Researchers develop golf ball made from lobster shells

If you’re like me, you probably have a tough time swallowing the $50-plus price tag on a box of pricey golf balls. Good players can justify shelling out the cash for ball that will help them get the most from their game.

But for the average hack looking to spend an afternoon out on the course, finding a reasonably price golf ball is just as important as getting a prime tee time.

With that in mind, how does a golf ball that costs 19 cents to produce, sound? Talk about a cheap! But don’t get too excited. You probably don’t want to play this one. Unless you like playing a ball made out of lobster shells.

That’s right, some researchers at the University of Maine designed a golf ball made from lobster shells that normally would have been sent to the local landfill. While the ball (pictured) looks good, it’s designed with cruise ships in mind. The ball has a biodegradable "binder and coating" that make it perfect for the sea.

That unfortunately means it probably isn’t a good ball of choice for your weekend match. But if you’re short on cash, who knows, maybe it’s worth picking up a dozen. There’s always the outside chance you could be the first guy in the world to get a hole in one with a lobster ball.

English Open once again vanishes into the air

Remember the English Open? Yeah, me neither, and now it’ll be at least another year until anybody gets a chance to play it. The long-troubled event ran from 1979 to 2002, then went on hiatus until 2008. In 2009 and 2010, it was scheduled to be played at the Nicklaus-designed St. Mellion International Resort course in Cornwall, pictured there at right, but financial difficulties forced postponement to this year.

And now, alas, it’s not going to go forward this year, either. Difficulty in locating sponsors, unsurprising for a tournament not held in nearly a decade, has forced event planners to postpone the tournament for yet another year.

It’s a tough financial blow to St. Mellion, which has invested £20 million in the last two years to bring the course up to speed. But tourney organizers couldn’t find a sponsor to pony up £2 million to cover the tournament, both because of the still-shaky economy and the commitment that many blue-chip companies have made to London’s 2012 Olympics.

"It’s no great surprise the tournament has been cancelled," BBC Sports golf correspondent Iain Carter said. "It’s a reflection of the trend that we’re seeing in European golf at the moment in that the sponsors are to be found the other side of the world, not in Europe, not in Great Britain and certainly not in England."

The event’s cancellation leaves the Open Championship and the BMW PGA Championship as the only professional events being played on English soil.

English Open at St. Mellion cancelled [BBC Sport]

Home invasion suspects take shortcut across Augusta National

Hello, friends. Here’s a crime story unlike any other.

Let’s say you’re in Augusta and you’ve allegedly committed a crime and the cops are hot on your trail. Where do you go? Why, straight to one of the world’s most famous locations, of course!

On Wednesday morning, according to the Augusta Chronicle, Augusta police chased two men onto the grounds of Augusta National. The men were believed to be involved in a home invasion in which shotgun-wielding criminals burst in and robbed a blind man.

And since (allegedly) robbing a blind man with a shotgun is pretty much a ticket straight to hell, perhaps the (alleged) thieves decided to get one last glimpse of heaven. They vaulted the fence and raced across the course; no word on which holes they traversed, but the victim’s home is not far from the south edge of the course, which is right where Amen Corner is located.

One of the two suspects was later arrested at his home (and if you look at his mug shot, it may not have been a smooth arrest). No word on whether they adhered to Augusta National’s strict "no running" policy while on the grounds.