LE Drivers incorporate an upgraded Fujikura Ventus Blue shaft, a Lamkin Crossline Connect – Red/White/Blue grip, and all the key technologies and design attributes utilized in the in-line SPEEDZONE drivers. 

New Edison Forged Wedges Challenge Conventional Wisdom

How much do you think you really know about wedges and their design?  Did you know “smash factor” is just as important to your wedges as to your driver?  Do you realize that wedges – by design – don’t really “want” to spin the ball efficiently? 

 

Terry Koehler has been designing wedges for over 30 years, and he has put all the top brands of ‘tour design’ wedges through repeated batteries of robotic testing . . . so he does know these things.  He has also analyzed over 50,000 online wedge fitting profiles and had thousands of one-on-one conversations with amateur golfers, so he has also learned that 80% of golfers have the same challenges with their wedge play– poor distance control, insufficient spin and excessively high ball flight. 

USGA Announces Exemption Categories for 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur, U.S. Amateur Championships

The USGA announced the exemption categories for the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, set to take place Aug. 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club, in Rockville, Md., and the 120th U.S. Amateur, which will be held Aug. 10-16 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, in Bandon, Ore. As previously announced, the fields for both championships will be comprised entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

“Making the decision to forgo qualifying for our championships this year was extremely difficult, but we’re glad to be able to continue the legacy of these competitions and provide the best amateur players in the world the opportunity to compete for a USGA title,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director, Championships. “We aimed to create fields that most closely resemble those for a typical Amateur and Women’s Amateur, and are confident we will crown two worthy champions in August.” 

Classic U.S. Open Courses Awarded USGA Amateurs

The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced that a pair of celebrated U.S. Open venues will host future USGA amateur championships. Oak Hill Country Club, in Pittsford, N.Y., will be the site of the 127th U.S. Amateur and Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Okla., will host the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur. 

 

Oak Hill, where in 1989 Curtis Strange became the first player in 38 years to successfully defend his U.S. Open title, will host its third U.S. Amateur and seventh USGA championship in 2027. The East and West Courses will be used for stroke play and the East Course will be used for match play. The championship is scheduled for Aug. 9-15. 

NGF Update: 20 Million Spring Rounds Lost to Covid-19

The U.S. golf industry lost as many as 20 million rounds in March and April due to course closures and coronavirus-induced anxiety, according to the most recent National Golf Foundation estimates. 

 

After double-digit growth in rounds played in January and February, rounds were up 15% for the year entering March. Due to the outbreak of the virus and associated shutdowns, year-over-year drops of 9% in March and 42% in April left the industry down 16%. More than half of golf courses closed nationwide for most of April and the drop in rounds volume alone accounts for a loss of about $1 billion in golf course revenues. (This doesn’t include related losses in F&B, retail sales, events, etc.)