As usual Frank Thomas, equipment guru and golf iconoclast, has done a super job of summarizing and analyzing and criticizing the PGA Tour Commissioner and more correctly the USGA.
Here’s Frank’s response which I recieved about an hour after I wrote the previous entry.
http://www.franklygolf.com/QA_weekly.html
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem by announcing yesterday the Tour would adopt next January the latest USGA specifications regarding the design of short iron grooves made two things very clear.
He seems to be OK with the Tour having a different set of rules than the rest of us golfers since we don’t have to obey the USGA for several years yet.
Secondly he evidentially thinks scoring at his tournaments is too low and less effective grooves will cause scores to rise or put another way, the game is too easy.
It is fantastic to me Finchem would fall in line with the USGA to take any technical/design club making advances out of the hands of golfers. In addition didn’t anyone listen to the club manufacturers chorus saying this wasn’t a good idea in the first place?
I must be out of step…the game is not getting too easy.
A big problem (some would say the biggest) of less-skilled golfers is their swing tempo. They make ungainly looking, inefficient swings and may not even know they are doing something wrong and certainly not know what to do to correct it. Rather than a swing with an athletic take away which merges into a smooth transition at the top and then accelerates through the hitting area to a balanced finish something else happens. More…
An interesting press release crossed my screen and I take it as an indication while times are tough in the golf industry (just as everywhere else) some companies have the moxie and product to take advantage of the situation.
YES! Golf, the leader in grooved putter technology, continues to gain momentum through this tough economic climate. YES! Golf has enjoyed a 25 percent increase in sales in April and May compared to first quarter of this year, opened 200 new accounts in the U.S. since February and has won 10 times on the professional worldwide tours, including two wins on the PGA Tour.
“The economic slowdown that started nearly a year ago of course has challenged us,” said Francis Ricci, President, YES! Golf. “However, we took measures to reduce operating expenses in 2008 and now with our sales increasing, we are in a better position financially. I think you have to be a little lucky in this business and with two wins on the PGA Tour and 10 worldwide wins overall this year, it has helped us open more accounts and give our sales a nice lift.”…
The winner of the PGA Tour’s Transitions Championship in March and The Players Championship in May both used a YES! C-Groove putter. The hybrid Donna putter was used by the winner of The Players Championship. The Donna putter, with its signature YES! grip of black, white and yellow, received a lot of air time during the weekend telecast. The company received emails and phone calls from consumers on the following Monday morning asking which YES! putter he was using.
The increase in sales and open accounts over the past three months can also be credited to the pipeline of new and innovative products that YES! has introduced. Two new interchangeable hosel putters, Tracy Plus III and Lizzy Plus, both precision CNC milled, accommodate one of four hosel options designed to improve the look and dynamic balance of the putter. YES! also offers custom options with its new internal weighting system called Tour Lock Opti-Vibe Weighting System. By optimizing the weight of the putter, golfers have more stability, feel and control of the stroke path. YES! Golf currently has 24 C-Groove models of putters available in its 2009 product line. The company is currently running a summer promotion for its putters. Buy a YES! C-Groove putter by July 30, 2009 and receive a YES! Golf towel.
In order to continue to reduce operating expenses, YES! Golf has just moved its corporate headquarters to a new location in Denver. “By moving our headquarters, we were able to acquire more warehouse and office space for less money,” said Ricci. “Having made extensive cost cutting changes over the last several months, we will be in good shape when the overall golf industry starts turning around.”
YES! Golf, based in Denver, Colo., is the proven leader in grooved putter technology. Harold Swash, known as the European putting doctor, introduced the innovative theory of concentric grooves in 1995. The company’s C-Groove putters are now used by more than 200 tour professionals worldwide, including winners of 57 tournaments over the past three years. For information on YES! Golf, call 800.845.4327 or visit www.yesgolf.com.
So let’s see…they have (1) gained market exposure for (2) a well made product resulting in (3) increased sales and at the same time are (4) reducing expenses.
Sounds like a winning formula.
Yesterday was the final presentation by the International Golf Federation to the International Olympic Committee to have golf included in the Olympics beginning in 2016. The IGF presenting group besides Ty Votaw (of the PGA Tour) and Peter Dawson (from the R&A) was comprised of Colin Montgomerie, Annika Sorenstam and Chako Higuchi plus PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem.
It’s obviously a “full court press” effort by the leaders of the game though not everyone is thrilled about adding another “must play” event to an already crowded professional schedule particularly in light of the problems maintaining current tournament sponsors not to mention finding new sponsors who will pay the money needed for even a regular event on any of the world tours.
However, the powers that be say it’s all about growing the game since once Olympic inclusion is assured presumably dozens of national governments will start funding golf programs with tax payer money creating millions of new golfers around the world. Maybe. I’m a skeptic to say the least.
One of the more interesting points though is the IGF has said none of the major golf championships will have a scheduling problem and of course Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Michael Wie etc. all will tee it up.
Again, maybe, at least considering the present schedule.
The timing of the eight professional majors (Masters, men’s and women’s U.S. and British Opens, the PGA, The Kraft Nabisco and MacDonald’s Championship) runs from early April to the middle of August. The Olympics is usually the end of July through mid-August and therefore has the potential of being coincident with the PGA Championship and the Women’s British Open.
Not that either of these two can’t be moved to accommodate the Olympic event but we’ll have to wait and see what’s decided.
Yes, I’m assuming it’s a given golf will become an Olympic sport. The final IOC decision is due in August.
A big part of building an efficient, repeatable golf swing is learning the proper tempo and to measure tempo requires the measurement of swing speed so along the way swing speed measurement becomes a yardstick for an efficient and repeatable swinging.
And by the way, in case it slipped your mind, the higher one’s swing speed the farther the ball will go.More…
I’m of the age to have seen Nick Faldo in his prime and particularly remember his duel against Curtis Strange at the 1988 U.S. Open. Faldo a six-time major winner and whose likeness as well graces the World Golf Hall of Fame became the second tourster to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
Currently “Sir” Nick, who in 1992 thanked a reporter “from the heart of my bottom,” in addition to his golf school and course design ventures is best known as a member of the golf media in his role as a commentator on the Golf Channel and CBS.
In 1987 he had also previously been given the honor of Member of the Order of the British Empire or MBE. The only other professional golfer to receive a knighthood is fellow Hall of Famer Henry Cotton.
Last month TaylorMade Golf introduced an addition to the Rossa Monza Spider putters, an oversize mallet named the Monza Spider Balero.
“We spend a lot of time studying putting and the reasons why most average golfers don’t putt as well as tour pros do,” said Bill Price, senior director of Rossa. “One in-depth analysis we conducted focused on putts of 14 feet and less. That’s a range where pros convert a relatively high percentage of the time, but amateurs don’t. Why? One of the reasons is because, according to our data, the amateur aims the putterface poorly 64.4% of the time. Meaning that on two out of every three putts, the player mis-aims.”
Monza Spider Balero’s head design is meant to be easy to aim with a prominent “ball-in-cup” feature in the back of the head.
“The Rossa Monza Spider Balero’s easy-to-aim shape, forgiveness and smooth-rolling AGSI technology makes it a phenomenal putter, and absolutely deadly from short range,” said Price. “Plus, it’s already been played on the PGA Tour and been used to win an event on the Japan Tour.” Suggested retail for the Rossa Monza Spider Balero is $159.
TaylorMade Golf’s latest line extension is the R9 460 which utilizes the Flight Control Technology (adjustable shaft orientation and movable sole weights) in a larger head than the R9 introduced back in February.
“FCT proved itself to be a major, major metalwood innovation immediately after we launched the R9 driver earlier this year,” said Sean Toulon, TaylorMade executive vice president of innovation. “Tour pros took to it right away, and it quickly became the No. 1 driver model on the PGA Tour. Amateur golfers also embraced it quickly, as sales have been fantastic around the world, especially in the United States, Europe and Japan.”
Available now in off-course and green grass shops, the R9 460 sells for an attractive $299. An R9 460 TP model for professional players and low handicap amateurs was also introduced.
The latest from Tour Edge Golf is the Exotics XCG-V Tour Spec fairway wood specifically designed for better players. The company’s idea was to reduce both reduce weight and optimize weight distribution for extra distance and better feel.
The Tour Spec features a titanium cup face, an ultra-light magnesium crown, and a heavy, high-density steel sole plate in a slightly smaller head compared to the already popular XCG-V model presently on the market and carries a suggested retail of $369.99.
