Golfers, particularly the elite ones on the professional tour, are finicky about their equipment, including balls, so it’s always interesting when one of them decides to switch brands. The most recent example is Sergio Garcia, the spectacular Spaniard who last year won the Masters. It officially ended the albatross he carried around as the best player on the PGA Tour not to win a Major. It also was a year in which he married. But for more than just his historic win and his marriage, Garcia made news in October, 2017 when it was announced he was ending a 15-year partnership with manufacturer TaylorMade in what was to become a move to Callaway early in 2018.

Image Credit: Golf Digest Golfers are always experimenting to improve their game, but when the top-ranked professional women’s player in the world does it, well, that’s quite unusual and people take notice. So when Lydia Ko played for the first time in 2017 in the Australian Open, a tournament in which she has had considerable success in the past, and finished tied for 46th, it only underlined some of the decisions – and the criticisms – the 19-year made in the last few months.

With the thermometer plunging below freezing in most parts of the country, golf season has come to a screeching halt. But maybe you are one of those brave souls for whom temperature is just a number. If you’re going to brave the elements then it is important to be prepared. Here are five tips to help you stay warm and have fun during your winter round.

After a nearly 16 month absence – which included two back surgeries – Tiger Woods finally made his return to competitive golf this past weekend at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. While much of the golf world was giddy with excitement as the most dominant golfer in history got back on the course, his performance was not quite “vintage Tiger”. However, there were glimpses of the game that once launched Tiger to superstardom to go along with the reminders that he is, and may never be, quite what he once was. With that being said, we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of Tiger’s comeback.

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.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to a golf game a few days ago – it had to be called off because of rain. In one of the hottest and driest summers on record, I just happened to pick a day in which it rained. On the one hand, I felt disappointed because if you’re a golfer there’s nothing worse than getting excited about getting out on the course, only to find out rain ruins it. As bad as I felt about having to take a rain check, I also felt good because I have to believe it has been a trying season for golf course operators, who have probably had to work extra hard to prevent their courses from drying up. There’s only so much sprinkling you can do.

You can say Inbee Park won the gold medal in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, but really the biggest winner was women’s golf. On the biggest and most important stage in the world, the women aced it – literally and metaphorically. Park, the 28-year-old from South Korea who earlier this year met the criteria for the World Golf Hall of Fame, was a well-deserving winner, trouncing the field by five strokes and a score of 16-under-par.

For the all the hubbub controversy about problems heading into the 2016 Olympic Games, the return of golf turned out to be fantastic. It came down to a thrilling finale in the 72-hole tournament that, in the end, proved to be memorable for the players, some of whom declared after it was over about how much the experience meant to them personally and professionally.

In just a few days the world’s best golfers will compete at the Olympics for the first time since 1904. By the end of the weekend, there will be a new Olympic gold medalist in men’s golf for the first time since Canadian George Lyon claimed the title at Glen Echo Country Club 112 years ago. The question is, who will it be? Though some players have decided to stay home, the field competing in Rio will be one of the strongest of the year. That is why today we make our bets on the top-four most likely to find on the podium and what ball they’ll be using in their quest for gold.