Buying Shaw-Nee Slopes

Today on the news, someone is asking the city to buy and operate Shaw-Nee Slopes golf course. This would be a sad day for VIP members as we get to play at Shaw-Nee for only $20 per round. With the city running the show, green fees will likely resemble that of Maple Ridge or McCall Lake at $38 per round. What is the alternative? Well, the reason why someone is asking the city in the first place is because a bunch of developers want to buy the land and convert it to a housing development. This rumor has been circulating around the members for a long time. I’ve heard it from at least three members that I regularly play with at Shaw-Nee. They said that if old man Shaw was still around, he would stand in the way and argue to keep the course. However, his daughters now own the course and they aren’t avid golfers. They would rather have money in the pockets, selling the land to developers instead of keeping old man Shaw’s legacy alive.

I think someone else should step up to the plate and buy the golf course. It is a nice layout and it is a pleasure to play. Too bad the current owners don’t play golf, otherwise they would see what a gem it is, especially within city limits. If I won the 6/49 on Saturday, I would buy it and keep VIP members coming for more.

Missing Golf?

I couldn’t help myself today but I had to stop by Golf Town, just to swing a club or putt a ball. I had the whole store to myself; the place was deserted.

Everything was on sale. All the drivers that were hot this summer were all reduced to clear. For example, the Callaway 460 Big Bertha driver and the Callaway X-Tour driver, both selling for under $140. And if new isn’t your bag then take a look at the annual demo event deals where all the demo clubs are clearing for as little as $100. There was a pretty scuffed up TaylorMade Burner with a stiff shaft and 10.5 degrees loft for $115. Or a Cleveland Hi-Bore XL driver with a regular flex and 65gram shaft for $100. Even the Nike Sumo SQ drivers were cheap. And there were used iron sets too.

After viewing the clubs, I cruised over to the travel bags where I was checking out the Explorer hard case for $139. Less than some of the soft travel bags, the Explorer looked like a good solution to providing adequate protection. Golf bags were on sale too. For about $100, you can get a new Callaway bag or TaylorMade bag but you would have to pay alittle more if you want the Sun Mountain 3.5 bag which is the lightest bag you can buy.

All the golf shoes were on sale too. I found my Bite shoe that I picked up at last weekend’s sample sale for $59 which is a pretty good price. The Bite AC Vibe shoe is light and keeps your feet cool and dry. It’s great for Phoenix, Las Vegas and Hawaii golf because of the heat.

If you miss the game, drop in to a golf store and take a swing at their simulator.

Vegas Golf only $59 pp

Saving money is the key to why you joined VIP Golf. But it’s too bad for us that our golf season is so short. Some of us pack our clubs away until next spring, take out the hockey equipment or skis and snowboards and take in winter activities. Others who dread the cold, do not ski nor play hockey, refuses to pack the clubs away. I’m the latter, hoping to find an airfare deal to head south for some winter golf. If you’re the same then we’re in the same boat together.

I’ve been shopping online lately for a deal to Vegas. I like checking the hotels first because in Vegas, you can pay exhuberant prices to stay at one of the resort hotels like Paris, Caesar’s, Bellagio and the new Palazzo. If money was no object, I would stay at the Wynn hotel and play on their backyard golf course but I’m not ready to trade my car in for a round of golf there. Choosing a hotel in Vegas next to a golf course or a number of courses is the way to go. One hotel comes to mind, the Suncoast Hotel and Casino located in Summerlin. The rates are reasonable year round but for Christmas week, it is exceptional. At only $49 per night, you can stay a week or two and still have money left over to pay for green fees. There are two courses nearby, the Badlands Golf Course and Angel Park Golf Course.

If you only have a weekend to spend here then check out the Suncoast Stay and Play package that starts at only $59 per person. It includes accomodations and a round of golf at either Badlands or Angel Park. Airfare is cheap during Christmas week from WestJet. If you fly out on Dec 22 and fly back by Dec 28, you can fly for as low as $119 each way. Or if you can take off earlier like Dec 16, you can get on for $99.

Winter Golf

It’s depressing when you drive by a golf course and see a tarp covering the greens. Hey, it means winter is here and golf courses are closed for the season. I was down in Palm Springs not too long ago and I talked to a resident Palm Springs starter. He had no clue about our Canadian courses shutting down for the winter. As much as we are curious about their overseeding, they are curious about how we protect the green from the snow and freeze.

If they don’t overseed their courses, the grass burns out. It’s like how our grass looks like in the early spring, yellow and brown and dried out. After they overseed a course, the grass comes back lush and green. The worst time to visit Palm Springs is in September through to November. If you are expecting lush green fairways then visit in January through August. If you don’t mind seeing the grass in its burned out colors then take advantage of the overseeding rates during late September to November timeframe. You can play some awesome courses for cheap, if you don’t mind the grass and deserted fairways.

If you can’t leave town but want to hit the links, get yourself a Wii and a Tiger Woods PGA Tour game. It’s like having a golf simulator in your living room. You can play courses like Pumpkin Ridge, Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass and many more with Tiger hitting 300 yards plus. Even when he duffs the ball, he still reaches the green in regulation.

Wii consoles are in stock in most stores around town such as HMV, EB Games, Superstore and Wal-Mart.

Somebody’s Trash is My Deal

It’s depressing trying to sell your used drivers, fairway woods and irons with a club exchange. The end result is to leave the clubs in my garage, next to the garden tools. Generally, golf equipment depreciates so fast that the only way to keep up its value is to trade it in after 2-3 seasons for a newer model or make. For guys, we usually trade in and trade up after 1-2 seasons at the most.

If you are ever down in the Los Angeles area, try to visit a Roger Dunn Golf Shop. There is one in the San Fernando valley, one in Tustin (Orange County). There are two in Palm Springs but they are relatively new and don’t carry enough used clubs. When you do visit a Roger Dunn shop, go to the back where the hitting mats are and you will find bins and bins of used clubs. Take a look at the drivers and you will find a great selection at 20-50% off retail prices. I like visiting these bins after our Canadian season ends to pick up last season’s drivers and woods that failed to work for golfers.

In the pile, I found a TaylorMade Burner 460cc for only $89. Recently there was a drop in price so a new one would cost you $129. Someone bought it, tried it out on the course and returned it. Now they’re clearing it for $89 and it comes with the headcover. Another sweet club I found was a Callaway FT-5 driver for $114. It had a few sky marks on top of the head, otherwise it was in good condition. I managed to get Roger to knock off another $10 off it because I was buying a few items. They are good at doing that.

I heard Golf Town had a demo sale last week. Did anyone walk away with a hot deal that compares with what I got? I like to hear from you if you did.

Driver Sounds Good

It’s funny how we depend upon the sound of a ball hitting the clubface. How many times have you turned away for a brief moment just to hear your partner hit his tee shot and hear the incredible sound of a good hit? By the time you say ‘good ball’, he turns to you and cursed that he lost his ball to the right.

The sound of a driver hitting a ball can make or break a sale. Take for example, the Callaway C4 driver. Callaway thought by putting a composite material into its driver head, players will be able to swing faster and get more distance. It was a sure bet for greater sales but they were wrong. Players all over North America who picked up the C4 could not get used to the sound at impact. It sounded like a baseball bat hitting a foul ball. 

Callaway went back to making clubs that sounds good off the tee. Their latest FT-i driver has a nice sounding solid ping to it when the sweet spot is hit. 

Try it now. Click on the Hireko link and check out the Acer Mantara XL Titanium driver. Click on the “Hear Sound” and listen. Does it sound solid? Does it sound sweet? That’s solely up to you. For me, it is the exact sound of a driver that gives me an average of 250 yards off the tee. Its design keeps my balls straight and true. When they say it’s forgiving, they aren’t kidding because the club hardly twists in your hands. Once you focus on its square head, you can’t mess up.

When I built my driver, I chose the Grafalloy Blue Pro Launch shaft that weighs 55 grams. My clubfitter wanted me to swing faster to generate higher clubhead speeds so he recommended a lighter shaft. My last driver had a shaft weight of 75 grams and even though 20 grams doesn’t seem like much, I gained 10 mph faster with a lighter shaft. With a clubhead speed of 85 mph, he wanted me to choose a stiff flex and a midsize grip. Once you have your fitting instructions, you can go out and build your own clubs. With Hireko or Gigagolf, I’ve experimented with the newest technologies and increased distance and accuracy off the tee.

More to Come this Winter

This weekend is pretty much the last weekend for golf. For VIP members, there are only a few courses for you to choose from. Woodside, Lakeside, Silverwing and Boulder Creek are the remaining courses that are still open but as of today, both Woodside and Lakeside had no slots. I presume there are no slots for Silverwing neither. So your own bet is Boulder Creek which I am playing tomorrow.

As your clubs sit in storage over the winter, be sure to check my blog every day because I’ll tell you about golf deals, new equipment, winter getaways, golf school and more. Then when the season starts again next year, you know I’ll be here too. I renewed my VIP membership and plan to play a lot more rounds next year.

For instance, I talked to Jeff Symons today. Jeff runs a golf school in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Monterey, Palm Springs and St. George in Utah. Jeff’s school is the most economical golf school around. Compared to John Jacobs or Dave Pelz, Jeff’s rates are very reasonable. Anyways, I asked Jeff about the Stack and Tilt technique that is going around the tour. Our own Canadian, Mike Weir practices this technique and so does other players on tour.

Jeff tells me that it’s a good technique but he feels you have to be a strong player before you can master it. That explains why Mike is still trying to get used to his new swing. Mike has a fitness center next to his house to bulk up those muscles over the winter months. Jeff prefers to teach more fundamental golf than a trend.

This Weekend Deals

This weekend is probably the last weekend for golf. Most VIP members have packed in their clubs for the season. Some die hards are still out there and if you’re one of them, good for you. The remaining courses that are still open include Woodside, Lakeside, SilverWing and Boulder Creek. As for Saturday, Woodside and Lakeside are sold out in terms of VIP slots. There are tee times available at either course but you’ll have to pay full price. No slots available for Silverwing neither but at Boulder Creek, there are lots of tee times and some slots too.

If you are in the market for new clubs, I need to let you in on a secret. Check out uPay2much and click on the ‘Custom Clubs’ link. Read the review of a square driver named GX Square Ti. I have been eye’ing the Callaway FT-i driver for a long time and still can’t get myself to drop $400 for it. I don’t like the sound of the Nike Sumo SQ driver nor the price. Then there’s Nickent and a whole slew of square clone drivers too, but when I try them out, they are lousy and flimsy. They don’t have a solid feel to them.

In comes the GX Square Ti driver, this club rocks! Take your profile and custom order a club. I took my fitting specs from a Callaway fitting session and ordered myself a GX Square Ti driver with a Stiff flex, a 65g UST Proforce shaft, a Winn V17-AVS soft midsize grip and Men’s standard 0″ or 45″ length for $108.90. You can use my specs if your clubhead speed is between 85 to 90 mph and wear ML gloves.

Don’t be surprised with the prices on this website. I was tempted to get new irons, wedges and a putter too. And if you exceed $150, you get it all shipped for free.

Callaway Performance Fitting

Some of you are lucky to receive a 2-for-1 fitting experience with Callaway. If you haven’t book your appointment, you should. The performance center in Calgary is located down in the Deerfoot industrial area and it is fully equipped to measure the parameters that gives you your optimum swing. If you don’t end up buying Callaway clubs, at least you get a free cap and a sleeve of balls.

Through a fitting, you get your recommended shaft flex and grip size. You will get other fitting instructions too but with these numbers, you can go ahead and order custom clubs on the internet. If it’s new irons that you are looking for, the lowest price online is about $15 each club. Street price for custom-fitted irons is about $100 each club. Lowest price online for drivers is $120 and street price for a fitted driver is $400. Take your pick. And note that, even the local club builders cannot offer name brand clubs.

Getting fitted is one of the best things you can do for your game. The only disadvantage of having custom fitted clubs is resale. It will be difficult to sell these clubs when you disclose full details that they are fitted to your height, clubhead speed and wrist-to-floor measurements.

Golf Caps – How many do you need?

How many caps do you need? If you’re like most golfers, you have at least a dozen hats. I know for one, I have over 24 caps and is still counting. Every time I see a cap and try it on, I buy it. To organize all my caps, I like the CapRack that pins on the back of a door and lets you hang up your caps. It has room for 48 caps but now, I’m only half way.

I see that GolfBalls.com has a tour cap sale. Not all caps are made the same so that’s why they range in price. The most inexpensive caps you can buy are the simple ones with just the logo on the front. TaylorMade basic caps are known as structured fit caps and sell for $8.95. Maxfli tries to keep the price up with its FlexFit for $22.95. Adidas has their three striped caps for $17.95. Callaway’s most basic cap is the Crunch cap at $10.95. For hot weather golf, I like the half mesh types that keeps my head cool. Look for Callaway’s Tour Mesh Adjustables for $19.95 or Cleveland’s mesh caps also for $19.95. Or be like Fred Couples and wear a visor. Maxfli has authentic tour visors for $19.95.

Military players or golfers who play army golf (hit left, hit right) would be interested in Cleveland’s CAMO hat for $19.95. When I play Strathmore and my ball ends up in the tall fescule, I should be wearing a camouflage hat but I don’t want to be mistaken for a duck hunter. Truckers who want to feel at home on the golf course would be interested in Odyssey’s Trucker Hat for $13.95 or Adam’s Trucker caps for $11.95. Big spenders should go for the Tiger Woods or Nike FlexFit SQ caps for $24.95.

And if you checkout with coupon SHIPFORFREE, you will get free domestic shipping for your order over $75. It’s either that or go to upay2much site and get the $10 coupon to save off your first purchase.