Nike recently unveiled a new line of foul weather golf gear designed to deliver superior waterproof and windproof protection combined with flexible breathability. According to Nike, the new HyperAdapt Storm-Fit Jacket, available in both Full-Zip and ½-Zip versions, and HyperAdapt Storm-Fit Pants offer golfers unsurpassed comfort, protection and mobility. These claims were immediately bolstered when Paul Casey, winless in over 2 years, claimed the Irish Open while wearing both the HyerAdapt Jacket and Pants during the 35 mph winds and heavy showers that plagued the event.   HyperAdapt is 100% waterproof, but it’s the flexibility that sets it apart from other rain gear. Nike began the design process from the inside out, testing and tweaking the technology along the way, utilizing comprehensive feedback derived through on-course testing from Nike athletes. "Inspired by our athletes who demand the best in performance, our team set to work to create a jacket built to change the way golfers feel in unfavorable weather conditions," said Merritt Richardson, Nike Golf Vice President of Global Golf Apparel. "We are always working to minimize distractions. From reducing sound to enhancing stretch, the HyperAdapt Storm-FIT Jacket is the ultimate in protection and performance."   HyperAdapt Storm-Fit fabric has sweater-like stretch, combined with an impenetrable outer layer, to deliver the best of both comfort and protection. Nike incorporated no-sew technology throughout to minimize chafing, and added a new stretch component to the fabric. Four-way stretch incorporated in the shoulders and arms creates maximum flexibility and eliminates restrictions during the swing. Nike also focused on creating a garment that is quiet during the swing and has the feel of a sweater, without sacrificing weather protection performance. The HyperAdapt Jacket and Pants are seam-sealed and have adjustable cuffs for a custom-like fit.   Get ready for Fall and Winter golf with the ultimate in comfort and weatherproof design. The HyperAdapt Storm-Fit Full-Zip Jacket, HyperAdapt Storm-Fit 1/2-Zip Jacket and HyperAdapt Storm-FitPants are now available at DGW.

The adjustable driver has been around for awhile, and every major manufacturer has embraced the technology, at least to some degree. TaylorMade has been committed to adjustable drivers and moveable weight technology since 2004, but the benefit of adjustability has been lost to a vast number of golfers who have no desire to delve into the complexities of tinkering with loft, lie, face angle and weighting. Taken to its extreme, adjustability for the average golfer may seem just a bit gimmicky. For those who haven’t embraced the adjustability craze, and just as importantly, for those who have, the new TaylorMade SLDR (“Slider”) Driver offers quick and easy adjustability that just about anyone can understand—and from which everyone can benefit.   The SLDR has a weight track running from the heel to the toe near the front of the sole that can be moved into one of 21 positions for more or less draw or fade bias. The beauty of the design is in its simplicity. Using the included torque wrench, you merely twist to unlock, slide the weight into the desired position, and twist to lock in place. It takes about 15 seconds, so you can tweak your settings on the range every time out, if that’s your desire, or you can simply set it and forget it. Either way, the slider weight makes it incredibly easy to adjust for right to left or left to right bias. Whether you do so to enhance your preferred ball flight, or to correct your errant tendencies, the SLDR is simple and intuitive.   The adjustments to weight are made with the same wrench used to adjust the loft. The SLDR features TM’s Loft Sleeve technology allowing 3 degrees of adjustment (1.5°+/-) to the four available stock lofts of 8, 9, 10.5 and 12 degrees. The club head is 460cc, which is larger than some tour models available in other drivers, but players might note that some 20 Tour pros have already bagged the SLDR in its first 2 weeks of availability.   The weight track is not really new. Mizuno offered a similar system years ago.  The difference, and it's a big one,  is that the Slider weight and track is placed forward in the sole, near the face. This is designed to deliver optimal CG. A low and forward CG promotes faster ball speeds, higher launch, more forgiveness and lower spin, all keys to adding distance to your tee ball. Moving the CG low and forward has the further effect of moving your sweet spot lower in the club face, which is more in line with where most golfers strike the ball.   As for aesthetics, the club head is a dark gray with minimal, subtle graphics and has a classic pear shape. It comes equipped with a stock Fujikura Speeder 57 shaft and is also available in a Women's SLDR and TP SLDR versions. Order yours today from DGW for delivery beginning August 9, 2013.

Heading into the US Open at Merion Golf Club there was talk that someone might shoot 62, breaking the 18 hole scoring record that has been in the books since 1973. It became obvious early in the tournament that no scoring records would be broken at this particular Open, but there was one record that was established. When Justin Rose tapped in for par on the 72nd hole for what would be a 2 stroke victory, he became the first golfer to win a Major championship while wearing spikeless golf shoes. He did so wearing a version of the Ashworth Cardiff Golf Shoe.   Golfers everywhere have embraced the spikeless golf shoe, and cleat-less shoes are turning up at Tour events on a regular basis, as well, despite the fact that golfers tend to hold tight to tradition. As club technology has proven, however, golfers don’t care one whit about tradition if they can gain a competitive edge. When it comes to our feet, that edge has to do with the comfort and performance afforded by a less rigid shoe. Thus, sales of spikeless shoes were up 136% in 2012 and estimates of their current use among all golfers ranges between 38% and 43%.   The spikeless shoe itself has undergone a technological transformation since CBS obligingly introduced the world to Ecco Golf Street casual golf shoes via repeated shots of the king of cool, Fred Couples, looking bored, indifferent, and in contention at the 2010 Masters. Today’s styles feature a variety of innovative design elements geared toward enhancing the natural motion of the foot, while also delivering the stability a golfer needs to swing with power and confidence. From the new sneaker-like Adidas adicross Tour Spikeless Golf Shoe to the classic-looking Ecco Men's Tour Hybrid GTX, there are styles and colors available for every taste.   Check out the Ashworth Cardiff and all our spikeless golf shoes at DGW today.

The USGA likes to say they set up the US Open venue to identify the very best player as our nation’s champion. And despite the fact that this isn’t always the case—see Michael Campbell--Justin Rose clearly fit that description for the Open just ended at Merion Golf Club. In the end, he struck the ball better and putted better than anyone else through 4 rounds on what appeared to be the hardest golf course on the planet. Particularly impressive were his clutch putting, including a 20 footer for birdie on 13 that tied him for the lead, and his long iron play on both 17 and 18. Of course, he had to hit fairways to hit good iron shots, and none was more impressive than the drive on 18, setting up the opportunity to rip a 4 iron dead at the hole, and effectively eliminating any legitimate drama from Phil Mickelson’s finish.   Rose used a full complement of TaylorMade equipment, including the new Lethal Golf Ball. Here’s his bag:   Driver: TaylorMade R1 Fairway Wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Tour Irons: TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour (3-6), Tour Preferred MB (7-PW) Wedges: TaylorMade ATV (52°, 56°, 60°) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Blade Ball: TaylorMade Lethal   Check out DGW today for all your TaylorMade equipment needs.    

The USGA and PGA of America initiated a new program last year and have carried it into 2012. Named “Tee it Forward,” this relatively new “program” is really no program at all. It’s common sense. And it requires virtually no math skills or imagination to implement. As the name suggests, the idea is to encourage most golfers to start playing a course that is more suited to the distances they actually hit the ball and the skill level they possess by teeing off from a set of tees forward from those they customarily use. The object is to shorten courses to a more realistic level of playability for the average golfer. The only hard thing about this idea is tossing aside your ego.     We all know the guys who insist on playing from the tips, no matter the slope or course rating. I know those guys. I used to be one of them. The Tee it Forward concept suggests that most of us have no business playing from the same set of tee blocks the pros play. The PGA and USGA tell us that playing a 7200 or 7300 yard course is equivalent to a professional playing from 8100 yards, or so. The pros don’t do that and neither should we. Most of us simply don’t hit the ball as far and certainly not as consistently as professionals.   Advances in technology have given those among us who played our youthful golf in the age of persimmon--Paleolithic Age, to be historically accurate--a nice ego boost by allowing us to hit the ball distances similar to those we achieved 30 years ago. Those same technological advances exponentially increase the distances that today’s young athletic golfers can move it.   Last year, while testing my drivers (yeah, that’s plural—as in 3) to see why none of them seemed to behave, I got on a swing monitor and was pleased to see that my swing speed was consistently at 110 mph. That’s not bad for a 52 year old chubby guy who’s main form of exercise involves taking out the garbage (those weekly reps are brutal). Dustin Johnson, acknowledged by his peers as one of the best athletes on Tour, generates club head speed of around 124 mph. So if, as they say, for each 1 mph increase in club head speed we generate an additional 3 yards off the tee, then DJ is hitting it 42 yards past me.   And that doesn’t take into consideration the fact that we amateurs are much less consistent with our ball striking (a 110 mph heel is just a reasonably quick bad drive) and that even on our good shots we don’t compress the ball as do the pros. Add to the speed mix the fact that our equipment is often not tailored to optimize launch angle and spin rate as it should be, and that 42 yards is more like 50-60…or more. Are you depressed yet? Well you shouldn’t be. There’s no reason to be bummed by the fact that we’re not as good, as strong, as flexible or as athletic as the professional golfers we try to emulate. Would you be shocked to learn that if I were good enough, and, you know, had access to the Fountain of Youth, I would be playing professional golf and not writing a blog?   No, the depressing thing is how we lie about our golf games. We lie to our spouses, who don’t care; we lie to our friends, who don’t believe us; and we lie to ourselves who then embrace those lies. For instance, I lied to you about my swing speed. While I did swing at 110 mph, I did not do so “consistently” as I claimed above. In fact, my swing speed varied between 105 on the low end to 112…alright 110 on the high end. And the crazy thing is that when I first wrote that, I didn’t even realize that I was stretching the truth. I simply remembered achieving 110 on a number of swings, so in my mind I had a 110 mph swing speed. The reality is that 110 was my max, so my real or effective driver swing speed is something less than 110. It’s not so much that I lied but more that I deluded myself, which leads to my point.   We delude ourselves about how far we hit the ball. If I were to play a round of golf with you today and you happened to catch one flush on, say, the 450 yard par 4 fifth hole leaving you with 160 to the green, you’d correctly calculate that to be a 290 yard drive. If someone were to then ask you later in the week how far you hit your driver, guess what you’d reply? You can’t lie to me. You know you’d tell them you hit your driver 290, even though that was the best drive you hit all day; even though it was down wind and the course was firm; and even though that was your longest drive on that hole all year. Why would you say this? Because you proved that you can hit it 290, so when we hear that question, we think of the optimal distance we can drive it, not our average drive, or even our reasonably good drive. We think in terms of how potentially long we are, not how consistently long.   It’s for this same reason that amateurs like us almost uniformly under club on our approach shots. “Let’s see, now. I have 145 to the middle pin. If I hit it solid, I can muscle an 8 iron, which I can hit 150 on occasion.” Never mind that the last occasion on which you hit an 8 iron 150 yards was during the Clinton impeachment, or that the last time you hit over a green was when you mistook your 6 for your 9 iron. No, no, no. You wouldn’t want to risk being long of the hole! You’d rather rely on perfection to get you close. Dumb. We all do it, or at least many of us do, and if you see yourself reflected in this description, then listen up. Can the ego and start playing smarter. That might begin with playing a course you can manage.   I’ve included a convenient chart that shows, in fairly specific terms, what length course we should be playing based on average driving distance. You will note that the highest average driving distance shown on the chart is 275 yards. There are two reasons for this. First, 275 is a very healthy driving average for an amateur, so that represents a fair outside limit at which to begin scaling back the course. Second, if you average over 275 off the tee, then you don’t need to move up. Go ahead and play the tips…and enjoy it while it lasts.   By the way, there’s no reason you have to play uniformly from the same set of tees. I’ve been going on a golf trip to Arizona with the same group of guys for the last 12 years. Everyone has a single digit handicap, so when we began years ago we played everywhere from the tips. As we got older, we discovered that we were stupid. 36 holes a day during which 420 yard par fours were the short ones just became too much. So we moved up one set on the par 4s, but continued to play par 3s and 5s from the tips. On some courses where the 3s were relentlessly long, we might move up a set on all or some by agreement. Everyone has more fun, particularly a certain chubby guy who suffers frequent bouts of driver yips.   So try moving up on some or all your holes. You’ll have more fun.     This chart is a guideline to help golfers align their average driving distance with the course length best suited to their abilities.   Driver Distance Recommended 18-Hole Yardages         275 6,700-6,900 250 6,200-6,400 225 5,800-6,000 200 5,200-5,400 175 4,400-4,600 150 3,500-3,700 125 2,800-3,000 100 2,100-2,300

The new 2012 PUMA is looking to grab a youthful generation. Discount Golf World is currently in the process of adding the new collection and it looks to be a promising year in fashion. PUMA has been working with The Wheat Group, a premier accessories design and development company based in San Diego, that is responsible for design development for PUMA bags, headwear, belts, and other accessories. The companies are working creatively together to generate several new styles, colors, and new technology. (Hint: The Women's collections are more so divided into a warm and cool color story but also gets some splashes of beautiful purple violet tops!) This is just a glimpse of how the "SportLifestyle" company will be positioning itself in a BIG way next year, especially with the 2012 Olympic games, like sponsoring Jamaica's favorite athlete - and well the world's fastest runner - Usain Bolt. PUMA is also stepping up its game with golf shoes and will continue to produce its own. Check out the new Cell Fusion 3 PRO with plenty of forefoot and heel flex grooves for stability and comfort wear on the course.

Are you playing Aldila, or just graphite? There is good reason why Aldila has led the golf shaft industry in the last year. It’s continually on the edge of design and innovative technology. As of last week, Aldila has won both wood and hybrid shaft manufacturer counts on the PGA Tour 26 times in the past 30 weeks. According to the Darrell Survey, Aldila had 17 more wood shafts and 5 more hybrid shaft than the next leading shaft manufacturer at the Reno-Tahoe Open, led by the RID’d NV golf shaft. Aldila has become the choice of many PGA professionals. Perhaps, thanks to Reverse Interlaminar Placement Technology™ (RIP). It transforms the shaft design from the inside out to maximize the high performance carbon fiber properties to lower torque and increase hoop stiffness for greater accuracy and shot control. Plus, its deadly accurate in driving distance. Most golfers that have tried Aldila will say how it changed their trajectory, redefined how a power swing should feel, and overall improves the game. Its great for those trying to create a higher launch angle or increase swing speed because they come a full range of shafts and weights for the strong hitters or average golfers. Aldila also won the hybrid shaft count at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and at the Cox Classic on the Nationwide Tour. At the end of major golf season, Aldila has 104 wins in the PGA Championship and the next closest competitors are at 91 and 79 for second and third places. So, you decide. But the Tour numbers help speak for themselves...Aldila is here to stay and engineer golf shaft technology for the best success in your game.

UPDATE It's official -- Tiger Woods announced that he is switching to the Nike Method Milled 001 Putter because of greens conditions at St. Andrews for the British Open tournament. According to Nike Golf tour field manager Rick Nichols, the Nike Method putter for TW matches the specifications of his old Scotty Cameron putter, with identical lie angle, a single alignment dot on the head and a blacked-out PING grip. The only difference in specs is a 1° less loft of 2.5°. The Nike Method 001 Putter was designed with Tiger's input two years ago, and has been a backup putter if the Scotty Cameron got damaged or wasn't suitable for course conditions. Check out the links below to learn more about the Nike Method Putters and how it can change your game for the better! ORIGINAL Is Tiger Woods switching putters? Photos from the practice rounds for the British Open at St. Andrews show Tiger Woods and his caddy Steve Williams putting with the Nike Method Milled 001 Classic Blade Putter. The putter is new for 2010, although rumors have Tiger Woods using a prototype for some practice rounds last year. The possible switch to Nike putters would be a major change from the currently listed putter by Scotty Cameron. What will Tiger Woods decide to use and wear for the British Open ? Could the Method Putter fix Tiger's putting woes? Keep reading to find out -- pictures included! Nike Method Milled 001 Classic Blade Putter The putter Tiger Woods is practicing with features cutting-edge technology and complements the other clubs by Nike. Nike R&D created the revolutionary putter with the help of Tiger Woods, much like the new clubs introduced over the last couple years. When asked about how he felt Tiger Woods said, "I went back to my fundamentals with my putting and my stroke feels good." Perhaps the switch to Nike is just what the doctor ordered. Here are some of the putter's features: Polymetal Groove Technology: The softer polymer groove gives way to a milled steel secondary groove, starting the ball on a controlled forward roll at impact. Putters with milled steel faces, or polymer-only inserts require up to 30% of the total putting distance to begin a stable forward roll. Multi-Material Face: The flowed-through low-durometer polymer material dampens impact vibrations for soft touch, while the interspersed milled steel face maintains audible feedback for proper distance control. Heel-Toe Weighting: The ported Polymetal Groove Technology allows 30 grams of internal weight to be excavated from the face and body and relocated to the perimeter for higher MOI and added stability. Golf Pride Grip: Incorporating the well-known feel from Golf Pride, the new Method putter grip is a classic pistol design for optimal control, and Eaton's latest material for fantastic feel. TW Branded Method Putter Spotted In Video Below you see two images, one a photo from the British Open practice rounds showing the alleged Method Putter. The second is the frame from an R&D (Nike calls "The Oven") video showing the TW logo on a Method Putter. Are we in for a change, Tiger?

You remember the 1987 R.E.M. song "It's the End of the World As We Know It"? Well for today's golfer, December 31, 2010, will be the end of the world as we know it in regards to wedges. What? Why? What are you talking about? I'm talking about the USGA decision to change the rule regarding the grooves on wedges. As of December 31, 2010, golf club manufacturers will no longer be able to produce wedges with large square grooves that most golfers have grown to love. The new grooves must be smaller and much shallower in comparison; about 30% smaller to be exact. Why is this happening? I suspect it is because the USGA feels that professional golfers are getting too good at getting good shots from out of the rough. The intent of the rule change is to place a premium on playing from the short-grass and making it harder to have precision, spin and control when hitting out of the rough. Their goal should be accomplished on the professional level as the majority of PGA professional golfers hit the fairway approximately 60-70% of the time, and with practice I am sure that percentage will go up from there. As for the rest of us, well that's another story. In my game, I feel a little strange when I actually do get to play from the fairway. I am typically in the rough off the tee and tend to stay there most of the hole. The problem for golfers like me (there are more of you out there I know it) is that the smaller grooves reduce the contact surface with the ball (I will explain more on that in a sec) which in turn reduces spin performance and predictability from out of the rough. So since a Tour player is on the fairway the majority of the time and most average golfers like me are not,  you can see this is a problem more so for me and you than it is for the PGA Tour. How does the rule change really affect the game of golf? For the 2010 PGA Tour season, all Tour players must already be playing wedges that conform to the new ruling. At the end of this year, all manufacturers must begin to produce only wedges that conform to the new ruling. By the year 2014, all USGA sanctioned amateur events will have to have the new ruling in place. And finally, by 2024, this rule change will affect all golfers everywhere; as any golfer who posts a score for handicap purposes will have to be using the new conforming wedges. Fortunately (or unfortunately some would say), most golfers today will never be a PGA professional golfer (except maybe in our minds and our locker-room bragging), nor will the majority of us ever actually try to qualify for the US Open (although I thought about it once, then I remembered that I live in the rough), so this rule change will not affect the game of the average weekend warrior for another 14 years. So if we have 14 years until the average golfer will be affected, why are we talking about it today? Well, in short, since manufacturers will no longer be able to produce wedges with current large grooves, you will no longer be able to buy wedges with the current large grooves. Therefore your golf game will be dramatically affected from here forward. All this fuss about grooves, what does it really matter? It matters because it greatly affects your game. With 70% or so of all golf shots played within 120 yards of the green, the wedges tend to be the most used clubs in your bag. And with a majority of those shots, at least for me, being played from the rough, it is important to have a good set of wedges. Wedges are typically used from the rough because a wedge has larger and deeper grooves to help clear debris from the contact point. In fact, how the grooves work is quite interesting. The grooves on a golf club are designed to channel moisture and debris away from the club face and improve friction on the golf ball (you can think of it in the same way that a tread on your car tire channels water for grip on the road). So as expected, the larger and deeper the groove on the wedge, the more debris that can be channeled away from the surface allowing more friction on contact. Friction on the golf ball is what gives more control, spin and predictability. So if the new grooves are going to be smaller, thus not clearing as much debris away from the contact surface, you can foresee the potential problems. With the new rule change going to smaller grooves and the fact that a lot of courses are starting to make the area around the greens longer and less manageable, most golfers will have a more difficult time setting themselves up for good putts. So here is the bottom line; if you like using wedges with the large square zip grooves, then you have approximately six (6) months to stock up enough wedges to get you through the next 14 years. And with the average avid golfer buying a new wedge every couple of months, that means a lot of wedges. But don't worry; wedges will still be around to buy next year, the new ones just won't have the same technology they use today. So hurry and act now, ‘cause once they're gone, they're gone. Look to the right for some of our most popular large groove wedges still available.

Tiger Woods returns to professional golf this week at The Masters tournament at Augusta National. While the airwaves and internet are buzzing with questions about who will be there and how the crowd will greet him, others want to know what he's going to wear. The good news -- we have his outfits! Tiger Woods will be wearing Nike and Tiger Woods branded clothes from head to toe, although his bag is rumored to have just the "TW" logo on the side. As expected Tiger Woods will be playing Nike golf clubs and Nike golf balls -- we have those, too! -- but exactly which ones remains to be seen. Keep reading to get the specific hats, shirts, pants, shoes, clubs and accessories that Tiger Woods will be using at The Masters. Tiger Woods Clothes and Clubs for The Masters 2010 The practice rounds have begun at Augusta National, with Tiger Woods up bright and early sizing up the course. His press release will be happening soon, so any last-minute updates or personal insights will be laid bare before tournament play officially begins this Thursday. Discount Golf World is a Nike Tiger Woods authorized dealer and has Tiger's hats, shirt, pants and shoes in-stock and ready to ship. We also carry the clubs, balls and accessories Tiger Woods uses. You could be wearing and playing the same stuff Tiger does this weekend! Thursday April 8 Outfit Hat: Nike TW Tiger Woods Tour FlexFit Cap 360762 Shirt: Nike TW Dri-FIT Multi-Open Stripe Polo 359363 Pants: Nike Flat Front Tech Pants 319685 Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW Tiger Woods 2010 Golf Shoes 379222 Friday April 9 Outfit Hat: Nike TW Tiger Woods Tour FlexFit Cap 360762 Shirt: Nike TW Dri-FIT UV Mini Diamond Texture Polo 359368 Pants: Nike Flat Front Tech Pants 319685 Shoes: Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW Tiger Woods 2010 Golf Shoes 379222  Saturday April 10 Outfit Hat: Nike Tour Swoosh Flex Cap 360756 Shirt: Nike TW Dr-FIT Texture Multipstripe Polo 359361 Pants: Nike Flat Front Tech Pants 319685 Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW Tiger Woods 2010 Golf Shoes 379222  Sunday April 11 Outfit Hat: Nike TW Tiger Woods Tour FlexFit Cap 360762 Shirt: Nike TW Dri-FIT Engineered Jacquard Polo 359360 Pants: Nike Flat Front Tech Pants 319685 Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW Tiger Woods 2010 Golf Shoes 379222 Of course Tiger Woods can change his mind, or Nike may decide they want to mix things up. So check back often to see if anything has changed. We'll make changes as soon as we get word. In the meantime, check out our huge selection of Nike golf apparel and equipment. We have thousands of choices, so putting together the ultimate golf outfit and gear package is easy with Discount Golf World. Nike Tiger Woods Collection Nike Tiger Woods Platinum Collection Nike Tiger Golf Balls Nike Tiger Woods Hats Nike Tiger Woods Golf Clubs Nike Golf Shirts Nike Golf Shoes