Ping's new i240 irons, Callaway updated X Forged, and Prime Day deals on lasers
Typically, when the Dog Days of summer hit the United States, golf equipment companies slow down their releases and start concentrating on the following year. Sure, we see driving irons -- like the just-released Ping iDi -- made available because clubs like that are handy at the British Open and on links courses, but this has been an especially busy summer.
Last week, Callaway released its cavity-back CB12 wedges for golfers who struggle with chipping, pitching, and bunker players, and on Monday, the company made its newest better-player's cavity-back iron, the X Forged, available too. On Tuesday, Ping not only released the iDi driving irons but also the new i240 irons, another cavity-back designed for better players that will be popular with elite ball strikers, tour pros, and competitive amateurs. And while I'm not at liberty to give you specifics right now, let's just say there's a lot more to come this week and next week in the golf equipment world.
This week, golf lovers and bargain hunters will take advantage of Amazon Prime Day to grab items like balls, tees, apparel, and laser rangefinders at heavily discounted prices. But when is the best time to buy golf clubs?
While prices often decrease slightly in November and December, allowing shops to clear their inventories and make room for the following year's models, with new gear from major brands now being released throughout the year, traditional buying patterns may start shifting. Time will tell, but one thing is for sure: equipment companies are not slowing down and the combination of limited-edition gear and mid-season releases is making for a hot season for equipment junkies.
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Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Padraig Harrington wins Senior British Open for his second senior major title this year
Associated Press BERKSHIRE, England (AP) — Padraig Harrington was so focused on his game that he didn't notice a leaderboard or see Rory McIlroy walking in the gallery Sunday at the Senior British Open. He closed with a 3-under 67 to win his second senior major of the year. Staked to a two-shot lead, Harrington made eagle on the first hole on the Old Course at Sunningdale and no one got closer than two shots the rest of the way as he became the fifth player with a Senior British Open and a British Open title. He won by three shots over Thomas Bjorn (67) and Justin Leonard (68). 'I'm thrilled to have won but very satisfied that I've won a Senior Open with my two Opens,' Harrington said. 'The fact that only five people have ever done it is quite special. I'm quite proud that I've managed to survive this long in the game.' He joined Darren Clarke, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Bob Charles as players to have won the British Open and the senior version. McIlroy walked around for a bit on the London-area course, though it wasn't much of a show. Harrington seized control late in the third round and never gave anyone much of a chance. Bjorn made a late charge to get within two shots, but that ended with a bogey on the 16th. "The only time I saw a leaderboard was on 18," said Harrington, who said he asked his caddie for an update on the 17th hole. 'Was fully focused on what I was doing. The Irishman was surprised to hear McIlroy, who is building a home in London, was at Sunningdale for the final round. 'I didn't see him out there. Was he out there?' Harrington said. 'I had the head down all day. I never saw anybody. I had no idea.' Harrington now has 11 titles on the PGA Tour Champions, and he has won multiple times each of the last four seasons. He won the U.S. Senior Open last month at The Broadmoor. And he nearly won the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional until a late two-shot swing gave the title to Angel Cabrera. ___ AP golf:
CNET
8 hours ago
- CNET
Ready, Set, Game: Fix Your Lag With These Tips
According to a report from Liquid Web, over 95% of users who were surveyed in a pool of 1,000 complained about experiencing latency issues while gaming. That same report showed that these gamers were known to play games on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. Anyone who's spent time gaming online knows the frustration -- you pull the trigger or dive for a tackle, but thanks to lag, your action lands way too late. That's high ping in action, and it's a serious problem. It doesn't just slow you down, it gives everyone else an edge while you're stuck playing catch-up. A strong, stable connection with low ping isn't a luxury for online gaming -- it's a necessity. With the tech available today, there's no reason to settle for a laggy experience. There are ways to optimize your internet connection. If you're dealing with high ping, the first move is figuring out how bad it is. Once you've measured it, you can take steps. Whether that's tweaking your setup or upgrading your equipment to lower your ping and keep your games fast and responsive. First off, what is ping? Put simply, ping is a test of latency, or how long it takes your computer or console to send data back and forth from a specific server somewhere on the internet. Think of it as a courier. Whenever you use the internet for anything, you're sending a courier out to fetch whatever data you need to stream a show, use an app or play a game online. In this sense, your internet speed represents how much data can be carried at once, typically in megabits per second, or Mbps. Meanwhile, the ping tells you how long -- the latency -- the trip takes in milliseconds. Locating local internet providers You'll want to shoot for a ping of around 50 milliseconds or lower for online gaming. Over 50ms isn't terrible, but you definitely want to land under 100ms. After that, lag can become an issue. A good speed test will indicate where your ping is. There are plenty of free speed tests that can provide a detailed assessment of your home network's performance. Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET Take a quick internet speed test Better yet, do a series of them -- and at different times of day, if you can. Your goal is simply to get a baseline sense of what your average speeds and ping look like before you start making changes. Oftentimes, the right set of tests can point you in the right direction as you start trying to speed things up. For instance, running speed tests on a computer that's wired to your modem and then comparing those results with what you see when you're wired to the router can help you figure out if it might be time to get a new one. Enlarge Image Looking to measure the ping to a specific site or server? Windows users can open the Command Prompt and typing "ping" followed by a space and then a URL or IP address. Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET There are lots of free speed testing tools on the web these days. Claiming over 55 billion speed tests since 2006, the most popular is probably the Ookla Speedtest -- it's fast, simple and easy to use, and I like that it gives you control over which nearby server you're using. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) The speed test is another good option that includes a latency measurement, and if you'd like, SpeedSmart's speed test lets you measure the ping to servers all over the globe. For example, I was able to measure a latency of 30ms to a server about 750 miles away from me in New York, then 290ms to a server located in Sydney, roughly 10,000 miles away. The distance makes a huge difference. Whichever speed test you're using, start fresh by rebooting all of your hardware first -- then grab an Ethernet cable and connect your laptop or console directly to your router. From there, a speed test will tell you what your ping looks like before your router starts transmitting the signal throughout your home. After that, you can unplug and do several Wi-Fi speed tests at different spots around the house to see how much the numbers change. Enlarge Image If you switch from a wireless to a wired connection, you'll see faster speeds and reductions in ping in your speed tests. How big of a difference depends on your router and the speed of your connection. Ry Crist/CNET Play plugged in, if possible In my home, the ping went up by about 20% after unplugging and doing a wireless speed test at close range. It likely would have gone up even more if I had tested the wireless connection at a greater distance. A good set of powerline adapters can deliver speeds and latency close to what you'd expect from a direct, wired connection with your router. Josh Miller/CNET That's why most online gamers will tell you to use a wired connection whenever possible. That's all well and good if your computer or gaming console is in the same room as your router. Experts recommend placing your router is at a central location. However, if you're using a bedroom or a back room for gaming, then the wired approach probably sounds less feasible. One potential solution is mesh router systems. A mesh router isn't quite as good as plugging directly into the router, but a wired Ethernet connection from a mesh node to your gaming system will be better than a completely wireless connection. Check your cables While we're talking about the importance of a wired connection -- it's worthwhile to make sure that you're using up-to-date cables that can support today's top internet speeds. Just don't expect them to do much of anything as far as ping is concerned. In fact, during a recent run of speed tests, I tested both a 300Mbps fiber connection and a 50Mbps cable connection using multiple speed-check services at different times of day. I ran each round of tests four times -- once with the laptop connected to the modem via Wi-Fi, and then once again using a wired connection to the modem with each of the three most common types of Ethernet cables: Cat 5, Cat 5e and Cat 6. On both networks, the Cat 6 cable connection returned the highest average download speeds, but the type of cable didn't have a noticeable effect on ping, with all three averaging out to within 2ms of one another. Still, Ethernet cables with the Cat 5e or Cat 6 designation are your clear best bet, as they're made to handle top speeds of up to 1,000 or even 10,000Mbps. Outdated Cat 5 cables aren't designed for speeds higher than 100Mbps, and they don't do as much to prevent interference as signals pass through the copper wiring inside. If you're using cables like that, then it's worth picking up some new ones. Optimize your wireless setup Proper cabling is nice, but maybe you're playing a game on your phone, tablet or another device that can't easily benefit from a wired connection. In that case, upgrading to a better router might be the right play -- but you'll want to make sure that you're getting the most out of your current setup first. To bring our metaphorical data courier back into it, stronger signal strength in your home makes the first and last leg of his journey easier and faster, which can help bring your ping down. To do so, follow the basic best practices for optimizing your network's signal strength. Start by making sure you've got the router in a good, open spot that's free from immediate obstructions. Wi-Fi signals tend to angle downward, so the higher you can get it up off of the floor, the better. The angle of the antennas can make a difference, too. If you can, try staggering them at 45-degree intervals: one straight up, the next diagonal, the next straight back. It might take some experimentation, but you might be able to find a much steadier connection with just a few quick tweaks. Once you've done everything you can to optimize your router's performance, you'll want to run some final speed tests to see how much of a difference your efforts made. If you aren't able to get your ping below 50ms or so for a routine speed check to a server that's within a few hundred miles of you, then it's probably time to upgrade your equipment or internet provider. Is might be time for an equipment upgrade Upgrading to a good gaming router can definitely help, too. Along with fast speeds and powerful processors, most high-end options can prioritize gaming traffic above everything else to help keep your roommate's Netflix binge from slowing you down. Others promise to route your signal on the fastest possible path to whatever server your game is hosted on. That said, you'll want to be sure to understand the other factors in your home that might be affecting things before you spend hundreds on new networking hardware. Final option: Splurge on a new router Like I said, a fancy gaming router can help guarantee that your home's connection is optimized for gaming. If you're thinking about upgrading, start by looking for a feature called Quality of Service. It'll let you tell the router to prioritize gaming traffic above everything else, which comes in handy if you're sharing bandwidth with roommates or family members. CNET recommends the Linksys Velop Pro 6E. It performed the best in terms of overall jitter scores out of all the routers we've tested. Spending hundreds on a high-end gaming router is probably overkill for most people. However, some features could be worth it. Gianmarco Chumbe/James Martin/CNET Most gaming routers are aimed at die-hard gamers willing to spend big on their setups, so they aren't casual investments. Prices for current-gen models typically range from around $150 to as high as $500 or even more. That's a lot to pay for a bit less ping. That's why I'd rather try to improve my home's network conditions with a powerline adapter or, if I'm struggling with something that's at least 5 years old, with a more modest router upgrade.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Turnberry visit puts British Open back on agenda
Donald Trump's visit to Scotland's picturesque Turnberry underlines the US president's long-held desire to host golf's illustrious British Open at the famous course, despite numerous stumbling blocks. When the golf fanatic purchased the storied resort in 2014, he would have been forgiven for thinking he would finally achieve his dream of seeing a men's major championship played at one of his many courses. But 2009 remains the last time Turnberry has hosted golf's only non-US major, with organisers the Royal and Ancient (R&A) citing logistical challenges and fears that the event could become the Trump show. "The players all want to be at Turnberry," Trump told reporters after landing at Prestwick Airport, just north of his course, on Friday night, declaring it "the best course anywhere in the world". Following the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters in January 2021, the R&A said the Open would not return to Turnberry until "the focus will be on the championship" rather than the course's proprietor. New chief executive Mark Darbon struck a much softer tone earlier this month when he stressed that the R&A had "explicitly not" removed Turnberry's Ailsa course from its rotating pool of venues. But he added that upgrades to road, rail, and accommodation infrastructure around the site on Scotland's windswept west coast would be needed for any return. Darbon also revealed that he met Trump's son, Eric, earlier this year but denied UK media reports that the British government has been pressuring the R&A to put Turnberry back on the rota. "We love the golf course but we've got some big logistical challenges there," Darbon told reporters covering the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, which ended last Sunday. Almost 280,000 fans were at Portrush, more than double the 120,000 at Turnberry in 2009, when journeyman Stewart Cink deprived veteran Tom Watson of a fairytale sixth Open title. Turnberry in 1977 hosted what is widely considered one of the greatest British Opens ever when Watson pipped Jack Nicklaus to the Claret Jug. The scenic course, instantly recognisable to golf fans due to its shimmering lighthouse, also hosted the Open in 1986 and 1994, when Greg Norman and Nick Price triumphed. Two-time major winner and Trump ally Bryson DeChambeau recently backed Turnberry to host golf's oldest major again. "It's one of the best golf courses in the world, and I'd love for it to be a part of the rotation," the 31-year-old told reporters at Portrush. DeChambeau, who hit chips on the White House lawn during a visit in June, sought to allay fears that the president would overshadow the event, as he did when he landed his helicopter near the course during the 2015 Women's British Open. - Protests - Organisers will also be wary of possible protests. The site, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Glasgow, was vandalised in March when protesters sprayed "GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE" across the grass, referring to Trump's suggestion of turning the Palestinian territory into luxury real estate. Trump has made much of his love for golf, using it for business and diplomacy, and even political one-upmanship. He often lambasted Barack Obama for regularly taking to the course during his time in the White House, before going on to play frequently himself as president. According to online trackers, Trump has played golf about 20 percent of the time since returning to the presidency in January. During his first term he played several times with late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Last year, Trump and Joe Biden sparred over their respective golf abilities during a television debate. Trump's handicap -- the mark of a player's skill -- has been listed as a mightily impressive three, but that and claims he has won 18 club championships has raised eyebrows, as documented by American golf writer Rick Reilly in his 2019 book "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump". The Trump Organization began acquiring golf resorts in 1999 and lists 16 operational globally on its website, with more to follow. His Bedminster course near New York had been scheduled to host the 2022 PGA Championship, but organisers moved the major after the Capitol riots, sparking an angry response from the Trump Organization. And despite his deep passion for the game, it is highly unlikely that Trump will witness a major at Turnberry before his second presidential term ends in 2029. pdh/jw/nr
