Black golf balls hot or cold?

Golf Refugees (GR) original heat absorbing black golf balls have just been reviewed by the excellent and very popular site called The Hackers Paradise (THP) in sunny Florida USA.

Here are some extracts from our e-mail correspondence with the President of The Hackers Paradise;

GR - ''Did you find the heat absorbing black golf ball in the Florida sun warm to the touch when playing?''

THP - ''They were no warmer than any other golf ball we have worked with. If there had been a
noticeable difference it would have been included in the review.''

GR - ''Are you seriously saying that if you put a white and a black golf ball in the Florida sunshine there will be no noticeable difference to the touch between these golf balls?

THP - ''That is not what I am saying. Sure if you let them sit in the sun and bake the black ball will get hotter. However during the course of play, we did not notice a difference.''

GR - ''Golf balls do tend to sit in the sunshine, especially when you are playing a three or four ball.''

THP - No response.

To get the maximum performance from the original black golf ball we advise golfers to warm them up in the sunshine, say in the window of their car whilst driving to the course before you play.

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
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Club throwing practise

After watching Tiger and a few others throw their clubs at The Open and reading the comments & reactions on various blogs. How about this?

Why don't the pros as part of their practise routines throw a few clubs down the practise area before they start their rounds? This would get rid of some tension and also allow them to harness their club throwing techniques. Which may be safer for the watching public.

During Wimbledon if a tennis player throws his or hers racquet the elevated umpire issues a code violation for unsporting behaviour. Subsequent episodes can lead to a player being penalised points, games or even the match. It seems to me a little surprising that the empire of blazers who devote their life to concocting new rules haven't introduced something similar in golf. Mind due they are probably tadpoles by nature.

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Dress your age

For the past couple of years the England team playing kit has been supplied by Oscar Jacobson, who are supposedly one of the most prestigious golf brands in Europe.

Looking at a recent picture of England's youthful international squad wearing the official kit. It is only when you spot the greying hair of the committee members that you realise who the teenage golfers are. I'm sure most of you will think they all look very smart in their navy blazers, stripey tie and beige slacks. But why dress teenagers as old men? There's plenty of time to dress like an old man when you hit middle age.

How would the geriatric committee members feel if they were asked to dress-up as teenagers?
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Graffiti-up your balls

Next time your going to mark your new golf ball with a discreet dot or a smiley face, take a moment, and search for your artistic bent.

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Girls celebrate

Four Brummie lasses all studying at Birmingham University have beaten 25 men's teams to win the 2009 World Student Matchplay Championship, held at Inglostadt in Munich.

Twenty six teams from all around the World, including South Africa, the USA, the Netherlands,

Sweden and France.

How the heck did that happen? Were they the only sober team? Were the boys on an all-night bender and over-slept?

Judging by our high streets and A&E departments on a Friday and Saturday night, I'm sure the student girls drank just as much as the boys, if not more. It basically came down to the fact that the girls played better golf.

Apparently doping regulations were eased for this event.

The UK government must be pleased that our binge drinking reputation has been rewarded.

The girls won a detox and pizza vouchers.

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Cinderella story

Another dodgy jumper and another great round of golf from Tom Watson at Turnberry.

Earlier in the day, Peter Dawson Secretary of the R&A ( Royal & Ancient Golf Club who are the ruling body of golf world-wide except for USA & Mexico ) was asked a few simple questions from ex-footballer turned TV sports presenter Gary Linneker.

There seemed to be a complacency about Peter Dawson, when he uttered that he believed the number of people playing golf in developed countries such as the UK & USA had reached it's limit. The R&A's big plan for the future is to persuade the appropriate officials to include golf as an Olympic sport for 2016 games. This would provide a platform for Golf to develope in other countries. There doesn't appear to be a plan B.

Back home are there really no additional golfers to be found? I can think of a sector which is clearly lacking in numbers; young women golfers, teenage girls playing golf.

Could the lack of initiatives to encourage in particular young girls to play golf have something to do with the fact that the R&A are a private members club? With over 2,400 members from all over the world, none of whom are women. Its discrimination is not only against women but also people who have not come from upper or middle-class backgrounds and gone to the right school. After all this is not any old golf club, it is the world's golf governing body.

It was recently pointed out to me that even our Queen would not be able to become a member of the R&A. If it was stripped of the Royal title and just became known as the Ancient golf club, how silly would that look?
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Watson keeps it up!

After a shaky first nine, Watson downs a couple of monster puts to rise back up the leaderboard. Though not too sure about the jumper.

It was a great three-ball, with Garcia looking good and a sixteen year-old amateur Italian learning from the old master Tom.

Tiger and Nike had a nightmare of a day.

Best quote of the day came from BBC golf stalwart Peter Alliss, ''rules of golf just slightly smaller than the bible.''

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Colour at The Open

Great round by Tom Watson today. Hope he can keep it up.

The good old Beeb kept showing footage from the 'dual in the sun' in 1977

Where a greener looking Watson beat Nicolas in a thriller at Turnberry.

Tom was then wearing a pair of chequered strides with a crushed lime polo. Back to the future and Daly appears in a equally dashing lime outfit with his attractive girlfriend baring a matching skirt. Probably made from excess material resulting from John's fat loss programme.

There is just one thing missing. Where are the coloured balls? These traditional white balls get lost in flight. Wouldn't it be great to follow a lime green ball through the air and onto the green.

Ah maybe not.

Nearly forgot to mention Woods. Wore grey and threw his clubs around.

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Carbon neutral Rose

On the eve of The Open.

Justin Rose has become possibly the first professional golfer to commit to doing something significant about the environment. This year, all Rose's carbon emissions, from his flights to his fridges, will be offset. Not just his, but those of his wife Kate, caddie, coach and manager. In short, all the members of Team Rose.

"An awareness of the environment is something Kate and I are very committed to. I said to my sponsors it would be great if you would contribute to reducing my carbon footprint. They said they can make my team carbon neutral for the year. "The deal is that if I use 10 tonnes of carbon emissions then my sponsors will buy credits that will offset these 10 tonnes. That's cool."

Golf Refugees thinks this is cool too. Just a little warning about carbon offsetting. It is a little bit like eating all of the cream cakes yourself, whilst paying for someone else far away to go on a diet to ease your gluttony.

This is why Golf Refugees apparel are manufactured using wind power which reduces the CO2 emissions by over 89% per size large shirt. Therefore if Justin wore Golf Refugees eco polos he would actually reduce his carbon footprint rather than buying carbon credits.

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Carbon neutral golf apparel brands 2009

1. Golf Refugees
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JD

Late night channel surfing came across beeb highlights of the golf from Loch Lomond.

One of their straight-laced commentators said, 'now here's Coco' . Initially, I couldn't think of which golfer he was referring too. and then it dawned on me, 'Coco the clown' after seeing John Daly's latest loud pants. The BBC commentator is probably an ex-pro and wore grey for most of his life. And that's what great about Daly. Someone who is prepared to stand out from the crowd and take the colourful jibes. To me, JD is a celebration of individualism. A peacock amongst sheep.

Then this morning an article claiming that Poulter has no fear of Daly taking over his fashion mantle. He still believes he's the king of the fashion fairways and was eager to tell one and all of his new tartan pants.

Got me thinking, have they thought about giving JD a bright pink ball to play with?

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Natural or Artificial?

Which do you prefer to use?

I keep seeing lots of zero sugar drinks. But how come they all taste so sweet?

They should say contain zero sugar but instead packed full of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. Nice. Lots of chemicals such as aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol.

Wouldn't you rather have natural sugar than this man-made chemical cocktail?

There is a similar choice for your golf shirts. Everywhere you shop, racks full of your favourite branded polos all made from polyester. Synthetic fibres such as polyester are manufactured from oil and coal.

Golf Refugees polo shirts are made from Soil Association certified organic cotton. Cotton is a natural plant fibre.

Even if your favourite golfer is being paid millions to wear a particular brand. How do you feel about wearing a polo shirt made from petrochemicals?
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World Trick Shot Champ & Golf Refugees

Geoff Swain & original black ball.

Sitting down on the job.

Don't try this at your local club.

Spot the black ball in the air competition.

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At The London Golf Club

After the fashion show featuring some neat eco threads, we all headed out to the first tee for a trick shot spectacular from Geoff Swain during which Shaun from Golf Punk magazine had 'a bit of trouble' chipping the black ball up for trick shot maestro Geoff to strike on the volley.

When there's plenty of traditional big branded white balls out there, no doubt Geoff could get a mint to use 'em. Why does Geoff choose the original black ball from Golf Refugees?
Geoff says ''They go a mile, and they're easier to see in the air.''
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