Over the Green

Williams Formula One is a big name in that sport and now the company, Williams Sports has jumped into golf in what might be called a big way with a $50,000 set of clubs. Yes, that’s not a misprint and presumably they are not anticipating selling a bunch of sets at the local muni.

Named the Black Diamond Series or according to Williams press information, the “Ultimate Golf Experience,” below is the operative paragraph describing why a set of clubs should carry such a high price tag.

Understanding each individual golfers needs are unique, a Williams’s expert club maker will custom fit and tailor each piece of equipment to the specific needs of the player. Maximizing and utilizing all fitting aspects will ensure the highest level of success that the Black Diamond Series can offer. The player will also receive a personalized 100% Italian leather custom Williams golf bag handmade in Italy by Schedoni, and will be a VIP Guest of the team of any F1 event of his choosing. The Black Diamond Series package carries a price tag of $50,000.00.

Williams also is marketing two more moderately priced sets: the Players Series and the Gold Series, plus accessories all benefiting from their experience in engineering and building Formula One racers.

Many, if not most golfers, seldom think about the fact the game they play is also a business. With something in the neighborhood of 25 million people in the U.S. who play at least occasionally (nobody knows the actual number) and with some $25 to $30 billion spent on golf annually, it ranks among the top businesses in the sports and recreation category.

This makes the yearly pilgrimage by virtually all the golf club, ball and accessory makers plus golf travel destinations, clothing and everything else you can think of golf-related to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. a major for the business.

The Show – once described as a golfer’s version of Disney World – is the 57th and begins with a new club demo day on Wed. at Orange County National Golf Club followed by three days for manufacturer’s to show off their latest and greatest on the OCCC floor. Coming to see the 1,000 exhibitors housed in 1 million square feet of display space and walking 10 miles of aisles or hitting shots on the indoor driving range will be over 40,000 equipment buyers and PGA Professionals, including probably your local pro.

An often overlooked part of the Show and in truth a primary reason the pros attend, are the 65 learning sessions held over three days to further the professional education of attendees in the business of golf. Such topics as better golf instructional techniques, the latest technology for golf course operation and customer relations are all covered in the very well attended seminars.

While all this sounds interesting and even fun for the typical weekend golfer, you aren’t invited. Only members of the golf industry are allowed credentials, a rule closely adhered to with photo id needed just to pick up the badge that’s checked when entering the exhibit area…every time.

For 2010 an industry heavy weight has opted out. TaylorMade-adidas Golf is not exhibiting either in the clothing or equipment areas, feeling they can better spend the money contacting green grass and off-course retailers throughout the year. The industry has gone through hard times the past two years and there is some hope golfers will open their wallets in the coming season, what one might think of as satisfying a pent up demand to compensate for putting off purchases.

Nike Golf has enjoyed some success in the past year with the Victory Red (VR) irons so for the 2010 season they are extending the line to include two drivers, a fairway wood model and a hybrid club.

A difference for this new season though, is the absence of Nike’s primary (and highly paid) spokesman Tiger Woods, not that the world’s number one ranked golfer spent a lot of time pitching specific Nike equipment. It was Nike’s skillful use of Woods’ image which has been a big reason the company was able to climb from literally nowhere, starting as a non-golf company, to its present number four position in equipment sales behind Acushnet, TaylorMade Golf and Callaway Golf. MORE…

A PR photo of Nicklaus from a few years ago that's been a favorite.

Jack Nicklaus, nicknamed “Ohio Fats” when he turned pro in 1960 and challenged the reigning king of golf Arnold Palmer, is 70 years old today. He won’t officially celebrate until tomorrow though as he’s on Christmas Island on a fishing trip and to save you looking it up, Christmas Island is in the Indian Ocean south of Jakarta, Indonesia.

His nickname soon morphed to the “Golden Bear” or now days even the “Olden Bear” but his accomplishments in tournament golf have never been matched and without question Nicklaus was the most dominant player of his era; maybe even of all time.

This won’t be a recital of his tournament wins, although as a refresher his first was the 1962 U.S. Open and his last the 1986 Masters, but a couple of other pertinent facts. He will join his long time friend and competitor Palmer as honorary starter at the Masters in April, a fitting sentimental gesture for the millions of golf fans who will watch in person or on TV.

Secondly Nicklaus and his wife Barbara celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in July. He always has made no secret of the fact to him family would be first before golf or for that matter his global business interests. Without becoming too maudlin this says as much about the man and his character as anything possibly could.

So from someone who has admired you and had a couple of cracking good interviews with you, thanks and Happy Birthday Jack.

Shush! Quiet! Do you hear it?

Aw, it’s gone…the predicted uproar from PGA Tour players now they no longer are allowed to play with square or box grooves.

Unless of course your name is John Daly and then you put 20 year old Ping Eye-2 wedges and thumb your nose at the rest of the suckers who follow the rules in form as well as intent. The Ping Eye-2 grooves are conforming not because they are not box grooves but because they are grandfathered as part of the settlement between Ping Golf and the USGA of the original groove issue law suit in the late 1980’s.

Some had predicted a semi-revolt by Tour players over the rule change which effectively makes it more difficult to generate enough ball spin so shots will stop on the green particularly with short irons out of the rough. Exactly what form the revolt was to take was not revealed, refusal of courtesy cars or paying for lunch instead of bellying up to the free buffet, who knows. In any event, it’s a non-issue after the first two weeks of the season.

So did scores balloon, were there more “flyers” or balls skidding across putting surfaces than when the same types of shots were played last year?

From all evidence, no.

No matter how hard the Golf Channel commentators Nick Faldo and Mark Rolfing tried, the scores were about the same both weeks as last year after factoring in what does make a difference, the wind.

This isn’t to say wedge shots stopped dead or spun back every time but as the Tour slogan says,”These guys are good.” They compensated by hitting different types of shots into the greens, started using softer covered balls or added a degree or two loft to their irons. And besides the events are held on courses covered with varieties of Bermuda grass which is notorious for “juicers” or shots with less than the usual spin.

What hasn’t changed though is the USGA has created one set of rules for the good players – toursters and top amateurs – while the rest of us play by another set. This is not reasonable, smart nor effective in the long run.

It detracts from one of golf’s attractive virtues; we play on the same grounds with the same implements under the same conditions as those who are truly talented.

Callaway Golf likes to talk about their number one position in the iron’s segment of golf equipment business with pride and well they should. The company has had many more winners in its iron lines than non-winners and for 2010 is introducing the Diablo Edge game improvement model and the Diablo Forged model for better players, both good possibilities to add to Callaway’s top spot.

The Diablo Edge are targeted for the typical recreational golfer with a low center of gravity and other features to “mitigate the effects of heavy and thin shots.”
Dr. Alan Hocknell, Senior Vice President of Research & Development said in the Diablo Edge announcement, “In designing the new Diablo Edge Irons, we’ve taken our proven technologies and combined them with insight on where average golfers make contact on the clubface, then moved the sweet spot accordingly. The result of that effort is greater distance overall and greater distance consistency.”

Diablo Edge eight iron sets are in retailers now at a suggested retail of $599 with steel shafts. Interestingly Diablo Edge iron sets will also be available in combination sets of six irons (steel shafts) and two hybrids (graphite shafts) at $699 or $799 in all graphite.

Callaway will begin shipping in February the new Diablo Forged irons made for more accomplished golfers. Designed with a thinner top line and shorter blade with only a small amount of offset, the Diablo Forged are meant to provide shot shaping capabilities.

Hocknell said of the Diablo Forged, “We used an exceptional combination of materials to design the Diablo Forged Irons. The thin, high-strength steel face and the soft, forged steel body allowed us to move the center of gravity lower and create a unique combination of added distance and forged feel.”

Diablo Forged iron sets will have a suggested retail of $999 in steel and $1,199 in graphite.

Golf and the technology of global positioning or GPS have had a beneficial marriage for awhile and as in most marriages the relationship changes over time. The service giving yardages to the green, hazards and even exact hole locations has become much less expensive and is therefore gaining in popularity.

All systems provide distances from say the top of a bunker to the front edge of a green by satellite signal triangulation with the course layout provided either with plotting points (such the green edge) determined from walking the course and or measured on photo images taken by a satellite. MORE…

Sometimes things pop up which don’t require a lot of analysis and this release from Florida’s Lynn University is one of them. See the text below:

Danny Noonan and the gang from Bushwood Country Club form the central theme of a new Lynn University course, “Caddyshack 101: Lessons from the Coolest Sports Movie Ever Made,” currently underway at the south Florida university.

“We use this hilarious, crude, wonderful film as a way to get into some very serious discussions,” says Ted Curtis, assistant professor of sports management and a lifelong fan of the 1980 movie. “As university faculty, we always are trying to find new ways to engage and enlighten our students. With this class, we are doing that through one of the most-popular sports comedies ever made.”

Needless to say we didn’t have courses like this way back when.

The Sony Open in Hawaii, this weeks’ stop on the PGA Tour, has a lot of history going all the way back to 1971 when it began as the Hawaiian Open, an unabashed advertisement of Hawaii’s charms to winter bound mainlanders. From 1990 through 1998 with a new sponsor and name it was played as the United Airlines Hawaiian Open and 1999 Sony became title sponsor.

This is the season’s first full field event with players vying for a $5.5 million purse. The field which includes 2008 winner Zach Johnson, winners of all four 2009 majors and notables like Ernie Els (a 2 time Sony winner), Vijay Singh (1 win), Davis Love and Justin Rose plus the hottest member of the Tour’s young gun category, Ricky Fowler.

The tournament’s history of firsts includes 14 year old Lorens Chan, who last year became the youngest qualifier ever for a Tour event and in 2004 with Michelle Wie the youngest golfer to ever play in a Tour event. Wie played on a sponsor’s exemption.

This year look for PGA Tour bad boy John Daly to tee it up courtesy of the sponsor after playing in Asia and Europe in 2009. If you haven’t seen Daly since he came off his six month Tour suspension, he may be hard to recognize. After lap band surgery “Big John” is not so big, he’s lost 100 pounds.

The 2007 tournament saw local favorite 16-year old Tadd Fujikawa, a qualifier who became the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut with a 66 in round two. After a third round, also of 66, he finished T-20 nine shots behind winner Paul Goydos.

For fans with longer memories the 1983 Hawiian Open also had one of the best ever moments in televised golf. As Jack Renner sat in the scorer’s tent after completing his fourth round at 19 under par, Japanse star Isao Aoki was playing the 18th needing a birdie to tie Renner. Captured on by the TV camera was Renner’s face after Aoki holed his approach shot for an eagle and the win.

Coverage of the Sony Open is on the Golf Channel beginning a t 7pm Thursday through Sunday.

Even though it’s not exactly the new year there’s no rule predictions can’t still be made. Therefore when a flash of insight hit while reading Jack Nicklaus’ remarks regarding Tiger Woods’ advance on the Golden Bear’s all time record of 18 major championships it was too good an opportunity to pass.

Nicklaus said 2010 is a big year in Woods’ quest of four more majors to tie him, particularly since three of the four championships are where Woods has had past success. In addition to the perennial site of the Masters, Augusta National Golf Club, the U.S. Open is at Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Open will be played on the Old Course St. Andrews. Clearly this wasn’t a case of the soon to be 70 Nicklaus pontificating, merely pointing out facts

Woods is getting older and though not one of Nicklaus’ points, there is an increasing potential that distractions (no snickering please) may prevent him from maintaining his best-in-the-world level. Besides, one of the so-called young guns might finally step up and find enough game to dominate the Tour, but don’t hold your breath; even the phenomenally talented world number two Phil Mickelson has yet to find a way to supplant Woods.

Subsequently the flash of insight was intensified by Woods’ former swing coach Butch Harmon’s statement Woods will return in March in time to get a couple of events under his competitive belt prior to the Masters. Not that Harmon has any special pipeline to Woods thinking, it just seems to make sense assuming the hiatus eventually will end not if it will end.

This can be viewed as significant in that just a few days ago there was speculation Woods would just say, “To heck with it, I don’t need the money.” In any case don’t expect it hear that out loud. He has not been forthcoming with his public, his employers nor would it appear with his wife.

Therefore the conclusion is Woods will get a walk on this one, in spite the moral outrage and fiscal losses caused by an epic proportioned betrayal of his family not to mention his fans.

Media coverage will continue, much of it speculative if not sensationalized and overboard. Some fans will never forgive him for the demonstration of arrogance and deceit much less the damage to his wife and children. But as with other public figures assigned semi-deification by the crowds, once Woods is back and makes a pro forma demonstration of humility all will promptly forgotten. Well, maybe not forgotten in the sense of no longer in memory but forgotten in the sense, “What difference does it make?”

One can see the beginning of this attitude shift reading the business press discussion about the monetary impact of the Woods fiasco on tournament charities and sponsors with one pundit even saying the companies who fired him aren’t with it, hip or otherwise in the camp of “Boys will be boys.”

Therefore in a year, like a three-putt on the eighteenth last Sunday, this will all be just a memory. Can a full hour of Tiger on Oprah be far behind?