Now rain wear doesn’t often rank on a golfer’s priority list. Even if you remember to bring rain gear to the course, it’s wrinkled from the golf bag, in addition to being dirty, stained, ugly and out-of-date.

In order to prepared for the upcoming spring golf season, you should consider updating your rain gear, and here are a few necessary items:

Golf umbrella: You will need an umbrella that’s big enough to not only cover you and your clubs, especially when you walk when you play golf. Look for an umbrella that has built-in wind vents. Otherwise, a strong gust of wind will break your umbrella or it may fly out of your hands altogether. The GustBuster Proseries Gold 62-Inch Golf Umbrella gets rave reviews from Amazon customers.

Shoes: Look for waterproof golf shoes that have a 3 year warranty. If the warranty on your shoes is expired, it’s time to get new shoes. You should also bring an additional pair of shoes to rotate, and remember to stuff them with newspaper to allow proper drying between rounds.

Gloves: Get golf gloves that are specifically designed for playing in the rain. Traditional leather gloves can be slick in the rain, and the opposite is true for rain golf gloves, the wetter they get, the more they grip the club.

Outwear: Check your rain suit for a couple of things. One, the rain suit should provides proper insulation, in order to properly retain your own body heat. It should also be able to open so if it warms up, to let your excess body heat escape. The rain suit should have a larger chest in order to accommodate your swing. Now, the last thing you want to do is disturb your golf partner with a noisy rain suit, so be sure to test for noise. Also check the cuffs on the pants of the rain suit and be sure they fit over your golf shoes.

Headwear: In a brutal rain and wind, you can lose 30% of your body heat through your head. Pick a hat made of polyester, wool or acrylic knits that will continue to stay warm when wet. For comfort, check the lining for non-itch materials.

Don’t let the rain dampen your golf game and get prepared with the proper rain gear and watch your golf game soar.

General guides to golfing in Ireland
If you want to get to know a little more about what Ireland’s golf courses have to offer or you’re looking for a good golf gift, general guides are the way to go. Two of the top picks are Links of Heaven: A Complete Guide to Golf Journeys in Ireland by Richard Phinney and Scott Whitley and Where Golf is Great: The Finest Courses of Scotland and Ireland by James W. Finegan. Both take you on an in-depth tour of Ireland’s best courses. For a more down-to-Earth guide that will give you the straight facts about Irish golf’s good, bad and ugly, try Golfing in Ireland: The Most Complete Guide for Adventurous Golfers by Rob Armstrong.

The human side of Irish golf
For fans of Irish golf who want more than an overview of popular golf courses, there are several books that focus on the history and personalities of golf in Ireland. The best seller in this category is The Book of Irish Golf by John Redmond. This book takes readers from the earliest days of golf right up to modern times, introducing dozens of influential Irish golfers along the way.

Personal stories
Not all books on Ireland’s golf personalities focus on the famous, though. Ancestral Links: A Golf Obsession Spanning Generations by John Garrity is a particularly personal take on one Irish family’s connection to the ancient game of golf. Another well illustrated book with plenty of personal commentary is Emerald Fairways and Foam-Flecked Seas: A Golfer’s Pilgrimage to the Courses of Ireland by James W. Finegan.

Irish golf vacation planning
Planning a golf trip to Ireland or looking for something to wrap up with those tickets you bought? If so, Emerald Greens: The Essential Guide to Golf Vacations in Ireland is the perfect choice. This guide provides thorough, detailed information on both popular courses and little known treasures waiting to be discovered, all with the golf traveler’s needs in mind. There are even sightseeing tips for non-golfing partners, including where to find great Irish food, music, and cultural sights near each course.

Golfing in Ireland is an experience no golf lover should have to miss. If taking a trip to the Emerald Isle isn’t in your plans for the near future though, picking up a few good books on the subject is a way to learn more about Irish golf and take at least an armchair tour of the courses.

So the weather outside is preventing you from hitting the links and you have decided to take in a good golf movie to pass the time. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the better golf movies available on DVD right now. You can rent these movies or buy a copy for your own DVD libary at Amazon.

• Tin Cup: This golf movie starring Kevin Costner was blasted by the critics for its lack of imagination as a sports movie but, if you like a good rags to riches golf story, then this movie is right up your alley. Both Kevin Costner and Don Johnson give excellent performances and, in the end, you may even find yourself cheering a little.
• Caddyshack: If you are a weekend golfer then you will roll on the floor laughing at just about every joke in this movie. Rodney Dangerfield is his usual hilarious self and Chevy Chase plays cool and funny at the same time. If you have not seen this one yet then do yourself a favor and rent it today.
• Happy Gilmore (Widescreen Special Edition): Whether you like Adam Sandler, or don’t like him, you will love Happy Gilmore. The story of a failed hockey player turned pro golfer to save Grandma’s house is a comedy classic and well worth the rental.
• Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius: If you don’t know the story of Bobby Jones, and you are a golfer, then this movie is a must see. It is hard to have a real appreciation for what Bobby Jones went through to become a professional golfing legend until you have seen it portrayed in this movie.
• The Legend of Bagger Vance: Will Smith has a knack for turning in golden performances for movies that are poorly written and this is one of them. I know it seems odd for me to say that this is a poorly written movie but yet still recommend it but in order to understand what I mean you will have to see it for yourself. There is something about Smith’s performance, and the chemistry between Smith and Matt Damon, that make this movie very entertaining.
• The Greatest Game Ever Played: This movie is my personal favorite. It’s the story of Francis Ouimet, a caddy who became the US Open Champion at the age of 20 in 1913.
  In typical Disney fashion this is a feel good movie about the triumph of the underdog. The story below the surface is about golf in the early days. It’s amazing to see how good these golfers were given with the equipment used.

The nice thing about these movies is that you don’t have to be a golfer to enjoy them. So make popcorn and gather the family for a few hours of guaranteed entertainment.

Google Video has over 700+ golf videos online and most of them are free.

They range from goofy home-spun stunt videos to not so subtle commercials (local link) to useful training videos from experts.

In order to view them you will need:

• PC with Windows 2000 or XP or Mac with OS 10.3
• A recent vintage browser IE 5+, Firefox, Safari
• Flash 7 player from Macromedia — it’s free
• Broadband connection for smooth playback

The videos can be sorted by type (free or for sale) and duration (long, short, or in-between):

• Golf — all videos (728) 
• Golf — videos for sale (17)
• Golf — video duration: long or over 20 minutes long (81)
• Golf — video duration: short or up to 4 minutes long (579)

If you search for the word golf, you will get a few unexpected items related to cars, disc golf, or mini-golf. It’s good idea to narrow your search a bit by adding terms. Try the following:

• golf swing (41)
• golf ball (57)
• golf training (25)
• golf course (193)
• golf tiger (34)
• golf fun (82)

I like a lot of the commercials that are entertaining like the ones from the Super Bowl. Nike’s Tiger Woods – Ball trick is clever and short.

Many of video can be shown on other websites. Just add the Google Video code to a page to embed a viewer linked to a specific video.

The Boy’s Golf Weekend by Sausalito Memories was shot in northern Minnesota.

Golf is NOT played everywhere on the globe — it just seems like it. There are about 32,000 known golf courses (not counting your cousin’s back yard or those impromptu setups in Antarctica). But, there don’t seem to be any in the Ukraine (population about 48 million) or Yemen (pop. 20 million), or a few other places around the world.

Though there are all kinds of contenders for the longest course, one such has to be the International Golf Club in Bolton, Massachusetts at 8,325 yards. (That’s from the “Tiger” tees. From the regular tees, it’s a mere 6,547 yards. Wimp.)

One competitor is a course near the Himalayas that claims 8,548 yards. But at an elevation of 10,000 feet it’s hard to verify, since it’s situated in a mountainous region of China.

For those of you who think that sand trap you played last Sunday was horrible, head to the one at the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey called Hell’s Half Acre. To compensate for your feelings of inadequacy, fly back to the International Golf Club in Massachusetts and wander around the 28,000 square foot green on the 5th hole. Sink a putt on that baby and call yourself king.

The longest single hole is said the 7th hole at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. A mere 909 yards. (No doubt by the time this is published, someone will have surpassed it. Golf courses are cheaper to build than skyscrapers -and more profitable. Just ask Donald Trump!)

If you thought that course in the Himalayas was tough on the lungs, try the Tactu Golf Club in Morochocha, Peru. 14,335 feet above sea level at the lowest point. Be sure to take your oxygen tank.

For those who might be looking for something that’s playable, as opposed to just intrigued by interesting statistics, there are still lots of options from around the world.

Scotland, of course, hosts dozens of some of the finest courses in the world. But for my money, the one near Stromness has the rest beat. It’s not the most difficult or even the prettiest. But how often do you get to play within a few minutes of a 5,000 year old burial mound, like Maes Howe? Kinda makes you feel younger after you’ve missed that three foot putt.

India boasts the second-oldest course outside Scotland. Located in Calcutta it’s 175 years old. And though not the oldest, one of the most delightful is the Bangalore Golf Club. Founded in 1876, the fairways are dry and sandy, but the greens are lush. If that’s too new for you, there’s the Bombay Presidency Club built in 1827. Look out for the hazard at the 16th hole, though. It’s an elephant pit.

If that course in the Himalayas seems a little remote, but you still find yourself in China wanting to hit a few rounds, head for the Beijing Golf Club. It’s only 30 minutes from Beijing International Airport and the Great Wall is visible when playing the first hole.

Speaking of traps, there’s the 10th hole of the Kasumigaseki Golf Club in Japan. Opened in 1929, that hole crosses a deep ravine and several man-swallowing sandtraps. Individual holes are separated by tall pines, so you can imagine you’re in Idaho.

Ok, so what about Idaho? Well, it’s not the largest, the highest, the most difficult or the oldest. But the Hidden Hills Resort near Hope, Idaho has some of the loveliest scenery. Wild deer and moose wander only a few yards away from some of the water traps, and the enormous log cabin-style lodge has the best food and drink for a hundred miles around. Tell them I sent you.