By John Strege

TourCaddie obviously is not a caddie per se. But what it is is an iPhone app that has the ability to perform some of the same functions as a caddie does, and it fits in your pocket.

"It's very similar to what the professional golfer experiences," Craig Prichard, president of Shotzoom, a licensee of PGA Tour, Inc., and the company that produced the app. "The inspiration behind it is that it's an advanced yardage book, customizable the way pros customize their yardages books and collect information."

The basic app, which is free, includes a GPS rangefinder, providing yardages to the front, middle and back of greens on more than 40,000 courses. It also provides aerial images of the holes and can help the golfer collect statistical data -- fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts -- and take photos and notes for future reference on how to play the holes.

But it's the paid upgrade ($29.99 for an annual subscription to the TourCaddie Pro) that allows the user to garner the full potential of the app and its caddie functions.

In addition to providing the basic yardages, it also offers yardages to hazards and other targets on each hole, club recommendations based on the user's tracking his shots over time, and the ability to zoom in on targets to gather more pre-shot information.

A second paid upgrade ($9.99 for an annual subscription to TourAcademy) provides access to a library of videos with tips and drills to help the golfer with various aspects of their game.

Shotzoom is the company that also produced the Golfplan with Paul Azinger and Tiger Woods: My Swing apps.

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By John Strege

Have you ever given much thought to what a putter grip might do to improve your putting stroke? Probably not, but Bernerd Garsen has, and he has taken what he learned and started a putter grip company.

Garsen Golf will soon introduce the G-Pro Edge grip that Garsen says can help. The difference in his grip is that the top is an inverted V shape, putting the hands in a neutral position by placing one thumb on each side of the grip. This in turn, he said, pulls the elbows in closer to the body, pushes the shoulders back and removes tension.

"I was an assistant golf pro, and just by working with people and being around golf, I saw that people had a lot of wrist breakdown," Garsen said, explaining why he set out to reinvent the putter grip. "The putter grip hasn't been changed in ages except for size and material. This is a new shape, a new design."

He has been introducing the grips to tour players recently and said two on the Champions Tour put the grips into play last week at the Principal Charity Classic. Moreover, two prominent teaching pros, Mike Bender and Mike Shannon, "are both promoting it," Garsen said.

The grips will come in eight colors and retail for $22.95. Over-sized grips also will become available. "Received the sample of the G-Pro MAX semi jumbo grip. Watch out Super Stroke were going to take over," Garsen Golf's Twitter feed stated. SuperStroke produces the over-sized putter grips that has gained wide acceptance on the PGA Tour.

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By John Strege

Jack Nicklaus is more than just a winner of 18 major championships and the unofficial reigning greatest player in history. He also is a conglomerate.

There is Golden Bear Lemonade, Nicklaus Travel, Jack Nicklaus Wines, Jack Nicklaus Signature Collection golf shoes, Jack Nicklaus Pens, Jack Nicklaus Apparel, Jack Nicklaus Art & Memorabilia, Golden Bear Realty and Nicklaus Golf Academies, among other products and services.

His latest venture is Jack Nicklaus Signature Eyewear and Golden Bear Sunglasses. Nicklaus has licensed PeakVision, with its golf-sunglass technology, to design and promote the products. There is a philanthropic angle to this venture, too; a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation.

There are six models in both the Signature and the Golden Bear collections. They went on sale this week at the Memorial Tournament that Nicklaus hosts at his Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Prescription models also will be available.

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By John Strege

More history no doubt will have been written by the time one consumes all the information in a new iPad app, "Golf History with Peter Alliss."

This app spans the game from Mary Queen of Scots and her passion for golf in the 1500s to Bobby Jones' grand slam in 1930. The basic app is free, though to realize its full potential, in-app purchases are available, including those detailing the U.S. Open. the Open Championship and the Roots of American Golf. A value pack unlocking all content is available for $9.99, a modest price to pay, it seems, for so much history..

The app, narrated by the English broadcaster, former professional golfer and World Golf Hall of Fame member Peter Alliss, features more than 500 historical photographs, more than 400 stories about the game and many of its personalities, and more than 100 videos.

It features a keyword search and the ability to share images on social networks and via email. Museum-quality archival prints of the photographs can be ordered, too.

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By John Strege

Golf's color revolution, launched to a large degree by Rickie Fowler and his Sunday Oklahoma State orange wardrobes, has seeped into other products, including clubs (Cobra Golf woods and irons and Nike woods), balls (Volvik) and gloves (G/Fore).

So why not push carts? Bag Boy is offering three limited-edition colors of its popular Quad push cart -- pink (shown here), orange and lime green.

"By adding a few of this year's trendy colors to the line, we feel it gives our customer a broader selection," Craig Ramsbottom, president of Bag Boy parent company Dynamic Brands, said in a news release.

The Quad was introduced in 2011 and has a four-wheel platform to improve stability on hills. It has a simple two-step folding process that makes it compact to assist in handling and storing in a trunk. Its retail price is $219.95.

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By John Strege

Those who have been to Houston in the summer understand the quest to find relief from the oppressive heat and humidity, even on the golf course. They then would also understand why the PGF Personal Golf Fan was conceived by an area resident.

"Back in February '09 -- February normally is still considered winter -- it was a hot day," the inventor, Cynthia Wark, said. "I thought, if it's hot in February what's it going to be like in September? Why couldn't there be a fan blowing on you?"

Wark is a resident of the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston, and is an avid golfer, a member of two clubs, the Club at Carlton Woods and Woodlands Country Club. She hired a patent attorney, found nothing else out there like the fan she was looking for and designed one herself.

The PGF was designed to fit into the cup holder of a golf cart and has an angle adjustment so that the fan can be directed in the proper direction. It was also designed with quality in mind, including a lithium-ion battery that can be charged up to 2,000 times, the company claims. It will run 6 1/2 hours on normal speed and three hours, 45 minutes on high speed. It has a brushless ball-bearing motor that the company says will last for more than 10,000 hours.

"It's a high-quality fan," Wark said. "There's nothing out there like it."

This is more than simply her own opinion. The PGF earned the Pinnacle Award at the PGA Merchandise Show in January. The Pinnacle Award recognizes "the broadest range of efforts by the inventor. From design, market research, sales, fulfillment, manufacturing and quality."

"I had confirmation I had a good product," she said of the award "The judges thought it was a good idea."

The PGF, which will have a price of $199.99, is expected to be available in June and can be purchased through the website.

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By John Strege

The proliferation of apps designed to help golfers with their swings often require video of those swings, which in turn usually requires someone to man the video device.

Rokform, though not a golf company, has developed two products that will enable golfers to use their smart phones to take video of themselves, eliminating the need for a second person.

The latest is the v3 Golf Shooter Lite, a less expensive version ($59) of its original v3 Golf Shooter ($129). The Golf Shooter Lite comes with a mountable phone case (the one shown here is for an iPhone 5), a pole (that can double as an alignment stick) that sticks in the ground and tripod adapter that allows the use of most standard tripods instead of the fiberglass pole.

Simply attach your phone to the pole, stick the pole in the ground behind where you'll be swinging (or face on), hit the record button, then go hit balls.

The more expensive Golf Shooter is a fancier version that includes what resembles a golf shaft with a grip, with the phone attached at the end of the grip. It comes with a protective bag that resembles a headcover.

The v2 Golf Shooters were the brainchild of Jeff Whitten, CEO of Two Brothers Racing, which makes exhaust systems for motorcycles. Whitten is an avid golfer, a member of Mission Viejo (Calif.) Country Club, who carries a 9.7 handicap index.

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By John Strege

Alignment aids are an important consideration in putters and adjustability is the order of the day in golf equipment. A new putter company, Brex Golf, has addressed both issues with the introduction of its first putter, the BG-1.

Brex Golf offers a complete package, which includes three hosel choices (with shafts) -- straight, offset and face-balanced -- that require only an Allen wrench to change. The consumer has the option of keeping all three or testing them, keeping the one they prefer and selling the other two back to the company.

"The modular design made sense, to be able to build the putter exactly the way you like it," Brett Burdick, the founder of the company, said. "Try them all and keep the one you like."

The alignment aid comes in a half-pipe that is exactly the width of the ball and comes with a center line. When the golfer's eyes are directly over the ball, the line appears straight. If they aren't over the ball, the center line appears curved.

"It's really natural, very intuitive," Burdick said. "It gets your eyes over the ball."

The putter head is CNC milled from 303 stainless steel, while the half-pipe is milled aluminum.

Burdick is an electrical engineer by trade, with an affinity for art. "Art's always been a big part of what I've done," he said. "So I've naturally been into design. Probably 20, 25 years ago, I designed a putter, had it machined and contacted some manufacturers."

He never actually showed it to manufacturers, he said, from a concern that his design might be appropriated without his receiving compensation for it.

"I've always just had that idea for a putter in the back of my head," he said. "Just in the last last couple years, I said I want to do what I want to do, be in a business with something I'm passionate about."

For now, the putter is available only at the website, at $299 for one with a single hosel, and $475 for the complete package with the option of selling back two of the hosels. It also has a return policy that allows trying the putter. "We will refund the full amount if the putter is returned in new and unused condition within 30 days," the policy states.

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By Jeff Patterson

Admittedly, I've gone ape over Gorilla Gold, a $5 towel that adds tackiness to your grips. At the national golf writers' tournament, it poured so hard that by the second tee, my rain gloves were too saturated to be effective. In desperation, I dug into my bag for this USGA-approved towel. It's coated with a nontoxic sticky substance -- like pine tar but without the mess, as the company says. Just rub it on your grips and gloves as needed.

The three-pars, one-birdie start at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club had me in contention, and I could swing as if it were a regular day. Though the tournament director called play, I kept going. Unlike everyone else, I could still hold onto a club. No question, this accessory is better than an umbrella.

By John Strege

The minimalist running shoe movement that began as a means of replicating running barefoot already had been adapted to golf shoes, but Puma has attempted to advance the concept with its introduction of what it calls "the lightest shoe in golf."

The Faas Lite Mesh, a spikeless shoe designed to be worn "from the street to the course," weighs in at 6.5 ounces. It features zero heel-to-toe drop, similar to the bare foot.

Though it is without spikes, the Faas Lite Mesh does have traction elements that it calls SmartQuill technology to enhance stability. It also features corrugated flex grooves that allow the foot to move naturally.

Puma also is introducing the Faas Lite, a waterproof shoe that weights just 8.7 ounces. It, too, has zero heel-to-toe drop and SmartQuill technology.

Both models are offered in three colorways. The Faas Lite Mesh shown above is Brilliant Blue/Limeade.

There, too, are women's versions that are lighter yet -- 5.5 ounces in the Faas Lite Mesh, seven ounces in the Faas Lite.

The suggested retail price for the Faas Lite is $100 for the men's shoe, $90 for the women's shoe. The Faas Lite Mesh price is $90 for the men's shoe, $80 for the women's shoe.

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