Over the Green

There’s a really cool putter that has not received the attention it deserves and it’s time that oversight was remedied.

Though TaylorMade Golf is mostly thought of as the dominant metalwood manufacturer, in fact their irons and putters are also top shelf as has been proven with the popularity of the Ghost series putters. MORE…

The Odyssey Flip Face Putter from Callaway allows players to change the face insert by loosening it (with a provided screwdriver which handily doubles as a divot tool!), rotating it 180° and retightening. Callaway bills it as an extension of their commitment to club adjustability. The flip moves between the new Metal-X insert to the old standby White Ice surface letting players match their putter to green conditions on any give day.

The press release had this undeniably cogent comment.

Among the early adopters to Flip Face was PGA Tour Professional Stuart Appleby, who put the #5 model in play early in the 2012 season. “I really like the look of the Flip Face, and it reminds me of the license plates on James Bond’s car that used to flip around,” Appleby said. “I like the Metal-X insert so much; I love that firm feel. But it’s nice having the option to switch to the White Ice insert if you want to.”

Three models are in stores now. The #1, a rounded heel-toe weighted blade putter with a crank-neck hosel and full-shaft offset; Appleby’s #5, a rounded mallet putter with a single bend shaft and full-shaft offset; and the #9, a toe-weighted, heel-shafted, flanged blade putter with a long hosel and half-shaft offset. Each carries an SRP of $349.

An interesting item appeared in Jim Achenbach’s column in Golfweek, that one of the truly innovative putter companies of the past few years, Rife Putter of Sanford, Fla. has been sold to Innovex Golf.

To fans of Rife flat sticks this is welcome news and may be just the thing to push Innovex up to the new level of recognition. Here’s the link if you want to read the full story. “Rife Putters agrees to be sold to Innovex”

The 2011 California putters from Scotty Cameron, marketed under the Titleist umbrella, are called “extensions” of the original California line.

“My main objective for the new California designs was to take the visual flow to a new level,” explained Master Putter Designer Scotty Cameron. “When you look down at a great putter in the address position, it’s easy to imagine the putter head flowing naturally right into the ground. The refinements we made to these five new models meet and exceed that ideal. It might be a bit esoteric, but you get the sense that water won’t splash off these putters. It looks like water will just roll off the contours of the putters and shed gently off the edges.”

Angles in the face, sole and neck are milled to present a square set-up at address and from feedback of Cameron users on the PGA Tour the new California putters feature deeper milling in the face of the putter which makes for a softer impact sound. Each of the line uses a step-less shaft and a milled from 303 stainless steel with heel and toe weights.

The new models are the Del Mar, Fastback, Monterey, Monterey 1.5 and Sonoma covering both blade and mid-mallet style heads with five different neck styles. Look for them next month carrying a suggested retail of $375 each.

Nike Core Drone
The new Nike Method Core Drone has been out on tour since June with quite a bit of success. Features, though not necessarily new or unique, include their Polymetal groove technology in a high- MOI mallet-shaped head.

The Method Core Drone also comes in a belly putter length and is one of six models in the Nike Method Core line. Look for it in shops on Nov. 1 for a suggested retail of $203.99 and $24 additional for a 41” belly.

Cobra ZL Encore Driver
Cobra’s white headed drivers are not the ones creating the buzz but they were the first white drivers back last fall. The company has included a white edition along with the standard black in the new ZL Encore driver.

Features include:
Carbon fiber crown and sole with 5% larger titanium body and face
Swing weight screw for improved MOI
Cobra’s E9 Face Technology-an elliptical face with canted bulge and dual roll Cobra’s Adjustable Face Technology-three face angle settings (Open, Neutral and Closed)
460cc 6-4 Titanium body, milled semi-forged Ti face, carbon fiber crown

No word official word yet as to selling price but a “little bird” told us it would be $400.

Long Putters
Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship with a long putter. Two aspects of this are somewhat surprising. First, this is the first time the victor in a major championship has used a long putter, in this case a Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth belly putter and secondly, the golf media hasn’t made a big deal of it. Curious since there has been a lot of breast beating over non-traditional length putters with three points of body contact. “Unfair” and non-traditional are two of the milder adjectives used by those against the use of broomsticks or bellys.

Tee It Forward
When you get over 90 percent of golfers to agree about anything it’s worth note so the press release concerning the Tee It Forward trail back in July is noteworthy. According to the press release from the USGA: Initial responses from a consumer survey indicated that 70 percent of the respondents found golf more enjoyable; 90 percent said they played faster or at about the same pace; 91 percent were likely to recommend TEE IT FORWARD to a friend and would likely use it again; and 52 percent stated they were likely to play golf more often knowing they could use TEE IT FORWARD. Let’s see, more enjoyable, faster play and play more golf. Sounds like a winner.

Weight Loss
Weight Loss Coach Larry Jacobs says in the summer time golfers drink more beer and sodas on the course and that’s a big reason why they tend to put on weight. Weight they are unlikely to ever take off. His Weight Loss for Golfers Tele-Seminar on September 28 is running an end-of-summer half-price offer guaranteed to make participants “Thin for Life.” Great, it’s just in time for the serious part of the NFL-couch-potato-season.

An assignment for New England Golf Monthly concerning long putters prompted me to ask a friend and scratch handicap golfer, Ted Sheppe, his experience converting from a regular putter. You will find this interesting and perhaps it will provide the impetus if you have putting woes to give a belly or broomstick a try.

Here’s what he said:

The best way I can describe my transition to the long putter:

After a back scare last fall (I’ve had 2 back surgeries), I had to take 2 months off. To simply have something to do and to amuse myself, I bought a long putter to fool with and experiment with. I can say that it was apparent to me at Edwin Watts, there was something special about the roll of the ball off the long putter. It was very natural to me, and I could see the potential instantly. People who watched me early on were amazed – all my friends were encouraging me to stick with it. What started as an experiment while I was not allowed to play grew into new life into my game.

For background, I have always been a 4 or better handicap, since age 15. Played in college at Marshall, etc. Bill Campbell was my mentor. [Note: Campbell is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and two time president of the USGA. He had an outstanding amateur career including winning the US Amateur, two US Senior Amatuers, selection to eight Walker Cup teams and was only the third American to be named Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.]

Very traditional golf upbringing. What has kept me from being an elite player, other than back pain, is putting from inside 10 feet, and more importantly, from inside 5 feet. I just missed too many putts. My right hand just often got in the way, especially under pressure. I’m not talking yips – I’m talking making 50% of putts inside 6 feet, versus the tour level of 70%. That’s a lot of shots being left out there.

While I was resting the back last fall, I toyed with the long putter. It was largely to amuse myself, but I left Edwin Watts wondering if I had not stumbled on to something. I went to the course on weekends and putted with it, and while I could not play, I went onto the course with my buddies and “played” the last 5 holes with them, putting only. They were all amazed – they thought I had been doing it for years.

Immediately, my short putting became a STRENGTH, not a liability. I got healthy and got back on the course. I track my results. I am making far more putts inside 10 feet, more from 5-6, and making basically everything inside 3. It was immediate and very natural to me.

Here is the key point for me: The pendulum stroke – the logic of it – gave me confidence as I watched putt after putt go in. The old way, I’d make putts and feel lucky, not confident. My traditional stroke never quite felt comfortable (inside slightly or square to square? Short or long? Etc) , and especially under pressure I missed too many putts to be elite. With the long putter, I feel the stroke itself is flawless – I no longer question my stroke – all I have to do is read it right and speed it right. That is a huge game changer for me.

I have touched +1 briefly each of the past 2 summers. I truly believe I will get to +1 again this summer – I was under par for April – and I know I will sustain it, and hopefully get to my goal of +2. I truly believe I will shoot under par for the summer, knowing that I can make the putts inside 10 and inside 5. It has also given me substantially more confidence on 20-30 footers, as I know I can make the comebackers. The criticism of the long putter is that it is harder to control distance on long putts – I have only found that on 40-50 footers, but I believe I have resolved that with practice. In any event, I am more aggressive with longer putts, because I am so confident on the shorter ones. I’ve made more long putts and have cut my three putts as such.

In mu club championship in November, I did not miss a putt inside 5. This was a major improvement for me in tournament play. Despite some back issues lingering from the ruptured disk, I won, and it was all due to the long putter. I KNEW I was going to make the short ones.

Here’s a few of the more interesting announcements from club makers that recently hit my in-box:

YES! Good news
Adams Golf bought the assets of YES! Golf in January in bankruptcy court and at the time I said this was a very good move for Adams. They have now “re-launched” the brand with eight models, three of which are new to the U.S. market. YES! is known for the C-Grooves lathed into the putter face to impart top spin and minimized skidding.

Adams also has a new Redline series combing irons hybrids in a customizable set aimed at giving players maximum yardage. The Redline Super Hybrids have a larger head, an ultra-thin steel face and longer shaft length and a tri-level sole to reduce turf interference. Redline irons take the best attributes of hybrid design to increase distance.

Cobra White S3 driver
A perhaps unanticipated benefit to TaylorMade Golf making the heads of their R11 and Burner Superfast 2.0 drivers an easily identifiable white color is the instant recognition of the TMaG products being used, even by those like Luke Donald who have another equipment company’s logo on their bag. Not to worry though since Cobra had a limited edition white headed driver used by Ian Poulter last year and now a white-edition of their S3. Too bad TMaG will still probably get the credit.

TMaG Ghost
Speaking of TaylorMade and white headed clubs, the original Corza Ghost putter attracted a lot of attention especially when Justin Rose used it to win twice on the PGA Tour last year. Now with a name change to just Ghost he newest additions to the series are available; the TM-110 (blade style), TM-770 (mid -mallet) and the TM-880 (small-mallet). All have the titallium face insert and were designed with the help of Dave Stockton, probably the hottest putting guru on Tour.

Powerbilt Green Grass
Powerbilt Golf has an interesting angle on golf club marketing. In this case they are taking a venerable brand name, Citation, and making it exclusively available in golf pro shops. Also starting is a program so each club will be individually fitted by a professional to each purchaser using the Club Pro fitting system which has 51 interchangeable shafts and 28 club heads. Club Pro Inc. will then build clubs to order.

This is an innovative idea for a company the size of Powerbilt who do not have a custom-build operation of their own. The Citation line includes CP forged face insert irons for $599 in Apollo steel shafts or $699 with Black Magic graphite shafts. Citation drivers have a forged beta titanium cup face and also are available with the Black Magic shaft at $199.

Adams says YES
YES putters were among the first to use a grooved face for better roll of the ball and for a number of years were a player in the putter market segment reaching a sales of over $10 million in 2007. Since then a combination of events including the recession saw sales fall by 75 percent to the point where the company could not sustain itself and this past November filed for bankruptcy.

In a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction on Tuesday, Adams Golf purchased all the assets, patents and intellectual property of YES for $1.65 million. YES should be a good purchase for Adams who has a solid place as one of the top hybrid club makers.

Duval gets to Scratch
David Duval is now a part-owner of Scratch Golf the high-end iron maker located in Chattanooga, Tenn. Duval had been on the Nike tour staff for over ten years but was dropped in 2010 and the 2001 British Open champion was looking for a new deal.

Scratch is tiny though. Its 2010 sales were $1.5 million so they have done a good job just surviving where many other club makers have failed. They are mostly known for their line of wedges and can be found in some custom shops plus big box retailers PGA Tour Superstore, Golf Town and some Edwin Watts Golf stores.

This is the second Tour star to be an owner of Scratch Golf. Ryan Moore had a similar deal and backed out last year.

Tiger not only endorser in trouble
The much chronicled troubles off the course, on the course and in his business have put Tiger Woods into a spotlight he would like to get out of and have cost him probably hundreds of millions of dollars in the divorce settlement and lost endorsement income.

Now Ad Age magazine reports a study naming Tiger as the least effective celebrity endorser but also bringing the whole idea of there being a value to celebrity endorsement into question. The study found creative content was more important in television advertisements and any help a celebrity might bring to a product was often severely compromised by viewers’ perception of the celebrity.

Celebrities generally were ineffective and did not give the benefits previously thought.

The other celebrity endorsers at the bottom with Woods were Lance Armstrong, Kenny Mayne, Dale Earnhardt and Donald Trump.

The PGA Merchandise Show starts in Orlando, Fla. two weeks from now but many equipment makers think they get an advantage by announcing new products early. Here’s a few of the avalanche coming across my desk plus a couple of notes of interest.
White is right
For some time there’s been the Odyssey White Hot putter and even the Mitsubishi Diamana White Board shaft – a Tiger Woods favorite. You can’t overlook Ian Poulter’s limited edition Cobra ZL Driver with a white shaft and head. And of course TaylorMade has the Burner SuperFast 2.0 with a white crown and soon will have the R11 also with white crown plus the Rossa Ghost putter line, a huge success for them.

The strangest thing though has been what amounts to a stampede to white grips. All the major grip makers Golf Pride, Lamkin and Winn have a version and reports say all are selling very well.

Since color has nothing to with performance except perhaps as a psycological factor does this mean white is the new macho color?

Bushnell Hybrid
They are billing it as the “ultimate distance measuring device,” which remains to be seen until some field testing is done, but it is intriguing. The Bushnell Hybrid is both a laser range finder and a GPS device. It will come with 16,000 courses preloaded with no membership fee which is excellent news. MSRP is $499.

On the course the GPS function gives yardages to four points on each hole, like the front and back of the green and carry over a hazard. The laser can then be used to get exact distance to the pin or to any other point not measured by the GPS.

And then there were four
In case it makes a difference to you, the eighth annual Tavistock Cup charity exhibition is back at Isleworth G&CC in Windermere, Fla. and will be held March 14-15. Instead of just Isleworth and cross-town rival Lake Nona CC, the field has been expanded to include two other high end country clubs, one owned by Tavistock Group who also own Isleworth and Lake Nona.

Albany, a Tavistock Group resort being built in the Bahamas and Queenwood Golf Club outside London, England with participate in the 36-hole made-for-Golf Channel event. In past years some big name players have teed it up giving lots of publicity to Tavistock Group, owner Joe Lewis and of course the high-end real estate they are peddling in these golf course developments. The past playing list includes Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara, Paula Creamer, Annika Sorenstam and 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.

Annika a la Carte
Since retiring Annika Sorenstam has been building a family and busy designing courses, running her Orlando, Fla. golf academy and doing charity work. She now is venturing into the television arena with a series entitled “Golf a la Carte” hosted by Tom and Sonja Horan of radio’s “Speaking of Golf.”

Sorenstam says she will introduce each segment and sometimes appear on the show itself which will be shot at resorts and golf clubs. The show’s cooking segments will feature the facility’s head chefs plus celebrity cooks.

No word which network will carry the show but the Food Channel and the Golf Channel are obvious possibilities.

STX Golf
STX putters have a devoted following and for 2011 the company is updating the popular Sync Tour Mallet as the STX SS2 Putter. The head is smaller and the heel-toe weighting has redesigned but overall weight is up to 355 grams. It will be available soon at a MSRP of $110.

TMaG’s Seeding
Though not strictly a new idea (both TMaG last year and others previously) TaylorMade Golf is doing what they are calling “a seeding initiative” to give away 20,000 Burner 2.0 6-irons to golfers who register their web site. The Burner 2.0 model was introduced in October 2010 to great reviews and became the number one selling iron on and off course in November.

Traditionally known for their industry leading drivers, TMaG has made significant inroads against the competition with the Burner iron line. This spring aiming at the better player segment there will be three new forged iron models-TPMB (Tour Preferred® Muscleback), TPMC (Tour Preferred Muscle Cavity) and TPCB (Tour Preferred Cavityback).