HILUXURY – Hawaii Luxury Magazine

Photo courtesy Greg Norman CollectionGreg Norman CollectionGreg Norman Collection

Greg Norman Collection
V-Neck Argyle cashmere sweater
Lattice skort

Photo courtesy Nike Golf

Mens Nike Golf Argyle Polo

Photo courtesy TaylorMade

Featherweight Monza Carry Bag

Photo courtesy TaylorMade

TaylorMade Burner Rescue High Launch

Photo courtesy Sun Mountain

Club Glider Rolling Travel Bag

Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift for that golfing fanatic spouse of yours? Here are a few personal suggestions.

For a great read, buy The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever, by Mark Frost. This book recounts the famous match between two young hotshot amateurs, Ken Venturi and Harvey Ward, against the top two professionals of the day, Hall of Fame legends Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. Like all great matches, it ultimately comes down to the 18th hole, but you’ll need to read it to find out who wins.

For the golfer who loves to travel but hates lugging their clubs through the airport, the perfect gift is the new Club Glider Rolling Travel Bag by Sun Mountain – the next evolution in travel bags. With retractable wheel supports, it eliminates the strain on shoulders and backs, saving them for the golf course!

For the fashionable golfer, give the gift of argyle. Chic and sophisticated, this trend in golf wear can be seen in apparel from Nike to the Greg Norman Collection.

Golf is best played walking, and Taylor-Made has just unveiled a new Featherweight Monza Carry Bag which, as the name implies, is one of the lightest-weight bags on the market. Designers were able to remove more than a pound, yet increase the storage capacity in certain pockets by more than 25 percent to provide the golfer with a bag rich in storage, yet lighter than the previous Monza model. The bonus is that by encouraging walking, this gift saves a few pounds around the middle as well!

One of the very best things you can do for your favorite golfer this Christmas is actually to take something from them – take out their 3-, 4-and 5-irons from their bag and replace them with hybrid clubs. The bestselling hybrid on the market continues to the be the TaylorMade Rescue clubs which, as the name implies, help save golfers from the nasty lies they oftentimes find themselves in. These versatile clubs also allow the player to hit the ball much higher from the fairway than with long irons, which is perfect for approach shots into firm greens. The top of the line is the TaylorMade Burner Rescue High Launch, which is even more forgiving and more workable than the original Rescue clubs.

For the ultimate gift, if money’s no object, first find one of those really tacky golf picture frames and put that under the tree. When they start whining about what a poor gift you got them, then you can surprise them with a fantasy golf experience – a round of golf with one of the best players in the world.

Right after Christmas, the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and LPGA Tour all visit Hawaii to start off their seasons. Prior to each tournament, there is a pro-am event on Wednesday, where for a tidy sum of cash, four or five amateurs get to play with a selected Tour professional.

The season opening event for the PGA Tour is the Sony Open in Hawaii, held at Waialae Country Club from Jan. 12 to 18, featuring Anthony Kim and Camillo Villegas.

If your spouse would rather play with the girls, then check out the SBS Open when the LPGA kicks off its season at Turtle Bay on the North Shore of Oahu, Feb. 9-14. Don’t be fooled into thinking the girls will be any less intimidating than the guys to play with, however. They want to win just as badly as their male counterparts.

The best tip I have for someone playing in a pro-am is to not over-train – the worst thing you can do is to go out the week before, take several lessons from your local pro and then bang out thousands of balls on the range. This will take a lot of personal discipline to remember that you are not Vijay Singh, who practices like this week after week. I would actually recommend you do see your local PGA pro – but strictly for a tune-up lesson to check your fundamentals. This does not mean trying to make a radical swing change the week before your big day. Spend time around the putting green hitting some chips and putts, simply working on your feel. Better to go in full of energy and confidence than worn out and trying to remember 10 new swing thoughts.

Finally, the best tip may come from former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi, who was a veteran of many first-tee shots during major pro-am tournaments. He shared with me his secret when he knew the cameras were on him: “Regardless of where the ball goes, make sure you hold your pose and follow through just like a pro would on a 300-yard drive straight down the middle. Hold that pose until they’ve taken your picture.” You may have hit a weak banana ball into the trees, but history will only record a photo of what looks to be a perfect tee shot – great to go into that tacky golf picture frame. r