USGA Announces Special Exemption for Cristie Kerr into the 76th U.S. Women’s Open

The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced that 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr has accepted a special exemption into the 76th U.S. Women’s Open Championship, which will be conducted June 3–6 at The Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco, Calif. 

 

Kerr, 43, captured the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., defeating Lorena Ochoa and Angela Park by two strokes. Kerr, a 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour, will be making her 24th consecutive start in the U.S. Women’s Open. She has finished in the top 10 eight times, most recently in the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif. Kerr was also a member of the 1996 USA Curtis Cup Team.

FootJoy Introduces Southern Living Collection

FJ continues to innovate as the leader in golf wearables with the Southern Living Collection. This collection is FJ’s take on timeless Southern Style, which celebrates the effortless, yet sophisticated charm of the Low Country. The apparel pieces combine a casual, Southern style with premium, lightweight materials and advanced performance fabrics.

Southern Living commemorates the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island by featuring warm, inviting Southern-inspired colors with a modern twist on traditional seersucker print.

TaylorMade Golf to be Acquired by Centroid Investment Partners

TaylorMade Golf Company, Inc. has announced that its current financial sponsor, KPS Capital Partners has signed a definitive agreement, through an affiliate, to sell TaylorMade Golf Company, Inc., to Centroid Investment Partners, a Seoul, Korea based private equity firm. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1979, TaylorMade is a leading global manufacturer of golf equipment, balls, bags and accessories with a #1 or #2 market position in most of its key categories and markets. For over 40 years, TaylorMade has brought innovative, high performance product technologies to golfers worldwide and has an unrivaled portfolio of athletes across the global tours including world #1 Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, SH Park, Charley Hull, Maria Fassi and Sierra Brooks.

Tour Edge Sets Record for Clubs in Play at Major Championship

Tour Edge set a new personal best for the number of clubs in play in a PGA TOUR event and at a Major Championship this past week at the Regions Tradition with 55 total Exotics clubs in play, according to the Darrell Survey.

In total, 21 various Exotics drivers, fairways, and hybrids, eight Exotics utility irons, two sets of Exotics C721 irons, two sets of Exotics Forged irons and five EXS Blade Wedges were in play by 17 different players at the Regions Traditions.

Shot Scope Releases 2021 Strokes Gained E-Book

Shot Scope, a leading international manufacturer of GPS-based golf management systems, including the award-winning V3 Smart Golf Watch, today released the 2021 Strokes Gained e-book, a 4th Edition resource guide available free for golfers to better understand the importance of analyzing strokes gained vs. traditional swing statistics. The new e-book is available at https://shotscope.com/golf-ebooks/.

“Strokes gained is a way of analyzing where a player sits when comparing every aspect of their performance with other players within a dataset,” said David Hunter, CEO, Shot Scope. “Through our 2021 e-book and our overall performance tracking platform, and based on swing data captured from thousands of golfers around the world who use our GPS Smart Watches, this approach to performance analysis allows golfers to gain a greater understanding of areas within of their game they may need to work on to improve their overall scoring average. This is accomplished by isolating individual aspects of a player’s game and comparing it to the entire Shot Scope dataset to deliver efficient results.”

PGA Merchandise Show Will Feature New Enhancements in 2022

PGA Golf Exhibitions, in partnership with the PGA of America, has announced several initiatives regarding the annual PGA Show and year-round programs that will continuously connect the industry and drive forward golf business.

Welcoming the golf industry back together Jan. 25-28, 2022, in Orlando, the experience will be a reimagining of the flagship PGA Show including sharing plans to enhance in-person business interactions, experiential product education and comprehensive golf merchandise sourcing.

PUMA Golf Announces 2021 Volition America Collection

PUMA Golf has unveiled its latest Volition America X PUMA Golf Collection, just in time to celebrate Memorial Day on the links.

The 2021 collection continues to make a patriotic statement with stylish, performance-ready pieces that are designed to honor and support the families of our military heroes through the Folds of Honor Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to providing educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service-members.

Cuater Wildcard Leather Golf Shoes Review - Everything You Want in a Sneaker Style Golf Shoe

The new Cuater Wildcard (leather) pretty much have everything you’d want in a spikeless, sneaker style golf shoe.

The low profile fit makes you feel extremely connected to the ground.  And a thick cushion in the footbed is soft enough for fantastic, all-round comfort but also firm enough to feel very stable.

Titleist TSi3 Hybrid Review - A Triple Threat of Fantastic Performance

The new Titleist TSi3 hybrid is one of my favorite and best performing clubs I've hit this year.  It's compact looking at address, and convincingly delivers more iron-like precision than a larger hybrid.

Trajectory, descent, and spin are ideal to hold any green, and yet with a little ball position adjustment you can also hit this for maximum roll out to advance on longer holes.  TSi3 really is a hybrid that does everything you'd want and more.

USA Defeats Great Britain and Ireland to win Walker Cup at Seminole

This 48th Walker Cup Match will long be remembered for the strength and grit of both the USA and Great Britain & Ireland Teams in the face of unusually adverse circumstances. Still, only one team could earn the chance to hoist the most prestigious team prize in amateur golf, and it was the USA coming out on top, 14-12, to win its third consecutive Walker Cup.

With abundant sunshine and a steady breeze off the Atlantic Ocean making Seminole play exceedingly difficult on Sunday, especially on and around the greens, the players faced a stern mental and physical test. The USA entered the day with a 7-5 lead, which was trimmed to 8½–7½ after the GB&I Team took 2½ out of 4 points in the morning foursomes session.

Cobra Golf Announces Limited Edition Volition America RADSPEED Drivers

Just in time to celebrate Memorial Day on the links, COBRA Golf is introducing a new addition to the Volition America Golf Collection, the Limited-Edition VOLITION RADSPEED and RADSPEED XB Drivers ($549). A portion of the proceeds from this one-of-a-kind driver will go to the Folds of Honor Foundation, supporting the families of American military heroes.

The new LE VOLITION RADSPEED Driver is designed in a patriotic Red, White, and Blue colorway with a stunning pearl white carbon crown and a blue PVD CNC Milled Infinity Face. A Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Blue shaft in an IP finish and custom black and red Lamkin Crossline CONNECT grip finish off the unique look that is sure to grab attention on the tee all year round.

Galvin Green Wins Global Sports Technology Award for Sustainability in Sport

Galvin Green, the leading high-performance golf apparel brand based in southern Sweden, won the coveted ‘Sustainability in Sport’ title at the 2021 Sports Technology Awards ceremony in London yesterday ahead of an impressive shortlist of product innovators.

Viewed by a global audience of more than 700 sports tech experts and promoters on a sophisticated virtual platform, Galvin Green was recognized for its constant drive to push the boundaries of technical fabrics while maintaining the highest standards in environmental protection. In particular, the judges praised its range of INSULA™ sweaters made from recycled plastic bottles, which they described as: “an innovative product with a timely purpose…the data, clarity of vision and targeted approach all support a clear road map for the brand.”

PUMA Golf Announces New Pop Top Speaker to Rock Your Golf Game

PUMA Golf is introducing its new PopTop speaker, perfect for golfers who enjoy listening to their favorite tunes on the links. The PopTop powered by Speaqua Sound Co. is designed to deliver premium sound from the course to the beach, poolside, or anywhere the music and your favorite beverage may take you.

The new, larger PopTop, will take you from an early morning tee time straight to the 19th hole, delivering 10+ hours of battery life, with the bonus of phone charging capabilities. Additionally, the speaker features a built-in-ball marker and handy bottle opener, so you can tee-it-up and turn-it-up all round long.

Golf Datatech and National Golf Foundation Look to Expand Rounds and Played Research

The National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech, LLC who for years have collaborated in providing the industry with monthly rounds played reports, are heightening their efforts to recruit more golf courses and operators to participate in the ongoing tracking study, with the goal of producing more finely-tuned research for every city and state in the U.S.

Golf Datatech and NGF work together to solicit monthly rounds played information from more than 14,000 U.S. golf facilities, aggregating and analyzing data for reports that detail year-over-year changes in play by region and state, as well as in select major cities. Through their combined efforts, the number of participating golf facilities has risen to almost 18% of all U.S. facilities.

Daly, Petrovic Earn Runner-Up and Langer Finishes Fifth Using Tour Edge Clubs at PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational

The Insperity Invitational is a PGA Tour Champions event that has been good to Tour Edge and their staff players, and the 2021 rendition was no different.

Tour Edge staffer Scott McCarron came into the event as the defending champion from the 2019 tournament after last year’s cancellation and Bernhard Langer is a 4-time champion of the longtime event.

Adidas Stan Smith Special Edition Spikeless Golf Shoes Review

If you missed out on the iconic Adidas Stan Smith Golf Limited Edition shoes earlier this month (they sold out in less than an hour), I have some good news for you.

Tomorrow morning (May 1st, at 11 am EST) Adidas will be releasing another pair of Stan Smith Golf shoes, and this time they'll be an OG white and green colorway, and also waterproof.

Bridgestone Golf Announces First Tee Edition e6 Golf Ball in Partnership with PGA Tour Superstore

Bridgestone Golf, the #1 Ball-Fitter in Golf, announced today that a special First Tee edition e6 will be available exclusively through PGA Tour Superstore. A portion of the proceeds will go directly to First Tee, a youth development organization that helps kids and teens build their strength of character through golf.

“We’re very pleased to offer this special First Tee edition e6, exclusively at PGA Tour Superstore,” said Dan Murphy, President and CEO, Bridgestone Golf. “For decades, First Tee has done very fine work, helping young people learn and grow through the game of golf, building strong individuals and communities. It is an honor to create a dedicated product where the proceeds from the sales will bolster their charitable endeavors.”

PUMA Golf Releases New Excellent Golf Wear Collection

Today’s golfer comes from all walks of life. They are fashion conscious, with on course style that reflects their experiences and their backgrounds. Today, golf culture has a new dress code, and PUMA’s latest Excellent Golf Wear collection was inspired by these new golfers who bring their own sense of fashion, culture, and individuality to the course.

PUMA Golf’s 2021 Excellent Golf Wear Collection (EGW) is performance sportswear designed to meet the needs of the modern golfer; equally suited for a trip to the gym, 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.

Club Champion Golf Driver Fitting Review - PGAPappas Swing into Spring Giveaway

You guys know I'm all into Club Champion.  I've been fit there multiple times for different clubs, and each time the experience has been utterly fantastic.

I like to share as much of everything golf I do with all of you, from equipment and course reviews, to Play with Pete Invitationals and giveaways.  And recently I had a Club Champion (Swing into Spring) driver fitting giveaway here on my blog, twitter, and Instagram.  And the winner Erik had "one of his best golf experiences ever."

Bryson DeChambeau among 9 champions exempt for 121st U.S. Open at Torrey Pines

The United States Golf Association (USGA) has accepted a total of 9,069 entries for the 121st U.S. Open Championship on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif. The U.S. Open will be held at the course for the second time on June 17-20, 2021.

More than 9,000 U.S. Open entries were received for the ninth consecutive time and the 12th time overall. The USGA accepted entries for the 2021 U.S. Open from golfers in 50 states, including 1,222 from host state California, as well as the District of Columbia and 70 foreign countries.