Over the Green

The arguments and counterarguments by the parties of the Titleist – Callaway brouhaha have resulted in not only forcing Titleist to revise the production of Pro V1s but now Callaway has demanded all the “previously manufactured” balls be pulled from the market. This is viewed by Callaway as their right after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a stay of a permanent injunction given Callaway on Dec. 23 when the manufacturing process used for Pro V1s was found to infringe on four Callaway patents.

So Acushnet got a lump of coal in their stocking and in my view this whole thing is just a mess.

There are three salient points which should not be overlooked and which are being under reported by my fellow golf journalists. First within a few weeks newly designed Pro V1s will be on the market, at least the fourth iteration since the brand was introduced in 2000, and needless to say this version will be made without coming within miles of the Callaway patents.

Second according to Acushnet the Callaway patents are not valid and the Patent Office has said so in a ruling issued subsequent to when Callaway filed the original law suit back in 2006. Predictably Acushnet is appealing the original patent infringement verdict.

Finally, and this goes to a point I made in the Dec. 11 column, if the above is true Callaway in my opinion doesn’t seem to be operating in the spirit of the game of golf where you take your opponent to the course to prove who is better. You cough in his back swing or put pepper in his sun tan lotion.

If Callaway wants to compete with Acushnet in the golf ball market where Acushnet’s Titleist and Pinnacle brands have over 60% share let them make a better product at a better price not resort to gamesmanship. I know they must think Acushnet is in the wrong and they may be but I guess I’m unhappy with how Callaway is conducting their business.

Callaway seems to be making this point easy for me since they have been running full page ads in the national golf publications with the copy, “’The #1 Ball in Golf’ was built on Callaway Golf technology. In business as in golf, we believe in playing by the rules.”

However, I remember Callaway selling non-conforming drivers a few years ago.

The media boil re: Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams saying unflattering things about Phil Mickelson has had time to work itself out with everyone holding their collective breath until Tiger weighed in. Woods did of course last week and in the typical Woods media management style said the incident had been dealt with between himself and his employee.

There are two points though that remain. First is the professional, classy way Lefty “dealt with” the issue, taking the high road and yet letting everyone know where he stood. Secondly, Williams lied.

The story he told about Mickelson at Bethage Page not only didn’t happen then, it didn’t happen to Mickelson. Stevie is not only a poor representative of his boss but also a liar. Makes one wonder how long he can stay with Woods…Fluff Cowan was fired for a lot less.

I was struck with a thought yesterday when the AP story came across my screen that 2008 U.S. Amateur Champion Danny Lee was turning professional. Not that Lee is the youngest-ever champ (at 18 years 1 month) nor even that he decided to play for pay but I couldn’t remember the last U.S. Am winner to not become a professional.

After a bit of thinking I came up with Nathaniel Crosby, the 1981 winner and son of Bing. But being unsure and now curious I did a little research and found I was mistaken, Mitch Voges 17 years ago was the last though John Harris (1993) didn’t declare until he became a senior tourster.

This isn’t a criticism of any of the past champions who found the allure of the PGA Tour irresistible but maybe more of a reflection on how times have changed.

By the way of course everyone knows Bobby Jones was the only player to win the Championship five times (his last was 1930) but I’ll bet you can’t name the oldest U.S. Amateur winner. How about Jack Westland back in 1952 at the almost senior age of 47 years and 3 months.

I thought it was fitting for “Ms. 59,” Annika Sorenstam to end her tournament career with a birdie on the 72nd hole of the Dubai Ladies Masters. She didn’t win finishing in seventh six shots back of victor Anja Monke.

Let’s see, a 53-year old (Scot Hoch) and a 48-year old (Kenny Perry) whipped the whole field at the 20th iteration of the Merrill Lynch Shootout. The four shot victory I guess proved experience, steady play and maybe a little guile can overcome most anything. What is best though in the eyes of this old guy about the other two old guys taking the trophy is who they beat finishing in second…Boo and J.B. Both really young, obscenely long and wonderful players who helped win the Ryder Cup back in September.

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, Corey Pavin is the new U.S.A. team captain replacing Paul Azinger. The only relevant item I can add to the millions of words already written about this is we will go from one of the tallest captains, Zinger is 6’2”, to one of the shortest. Pavin is listed as 5’9” but I have to tell you unless Corey has grown since the last time I saw him his height is more like 5’7” putting him in the height range of another former Ryder Cup captain, Ben Hogan…which come to think of it is not a bad range to be in.

Modified Pro V1s (Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls) have begun arriving in golf shops as a response to a federal district court ruling allowing Callaway Golf a permanent injunction against the sale of Pro V1s found to violate patents owned by Callaway.

CEO Wally Uihlein said that back in September Acushnet “converted production of the existing Pro V1 models so that they are outside the scope of the patents in question. While a number of changes in the manufacturing process were required to address the patent issues, performance and quality are indistinguishable from the current products.”

At issue is the construction of the Pro V1’s core. In December 2007 a jury found Acushnet’s manufacturing process conflicted with patents Callaway owns, patents that were among the assets of the 2003 purchase of Top-Flite Golf. However and predictably, Acushnet has appealed the jury verdict and the injunction plus is said to be introducing an entirely reformulated Pro V1 family in the first quarter, presumably at the PGA Merchandise Show.

This of course is great news for the millions of amateurs and professionals who swear by the Pro V1.

All of this has been more or less reported by the golfing media but less well known is a subsequent U.S. Patent office review of the Callaway patents found them to be invalid. Therefore Callaway did not have had any basis for the original 2006 patent infringement law suit. Further, and please understand I am not an attorney so my understanding could be very well flawed, during the trial finding Acushnet guilty the judge did not let the jury use as part of the consideration that the Callaway patents should never have been issued.

Bottom line, if this is true Callaway is acting in a spirit not consistent with that of the game, the world’s last refuge of civility and gentlemanly behavior. Sure, this is “just business” but attempting to stop the sale of a market dominating product without a legal basis just isn’t the way it should be done. If Callaway can’t make a ball that out performs and is accepted the way Pro Vs are, so be it.

I will continue to follow as this story develops and since FrontPageGolf.com doesn’t depend on advertising revenue from either of these companies you can be sure you will get non-slanted, correct information.

The economy is ugly. People are stressed. And just when you don’t need it, that annually no-win decision is on the horizon…what to get your mother-in-law for Christmas.

One might wring his hands as well about the declining number of corporations willing to part with a few million to sponsor a PGA Tour or LPGA Tour tournament and though this isn’t in the galaxy not to say league with a General Motors bankruptcy, in golf’s world it’s a concern.

So rather than as other scribes have done and continue to do daily I thought a short list of the good things in golf would be helpful.

Tiger’s Return in ‘09
I can’t think of anyone, from the casual fan to the corporate board room crowd who isn’t looking forward to Woods’ return, perhaps as soon as Arnie’s tournament the end of March (Bay Hill is across the lake from Tiger’s house) and if not, by the Masters. TV execs, advertising-types and lots of his fellow players know the phenomenal attention and therefore money riding on his rejoining the Tour.

Young Guns
Maybe it should be “Young Gun” in the singular since Anthony Kim certainly grabbed a lot of attention and wins during 2008 but to be fair Sergio Garcia and Camilo Villegas can be added to the list of “The Next Tiger Woods”, can’t they?

Old Guns
My fond dream is to see Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry continue to light it up especially if their good play pushes Woods or some of the others to excel.

Michelle and Stacy
Lost in the media attention of Michelle Wie finally becoming a member of the LPGA Tour was the 3-shot Q-School tournament win by Stacy Lewis, an exciting dynamic youngster with the personality to enliven the Tour. Commissioner Bivens lucked into this addition of Lewis and Wie just as Annika Sorenstam is departing. Just as with Woods, Wie draws the attention of casual fans even those not interested in golf so her presence is a big deal.

Lorena, Paula and Cristy
Ochoa, Creamer and Kerr will give the LPGA for the first time in several years the potential of exciting competition between more than two or three players when Lewis and Wie join the mix.

Competition
The common theme for 2009 is the major tours should have some great competition week to week as well as in the majors…a good thing for golf as a game and as a business.

John Hoeflich, one of the best known club designers, joined Nickent Golf a few years ago and has recently taken on the additional responsibility of chief operating officer. Among the first new club designs to hit the market after the changes is a hybrid, the 5DX.

Nickent has gained a reputation of making quality hybrids and some deserved recognition for use by players on the Nationwide and other tours. With the 5DX, the fifth hybrid design in the past six years, Nickent seeks to optimize center of gravity placement in the stainless steel head while increasing moment of inertia (MOI) for help in the case of an off center hit. More…

Is it possible all the noise and fury about the distance pro’s drive the ball is about to come to an end?

Have the Tour course set ups tamed the mighty?

I don’t know the answer but just for your edification Bubba Watson was the longest hitter on Tour for the third year in a row with an average of 315.1 yards per measured drive and that’s 0.1 yards less than he achieved in 2007. Not significant you say.

Maybe, but in 2006 the Bagdad, Florida native had an all time record of 319.6 yards so in two years he’s gotten 4.5 yards shorter. However, as is usually the case, the longest hitter didn’t make the most money. In fact for the 2008 campaign Watson didn’t crack the top 50 earners coming in at 58th.

Just thought you’d like to know.