I have attached the photo below so you can see why I am completely jealous of her this week and think she truly does have the worlds best job sometimes:

Yes she is at the Masters this week, not only is she there but she gets to see all the action close up as you can see she is caddying this week as well.

Now having spent some of the week with Janet during the Andalucia Open two weeks ago I can tell you that being a caddy is not a glamorous position and that a great deal of it is standing around while your golfer practices before you have to carry their clubs around the course that you would rather be playing. It does however have other advantages as you will see from the photographs on Janet’s Caddie Travel website where she sells and promotes her photography from around the globe.

Thanks for making me jealous bloke stuck in rainy Spain this week Jan! )

So this has seen me off on a course to learn a little about video and how to point a camera, its still not perfect but it is much better than it was. I have also managed to get a few more demo days lined up which I will be attending with the camera by my side to ask as many questions as I possibly can.

Easter Sunday just around the corner and some important events coming up in the golfing world. To follow this that week we will be taking a spin around Club de Golf Aloha which will see the European Tour take to its fairways once more this year. We will be chatting with members who play the course week in and week out as well as some of the top players in the game and will be asking if it is possible to stop Tiger Woods this season.

So even though it has been a little quiet here at Online Golfer this month so far there is plenty to come and it is going to be a busy summer I can promise you that.

A slightly new approach this month as reviews will be looking at some of the more outrageous products on the market such as some of the strange putter designs that Nike have been producing.

I will also be interviewing some of the Caddy’s on the European tour, they are the ones that really know what is happening and we will be introducing a photo blog and possibly some videos shot from the inside of the tour. The best bit of all is that it would seem that the Caddy (who for now shall remain a secret) has the full support of the European Tour to do all of this.

On the subject of the European Tour, we will be heading up to the Marbella event at Club de Golf Aloha to give you a slightly different view this year, we are going to give you a video tour so you know what it is all about.

While we are at the event we will be bringing you updates direct from the course onto the blog as well as, all being well and video camera permitting, interviews with players. The event this year even though the entry list is still open should pull a very exciting field this year as the event is two weeks before The Masters at Augusta so all the major players will be using this event and that in Portugal the week after as a warm up.

We will also be introducing some guest writers and bringing you a whole bunch of new hints and tips. There is also news of a shop on the horizon with discounts and great deals. The aim is to really celebrate the month of our first birthday in style and we are looking forward to sharing all of this with you. Make sure you grab our RSS feed and keep up to date with what is going on.

Par: Each hole is given a number of shots that it should be completed in. This is where you get Par 3, Par 4 and Par 5 holes. The longer the hole the higher the Par score. For example if a hole is between 95 yards and 225 yards it is likely a par 3, up to about 460 yards is likely a par 4 and above is par 5. There are a few par 6 holes world wide but very few.

If you finish a hole in the said number of shots alloted for that hole then you would have finished the hole in par. Getting under par is explained below but where as in a number of cases the phrase under par is a bad thing, in golf it is actually a good thing!

Birdie: A birdie is where you finish any hole one shot below the par rating for that hole. So if you are on a par 4 and you only take 3 shots to get your ball in the hole then you have scored a birdie on that hole. Getting birdies helps you to get a score that is under par.

Eagle: As with a birdie this is an under par phrase but it is two shots under par. An Eagle is fairly rare among amateur golfers and on a par three it means you would have completed the hole in just one shot. Which brings me to the next phrase.

Hole in One: Fairly straight forward but a hole in one is where the ball is in the hole after just one shot. We showed Miguel Angel Jiminez at the Dubai Classic a few posts ago where his ball went straight into the hole on the par 3 seventh hole. It is a lot less common to score a hole in one on a par 4 but if you do then that is the next phrase.

Albatross: An albatross is basically a hole in one on a par 4 but the true definition is three under par on any hole. So if you get the ball into the hole in 2 shots on a par 5 this is also an Albatross. This is mainly a UK term and in America is known as a Double Eagle.

Bogey: No not the things that come out of your nose but when you go over the allotted par score for a hole you score a bogey for one shot over the par and double bogey for two shots over par.

Draw: This is used to describe the flight of the ball when it is moved from the right to left for right handers and left to right for the left handers. This term is used to describe the shot when the ball has been intentionally pushed out to the left of the target to “draw” it back on line.

Fade: This is pretty much the opposite of the draw where the ball is moved from left to right instead of the right to left (left handers please reverse). Again the shot should be intentional, a more severe fade is a slice and is not played intentionally.

GUR: Nothing as interesting as a tiger hiding in the bushes, GUR stands for Ground Under Repair and will be marked by stakes in the ground. Should your ball come to rest in the GUR area or rest up against it then you may take relief from the position.

OB: We all dread this one it stands for Out of Bounds. This will be marked by white stakes or a fence line. The ball is out of bounds when it is outside of the boundaries of the hole and should not be played.

There are thousands of phrases used in the game of golf, many of them completely unique to the game. Some to do with equipment, some to do with the course, the swing and basically any area of the game that can be broken down into an individual area.

An amazing hole in one not even touching the sides on its way into the hole and can you believe there wasn’t a hole in one prize available!

A short message for Justin Rose though who is the only one of the five names to watch of 2008. Come on Justin sort it out your letting the side down!

Well every sport has a Holy Grail and it has to be said it is very rare that one single sportsman or team can win absolutely everything in one season. So is Tiger the man that can do it and is this the season for it?

Back in December I mentioned Tiger Woods as one to watch for this year because of his sheer determination and ability to almost win at will (which I know he can’t but it does seem that way sometimes) I thought that this year would be the year he would shine through more than previous seasons. Looking at the competition those who could challenge for the number one spot? Phil Mickelson has been suffering with illness at the start of the year. Jim Furyk didn’t look to be firing on all cylinders to me.

Steve Stricker, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia could all grab a major this season but with Tiger Woods in obvious killer form at the moment is there a chance that Tiger could actually win the grand slam?

I did some hunting around on some identical clubs on one of the sites I use for preowned clubs and I will give you some links at the bottom of the post. The club I found that was identical was the Cleveland 460cc Launcher driver, which I will be reviewing in a few weeks time so just so you can see the difference in the adverts I am posting the BRAND NEW link first:

CLEVELAND Launcher Comp 460CC Cleveland Golf s Launcher 460 Comp Driver The new Cleveland Golf Launcher 460 Comp driver combines the benefits of lightweight carbon fiber composite with the strength of beta titanium to create the largest, hottest, longest, straightest and best looking Cleveland driver ever. The Launcher Comp driver is made with an ultra-lightweight tri-ply carbon fiber composite crown, which allows for the redistribution of 25 grams of weight to lower and deeper locations around the club head perimeter. This redistribution of mass reduces center of gravity (CG) height and moves it further away from the face to produce drives with high launch and low spin from a greater percentage of the clubface. Additional weighting to critical perimeter areas dramatically increases moment of inertia (MOI). The Launcher 460 Comp features an award winning 460cc head shape, which is currently the largest and best looking multi-material driver available on the market. The engineers at Cleveland Golf have analyzed and optimized the impact sound to be hotter than regular titanium and more solid than previous multi-material drivers. The Launcher 460 Comp precisely meets the USGA limits on head size and COR, so it is USGA legal for all tournament play. This 460cc multi-material driver combines the benefits of lightweight carbon fiber composite with the strength of beta titanium producing higher launch angles with reduced spin to give players of all levels added distance off the tee. Made with an ultra-lightweight tri-ply carbon fiber composite crown, this lightweight section allows for the redistribution of 25 grams of weight to lower and deeper locations around the clubhead perimeter, reducing the CG height and moving it further away from the face for high launch and low spin drives from a greater percentage of the clubface. The same mass distribution dramatically increases the MOI or the resistance to twisting on off-center hits. All in all, the 460 Comp turns out to be the largest, hottest, longest and straightest multi-material driver on the market. –>

The price for this nice brand new club is $299.99 which compared to some other drivers on the market isn’t that bad. However here is the not so attractive link for the Preowned golf club of exactly the same make and model:

CLEVELAND PREOWNED Cleveland 460cc Launcher w/ graphite – GOOD CONDITION PREOWNED Cleveland 460cc Launcher w/ graphite – GOOD CONDITION

Short and sweet, but the difference is in the price, $140 difference to be exact! The club is $159.99 second hand! Good condition normally means that you can see that it has been used but in most cases this just means the normal wear and tear that a club will get through a few rounds.

Now there are two PreOwned Golf Club suppliers that I use, the first is Golfsmith who have great offers most of the time and if you get in quick they have a 60% sale on as well as good deals on the preowned clubs as well.

The second is Callaway Golf Pre-Owned and Outlet, the fact that these guys put their clubs through a big checking process is only part of the service, they also offer a 100% money back guarantee and a one year warranty.

Preowend Golf Clubs are a really good way to get the clubs you want for a reduced price. Personally I am on the lookout for a few things at the moment all will be revealed over the next few weeks.

The first quote is from the movie Bagger Vance which started Will Smith and Matt Damon, in this scene Matt Damon’s character, Rannulph Junuh has just had one of the worse rounds of golf a paying crowd has ever seen and Will Smith as his Caddy Bagger Vance:

Rannulph Junuh: What were you doing out there? I could have killed you.
Bagger Vance: Nah, actually, I positioned myself right in front of you, ’cause from the way your swings were goin’, I figured that was the safest place.

One of my favorite movies that involves golf has to be CaddyShack and a conversation between Chevey Chase as Ty Webb and Ted Knight as Judge Smails:

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh, Judge, I don’t keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.

And finally a conversation that took place on the final hole at the Open between Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy (Kevin Costner) and his Caddy Romeo Posar (Cheech Marin) when there is a good chance by keeping his head McAvoy can win the Open as an amateur:

Roy ‘Tin Cup’ McAvoy: This is everything, ain’t it? This is the choice it comes down to — this is our immortality.
Romeo Posar: You don’t need to be thinking immortality — you need to be thinking hit the 7 iron!

Now I know this post isn’t completely golf related and I apologize but due to a previously mentioned stray ball I am having a rest day and will be posting more reviews and tips later this week.

Golf club loft effects the trajectory of the ball so if you want the ball to go a long way with an iron shot then you would select a 3 iron, or if you want the ball to be fairly accurate on the approach to the green you would select a higher numbered club like a 9 iron or a pitching wedge.

“Loft Definition: A measurement, in degrees, of the angle at which the face of the club lies relative to a perfectly vertical face. Technically, iron loft and wood loft are measured slightly differently, but the effective result is the same.”

Now each manufacturer has its own definition on what these angles should actually be and they are different on mens, womens and seniors clubs, meaning it is impossible for me to give you an exact figure on what a 3 irons loft would be but I have the details of my own irons which I have posted below:

Putters have a minimal loft but it is still slightly angled. Drivers also have minimal loft but it is more than the putter. The above figures could be taken as an average but there are a number of other things that must be taken into consideration, such as the size of the club head and the shaft itself, for example a steel shaft can be slightly different to a graphite shaft for the same club but the changes are very very minimal.

Now the above are based on a number of things, firstly the Pro yards are an average from the PGA and European Tour professionals, when you put the 2008 average into this the top 3 averages on the PGA Tour are currently between 325 and 335 yards meaning that technology and the overall game are increasing distances (and to add to this Tiger Woods hasn’t played in 2008 yet!) The Low Cap and High Cap players are based on time on the driving range watching closely how different players approach the game.

These are Golf Club Distances as an average and I know that people will be looking to get an exact science out of it but unfortunately it depends on a million different factors and is impossible to tell someone off the cuff how far they will hit their 3 wood. We hope it gives you a rough idea of what to expect from your clubs.