Over the Green

Just before Christmas PING’s CEO John Solheim made his proposal public calling for the USGA to adopt rules mandating three classes of golf balls – one that would go the same distance as today’s, one 30 yards less and one 30 yards more.

Recreational players presumably would have their choice (does anyone think they will pick the 30 yards less ball?) and tournament organizers could specify which was to be played as a “condition of competition.” In particular the PGA Tour with all those long hitting superstars would use the 30-yards-less-ball in an effort to contain their mighty blows. MORE…

XCG5 from Tour Edge
Tour Edge has been on a run in recent years producing some very good fairways and the latest to be included on that short list is the newest fairway in their line up, the XCG5.

This newest refinement is the only fairway wood to have a titanium cupped face and tungsten sole which are perhaps the “secret” of the exceptional length all the previous XCG fairways have provided. Also unique is the use a combo-brazing process to put the club head together which eliminates the typical welds other makers use and gives company engineers more discretionary weight to move around for just the right placement.

However, combo-brazing is expense. For example it is done in a vacuum chamber to ensure Tour Edge’s very tight manufacturing standards are met but it does provide a very high quality joint between the tungsten and titanium pieces of the head.

As with previous models Tour Edge guarantees the Exotics XCG5 fairway wood is longer than your current fairway wood and if not return it under their 30-day “Play Guarantee” for a store credit or refund. The XCG5 is available in a Graphite Design Tour AD 40, Exotics Fujikura Blur 65, or Aldila RIP 70 Sigma graphite shaft for an SRP of $299.

Wilson adds new models for 2012
On the road to again achieving the greatness of the past, Wilson Golf has announced four additions to their model lineup.

FG Tour V2 irons – Tour staff members Padraig Harrington, Ricky Barnes and Kevin Streelman helped with the design of this new players iron with a thinner top line and minimal offset.
Ci11 irons – In its fourth generation, the black Ci11 irons are aimed at the game improvement category with a design featuring a thinner, harder face.
FG Tour X Golf Ball – Wilson’s new ball for better players is a multilayer urethane cover construction ball with a 93 compression core.
Duo Golf Ball – Duo is Wilson’s entry in the soft but long ball category and they say 8 out of 10 golfers who try Duo, switch.

Nike VR Pro Limited Edition Fairways

The VR Pro Limited Edition fairway woods being played by Stephen Ames, Stewart Cink, Simon Dyson, Francesco Molinari and Tiger Woods are now available to the rest of us. The slightly pear-shaped head with a mid-to-low face height is made from 455 stainless steel. Nike’s Compression Channel technology is part of the head design to increase speed at more spots on the club face. A MRC Diamana ‘Ahina shaft is stock. MSRP is $275.99 with a street price if $225.00.

Titleist makes the Pro V1 but every good golfer at least knows about their line of irons. They are very well regarded and played by many better players.

New APs this fall according to the company are improvements of the previous version. In the new 712 AP1 and AP2 there’s been a reworking of the head profile and an adjustment in the weighting for more off-center-hit forgiveness while retaining the ability to work the ball.
MORE…

The end to a long series of law suits?

With the golf business continuing to see few gains, it makes sense for major equipment companies to spend their resources finding new and better products. However, while all the big guys (and the small ones too) have been battling it out for the hearts and wallets of recreational players with impressive research and flashy marketing one nagging irritant has had a long life.

Callaway Golf decided the old fashion method of earning additional market share by building a better mousetrap wasn’t the right path to compete with Acushnet Golf’s industry-standard golf ball, the Titleist Pro V1. Five years ago Callaway sued Acushnet saying Acushnet was violating four Callaway patents. Acushnet of course said they weren’t infringing and that the patents were invalid. Callaway must have been particularly interested in pursing this case since the patents had to do with the manufacturing of Acushnet’s number one selling Titleist Pro V1.

After the convolutions, rulings and counter-rulings things might be close to being settled once and for all…maybe. MORE…

A lot has happened in the golf ball business in the past ten years. In October of 2000 Acushnet introduced the Titleist Pro V1 which for touring professionals and better amateurs was a game changer – longer, as much or more spin and more durable compared to the balata covered balls then in use.

The ProV1’s construction was different, much different. Tour level balls had been made with a rubber core surrounded by windings of rubber bands and then a cover made from the dried sap of the bully tree, balata. The ProV1 featured what has come to be called a solid “high-speed core” encased in a mantle of hard plastic with a cover of Urethane, another type of plastic and no rubber bands.MORE…

The battle over patents between Acushnet Co. and Callaway Golf continues as Callaway continues to challenge Acushnet for ball business market share with another court ruling Acushnet had not infringed on Callaway golf ball patents as Callaway contend.

A lot is at stake. Presently Acushnet with their Titleist and Pinnacle brands sell about 60 percent of the balls by dollar value with their Titleist Pro V1 by far the most popular. Callaway has been trying to grow their ball business for years including their purchase of Spalding Golf the former number two in the market.

So how did this all start…take a look at the timeline.

2000 – Titleist revolutionizes the ball business with the multi-layer urethane cover Pro V1 that quickly becomes the most played ball on the PGA Tour and number one selling ball.
2001 and 2003 – Spalding, the former number two ball company, is issued four patents covering multi-layer golf ball manufacturing.
2003 – Spalding Golf goes bankrupt and the remnants, including the four patents in question are bought by Callaway.
January 2006 – Seven examiners for the U.S. Patent Office concur the Spalding patents are invalid prior to Callaway first suing Acushnet.
February 2006 – Callaway sues Acushnet saying the Titleist Pro V1 infringes on the Spalding patents. In 2007 a jury said Acushnet was at fault but Acushnet won an appeal for a new trial. During the first trial the judge ruled Acushnet could not tell the jury the four Spalding patents had been deemed invalid.
November 2008 – U.S. District Court grants Callaway an injunction and judgment causing Acushnet to stop manufacturing the then current version of the Pro V1 and Acushnet rushes to market a version that does not violate the patents.
August 2009 – U. S. Court of Appeals a three judge panel rules for a new trial as requested by Acushnet and overturns the 2008 judgment and injunction prohibiting manufacture and sales of the Pro V1 ball awarded to Callaway. Specifically the ruling says Acushnet could use as part of its defense the 2006 Patent Office ruling the patents were invalid.
March 2010 – In the second jury trial in the U.S. District Court Delaware, the jury decides Callaway has no case against Acushnet for patent infringement and the four patents are invalid.
March 2011 – the Board of Patent Appeals again says the Callaway (nee’ Spalding) patents are invalid but Callaway says they will appeal in the Federal Courts.

Well, at least all the lawyers in this case aren’t contributing to the unemployment problem.

Discounts drive online tee time services
It’s hard to imagine this was a surprise to anyone but almost two-thirds of the golfers who use third party tee time online tee time services do so because they think they can get a discount. A National Golf Foundation survey of 500 core golfers in December found 40 percent use third-party reservations systems often (14 percent) or sometimes (26 percent).

The sobering stat though is roughly only 5 percent of all tee times are booked through third-party services.

As usually happens the customer, in this case golfer, will drive this business. A safe assumption though it soon will look like the airlines booking industry. Not only can’t you tell the players without a program but think of long lines to get patted down on the first tee.

Bridgestone-Love those balls
Bridgestone decided to get serious in the ball business three years ago with its very aggressive program to fit golfers to the proper Bridgestone balls and get them away from whatever other brand they were playing. Of course since Acushnet’s Titleist and Pinnacle brands have about 60 percent of the market growth for anybody in the ball business was going to be at someone’s expense, presumably Titleist’s.

Bridgestone is now rightly tooting their horn citing information from Golf Datatech, who tracks this kind of thing, since 2008 Bridgestone marketshare has risen over 50 percent to 11.5 percent of the money spent in on- and off-course retailers.

Of course this couldn’t have been possible if they weren’t making very good golf balls plus they were able to sign Davis Love III probably because the long time Titleist staffer saw a better deal and really good product.

Matt Kuchar had a great year on the PGA Tour and this week is in Wales as a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Part of his equipment is the Bridgestone B300-S golf ball, a prototype of which he has been playing on Tour the latter part of the year.

The newest update of the popular B330 series has a different material in the dual mantle of the Tour B330 and Tour B330-S called RD10 resin which gives high swing speed players greater initial velocity with softening of the mantle layer. MORE…

In October 2000 the introduction of Acushnet Golf’s Titleist Pro V1 changed the golf ball business and immensely strengthened Acushnet’s dominant position in the marketplace.

More importantly for golfers the Pro V1 changed the way golf is played by producing much more distance with less curvature in flight while maintaining control of short shots. Longer, straighter, better around the green created a stampede to buy them, a real “game-changer.” MORE…

Let’s see, for the first time Tiger Woods will go a full season without a tournament win, rules officials at every level seem to be in the news – most of it not good, Dustin Johnson showed he has game by winning at the BMW Championship after the U.S. Open and PGA and the USGA after making repeated statements of the inadvisability of two sets of rules-one for pros and a different one for the rest of us-has done just that by the decision to disallow box grooves and then phase in implementation over more than a decade. Makes one wish for simpler times.

The latest revelation is the USGA has been testing shorter flying golf balls. Dick Rugge, Technical Director of the Association, says this has been an ongoing program for five years which naturally raises everybody’s hackles as in why the secrecy. Rugge explains it by saying the program and most especially the results have not been publicized since they don’t want to affect future testers with past results.

This naturally begs the question, if you were asked to test a golf ball by the USGA, wouldn’t you think one if not the most important result they were looking for was distance?

In any event the issue of two sets of rules is out in plain set still and needs to be addressed in some other manner than the USGA is doing presently, such as not being so worried about secrecy or tradition and more about the health of the game. One can understand both points of view by the Far Hills administrators however these are not the most pressing problem faced by the game or the business of golf.

Golf has always been and presumably always will be changing. New materials, manufacturing techniques, agronomic improvements and better player conditioning each play a part and if you read anything of golf history always have. To focus solely on equipment (drivers, grooves, balls) which the USGA has done particularly behind closed doors is both short sighted and bad for the game.

Frank Thomas, former USGA Technical Director and current industry consultant, wrote recently:

It is true that the USGA is testing a golf ball, which has reduced flight properties — about 20 to 25 yards less distance than the present ball. The distance the elite players hit the ball has been a concern since 1890. The fear is that the increase in distance will continue and that something needs to be done. It is this mindset that has initiated numerous and very questionable rules changes, which have had no effect on the distance balls go.

Having said this; the good news is that the USGA is conducting tests which I am sure will include the average gofer not just the elite (.001%) of the golfing population, and that the effect on the game as a whole will be very carefully considered. This is a sizable study which if done correctly will take a number of years to complete. The bad news is that the tests are being done as much behind closed doors as possible. This is not the way to govern the game.
If we really have a problem with the distance the ball goes we need to clearly define this problem. We then need to explain to the golfing public – indirectly the USGA’s constituents – that this problem needs to be resolved to protect the integrity of our game.