John Holmes's blog

What does the recent national election mean for the golf industry? Robert Helland, an adviser with the law firm Reed Smith and lobbyist for the Golf Course Superintents Association of America, recently offered his analysis to the GCSAA.

Rory McIlroy has used Titleist clubs since he turned pro five years ago and achieved so much at such a young age. He'll use them for the last time this week, when he plays the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, but he says he’s not worried about switching to a new brand starting next season.

Graeme McDowell has gotten engaged to his long-time girlfriend Kristin Stape, he announced on Wednesday in Dubai.

G-Mac took Stape up to the helipad – 656 feet off the ground – at the spectacular Burj al-Arab Hotel in Dubai to propose two weeks ago, he said, then played the Australian Masters before returning to Dubai for this week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship on the European Tour.

Rickie Fowler fans know that the kid loves motorcycles and fast cars almost as much as he loves golf. He even spent last weekend in Austin hanging out with the Red Bull folks at the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

With the arrival of Thanksgiving Week, golf season around much of the country is winding down -- or at least slowing down -- so it’s a good time to take a look at what kind of a year the industry is having.

This past week was a huge one around the world of golf, with star players like Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Henrik Stenson earning victories in all corners of the globe. It was an even bigger week for Titleist, which earned the very first victories for both its 2013-14 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls with a matter of hours of each other.

I’m not exactly sure where in the guidelines of golf etiquette this falls, but Ian Poulter and Adam Scott appeared to be engaging in a bit of good-natured ribbing during Saturday’s third round of the Australian Masters. Instead of trash-talking, though, they exchanged the kind of hand gestures we used to make as kids.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the entire golf industry should be giving thanks for some of the best news of the year – rounds play in 2012 are way up over last year.

Put this one down as a moving violation. After the second round of the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Titleholders on Friday, Belen Mozo tweeted that she’d received a two-stroke penalty for riding on the wrong shuttle.

Not only did Charlie Beljan overcome severe panic attack symptoms to earn his first PGA Tour victory at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic last Sunday, he also chalked up the first victory for the new 588 RTX CB wedges from Cleveland Golf. And in a case of perfect timing, these new wedges are officially hitting the stores on Friday.

The new wedges are the latest extension of Cleveland’s famed 588 line, and include the company's most advanced spin technology ever.