Shopping For Golf Nuts

Anyone who enjoys golf is a fantastic person for whom to buy gifts. The huge range of golf merchandise out there on the market compares very favorably with just about every other sport. There are clubs, bags, balls and tees for a start, but these really do scratch the surface of what you can give a keen golfer for a birthday, Christmas or anniversary present. The only limit seems to be your imagination. The best presents are often the most personal ones – so give a little thought to what the golfer in your life would like to receive.

Joke presents are a very popular niche, and can make for the most memorable presents. Many people find that the old jokes – like the exploding golf ball – are the best, as they can be given completely straight-faced as a “little token present” and when used on the golf course or driving range will suddenly do the job they were meant to do, much to the amusement of all concerned.

Then again, there are several pieces of golf merchandise that can enable the keen golfer to get a little nostalgia or experience the greatest moments, the best courses, and the finest players in golf history. A video game, for example, lets them pit their wits against the best golfers in the world on the most testing courses of all. A DVD will let them see how the top players have managed to build their game, and can even give them some tips on how to get the best swing. Finally, a few books on golfing tips can be invaluable to someone who takes their game very seriously.

A Last Resort?

One thing that can be said for golf is that it has a ready-attached leisure sector to make sure that once you’re off the course, the fun doesn’t need to stop. The clubhouse – often referred to as “the 19th hole” by golfers keen to distract attention from the fact that they are planning to drink hard liquor – is part of golfing tradition. The most popular sporting breaks – at least for participants – are either skiing holidays or golf breaks, but golf surely has the head start because there are more countries with golf courses than with mountain ranges. Some of the world’s best sporting breaks can be had at golf resorts.

Good golf resorts will have a lot more to them than the golf course. Remember, you may well need to persuade an entire family to come with you on this holiday, so the fact that most come with an attached spa is good for those purposes, as is the fact that there are countless leisure activities that the children can partake in. The modern golf resorts do take account of the fact that there will be families visiting, and are often built close to the nearest city, which allows easy transport from the resort to the shopping centers.

The location of the best golf resorts depends a great deal on what the visitor is hoping for from their golf break. Some of the better courses may well be found some distance away from the best entertainment sectors – but any resourceful golfer will find a way to enjoy the best in golf and the best nightlife.

The Right Shoes With The Right Outfit?

There is probably a very long and very pointless conversation to be had about the footwear that differentiates the most popular sports. You could not take to the basketball court in football cleats, and if you tried playing baseball in tennis shoes you would find it pretty agitating. So what about golf shoes? Are they in a league of their own? Some people would say that looking at a golf professional’s outfit makes it hard to really care about the shoes, when the trousers are so awful – but the shoes need to be right too, and they are subtly individualized for their sport.

The shoes worn by golfers have small spikes on the soles, which are not dissimilar to the cleats found on the soles of football shoes. These are there for reasons of traction, allowing you to get good grip on the ground when you are preparing to hit a shot. The reason that the spikes are so much smaller than football cleats is because much of the game of golf is spent on the green trying to putt. If you walked on the green in football shoes, the surface would be destroyed in no time at all.

Cheap golf shoes are easy to find on the Internet if you know where to look. The best shoes will last for some considerable time, and will stay comfortable even over the five to six miles you can easily walk during a typical game of golf – longer if you keep driving into the rough.