WGT Golf News

By Josh Zander

Everything in moderation is a pretty good philosophy in life and it is in your golf game as well. Opening your stance for short game shots is ok if it is done in moderation but opening it too much leads to disaster. Setting up too open leads to glancing blows, pulls, chunks and excessive sidespin on your short game shots. More importantly, it seeps into other parts of your game which leads to inconsistency.

I recommend putting a shaft down on the ground to monitor your alignment. It will give you the sense of what is square so when you remove the club, anything other than square will feel awkward. If square is your baseline, you are setting yourself up for success. Setting up square leads to solid contact due to an on plane swing. Your ball will come off with pure backspin and an absence of sidespin. You hear people talk about trying to get the ball within a three foot circle in order to have a good chance at getting up and down. I try to hole all my short game shots. Knowing that my ball will have a predictable bounce because of pure backspin enables me to give the ball a good chance of going in. I even read the green on my chip shots much like you would on a lag putt. If your goal is to hole your shot, chances are that if it doesn’t go in, it will be inside that three foot circle.

The key to scoring in golf is predictability. Whether you are a hooker or a slicer, you can plan your aim and find the fairway if you know beforehand how your ball will curve. Setting up square will give you predictability of distance control because of your solid contact and predictability of direction due to square spin. Now go practice and hole some short game shots.

WGT and The Glenlivet, the Single Malt that Started it All, invite you to enter The Glenlivet Whisky Season Open! One winner by random drawing receives a trip for two to Scotland to play golf at St Andrews Links and a go on a private tour of the historic The Glenlivet Distillery.

Five winners will receive a The Glenlivet branded golf bag, and 25 winners will receive two tasting glasses and a whisky tasting DVD. Entry is free and anyone over 21 years old can play. USA residents (excluding CA) are eligible to win the sweepstakes prizes. See rules for details.

Click here to enter today!

By Josh Zander

How many times have you heard keep your head down? Don’t do it! What I am saying may sound like heresy but all you have to do is look at tour players and see that they release their heads on their follow through.  What do Annika Sorenstam, David Duval and Robert Allenby have in common? They all release their heads before impact. They are actually looking at the target before they hit the ball. They are not even close to keeping their heads down. They do maintain their spine angles but releasing their heads makes their bodies explosive through the hitting zone. I am not saying you have to exaggerate as much as these players but realize that every tour player is looking at the target on the follow through. If you cannot see your ball flight immediately, your head is down too long.

How many times have you heard swing slower? If you swing slower, your ball will go shorter! I have been teaching for 15 years and almost every student has asked me for more distance. You cannot hit it farther by swinging slower. If you have a technical fault in your swing, slowing down is not going to fix it. Fix the mistake and then speed up your swing to get distance. Don’t confuse slow with smooth. Ernie Els and Vijay Singh are smooth swingers but they are not slow.

How many times have you heard to hit down on the ball? This advice may be the reason 90% of golfers slice the ball. While good ball strikers do compress the ball, it is a function of having a forward leaning shaft and their weight shifting correctly through impact which creates a divot that is past the ball. If you look at the spine angle of a tour player from the face-on point of view, you will see that every one of them has a spine angle leaning backward away from the target. This is the same spine angle you would create if you were going to throw something up in the air. Golfers misinterpret hitting down on the ball by swinging down steeply which creates deep divots, pulls and slices. Try swinging up on the ball and you will become a drawer of the golf ball.

Before taking any swing advice from friends or golf professionals for that matter, always ask the following question. Will this advice help my ball flight and impact? If so, go for it but beware of swing myths!

Here are the highlights from today's product release. While we make an effort to include all updates made to the product, please note that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted.

Match Play Game Format

We've released the first iteration of our match play game format, and we'd love to get your feedback. You can create or join match play games and track your match play points on your profile page. "Scored" matches are tracked in the stats section of your profile and shows your record vs. your friends. Go head-to-head with your friends and see who comes out on top! Read more here.

This feature is brand new and still being tested, so you should expect to see some issues. We plan to make many more improvements to it in the next few releases, and we encourage you to make suggestions and report all bugs in our forums.

Awards Display Case

Who has the most prestigious awards? We've made it easier to view and track your awards by organizing them into categories and showing your progress on the awards you can earn. Click the Awards button on your profile page now and see your awards standings! We are planning to release more awards for you to add to your trophy case in the future.

Pinehurst No. 8 Closest-to-the-Hole Challenge

A new closest-to-the-hole challenge is now available on Pinehurst No. 8. This course opened in 1996 to commemorate Pinehurst's centennial year. Fazio incorporated signature Ross features into the design, including dips and swales around the greens, sloping greens and false fronts. Located approximately 2 miles from the Main Clubhouse at the site of the former Gun Club, it is a celebration of a century of great golf.

Ability to Pull Flagstick

When on the green you can now remove the flagstick so it will not interfere with your shot. Simply mouse over the flagstick and you will see a button with "Remove Flagstick" appear. Click the button and the flagstick will be removed from the hole. To bring it back, mouse over the area where the flagstick appears and a button with "Replace Flagstick" will appear, which will put it back into the cup. When you are on the green, remember the flagstick is not really in the cup.  It is just a visual reference you can hide and bring back.

Green Speed Indicator

When you are on the green, you will now see a green speed indicator in the upper right hand corner. The green speed will affect how far your ball will roll. This means that your distances on your putter will only be accurate on standard green speeds. You will need to adjust for your distances to account for the faster and slower greens. Read more in our FAQs.

New Equipment in the Pro Shop

• Available to All Tiers:
  • WGT GI-S ball - These balls will give you a small increase in spin and the benefit of a slower swing meter.
• Exclusive to Pro & Master Tiers:
  • WGT Tour-S ball - These balls will give you increased spin and distance, but their soft covers will take a punishing.
  • WGT Tour-SD ball - These balls will give you extra spin and extra distance.
  • Ping G10 Tour W Pro Wedges - New wedges in 52, 56, 58, and 64 degree lofts.
  • TaylorMade Tour Pro Wedges - New wedges in 52, 56, and 58 degree lofts.
  • WGT Tour Pro Clubs - If you like the WGT Tour Starters, you'll love the WGT Tour Pros. Our most affordable pro-level clubs!

Product Descriptions in the Pro Shop

We've added product descriptions in the Pro Shop to help you better select the equipment you need.

Additional Friend Feed Content

You can now see more of your friends' activities in your Friend Feed. Below are some of the new activities you will see:

• Tournament entered
• Tournament finished
• Tournament won
• Completed stroke play round
• Complete match play round
• Replay saved
• Pro shop item purchased
• Tier changed

New International Payment Methods

You can now purchase WGT credits using Maestro (UK), ELV (Germany), iDEAL (Netherlands), and WallieCard (worldwide) payment methods.

Ball Trail in Replays

When you view a replay, you will be able to see a white trail showing the path of the ball. This is helpful when looking at the breaks on a green in putting replays.

Available Credits Displayed in Profile Widget

It's now easy to see how many credits you have in your account. Just look at the profile widget on the left side of the screen next to your name, and you can see your balance without having to click into your My Account page.

Bug Fixes

• There should no longer be a $.01 discrepancy between the career earnings stat on your profile page and the stat on the Top Earners list.
• When you remove a friend, they should no longer show up in the Friends section of your profile page.

By The Armchair Golfer

Ryo Ishikawa at the PGA Championship. (jpellgen/Flickr)

The Americans won the Presidents Cup on Sunday for the seventh time in eight tries. The final points total was 19 ½ to 14 ½. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker—the world’s top three golfers—led the way.

While International team captain Greg Norman was questioned extensively about his captain’s choice of fellow Aussie Adam Scott, his other captain’s pick made an impressive debut in the Presidents Cup. Ryo Ishikawa, the 18-year-old, was one of only two International team players to post a winning point total. (The other was Ernie Els.) The Japan Tour player went 3-2-0, including a singles victory over Kenny Perry.

I hadn’t seen much of Ishikawa before this week. Obviously, he’s a terrific putter. Coming into the Presidents Cup, Ryo won three times this summer on the Japan Tour in a 10-week stretch. And he’s the youngest player to crack the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, currently ranked 47th.

“When Greg first picked me...I didn’t know if I was worthy to be a part of this team,” Ishikawa said. “But when I got here and all of the players looked after me, talked to me, gave me a lot of support, and that really helped me throughout this week.”

I look forward to seeing more of Ryo. It will be fun to see how he and Rory McIlroy fulfill their potential as golf’s future stars.

Happy Friday everyone! Here are some nice replays for your weekend enjoyment:

• Incredible putt on Bethpage #15 by AvatarLee
• 144 yrd eagle on Kiawah #13 by Lysti
• Hole-in-one on Bethpage #17 by DivotDave
• 360° spin around flagstick on St Andrews Links by donsprintr

By The Armchair Golfer

Photo: jrodmanjr/Flickr

THE U.S. TEAM TOOK a one-point lead over the International squad on Day 1 of the Presidents Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco. Thursday was Foursomes—also known as alternate shot—and all but one of the matches were competitive. On Friday the teams will compete in Four-Ball (best-ball) matches.

Americans Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker romped to a 6 and 4 win over Internationals Geoff Ogilvy and Ryo Ishikawa by making every putt they looked at. Or at least it seemed that way. Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson also won for the U.S. side.

Partnering with Ernie Els, Adam Scott holed the winning putt to earn a point against Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair. Vijay Singh and Robert Allenby also got a point for the Internationals. The final match of the day was halved when American Justin Leonard rimmed out a three-foot putt on the 18th hole.

Here’s what I like about watching the Presidents Cup.

Harding Park

I’ve watched a lot of tour golf over the years. I won’t say I have all the tour stops memorized, but I do know a lot of the golf courses, and especially their final nines. However, I know virtually nothing about Harding Park since the pros rarely play there. It’s interesting to watch them attack a different course, especially in a go-for-broke match-play event.

Match Play

Match play is so rare on the PGA Tour and other world tours that I find it fascinating to watch. I know that, unless it’s the Ryder Cup, match play is a ratings killer. But that’s not my problem. I enjoy it anyway. There’s a whole different vibe. And also a different kind of pressure, as everyone witnessed today on the 18th green.

Ryder Cup Lite

The Presidents Cup isn’t the Ryder Cup, and never will be. That’s fine. The atmosphere is not as intense; the players are loose. It is what it is. I actually like seeing the players display some emotion, smile more and be less robotic. It’s refreshing.

Congratulations to the following winners of our September course sweepstakes winners, who each received 500 WGT credits:

• Bali Hai Sweeps - jrcairtime
• Bethpage Sweeps - dasarge28
• Edgewood Sweeps - Harbourtown22
• Kiawah Sweeps - texasbal
• Wolf creek Sweeps - Gdiddylee

The Presidents Cup kicked off today right in WGT's hometown of San Francisco, California. The U.S. Team led by Fred Couples and the International Team led by Greg Norman will compete for ultimate bragging rights in this biennial event. We're excited that San Francisco is only the second U.S. city selected to host the event and the first location on the West Coast.

If any of you get a chance to catch the action at Harding Park, look for us on Saturday, Oct. 10 sporting our WGT gear!

Learn more:
http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/presidentscup
http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/special/presidentscup/hardingpark_coursetour

Congratulations to smitty44 and tibbets, winners of the September People v Pros Open! What’s in their bags?

smitty44:

• TaylorMade R9 TP 9.5° Driver
• TaylorMade Tour Burner 3 Fairway Wood
• TaylorMade Burner 3 Rescue 19° (Steel)
• TaylorMade Tour Burner Irons (Steel)
• TaylorMade Z Satin TP Pro 54° Wedge
• TaylorMade Z Satin TP Pro 60° Wedge
• TaylorMade Spider Putter
• WGT GI-D White Balls

tibbets:

• TaylorMade R9 TP Master 8.5° Driver
• Ping G10 Master 3 Fairway Wood 14°
• Ping G10 Master Irons (Steel)
• TaylorMade Z Satin TP Pro 54° Wedge
• TaylorMade Z Satin TP Pro 60° Wedge
• WGT Tour Starter Gold 60° Wedge
• Ping Redwood ZB Putter
• WGT GI-D White Balls