Not many shopping days until Christmas and we feel it is our seasonal duty to help those in need of ideas.
Christmas will be here in a few short weeks and we’ve put together some things for you ranging from inexpensive to very pricey, depending on your budget.
So let’s get to it.
NEW GRIPS: Check around and you’ll probably find that 90 percent of players out there are in need of new grips on their clubs. Nothing better than the feel of new grips. New grips make old clubs feel new again and make newer clubs feel even better.
It’s easy to “borrow” those clubs from the unsuspecting player and take them down to your nearest Golfsmith or Edwin Watts store where they will charge between $8 and $10 per club. If your lucky, you might even have a local golf repair shop that can take care of them for you. We’re all for supporting small business in America.
This is the ideal gift that will cost less than $150.
NEW SPIKES: This one’s a no-brainer. Grab the golf shoes, take them down to any golf shop and they’ll change them for you. Take it one step further and have them professionally shined. The golfer in your life will love it. Probably run less than $40.
USGA MEMBERSHIP: This is a very economical gift. It’s a no-brainer. Will cost you $10 and the USGA will send your golfer all sorts of nice gear, including a cap. The cap is worth more than the membership.
GIFT FROM THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP: Here’s your chance to go with an import from the Open Championship store. We love the coffee mugs but they’ve got a lot of cool gear to choose from. You can find a lot of good stuff and spend well under $100.
JACK NICKLAUS MEMORABILIA: Why not go with some cool autographed stuff from Jack Nicklaus, greatest player ever, winner of 18 major championships. You can find really neat photos and other Nicklaus stuff on memorabilia.com. If Jack isn’t your guy then you can find Arnold Palmer or whoever your favorite golfer might like on his wall.
THE GOLF BALL STAMP: Put your own customization on your golf balls. There’s a huge selection of images to choose from and this one ranges from $12-$90 depending on how elaborate you want to get. See it at myballstamp.com.
TRAINING AIDS: We love ’em, we want ’em. One of the longest-running training aids is the Medicus hinged driver. It made its debut back in 1988 but since then, the company has added a long line of game-improvement devices. You can check them out at the shop here at doglegnews.com.
GREAT GOLF BOOKS: You can’t get any more classic when it comes to books than Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals Of Golf. Three-time major champion Larry Nelson taught himself to play golf with this book.
If you want to read what the greatest has to say about learning then you can go with Jack Nicklaus’ Golf My Way. And Jack’s way was pretty successful. You can find them on the Golden Bear’s own website.
If you’re a big Tom Watson fan, he has goodies for you too, including his DVD series, Lessons Of A Lifetime and Tommy’s had a pretty good lifetime in golf and you can find them at TomWatson.com.
RANGE FINDERS: If your favorite golfer doesn’t own a range finder then this is a super gift. Bushnell is the gold standard and the Tour X is the mack daddy. Will cost a bit under $400 and you can find it in golf retail stores or online.
GOLF SIMULATOR TIME: If you live up north and the weather is getting nasty, you can retreat to a simulator. There are now bars that have them and there are some facilities dedicated to them. Buy your favorite golfer an hour or two at an indoor retreat. He or she will thank you for it!
Okay, that’s a great range of gifts but now it’s time for the ultimate, the budget buster but something that is way cool.
There’s a place like no other out in Oceanside, CA. It’s called the Titleist Performance Institute. There’s a lot going on there. Titleist tests its new equipment there. The professionals on their tour staff hang out there and can work with experts in exercise physiology, swing improvement, everything and anything to make them better. Here’s the cool part — a “civilian” can go there for the complete experience but it will cost you — as much as $10,000 — but there’s nothing like it. You also come out with a complete set of Titleist’s newest equipment, all custom fit as if you were a tour pro being tested and fitted.
If you can’t fork out the big bucks, you can find a local “affiliate” of the institute in your area on www.mytpi.com.
There you have it.
Something for everyone.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
