Over the Green

Hit it longer
Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ: GOLF) is an aggressive marketer with 75 stores and an extensive Internet business has expanded their drive towards getting more players to be custom fit with the “15 More Yards Guarantee.” Basically, if you get fitted for a new driver at Golfsmith and you don’t see a 15-yard increase in distance you get an in store credit equal to the driver’s price.

Louis’ clubs
Until now you couldn’t play the same clubs that Louis Oosthuizen used to blow away the competition at the British Open but PING has solved your dilemma as part of a multi-product announcement for summer. The S56 irons ($127.50 per club steel shafts) and Tour-S Rustique wedges ($130 each in steel shafts) are now available.

Aerodynamic ultralight
Adams Golf (NasdaqCM:ADGF) adds the Speedline 9064LS and 4G Ultra-Lite drivers to their stable. Billed as the fourth generation aerodynamic technology the drivers are said by Adams to be the longest yet due to their head design which creates less drag and turbulance therefor increasing club head speed and distance. The Speedline 4G Ultra-Lite in regular flex ships starting Aug. 15 with a suggested retail of $479.99 and the DFS (distance fitting system) version of the Speedline 9064LS ships Aug. 10 with a SRP of $479.99.

The debate about the distance the best players in the world are hitting the golf ball seems for now to be on hold. In the entire world the number of professionals and elite amateurs who pound the ball past 300-yards is certainly less than 1,000 and but even that small a number have caused the USGA to adjust the rules of golf.

First it was the about the driver face coefficient of restitution followed by club length and moment of inertia. Then it was ball’s overall distance which resulted in the new standards to rein in how far the ball travels when struck by a trained athlete landing on fairways groomed so as to allow the ball to run like it did on greens 50 years ago. MORE…

Seems like a simple idea and in the Internet age and it’s surprising no one has done it before but now the National Golf Foundation is counting the number of golfers in the United States.

The number of American golfers (somewhere around 27 million) has always been an approximation based on a lot of informed estimates and plain old guesswork. However with the economic slowdown and the obvious need for reliable information for those who sell goods and services to the golfing demographic, an old fashion head count would seem to make sense.

According to the NGF: The American Golf Census will improve the industry’s marketing and promotional capabilities, stimulating rounds played, and equipment and incremental sales locally. Additionally, information about golfers obtained from the Census will allow policymakers to better understand how golf enhances the lives of millions of Americans with various demographics.

As an incentive those who fill out the census form online – it takes less than a minute – will be entered in a sweepstakes drawing with $100,000 in prizes from equipment to vacations in Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Scotland and Ireland.

To click and be counted go to americangolfcensus.com.

The British Open at St. Andrews last week showed the future of golf; bump and run rather than hop and stop. In general terms, the Scots, the English and Irish think of the game as being played on the ground and Americans think of it as being played through the air.

The answer to why is easy and on display for four days in Scotland. When golf is played on a course where the turf is firm and the wind blows, the best way to hit it close comes from being able to control distance through the proper trajectory. Firm turf and high winds mean hitting the ball up in the air makes it difficult if not impossible to control distance. As anyone who has played golf in West Texas knows the wind may hurt or even sometimes help a shot but always it magnifies the slightest miss hit or incorrect line often with very bad results. When the ball lands on firm greens it tends to bounce and roll, not stop and certainly not stop and suck back. There is no one from West Texas who is a high ball hitter.
More…

Since the U.S. Open speculation has ramped up concerning Ryder Cup team rosters and of course the outcome of the matches at Celtic Manor in Wales beginning Oct. 1. However with the British Open on the books (has there ever been one with less excitement?) and Louis Oosthuizen having had his photo taken innumerable times kissing the trophy, the season of guessing, speculation and opinion can officially begin.

As an exercise to confirm what most fans already felt, the two teams are closely matched. The average World Golf Rankings position of the top nine Euro players on the Ryder Cup points list is twelfth and the top eight American in Ryder Cup points have an average world ranking of thirteenth. A difference with no distinction surely.

European captain Colin Montgomery has three picks to round out his 12 player squad and US leader Corey Paving has four selections.

A reasonable assumption is the Ryder Cup likely will hinge on who the captains choose to fill out the teams and the home field advantage for the Euros. Both those factors could be minimized of course if Woods and Mickelson come to play and dominate, not something that has ever happen before.

The next three players on the European Ryder Cup points and all potential picks are Francesco Molinari (23 in world rankings), Miguel Angel Jimenez (37) and Paul Casey (8). For Pavin his next four on the points list are Jeff Overton (56), Ricky Barnes (60), Hunter Mahan (29) and Ben Crane (42).

Pavin though has another worry in that Anthony Kim (4th in points and number 13 in the world) is still not back after hand surgery. He did not play in the British Open and was aiming to return at this week’s Canadian Open but decided he would not.

The armchair speculation will continue of course all the way until Aug. 15, the end of the PGA Championship, when the teams are named.

A story on the web site “The Street” noted research concerning sales of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 video game as falling far short of last years sales one month after its introduction. In fact the figures show a 68 percent decline for the Electronic Arts (NASDQ: ERTS) game compared to 2009 June sales when the Woods game was one of the hottest and most sought after releases.
EA says the poor sales are due to the economic slowdown and that Woods has only returned to the links this past spring plus he has not been a contender, much less a winner, since coming back.

EA did not fire Woods after the revelations of numerous extramarital affairs beginning in November 2009 as did other corporations including AT&T, Gillette, Gatorade and Accenture. Woods’ largest sponsor before and after his self-imposed hiatus from competition remains Nike who pays him an estimated $30 million per year and have built their golf marketing effort around him and the TW brand.

Nike chairman Phil Knight has made comments to the effect not only will Nike stand by Woods through the scandal but overall it is of little consequence to his career. Industry sources have guessed that prior to the onset of his personal problems Woods had an annual income of $100 million from endorsements and prize money.

If indeed Woods does not return at least part of the way back to his former status as paragon and star product endorser even those corporations that have continued their relationship will have to reassess all that money they pay him.

Paula Creamer was absolutely masterful in her conquest of Oakmont in the U.S. Women’s Open. Someone who has not played this brute can fully appreciate how difficult it is, not to mention under USGA championship conditions.

Creamer’s four shot win is huge for her, her family and American women’s golf.

As we have been writing for the past several years, American golf fans relegated the LPGA Tour to a second class status. It not been just because Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and the other boys have hogged the attention, though they have, but because American fans have shown little interest in the outcome of events when native born players aren’t winning.

Call it whatever you want but the decline of the LPGA Tour in the eyes of U.S. fans has been a dramatic force in terms of the business of the tour – sponsorship, endorsements, television, etc. Additions to the schedule have been overseas, Mexico and other locations making the LPGA a truly global tour so when the fact is added Americans have had so few wins, fans in this country in general give the ladies ciruit a big yawn.

Too bad. Now after four wins out of 14 events this year (beside Creamer, Meaghan Francella-1, Cristie Kerr-2) and with Kerr number one in the world rankings maybe fan interest will rekindle.

The LPGA has gone through rough times, not helped by the Carolyn Bivens tenure as commissioner nor by the economic downturn but winning breds winning. With Americans winning, fans should be returning and that’s a winning combination.

Back in April we reported what could be a significant deal between the fourth largest retailer in the U.S. Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) and Edwin Watts Golf Shops, LLC , the 70+ store chain based in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., to put an Edwin Watts Golf Shop in selected Sears stores.

The first two shops are now open and both are in Maryland – The Mall in Columbia (Columbia) and White Oak Shopping Center (Silver Spring). There are ten more scheduled by the end of the year at locations in Friendswood and Humble, Texas; Murray, Utah; Garden City, Yonkers and Hicksville, N.Y.; Livingston, N.J.; Falls Church, Va.; Vernon Hills, Ill.; and Pembroke, Fla.

>>>>To read the rest of this story click on the title “Edwin Watts in Sears stores open” in Exclusive Feature Article above.

There’s an old golf adage that says a good swing starts with a good grip. Even the best player of all time, Jack Nicklaus, thought that was true. Each year prior to start of the PGA Tour season the Golden Bear would visit Jack Grout, his mentor and coach since he was a boy, and they would go back to basics in order to prepare for the new year. The first basic Nicklaus and Grout checked? His grip.

If Nicklaus thought the grip was that important then the average weekend warrior should certainly pay attention.

Want more proof? In perhaps the most iconic golf instruction book ever, Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf,” the Hawk devotes 19 pages to the grip. Any teaching professional will tell you what Hogan said in that 1957 opus is just as true today.

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

An interview on Golf.com with Dick Rugge, Senior Technical Director of the United State Golf Association, revealed a couple of interesting facts amid the criticism of the change in the allowable configuration of grooves in irons 25 degrees and higher loft.

Rugge says the USGA doesn’t like the idea of two sets of rules, one for “elite golfers” and one for the rest of us, however it was necessary in the case of grooves to soften the change for non-elite players. In essence postponing implementation of the V-groove replacing the U- or box grooves until 2024 for everyone but tour players and those few amateurs that play in USGA competitions gave us two sets of rules but having one set of rules is still desirable.

He did not address the obvious fact every golfer will buy a new set of irons in the next 14 years thus making them play with irons of lesser performance…just like the elite players.

He confirmed box grooved irons had decreased the need to drive the ball in the fairway – box grooves have been around for more than 20 years since the Ping Golf law suit. Looking at the situation the Association felt the game had changed so much with the advent of driver clubheads of titanium with graphite shafts hitting the solid core balls ever farther, something had to be done.

Speaking of law suits, rolling back groove cross section thus hurting performance from long grass, is probably the only thing they realistically could have promulgated without a scream from both players and club makers. Can you imagine Titleist giving up the Pro V1? Or how about TaylorMade discarding the Tour Burner? Not likely without a heck of a fight. So grooves took the hit.

Rugge also talked about rolling back the performance of balls and clubs.

“Strictly based on their potential to change the game, two other rollbacks could be considered—reducing golf ball distance and reducing clubhead size. However, in both cases, a rollback would impact virtually every golfer, not just the very best players, so we have no plans to roll back either.”

“… if driving distance once again began to increase significantly, there may be a need to consider changes to the rules governing clubs or balls. It’s purely hypothetical, but there could also come a time when environmental issues place such significant burdens on building or maintaining golf courses that reducing distance could become a necessity.”

Sounds like he setting up the case to rationalize just what he said is not needed. It certainly doesn’t let me sleep any more soundly.