5 Great Holiday Gifts - For Golfers

What do you mean... for golfers - isn't this a golf site? Well, these are actual golf gifts that will be appreciated by the golfer in your life - not the sponge ball cleaner, the combination spike mark/shoe horn/groove cleaner, you know the ones I'm talking about. Those are well meaning gifts that no real golfer would be seen dead with on the first tee. Here are five great gifts that you will actually want. My advice - leave the blog open on your computer, forward to your significant other, tweet it, FB it, anything you like to get it into the hands of whoever is buying you a gift this holiday season.

1. Tin Cup. Okay, fair warning, they are a client. That said, this is one of the coolest customizable golf gifts out there. The Tin Cup ball marker allows each player to mark their own ball with a unique design. The website has about 50 standard designs available immediately or you can get a custom cup made with your initials or company logo - customs take about 3 weeks and really makes a big impression!

2. Scotty Cameron Headcovers. Pure golfers use Scotty Cameron putters and real golf geeks (including me!) collect the putters AND the headcovers. Scotty releases about 10 different covers each year and they come in many colors to match your golf bag. The best place to find them is on ebay - Scotty's site is almost always out of stock of the really cool stuff - it goes fast.

3. Anything from Iliac Golf. You think I like headcovers! It's true and Iliac make the best classic leather headcovers. They come in a myriad of colors and are 100% totally retro and very cool. The owner of Iliac, Bert Lamar is a former professional skateboarder and most of Iliac's products are RAD. His 2011 range is beautifully handcrafted and contemporary but with a classic twist. You can see them here.

4. Dream Golf by Stephen Goodwin. This is the updated version of the book that includes the Old Macdonald back story that led to the creation of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort's fourth course. Mike Keiser changed the face of golf in America with his amazing foresight to build Bandon - here's the true story behind the best golf resort in the world. Buy it here.

5. Joshua C F Smith Golf Course Prints. Josh is one of the foremost golf landscape artists in the US. His work adorns many Top 100 clubhouses and his prints on canvas and fine art paper are now available in limited editions. His courses include Pebble, Bandon, Ballyneal and Royal County Down and are priced from $225. You can see them here.