Weather hit the Midwest again this past week with some snow and frigid temperatures.

Meanwhile out in sunny, warm California, The Clambake was going on out at Pebble Beach, and everyone thought Phil Mickelson would win. He ended up missing the cut.

As always, the celebrities were showing off their games. But Bill Murray was missing, so the Pro-Am was a lot tamer this year than in the past.

Looking out the window here in Indy, we have some snow on the ground. That’s not bad for the course, but it just makes it seem like spring is so far away.

Now is a good time to visit your local golf shops and see if there are some good deals before the new styles and equipment arrive.

There are many golf shows and expos going on across the country, places that sell booth or floor space to golf retailers, golf resorts and courses. The retailers sell a lot of equipment at deep discounts. They can do this most likely because the model is being discontinued or the manufacturer has too much in stock and needs to move merchandise.

The resorts and courses hit the Midwest golf shows and expos pretty hard to entice the golfer to get out of this snow and travel to where it is warm, nice golf weather. So a lot of the Southeastern resorts and courses offer deals to pick up a little late-winter play.

A lot of the new equipment has not been shipped yet to the snowbelt areas, so if you want to see some new models, you need to visit manufacturers’ Web sites. Some sites to visit are Bridgestone Golf, Titleist, TaylorMade and Callaway. All these companies have something new that will catch your eye.

Finally, if you can get away and play somewhere, keep it in the middle of the fairway and make a lot of putts.

Jeff Schroeder
PGA Professional
Brickyard Crossing