How Golf Gimmicks Really Work

A little over a week ago, Stinky Golfer Chris posted about purchasing his first golf gimmick. Chris joked in the headline; "I bought my first golf gimmick...or did I?" - suggesting he wasn't really sure if he had just bought a gimmick or not.That's the thing with gimmicks - you're never really sure if they will work. Did you just shave strokes off your game or were you just the next sucker? After all, they say there's one born every minute.In any event, we posted Chris' story on all of our social media sites with the caption; "Can this golf gimmick actually work?" That elicited a decent amount of responses, including those who were certain Chris got screwed; and those who were equally certain the product worked. But perhaps the most intriguing...

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Prepping For The New Season

It's late March and for the first time in 2011 I was invited to play 9. I politely declined. Why? Well, it's still just too cold. While the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky, the temps barely rose above 40 degrees. And as I've mentioned before, I don't play if the temps are below 50 degrees.But being asked to play today has made me realize how close golf season actually is. Additionally, it had made me realize how unprepared I was! Practicing over the winter, equipment, apparel...I see now that I had better get on the stick! So I got started right away.I'm all set with the basics - clubs and a bag. Although my bag, well one of the legs anyway, is in rough shape, it will hold up fine for this season. The clubs have only a...

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Find Golfers And Play Now

How cool would it be if there was an app to link up with other golfers that are available to play right now? I find myself looking for golf buddies because sometimes playing solo just doesn't cut it. I mean, who else will witness that 9-iron in for eagle when playing by yourself? In my case, who will witness that uncanny boomerang action spin (known to all as a bad slice) that sends the ball two fairways over?The developers over at needagolfer.com have put together an app for the Android system that can connect golfers based on certain criteria like location, skill level and handicap. Here's what they say:"Find A Golfer is a free, simple to use Android application that gives you options when you think you've run out. This social golfing experiment...

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Inside Cond� Nast Traveler's Golf Resort Ratings

Cond� Nast Traveler has released its Top 125 Golf Resorts issue and I'm wondering how many of us should actually take this list seriously? The list was compiled from the publication's 2010 Readers' Choice survey, which was conducted online and had nearly 26,000 respondents.That's allot of respondents, but can these results really be that accurate? Firstly, how many resorts have these respondents vacationed at? My guess is not many (and certainly not all 125). So if they've stayed at only one or two, there really isn't much basis for comparison. When people choose a resort, they typically select one they've heard of (perhaps through lists such as in Cond� Nast Traveler). After visiting a resort, some people will then take the online survey (which...

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I Bought My First Golf Gimmick! Or...Did I?

Have you ever seen those commercials for the bracelet that supposedly gives you super-human strength, x-ray vision and allows you to access areas of your brain giving you Stephen Hawking-like intellectual abilities? No? OK...how about the one that improves your balance? Sure, we've all seen that one. And most of us have probably thought the same thing..."Yeah right, another gimmick."Well up until Saturday I was among the many who would be doubting the supposed abilities of something as simple as a wristband. But my mind was changed after attending the Connecticut Golf Show on March 19th. That's when I tried out the EFX Performance wristband* for the first time.Lori Baker of EFX Performance, after explaining how and why the wristband works,...

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Making The Cut

Never in my life have I ever see men acting like children as I did recently at a bar (actually, I guess it could be pretty easy to act like a child at a bar). But these guys were discussing their upcoming golf season and the foursome they want to play with. They were so intent on excluding people and making sure this guy plays and this one doesn't - simply because they weren't good golfers. It was like that feeling you got at gym class when they are picking teams; you know, that "I hope they don't pick me last" feeling.I wasn't even part of the conversation and I felt bad for the guy who was getting excluded. It was like a bad high school clique movie. The best part was that a couple of these gentlemen (and I use that term loosely) who were...

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10 Things Golf Courses Get Wrong

I enjoy nearly all the golf courses I play...truly, I do. But there are some annoyances that make even a great course lose some of its luster. Here are a few of those annoyances:When There's no Yardage MarkersEver play a course with those 150-yardage polls in the middle of the fairways? I wish all golf courses used those. I don't mind the red, white and blue discs either - they're old school, but they do the trick. But when a course has no yardage markers, that just gets my goat. What am I supposed to do, count-out my paces to the center of the green and then walk back to my ball? Some courses use an ambiguous shrub as the 150 marker - which sort of works, until that one hole where you can't tell which little shrub is the marker: "I thought...

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Introducing: The Stroke Clock!

Slow play. It's probably at the top of most golfers' complaint lists. Everyone is in such a hurry to get through the game that they can't stand to be held up for even a minute. But if everyone knows how much it burns other golfers, then why do they do it?Many have brought up the idea that the it's the pros who cause the game to be played so slowly. I can understand that. Watching the pros at a tournament can be flat-out boring at some points. Taking an endless amount of practice swings, wandering around the ball for a little while, then taking a few more practice swings before they finally hit the ball...my goodness! Just wake me up when he's done already! It's remarkable how much that sounds like the schmuck in front of you, isn't it? That's...

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Weekend Giveaways: Golf Genie & Golf Pro to Go

We here at Golfstinks like to giveaway stuff. We've handed out everything from free steak, to golf gift cards. Well, this weekend is no exception!We've got two promotions going on at our Facebook page: One for Golf Genie and one for Golf Pro to Go! Twenty lucky Golfstinks Facebook fans have already won the Golf Genie Practice Drills Pocket Guide (read our review) and there are 5 more to give away this weekend! All you have to do is make sure you've "liked" our Facebook page and you're automatically entered to win - We'll pick 5 random winners this Sunday evening!Meanwhile, Golf Pro to Go (read our review of the app) is available on both the iPhone and Droid and we're giving away 5 codes to download the iPhone version free this Sunday evening!...

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Attention Public Golf Courses: Make Room for Judge Smails

Ready to trade-in that private club membership yet? No matter; there's a chance your golf course will do it for you. According the National Golf Foundation (NGF), 94 18-hole private courses switched over to public courses in 2010.Compare that to only 22 that switched from public to private and you start to realize what the golf real estate boom of decades past (coupled with the current economy) has done to private golf clubs. What's more, public golf courses have increased in number in the U.S. nearly 6 percent over the last 10 years; compared to private courses, which have increased just 2 percent.That being said, I'd like to take this time to welcome private club members to public golf course life. If your country club has been downgraded...

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Golf Simulators: Good Practice or Giant Video Game?

This past Friday night I got a text from Stinky Golfer Greg asking if I can hit the indoor range Saturday morning. Unfortunately, due to my kids basketball playoff schedule, I'm unable to commit to it because I don't know how far the team is going to advance, so therefore, don't know when I'll be free. We plan on trying again in a couple of weeks.However, it turns out they don't advance very far, getting knocked out in the first round. This now frees up the afternoon. Still with the indoor range on my own mind, the kids remind me that I promised to take them to the indoor spot to use the golf simulator. So it looks like I'm going after all. I call ahead to make sure a tee time is available (yes...you need to make a tee time), and we're...

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Golf Libs

Yep, you got it! Mad libs Golfstinks style. If you don't know the rules, here's a quick breakdown:1. Print this post (use "share" button at the bottom of the post).2. Fill in the blanks with a corresponding word that matches the description (i.e. noun:____ = pen)3. Finally, take what you have filled in the blanks with and fill the story in with the corresponding word.4. (Optional) For killing time on a Friday afternoon: Print multiple copies, pass around the office, compare stories and LYFAO!So, let's have a go at it...noun:____number:____noun:____adjective:____noun:____Holy (noun)! That drive must have been close to (number) yards. I really knocked the (noun) out of that (adjective) (noun)!Are we having fun yet? That was just a little warm up for you. Here's one a tad more complex:explicit...

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Analysis: What Makes a Golf Course Great

For the last year or so, Golfstinks has been collecting information on what makes a golf course great. We intend to apply what we've learned to the Golfstinks Golf Course Rating System, which will rank every course at the state/province level and at the national level.Why would we want to do this? Well, for one, it would be cool to have rankings for every course, wouldn't it? Think about this scenario; You're traveling to a city and want to squeeze in a round of golf while you're there, but which course should you play? Just zip on over to Golfstinks.com's course search, filter by location and then sort by course rankings - voil�, instantly find the highest ranked course within your price range, pack the clubs and enjoy!Anyway, we created a...

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