Rules Of The Contest

There will be three age groups in the contest, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8
Submit the following videos:

• 2- Swings from down the line (Behind golfer, looking at target)

• 2- Swings from Face-On (Looking at golfer from side)

Upload the  video to YouTube or Vimeo and paste video link on the sign up form.

Only ONE submission per person
Entry Period: December 1st 2011 – January 15th 2012
Judging will take place from Jan. 15th through Jan. 24th
First round judging will be conducted by Little Linksters, LLC staff.
Final winners will be selected by:

Brendon R. Elliott, PGA (Founder & CEO of Little Linksters, LLC)
Lexi Thompson
Jim McLean
Win McMurry
Kelly Sheehan (Big Break)

Winners will be announced @ the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show.

Prizes (As of 11/26/11) :

The Littlest Golfer apparel and “First Set” golf clubs
U.S. Kids Golf Full set of clubs and accessories
EyeLine Golf training aids package
Golfer’s Footprint
MoRodz alignment rods
Almost Golf play anywhere pack
Golf Coach Direct online lessons
Little Linksters coloring book and prize pack

The contest begins soon so get your video camera out and start shooting!

Here’s the link to the sign up form Best Pee Wee Golf Swing In America Contest

Good Luck!

Hot Stix Golf, one of the leading custom club-fitting establishments for players of all skill levels, has re-opened it’s outdoor fitting facility at Orange County National for the winter season.

Located on the property’s massive circular driving range, Hot Stix returns for its third year of operation at the facility, which is home to Panther Lake, listed among the “Top 50 Public Courses” by Golf World. Certified club fitters will serve the thriving demand for Central Florida golfers looking to fine-tune their games through custom club fitting.

“Central Florida is a popular golf mecca where residents and visitors have taken advantage of our industry-leading club fitting technology to boost enjoyment and play better,” says Mark Flynn, CEO at Hot Stix. “Golfers greatly benefit from our scientific approach and elite club fitters, who work closely with customers to find equipment that perfectly suits their specific needs.”

The outdoor club-fitting center incorporates an array of proprietary technology and is overseen by Peter Schiller, a certified Hot Stix Golf fitter.

An industry veteran with years of experience, Schiller helps players maximize distance, accuracy and consistency by integrating equipment that compliments their distinct swing characteristics. His wealth of knowledge and reputation within the industry make him one of the nation’s leading club-fitters.

Hot Stix’s team of highly-experienced fitters helps players through a sophisticated process analyzing how specific club components – head, shaft, ball and grip – affect individual performance. By precisely measuring loft, lie, shaft frequency, swing and ball speed, launch angle, spin rates, smash factor and other variables, Hot Stix helps maximize distance, accuracy and consistency.

A variety of packages are available for golfers and gift-givers, including full-bag evaluations, or ala carte driver, fairway wood, hybrid, iron and wedge fittings. The company also offers a gap analysis program, measuring the average carry and rollout for each club in the bag, ensuring players no longer have to guess when it comes to yardages.

I visited the fitting center earlier this year and these fellas did a fantastic job dialing in my TaylorMade R11 Driver. If you’re looking for a great gift idea for that golfer in your life, consider a Hot Stix custom club fitting.

Our friends at GlobalGolf.com have recently revamped their electronic gift card system with 24 creative, new gift card designs which can be fully personalized to make the perfect gift for any golfer on any occasion.

The best part of the gift card is they are good towards anything on the site. You can use it to get yourself some new golf clothes for the cooler off-season, or to get a nice discount on one of the new or used drivers they’ve got in stock, like the TaylorMade R11 Driver.

To kick off their new gift card system, they gave me a $50 card to give away to one of you lucky readers. To enter, all you’ve got to do is leave a comment on this post entailing your holiday golf wishlist.

No tricks, just jot down what you’d like ol’ Saint Nick to leave under your tree this year and you’re in! Not too painful I hope..

Also, as you can see we’ve just completed a site redesign and would also love some feedback on how you like it.

So, feel free to chime in on that subject, your comments will not help or hurt your chances to win, just lets us know if we’re on the right track making the site more user friendly.

The drawing of the gift card will be completely random, each comment will be assigned a number and we’ll use a random number generator to select the winner.

We’ll select the winner on 11/11/2011, so act soon! Feel free to share (use the buttons at the top of this post) this giveaway with all your friends and good luck!

I’m a member of the US Golf Leaders group on Linkedin and the other day someone posted up one of these videos and asked “Would you want to see this on the Golf Channel?”

Typically I don’t pay much attention to the group posts because they’re mostly self-promotion efforts, which, in-fact this was.. but I checked it out and was glad I did.

I don’t know much about the company, I tried to dig up a website, but the most I got was a youtube channel and a facebook page, but they’ve come out with a mini series called Ballz Out Celebrity Golf Tournament, directed by a gentleman named Kurt Weir.

The series takes place on Mayacama Golf Club and features celebrities Patrick Warburton (wielding the TaylorMade R11 Driver), Kevin Sorbo, Scott Henry and Gary Valentine.

They’re playing a set scramble match, which means two teams, with both teammates hitting the ball at the same time. It’s the actors vs the comedians with Sorbo (Hercules!!) & Warburton taking on Henry and Valentine.

Here’s the first episode…

I don’t know about you, but I found it to be a pretty entertaining video. There’s currently four videos out and to answer the question, Yes, I could see something like that on the Golf Channel. It’d need to be developed a bit more, but it certainly has potential!

What do you think?

Have a custom club fitting question? Visit our Ask the Fitter page, post your question and you’ll be entered to win a free custom club fitting from the TaylorMade Performance Lab!

Just as he’s set to return to competitive action this week at the Frys.com open in California, he has received his first endorsement deal in nearly two years. Mr. Woods will be sporting a Rolex for at least the next five years after signing a long term deal with the English watch brand, it was announced today.

Before the hectic two years that Tiger Woods has gone through, he had a watch sponsor in Tag-Huer. They decided to end their relationship with Woods in early August. Signing with Rolex is considered a big cop for Woods, when you consider that Rolex is often viewed as the top watch maker in the world, usually above others such as Tag-Huer.

Perhaps this is the first endorsement opportunity for Tiger and more will come in. Since controversy started to strike woods in late 2009, he has been dropped out of corporate endorsements from companies such as Accenture, Gatorade, Gillette and Accenture. Of course, Woods’ main sponsor Nike has remained faithful for the long haul, as they still believe he is the landmark of the golf game.

This marks an important fall stretch for Woods as he returns to action this week at the Frys.com Open. It will serve as his warm up for the President’s Cup in Australia, as he was one of two captain’s picks made by Fred Couples. It has been reported that Couples advised Woods to seek one of the PGA Tour’s fall series tournaments to get some course time in before the President’s Cup.

It’s certainly been another busy year for Woods as he scattered rounds of tour golf in before and after his injury in the late spring/early summer. The construction of Woods’ brand new Jupiter home was also completed this year as he begins to move on to new things after his divorce was completed in late 2010. It is unknown whether he will keep an Orlando apartment or home residence in the future as it seems like he’s been trying to cut all ties from the past, with exception to his kids.

Just last week, Woods was in the news for making the announcement that his new caddie would be Joe LaCava. Long time caddy for Fred Couples, LaCava had been carrying Dustin Johnson’s TaylorMade bag throughout summer 2011. The move gained a bit of controversy when it was revealed that Woods hadn’t asked permission from Dustin Johnson in advance, even though DJ has claimed there was no wrongdoing on Tiger’s part. The two will be teammates in the coming weeks at the President’s Cup in Melbourne.

Tiger has certainly seen some good fortune in the past few weeks by acquiring a new caddy and a new sponsorship deal. Since returning, his play has been extremely spotty with the exception of his performances at Augusta the past two years. Maybe some new blood on the bag and a bit of sponsorship confidence can improve Tiger’s mental game as he gets back on the course for this fall stretch of competitive golf.

Today’s article is a guest post written by Paige Taylor, let me know what you think!

Last Sunday, Tiger Woods announced that he has hired Joe LaCava as his new caddie, leaving Dustin Johnson searching for a replacement.

“Mark and I were approached by a lot of people, including Joe, who expressed an interest in becoming my caddie,” Woods said. “This was an important decision, and I wanted to think about it carefully. Also, out of deference for the FedExCup Playoffs, I decided to wait until they were concluding to have substantive talks. We then spoke to Joe and came to an agreement.”

Joe LaCava, long time caddy for Freddie Couples, started roping for Dustin Johnson over the summer, due to Couples reduced playing schedule for health reasons.

“Joe is an outstanding caddie, and I have known him for many years. I’ve personally seen the great job he did for Freddie. I’m anxious for us to be working together.”

LaCava’s first tournament will be the Frys.com Open, Oct. 6-9.

“I’m excited to be working with Tiger,” LaCava said. “I contacted Tiger and Mark because this is a unique opportunity to be part of something very special. Tiger and I have been friends for a very long time, and I know what he can do.

“I want to thank Dustin for the opportunity to work with him, and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Woods called Johnson after LaCava first told Johnson personally he would be working for Woods. Woods also spoke to Couples to alert him of the decision.

Until a permanent candidate is chosen, Keith Sbarbaro, vice president of his club makers TaylorMade, will carry Johnson’s bag for the rest of the year.

I don’t know about you guys, but I think LaCava made a huge mistake. It’s pretty apparent that Tiger Woods is not in any winning condition and many feel like he will never again win a Major  Championship. Not to mention, He’s been win-less for the past two years…

Why would you leave a player who’s heating up to go to a player on the back burner? Especially a player who is in “change” mode? Seems a pretty precarious position to be in, especially when you’ve got two kids to support on the homefront.

Thoughts?

The USA Team, after three consecutive victories (2005, 2007, 2009) lost the 2011 Solheim Cup by the narrowest margin in the history of the event, final score was 15.0 – 13.0.

Saturday, after two fierce days of competition the teams tied 8.0-8.0, making it a very intense day of singles matches on Sunday.

Day Three Results – Sunday 25th September Singles (CO Solheimcup.com)

• Catriona Matthew beat Paula Creamer by 6 and 5

• Sophie Gustafson beat Stacy Lewis by 2 holes

• Anna Nordqvist lost to Morgan Pressel by 2 and 1

• Laura Davies halved with Juli Inkster

• Melissa Reid lost to Vicky Hurst by 2 holes

• Christel Boeljon beat Brittany Lincicome by 2 holes

• Sandra Gal lost to Brittany Lang by 6 and 5

• Maria Hjorth lost to Christina Kim by 4 and 2

• Suzann Pettersen beat Michelle Wie by 1 hole

• Caroline Hedwall halved with Ryann O’Toole

• Azahara Muñoz beat Angela Stanford by 1 hole

• Karen Stupples won over Cristie Kerr *

         *Due to injury Kerr conceded the match to Stupples and Europe were awarded the point.

Making the singles totals Europe 7, USA 5 and the overall 15 – 13 respectively..

What do you guys think about the Stupples win over Kerr, due to an injury resulting in a withdrawal?

Now, I know, in the signed captains agreement it clearly stated the penalty for situations like this, but it seems like a shallow victory because of this, what do you think?

I would think that for such an important biannual event like this, they could have a more thoroughly considered contingency plan, than, shes out and they get a point by default.

Know what I mean?

GOLF ACADEMY OF AMERICA (GAA) OPENS NEW ORLANDO LOCATION; CAMPUS EXPECTS TO CREATE AN $8.7 MILLION IMPACT ON LOCAL ECONOMY IN 2011

Since 1988, more than 2,300 future golf professionals have graduated from the Golf Academy of America and now they’ve expanded their school to the Orlando market.

Golf Academy of America the largest and longest-running two-year golf career college in the world, officially opened the doors of the new 21,000 square foot campus location in the Orlando suburb of Apopka. The opening was punctuated with an official ribbon cutting ceremony attended by staff, officials from Education Corporation of America and local dignitaries.

“This is an exciting day for Golf Academy of America, but especially for our students who will benefit from this new and state of the art facility,” said Brad Turner, campus director of the Orlando Golf Academy of America. “GAA has been a part of the Orlando community for more than 20 years and we look forward to continuing to produce some of the best future golf professionals in the industry.”

In 2011, the campus and student body is expected to provide an economic impact on the Orlando area of an estimated $8.7 million. Many graduates of the Golf Academy of America still live and work in the Orlando area, some serving in prestigious roles in the $76 billion a year golf industry. Alumni are presently employed at some of Orlando’s finest golf clubs including: Windermere; Lake Nona; Isleworth; Bay Hill; Celebration; Disney; Canongate and the Nick Faldo Golf Institute.

The new campus facility has a 4,000 square foot indoor training center dedicated to golf instruction with the latest and best golf technology including: K-Vest, V1, Trackman, Dynamic Balance System, MEGSA Perfect Practice Equipment, Sam Putt Lab and golf simulators.

Golf Academy of America is a golf course management school that prepares graduates for a wide array of golf career opportunities by offering a comprehensive curriculum of golf instruction and business management. The 16-month program balances classroom studies, practical experience and a comprehensive understanding of both the game and the business of golf. This school is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

For more information about Golf Academy of America, go to www.GolfAcademy.edu, or call (800) 342-7342.

Looking to Improve your ball striking? Check out the Tour Striker, arguably the BEST training aid on the market today.

Many of you are asking yourselves, “what the heck is the PGA Cup?” Well, you’re not the only ones. It’s not one of the better known golf tournaments, because, rather than featuring PGA Tour professionals, the 10-man teams are made up of the top players of the Professional Golfers Association of Great Britain & Ireland (PGA) and America (PGA of America). These are the guys who fill the roles of teaching professionals, head professionals, assistants, etc..

The PGA Cup, in a nutshell, is the club professionals equivalent of the Ryder Cup. It’s a three day event, taking place biennially and are  hosted alternatively in GB&I and America. This year it’s taking place from September 16th-23rd, at the CordeValle Golf Club in California.

The format, like mentioned previously, is exactly identical to the Ryder Cup, a matchplay foursomes day, a four-ball day and finally a singles matchplay day.

The prize is the Llandudno Trophy, which is one of the more historic prizes in golf. It’s origins date back to before World War II. There’s a dent on lid but it wasn’t the fault of it’s owner at the time Percy Alliss. In 1939, a stray German bomb dropped near the first fairway of Ferndown Golf Club, less than 50 yards from the Alliss home, and the blast toppled the trophy off the mantelpiece putting a small dent in the lid. It resided in the Alliss family until Percy’s death in 1973 when it was donated it to the PGA where subsequently it has been competed for ever since.

The teams are selected by a points system that’s tallied over the two years, based on their players’ performance in their respective national championships with double points awarded in PGA Cup year. The top ten places in are invited to the teams.

This years teams can be found here.

2011 marks the 25th PGA Cup, and up to this year, the United States owns a 16-5-3 record in the competition that’s been going on for 38 years and they’ve never been defeated on home soil.

“The PGA Cup has all the tension, all the excellent play and drama, but without 30,000 fans,” said PGA Honorary President Jim Remy of Ludlow, Vt., the USA Captain. “But I guarantee you that once the flags are raised, the national anthems played, the nerves come out on the first tee. The players do not know any differently. This becomes the Ryder Cup.”

Here’s hoping that the US chalks another mark in the win column this year!

Looking to Improve your ball striking? Check out the Tour Striker, arguably the BEST training aid on the market today.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion over the longer putters, especially with four of the last five tournaments on the PGA Tour being won using one.

I read an article by Ryan Ballengee over at golfchannel.com in which #2 ranked pro golfer Lee Westwood weighed in on the discussion.

“If you’re going to adhere to the Rules of Golf, it states in there somewhere that the putter shouldn’t be anchored which obviously belly putters are. You stick them in your stomach,” Westwood said Wednesday from the KLM Open.

Westwood also stated that he felt it was likely too late for the governing bodies of the game to do something about the putters.

“But I think the horse has bolted now and it’s too late to shut the stable door. It’s here to stay, like the broom handle putter,” he said.

Paul Azinger, who is now a golf analyst and part-time player on the Champions Tour has a different opinion on the matter.
After a slump in his putting game, he gave the belly putter a shot in a mixed-team event in 1999. The following year, he won the Sony Open in Hawaii by seven shots using the belly putter.

“Until someone dominates with a long putter, what’s the concern?” Azinger said. “The gripe used to be that no one could win a major with the belly putter because it was a foreign concept. Now all of a sudden a guy wins a major with it, and now it’s an issue? That’s crazy.”

“When I changed it improved me immediately, and it allowed me to release the putter head better. I played in a Ryder Cup after I changed, I won a tournament with it, I went up in the world rankings. I’ll credit the belly putter for that because it changed everything for me.”

He goes on to mention that although it was beneficial to his game, it’s not a cure-all and that the ONLY cure-all was hard work. Gotta practice with it in order to improve.

His final comment is one I believe we ALL can agree on.

“There are enough rules and regulations in the USGA rule book that don’t make sense, but maybe they finally got one in there that maybe they should look at. But you are allowed to use the long putter and, again, I don’t see why all of a sudden it’s a problem.”

What’s your opinion? The Long and Belly Putters, are they USGA Compliant?

Looking to Improve your ball striking? Check out the Tour Striker, arguably the BEST training aid on the market today.