Note:  This contest has concluded and the winner has been announced.  Thanks to everyone for their participation.  This Friday, April 11th 2008, marks one year of Life in the Rough. It’s been an awesome year. More on that Friday, but you know what birthdays mean – that’s right – gifts! Since I like giving gifts more than getting them, it’s time for a giveaway. I have a dozen of the new Callaway Tour ix golf balls to give away to a Life in the Rough reader. I’ve been playing this ball for a short time and love it. Stay tuned for a review but in the meantime, I have a dozen for someone else to test drive (pun intended). Here’s what we’re going to do. This week brings something else that’s very dear to my heart. That’s right, The Masters. I can’t run a giveaway this week without tying it to The Masters. To enter, all you need to do is drop a comment into this post telling me your most memorable Masters moment. It

My putting isn’t in terrible shape, but trying new things is what I do. I’ve been working with the Pelz Putting Track (not as much as I should, though) and I notice that my takeaway is a little flaky. I see that on the course at times too. Previously, I’ve described my putting stroke as “loopy” where my natural tendency is to get the putter head outside the line on the way back. I’m starting to wonder if my right hand isn’t a little too active in the stroke. Of course, that all could be an excuse I’m using to talk myself into trying something new and interesting. I can’t seem to tune into a golf telecast without seeing some kind of unconventional putter or putting stroke. If “The Claw” works for Mark Calcavecchia, then why not me? Then, I flip open the April 2008 issue of Golf Digest and see an article called “Putting: Grip it Like the Pros” showing a handful of different putting grips that tour pros are using (including The Claw).

As winter winds down, I wanted to put a little attention into Life in the Rough, beyond my regular posts. I’ve been trying to make many subtle improvements that have been taking time away from doing posts, but don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. My primary concern is to reorganize the site in such a way that it becomes a better resource for golf information. I’d like new readers, regular readers, and people that come in from web searches to be able to easily find the things that interest them, while finding ways to simplify the organization of the site as a whole. That led me to add a “Best of Life in the Rough” section in the sidebar to the left. That section is a series of pages that brings forward the best posts that Life in the Rough has in its archives. There’s a required reading page, top posts by comment count page, my favorites posts page, and best series page. There are a couple of other sections coming up that are still

As I drove to work the other day, I was thinking about the Buick Invitational that was held last week at Torrey Pines. I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to play there. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had spent the rest of my drive pondering the top five courses in the world that I’d like to play. Now, this isn’t a list of the top five courses in the world. Just the ones at the top of my wish list. Starting with number five: Bandon Dunes – Bandon, Oregon I have a soft spot in my heart for courses with the old seaside links feel. Wind swept, sandy, natural vegetation, few trees, ocean views. Every time I see Bandon Dunes in a photograph, it screams at me to come and play. One major plus: no golf carts. Pine Valley Golf Club – Clementon, New Jersey Pine Valley has been ranked as the top course in the world many times. When it’s not number one, it’s

I just watched Tiger Woods victimize the field at the Buick Invitational. The most interesting point, which was brought up on the telecast during the fourth round, was that Tiger Woods dominated the event while hitting less than 50% of the fairways. At a little over 48% accuracy, that puts him at T162 on Tour in that stat. Yet, he still won big. I think the other telling stat is that he hit over 80% of the greens. That’s pretty amazing, considering he was in the rough half the time. He certainly putted well too, with an average of about 27 putts per round for the tournament. It’s kind of tough to apply this lesson to the rest of us, because we’re talking about the best player in the world. I think, however, that this shows us that missing fairways isn’t necessarily as penal as we might think. Scoring starts from 100 yards and in. Putting is the most important skill in the game. After that, short game (100 yards and in) puts us in