Golf can be tough, anyone who’s ever picked up a club can tell you that. Heck, even professionals struggle every once in a while. And when things take a turn for the worse on the golf course, sometimes the only medicine for a sickly-struck shot is a “gently” tossed club.

We’ve talked about miracles on the green before – in this blog where we talked about one-in-a-million shots made by our favourite pro golfers. But then we decided – why not look further into those odds? For example, a PGA Tour Pro’s chances for a hole in one is about 1 in 3000, while an average players odds are more to the tune of one in 12,000. Further investigation revealed some pretty amazing golf feats that definitely beat the odds – by both pros and the amateurs.

We’ve talked about miracles on the green before – in this blog where we talked about one-in-a-million shots made by our favourite pro golfers. But then we decided – why not look further into those odds? For example, a PGA Tour Pro’s chances for a hole in one is about 1 in 3000, while an average players odds are more to the tune of one in 12,000. Further investigation revealed some pretty amazing golf feats that definitely beat the odds – by both pros and the amateurs.

10 Books Every Golfer Should Have on Their Bookshelf! During the off-season, when I’m trapped indoors by literal mountains of snow and rampaging polar bears, I like to read. Of course I like to read about golf, because I’m a sucker for self-punishment and there’s no other way to torture yourself than by reading about something that you can’t do for another five months. So here they are – twelve books (in no particular order) that every golfer should have on their bookshelf for those rainy (or snowy!) days.

One of the great things about our golf game and the English language is that both are constantly evolving. New shots, new tricks, new highs, and new lows are just some of the ways we see our golf game change over the years. Luckily enough, new slang words are always being invented in order to better describe our game. Below are some of the old favorites on the green, and some new ones you might not have heard of before. Avoid The Sclaff 1.) That moment when you strike the ground before making contact with the ball? It’s called a “sclaff”. Coincidentally, it’s also the strangled noise I make when I hit a water hazard. It’s usually followed by an awful lot of yelling. (original image found here)

When Happy Gilmore first hit theatres, he amused us with his whacky, profanity laden outbursts and his tendency to break equipment. While the casual observer might write the game of golf off as a stuffy old game, the true golfers among us know that it is a game of passion, and like any passion the emotions associated with the commitment to the game can be a little….tumultuous to say the least. So it’s no surprise that some of our favourite (and not so favourite…) pro golfers occasionally take a leaf out of Happy’s book and go on mini-rampages when the game doesn’t quite go their way. So here they are – ten times the game of golf was “livened” up by pro golfers acting out.

There’s the lucky ball, the lucky socks, and the lucky club. There are superstitious rules for golfing – never use a red tee (on the chance you might anger a runaway bull), don’t use water balls on holes with water hazards (like attracts like, obviously), and don’t wash off a ball that’s been giving you some great rounds (it’s clearly got a clear veneer of awesome on it). Sports superstitions aren’t exactly news – they’ve been around for as long as the game has been played, and many people believe that having positive superstitions improves your game. I agree - peace of mind means a piece of cake, or so I keep telling myself when I tape four leaf clovers all over myself in the vain attempt to lower my score. But what you might not know is that you are not alone in your golf superstitions – even the pros have their version of the playoff beard. Here are some golf superstitions held by some of your favorite pros, pictured below with their trophies – maybe adopting one would help improve your game? You’ll never know until you try.

“I haven't looked for a golf ball since mulligans were free, which was a law I passed in 1995.” - Dan Jenkins (an American author and golf journalist). For those in the business of operating a golf venue, there is profit on the green, in the rough, and in ponds. A staggering 300 million golf balls are lost by golfers every year. As a result, millions of dollars are lost as well. Every make and condition can be found when retrieving abandoned golf balls. From high-end Titleist Pro V1 to lesser-known brands, banged up pretty badly or in mint condition. Recycling, reconditioning and reselling used balls is estimated as a $200 million per year enterprise. Recycled golf balls--or “pond balls” as they are sometimes called--sell at a range from as little as 25 cents per ball to as much as $3 each for high-end brands in excellent condition. Golf courses that send their retrieved balls to LostGolfBalls.com can take advantage of this revenue stream.

While the average male golfer is capable of a maximum drive just over 300 yards, top hitters like Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods routinely exceed 350 yards in their PGA prime. Last year’s winner of the Masters Tournament, Bubba Watson, currently holds the record for the longest drive in a PGA Tour event at an extraordinary 424 yards.