Over the Green

Fall is the time of year club manufacturers start the introduction cycle for the coming year. I know it seems early but in the world of golf retail the buying cycle leads the golf season by several months. As a measure of how it has changed over the years, new club announcements used to be reserved for the PGA Merchandise Show held annually in January. Now with the shortening of product life cycles due to more intense competition, the computerization of retailing as well as club design, we continue to see earlier and earlier introduction dates. In the past couple of weeks here is a sampling of items brought to market.

Mizuno Golf
MP-53 irons for better players with a CNC milled back cavity in the 3- through 7-irons so the weight saved could be pushed out to the perimeter. The 8-iron through wedge use the company company’s more traditional Solid Power Bar configuration plus a 360 degree grind on the back cavity allows for a thinner top line. MSRP and street price (at least for now) with steel shafts is $899.99 and with graphite $999.99.

Wilson Golf
Wilson may have been the equipment played by the winner of 61 majors over the years but they are hardly on the consumer radar now days after years of making substandard product and coporate manuverings worthy of an Oliver Stone movie. The brand is being played by one hig profile tourster, Padraig Harrington with of course three majors, but Wilson still lacks total redemption in the eyes of club purchasers. That could change with the new FG62 muscle-backed forged irons, the better palyers version of the FG Tour irons out last year that were so well received.

TaylorMade Golf
The Corza Ghost mallet-style putter was an instant hit for TMaG, a company not know for putters, especially after Justin Rose won two times in a month using one. The newest Ghost is an extension of the line in a a blade called the Rossa Daytona Ghost and designed with the help of Dave Stockton, the hottest putting instructor on the PGA Tour. The Rossa Daytona Ghost carries a street price of $129.

Nike Golf
The latest irons are more of the iron line named the VR Pro Combo, aimed at good players who want to take advantage of the benefits of perimeter weight placement. The 3- and 4-irons have a large cavity pocket which transitions to a split cavity in the 5-, 6- and 7-irons and finally to a blade design in the 8- and 9-irons and pitching wedge. Not avialable until the end of November they will carry a MSRP of $1, 079.99 with steel shafts only. A 2-iron as a special order is $134.99.

Maruman
Maruman has been trying to build a presence in the American market and now expands their offerings with the Shuttle series of clubs beginning with the i4000 driver employing the company’s idea that accuracy is more important that raw distance. The stock shaft is 441/2 inches or as much as 11/2 inches shorter than some others. However the club that caught my attention has a name that harkens back to the past, the i4000X Brassie. The Brassie is an alternative for those who are “driver-challenged” and who like fairway woods. The Brassie has 13 degrees of loft, as much as 4 degrees more than the typical driver in the weekend warrior’s bag plus again a shorter shaft.

Bushnell
The new Yardage ProXGC+ from Bushnell takes all the technlogy used in their award-winning previous didtance measuring decvice models and combines it with a pre-loaded database of 16,000 U.S. courses thereby removing the problem of having to download new courses. At a retail price is $299.99 the XGC+ seems like a good choice for those looking to upgrade a present DMD or for those buying one for the first time.

Yes! Golf
Yes! is bringing out three new putters in December priced from $300 to $600. The Naomi is a cavity-backed blade with a tungsten back, the Courtney is another cavity-back blade but made from stainless steel and the Jennifer is a center-shafted mallet with a high resistance to twisting. Yes! has been making really good putters with their patented C-Groove technology for years but received a lot of attention with Jim Furyk using a used model he found in a club barrel for $39 to win the FedEx cup in Sept.

Putting coaches, those gurus of the flat stick, will tell you the most common mistake golfers at every skill level make is incorrect aiming of the putter at address. It seems so simple, so basic but the majority of golfers do not have the face of the putter aiming on the line of the putt.

If they are right handers, the tendency is to aim left, so to make any putts they have to compensate for their poor aim by adjusting their stroke which certainly isn’t a good idea. This problem has been recognized for a long time by putter makers and each one has tried to correct it in their putter design.

>>To read the rest of this story click on the title “Rossa Corza Ghost” in Latest First Look Reviews above.

June 20th is Father’s Day and as it often does this annual celebration of male parenting falls on a significant day in the golf calendar…the final Sunday of the U.S. Open. Though Father’s Day/Open Sunday does not always mean dad will get to relax in front of the television, his hands grasping a favorite wedge or adult beverage, gift givers can make his day memorable.

A couple of quick ideas for the golfing father are in order beginning with an annual Titleist promotion, dad’s name on his Titleists at no extra charge. This customization special is good for orders of the Pro V1, Pro V1x, NXT Tour, NXT and DT Solo balls, one dozen minimum. See any Titleist retailer for details. MORE…

SeeMore putters received a lot of press coverage back in 1999 when Payne Stewart used one on his way to winning the U.S. Open at Pinehurst where in the final round, head to head with Phil Mickelson, he seemed to make everything.

In spite of that publicity the company could not make a go of it so in 2006 two industry veterans, Jim Grundberg and Jason Pouliot both formerly with market-dominant Odyssey Putter, bought SeeMore. The duo engineered a re-launch of SeeMore and right away they hit pay dirt. More…

Bettinardi Golf
Bettinardi Golf is known for its high quality CNC milled putters priced at the upper end of the putter price spectrum and sold only in green grass shops plus a few custom fitting locations. For next year a Country Club (CC) Series model has been added along with the 2010 BB Series.

The CC (MSRP $325) is a satin nickel finished, heel-toe weighted blade that can be customized with the club, organization or school logo. The BB series ($275) has five models all with black nickel finish. The models include: BB1 – traditional heel-toe weighting; BB8 – heel basis position milled in for more toe hang; BB25 – blade style with single flange; BB26 – center shafted heel-toe weighted with no offset; BB32 – face balanced pear shaped mallet with double bend shaft.

Since splitting last year with Mizuno Golf Bettinardi has worked at reestablishing its presence in the minds of American golfers. Said company founder and CEO Bob Bettinardi, "We are eager to re-establish our brand presence and provide an authentic golf experience with unmatched products fully made in the U.S.A. and we’re equally committed to catering to the golfer and customer who wants the best of the best.”

S-Blade Putter
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New to the U.S. this European company has a patented design for a spherical radius putter face – think bulge and roll – so the face is convex from both heel to toe and sole to top edge. The company, Spherical Blade LLP, says this creates a better top spin roll with skid immediately after impact. MSRP is $190 but they are having an Internet sale for the holidays offering 20% discount.

Slotline
The mini-conglomerate Dynamic Brands (Bag Boy, AMF Golf, Burton, Datrek, and Miller Golf) has resuscitated the venerable Slotline Golf brand and offers the SSi-600 Series of putters for 2010. Each of the three series models have a cast and milled stainless steel body with a milled aluminum face insert and two tungsten sole weights plus the well known slot and line alignment aids.

“The introduction of the 600 Series reinforces our commitment to establish Slotline as one of the premier putter brands in golf. Based on independent testing, it appears the 600 Series is already being well received by the consumer,” said product manager Chad Lehr. MSRP is $199 but street price is $180.

Nike
Following up on the introduction of the VR irons, Nike Golf in February will have the VR STR8-FIT Tour and the VR Tour drivers (MSRP $480).

The VR STR8-FIT Tour makes use of the adjustable STR8-FIT Face Angle Technology allowing selection between 32 face angle positions both shot shape and the “look” at address. The more traditional VR Tour driver is not adjustable and has a smaller pear-shaped head with a longer hosel.

Both models utilize Nike’s Compression Channel technology and according to Tom Stites, Director of Club Creation, “The Compression Channel technology takes the rigidity out of the sole and provides more flex in the heel. By adding this technology, we have made the VR drivers more forgiving for the better players when they miss it in the lower zone of the heel.”

Each year around this time I start looking at the news items that have crossed my desk since last Christmas for possible golfer gift ideas, think of this as sort of my ‘wish list.’ They range in price from the very expensive to a few dollars therefore potentially filling any gifter’s need. So, in no particular order:

No Golf but a Lot of Relaxation
Buccament Bay Beach Resort opens in July 2010 on the southwest coast of St. Vincent in the Windward Islands has a great year round vacation location, exclusivity, 12 restaurants, a tennis academy, the Liverpool Football Club’s soccer school, a cricket academy, activities for children, a 24-berth marina and NO GOLF. Since there’s no direct air service you have to fly into St. Lucia and take a launch to St. Vincent…sounds like fun.

Bushnell Promos
The Bushnell Tour V2 laser range finder has a permanent spot in my bag and until the end of 2009 they are offering a number of promotions for their various models. The one that caught my eye, since I like the V2, is called the ‘Tour V2 Limited Edition Holiday Pack.’ Included besides a Tour V2 laser rangefinder are a premium carrying case, two 3-volt batteries and two SKINZ™, silicone protective covers, at $100 off the usual retail price of $400.

House of Carrington
“Call me old fashioned but I think the clothes you wear are important, including on the golf course. They speak volumes about you and your attitude and many of the modern “youth-orientated” styles just don’t cut it. Cargo shorts, enormous basketball shorts, tank tops, etc. may look fine on a six-year old but on middle aged weekend warrior they look ridiculous.” That was the lead paragraph of my story about the House of Carrington clothing from two brothers named Bell, classic in design, quality construction using the best of fabrics at middle of the road prices. To locate a retail or green grass shop visit houseofcarrington.com.

Let’s Face It
The TaylorMade Golf TP wedge with xFT (Exchangeable Face Technology) gives players the option of changing out a worn wedge clubface; definitely a neat idea certainly worth consideration given the banning of box grooves by the USGA. Street price is $129 per and comes with a Z groove face (i.e., one conforming to the pre-2010 USGA rule). Other xFT wedge faces with either the Z groove or ZTP groove (conforming to the new 2010 USGA rule) are $39.

Sink More Putts
Dr. Craig Farnsworth’s book, The Putting Prescription, is a great reference on how to putt or at least how to understand what’s going on during the stroke. Farnsworth really does understand putting and has coached everyone from Azinger to Yang how to make more putts. John Wiley & Sons, $24.95

Another Golf Book, But Different
Frank Thomas is a very interesting guy, opinionated to be sure but as knowledgeable person as you can find regarding golf equipment and the game in general. Each week he answers questions sent in by readers of his web site and now has compiled the Q&A into a book, Dear Frank… which is available on his at franklygolf.com for $17.99

More suggestions in a couple of days.

Rife Putters has had a lot of success on the Champions Tour and to capitalize they have introduced two new putters both using the company’s patented RollGroove Technology.

The 460 Mid Blade and the 400 Mid Mallet have an additional benefit, at a MSRP of $99.80 they sell for about $100 less than other popular Rife models such as the Two Bar Hybrid. Matt Molloy, Rife president of Rife Putters said in a press release, “We priced the 460 Mid Blade and the 400 Mid Mallet at a very reasonable $99.80 to introduce RIFE’s technology to as broad an audience as possible.”

Sure would be nice if more club manufacturers took that approach.

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.

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.

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.

You’re a golfer and want to do your part in saving the planet so, in part, Scuti Grips has an answer.

The company’s new line of Eco-Friendly Grips is now on the market made from a biodegradable foam material in contrast to the usual plastic and rubber constituents of other grips. More…