Golfing Eighteen Blog

Titanium was discovered in 1791 by the Reverend William Gregor, an English pastor. The first game of golf was played in 1456 at Bruntsfield Links, located in Edinburgh, Scotland. So golf was played about 335 years before titanium was discovered, yet titanium has been around for billions of years.

History of Titanium   

Pure titanium was first produced in 1910 by Matthew A Hunter, an American metallurgist. Titanium makes up about one percent of the earth’s crust and is the ninth most frequently found element in the earth’s crust. Titanium’s Atomic number is 22, and its atomic weight is 47.867.

It will melt at 3034 degrees F or boil at 5949 F. Its element classification is metal, and its name originates from the Greek word “Titans,” the mythological “first sons of the Earth.” Titanium oxide is used as a pigment to create white paint and accounts for the largest use of the element.

History of Golf and Golf Clubs

The word golf derives from the Scottish word “goulf” meaning to “strike or cuff”. Golf courses have not always had eighteen holes. In the early 15th century St. Andrews Golf Club played a total of 22 holes. Actually the course had 11 featured holes laid out end to end from the clubhouse to the far end of the property. Once these were completed the player played the holes in reverse back to the clubhouse. In 1764, course officials, reacting to players’ complaints that several holes were too short, combined them, thereby reducing the total to 18.

Wood was used in the construction of the head and shaft until the early 1930s when metal made its introduction. People loved the improved durability, lighter weight, and increased distance on their drives.

Titanium Golf Clubs      

In the early 1970s, the use of titanium to build golf club heads began. A few years later graphite shafts were combined with those titanium golf club heads to produce some of the longest drives golfers had ever seen.

Why Titanium Golf Clubs?

Titanium is a very strong and light metal which is stronger than aluminum but as strong as steel. It is 45% lighter than steel and only 60% heavier than aluminum, making it perfect for building golf clubs with. Titanium is not easily corroded by salt water, so if you play a “links” course on a regular basis, your clubs will not gradually deteriorate over time. Titanium is also used in airplanes, missiles, and rockets, because of its resistance to high temperatures, its low weight, and its high strength.

Being born with the left hand as your go to hand can both be a blessing and a curse. From having to have custom left handed school chairs with the desk attached to them, to having to have left handed golf club sets; sometimes being a lefty can be such a bother.

It’s a good thing then that left handed golf club sets are not very hard to find, and it may not even cost you your right arm. It is however important to take your time shopping for the right left handed golf club set.

Most companies like, Callaway, Mizuno, Nike, Ping and other manufacturers actually manufacture right handed and left handed golf club sets. But the amount of demand does affect the amount of sets manufactured, and since left handed golf club sets do not have high demand then they are not many of them in the market.

Is it More Expensive?

Even though the demand for left handed golf club sets are scarce, it is not very expensive. As a matter of fact left handed golf club sets costs pretty much the same as right handed ones.

Custom Made

Just like regular golf clubs left handed golf club sets can be custom made. All you need is the golfers, gender, height, weight, and distance from the golfer’s wrist to the floor, speed of swing, age, handicap, and what club is being used on the 150 yard mark.

Custom made golf clubs are more expensive than over the counter golf clubs; but it can be worth the money, time and effort when fitting. Usually the appropriate golf club set can improve a golfer’s confidence on the green and his game.

What Else is There?

You can definitely bet on the fact that a lot people, have wanted to play golf for once in their lifetime. Most of this over enthusiastic people buy brand new sets and then just to end up realizing that well, golf is not exactly their calling. If you’re thinking that some of the golf dreamers are left handed then your definitely right

The best thing is that people are probably tired of their unused golf clubs taking up space and gathering dust in their garage. So watch out for garage sales, because if they won’t sell those dust gathering golf sets then their wives probably will. And the greatest part is that they will probably sell those left handed gold club sets for a fraction of the original price.

If you’re a woman, and you thinking of getting ladies golf club sets, then you have a lot of considering to do. Regular golf clubs are okay to play with, but if you want comfort and improved game you will have to find a golf club that suits you; and what better ones to use than a ladies golf club sets.

Ladies golf club sets are built to improve a lady golfer’s confidence on course. Ladies golf clubs set are usually built with shorter shafts, and grips. It is also lighter to compensate for the distance for most ladies’ swing.

Can you? Or Cant you?

In choosing ladies golf club sets, what matters most are the height, built, weight and physical ability of the golfer. With golf clubs, including ladies gold club sets, you get what you pay for so you have to be wise in choosing your golf clubs.

If your new to the game, try renting your equipment first to get the feel of the game; whether your made for golf or not can usually be known in about two weeks time of playing the game. So when you finally seen that you are an avid player of golf and quite good at it, then its time to buy a good ladies golf club set.

It’s A Question of How Much is Too Much

Quality ladies golf club sets are usually expensive. Generally you will have more accuracy and more speed with the expensive ones. The main thing though is not how much the ladies golf club set is, but if you can afford it. Set a budget; know what you want, what you need and what your budget allows.

You should know the average selling price for ladies golf club sets. If you see that the average price of a ladies golf club set is far more expensive than regular ones then don’t buy them, especially if you cannot afford them; but if the price is not that different from regular ones then ago ahead and make your purchase.

Is it Worth What You Paid for?

Most people look for the cheapest ladies golf club sets; it is not always the best way to go especially when looking for the best equipment. You must know which equipment to splurge on and which ones do you scrimp on.

One of the best and easiest ways of helping you choose the best ladies golf sets is look over the internet. Golfing websites provide you with very helpful information and reviews on a certain product.

Golf can be an expensive game. You just have to know when to spend on the right stuff and consider that in the long run, longer lasting and more expensive equipment can actually save you money.

With women now penetrating the golfing world, fashion as well as sporting manufacturers has been ablaze in trying to find a way to attract women to buy there products. Nike, Addidas, and many more have launched colorful lines of clothing and golf accessories to please their female customers.

With all the accessories out there, perhaps the most difficult to design are ladies gold club covers. But there are thousands and hundreds of ladies golf club covers. You can pick from any design you want online or you can make one.

Surely you want to protect those precious golf club sets of yours. You can do that and still maintain your sense of style, fashion and even playfulness.

Ladies Golf Club Covers Online

There are fun and playful ladies golf club covers online. Internet sites such as Hundreds of Ladies Golf Club Covers For fun, offers a variety of designs. They have designs like Winnie the pooh, crocheted flowers, stuffed animals. The possibility is really endless.

If you’re the conservative type there are designs that play on color but are not too fru fru and you can find them on bella.com. There designs are really pretty, but they emulate the regular golf club cover while giving it a twist by using different types of materials and cloth.

Make Them

To further accentuate your style you can always make your own ladies golf club cover. All you need is patience a sense of creativity, imagination and style.

Of course you need the materials too, so here are the basics. For one ladies golf club cover, you will need about half a meter of cloth, in any design or color that suits you. Needles, thread, garters, zipper, measuring tape for measuring the dimension of your golf club, and if you have a mini sewing machine the better.

First thing you must do to make a ladies golf club cover, is to measure the dimensions of your golf club. Measure the Head, the shaft up to where you want your ladies golf club cover’s neck will be. If you want fitted ladies golf club head cover measure the head like your measuring your vital statistics.

Put your measuring tape at the widest part of the golf club head, then the top part, then near the neck. After listing down the dimensions of your golf club, envision how you would like your ladies golf club cover to look like. Using the dimensions and measurement you’ve draw a pattern on a card board using a pencil.

Cut out the patterns and put it on top of the cloth. Trace the patterns on the cloth and cut them. Mark the patterns with numbers so you don’t get confused. Then sew them on together. Sew from the inside then turn the ladies golf club cover inside out. Voila you have your own home made ladies golf club cover.

There are a number of things to consider when learning about how to swing a golf club and perhaps the most important of them is to learn to grip the golf club properly. Many golfers may have trouble with their golf swing simply because of holding the golf club in the wrong way but they need not worry because they will come across numerous ways of holding the golf club and one of them could be just right for them. Certainly, you will find certain methodologies and techniques that will work with every kind of golfer and thus are used by almost every golfer.

Master The Basics

The basics that you need to master when looking to find the best means to employ with regard to learning how to swing a golf club include the grip, the set up, the waggle, the backswing and tempo as well as downswing and finally the follow through. Of course, as you start to learn how to swing a golf club you will have to do a little bit of experimentation and also read up material about the best way to swing the golf club till you find a way that works just right for you.

The grip, as mentioned, is very important and it is integral to a proper golf swing and you can choose between the Vardon Grip and the Baseball grip or even the Interlocking Grip and for more information about these grips you can consult instruction books, videos as well as DVDs that show you the proper way of gripping your golf club.

The second step in learning how to swing a golf club is the set up in which you must not let the right shoulder come forward as you grip the golf club with the right hand and in fact your right shoulder needs to remain back as well as in alignment with your left shoulder.

When making the back swing you needs to focus your mind on the rotation of your body and also the extension of arms and the club and the best back swing would be one that is a singular motion that is fluid and also smooth. Also, your elbow must not bend and when making the downward swing, you need to start the swing from your legs and hips and then onto your knees as well as thighs and everything should be done just like a snake uncoils itself.

The actual impact of club on ball should be done with arm as well as club shaft forming a straight line, and as you learn how to swing a golf club, you will also realize the need to keep your weight for the most part on the outside of your front heel and on the inside of your hind foot. In addition, you need to rotate your hands and wrists as well as forearm in such a manner that your grip end of your club is pointing in the direction of your target.

Also, when you learn more about how to swing a golf club, you will soon realize that consistency is the key to a good golf swing and thus you need to practice the above mentioned points everyday, though don’t become too serious about it all since that can ruin your swing as well as your game. The point is, as you will learn about how to swing a golf club is that the point of playing good golf is to have fun and be relaxed, because when all is said and done, golf is only a game that is best played in a relaxed manner and for the fun of it all.

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of “Best Resorts Awards” GOLF MAGAZINE debuts their platinum Medal Awards and invited their readers input in naming Golf’s 75 greatest destinations.

New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 10, 2008 — Want to know the ultimate golf destinations in North America? GOLF MAGAZINE has the answer. This year marks the 20th anniversary of GOLF’s “Best Resorts Awards,” an honor bestowed upon the 75 greatest destinations in North America which appears in the April issue on newsstands today. A complete listing is attached.

The 2008 list marks the first time that the magazine gave avid golfers the chance to become part of the process by allowing them to vote via the magazines digital arm, Golf.com. More than 8,000 golf enthusiasts offered their opinions. This year also marks the debut of GOLF’s Platinum Medals, an elite award given to the upper echelon of golf properties that excel in course design and playability while providing luxurious accommodations. This year’s Platinum winners include The American Club, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Four Seasons Resort Lana’i at Manele Bay, Pinehurst Resort, The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, The Greenbrier, The Broadmoor, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Pebble Beach Resorts and Sea Island Resort. Furthermore, the magazine created the Green Awards, an honor given to the ten best eco-friendly destinations that have placed a serious emphasis on resource conservation and protection.

Among the 75 resorts listed readers will find nine from the shores of Hawaii, 14 Jack Nicklaus designed courses, four that have played host to a Major Championship, as well as The Lodge at Torrey Pines, the site of the 2008 U.S. Open. Additionally, GOLF MAGAZINE lists the top picks for quality golf and accommodations in each region of the country in “Best in Your Area,” and features “Keep Your Eye On,” a look at resorts that are up and coming and could find their way onto the list in the near future.
    
“The Best Resorts Awards feature is a key initiative because it allows us to provide our readers with the answer to that age-old question: ‘Where should I go on my next golf trip?’” says David Clarke, Editor, GOLF MAGAZINE. “This year’s awards are truly unique because we invited our readers to share their insight through a Golf.com poll. This is an exciting time at GOLF MAGAZINE.”

The “Best Resorts Awards” is a biannual feature in the pages of GOLF MAGAZINE. The voting on Golf.com was based on four criteria: golf, lodging, food and drink and service. Forty percent of the resort recognition is based on golf, where voters considered factors such as challenge, playability, scenery, history, facilities and service. The rest of the score was equally weighed among lodging, food and drink and overall service at the resorts.

“The overwhelming insight from our loyal readers on Golf.com speaks volumes to the growing number of traveling golfers and the demand for these awards,” says Joe Passov, Senior Travel Editor, GOLF MAGAZINE. “By creating Platinum Medals for the elite resorts in North America we can provide answers for that critical question of ‘Which is the best?’”

GOLF Magazine is at the core of the most powerful media company in the game, the Si Golf Group. The magazine, which delivers a monthly circulation of 1.4 million golf enthusiasts and a readership of 6 million, provides the best instruction, equipment reviews and travel coverage in the category. With the combined resources of GOLF, SI’s Golf Plus and their home on the web, Golf.com, the SI Golf Group delivers a monthly audience of 13 million avid golfers and fans. GOLF Magazine is published by Time Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

The above information must be properly credited as from the pages of GOLF Magazine.

Anyone interested in learning about the history of the golf club will need to turn his or her attention to the east coast of Scotland where the earliest and most primitive forms of golf clubs were first used, and they should not be surprised to learn that in the beginning the clubs were rather odd and the game was played haphazardly as well as casually. Thus, in those early days, the clubs were carved out of wood by the players themselves though with time these players became more accomplished and skilled in producing better golf clubs and other equipment.

King James IV Of Scotland

Perhaps the first reference to golf clubs as recorded in the history of the golf club is when clubs were specially made for King James IV of Scotland by a bow maker who was specially commissioned to make them as early as the year 1502, and much later, King James became ruler of England as well and that was when he appointed William Mayne in the year 1603 who was designated as a royal maker of clubs, and so, during those years it was only Mayne’s clubs that were exclusively licensed throughout United Kingdom and used by most golfers of the time.

Then, after many changes the history of the golf club took another step forward when in the year 1826 a person named Robert Forgan from Scotland changed the way golf clubs were made by using American hickory from which to make the golf club shaft. As expected, these new types of golf clubs became very popular even in spite of competition from other golf club makers.

Then, the history of the golf club moved forward once more when in the year 1848 the Rev. Adam Pearson came up and invented the Guttie ball which soon made the older golf balls obsolete and thus had a profound effect on the types of golf clubs being used. Thus, at the end of the nineteenth century, the history of the golf club showed a new type of golf club which was now being made from imported American persimmon that was soon to completely replace the beech and several other types of hard wood from which golf club heads were being made.

Aluminum club heads too became popular at this point of time in the history of the golf club and the reason was because hand-forging metal club heads were the traditional way of making the golf clubs at that time, though in the year 1902, there were introduced groove-faced irons to help the golfer achieve more backspin and so another change took place in the history of the golf club.

However, it was not until the year 1929 that the Prince of Wales used steel shafted golf clubs after which the popularity of steel golf clubs made them the first choice and this in turn marked a radical new change as recorded in the history of the golf club. From that time on till the present, many other changes too have taken place and much improvement has made the golf club a very potent weapon in the hands of the modern golfer and which is a far cry from the ancient wooden clubs with which the game was first played.

Though you may want to own a decent golf club travel case for your golf set, don’t be too surprised if they cause you a minor headache because there are several factors to owning golf club travel cases that may make you want to scratch your hair in frustration. One of the most common headaches to owning golf club travel cases is the fact that you need sufficient space to keep them and then there is the weight of them that can bog you down and finally, the price can also get your goat. The fact is that some of these golf club travel cases are pretty expensive, especially if you want one that comes with soft covers and are made of the best materials.

Know Why You Want One

However, if you feel that you can put up with these headaches and do decide to go ahead and buy golf club travel cases, and then you must be sure of why you want them and so, it would be a good idea to consider certain features that must be present in these cases. Thus, if you are a person that travels a lot, and then the golf club travel cases will prove to be especially handy, especially when your mode of transport is the airplane.

Most regular golfers always carry their golf sets with them when out on a vacation even if they are traveling by road or by air. Thus, they need to be sure that their costly golf clubs have the proper protection; more so, when traveling by plane, when luggage is often handled pretty roughly. For them, especially owning golf club travel cases is a must.

So, having decided on owning golf club travel cases, you still need to be sure that they are of the right size because they should fit in with the available storage space such as in the boot of your car, and another consideration that must be addressed is to ensure that the golf club travel cases you choose are up to the job.

Thus, if a golfer is traveling for short distances, you would need to consider golf club travel cases that are light in weight and also easy to handle as well as have soft covers, and of course they should be affordable as well. In addition, they should be easy to strap in and the same goes for the clubs within the cases, and they should also provide good protection to the club heads as well.

When all is said and done, it must be said that golf club travel cases are not easy to decide on, though they are available in all different sizes as well as colors – not to mention makes – all of which makes choosing the best one a bit of a chore.

When you’re an avid golfer the best thing to do when you travel to play, or expect to play when you travel, is to bring your own golf clubs. It’s better to bring your own clubs than borrowing or renting because your used to the clubs you have, and aside from that the clubs you own are probably fitted to your height, weight, stature, and playing style.

With every traveler, having to lug suitcases around can be an inconvenience, and having to lug your golf clubs around is even more so. So here are a few things you should remember.

The Soft

There are two types of golf club travel cases: the soft case and the hard case. Let’s start with the soft case. Soft golf travel cases are relatively cheaper than there harder counterparts. Soft golf club travel case starting price is usually $75-$100. Although they provide little protection, as long as you’re careful and pack your clubs properly then it won’t be a problem.

How to Properly Pack Your Clubs In Soft Cases

The cloth bag will not provide much protection from damage, so never pack your golf clubs loose in your soft golf club travel case. Keep your golf clubs inside your golf bag to add a sense of protection and to prevent them from moving around too much. If there’s still room in your golf club travel case you can put in some of your clothes and shoes.

The Hard

A true testament to how dependable hard golf club travel cases are is the fact that golfing pros use them. In fact some manufacturers even claim that you can drop a bag from the altitude of a cruising airline and your golf clubs will still be intact. This is because hard golf club travel cases are built to be rigid and it is designed to protect your golf clubs. The biggest downside however is the fact that hard cases can be expensive.

Never Carry On Your Clubs

Aside from the fact that they exceed carry on size limits, golf clubs can be hazards. So invest on a sturdy bag and leave your clubs with your usual luggage.

We all know that golf clubs are an investment, albeit a quite expensive investment. So you must do your best to protect them, especially when traveling. So protect your golf club set and buy a golf club travel bag. Soft cases are affordable, and if you want total protection you can always buy the hard case. But if you really want ultimate protection you can always get a deluxe custom set golf club travel case.

The USGA is constantly testing golf clubs to make sure the equipment manufactures are complying with the rules. The primary reason the USGA tests golf equipment is to make sure that skill is still the most important factor in golf and not high technology equipment. The Research and Test Center of the USGA has over twenty thousand square feet of space and an outdoor area for testing golf equipment.

The Center contains golf club testing equipment as well as golf ball testing equipment and a staff of experts who have the background to understand the technology that manufactures are bringing to the game of golf and they have the ability to understand the ramifications of certain types of high technology equipment can have for the game for golf.

Employees

The Center is the workplace of highly skilled technicians as well as administrative people who are involved with the submissions by the manufactures and the various rulings. The USGA center also employs engineers who are involved in a variety of research programs for the game of golf including golf club testing. The employees of the USGA Research and Test Center have a common goal of creating and enforcing the standards that have been set for golf equipment in the rules of golf.

The USGA is considered to be the governing authority for the rules of golf and this authority also covers golf club testing. The technical workers at the center follow the concepts provided in the Joint Statement of Principles that was set in 2002 with the assistance of the R&A located in St. Andrews in Scotland. These principles are the guides that are used while testing golf clubs and other equipment and enforcing rules regarding the types of equipment they approve for the game.

Equipment Advances

Golf equipment has seen numerous advances over the years which has improved the ability of golfers and perhaps has added more pleasure for those who play the game of golf; however the USGA is concerned about equipment making the game too easy and taking away from skill as being the main factor for excellent play.

The USGA Research and Test Center is sent almost three thousand golf equipment submissions on an annual basis. They receive about nine hundred different types of golf balls each year as well as over two thousand golf equipment items including golf clubs, shafts, tees, club heads as well as other devices. The golf equipment typically comes from manufactures; however they also receive requests for testing by individuals who have made equipment.

Regarding the testing of golf clubs, all the various components of a club are analyzed and tested in order to determine the performance of the golf club. The different components of the club also have to meet their specifications. The USGA is pleased to perform golf club testing to make sure that technology does not dominate the game of golf.