WGT Golf News

By Josh Zander

They call it rough for a reason. It's not easy! You really have to put your thinking cap on when you find your ball in the rough. From a nice lie in the fairway, most golfers think about yardage to the green, the correct shot shape to approach the flag, wind conditions as well as numerous other variables. When you are in the rough, the lie dictates what you can do. Just because you are 150 yards from the green doesn't necessarily mean you can reach the green if the lie is down too much. 

Think of this as a chess move. You want to assess the situation and plan what you can do to improve your position for the next shot. As my coach said in college, don't try to be a hero. If you try to pull off a miracle shot, the most you can ever save is one stroke. If you don't succeed, it often costs you two or more shots. 

Most golfers have experienced the US Open lie where you just have to hack the ball out into the fairway. They have also experienced the lie when the ball is down a little bit limiting the distance they can advance the ball. The least understood of these shots is the flier lie. This is the one that looks like the ball is up on a tee. This ball will come out of the rough like a rocket. It flies farther, has less spin, and does not curve. This occurs because the moisture and grass promotes a slippery surface on the clubface that lessens the friction on the clubface. You will see even more flier lies on tour this year because of the new grooves. Again, there is less friction which means less spin. Flier lies can be great when you are trying to advance the ball as far as you can up the fairway but they become dangerous when you try to approach a green. Missing the green long tends to lead to high scores. My suggestion is to err towards the shorter club and if you miss the green short, you tend to have an uphill chip or pitch which is not that bad. 

Every golfer will hit it in the rough many times during a round. The one that is armed with he knowledge of what can be accomplished with each lie has a significant advantage. Unfortunately, driving ranges are not set up to allow golfers to practice these lies, hence golfers tend to really struggle out of the rough. Next time you get a chance to  play golf by yourself, throw some balls into the rough and experiment what you can do. With good decision making and experience the rough will become less...rough!

Here are the highlights from today's product release. While we make an effort to include all updates made to the product, please note that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted.

SkyCaddie Walks the Course with You

In partnership with SkyGolf, makers of SkyCaddie rangefinders, WGT has launched multiple distance markers and aerial camera views for drives and approach shots. Now when you click ZOOM, you will be able to see multiple yardage measurements around greens and bunkers and view the hole from several strategically placed camera angles. You will be able to turn this feature on and off in the game options menu. To celebrate the release of the new SkyCaddie SGX (coming in March 2010), be sure to enter the SkyCaddie SGX Challenge today for a chance to win one of five new SGX devices.

Please note, there will be tournaments in the future where this feature is not allowed and will be turned off.

New Avatars in the Pro Shop

More looks are now available in the pro shop--show your uniqueness and pick up a new avatar today!

Ball Purchase Improvements in the Pro Shop

We did some house-cleaning in the ball section of the Pro Shop, making it easier to find the one you're looking for. On the main golf balls and WGT brand pages, you will see the types of balls available. After you click on the type of ball, you will see a drop-down menu that lists the colors available and their cost.

When you click BUY NOW, you will be able to specify how many 3-pack sleeves you want. For example, if you want a dozen balls, you would enter a quanity of "4" to buy four sleeves of balls or 12 in total.

Ready-Go Tournament Improvements

• We shortened the time you have to complete a ready-go round after it fills up from 24 hours to 12 hours.
• When you view a ready-go tournament in the game menu, you will see the number of people signed up, how many have posted a score, and the estimated end date and time.
• Players that have withdrawn from a ready-go will post a "WD" on the leaderboard.
• When a ready-go is filled but not ended, we will now show you the number of players who still need to post a score and the estimated end date/time of the tournament.
• The payout table now includes payout amounts for all 30 places.

New Equipment in the Pro Shop - Available to Pro+

• TaylorMade Daytona Putter - A balanced and forgiving putter, in meter increments of 15, 30, 60, 90 and 150ft.

Bug Fixes

• You can now turn off emails from forum threads where you checked the "Email me replies to this post." checkbox. Simply go to any post you made in the thread, click Edit, uncheck the box, and save. You can also turn it off by not checking the checkbox when you reply in the thread.
• You should no longer get an error message when you submit an abuse report in the forums.
• You should no longer get a blue screen when going into extra holes in match play.
• The Match Play Mastery award should now be adding up correctly.
• The aim indicator should no longer disappear on certain reverse views.
• When you forfeit a tournament, you will now see a green checkmark next to the tournament, indicating that you have played.
• When a friend starts playing a tournament while you have a multiplayer/friend invititation slot open, an additional "Add Player" slot will not be created.
• Corrected an issue that prevented proper multi-player matchmaking
• When playing with three players in a multiplayer round, game should no longer hang after tee-off.
• The ball should no longer "splash" on certain greens.
• Hole info has been fixed for Bethpage hole #9.

Enjoy these great shots!

• Great save from the trees on Bethpage #1 by paulmcm
• Slam dunk on Bali Hai #1 by iwb1
• 66 ft putt on Bethpage #13 by YankeeJim
• Nice backspin into the hole on Bethpage #4 by AvatarLee

By Josh Zander

Now that it is winter, many of us are taking a break from golf for a while. Like many other golfers, just because I am not playing doesn't mean I am not thinking about it. One of the ideas you may want to consider is developing a "Go To" shot. Tour players often call this their stock shot. This is a shot shape that you know you can do produce on command. 

There are nine shots in golf. You can choose a straight ball, a draw, or a fade and then pick a low, medium or high version of each one. My "Go To" shot happens to be a medium draw. My scores improved significantly once I decided to stick to my "Go To" shot.  The only time I stray is when the situation on the golf course dictates something completely different. Nicklaus' "Go To" shot was a high fade. History shows that worked out pretty well for him. 

Why is a "Go To" shot so important? The answer is predictability. As a golf instructor, my students are always asking me how to be more consistent. A stock shot will help you plan and give you a good idea of where your shot is going to go. Think about your tee shot to a 40 yard wide fairway. Nicklaus would tee his ball up on the right side of the tee box and aim down the left hand side of the fairway. He could fade it up to 39 yards and still be in the fairway. If you tee it up in the middle of the tee box and try to hit it down the middle of the fairway without knowing how your ball is going to curve, you now have only half the fairway to work with. In other words, if you fade or hook your ball 21 yards, you have now missed the fairway.

Tour players have a stock shot and their goal is to never have their shot cross the target line. This means that a player like Zach Johnson who's "Go To" shot is a draw, always starts his ball right of the target line and draws the ball back to the target. His goal is to never start his ball left of his target line and never to hook his ball across the target line. When he accomplishes this, he will have a great ball-striking week. Remember, there are two shots that don't work in golf as a right-handed player, a hook that starts left and a slice that starts right! Get a "Go To" shot in your arsenal and you cannot help but be a better player. Spring will be here before you know it.

We've recently added some video tutorials to our YouTube channel, so check them out:

• How to play a match play game
• How to play a match play challenge game

We also updated the How to Play a Multiplayer Game tutorial to cover recent changes.

Enjoy!

By Ryan Ballengee

In today's Desert Sun, Larry Bohannan makes his case for why the Bob Hope Classic - going unsponsored for the second consecutive year - is worthy of an $8-10 million investment by a title sponsor.  He highlights the tradition, the crowd, the pro-am experience, and other goodies that made the event so great when everyone's favorite USO ambassador was calling the shots.

Now, though, the Hope is in possibly the worst place that a fledgling tournament can be on the PGA Tour schedule.  Not only is its date a huge problem, but so is the location.  As, too, does the pro-am component pose a huge problem.  In other words, everything that once made the Hope great, now weighs it down on the schedule.

The reason why Torrey Pines was able to secure a title sponsor almost a week away from the start of tournament week is because of the field it typically generates. Tiger would be there had he not crashed his car.  Phil is usually there.  For most of the elite on the PGA Tour, Torrey Pines kicks off the season because it is the first event on the US mainland.  Further, it is played on a major championship golf course. And it is in San Diego (German for "whale's vagina"), which rarely has poor weather.  And the players have no pro-am obligations during the competition.  Basically, everything about the event is attractive to players which results in a solid field every season.

The Hope is not so lucky anymore.  The rotation of courses in the desert has been in turmoil for the last several years.  Fortunately, the Classic Club is out of the rotation.  Most players found the course to be objectionable, particularly since the wind is very strong there during the January time frame.  It made the experience tougher for players who want a nice way to ease into the year.  It also made rounds even longer over the first four days because of having amateurs in each group.  Tour players already take five hours to get around with other pros.  Add in some amateurs and more than a fourth of the day could be consumed playing a round of golf.

More than that, the Hope lacks a real voice behind it.  It was great that Arnie Palmer stepped in last year to host as a favor to the event. Unfortunately, that came on the heels of the unceremonious booting of George Lopez from that job.  Like his late night show or not, but G.Lo would promote the hell out of the Hope were he still the host. Nightly, free press - even if the show is not all that funny? Way better than what they have now. God bless the very quotable Yogi Berra, '10 tournament host, but even his Aflac commercials are not on TV now.

The Hope also is trying to compete with what is arguably the strongest international draw of the European Tour's schedule.  Abu Dhabi has its turn this week to compete with Torrey, but is still losing that battle for the attention of global elite, though the tide is turning.  The Hope has the misfortune of battling against the Dubai Desert Classic next week.  Last season, it faced off against the Qatar Masters and had the biggest negative difference in Official World Golf Ranking points. The Qatar Masters offered 54 first place points to 32 at the Hope. Dubai will be worse.

In other words, why would anyone invest in the Hope?

The PGA Tour would have to destroy the tournament or its own business rules in order to increase its profile.  It would have to admit defeat to the European Tour, which it does not do. It would have to prohibit or limit players from using their three exemptions to play on other tours during the PGA Tour year. It would have to change the date of the Hope. They would have to abandon the pro-am format. Or some combination of those three. 

Before anyone could make the sale to a potential sponsor, the PGA Tour would have to make a tough sell to the Hope and itself.

Get in on our special promotion on Martin Luther King Day, January 18! Purchase $10 or more WGT credits on that day, and get a free sleeve of GI2-D golf balls. Great for players of any tier, GI2-D balls give you extra distance and the added benefit of a slower swing meter.

To purchase credits, click on the ACCOUNT button under your username on the upper left hand side of the screen, then click on the Buy Credits tab.

Use your WGT credits to upgrade equipment in the Pro Shop, enter premium tournaments, or challenge other players in match play games. With an ever-growing array of equipment in the Pro Shop and higher stakes in match play games, credits are the best way to get the most out of your WGT experience.

Please note, you must complete a deposit of $10 or more on January 18 between 12am and 11:59pm Pacific Time in order to qualify for the free sleeve of balls. Please allow up to 7 days for delivery to your account.

Did you know that when you invite your friends to play WGT, you can earn free bonuses? For each friend who registers, you get three golf balls, and for each who spends $10, you get 200 WGT credits.

Click here to start inviting your friends!

WGT credits can be used to upgrade equipment in the Pro Shop, enter premium tournaments, or challenge other players in match play games. With an ever-growing array of equipment in the Pro Shop and higher stakes in match play games, credits are the best way to get the most out of your WGT experience.

Our thoughts go out to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The best way to help is to send monetary donations, because the infrastructure is not yet in place to accept physical goods. To send a $10 donation to the American Red Cross relief efforts, text "Haiti" to 90999.

This week, we increased the limit on the number of entrants to the Weekly Multiround Open, and upped the payout to 10,000 credits! Now, up to 200 people can participate and have a shot at the larger credit pot. Good luck and have fun!