Ottawa Golf Blog

Starting July 6th and running til July 12th participating golf courses across Canada will be offering kids free golf. It's the 7th season that kids can golf free. The promotion is with participating courses developed by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada and includes one FREE round of golf to kids under the age of 16 when accompanied by a paying adult.

The National Golf Course Owners Association Canada wants to encourage families and juniors to take up the game of golf, this cross-Canada campaign is designed to illustrate how easy it is to improve both your score and your relationship with your children by bringing them out to the golf course.

In addition to the free golf, many courses will offer additional programs such as junior clinics, free range balls, free junior club rentals and parent/child tournaments. Kids play for free and can then enter a national contest to win fabulous prizes!

One of the local courses that I golf at the most during my season has extend the program of KIDS PLAY FREE for the entire month of July. Also KIDS PLAY FREE every Saturday and Sunday after 4 pm all season. Nice going Manderley On The Green.

Sounds like a great idea I know I'll be taking my kids out.

I finally sorted out my computer problems with a little help from the Internet, some tweaking of my system memory and a little luck. So I finally got around to editing a few more U.S. Open videos including the one below of Phil Mickelson being ever so human. It's shots like these that I like to see the pros hit on occasion because it kind of makes me feel good that a pro might hit a shot that I hit a least once a round. So thanks Phil!

For anyone tuning into today's coverage of the Open de France on the European Tour they'd be pleasantly surprised to have John Daly doing some commentary with Renton Laidlaw on today's third round. Daly chatted with Renton about various golfers swings, his injury to his rib (physio is going well should be back next week at the Scottish Open), the success of Loudmouth golf clothes, his weight loss -another 9 pounds (Daly was having a snack - cheeseburger during the commentary) and doing a shout out to his many Twitter fans. Loved his commentary and Daly definitely could have a job once he hangs up his clubs.

The thing that was great was he was going over his schedule and he mentioned next week's (Scottish Open) and the Open Championship at Turnberry. He mentioned he'll be in Canada after the Open. Great news! that they've extended him an invite. I'll be attending the Canadian Open this year so I'm excited to see Daly up close and personal. Will keep all you Daly fans updated.

Happy again this year to be attending the Canadian Open being played at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville July 20th-26th again for second straight year . Really pleased with the list of confirmed players the event organizers are putting together and have just recently released. Last year it was great to see Anthony Kim, Retief Goosen, Charley Hoffman up close at the tournament. Very cool that it was my first PGA Tour experience as well as a my first volunteering experience.

This year I'm not volunteering but will be taking in a few days, early in the week to get you the inside scoop from the Canadian Open. Here's a list of confirmed players (here's hoping not to many drop out the days) before the start of the tournament:

Sean O’Hair, Retief Goosen, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Brian Gay, Ricky Barnes, Steve Marino, Charley Hoffman, Dustin Johnson, J.B. Holmes, Jeff Quinney, Kevin Na, Scott Verplank, Billy Mayfair, Jerry Kelly, Todd Hamilton, Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen, Shaun Micheel, Bob Tway, John Rollins, Steve Flesch, Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Anthony Kim, Chez Reavie, Trevor Immelman, Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald, Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia.

I know my Canada Day was great hope yours was too. Spent time with the family at our local towns Canada Day festivities. Lots of games for the kids to do, a kid bike parade, good food, nice weather what more could you ask for. Hope you all had a good one whether it was with family or out on the links. Oh Canada!

Here's a shout out to our friend Chris over at TourSpecGolf.com for starting up GolfToImpress.com a site he just launched June 8th with a focus on golf news both from the Japanese and U.S. markets. He'll be also involved in equipment reviews, the inside scoop on new gear, equipment testing and more. Be sure to follow him on Twitter as you can expect some contests in the near future. A wealth of golf knowledge by Chris and his staff I know I'm impressed be sure to check out Golf To Impress today.

Puma Golf's 18-Hole Golf Checked Bermuda Shorts Review

Regardless of the weather here in Ottawa when I golf I like to wear shorts. So I was quite happy when Puma sent me some of their Check Bermuda Shorts to review. Here's the scoop on Puma Golf's 18-Hole Golf Checked Bermuda Shorts.



Features
These shorts I received form Puma were a Steel Gray but they also come in White/Angel Blue • White/Flame Orange. The fabric is a nice subtle plaid and goes with just about any style and color of polo including the white Invisibonding Polo I reviewed a few weeks ago and the soon to be review Flame Orange Pique polo.



The shorts have some nice little extras including a back right belt loop with the screened 18 Hole logo as well as the right side having an extra large wide belt loop for a glove if you wear one.
Here are some other features of the shorts:

• Flat front with zip fly and 18 Hole button close
• Front slash pockets
• Back patch pockets
• Embroidered PUMA on the lower left leg
• 10½" inseam

The shorts are extremely lightweight I don't no whether it's the 98% cotton/2% elastane fabric of the shorts or just the way Puma Golf makes their apparel but these are great for those hot and humid summer rounds. These shorts are not only for the golf course but are stylish enough to be worn just about anywhere.

Conclusion
I really like these shorts they are very stylish, go with most golf shirts I own as well as being very lightweight. About the only thing that I don't like about these shorts is after washing them they always seem to be rather wrinkly and they always need an iron. So if your not handy with a iron, buyer beware. Also they fit a bit big so you might have to go down a size for them to fit.



These retail for about $80 US and are available in even waist sizes: 30-40

It maybe wasn't the prettiest final rounds of a Major but Lucas Glover made the putts when he needed to and played some smart golf in closing with a final round 73 and a two stroke victory over Phil, Duval and Ricky Barnes. It made for some great TV as there was a motley bunch of diverse golfers in the hunt and at any given point golfers were in and out of contention.

A few guys came over and watched the final hours of the golf, it was easy for them to make up excuses. To get away from making wedding invitations, chores around the house and general work. Hell this was the U.S. Open and it was a Monday finish what more excuses do you need. Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Ricky Barnes made it exciting but Lucas Glover finished it off with the pressure of having never been in wining a Major before and looked steady right to the end. Glover now moves up the World Rankings from 71st to 18th. I had a feeling Glover might do well this week as he had good stats as far as Total Driving(#1) goes I felt the only thing that might hurt him was he has had no success be before at a U.S. Open. He proved to many he was worthy Monday, congrats.

Lucas Glover Wins 2009 US Open

On a crazy beautiful sunny Summer day when you should be out golfing, many golf fans were huddled around their TVs or laptop taking in the final day of the U.S. Open. Fans were hoping for some kind of crazy finish depending on who you were cheering for there were so many story lines none better than David Duval's. Former #1 golfer in the World down to #882 in the World and pretty much off the golf map for the last while. It was great to see him sink some clutch putts with the stroke ever so similar to when he was #1 and winning. A win eluded him but he can hold his head high as he is no longer #882 but #142 has a much better ring I'm certain.

David Duval's Final Round U.S. Open

What would we do if we didn't have Phil "The Thrill" Mickelson at the U.S. Open. He almost pulled off a beautiful comeback win but two bogeys down the stretch killed any of his chances and only netted him his 5th 2nd place finish at a U.S. Open. You know he wanted this one bad with all his family is going through right now but it wasn't meant to be even with all the N.Y. fans cheering him on at every hole. Enjoy the video of his final round at Bethpage Black we don't know when we'll see him next but we'll look forward to it.

Phil Mickelson Final Round 2009 US Open Bethpage Black

As much as it was disappointing that a Canadian didn't win the U.S. Open when it was looking so good for Mike Weir after rounds of 64 and 70. It was still exciting to watch and was better then watching those crazy infomericals on diet pills or Viagra during some lengthy rain delays we actually got to watch some exciting golf Monday and Weir was still in it most of the day. A few too many wayward shots and not getting those clutch shots he was getting the first few days really cost him. Closing with back to back 74s Weir had to settle for a T10, Stephen Ames also finished at the same. Not to bad considering there were only 4 Canadians in the field.

Mike Weir's Opening Round 64


The most impressive was amateur Nick Taylor coming up with the highest finish by an amateur this year at a tie for 36th.This kids got game and we'll definitely will be keeping an eye out for him in the future.

Nick Taylor 2nd Round 65 US Open

Thursday's round at the 2009 U.S. Open lasted all but 3 1/2 hours when the rain made the course unbearable to play. The 3 1/2 hrs was long enough according to the USGA to enact its no-refund policy. For fans shelling out between $100-$150 for tickets I say that stinks and obviously from a lot that is being written locally from the course many fans are incensed with obvious good reason. No golfer completed more than 11 holes, hell people only got to see Tiger for 6 holes.

A golf fan on a popular golf forum suggested they do what MLB does when round 1 is over, everyone must go through a checkpoint, and if you have round one-only tickets, your day is done. Seems like a reasonable solution could it actually be done probably not considering patrons are strewn all over the course but at least the USGA has to look at something like this because there will be many bitter fans. IN these tough economic times you don't want to alienate hardworking fans.

I guess I'll just watch coverage from my laptop on one of my many comfy patio furniture sets because at least if there's no coverage tomorrow I won't be out a lot of $$$$ and won't be bitter at the USGA's thoughtless policy.

PUMA Golf: PUMA Brigade Storms Bethpage!
PUMA Special Edition gear worn by the Puma Brigade following Ogilvy Wednesday at Bethpage Black. At least they had better weather!
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When I first saw the soon to be released 2009 U.S. Open Headcover I immediately said hey! that's like my GolfWRX Flying Tiger 08 Camouflage headcover. A great headcover put out by GolfWRX and one that's been my gamer for awhile now, my little guy was born in 2008 so I like the significance of that plus it damn cool looking. You see the similarities. I'm sure it will be a great seller for SC.

Inspired by World War II fighter planes, the silver headcover has the snarling teeth of a Spitfire, Cameron's Red Circle T logo on one side and a classic pinup girl on the other.

I'm always a little intrigued when I find a product online that looks worthy of some further investigating and maybe something to review as well. Scouring online for the latest and greatest out there for golfers can be daunting sometimes because you have to sift through a lot of companies as well as websites that may or may not have an interesting product. I was pleasantly surprised to find a golf product at AmazingProducts.tv , which features those popular As Seen On TV products. At first glance `The Floppy``seems so simple but would benefit most of us hackers that might struggle with our short game and the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

"The Floppy" is listed as one of the products you have to try at AmazingProducts.tv. Being featured in the New York Times definitely had this product legitimize for me. You have to figure a product might be worthy when it gets featured in the New York Times so here's what I found out at Amazing Products and probably why most golfers should have some of these in their bags.


Well this indoor practice ball will help you with your wedge game or at the very least get you a few swings in before you hit the course. A practice ball that feels just like the real thing and doesn't make huge holes in your gyprock. I know a few fellow golfers here in Canada would kill for these balls because of our short golf season. Can you imagine when you get the winter blahs right around January/February. Take out a "Floppy" and practice up on those wedges and short irons. Father' Day is right around the corner your Dad probably doesn't have one of these and you know he'd love the golf help AmazingProducts.tv might just have what your looking for. I know being a busy Dad, I'd love the extra practice time these "Floppy" balls could bring.

I definitely see a review down the line. I think I'll order mine soon, once I get my PayPal account built back up. Stay tuned.