b1020calcThis is a post that big-time equipment manufacturers probably would prefer you didn't read. Why? Because you, friend, just did some bill-massaging and credit-card spreading and financial manipulation and dropped four figures on a whole new set of clubs. And you're feeling very proud of yourself, aren't you?

Guess what. Somebody won a tournament this year with a club that cost less than six bucks. Ouch.

That "somebody" was Mark Calcavecchia, and the club is actually a pair: 15- and 19-degree Callaway Steelhead fairway woods that he's had in his bag since 1998. Street value: $5.97. What a deal!

Calc's clubs are part of Golf Digest's list of bargain clubs that pros used in 2011, ranging from D.A. Points' Ping i5 irons ($210.22 for a set of eight) to Lucas Glover's 2007 Nike SQ Sumo2 driver ($41.61) to Mark McNulty's 30-year-old Bullseye putter that's valued at $6.41.

Of course, you've got to get good enough to wield one of these cheap dogs; some pros could hit the links with a pool cue, a

b1020seveThe passing of Seve Ballesteros earlier this year was one of 2011's indisputable tragedies; Seve was an outstanding ambassador for the game and embodied everything you could want in a pro. And in a bit of life-goes-on, tomorrow's-another-day happiness, Ballesteros' son Javier has announced he'll make his European Tour debut next year in the Majorca Open.

Ballesteros, age 21, is currently enrolled in law school, but will take a break in May to play in the tournament. He's a one-handicapper, and as you can see at right, he bears more than a passing resemblance to his father.

European Tour legends from Jose Maria Olazabal to Luke Donald met the news of Ballesteros' debut with warmth and encouragement. "He is so like his father," said Donald, who played with Javier Ballesteros in the Madrid Masters recently. "I guess the genes have been passed down."

In his own European Tour debut, the Spanish Open in April 1974, Ballesteros missed the cut. But he'd go on to win 50 European Tour titles, as

b1020lundeBill Lunde is in line to win the Kodak Challenge this weekend, and with it, a wheelbarrow full of $1 million in cash. (Wheelbarrow for promotional purposes only.) All he's got to do is make sure that Cameron Tringale doesn't eagle one certain hole.

Complicated, right? Of course it is, it's golf. But let's back up. The Kodak Challenge is a season-long competition across 30 tournaments where each tournament has a single designated "challenge hole." Contestants select their best 18 holes across all tournaments, and the lowest score relative to par will win. Generally, because of the sheer number of tournaments necessary to be in competition, the challengers are a Who's Who of "Who's that?" This year's leaders include Lunde, Tringale, Josh Teater, Fabian Gomez and Blake Adams. In other words, as soon as they get off the golf course, nobody's going to stop them in the street and try to cadge some of that sweet Kodak coin off them.

There's always the possibility for drama; last year's

Bubba Watson is on the cover of this month's Golf Digest, and here are a few outtakes from the issue's cover shoot. You can read the article here online, in which Bubba will tell you exactly how to knock the ball a country mile. (Hint: it involves having Bubba hit it for you.) And hey, if you've got one of them fancy iPad things, why not check out the iPad edition by clicking right here?

Rounding up some midweek links to keep you up with what's new in the golf world. Enjoy, and feel free to hold court in the comments below.

• And yet another person is ripping Fred Couples' selection of Tiger Woods to the Presidents Cup team; this time it's Geoff Ogilvy. (To clarify, Ogilvy wasn't pleased that Couples announced the pick so early, adding, "I'm not going to stand up and say Tiger is a horrible pick, but I'm going to say it's very disappointing that Keegan Bradley doesn't get to play. That's where I'm at with it.")  Sheesh, doesn't anybody want Tiger there? Aside from Couples, Woods, Tim Finchem, broadcast networks and every single advertiser who's paying money for this event, of course. [AP via Yahoo! Sports]

• Arnold Palmer's getting hard. Hard alcohol, that is. The famed Arnold Palmer Half & Half (half iced tea, half lemonade, and I hope I didn't have to tell you that) is now getting spiked with alcohol. Presumably it won't be a half-and-half-and-half, because that'd

b1019webbWelcome to Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Jay Busbee and head writer Shane Bacon take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. Suggest a future topic by writing jay.busbee@yahoo.com, or hit us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @shanebacon. Today, we discuss that golf curiosity that is the Money List title.

Busbee: We're down to the final tournament of the year, and unless Luke Donald can manage to win or place in the Children's Miracle Network Classic, Webb Simpson will win the money title this year, the most unexpected winner of that title since, well, ever. Now, we're told that this is a big deal, and we can all salivate at how much coin Webb has pulled this year, but here's my question for you, sir: why should we care? We can talk philosophically, logistically or competitively: why on earth are we supposed to care who makes how much money?

Bacon: I know I can be negative about these random events, but I actually don't hate this money list run. I thought Luke Donald

Without a doubt, one of the biggest stories in women's golf these days is the rise of 16-year-old Lexi Thompson, a prodigy/phenom/teen sensation in every sense of those overused terms. She qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at age 12, and has been impressing ever since, right up to this year when she won the Navistar Classic at age 16. She'll be turning pro next year, and we spoke with her for a few minutes ... while she's still taking our calls.

Best part about these Fall Series events? You never know who's going to come up big with a shot that'd be historic if it happened at Augusta or Pebble Beach. Still, enjoy these gems by Bud Cauley, Fred Couples and others; we're sure your weekend game went just as well, right?