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Not only are we blessed with a south Mediterranean climate, but the southern interior of British Columbia boasts a plentiful collection of some of the Province’s finest golf courses and golf resorts.

From The Rise and Predator Ridge in Vernon, through the Kelowna area where one can enjoy wonderful golfing on Championship Golf Courses at Gallaghers Canyon, The Harvest and Quail Ridge through to the South Okanagan where Osoyoos on the US border offers some fine golfing which can last through the winter in some years where the weather is kind.

The selection of courses, playability and challenge all combine to offer the recreational or pro golfer, a golfing mecca in terms of the destination. Take in the views from the Ponderosa Golf Course in Peachland which offers constricted fairways to challenge your golf and stunning views on the back nine to relax you after losing a few balls in the rough. Take a trip back in time and enjoy the ambiance of playing through orchard country in Kelowna at The Harvest a fine golf course with dining to match. If you like heading down to Arizona but don’t have the budget, consider heading to Oliver and Osoyoos in the South Okanagan and enjoy some wonderful desert courses, but watch out for the cactus.

The Okanagan offers so much variety that many people end up moving to the area to develop their game in retirement.

Golf course communities include:

In Vernon, The Rise and Predator Ridge
In Kelowna, Tower Ranch, Black Mountain, Quail Ridge, Gallaghers Canyon, Shannon Lake, Vintage Hills
And in the South Okanagan a true snowbird destination at Spirit Ridge Resort with the nine hole Sonora Dunes golf course. A fine selection of properties and courses to challnege you in retirement years or simply for a vacation.

The Okanagan, like many resort areas has seen an influx of visitors and residents over the past several years, pushing housing prices higher and giving us a glimpse of the future as the Boomers move into their retirement years. Ample regional air service allows you to fly into Kelowna from Canadian and US destinations with ease and comfort and golfing starts only a short “chip” away from the airport at Quail Ridge. Later in 2008 the airport will be ready to accept international flights direct from Europe opening up the possibility for more travelers to enjoy this fine destination.

In terms of investing in real estate, the Okanagan is a place to keep your eye on. For many Canadian’s it has been a generational family holiday destination and many have pre-determined that this will also be their retirement community which is the reason for the addition of golf course communities in general. That pressure is leading developers to offer options in terms of ownership structures, from timeshare interests at Predator Ridge where you can accommodate the weeks vacation with some splendid golf through to fractional real estate at both Quail Ridge and Spirit Ridge which allows the more frequent traveler the ability to stay in fine luxury and experience Okanagan Golf several times a year. Fractional real estate is typically offered in a 1/4 interest format where you own a title to the property allowing you to use it with restrictions and sell freely on the real estate market. Okanagan fractions typically start at or around $100,000 per 1/4 interest.

For the retiree or permanent resident, the choice abounds for golf course living. Gallaghers Canyon, Quail Ridge, Shannon Lake, Tower Ranch, Black Mountain and others, offer everything from a $350,000 condo lifestyle through to a multi million dollar luxury estate home on the golf course. Often with extended golfing privileges as a resident in the community.

If you have not taken the time to visit the Okanagan, book a flight and come and see us. To break up the routine, the Okanagan offers some of the finest wine and vineyard tours in the country, you won’t be disappointed.

If you are considering a new set of irons for the 2010 golf season, there are some fantastic choices available from many of the leading brands and manufacturers. Let’s examine some of the options available this year from Callaway Golf, Nike Golf, Ping Golf, and Mizuno Golf. These companies have been among the leaders in quality and technology for the last few years and continue to provide outstanding golf clubs.

First, from Callaway Golf there are the new Diablo iron sets available in the Edge Irons series and the Forged Iron series. The Callaway Golf Diablo Edge is available in both men’s and women’s sizes and fall into the medium price range for golf club sets. The Edge series irons are reported to be long hitting without compromising feel or performance. The set can be customized by transitioning in hybrid golf clubs where you begin to struggle with the irons. For example, if you can hit a 5 iron solidly but struggle to hit the 4 or 3 irons consistently they will substitute hybrids for the longer irons for your set of golf clubs. Callaway’s Diablo Forged Irons have the same low and deep center of gravity, but are designed with a sleek top line, less offset, and narrower sole appealing to the avid golfer and lower handicap players.

Nike Golf is marketing the Victory Iron series and will also offer both a cavity back design and a forged blade iron. The Nike Victory Red TW Cavity Irons are designed with a mild offset and claim to put the center of gravity behind the sweet spot which will increase forgiveness. They also have a thin top line and a milled face for consistent ball flight. The Victory Red Forged Blade Irons are used my most of Nike Golf’s Tour players, and are designed for low handicap players and professionals. They incorporate the characteristics of traditional forged irons with a clean look. Feel, golf ball control, and workability are the focus for these performance oriented golf clubs.

Ping Golf clubs continue to provide an in depth custom-fitting experience for players of all levels. The G-15 Iron provides a high launching and forgiving design to help improve consistency. Further, the lofts are strengthened to produce longer shots without sacrificing a higher trajectory. For the higher handicap player, Ping Golf has introduced the Rapture V2 Irons. The Rapture has been designed with a steel body, titanium face, and tungsten weight in the sole to produce maximum forgiveness and a long and high ball flight.

Mizuno Golf continues to offer its vast number of MP Series Irons and MX Series Irons. The MP series, led by the new MP-57 Irons, are designed to provide solid feel and shot making ability. They achieve this in the MP-57 by using their proprietary ‘Grain Flow Forging’ with a cavity back design. This blend of technology is claimed to give the best of both worlds – feel of forged irons with the forgiveness of cavity back weight distribution. Mizuno Golf’s MX Series Irons introduce the new MX-1000, with Hot Metal and Hollow Technology construction. Mizuno Golf claims this is the longest and straightest iron they have ever developed, and industry news seems to back this claim up.

Enjoy the 2010 season, and your new set of irons!

This edition of the Golf Masters Tournament is currently set to start on April 7, 2011 in the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Prizes for competitors are still yet to be defined, however the 2010 edition had a total purse of $7.5 million. 2010 winner Phil Mickelson cashed in an official prize of $1,350,000.

Among the favorites to win the 2011 tournament are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.

Dustin Johnson

Odds: 20/1 (+2000) Implied probability = 4.76%

So far in 2010 Johnson has played a total of 23 events in the PGA Tour with a scoring average of 70.46 and total earnings of $4.4 million. He’s fifth in the FedEx Cup with 2,493 points. His best result in the Masters was T30 in 2009.

Rory McIlroy

Odds: 15/1 (+1500) Implied probability = 6.25%

This Irish golfer has played in 16 PGA events this year with a scoring average of 70.94 and total earnings so far of $2.5 million. He stands 36th in the FedEx Cup with 1,489 points. His best result in the Masters was T20 in 2009.

Phil Mickelson

Odds: 7/1 (+700) Implied probability = 12.50%

Mickelson has participated in 20 events so far in 2010 and a scoring average of 70.34, cashing $3.8 million. The three time Masters winner (2004, 2006 and 2010) is 13th in the FedEx Cup with 843 points.

Tiger Woods

Odds: 5/1 (+500) Implied probability = 16.67%

After his personal problems, Woods has only played in 12 PGA events so far in 2010. Woods’ scoring average stands at 71.07. His total earnings rank in the $1.2 million range. He’s 42nd in the FedEx Cup with 1,300 points. Tiger Woods has won the Masters Tournament in 4 occasions 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005.

The following is a list of other wagering odds to win the 2011 Masters Tournament. These odds are subject to variations.

Lee Westwood 20/1 (+2000)
Martin Kaymer 25/1 (+2500)
Anthony Kim 25/1 (+2500)
Padraig Harrington 25/1 (+2500)
Ernie Els 30/1 (+3000)

When The R&A announced they were implementing a restriction on the volume and sharpness of grooves to place greater emphasis on accuracy over power, manufacturers were being asked to take a step into the unknown. Predicting the impact of the rule on trends within the market both before and after its implementation was virtually impossible.

So while some manufacturers have urged customers to stock up on high-spinning wedges, Ping’s approach has been to introduce their new, conforming design sooner rather than later, so here they are-Ping’s new Tour-S wedges.

Ever since the new rule was announced, Ping’s engineers have stressed that there is more to wedge performance than just spin. Indeed, the grooves in their popular, previous design, the Tour-W, did not reach the boundaries of the old limitations. So while some manufacturers emphasised the benefits of spin, Ping worked hard to balance this crucial element with the other performance attributes of feel, workability and even forgiveness.

Ping says this means the drop-off in the levels of spin between the old Tour-W and the new Tour-S wedges will not be as pronounced as with some other popular designs. Add to this the precisely machined face of the new model and the spin created should be more consistent for better overall distance control.

The other main talking point here is the stunning new rustique finish.This has been designed to weather naturally overtime, providing a textured finish that has always proved popular among lower handicap golfers. Indeed the rustique finish drew plenty of attention from all corners of the Golf Monthly office when it first arrived!

Interestingly, Ping has also announced it will re-launch the iconic Eye 2 sand wedge. The newXC version will feature the extreme perimeter weighting and classic design that made the old Eye2 wedge so popular. I will, of course, provide a full test report soon.

First of all you should know that when term iron is used in concerning the golf it means the metal blade (or head) attached to the golf stick. Selecting the right golf irons is considered as the basic step towards improvement of game. These golf irons are available in different sizes and finishes. You can choose golf iron according to you style.

Primarily golf irons comes in two finishes namely metal finish and satin finish. You may find a rare golf iron with Fly Yellow finish. Pressure casting method is used for manufacturing these golf irons. The golf irons are made up of soft metals. Some manufacturers prefer to couple these soft metals with steel shafts which according to them provide excellent results. The propriety of forgiveness is considered as a quality of good golf iron. This property gives you an advantage to hit the golf club without change in direction or vibration. Let us elaborate on the different types of golf irons.

o Gun Metal finish Golf Irons: These are considered to be the best golf irons. These gun metal finish golf irons posses the propriety of Ion plasma. This plasma finish enable the golf iron to gain finish level as less as .03 microns. These gun metal finish golf irons are usually hand crafted and give improved performance and great feelings while playing with it.

o The latest and rarer version of yellow finish golf iron also posses all properties of other gun metal golf irons and is manufactured through pressure cast method. However, it is said that these yellow finish golf irons gives slippery feeling that results in reducing drag. You must understand that this yellow finish is not a coating of surface. The yellow finish completely immerses into cast metal and is long lasting. Playing with these yellow finish golf irons will surely add to your pleasure of playing golf.

o Satin finish golf irons are considered to be traditional. These are also manufactured through pressure cast method. It is considered that making these satin finish golf irons makes them consistent than that of forged club heads. Satin finish golf irons also has all properties of gun metal golf irons.

o Mid-size Golf Irons: As is suggestive from the nomenclature, these golf irons are neither too short nor too big. These mid-size golf irons consists of thin top line which is considered to be designed especially for professional golfers. Perimeter weighting is the primary quality of these golf irons. This quality provides forgiveness without conceding feel and distance. It is considered very useful in club head control and greater speed of swing owing to lighter swing weight. This is also helpful in producing click impact as mid-size irons have a slight offset which helps in keeping your hand in front of club. Generally, these mid-size golf irons are available in gun metal finish.

o Oversize Golf Iron: These golf irons are produced with stainless steel. They posses a wider top line. Oversize golf irons are little more offset than the other type of cavity back golf irons. Oversize golf irons are designed keeping the high handicap and mid handicap professional golfers in view. These are considered useful in hitting the golf ball high in the air. These oversize golf irons facilitates you in hitting the ball at longer distance with greater accuracy. Oversize golf irons are mainly available in Graphite and Steel shafts.

Selecting a right golf putter is equally important in improving your game. Golf putters is an aspect of concern for all golfers. Selection of golf putter depends on your personal choice of weight, look and style. Golf putter are available in different specification. Cobra, Ping, Yes Putters, McGregor, Odyssey and Callaway are some popular names of manufacturers of golf putters.