Over the Green

“It’s not just about reducing the weight, but how you save weight in one area that can be used in another area to get better performance.”

Sounds like maybe a pitch for diet program or fitness facility but in fact this was said several years ago by one of the best known club designers in the business, back when titanium heads were being combined with graphite shafts to produce longer driving distance for the average golfer, not just the touring pros. Since then every club maker has tried to create clubs producing ball launch conditions closer to optimum with everything from movable weights to nontraditionally shaped heads to new materials and so on. More…

It is hard to imagine anyone doubts the golf industry is unffected by the problems of the U.S. economy. Just in case though someone has missed the gnashing of teeth coming from the direction of club makers’ corporate headquarters the latest from the National Golf Foundation shows how poorly the largest segment of the golf industry is doing.

According to data compiled by the NGF golf course closings in 2008 hit 106 (18-hole equivalent) while new tracks plus expansions totaled 72. The deficit of 34 courses follows a pattern set the two previous years. While most of the 2008 closed courses were public (9-hole and short courses) can the troubles of real estate developers not help but force closure of the hundreds if not thousands of courses built as amenities to induce home purchases in the past 20 years?

And if that weren’t enough in 2008 rounds of golf played through November were down 1.6 percent compared to 2007.

The latest political discussions remind us the world is a dangerous place and there are lots of people who wish us ill-will. The ‘ill-will wishers list’ includes those perpetrating scams over the Internet but thankfully the golf business has seen few of these crooks.

However an item from the United States Golf Association reproduced below is worth noting.

Alert: Scam Checks Purport To Be From USGA
January 13, 2008

ALERT: There is no legitimate reason why anyone would provide you with a check or money order and ask you to wire money anywhere in return. If you have received a USGA check for any amount of money in order to become a myster shopper or for any other reason and have been asked to wire money back — it is a scam. Do not cash the check. Contact the USGA Legal Department for further information at (908) 234-2300. Further information on check scams can be found at FTC.gov and fakechecks.org.

Obviously “myster” is mystery.

The new version of the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x are being used on the PGA Tour having been made by a modified manufacturing process due to the legal dispute maker Acushnet is having with Callaway Golf over Spalding Golf patents acquired by Callaway when they purchased Spalding six years ago. Consumers can look for the new Pro V1s in a couple of weeks.

The only difference to the eye is the side stripe on the new balls added a dot between the arrow and the line preceding it.

Though Acushnet is appealing an injunction granted to Callaway covering Pro V1s made in such a way as to violate the patents in question, the appeal won’t be heard for several months. The U.S. Patent Office has ruled the patents should not have been issued originally so from this admittedly limited vantage point it seems Callaway is pressing Acushnet and will ultimately lose the legal battle but in the meantime are making Acushnet spend money to live up to the injunction.

I wasn’t on the exclusive list of guests so I missed out when “Ms. 59” Annika Sorenstam tied the knot Saturday with Mike McGee in the clubhouse at the also exclusive Lake Nona Golf Club in suburban Orlando, Fla.

Annika retired in December after her Hall of Fame career which included 72 wins in 14 years on the LPGA Tour and $22 million in official prize money. Her groom is the son of Jerry McGee a former player on the PGA Tour and manager of Annika’ varied business interests which run from a line of perfumes, to a well regarded golf school and a golf course design firm.

Michael Bamberger on Golf.com reports that along with rest of the market the USGA investment portfolio is down about 30%. The implications are several but most notably the purse for this year’s US Open will probably not have to be reduced and no employees are being fired but the association’s donations will be curtailed.

The USGA has given more than $10 million to the First Tee, Play Golf America and state and local player development programs.

The generation and interpretation of the Rules of Golf which include testing to insure equipment conforms to those rules will not be affected. Some would opine this is unfortunate since golf could probably do very well without new, revised or reinterpreted rules every few years such as the recent foray into controlling groove configuration of irons which realistically only effects a tiny percentage of golfers, the touring professionals.

I just finished surfing the web for the “Playing golf can ‘damage hearing’” story first broken by the BBC and picked up by a number of US media. Not to bore you with a retelling of the purported hearing loss suffered by a British golfer after using a Cobra driver three rounds a week for a 1½ year but my research didn’t produce any evidence in fact that is what happened.

First of all there’s no report the poor golfer’s hearing had been tested before his purported loss of hearing. Secondly none of the stories I saw except the original BBC item fully quoted the scientists who did the study creating all this “noise.” Just a lot of anecdotal he/she said or pithy golfer quotes such as “it’s loud.”

For your information from the orignal BBC story – the Norfolk University lead researcher Dr Malcom Buchanan, an ENT specialist and a keen golfer, said, “Our results show that thin-faced titanium drivers may produce sufficient sound to induce temporary or even permanent cochlear damage in susceptible individuals.” He said golfers should be careful when playing with these thin-faced clubs as they make a lot more noise, and suggested they could wear earplugs for protection.

Full disclosure: the emphasis in the above quotes is mine.

Looks like another bunch of fog rolling in…not the end of the world.

I hope you have bought “Just Hit It” by Frank Thomas, it is a worthwhile read and now he and Valerie Melvin have combined to offer avid and not so avid golfers “Dear Frank…”

This latest book is a collection of 100 questions from golfers and Thomas’ answers from his weekly web column.

In case you aren’t familiar with Thomas he is the retired USGA Technical Director and presently a golf industry consultant who is among the most knowledgeable people in the world about golf equipment. The chosen 100 questions cover a variety of topics from “should you clean your golf balls in the dishwasher” to “are knockoffs as good as the major club manufacturers clubs.”

I’ll leave it to you to research the answers in “Dear Frank…” and at the same time you will find lots of other answers, non-technical explanations about balls, clubs and even some of those things “everybody knows” but maybe don’t really. As always Thomas’ love of golf comes through in his writing and his opinions are supported by facts.

“Dear Frank…” is available for purchase at www.FranklyGolf.com for $17.99.