An Overview of the Essential Golf Equipment

Golf can be intimidating for beginners. Players can rent or purchase golf equipment, but those planning on practicing often may find it more advantageous to buy a golf set.

The must-have gear for any golf player includes golf balls, clubs, tees, a golf bag, a towel, and a ball marker. Golf clubs are an essential part of the necessary golf gear. Players can carry a maximum of 14 golf clubs, but not all are necessary for beginners.

Golf clubs can be divided into woods, hybrids, irons, and putters. Woods are for long shots, irons are for closer shots, hybrids are a combination of wood and iron, and the putter is specifically to get the ball into the hole.

Among the woods, the driver, also known as 1 wood, is an essential golf club that every player should carry. The driver has the lowest loft, which means the angle of the club face. The loft is what allows players to control the trajectory of the ball. A driver has a loft between 7 and 12 degrees, while the 3 and 5 woods, called fairway woods, have a loft of 15 to 18 degrees and 20 to 22 degrees, respectively.

Irons are numbered from 3 to 9. These clubs are used when players are closer to the green (the area near the hole). The shorter the distance, the higher the iron should be. Wedges are specialty irons that allow for increased shot control and are used when players are very close to the green. The first wedge is also called a pitching wedge and has a loft of 46 to 48 degrees. The other wedges have increasingly higher lofts.

Hybrids combine the head design of a fairway wood and an iron shaft. Lastly, putters are used on the green. There are various types of putters, but their purpose is the same, to get the ball in the hole. Beginner golf club sets generally include a driver, a fairway wood, a hybrid club, a putter, and a combination of irons.

Golf bags represent another essential element of a golf set. The most basic golf bag is the stand bag, which is easy to carry on the back and stands up when placed on the ground. Cart bags, on the other hand, are made to sit exclusively on a cart. Lastly, pencil bags are a good option for beginners carrying a half-set.

Other items to carry in the bag are golf tees, a ball marker, and a towel. Golf tees are stands used to elevate the ball and are necessary at each hole. These come in various sizes and are made from plastic or wood. A ball marker is useful to mark the spot of a ball on the green. Lastly, a towel removes dirt, moisture, or sand from the golf clubs.

Additional useful items include a divot tool to fix the hole left by the ball on the green, golf shoes, and golf gloves to improve the grip. A golf hat and sunscreen are also important to carry to stay protected and avoid sunburns. Lastly, players who do not want to carry the golf bag may consider getting a pushcart.

More experienced golf players may want to invest in additional gear, such as a range finder that helps players know how far to hit the ball, a club brush, a golf ball retriever, and different types of gloves according to the weather, such as rain and winter gloves.

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How Pickleball Went from a Family Invention to a National Sport

Pickleball is a paddle sport that has recently grown in popularity in the United States. Combining tennis, badminton, and ping pong elements, pickleball is an entertaining game appropriate for all ages.

Three friends, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum, invented the game in the summer of 1965 while spending their holidays on Bainbridge Island, close to Seattle. The game was born as a challenge to show Pritchard’s son, Frank, how to spend time on the island. Pritchard and Bell headed to the badminton court, picked up some old badminton, ping pong, and tennis equipment, and invented a new game. They used a perforated ball, a badminton net, and a pair of table tennis paddles.

The name pickleball was an idea of Joel Pritchard’s wife, Joan. The name referred to the so-called “pickle boat” races she used to attend in college. Marietta College, which Joan attended, had a rowing program, and the team participated in annual regatta competitions. After the main competition, leftover rowers would engage in “pickle boat” races for fun. This concept inspired Joan to name the newly invented paddle game.

By 1967, the Pritchard family and their neighbor Bob O’Brian shared a permanent pickleball court. The court has a playing area of 20 by 44 feet and a 34 inches net. On each side of the net, there is a 7-foot non-volley line called “the kitchen.” Like a tennis court, the pickleball court is divided by a center nice into a right and left service area. The much smaller dimensions allow for four pickleball courts to fit in the space of one tennis court. This makes the game more social as players are much closer to each other and can interact while playing.

Pickleball rules are similar to ping pong and badminton. The game can be played as doubles or singles. The main rules are that there should be no volleying in the kitchen, only one bounce per side, and serves cannot land in the kitchen.

To start the game, players must serve underhand, below the waistline. They must hit the ball diagonally across the court; hitting the net is acceptable if it does not fall in the kitchen. The game traditionally ends when the first person or team reaches 11 points and has at least two points over the adversary. The game may also be played to 15 or 21 points.

The easy and fun game quickly spread outside of Bainbridge Island. By 1975, the game was known nationwide, and in the following year, it was named “America’s newest racquet sport” by Tennis magazine. In the same year, the first pickleball tournament took place at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington.

The United States Amateur Pickleball Association (USAP.A.), established in 1984, was responsible for pickleball’s further growth and expansion across the United States. By 1990, pickleball had spread across all 50 states. In 1999, the first pickleball website launched, and in 2005, the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) was established, along with an official website that included all previous entries from other pickleball websites and allowed players to find sites where they could play.

USAPA has seen exponential growth in the last decade. The association went from just over four thousand members in 2013 to 70 thousand in February 2023. Pickleball has now been named the fastest-growing sport in America for the third consecutive year by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).

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The Pittsburgh Steelers Selected These 7 Players in the 2023 NFL Draft

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan called the 2023 National Football League (NFL) Draft a “productive weekend” as the franchise selected seven players, including offensive tackle Broderick Jones and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Selected with the 14th overall pick in the first round, Jones was an Associated Press All-SEC first-team selection with the University of Georgia Bulldogs in 2022. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called Jones a player with “big-time upside” and “a competitor’s mentality.”

Pittsburgh’s offensive line ranked 16th among all NFL teams in the Pro Football Focus (PFF) rankings in 2022. Jones, a 6-foot-4, 315-pound player who started every game last season for Georgia, should help the team in that area. Pittsburgh was so adamant about drafting him that they traded their own first-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the New England Patriots to move up in the draft.

Porter Jr., selected in the second round with the 32nd overall pick, played four seasons at Penn State and recorded 113 tackles, 20 defended passes, one interception, and one quarterback sack. At 6 foot 2 and 195 pounds, Porter Jr. has a good combination of size, length, and athleticism that should serve him well in Pittsburgh. His father played linebacker for the Steelers from 1999 to 2006.

The Steelers selected University of Wisconsin defensive lineman Keeanu Benton with the 49th overall pick in the second round. Benton, a 6-foot-4, 317-pound player, registered 36 tackles, 10 of which were for a loss of yards, and 4.5 sacks last season and was an All-Big Ten third-team selection. He had 81 tackles and nine sacks through 39 career college games. Benton is the fourth former Wisconsin player on Pittsburgh’s roster for the 2023 season, along with T. J. Watt, Scott Nelson, and Isaiahh Loudermilk.

Pittsburgh added to its tight-end depth in the third round of the draft by selecting Darnell Washington from the University of Georgia. Pittsburgh acquired the pick used to draft Washington from the Carolina Panthers. Washington joins former Georgia teammates Jones and George Pickens on the Steelers roster. The 6-foot-7, 265-pound tight end caught 28 passes for 454 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games last season.

Pittsburgh added linebacker Nick Herbig with its fourth-round pick, 132nd overall. The younger brother of guard Nate Herbig, whom the Steelers signed during the offseason, Nick recorded 47 tackles, 15.5 of which were for a loss, and 11 sacks in 11 games for Wisconsin last season. He said he and his brother, whom he also considers his best friend, have talked about playing together in the NFL since they were kids.

The Steelers selected Cory Trice Jr. and Spencer Anderson with its two seventh-round picks. Trice Jr., a 6-foot-3, 210-pound defensive back, spent five seasons at Purdue University and recorded 106 tackles, 15 defended passes, and five interceptions. He started his collegiate career as a safety and is skilled in press coverage.

Anderson, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman, started 13 games for Maryland last season and was a key blocker for the team’s passing attack, which was third in the Big Ten with an average of 259.8 yards per game. He was named to PFF’s Preseason All-Big Ten second team in 2022.

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Brooks Koepka Wins the 2023 PGA Championship

Brooks Koepka won his fifth major championship and third PGA Championship on May 21, 2023. Koepka, who joined the rival league LIV Golf Series in 2022, shot nine-under par in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, finishing two strokes ahead of American Scottie Scheffler and Norwegian Viktor Hovland. Koepka, 33, is the first LIV Golf competitor to win a major championship.

Koepka carried a two-stroke lead into the final round of the 2023 Masters Tournament but struggled and eventually finished runner-up to Spaniard Jon Rahm. He led Hovland and Canadian Corey Conners by one stroke entering the final round of the PGA Championship and got off to a hot start, leading Hovland by four strokes after recording his third straight birdie on the fourth hole.

Hovland, who finished among the top seven players in each of the last two majors, was one stroke back of Koepka before a disastrous bunker shot on the 16th hole ultimately put him out of contention and gave Koepka a clear path to winning the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time in his career. Hovland double bogeyed the hole, while Koepka birdied it to take a four-stroke lead. Koepka tapped in a par at the 18th hole to secure the title.

After the tournament, Koepka expressed his excitement at winning another major tournament, especially having battled through injuries and inconsistent play over the last two years. Koepka was the most dominant golfer on the planet from 2017 to 2019, during which time he won both the US Open and PGA Championship twice and became the first-ever golfer to win their first four majors in a two-year period. He suffered a torn patella tendon in his left knee four years ago and, in 2021, dislocated his right knee. Koepka, a former world No. 1, dropped to No. 85 in the Official World Golf Ranking by March 2023.

With his victory at Oak Hill, Koepka is the 20th golfer to win at least five major championships and only the third golfer, along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, to win the PGA Championship at least three times in the stroke play era. He earned $3.15 million in prize money.

Hovland shot a two-under par 68 on Sunday, while Scheffler stormed up the leaderboard with a five-under par 65 to tie for the best round of the day. Hovland and Scheffler earned $1.54 million in prize money and 270 FedEx Cup points. Bryson DeChambeau, Kurt Kitayama, and Cam Davis tied for third at three-under par.

Koepka’s victory was almost overshadowed by the play of 46-year-old PGA club professional and golf instructor Michael Block. Playing in his fifth PGA Championship, Block shot a 1-over par to finish tied for 15th best, which was the best result for a club professional since 1986.

Block made an incredible 151-yard hole-in-one on the 15th hole, in which the ball went directly into the hole without bouncing, and had a par-saving putt on the 18th hole that earned him a guaranteed spot in the 2024 PGA Championship. Block won more than $250,000 in prize money.

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The Four Golfers Who Share the Record for Most U.S. Open Wins

One of golf’s four major championships, the U.S. Open has been held every year since 1895. It is the second major championship on the PGA Tour calendar, and also includes amateur participants as well as golfers from the European and Asian professional tours. Horace Rawlins won the first U.S. Open in 1895, and four players – Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus – share the record for most U.S. Open championships with four.

Anderson, a native of Scotland who moved to the US when he was 16 and worked as a club pro, won the U.S. Open for the first time in 1901 at Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He finished the tournament with a score of 331, which remains the highest score of a U.S. Open winner. He beat Alex Smith in a playoff, which was played on Monday as, back then, Sundays were reserved for club members.

After fellow Scot Laurie Auchterlonie won the U.S. Open in 1902, Anderson won his first of three consecutive titles in 1903 with a score of 307. He shot 303 and 314 at the U.S. Open in 1904 and 1905, respectively. He is the only golfer in history to win the tournament in three consecutive years. He finished 11th at his last U.S. Open in 1910, and died a few months later at just 31 years of age.

Bobby Jones won his first of four U.S. Opens in 1923. He won again in 1926, 1929, and 1930. One of only five amateur golfers to win the U.S. Open, he also won the low amateur medal in every tournament from 1922 to 1930. Jones finished in the top-five in six of his eight starts at the U.S. Open. He was runner-up in 1922, 1924, 1925, and 1928.

Jones won the calendar Grand Slam in 1930. He secured the third leg of the impressive accomplishment with his two-stroke victory over Macdonald Smith at the U.S. Open at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. The highlight of his tournament was his 40-foot birdie putt on hole No. 18 in the final round.

Ben Hogan had a run of dominance similar to both Jones and Anderson. One of only five players to win each of the four major championships, Hogan won the U.S. Open in 1948, 1950, 1951, and 1953. Some golf historians suggest he should be credited with five titles, as he finished first in the 1942 Hale America National Open, played in place of the U.S. Open, which was canceled due to the United States entering World War II.

Hogan’s signature win came in 1950. His impressive 1-iron approach shot to the green on the last hole of the tournament was captured in a now iconic image by photographer Hy Peskin. Hogan saved par on the hole and went on to beat George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum by four strokes in a playoff.

Nicklaus’ four U.S. Open titles are more spread out than those of Hogan, Jones, and Anderson. His win in 1962 was his first tournament victory as a professional. He won again in 1967 and 1972, and captured his final U.S. Open title in 1980, with a then-record score of 272, breaking the prior record he set of 275 in 1967.

Nicklaus was runner-up at the U.S. Open in 1960, 1968, 1971, and 1982. He is also the all-time major championship wins leader with 18.

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An Overview of Condominium Conversions

Condominiums and rental apartments share similarities in the size of units and the buildings in which they’re located, but have one key difference: ownership. Apartment dwellers pay monthly rent to the building’s landlord to live in the unit, whereas condo units are owned by the occupants. For a variety of reasons, including to cash out of the property, building owners may look into converting apartment buildings or other shared tenant properties into condos.

In addition to being an exit strategy for the owner of the property, converting existing residential or commercial buildings into condominiums can be a cost-effective and quicker approach for developers to create housing than constructing new homes or buildings. In some cases, converting buildings into condominiums provides more affordable housing. These conversions are also often initiated due to a scarcity of land and high demand for housing.

Condo conversions can benefit tenants in a variety of ways, including the opportunity to own housing, sometimes at a relatively affordable price, as the cost to insiders’ is usually lower than what similar properties on the open market sell for. Moreover, owning a condo unit can be easier to manage than home ownership, as common spaces, including pools and fitness facilities, are usually cared for by a condo owners association. Condo owners in the building, however, will likely have to pay monthly condo fees for the upkeep of these areas.

Tax savings and equity retrieval are among the benefits for landlords and owners who facilitate condo conversions. In some jurisdictions, owners could receive a property tax reduction of up to 40 percent. Moreover, the property, once officially converted, is considered single family dwelling units as opposed to a multi-residential building, which is often taxed at a higher level. The added value of condo buildings also allows owners to borrow more against the property.

There are, however, also possible disadvantages to tenants during condo conversions. The purchase price may be outside of their price range, and building management could decline depending on the experience and commitment of members of the condo owners’ association. Conversions could displace rental tenants, but many states have laws in place to protect renters. Some states even give renters a vote in whether the building owner can transform the property into condominiums. In New York, 51 percent of a building’s tenants need to vote in favor of a condo conversion.

Chicago is considered the birthplace of condo conversions, as the notion was conceived by area attorneys Joseph Moss and Harold Miller. Moss and Miller completed the first-ever condo conversion in the US in 1964, transforming a three-story, 16-unit building in the Hyde Park neighborhood into a condominium complex. The two attorneys pitched to the building’s tenants that they could own their unit while paying the same or less than their current rent each month, and also receive a tax deduction.

Following the success of their first conversion, Moss and Miller recognized there was a surplus of similar properties owned by banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. They also realized these institutional owners had trouble earning a profit on selling residential properties as rental apartment buildings. They continued to convert apartment buildings in Hyde Park during the next few years and, by the 1970s, condo conversions had become common throughout the US

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A Look at Three of Illinois’ Top Golfers

The state of Illinois has been the home of several highly accomplished professional golfers, including Bob Goalby and Bill Mehlhorn. One of the earliest greats of Illinois golf, Bill Mehlhorn was an Elgin native born in 1898. He was a pioneer of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tour and enjoyed his strongest results during the 1920s.

Nicknamed Wild Bill after the recognizable cowboy hats he wore on the course, Mehlhorn won 19 tournaments during his career, though he did not win one of the sports major championships. That said, he was a runner up to Walter Hagen at the 1925 PGA Championship and finished third at the United States Open in both 1924 and 1926. Overall, he had 14 top 10 finishes at majors.

Other significant achievements for Mehlhorn included participating in the first ever Ryder Cup tie in 1927 and the inaugural Masters Tournaments in 1934. He won five PGA events in 1926, six in 1928, and four in 1929. He also designed a number of golf courses and, following his retirement as a competitor, coached golf at Florida International University.

Mehlhorn may have been an Illinois golf inspiration, but Belleville native Bob Goalby did one better when he won the 1968 Masters Tournament in memorable fashion. Goalby turned pro in 1958 and won 11 titles, including the 1969 Robinson Open Golf Classic in Robinson, Illinois.

Goalby began the 1968 Masters Tournament with seven tournament wins to his name, but with no tour victories in over a year. On the final day of play he faced Robert De Vicenzo, winner of that year’s British Open, for the championship. At the conclusion of play, Goalby had a total score of 11 strokes under par, which seemed to tie De Vicenzo’s score and setup an 18 hole playoff for the championship.

Unfortunately, De Vicenzo’s playing partner incorrectly recorded his birdie on the 17th hole and De Vicenzo signed off on the error and handed it in before a correction could be made. Official rules dictate that the highest written score on a card must be taken, so De Vicenzo lost a stroke, giving Goalby the win. Interestingly, Goalby had to correct a scoring error he made for his playing partner, a correction he submitted in time.

Woodson native Jerry Barber turned pro nearly two decades before Goalby. He only managed seven wins on the PGA tour, two coming on the senior tour, but he managed a memorable win at the 1961 PGA Championship, which was played in Chicago. Rain plagued the weekend and Barber found himself trailing Don January by four shots with only three holes to play, having led the field earlier in the competition.

Barber overcome the rain and humid conditions to make a series of challenging putts, including a sixty foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff the following morning. Barber won the 18 hole playoff by a single stroke after January made an error on the last hole. At the time, he was the oldest winner of a major PGA tournament.

While she was not a professional golfer, a special acknowledgment must be made for women’s baseball legend Joanne Winter. Born in Maywood in 1924, Winter was among the original players of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She retired with more than 100 wins and a 2.06 earned run average. Following her retirement, she became a golf instructor in Illinois for three decades.

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