John Holmes's blog

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.

U.S.

Callaway Golf debuted its RAZR Fit Xtreme Driver on Tuesday, billing it as the longest fully adjustable driver the company has ever measured. The Xtreme is the second adjustable driver Callaway has developed in the past year or so, following the original RAZR Fit Driver, and company officials say this one advances distance and overall performance over its predecessor.

The PGA Tour closed up its official ship for the year on Sunday at the Children’s Miracle Network Hopsitals Classic at Disney World. Charlie Beljan struck a blow for all of us anxiety-ridden golfers by winning the trophy despite suffering from severe symptoms of what he called a panic attack for the final three rounds. And Tim "Lumpy" Herron struck a blow for all of us not-so-svelte-anymore golfers by rallying to secure his playing privileges for 2013 by squeaking into the top 125 on the final money list.

We all think about – and thank – our men and women in uniform on Veterans’ Day, but the golf industry does a commendable job of supporting the military throughout the year, and you can help out at any time – including now.

Here are a few great golf organizations that support our military, and I encourage you to check them out:

PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has opened -- or should we say reopened -- the Fazio Course for play.

"The Fazio" is a complete renovation of "the Haig" -- PGA National's original 18-hole course, which opened in 1980. The Haig was designed by George and Tom Fazio in tribute to five-time PGA Championship winner Walter Hagen.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have shared golf's biggest stage for the last couple of years, and have played together several times in recent weeks. But until recently, they had never sat down for a joint interview.

They did just that before their 'Duel at Lake Jinsha' exhibition in China on Oct. 29. For its "Living Golf" program, CNN interviewed the game's top two players, who discussed everything from McIlroy's respect for Woods as a youngster to the current state of their competitive relationship.

It’s Friday, which means the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall," is now showing at a theater near you. As far as I know, this one doesn’t have any golf scenes, but the release of every new Bond film automatically reminds me of "Goldfinger," the 1964 film in which our hero Bond plays the villainous Auric Goldfinger in one of the great golf matches ever filmed.