Srixon Golf might be one of the major golf manufacturers that could be construed as somewhat underrated. Unless you’re a knowledgeable golfer with all of the golf equipment resources out there, Srixon golf balls may not be the first golf ball that you think to try. Sure, you see them on the shelves in your local shop, but, instead of trying them you pass them by for a box of “Pro V’s” or something instead. Oh, how market share and tour exposure sells golf balls.
The Q Star Tour is no newcomer to the golf ball market, as it is a golf ball that has been around for a few generations now. The Q Star Tour is a multi-layer golf ball that I’ve tested and reviewed in the past and it is a golf ball that I would not hesitate to put into competitive play. The Q Star Tour features several of the same features as Srixon’s tour-level golf ball (Z Star and Z Star XV) but is ultimately for those golfers that want a softer feeling pro-level golf ball. It’s price point is in that mid-high price point. Each dozen costs $44.99 CAD or $32.99 USD.
The Q Star Tour DIVIDE is the same golf ball but with a different “spin” if you will. This is a golf ball that allows you to see how your golf ball spins and makes the lining up of putts seem pretty… seamless. While the “standard version” of the Q Star Tour features a urethane cover featuring it’s patented “SpinSkin” technology which provides extra friction culminating in more spin. DIVIDE features a 50/50 matte thermoplastic urethane cover that has not been painted (in a similar manner that we’ve seen with Wilson’s Staff Model golf balls). The cover however, is manufactured with bright pigments that according to Srixon Golf will not scratch or tear.
The blue and yellow Q Star DIVIDE. Highly visible.
In the video below, I offer my first thoughts on the Q Star Tour DIVIDE from Srixon Golf. Stay tuned for more information on my testing of the Q Star Tour DIVIDE. There’s more work to be done with a focus on comparing the DIVIDE to the “conventional Q Star Tour”. The video highlights my concerns.
The conditions were windy on the date that I played and tested them. I apologize for any wind that made listening tough.
–Hailey Rae Ostrom adds to a diverse, reputable, and inclusive Blue Tees Golf Ambassador team-
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – July 22, 2021 – Blue Tees Golf, a rapidly growing producer of golf rangefinders and accessories, has developed a dynamic ambassador program and at the cornerstone of the team is professional golfer, and competitor from the Golf Channel’s “Shotmakers,” Hailey Rae Ostrom.
“It is a privilege to ‘officially’ welcome Hailey to the Blue Tees Golf ambassador team. She personifies the brand with her drive, passion, and commitment to contribute. As an early supporter of the brand, she produced and posted several Blue Tees Golf video reviews as well as multiple postings on her social platforms. We thank her for her ongoing support and look forward to involving her with some upcoming new products,” said Drew Koehler, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development of Blue Tees Golf.
Ostrom is a former D3 All-American golfer from George Fox University where she captured four collegiate events. Her post collegiate career includes being casted in The Golf Channel’s “Shotmakers” which chronicles nine teams in a head-to-head competition. Ostrom and her playing partner contested former PGA TOUR Professionals, mini-tour professionals, and an Olympian. The duo fought hard and made it to the semi-finals. This exposure helped her to gain notoriety, sponsorships, and solidified her pursuit of a career on the LPGA TOUR.
In preparation for the LPGA TOUR and Q-School, Ostrom moved to Scottsdale, AZ and plays on the Cactus Mini-TOUR. In 2018, she received conditional status to play on the Symetra TOUR. She continues to compete in LPGA TOUR qualifiers and plans to attend Q-School in August. The Blue Tees Golf Ambassador team includes: Hailey Ostrom, Katie Kearney, Kaira Martin, George Gankas, Brice Butler, Bryan Bros Golf, Hole in 1 Trick Shots, PGA Memes, DJ Lantz
About Blue Tees Golf
Blue Tees Golf is different than traditional brands. By utilizing a consumer first strategy and their industrial design expertise, they can cut out complex operations to create high-quality, high-performance golf products at a fraction of the price of the competition. All Blue Tees Golf products come with a 60-day money back satisfaction guarantee, and a 2-year manufacturer’s warranty. The Blue Tees Golf motto, “Save your money & have fun when you play more rounds with Blue Tees Golf on your bag. For more information, visit www.blueteesgolf.com.
Sagebrush Golf Club announces soft opening for 2021 with new ownership and leadership team offering an immersive, boutique golf experience
Quilchena, BC/July 21, 2021—Sagebrush Golf Club, one of the most celebrated modern golf courses to open in Canada in the last 25 years, has new ownership, an industry-leading management team, and is accepting golfers for its soft opening this summer and fall.
Sagebrush, designed by the team of former PGA Tour winner Richard Zokol, agronomist Armen Suny, and Cabot Links designer Rod Whitman, was previously in the Top 10 in Canada on SCOREGolf’s Top 100 list, and was voted Best New Course in the country by Golf Digest in 2009. A small group of local investors, headed by Andrew Knott, hired Mark Strong as the club’s General Manager earlier this year, appointed Randy Smith as Head Professional, and are reinvesting millions into the award-winning course. It is the start of a renaissance for what is considered British Columbia’s best public-access golf facility.
The course, which has a new website (www.sagebrushgolfclub.com), is now accepting reservation requests for an August soft opening as the club reinvests and builds out its amenities. This is a beta test phase for the club, as it works to finalize its amenities and understand what golfers want from the world-class facility. In keeping with offering Sagebrush as an opportunity to escape with friends and disconnect while playing a world-class course, the facility will offer a day rate that will include your round, on-course lunch, refreshments, a chance to fly-fish, and if you’re up for it—even more great golf.
“We’re thrilled to be able to put Sagebrush back on the path Richard Zokol envisioned for the course when he designed it,” said ownership’s Andrew Knott. “With a great leadership team, along with investing in a clubhouse and on-site accommodations, we will offer an experience that is entirely unique to public golf in Canada.”
Designed to offer a bold vision of golf with grand vistas and intriguing shot options mix, Sagebrush was regarded as one of the best courses in Canada immediately upon opening in 2009. Ownership challenges kept the course closed in recent years, but the new group, working with Superintendent Neil Pilon, are returning Sagebrush to its former glory. The reinvestment will continue in coming years, including the development of a new clubhouse and resort area, and real estate offerings that will seamlessly blend the majestic property with its incredible elevated views of the Nicola Valley.
“Golfers have anxiously awaited the return of Sagebrush for several years now,” said General Manager Mark Strong. “As a proud member of the team, but even more so as a golfer myself, I’m incredibly thrilled to get players back onto such an unforgettable course. We have no doubt that those who join us will have a memorable time—golfers will replay the experiences of Sagebrush in their memories. It really is a special place.”
For more information: Mark Strong, General Manager Sagebrush Golf Club mark@sagebrushgolfclub.com
About Sagebrush Golf Club
Established in 2009, Sagebrush Golf Club has long been regarded as one of the best modern golf designs in Canada, with Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Lorne Rubenstein saying the course “reaches into, explores, and touches golf’s soul.” Now under new ownership and management, Sagebrush is proud to offer public play, and will launch a limited real estate offering for those seeking something entirely unique on a remarkable property.
Speaking for myself, I thought that this Open Championship was fantastic. Sure, the weather in Sandwich, Kent was pretty benign. The wind was nearly non-existent whilst bordering on a gentle spring zephyr and rain? Well, there was no precipitation to be found anywhere during the week. Two key factors that protect these Open Championship links courses. Sure, there’s the fescue and/or gorse too.
Friday’s cut line saw a few notable names not make the cut. Guys like 2021 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Lucas Glover who had just won on the PGA TOUR the week before, Jason Day, “The Patrick’s” (Reed and Cantlay), former Champion Golfer of the Year Stewart Cink who himself has played great golf in 2021 and countless others.
The next stop for Canadian golfer Mackenzie Hughes, with his caddy in Sunday’s final round of the Open Championship, will be the Tokyo Olympics.
If you’ll allow me to do a little pre-Olympics flag-waving for a second, a couple of fellow “Canucks” fared very well. Mackenzie Hughes (T-6th) had the highest finish ever in Canadian golf history as it relates to the Open Championship. Corey Conners played well over the week too, even though he did falter a little bit out of the gate on Sunday. He would gather himself, but, towards the end he slowly fizzled out finishing in a tie for 15th. Slowly but surely the developmental program of Golf Canada and their provincial golf associations are reaping the rewards. The Canadian contingent on the worldwide tours is growing and there are so many great golfers in the pipeline. Taylor Pendrith finished 11th in the alternate field event (Barbasol Championship), and Adam Svensson tied for 18th on the Korn Ferry Tour this week. The “Maple Leaf Invasion” is real folks (I’ll leave the Canadian women for a future article).
With Collin Morikawa being crowned the Champion Golfer of the Year, it signals the end of Major season in men’s professional golf. This is the first major tournament since before the pandemic that felt “right”. Then again, links golf will always give you that feeling of purity. The crowds were there, astute golf fans, and the void of any stupid comments from drunkards in attendance was quite refreshing. The weather was so good that it sucked but in the end it resulted in some very good golf being played. While “The Open” may not have had a 50-year-old winning, nor did it have a Matsuyama-like type of history attached to it, or did it have the drama of the U.S. Open this tournament was fun to watch. The leaderboard was pretty good too. Defending Champion Golfer of the Year Shane Lowry acquitted himself very well, Louie Oosthuizen was great nearly all week, Jordan Spieth what can you say about the “Comeback Player of the Year”?
US golfer Collin Morikawa puts on the 11th green during his final round on day 4 of The 149th British Open Golf Championship at Royal St George’s, Sandwich in south-east England on July 18, 2021. – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Collin Morikawa, the affable American, is a professional golfer that’s hard to not like. Impossible? Maybe something will come up eventually that will shed a negative light on him. Maybe, it’ll turn out that he doesn’t like puppies. Wait, nope that isn’t it! That won’t happen because during the pandemic he and his girlfriend were taking in dogs and fostering them. Whenever he appears and speaks on camera he carries himself well beyond his years, to the point where I find myself smiling and enjoying what he has to say. Even when he’s breaking a trophy he’s likable. In a way, he reminds me of a younger – previously aforementioned – Jordan Spieth, the, again, he himself is only 27 years old. Although, it sure feels like he’s been around for much longer. In saying this, Morikawa just might be THE new “Golden Child” which is very much a compliment.
Watching the tournament from Friday on, you had the feeling that it was going to go down just like it did with Morikawa winning. At one point on Sunday, I thought that it was over by his 11th hole, even though Spieth did put some pressure on him. But the clutch putt that Morikawa made to send him to -15 was enough to convince me that he was winning The Open. Out of all of the golfers in men’s professional golf I look at three swings that I just admire. The first is Oosthuizen, the second is Morikawa’s, and lastly is Corey Conners’.
At age 24, Morikawa is just getting started in his journey. A product of the University of California at Berkeley, Morikawa came out of college and immediately signed with TaylorMade Golf and he loves their equipment. In the short time that he’s been playing on the PGA TOUR he’s been as close to a “cut machine” as you can get. Collin Morikawa has come exactly as advertised and isn’t a bad face for sponsors to get a hold of either. With this victory he claims his first Claret Jug, already has a Wanamaker Trophy (PGA Championship) and with it he has half of the “Career Grand Slam”. He definitely has the game to win a Green Jacket and the U.S. Open. So, who knows how long it will be for him to get the “‘Kawa-Slam”? What Morikawa is doing is historic and beyond impressive. Two Major championship trophies in just under a calendar year. So, exactly how high is Morikawa’s ceiling?
The answer to that last question remains to be seen. As long as he doesn’t go chasing distance, Collin isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Between his ball-striking, driving accuracy, accuracy into the green (2nd in GIR 71.85%) his deft touch around the green when he does miss, and his ability to make clutch putts it’d be easy to suggest that his ceiling is extremely high. It goes to show you that with the right tools you don’t need to drive the ball a long way to win. His paltry 294.3 yards per drive is good enough for 116th in driving distance.
SANDWICH, ENGLAND – JULY 16: Collin Morikawa plays his shot (swing sequence 2 of 9) from the 16th tee during Day Two of the 149th The Open Championship at Royal St. Georges Golf Club on July 16, 2021 in Sandwich, England. (Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Collin Morikawa is your Champion Golfer of the Year for 2021. Congratulations Collin. Not bad for a first time appearance in The Open.
On his Open Championship debut, world no. 4 Collin Morikawa collects his second major at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, England.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (July 18, 2021) – In his very first Open Championship, Team TaylorMade’s Collin Morikawa lifted the Claret Jug to become the Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal St. Georges with a final score of 265 (-15 with rounds of 67-64-68-66).
Collin made a significant change to his iron set up this week following his first links experience the week prior at the Scottish Open and it clearly paid off. Working with TaylorMade’s Adrian Rietveld, Collin was looking to improve his center strike on his mid and short irons on the firmer and tighter links turf.
As the question came through to me from Collin, I just told him I needed to think about it. He’s just that type of guy that nothing is going to change unless there’s an out-and-out reason to change, and he just felt as if he was mis-hitting his irons. But he couldn’t understand why.Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Sports Marketing Rep
Prior to this week, Collin had a P series combo set consisting of P770 4 iron, P7MC 5-6 and then P730 7-PW. After some discussion and watching Collin go through his warm up routine, Rietveld noticed the issue could be in the transition from his 6 iron (P7MC) to his 7 iron (P730) due to the different sole geometry of the two models.
It was interesting, as he was warming up, the sound off the P730 was not Collin-like. It’s unique to say this, but it was just fractionally different to what I’m used to hearing. Then he goes into the P7MC and you can hear the strike come back.Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Sports Marketing Rep
I changed my irons, my 9 through 7 iron that I normally have blades in. I changed to the P7MCs strictly because I couldn’t find the center of the face. I was hitting these iron shots last week at the Scottish Open that I just normally don’t and my swing felt good, but it was a huge learning opportunity.Collin Morikawa
Let’s say a 7-iron spins at 7,000 RPMs and launches at 14 to 15 degrees, then when he hits the draw, which is a slightly lower window, he’d probably spin the P7MC about 6,600 RPMs. But with the P730, he was at 6,200 to 6,300 RPMs, which was too hot in the air. The spin in the P7MC was aiding his distance control. That’s something he really needs to know.Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Sports Marketing Rep
Another significant change that Morikawa made on the eve of the Open Championship was adding weight to his TP Juno. Playing on the PGA TOUR’s faster greens all year, when Collin arrived at the Scottish Open the week before, he struggled to get the ball to the hole on the slower links greens.
Again, working with Adrian Rietveld, Collin switched the weights in his TP Juno from 2.5 gram heel and toe (5 gram total), to the heavier 7.5 gram heel and toe weights adding a combined 10 grams total.
It’s a learning process. And the greens, they’re slow. That’s it. They’re slow and you got to figure out how to putt. I feel like my putting stroke has been good. Just had to figure out speed, and I was able to hit some good putts with speed today. Really happy playing out here. It’s fun. It’s a learning experience, but I hope to figure it out shortly.Collin Morikawa
