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…

As we have written about previously the equipment part of the golf industry is consolidating and undergoing lots of turmoil. Smaller manufacturers disappear or are absorbed by larger companies and bigger players fight for market share in the face of stagnant demand.

Here are a few pertinent points to provide a sense of the scope of what is going on:
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Mickelson among his contemporaries has the most wins on Tour (40) after Tiger Woods with his run beginning at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open as a junior amateur at Arizona State and the latest at this years’ AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. His college career was outstanding: the only left-handed U.S. Amateur Champion, one of four to win NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur in same year and among the short list of four players who were four time first-team All-Americans.

His four major championships (2004, 2006 and 2010 Masters and the 2005 PGA Championship) thrilled millions plus he has won overseas three times. Additionally he has represented the United States nine times as a member of the President’s Cup team and eight times on the Ryder Cup team.

Lefty as his fans affectionately call him was elected to the Hall the first year he became eligible, after his 10th year on TOUR in 2003 and turning 40 last year.

A remarkable and Hall of Fame deserving career no doubt.

He’s an avid pilot and with wife Amy is dedicated to their three children and various charitable works including the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, Homes for Our Troops and Birdies for the Brave along with the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation.

But all that is not what this column is about – the best reason for honoring Mickelson with induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame is he exemplifies the best of the traditions of golf – honesty, sportsmanship and competitive spirit.

Stories of his taking time to sign fans autographs after rounds are legion. He smiles, waves and interacts with the crowd even during tournament rounds and then of course there’s his thrilling way of attacking the golf course. Some might say on occasions too thrilling but Lefty plays to win not for second with a slashing unorthodox swing and go-for-broke style.

Reminds one of another World Golf Hall of Fame member doesn’t it?
Arnold Palmer.

photo courtesy of GolfBuddy

It’s tiny, the same diameter as a golf ball, 1.68″. It’s light, about an ounce. It clips on the brim of a golf hat or belt and works with the push of a single button. A small screen also displays the yardage plus hole and being played and its par.

Priced at $179 the Voice comes with a silicon carrying case, data cable and wall charger.

Photo shows Arnold Palmer, left, congratulating Jack Nicklaus, right, after the conclusion of the 1962 U.S. Open which was held at Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa. Nicklaus was the winner. Copyright Unknown/Courtesy USGA Archives.

Palmer, given his sobriquet by adoring fans and enthusiastic journalists, was the dominant figure in golf. He had style and swagger, good looks and personality and he was a winner. Often he took the trophy by charging from behind, which of course was thrilling to watch for everyone…except the second place finisher.

Palmer won the Open in 1960 with just such a final round charge but now two years later and on a golf course an hour’s drive from his hometown he was defeated by Jack Nicklaus after a 90 hole battle. Nicklaus, not yet the “Golden Bear,” didn’t interact with fans like Palmer, had a college-boy lack of concern about his appearance and was, what at the time was charitably called, “husky.”

He was a rookie, a college star but still a professional novice with the audacity not only to win the U.S. Open as his first professional victory but to do it beating everyone’s favorite, Palmer.

Nicklaus of course went on to fashion an unmatched career (73 wins on the PGA Tour plus 18 majors) recently added his current take of the events back then.

“At that time in 1962, I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on, focusing on the task at hand which was winning my first professional tournament and our national championship. Fifty years later, it was nice to take the blinders off and think about all the elements that made for such a meaningful week in my life.”

In celebration of this seminal event the USGA, with financing from Nicklaus-endorsed Royal Bank of Scotland, has produced a one-hour documentary to air on NBC prior to final round coverage of this years championship at Olympic Club on June 17. Entitled “1962 U.S. Open: Jack’s First Major” it is narrated by Peter Coyote and features both archival film and interviews with some who played in the tournament such as Gary Player, Deane Beman, Dow Finsterwald and Billy Maxwell.

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.

Not as a fashion statement but to protect your eyes from the sun plus blowing dust and pollen. They should be put on every time you play, just like sunscreen but there’s a potential problem. High quality protective sunglasses are expensive, often selling for $75 to $200 a pair.

Therefore it’s a pleasant surprise to find the SunSport Optics brand golf eyewear selling for less than $30.

SunSport Optics is based in Castle Rock, Colo. and has been making golf eyewear since 2003. Their good looking line of new models are priced between $24.95 and $29.95 and feature lightweight rimless frames, optically corrected lenses and most importantly 100% UVA and UVB protection.

According to Todd Roberson, SunSport Optics president, “Our newest golf-specific design offers significant benefits to players. Just as important as your favorite driver is the pair of sunglasses you choose to protect your eyes and help perfect your game, and our newest golf design offers notable advantages.”

The lenses are also water repellant, fog resistant and scratch resistant.

SunSport sunglasses may not turn you into a scratch golfer but there’s nothing wrong with getting the sun protection you need and making a little bit of a fashion statement at the same time.

Thus according to the NGF in 2011 when there was a net loss of 138.5 golf courses it actually means 138.5 18HEQ. Their annual survey showed 157.5 18HEQ closures versus just 19 openings and the closures says the report, “were disproportionately lower priced public facilities, including a large number of 9-hole courses.”

“The cumulative reduction in course supply over the past six years has been quite modest, and pales in comparison to the net increase in facilities that occurred over the two decades prior to this recent pullback,” says Joe Beditz, President and CEO of the NGF. “In 2000 alone we gained 362 courses, and over the 20-year period from 1986-2005, we added more than 4,500 courses (18HEQ.) The slow correction that is now occurring is very much overdue and necessary, to help return the golf course business to a more healthy equilibrium between supply and demand.”

The NGF also tracks how busy golf courses were and compared with to the average number of golfers during 1986-1990, in 2011 there were an average of 17% fewer golfers per course.

Counterfeit golf clubs and balls are an immense problem for the industry and it’s estimated an astounding 2 million are made yearly. They not only cost the manufacturers profits but are hurting golfers foisting off shoddily made products using inadequate materials.

This month a consortium of club manufacturers, the U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group, announced they had been successful in getting a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court forcing closure of more than 175 websites selling counterfeit clubs. This followed a similar action in January closing 60 Internet sites.

This newest lawsuit covers 130 defendants operating more than 175 websites that sold not only clubs but balls and accessories. Visitors to these sites will now be redirected to a site referencing the preliminary injunction and other details of the legal action.

Speaking for the Group Christa McNamara of TaylorMade-adidas Golf said, “Over the last decade, we’ve seen a significant increase in counterfeiters using the internet as a tool to dupe consumers. We’ve shut down a significant number of websites with this recent joint action, and it gives us momentum in our efforts moving forward.”

The Golf Group, which was formed in 2004, has been engaged in an education campaign instructing consumers on how to spot and avoid fake golf products through its own website, www.keepgolfreal.com. Comprised of five big name golf companies (Callaway-Odyssey and Top-Flite; TaylorMade-adidas Golf and Ashworth; PING; Cleveland Golf, Srixon and Never Compromise; and Acushnet Company whose brands are Titleist, FootJoy and Scotty Cameron) in 2011 seized more than 80,000 counterfeit golf products.

It wasn’t the “Big Four,” though Casper’s record of three majors and 51 PGA Tour wins from 1956 through 1975 certainly qualified him for inclusion. Casper of course goes into the ‘why’ he wasn’t considered part of the triumvirate and it was very simple.

The idea of the Big Three was concocted by super-agent Mark McCormack after Jack Nicklaus turned professional in 1962 and became a McCormack client, joining Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The marketing slogan “Big Three” gained a lot of traction with fans and the media until even at the time one could be forgiven for thinking those three were the only ones posting any tournament victories. Casper was not a client so McCormack’s “Big Three” didn’t include him.

The truth is during the stretch from 1962 through 1970, when the Golden Bear left McCormack, Billy Casper won 33 tournaments, the same as Nicklaus. Palmer won 30 and Player eight.

So much for the Big Three.

Don’t get the idea Casper’s biography, written with the help of James Parkinson and Lee Benson, is sour grapes. Neither the book nor the man is like that. Billy, as he insisted I address him after my opening to our conversation was, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Casper,” is warm and personable and very proud of his eleven children and his wife Shirley to whom he has been married since 1952.

“The Big Three and Me” begins at what is arguably the most famous of Casper’s three major wins, the 1966 US Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco. At times the history of professional golf during this period seems to have been written solely by fans of the King. Thus this Open is usually known for Palmer’s last round ‘collapse allowing Casper to catch him’ and going on to win the following day’s playoff. The truth is Casper shot a final round of 68 to Palmer’s 71 and as Billy says, “Not too many players leading the Open on the final day fail to win by shooting 71.”

Casper’s triumph was thought of and to an extent still is thought of as Palmer’s loss. It seems it wasn’t one of golf’s greatest players forging a hard fought win but to the King failing.

That pretty well captures the sentiment of the times and those golf historians who often have been uncertain of Billy’s legacy.

A notable exception are the Big Three themselves, they have no such uncertainty. In the book’s foreword written jointly by Palmer, Nicklaus and Player they say, “Simply put, Billy Casper was threat to win every golf tournament he entered. He beat us as many times as we beat him. You don’t have to take our word for it. Look it up.”