Bill Murray and golf go hand in hand. Whether he’s playing the game seriously or just to have a hoot, there’s no mistaking Murray on the course. He has dressed in some of the craziest outfits if for no other reason than to have fun and make people laugh. After all, that’s what comic actors do, and although he is known for his career on Saturday Night Live and the many characters he portrayed, anyone who follows the game of golf knows Bill Murray for the role of the irreverent groundskeeper Carl Speckler in the movie Caddyshack. He was terrifically funny trying various ways to kill gophers, along with the one scene in which he is dressed in rain boots and a rain cap taking some shots on the practice range, pretending to be the Cinderella story groundskeeper trying to win the Masters.

I bet you did not know that illegal golf balls, or non-conforming golf balls were even a thing. The good news is, the good folks at LostGolfBalls and PG Professional Golf have teamed up to design the world's best illegal golf ball. The best illegal golf balls are the ones that get the most distance and also play well around the greens. Many illegal golf balls over the years have made big claims about the distance achieved, but have never really addressed the lack of playability, especially around the greens. One critic said, "You will get some great distance off the tee, yet you will have less feel and playability around the green. Illegal golf balls don't let you develop your game."

The arrival of October is a bittersweet time for golf fans. While those of us who call the United States home are still riding high after a thrilling Ryder Cup, the changing of the seasons also signifies then end of the golf season. Beginning back in mid-October of 2015, this season saw plenty of drama, excitement and of course, lost golf balls. Here at LostGolfBalls.com we love seeing which ball manufacturers have the most success, which is why today we look at which models turned up most often in the winner’s circle this year.

Before, during and after the tournament, American golf fans became the big story about the 41st edition of the Ryder Cup – perhaps even bigger than the victory by the team they supported – because of their behavior. Pete Willett, brother of 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, took a broadsided swipe at American golf fans in a column written in the National Club Golfer before the competition commenced. He called them a “baying mob of imbeciles” and put his support behind the European squad.

On September 10, 1929, a man was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania that would not only change the sport of golf, but the lives of everyone who was lucky enough to cross his path. Arnold Palmer is undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers to ever walk this earth, but to limit our image of ‘The King’ to his sporting accomplishments is to sell short his accomplishments as a person. Arnie was as great an ambassador for the game as there ever was and his death will leave a hole that can never be filled.

Legendary golfer Arnold Palmer has died, reminding us yet again that the great ones in sports cannot live forever. Mortality does, indeed, have a time limit. Earlier this year, we mourned the loss of boxer Muhammad Ali and hockey player Gordie Howe, two individuals who helped make their sports great, both with what they did as athletes, but more important what they did as people. Now we are feeling that aching feeling again following the passing of Arnold Palmer, who died on Sunday at age 87. Maybe he made his mark on golf, but he stitched his way into fabric of all of sports.

In most sports, everything that occurs during the season is a stepping stone, building to an exciting, grand and often lucrative finish. A championship. A way to crown the best team or individual, not just of any given weekend, but of the entire long and hard-fought season. However, for much of the history of golf, this pinnacle of achievement was lacking. Of course, the Majors were then and still remain the most important tournaments in the sport and it is unlikely that any other competition will be able to change that. But in the past, once the majors had come and gone, the golf season just petered out. Little recognition was given to the player who had performed the best day-after-day, week-after-week. Well, in 2007 that all changed.

Imagine being paid to write about golf! Dave Perkins covered the sport in his 40 years as a sports writer, a good chunk of that with the Toronto Star. Perkins, whom I had the privilege of working beside occasionally during my 21 years with the Toronto Sun, covered 58 golf majors, 10 Ryder and/or Presidents Cups, and countless tournaments of one sort or another in the sport. He also had opportunities to play some of the best courses in the world and interview the best of the best from numerous eras.

We’ve all heard it before; Titleist is the #1 ball in golf and for good reason. Both the Pro V1 and Pro V1x are excellent products and have a history of success on Tour. This does not mean however, that there are no viable alternatives for golfers who want to expand their horizons and perhaps save a little money in the process. Today we look at some substitutes to both of Titleist’s most popular offerings and explore which manufacturers are making a ball that is similar or perhaps even better than these perennial favorites.