Remember Callaway's original Big Bertha drivers? When the clubs debuted in 1991, they were constructed of stainless steel and had a volume of 190 cubic centimeters. Today's club heads, made of titanium, have maxed out at the USGA's legal limit, 460 cc - more than double the volume of the Big Bertha and its various successors.
Not only club heads but every part of the game has seen tremendous technological advantages and innovations in design. In particular, shafts have played a key - if understated - role in the higher trajectory and longer distances that drivers promise today.
"From an overall shaft design standpoint, the shaft designs have evolved. You go back to Callaway 14 years ago - that was the elite, biggest sized metal wood head out there, and it was, what? 260 cc?
We've almost doubled that now," notes Graphite Design International's vice president of research and development, Robb Schikner. "You can see that if you put a 260 cc head on the end of a shaft versus a 460 cc head that's almost twice the size. If you use the same shaft in both clubs it's going to make that shaft behave completely different.
We have to modify the design of the shaft, the bend profiles of the shaft, to basically marry up better with the performance of the head."
Graphite Design International, or GDI, has been around since graphite shafts first became viable in the consumer golf industry. Established in 1989 as Graphite Design Inc., and primarily operating in Japan, the company evolved to provide shafts both for the biggest companies in the industry and under their own brand name. In the last decade, since they began operations in the United States, they've had a lot of experience developing the right shafts for the technology in clubheads.
"Back then, we didn't have the good analysis tools. We'd basically get a bunch of guys to go to the driving range and hit the product,"
Schikner says. "Or you'd have a core group of good players to test and you'd go out with them and get some evaluation and feedback on what was happening. So it was all visual. You really couldn't measure spin rate of the golf ball coming off the face, you couldn't get launch angles, so that critical data wasn't available back then.
Distance and dispersion is the data we had at that time."
Better data collection, coupled with the radical changes in clubhead design, has led to an overall increase in shaft stiffness. No club should feel like a steel pipe - a player's got to have some feel, after all - but the larger clubheads make it necessary to give the shafts a little more muscle.
"With the bigger clubheads the trend is toward stiffer-tipped shafts," Schikner explains. "It seems to keep the clubhead more on plane. When the clubhead is delivered to the ball, you're not seeing as much lag or droop as you used to see in a softer-tipped shaft.
"The shaft makes sure the clubhead stays on the right plane throughout the swing. Although, the shaft has to have some feel and feedback to the players. You wouldn't just put a big stiff pipe in there, you still have to have the ability to have some type of deflection, but probably not what we saw 10 years ago."
Another big change: Better clubfitting for the average golfer.
Although most companies, including GDI, do a large amount of testing with PGA Tour pros and professionals around the world, any player can take advantage of improved clubfitting techniques and machines like launch monitors to get a clear picture of his swing.
"There's a specific shaft for everyone," Schiker says. "Like my mother - she's a senior woman player with a slower swing speed. I just looked at her swing the other day and we switched out the shaft and increased the loft on her head. She's hitting it so much further - she shot an 87 the other day. The other women are all like, 'What did you do?' Basically we just fitted her correctly with higher trajectory and she gets more distance. It's not only for the golf professional, it's for everybody."
One of the hardest things for shaft manufacturers to do is get the word out about the importance of shafts and having one fitted specifically to your swing. After all, an observer can usually tell at a glance what clubs the winner of a PGA Tour event used by seeing a company's logo on the player's hat or shirt. But it's tough for a casual fan to determine what shaft a winner used and how that might correlate to his own game, even for a company like GDI that had 41 winners around the globe in 2006.
"It's a challenge because we have so many players playing our shafts on tour, and we don't endorse any of them. So we can't use any names," says Victor Afable, vice president of sales and marketing for Graphite Design.
Although the company lets media and those on its email list know when a player wins with its product, it's often distributors and top clubfitters who get the word out about the company's products. With more web-based advertising and clubfitters' comments on their own sites about the GDI prototypes they've tried, the Internet helps increase knowledge about GDI and the importance of a properly fit shaft. As well, major manufacturers promote the various shaft options available with their clubs.
And in the 10 years that's passed since Graphite Design opened its doors in the U.S., they've had the popular YS line of shafts, the newly introduced Pershing line and Tour AD Quattro Tech ultra-premium shaft and clubmaker lines like its G-TECH combination flex series.
But it all comes down to figuring out what customers - from the biggest manufacturers in golf to the smaller companies to the consumer - need and want from the clubs they use.
"It goes back to the fitting of the product," Schiker says. "There are so many types of swings that one shaft for a certain player profile will not necessarily work for another player profile. How they swing the golf club is so important - it all changes the dynamics of the golf club and the type of launch conditions, trajectory and spin rates they'll see with a given club. That's why fitting is so important these days."
For more information on Graphite Design International's history and current product line, see www.gdintl.com.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tour Van: Adams Hybrids a Common Denominator for Colonial Top Three
The top three finishers at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial couldn't have been more different. The winner, Rory Sabbatini, is a younger South African who uses mostly Nike equipment. Runner-up Jim Furyk is third in the world and prefers Srixon equipment. Bernhard Langer, who also tied for second, is 49 years old, hails from Germany and is an Adams Golf Staff Professional.
The thing they all had in common: Adams hybrids.
Sabbatini carried an 18-degree Idea a2 hybrid and has used Adams' Idea Pro hybrid for the past season and a half - since the beginning of 2006. Furyk uses a 19-degree Idea Pro, while Langer's bag had several Adams clubs including Idea Pro irons.
"These three players, some of the best on tour, put on a display of precision shot-making that The Colonial demands," said Chip Brewer, Adams Golf CEO and president. "The wet conditions called for extra distance and accuracy that our golf clubs are designed for and I think each player benefited from that. It was an exciting finish to a terrific tournament."
Adams hybrids have been popular on the U.S. men's professional tours.
Last week, Adams announced that the hybrids were No. 1 in the Darrell Survey's equipment counts on the PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours.
In all, 1,587 Adams hybrids have been in play on the three tours this year alone.
Hybrids have been growing in their use on tour. The clubs are intended to be a mix of iron and wood, good for getting the ball out of trouble spots and also a bit easier to control than a fairway wood. They hold the interesting distinction of growing quickly among both the best in the game and the worst - tour pros and beginners are the players who've been quickest to adopt the clubs.
Two weeks ago, at the AT&T Classic, six players even carried more than one Adams hybrid. Of the hybrids used, about 30 percent on the PGA Tour and between 40 and 50 percent on the Nationwide Tour choose Adams.
"I've been at Adams Golf since the early days of us begging players to put our clubs in their bags, now it's just an awesome feeling to have so many of these elite players asking for our products," said Max Puglielli, director of tour operations, after 86 Nationwide Tour players used Adams hybrids in early May. "It's great to see all the yellow and black Idea Pro headcovers in the bags at each Nationwide Tour event. Our hybrids are superior to the competition and when you combine that with the professional service our tour team provides the players, it's not surprising to see such high numbers."
The thing they all had in common: Adams hybrids.
Sabbatini carried an 18-degree Idea a2 hybrid and has used Adams' Idea Pro hybrid for the past season and a half - since the beginning of 2006. Furyk uses a 19-degree Idea Pro, while Langer's bag had several Adams clubs including Idea Pro irons.
"These three players, some of the best on tour, put on a display of precision shot-making that The Colonial demands," said Chip Brewer, Adams Golf CEO and president. "The wet conditions called for extra distance and accuracy that our golf clubs are designed for and I think each player benefited from that. It was an exciting finish to a terrific tournament."
Adams hybrids have been popular on the U.S. men's professional tours.
Last week, Adams announced that the hybrids were No. 1 in the Darrell Survey's equipment counts on the PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours.
In all, 1,587 Adams hybrids have been in play on the three tours this year alone.
Hybrids have been growing in their use on tour. The clubs are intended to be a mix of iron and wood, good for getting the ball out of trouble spots and also a bit easier to control than a fairway wood. They hold the interesting distinction of growing quickly among both the best in the game and the worst - tour pros and beginners are the players who've been quickest to adopt the clubs.
Two weeks ago, at the AT&T Classic, six players even carried more than one Adams hybrid. Of the hybrids used, about 30 percent on the PGA Tour and between 40 and 50 percent on the Nationwide Tour choose Adams.
"I've been at Adams Golf since the early days of us begging players to put our clubs in their bags, now it's just an awesome feeling to have so many of these elite players asking for our products," said Max Puglielli, director of tour operations, after 86 Nationwide Tour players used Adams hybrids in early May. "It's great to see all the yellow and black Idea Pro headcovers in the bags at each Nationwide Tour event. Our hybrids are superior to the competition and when you combine that with the professional service our tour team provides the players, it's not surprising to see such high numbers."
Tour Van: Equipment Contracts Talk Louder than Effectiveness, Singh Says
Do manufacturers require their top players to use the latest and greatest equipment, regardless of what that player prefers? That's indeed the case, Vijay Singh said at last week's BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour.
"It happens with everybody," Singh said. "I think every guy out there is in the same situation. No matter who you look at, they have their manufacturer's top driver. They will have to try it out unless they cannot use it and they go back to what they are used to, and I've done that in the past. That's not what the manufacturers want. Unless it's not in the contract, then you have to use what they want you to use."
For a player like Singh, where driving is a strong part of his overall game, a change in equipment can be a struggle.
"There's so many new drivers coming out, manufacturers want you to use their latest driver," Singh said. "So that's been always a battle. You get comfortable with one driver and then they come up with a new model and that's what they are promoting, that's what you've got to use."
Last year, Cleveland asked its staffers, including Singh, to put the HiBore driver into their bags. For whatever reasons, many disliked the club. For example, Jerry Kelly noted that the original HiBore caused him to hit the ball too high with a lot of spin or too low with little spin - both leading to decreased control.
In response, Cleveland engineers retooled the driver and created the HiBore XL. Singh began testing it at the end of last season, put it into play for 2007, and promptly won the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
"Last year I was struggling with the HiBore but then they came up with a HiBore XL and it was much better than the old one so I'm using that one and I'm happy with it," he said. "Last year I had problems all year with the HiBore, and end of the year I went back to playing what I used to play and I played better with it."
Players went from grumbling to praising as they started the year extolling the virtures of the HiBore XL. Kelly explained how Cleveland could go from bad to good with their driver design.
"They built a club on the computer the first time and they built the club with me and Vijay telling them what it did in competition the next time," Kelly said.
Singh explained at the BMW that players want to get any advantage they can and will try new equipment, perhaps before they know for sure that it will work well for their games.
"We are very greedy, you want to get the best out of the club and the newer clubs that are coming out are better when they are tested," he said. "It's not necessarily true when you take it out on the golf course.
"And then you realize after two, three, maybe even a month that it doesn't go as good as your old one, you go back ask that's when the manufacturers kind of go against you."
On the plus side, Singh said that equipment manufacturers are incorporating new technology that may help, so that many of the players make successful swaps for the new sticks.
"You know, they are making better and better stuff now, so it's easier to change," he said.
"It happens with everybody," Singh said. "I think every guy out there is in the same situation. No matter who you look at, they have their manufacturer's top driver. They will have to try it out unless they cannot use it and they go back to what they are used to, and I've done that in the past. That's not what the manufacturers want. Unless it's not in the contract, then you have to use what they want you to use."
For a player like Singh, where driving is a strong part of his overall game, a change in equipment can be a struggle.
"There's so many new drivers coming out, manufacturers want you to use their latest driver," Singh said. "So that's been always a battle. You get comfortable with one driver and then they come up with a new model and that's what they are promoting, that's what you've got to use."
Last year, Cleveland asked its staffers, including Singh, to put the HiBore driver into their bags. For whatever reasons, many disliked the club. For example, Jerry Kelly noted that the original HiBore caused him to hit the ball too high with a lot of spin or too low with little spin - both leading to decreased control.
In response, Cleveland engineers retooled the driver and created the HiBore XL. Singh began testing it at the end of last season, put it into play for 2007, and promptly won the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.
"Last year I was struggling with the HiBore but then they came up with a HiBore XL and it was much better than the old one so I'm using that one and I'm happy with it," he said. "Last year I had problems all year with the HiBore, and end of the year I went back to playing what I used to play and I played better with it."
Players went from grumbling to praising as they started the year extolling the virtures of the HiBore XL. Kelly explained how Cleveland could go from bad to good with their driver design.
"They built a club on the computer the first time and they built the club with me and Vijay telling them what it did in competition the next time," Kelly said.
Singh explained at the BMW that players want to get any advantage they can and will try new equipment, perhaps before they know for sure that it will work well for their games.
"We are very greedy, you want to get the best out of the club and the newer clubs that are coming out are better when they are tested," he said. "It's not necessarily true when you take it out on the golf course.
"And then you realize after two, three, maybe even a month that it doesn't go as good as your old one, you go back ask that's when the manufacturers kind of go against you."
On the plus side, Singh said that equipment manufacturers are incorporating new technology that may help, so that many of the players make successful swaps for the new sticks.
"You know, they are making better and better stuff now, so it's easier to change," he said.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Fitting Spotlight: Custom Fitting the SelectFit Way
It is no longer enough to just have a run-of-the-mill fitting cart with a selection of a couple dozen clubs to try. Top equipment manufacturers are turning to new methods and offering interchangeable components so golfers can really know exactly what equipment will be best for their swings.
TaylorMade's entry into this expanded custom fitting arena, the SelectFit cart, debuted in December and is in 1,000 locations worldwide.
"It's an interchangeable head-shaft system," said Brian Bazzel, TaylorMade's manager of custom fitting technologies. "It allows you to try different shafts, different lofts of heads, different flexes, different weights and different lengths to find the best combination. With that, along with the removable weight in some of our (driver) heads, it gives you the opportunity to dial it in to what should be right for you."
The SelectFit cart has hundreds of combinations.
The SelectFit cart, which folds up to a size that can be wheeled through a doorway or unfolded for fitting use and display, offers many choices of heads and shafts for both drivers and irons. With the irons, fitters can adjust lie angle and weight as well as try different head and shaft combinations.
"The thousands of combinations you get from the SelectFit kind of overshadows the good old-fashioned metal wood cart. On the iron side, with the SelectFit, we have 248 combinations just with putting 18 heads and 17 shafts in there," Bazzel said. "It's quite a leap from the fitting cart."
The shafts currently in the SelectFit cart include TaylorMade shafts as well as UST V2, Aldila VS Proto, Aldila NV, Aldila NV Pink ("popular with not just the ladies but some guys being fashionable," Bazzel says) and Grafalloy Proforce for metal woods.
For irons, TaylorMade shafts and Dynamic Gold, Flighted Rifle and Project X are available. Golfers can also select from six grip options to find the right feel and size.
TaylorMade's Research and Development team has used a version of the SelectFit for more than five years. The interchangeable heads and shafts have made it easier for staff to test various combinations, but the company didn't roll out a public version until about six months ago.
"We didn't feel the market was ready for it (before); we finally decided it was time," Bazzel said. "Custom fitting is becoming a lot more popular, a lot of people are seeing benefits in it. It seemed like the perfect time to bring it to a production level.
But, Bazzel says, there were plenty of challenges to make sure the system met TaylorMade's standards.
"It was all hands on deck to get that just perfect. It was everything from making sure the weighting is correct, to how (the interchangeable option) affects the flex of the tip of the shaft. The tolerances that are needed to make a product like that, that fits together when taken in and out continually was difficult. And the durability - we didn't want to put anything out there that would have troubles. So all of those things that you would think would be difficult were difficult."
With all these factors taken into account, SelectFit clubs perform just like manufactured clubs. A cap in a sleeve fits over the end of the shaft, and the sleeve is positioned into a threaded hosel on the clubhead. The sleeve only fits one way, and the cap is twisted over it with a torque wrench to make the entire club sturdy enough for use on the course or the driving range.
Retailers and clubfitters who purchase the cart also receive a comprehensive fitting manual and have opportunties to participate in training seminars.
Data gathered from more than 500,000 swings and analyzed by the TaylorMade MATT (Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade) motion capture system help the SelectFit system work, and guide TaylorMade's other equipment development. The MATT system is one more way TaylorMade can work with a player to get a comprehensive picture of his or her swing and find the perfect equipment match.
MATT is a motion capture system that gathers information on the swing from multiple angles. Originally developed for pros, it's now available for public use -- but it's not cheap.
"We are taking what we have here for the staff pros and bringing it to the market," said Bazzel, noting that the systems are available in eight U.S. locations and seven more worldwide. "It's really a top-of- the-line technology experience for somebody to go through. The fitting process is a couple hours long and in most cases costs $350 to go through."
MATT uses motion capture technology, which originated in the movies and is also used in video games. Motion Reality Incorporated worked with TaylorMade to apply the technology to golf.
"The system allows you to get all the information -- the body movements, the club motion and how it's bending throughout the swing. Along with a launch monitor tied to it, you have the ball information," Bazzel said. "So you're measuring the full story. We're able to see things and apply things that you can't see with your eye and marry up the right products to fit the player's swing."
Many TaylorMade staff pros use the system for game improvement as well as club fitting. With the MATT system, players can see their swing from any angle -- "you could look from underneath the ground if you wanted to," Bazzel said -- as well as overlay swings and analyze the swing in three dimensions. It also stores swing information so players can go back and compare past swings with current results.
"Long ago we knew that for each player there's a different club or specific characteristics of the club that just perform better for them," Bazzel said. "(But) it's a really complicated animal, it's hard to understand. You can't see it all with your eyes. That technology, motion capture, really allows you to measure it."
For details on the SelectFit system, including where to find a local clubfitter, go to www.taylormadegolf.com/selectfit.asp. For locations and information on the MATT system, go to www.tmplabs.com.
TaylorMade's entry into this expanded custom fitting arena, the SelectFit cart, debuted in December and is in 1,000 locations worldwide.
"It's an interchangeable head-shaft system," said Brian Bazzel, TaylorMade's manager of custom fitting technologies. "It allows you to try different shafts, different lofts of heads, different flexes, different weights and different lengths to find the best combination. With that, along with the removable weight in some of our (driver) heads, it gives you the opportunity to dial it in to what should be right for you."
The SelectFit cart has hundreds of combinations.
The SelectFit cart, which folds up to a size that can be wheeled through a doorway or unfolded for fitting use and display, offers many choices of heads and shafts for both drivers and irons. With the irons, fitters can adjust lie angle and weight as well as try different head and shaft combinations.
"The thousands of combinations you get from the SelectFit kind of overshadows the good old-fashioned metal wood cart. On the iron side, with the SelectFit, we have 248 combinations just with putting 18 heads and 17 shafts in there," Bazzel said. "It's quite a leap from the fitting cart."
The shafts currently in the SelectFit cart include TaylorMade shafts as well as UST V2, Aldila VS Proto, Aldila NV, Aldila NV Pink ("popular with not just the ladies but some guys being fashionable," Bazzel says) and Grafalloy Proforce for metal woods.
For irons, TaylorMade shafts and Dynamic Gold, Flighted Rifle and Project X are available. Golfers can also select from six grip options to find the right feel and size.
TaylorMade's Research and Development team has used a version of the SelectFit for more than five years. The interchangeable heads and shafts have made it easier for staff to test various combinations, but the company didn't roll out a public version until about six months ago.
"We didn't feel the market was ready for it (before); we finally decided it was time," Bazzel said. "Custom fitting is becoming a lot more popular, a lot of people are seeing benefits in it. It seemed like the perfect time to bring it to a production level.
But, Bazzel says, there were plenty of challenges to make sure the system met TaylorMade's standards.
"It was all hands on deck to get that just perfect. It was everything from making sure the weighting is correct, to how (the interchangeable option) affects the flex of the tip of the shaft. The tolerances that are needed to make a product like that, that fits together when taken in and out continually was difficult. And the durability - we didn't want to put anything out there that would have troubles. So all of those things that you would think would be difficult were difficult."
With all these factors taken into account, SelectFit clubs perform just like manufactured clubs. A cap in a sleeve fits over the end of the shaft, and the sleeve is positioned into a threaded hosel on the clubhead. The sleeve only fits one way, and the cap is twisted over it with a torque wrench to make the entire club sturdy enough for use on the course or the driving range.
Retailers and clubfitters who purchase the cart also receive a comprehensive fitting manual and have opportunties to participate in training seminars.
Data gathered from more than 500,000 swings and analyzed by the TaylorMade MATT (Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade) motion capture system help the SelectFit system work, and guide TaylorMade's other equipment development. The MATT system is one more way TaylorMade can work with a player to get a comprehensive picture of his or her swing and find the perfect equipment match.
MATT is a motion capture system that gathers information on the swing from multiple angles. Originally developed for pros, it's now available for public use -- but it's not cheap.
"We are taking what we have here for the staff pros and bringing it to the market," said Bazzel, noting that the systems are available in eight U.S. locations and seven more worldwide. "It's really a top-of- the-line technology experience for somebody to go through. The fitting process is a couple hours long and in most cases costs $350 to go through."
MATT uses motion capture technology, which originated in the movies and is also used in video games. Motion Reality Incorporated worked with TaylorMade to apply the technology to golf.
"The system allows you to get all the information -- the body movements, the club motion and how it's bending throughout the swing. Along with a launch monitor tied to it, you have the ball information," Bazzel said. "So you're measuring the full story. We're able to see things and apply things that you can't see with your eye and marry up the right products to fit the player's swing."
Many TaylorMade staff pros use the system for game improvement as well as club fitting. With the MATT system, players can see their swing from any angle -- "you could look from underneath the ground if you wanted to," Bazzel said -- as well as overlay swings and analyze the swing in three dimensions. It also stores swing information so players can go back and compare past swings with current results.
"Long ago we knew that for each player there's a different club or specific characteristics of the club that just perform better for them," Bazzel said. "(But) it's a really complicated animal, it's hard to understand. You can't see it all with your eyes. That technology, motion capture, really allows you to measure it."
For details on the SelectFit system, including where to find a local clubfitter, go to www.taylormadegolf.com/selectfit.asp. For locations and information on the MATT system, go to www.tmplabs.com.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tour Van Notebook: Getting the Big Break at BMW
Fans of the Golf Channel's "Big Break" reality series may have been rooting for Tommy "Two Glove" Gainey at this week's BMW Charity Pro-Am on the Nationwide Tour.
Gainey, who got a sponsor's exemption to play in the event, looked like a champ -- for three rounds. He shot 65-70-69 to work his way into Sunday's final pairing, but then shot a 5-over 77 to finish tied for 30th.
"I did the best I could and I got behind the eight-ball kind of early when I three-putted number two and hit over the green on number three," he said. "I think the last four or five holes I started pressing. I was looking at the leaderboard and trying to make sure I was in the top 25, thinking about next week instead of thinking about the task at hand. I got ahead of myself."
Gainey's got the goods to make it, but a peek at his equipment shows just what a pro's bag looks like without an equipment sponsor. He's got a little of everything, including a driver that put him in first place in driving distance (312 yards) for the week.
According to he Golf Channel's Web site, Gainey's got the following gear: Cobra 460sz 9-degree driver and Ping G5 15-degree fairway wood, both with Aldila NV-65 stiff shafts; an 18-degree Adams Idea Pro with Aldila NV-85 stiff; Callaway x14 Steelhead Pro series irons; Ping 52-, 56- and 60-degree tour wedges; and a Ping Zing G5 putter. He also uses a Titleist Pro V1x.
PUTTING CHANGES: You cannot blame Lee Westwood if he's got a different putter for nearly every tournament. After all, he owns several dozen - 162 total, by his last count.
"I had a chance to count on Monday night," Westwood said last week. "I've used a lot of different putters over the years, yeah -- more than that.
"I've won with probably seven or eight, maybe 10 different ones."
His win two weeks ago at the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia came when he changed putters after the first round, picking up a Ping prototype putter that had originally been created for Mark Calcavecchia. It was the same putter that Calcavecchia tried in his first round of the PODS Championship in March, and then ditched in favor of a store-bought Ping Redwood putter.
Calcavecchia disliked the putter so much, he returned it to the Ping Tour trailer, where Westwood found it at the Shell Houston Open. He put it into play after using a Ping lil'c mid-length putter in the first round.
IRISH EYES SEE CHANGES: Padriag Harrington became the first Irishman to win the Irish Open in 25 years. John O'Leary was the last resident of the Emerald Isle to take home the trophy, and that was at Portmarnock in 1982.
O'Leary was on hand at Adare Manor to see Harrington win, and noted the huge difference in equipment between what he carried to win and what Harrington had.
"I was using a Persimmon head and straightforward Mizuno blades," he said. Plus, he had "all balata (balls), yes.
"They were treasured in those days."
VAN UPDATES: Over at the Titleist Tour Blog (www.titleistblog.com), Titleist tour representative Steve Mata explains that the graphics on the van don't change much during the year, even if there's new equipment to feature.
"We try to keep the graphics on the Van up-to-date with current inline product, but it's difficult to make any changes once the tour season begins since we're on the road every week," he writes. "Also, we keep the artwork consistent on each of our five tour vans around the world, so any graphics changes require extensive coordination."
TOUR VAN IN EUROPE: For an interesting look at how Andy Kikidas, the workshop manager in Mizuno's tour van in Europe, makes a custom club for a player, see video at: Mizuno Europe's web site.
Gainey, who got a sponsor's exemption to play in the event, looked like a champ -- for three rounds. He shot 65-70-69 to work his way into Sunday's final pairing, but then shot a 5-over 77 to finish tied for 30th.
"I did the best I could and I got behind the eight-ball kind of early when I three-putted number two and hit over the green on number three," he said. "I think the last four or five holes I started pressing. I was looking at the leaderboard and trying to make sure I was in the top 25, thinking about next week instead of thinking about the task at hand. I got ahead of myself."
Gainey's got the goods to make it, but a peek at his equipment shows just what a pro's bag looks like without an equipment sponsor. He's got a little of everything, including a driver that put him in first place in driving distance (312 yards) for the week.
According to he Golf Channel's Web site, Gainey's got the following gear: Cobra 460sz 9-degree driver and Ping G5 15-degree fairway wood, both with Aldila NV-65 stiff shafts; an 18-degree Adams Idea Pro with Aldila NV-85 stiff; Callaway x14 Steelhead Pro series irons; Ping 52-, 56- and 60-degree tour wedges; and a Ping Zing G5 putter. He also uses a Titleist Pro V1x.
PUTTING CHANGES: You cannot blame Lee Westwood if he's got a different putter for nearly every tournament. After all, he owns several dozen - 162 total, by his last count.
"I had a chance to count on Monday night," Westwood said last week. "I've used a lot of different putters over the years, yeah -- more than that.
"I've won with probably seven or eight, maybe 10 different ones."
His win two weeks ago at the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia came when he changed putters after the first round, picking up a Ping prototype putter that had originally been created for Mark Calcavecchia. It was the same putter that Calcavecchia tried in his first round of the PODS Championship in March, and then ditched in favor of a store-bought Ping Redwood putter.
Calcavecchia disliked the putter so much, he returned it to the Ping Tour trailer, where Westwood found it at the Shell Houston Open. He put it into play after using a Ping lil'c mid-length putter in the first round.
IRISH EYES SEE CHANGES: Padriag Harrington became the first Irishman to win the Irish Open in 25 years. John O'Leary was the last resident of the Emerald Isle to take home the trophy, and that was at Portmarnock in 1982.
O'Leary was on hand at Adare Manor to see Harrington win, and noted the huge difference in equipment between what he carried to win and what Harrington had.
"I was using a Persimmon head and straightforward Mizuno blades," he said. Plus, he had "all balata (balls), yes.
"They were treasured in those days."
VAN UPDATES: Over at the Titleist Tour Blog (www.titleistblog.com), Titleist tour representative Steve Mata explains that the graphics on the van don't change much during the year, even if there's new equipment to feature.
"We try to keep the graphics on the Van up-to-date with current inline product, but it's difficult to make any changes once the tour season begins since we're on the road every week," he writes. "Also, we keep the artwork consistent on each of our five tour vans around the world, so any graphics changes require extensive coordination."
TOUR VAN IN EUROPE: For an interesting look at how Andy Kikidas, the workshop manager in Mizuno's tour van in Europe, makes a custom club for a player, see video at: Mizuno Europe's web site.
Tour Van: Aldila's New Shaft Offerings Show Up in Pros' Bags
Much like drivers or putters, shafts are created for certain playing characteristics and tested on tour well before being released to the public. Unlike more flashy equipment, though, shafts rarely create much of a buzz except among hard-core club fitters.
But average golfers are starting to notice more differences in shafts and key in on what the pros are using. As a result, new and prototype shafts are getting more attention from the golfing public.
In his win at the Verizon Heritage, Boo Weekley had a prototype Aldila shaft in his Cleveland HiBore XL driver. Like many new drivers on the market, the HiBore incorporates technology that keeps the clubhead from twisting on impact, giving it a higher moment of inertia (MOI) and more accuracy for the player. Shaft makers are working to produce shafts that enhance the characteristics of these high-MOI drivers.
The Aldila version, dubbed the MOI Proto, is still a work in progress. The company took the shaft out to the tour in early February -- still without any paint or logos on it -- and Weekley tried it immediately. He liked the shaft so much that he continues to use it, even without any markings.
According to engineers at Aldila, the MOI Proto has a specially designed build-up in the bottom third of the shaft for added torsional, bending and cross-sectional stability. The shaft may hit the market as early as this summer.
Plus, Aldila is working on a DVS Proto that will follow the company's popular VS Proto shaft. This shaft has been in pros' clubs since the Nissan Open and is softer in the tip, but stiffer in the butt end of the shaft, compared to the VS Proto. That produces a higher launch and lower spin without too much flexibility. You can tell which players using the DVS model by the deep blue color of the shaft. The DVS Proto should be available for sale in late summer or early fall.
But average golfers are starting to notice more differences in shafts and key in on what the pros are using. As a result, new and prototype shafts are getting more attention from the golfing public.
In his win at the Verizon Heritage, Boo Weekley had a prototype Aldila shaft in his Cleveland HiBore XL driver. Like many new drivers on the market, the HiBore incorporates technology that keeps the clubhead from twisting on impact, giving it a higher moment of inertia (MOI) and more accuracy for the player. Shaft makers are working to produce shafts that enhance the characteristics of these high-MOI drivers.
The Aldila version, dubbed the MOI Proto, is still a work in progress. The company took the shaft out to the tour in early February -- still without any paint or logos on it -- and Weekley tried it immediately. He liked the shaft so much that he continues to use it, even without any markings.
According to engineers at Aldila, the MOI Proto has a specially designed build-up in the bottom third of the shaft for added torsional, bending and cross-sectional stability. The shaft may hit the market as early as this summer.
Plus, Aldila is working on a DVS Proto that will follow the company's popular VS Proto shaft. This shaft has been in pros' clubs since the Nissan Open and is softer in the tip, but stiffer in the butt end of the shaft, compared to the VS Proto. That produces a higher launch and lower spin without too much flexibility. You can tell which players using the DVS model by the deep blue color of the shaft. The DVS Proto should be available for sale in late summer or early fall.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Tour Van Notebook: Manufacturers See Changes at Players
In some ways, The Players Championship is a big week for the equipment manufacturers. Whether or not the event is really golf's fifth major, the top players in the world are at the TPC Sawgrass and many are looking for tweaks to their equipment.
But with all the changes to the event -- different greens, different date -- come changes for the tour vans. The most obvious is location.
Instead of sitting to the right of the driving range, as in the past, drivers were instructed to park another 100 yards right, making them tougher to reach.
More subtly, the change from March to May means the pros are not making the same large-scale changes. Instead, they're looking for specific fixes to issues, and not making as many changes to what's in their bags.
If players do have room in their contracts and desire in their hearts to tinker, it is often with the putter. To that end, Scotty Cameron was on site in the Titleist tour van last week.
See more at www.scottycameron.com/articles/details.asp?id=168 and at www.titleistblog.com.
PUTTER LIKE A PAPER CLIP: Ever use a putter so much that the hosel was about to break?
Probably not many golfers have. But Chris DiMarco is a loyal guy, and he had stayed true to his Ping Anser F putter for eight, almost nine, years before he decided it just wasn't holding up.
"The one that I wouldn't … thought I'd never switch from, it had gotten … the hosel had gotten really weak," DiMarco said. "It's just like you take a paper clip and you bend it back and forth, eventually it's going to break, and that's about where it's at.
"If I tapped down spike marks, it was changing it. I'd go the next week and it would be off a degree here or there, where it was open in the loft."
Not surprisingly, DiMarco said that he found having the same loft and lie to his putter every round was helping him on the greens. He had just 28 putts in the first round at Sawgrass.
That wasn't the first time DiMarco cited a bent putter as a problem for his game. Coming back from the British Open last year, his Anser got bent, and he didn't notice the problem for almost two weeks.
DiMarco's new putter isn't terribly different from his old one -- a Redwood Anser. It's 35.75 inches long with 3 degrees of loft and a PP58 grip.
BEAR SUGGESTS PERSIMMON: Observers just can't compare the game he played with Tiger Woods' game, Jack Nicklaus said before The Players got underway last week. But, he noted, the equipment the two used in their primes aren't as radically different as many would think.
"The more similarity Tiger plays as close to the same equipment I played as anybody," Nicklaus said. "He plays a set of forged blades and it's basically the same equipment."
There's another piece of equipment that Woods might benefit from, Nicklaus explained.
"Maybe he'd be better off with a wood driver sometimes -- that's not bad," he said. "Sometimes the drivers go so far -- the wood driver didn't go much farther. You could keep them in play much easier."
HOLDING UP A 2-IRON: WIth more and more players switching to hybrids and ditching the long irons, a 2-iron is getting to be a rare club.
Especially on the LPGA Tour.
But if you want to see one, take a look in Laura Davies' bag. Hers isn't going any where, any time soon.
"It seems like everybody has these rescue clubs or 19-woods and 21- woods," said Davies at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill last week. "I like the old-fashioned game. There's nothing better than striking a really good long iron."
But even Davies doesn't carry a 1-iron.
"No," she said. "Driver, 2- iron and 3, 4, 5, right down to the wedges."
ODDS AND ENDS: Greg Owen decided against a 2-iron, replacing his with a TaylorMade Rescue TP 19 degree hybrid bent to 17.5 to lower the flight. The club's got a steel X-100 shaft. ... Fred Funk tried TaylorMade's r7 TP irons and put a set with 4 through pitching wedge in play ... Peter Lonard performed well for three days at the Stadium Course with his new TaylorMade rac Black wedges in 54 and 60 degrees. He took out his Titleist wedges last week and gave the new ones a spin. ... Henrik Stenson put new Srixon i701 Tour irons in play last week. The irons have a milled face and minimal offset, and rumor has it they will be on the market around August.
But with all the changes to the event -- different greens, different date -- come changes for the tour vans. The most obvious is location.
Instead of sitting to the right of the driving range, as in the past, drivers were instructed to park another 100 yards right, making them tougher to reach.
More subtly, the change from March to May means the pros are not making the same large-scale changes. Instead, they're looking for specific fixes to issues, and not making as many changes to what's in their bags.
If players do have room in their contracts and desire in their hearts to tinker, it is often with the putter. To that end, Scotty Cameron was on site in the Titleist tour van last week.
See more at www.scottycameron.com/articles/details.asp?id=168 and at www.titleistblog.com.
PUTTER LIKE A PAPER CLIP: Ever use a putter so much that the hosel was about to break?
Probably not many golfers have. But Chris DiMarco is a loyal guy, and he had stayed true to his Ping Anser F putter for eight, almost nine, years before he decided it just wasn't holding up.
"The one that I wouldn't … thought I'd never switch from, it had gotten … the hosel had gotten really weak," DiMarco said. "It's just like you take a paper clip and you bend it back and forth, eventually it's going to break, and that's about where it's at.
"If I tapped down spike marks, it was changing it. I'd go the next week and it would be off a degree here or there, where it was open in the loft."
Not surprisingly, DiMarco said that he found having the same loft and lie to his putter every round was helping him on the greens. He had just 28 putts in the first round at Sawgrass.
That wasn't the first time DiMarco cited a bent putter as a problem for his game. Coming back from the British Open last year, his Anser got bent, and he didn't notice the problem for almost two weeks.
DiMarco's new putter isn't terribly different from his old one -- a Redwood Anser. It's 35.75 inches long with 3 degrees of loft and a PP58 grip.
BEAR SUGGESTS PERSIMMON: Observers just can't compare the game he played with Tiger Woods' game, Jack Nicklaus said before The Players got underway last week. But, he noted, the equipment the two used in their primes aren't as radically different as many would think.
"The more similarity Tiger plays as close to the same equipment I played as anybody," Nicklaus said. "He plays a set of forged blades and it's basically the same equipment."
There's another piece of equipment that Woods might benefit from, Nicklaus explained.
"Maybe he'd be better off with a wood driver sometimes -- that's not bad," he said. "Sometimes the drivers go so far -- the wood driver didn't go much farther. You could keep them in play much easier."
HOLDING UP A 2-IRON: WIth more and more players switching to hybrids and ditching the long irons, a 2-iron is getting to be a rare club.
Especially on the LPGA Tour.
But if you want to see one, take a look in Laura Davies' bag. Hers isn't going any where, any time soon.
"It seems like everybody has these rescue clubs or 19-woods and 21- woods," said Davies at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill last week. "I like the old-fashioned game. There's nothing better than striking a really good long iron."
But even Davies doesn't carry a 1-iron.
"No," she said. "Driver, 2- iron and 3, 4, 5, right down to the wedges."
ODDS AND ENDS: Greg Owen decided against a 2-iron, replacing his with a TaylorMade Rescue TP 19 degree hybrid bent to 17.5 to lower the flight. The club's got a steel X-100 shaft. ... Fred Funk tried TaylorMade's r7 TP irons and put a set with 4 through pitching wedge in play ... Peter Lonard performed well for three days at the Stadium Course with his new TaylorMade rac Black wedges in 54 and 60 degrees. He took out his Titleist wedges last week and gave the new ones a spin. ... Henrik Stenson put new Srixon i701 Tour irons in play last week. The irons have a milled face and minimal offset, and rumor has it they will be on the market around August.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
In Their Words: Stephen Boccieri, Heavy Putter Founder
Tour Van used the occasion of Nick Flanagan winning the Nationwide Tour's Henrico County Open to examine how a small company can benefit from a professional win. We talked to Stephen Boccieri, founder of Heavy Putter, to find out a little bit more about how a win like Flanagan's, where he used a Heavy Putter, can be a benefit and just how a smaller company gets its equipment into the players' hands.
TOUR VAN: How do you go about getting players to use equipment from a small company?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Just in itself, getting a product - a putter - from a small company into a pro's hands is very difficult simply because the PGA Tour will not allow you credentials if you don't have a player using your product. So step one is, and everybody says, 'How the hell can I get a player to use it if I can't get tour credentials to get out there to give them the product to use?' Very difficult.
The first way is that you have a contract player that you have been doing business with and he's willing to go into a signed contract with the manufacturer of the product and then you can get tour credentials because you have an agreement with a player to use the product. You only have to have one player to do it, but in most cases it's very difficult to get a player to sign a contract.
The second way to do it is to have multiple players using your product. And of course it all has to be verified on the Darrell Survey. In our case, I was very lucky to have a player that I was working with and a couple of players that were able to get me into an event on a one-time pass. That event, I was lucky to get the putter into the hands of a handful of players.
It turns out that a few of those players kept the product in play for a number of weeks. When I called the PGA Tour to get credentials, they said they would grant credentials if they saw a continuous use of product over a certain period of months. They're going to want to see that there's product in play before they say, 'Here are some PGA Tour credentials.' They want to make sure you're a real company and there are players who want to use it. That's kind of the way it all has to start. Your chances of getting on to the PGA Tour, the big tour are slim and none in the early goings.
So that explains how to get it into their hands. It's difficult. To say the least, it's very difficult.
TOUR VAN: Is it easier to get Nationwide Tour, rather than PGA Tour, players to use your product?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Those players are more accessible. They're not under major contract with a lot of the big players and their goal is to get to the next level. They have very little to risk because they haven't gotten to the PGA Tour. They're more willing to try something that they think can get them there. That's exactly the comment I got from D.J. Trahan, Troy Matteson. (Troy) goes, 'What have I got to lose?'
The bottom line is that the Nationwide guys, because they're not under a big money contract, when a manufacturer shows up to a Nationwide event and has product (they can use it).
There's pros and cons here. The bad side of the conversation in this is, they'll take anything for nothing. If they don't use it, they'll give it to a friend or they'll throw it on eBay and sell it, because these guys aren't making any money. It's a slippery slope as to how much you want to give away to players. You've got to monitor what you're doing and how much you're giving away and whether you've got the same player coming back week after week and taking product but never putting it in play.
TOUR VAN: How does getting your product on the Nationwide Tour compare to, say, the Champions Tour?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: A lot of guys look at Nationwide because they think they're closer to that style of golf. So the Nationwide has a little more impact than the Champions Tour.
TOUR VAN: How did you get the putter into Nick's hands?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: We have a tour rep, Duane Bock. Duane is primarily on the PGA Tour but we've input some Nationwide Tour events on his schedule depending on where he is in the country. Based on locale, we'll deploy Duane to a Nationwide Tour. He was on the Nationwide himself so he knows a lot of the caddies and the players. He thought that the Nationwide guys are so much more receptive to the technology and they are willing to try it that he wanted to go back out there.
So believe it or not, we weren't really too active with it this year.
A couple of weeks ago, he went out and he met Nick, and Nick said, 'I've heard about the Heavy Putter and I wanted to use one.' Duane thought it would be worthwhile to adopt an incentive program for the players. You win using Heavy Putter and you sign a release form so that we can use your name and likeness, Heavy Putter will pay you ... for usage. That's pretty common on all tours for that type of thing to be done.
Nick did not sign the release - his agent was unavailable - but he told Duane, 'I don't care, I like the product and I'm using it regardless of whether I sign it or not. I could care less, I'm out here to play.'
It turns out he took it two weeks ago and won the second week. So it's pretty remarkable. We have a tremendous batting average - it's very high. Like, Adrien Mork on the European Tour took the putter and shot a 59 and won two events, and before that he couldn't make a cut.
So we feel like we have got a great track record. If more people were using this we'd have a lot more wins.
In Nick's case he came over and said 'Listen, I'm a great ball striker. I hit a lot of fairways and I hit greens and my iron play is good. My putting sucks. I'm really looking for something that can help me with my putting.' Basically he worked with Duane and they fitted up a putter, got the right length and adjustments for him, and he put it in play and he won.
We really had no long-standing relationship with him, it's not something we've been trying to get him to use, he's actually a Nike contract player, but he probably has putter out of the deal. Most guys don't have putter in the deal.
TOUR VAN: How does a win on tour pay off for a small company?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Once it's in their hands and they have a win, it depends on how small the company is. In our case, we've built a fair amount of awareness through the infomercial and through our large print campaign that we've got going on. Two years ago when you said Heavy Putter they said, 'What?' A year ago when you said Heavy Putter they'd say, 'Oh yeah, I think I've heard of that.' Now they say, 'Oh yeah, Heavy Putter.' So it takes a fair amount of time to get recognition.
The win itself, what the win does is it validates that the top players in the world think the product is good enough to be used on the PGA Tour. It's a stamp of approval. One of the most commonly asked questions from someone who might not know about the Heavy Putter is 'Who's using it on Tour?' They're not even players of any considerable (stature)... it's just that association. If you have a product and it's good, then someone has to be using it on tour. When you start to get recognized and you start to have wins on the tour, that starts to add credibility to the company.
If someone questions the technology or they hear about it via a win, they're more apt to, when they're in the store, say 'Yeah, I heard about that Heavy Putter. A guy just won last week on the Nationwide Tour.' People have to hear something (a few times) - the third time someone says something about a particular product chances are I'm going to Google it and I'm going to do some investigative work and look into it. If I feel like there's some value to it, especially if I see this guy won, and this guy won, and this guy shot a 59. I have to look into it.
There's no silver bullet and it's not an overnight success. It's an accumulation of people using it and there are multiple pieces. First of all it has to be a good product. Second, consumers have to feel that it's a good product and there's a good buzz about the product in the industry. The tour player getting a win on top of it with the proper amount of marketing or advertising plays a role, but it's not the end all or the one thing that's going to launch a company.
TOUR VAN: How do you go about getting players to use equipment from a small company?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Just in itself, getting a product - a putter - from a small company into a pro's hands is very difficult simply because the PGA Tour will not allow you credentials if you don't have a player using your product. So step one is, and everybody says, 'How the hell can I get a player to use it if I can't get tour credentials to get out there to give them the product to use?' Very difficult.
The first way is that you have a contract player that you have been doing business with and he's willing to go into a signed contract with the manufacturer of the product and then you can get tour credentials because you have an agreement with a player to use the product. You only have to have one player to do it, but in most cases it's very difficult to get a player to sign a contract.
The second way to do it is to have multiple players using your product. And of course it all has to be verified on the Darrell Survey. In our case, I was very lucky to have a player that I was working with and a couple of players that were able to get me into an event on a one-time pass. That event, I was lucky to get the putter into the hands of a handful of players.
It turns out that a few of those players kept the product in play for a number of weeks. When I called the PGA Tour to get credentials, they said they would grant credentials if they saw a continuous use of product over a certain period of months. They're going to want to see that there's product in play before they say, 'Here are some PGA Tour credentials.' They want to make sure you're a real company and there are players who want to use it. That's kind of the way it all has to start. Your chances of getting on to the PGA Tour, the big tour are slim and none in the early goings.
So that explains how to get it into their hands. It's difficult. To say the least, it's very difficult.
TOUR VAN: Is it easier to get Nationwide Tour, rather than PGA Tour, players to use your product?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Those players are more accessible. They're not under major contract with a lot of the big players and their goal is to get to the next level. They have very little to risk because they haven't gotten to the PGA Tour. They're more willing to try something that they think can get them there. That's exactly the comment I got from D.J. Trahan, Troy Matteson. (Troy) goes, 'What have I got to lose?'
The bottom line is that the Nationwide guys, because they're not under a big money contract, when a manufacturer shows up to a Nationwide event and has product (they can use it).
There's pros and cons here. The bad side of the conversation in this is, they'll take anything for nothing. If they don't use it, they'll give it to a friend or they'll throw it on eBay and sell it, because these guys aren't making any money. It's a slippery slope as to how much you want to give away to players. You've got to monitor what you're doing and how much you're giving away and whether you've got the same player coming back week after week and taking product but never putting it in play.
TOUR VAN: How does getting your product on the Nationwide Tour compare to, say, the Champions Tour?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: A lot of guys look at Nationwide because they think they're closer to that style of golf. So the Nationwide has a little more impact than the Champions Tour.
TOUR VAN: How did you get the putter into Nick's hands?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: We have a tour rep, Duane Bock. Duane is primarily on the PGA Tour but we've input some Nationwide Tour events on his schedule depending on where he is in the country. Based on locale, we'll deploy Duane to a Nationwide Tour. He was on the Nationwide himself so he knows a lot of the caddies and the players. He thought that the Nationwide guys are so much more receptive to the technology and they are willing to try it that he wanted to go back out there.
So believe it or not, we weren't really too active with it this year.
A couple of weeks ago, he went out and he met Nick, and Nick said, 'I've heard about the Heavy Putter and I wanted to use one.' Duane thought it would be worthwhile to adopt an incentive program for the players. You win using Heavy Putter and you sign a release form so that we can use your name and likeness, Heavy Putter will pay you ... for usage. That's pretty common on all tours for that type of thing to be done.
Nick did not sign the release - his agent was unavailable - but he told Duane, 'I don't care, I like the product and I'm using it regardless of whether I sign it or not. I could care less, I'm out here to play.'
It turns out he took it two weeks ago and won the second week. So it's pretty remarkable. We have a tremendous batting average - it's very high. Like, Adrien Mork on the European Tour took the putter and shot a 59 and won two events, and before that he couldn't make a cut.
So we feel like we have got a great track record. If more people were using this we'd have a lot more wins.
In Nick's case he came over and said 'Listen, I'm a great ball striker. I hit a lot of fairways and I hit greens and my iron play is good. My putting sucks. I'm really looking for something that can help me with my putting.' Basically he worked with Duane and they fitted up a putter, got the right length and adjustments for him, and he put it in play and he won.
We really had no long-standing relationship with him, it's not something we've been trying to get him to use, he's actually a Nike contract player, but he probably has putter out of the deal. Most guys don't have putter in the deal.
TOUR VAN: How does a win on tour pay off for a small company?
STEPHEN BOCCIERI: Once it's in their hands and they have a win, it depends on how small the company is. In our case, we've built a fair amount of awareness through the infomercial and through our large print campaign that we've got going on. Two years ago when you said Heavy Putter they said, 'What?' A year ago when you said Heavy Putter they'd say, 'Oh yeah, I think I've heard of that.' Now they say, 'Oh yeah, Heavy Putter.' So it takes a fair amount of time to get recognition.
The win itself, what the win does is it validates that the top players in the world think the product is good enough to be used on the PGA Tour. It's a stamp of approval. One of the most commonly asked questions from someone who might not know about the Heavy Putter is 'Who's using it on Tour?' They're not even players of any considerable (stature)... it's just that association. If you have a product and it's good, then someone has to be using it on tour. When you start to get recognized and you start to have wins on the tour, that starts to add credibility to the company.
If someone questions the technology or they hear about it via a win, they're more apt to, when they're in the store, say 'Yeah, I heard about that Heavy Putter. A guy just won last week on the Nationwide Tour.' People have to hear something (a few times) - the third time someone says something about a particular product chances are I'm going to Google it and I'm going to do some investigative work and look into it. If I feel like there's some value to it, especially if I see this guy won, and this guy won, and this guy shot a 59. I have to look into it.
There's no silver bullet and it's not an overnight success. It's an accumulation of people using it and there are multiple pieces. First of all it has to be a good product. Second, consumers have to feel that it's a good product and there's a good buzz about the product in the industry. The tour player getting a win on top of it with the proper amount of marketing or advertising plays a role, but it's not the end all or the one thing that's going to launch a company.
Tour Van Notebook: New Weighted Shaft Helps Harrington
Padraig Harrington shot a 66 in the first round of the Wachovia Championship, crediting a new putter shaft that he said was "so good it should be banned."
Although the putter didn't hold up for the final three rounds - Harrington followed his 24-putt round Thursday with 30, 32 and 30 putts respectively - his comments drew interest. According to Harrington, the new shaft has two lead weights under the grip area.
"I think there will be a few more pros, by the looks of it, that could be looking to get this shaft, as well. It's quite a different sort of an idea, and it definitely worked well today," Harrington said after his round Thursday.
Weighting the grip end of the putter can shift the putter's balance point, which can increase stability and improve roll of the ball. It's something that Heavy Putter, for example, already does in its line of putters, with a 250-gram weight inside the upper shaft.
NO NEW DRIVER - YET: Tiger Woods won at Wachovia playing his regular Nike Sasquatch driver. After he tested a Nike Sumo2 - better known as Nike's square driver - during a practice round at Oakmont, there was some speculation he might give the new club a try before the U.S. Open.
"Yeah, I hit the other driver slightly straighter, but I still liked being able to maneuver the golf ball both ways for now," Woods said last week. "It's a loft issue."
Woods did still leave the door open for making the change: "I haven't quite got the right loft yet," he said. "As soon as we get that dialed in, I may switch."
MAKING THE BEST: Sometimes a terrible loss - like a theft of golf clubs - can have a silver lining. That's the case with Kraft Nabisco winner Morgan Pressel, whose bag of Callaway clubs went missing on her flight home from the major a couple weeks ago.
Pressel said that Callaway sent her new clubs to replace her stolen ones right away, but she has taken the opportunity to work with some new sticks.
"I've actually switched a couple of clubs I'm playing now with the FT-5 driver, and this will be my first tournament with that," she said before teeing off at the SemGroup Championship last week. "And I put an X Hybrid club in my bag which is going to be the first hybrid I've ever played."
The 18-year-old said there was little chance she would have tinkered with her set before they were lost. "I wouldn't put them in, having tested them only for a week or so," she said.
The results? Hard to tell so far with the driver. A rainy, muddy week in Tulsa kept driving distances down. So far this season, Pressel is averaging 253.8 yards off the tee, but over the week at SemGroup, she had 223 yards.
NO FOLLOW UP: Scott Verplank switched shafts in his irons and won at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, but his efforts at Wachovia were not nearly so stellar.
"I took a couple of Bob Tway's irons at Hilton Head and just hit them on the range and went, you know, that feels pretty good. So I got Taylor Made to whip me up a set of irons, and I hit them two or three days in the week off and said, well, let's give it a shot," he said.
"And I hit the ball -- I hit my irons better last week than I probably have in ten years, and I hit the ball at the hole for four days, which I have not been doing that much recently. So I'm kind of excited to see if it'll -- hopefully it wasn't just the one-week- wonder deal. Hopefully it will actually be meaningful for a few years to come."
Unfortunately, Verplank hit 67 and 50 percent of greens in regulation Thursday and Friday, resulting in a missed cut. Guess it'll take a few more rounds to see if the shafts made a permanent difference.
ODDS AND ENDS: Jim Furyk changed the lie of his Srixon I-506 irons before coming to Wachovia, but struggled and didn't make the cut. ... Brandie Burton put new irons and a new driver in the bag, starting the tournament with a round just one shot off the lead. ... Davis Love III tried a new putter at last week's Pro-Am and left in the bag for Thursday's first round. The new Scotty Cameron putter was a heel- shafted style with a Triple Black finish. ... Retief Goosen adjusted his TaylorMade Burner driver with a 45-inch shaft (his previous shaft was 44-1/4 inches). Goosen said he couldn't tell the difference in shaft length, but felt he was hitting the ball better.
Although the putter didn't hold up for the final three rounds - Harrington followed his 24-putt round Thursday with 30, 32 and 30 putts respectively - his comments drew interest. According to Harrington, the new shaft has two lead weights under the grip area.
"I think there will be a few more pros, by the looks of it, that could be looking to get this shaft, as well. It's quite a different sort of an idea, and it definitely worked well today," Harrington said after his round Thursday.
Weighting the grip end of the putter can shift the putter's balance point, which can increase stability and improve roll of the ball. It's something that Heavy Putter, for example, already does in its line of putters, with a 250-gram weight inside the upper shaft.
NO NEW DRIVER - YET: Tiger Woods won at Wachovia playing his regular Nike Sasquatch driver. After he tested a Nike Sumo2 - better known as Nike's square driver - during a practice round at Oakmont, there was some speculation he might give the new club a try before the U.S. Open.
"Yeah, I hit the other driver slightly straighter, but I still liked being able to maneuver the golf ball both ways for now," Woods said last week. "It's a loft issue."
Woods did still leave the door open for making the change: "I haven't quite got the right loft yet," he said. "As soon as we get that dialed in, I may switch."
MAKING THE BEST: Sometimes a terrible loss - like a theft of golf clubs - can have a silver lining. That's the case with Kraft Nabisco winner Morgan Pressel, whose bag of Callaway clubs went missing on her flight home from the major a couple weeks ago.
Pressel said that Callaway sent her new clubs to replace her stolen ones right away, but she has taken the opportunity to work with some new sticks.
"I've actually switched a couple of clubs I'm playing now with the FT-5 driver, and this will be my first tournament with that," she said before teeing off at the SemGroup Championship last week. "And I put an X Hybrid club in my bag which is going to be the first hybrid I've ever played."
The 18-year-old said there was little chance she would have tinkered with her set before they were lost. "I wouldn't put them in, having tested them only for a week or so," she said.
The results? Hard to tell so far with the driver. A rainy, muddy week in Tulsa kept driving distances down. So far this season, Pressel is averaging 253.8 yards off the tee, but over the week at SemGroup, she had 223 yards.
NO FOLLOW UP: Scott Verplank switched shafts in his irons and won at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, but his efforts at Wachovia were not nearly so stellar.
"I took a couple of Bob Tway's irons at Hilton Head and just hit them on the range and went, you know, that feels pretty good. So I got Taylor Made to whip me up a set of irons, and I hit them two or three days in the week off and said, well, let's give it a shot," he said.
"And I hit the ball -- I hit my irons better last week than I probably have in ten years, and I hit the ball at the hole for four days, which I have not been doing that much recently. So I'm kind of excited to see if it'll -- hopefully it wasn't just the one-week- wonder deal. Hopefully it will actually be meaningful for a few years to come."
Unfortunately, Verplank hit 67 and 50 percent of greens in regulation Thursday and Friday, resulting in a missed cut. Guess it'll take a few more rounds to see if the shafts made a permanent difference.
ODDS AND ENDS: Jim Furyk changed the lie of his Srixon I-506 irons before coming to Wachovia, but struggled and didn't make the cut. ... Brandie Burton put new irons and a new driver in the bag, starting the tournament with a round just one shot off the lead. ... Davis Love III tried a new putter at last week's Pro-Am and left in the bag for Thursday's first round. The new Scotty Cameron putter was a heel- shafted style with a Triple Black finish. ... Retief Goosen adjusted his TaylorMade Burner driver with a 45-inch shaft (his previous shaft was 44-1/4 inches). Goosen said he couldn't tell the difference in shaft length, but felt he was hitting the ball better.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Fitting Spotlight: Callaway's OptiFit System
Some golfers buy clubs by going into a store, hitting a few different brands into a net, and choosing the one they like best at the time. But more serious golfers prefer to have clubs custom fit to their swing, for better results on the course.
Callaway Golf is making that process easier with its OptiFit Fitting System.
The OptiFit cart groups 24 driver heads, 24 iron heads, 29 driver shafts and 29 iron shafts that all interchange with the use of a proprietary torque wrench. Fitters insert the desired shaft into the head and fasten it into a sleeve on the tip of the shaft. The whole thing takes less than a minute and the system gives golfers as many as 1,396 different combinations for finding the right fit.
Sound easy? It's not, primarily because Callaway's driver heads are not bore-through designs. So to make a club that has this capability and still function exactly like a production club is no small feat.
"These clubs feel and fit and play just like production golf clubs. So the fitting experience really is reflective of what you'll buy. But that was the difficulty -- the engineering," said Jeff Colton, Callaway's senior vice president of research and development.
"It's challenging because you're moving weight in multiple places and you have to offset that movement in other places, to be sure you keep the center of gravity in the same spot. Also, when you move certain chunks of weight in certain places you might affect the sound, or the feel. All that had to be optimized and taken into consideration in the design of the OptiFit cart heads."
Likewise, Colton says, the iron heads need adjustments to the hosels to allow the interchangeable system to work right.
Then, there's the issue of making sure the OptiFit clubheads, especially the irons, are sturdy enough to withstand the beating they take during testing.
"Durability is a key issue as well, because you're going to have multiple exchanges of different shafts, different people hitting, obviously making a lot of contact with the ground which is a little different from the driver, so that was a key design feature, making sure we did really durable design."
The result: A system that makes it easy for clubfitters to try different options; golfers to feel confident about their club purchases; and finished clubs that feel and perform just like the OptiFit version.
Of course, having a custom fit system like OptiFit does not just help golfers but is a bonus for Callaway. The company does not have to build as many clubs and supply its retailers with a lot of production clubs. And on tour, the system reaps a lot of benefits as it reduces time needed to create new clubs for their tour staff.
"Tour players burn through golf clubs," Colton said. "You spend three hours building them a driver and they hit one shot: 'Next.' You've just wasted a head, a shaft and that labor time -- all the opportunity cost as well."
Plus, Colton said, for pros and amateurs alike, the system reduces the number of variables in trying different combinations.
"OptiFit says 'OK, you've got one head, and the head stays the same through the entire process.' So you're truly measuring the effects of the shaft and how it responds to the player," he said. "That's the beauty of it, you're isolating variables in the process which makes it a much better fit."
OptiFit has been around for about a year, but this month the company introduced an expanded version of the system. Previously, golfers could only be fit for drivers. In the 2007 system, seven different shaft makers -- Aldila, Fujikara, Grafalloy, Graphite Design, True Temper-Royal Precision, United Sports Technologies and Mitsubishi Rayon -- are represented.
"We have our standard offerings in the cart but there are five to six key shaft manufacturers who grab the majority of volume in the marketplace. So we track the trends, what's popular on tour, what's popular in the chat rooms and make sure the offerings are current with contemporary shafts of interest," Colton said.
And someday soon, golfers may just be able to walk away from the OptiFit cart with a club, rather than wait the week or two that it takes for a custom-built club to be delivered to their doorstep. That's because the ruling bodies of golf are considering a change to the rules that would make adjustable clubs, like those in OptiFit's system where the shaft can easily be removed, legal.
"Currently these (OptiFit) clubs are nonconforming, meaning they are adjustable and there is a rule against adjustability," Colton said. "That rule is under review and it's entirely possible that the ruling bodies allow this type of configuration to be conforming going forward. So you could go get OptiFit and theoretically if you could pay the pro enough you could walk away with the club, take his demo, and play with it, play a round of golf with it.
"The ruling bodies are rationalizing the rule change from the sense that now the average golfer can get the same experience and the type of variety that the tour pro gets every week. So it's about enhancing the fitting process and enabling better technology for the average player."
Between the nearly 600 carts with the 2006 drivers-only system and the 500 or so that are currently being shipped, the OptiFit system will be available at more than 1,000 on-course and off-course golf facilities in the U.S.
For information on the OptiFit system, see www.callawaygolf.com/ en.cg.CustomFitting.OptifitSystem.html.
Callaway Golf is making that process easier with its OptiFit Fitting System.
The OptiFit cart groups 24 driver heads, 24 iron heads, 29 driver shafts and 29 iron shafts that all interchange with the use of a proprietary torque wrench. Fitters insert the desired shaft into the head and fasten it into a sleeve on the tip of the shaft. The whole thing takes less than a minute and the system gives golfers as many as 1,396 different combinations for finding the right fit.
Sound easy? It's not, primarily because Callaway's driver heads are not bore-through designs. So to make a club that has this capability and still function exactly like a production club is no small feat.
"These clubs feel and fit and play just like production golf clubs. So the fitting experience really is reflective of what you'll buy. But that was the difficulty -- the engineering," said Jeff Colton, Callaway's senior vice president of research and development.
"It's challenging because you're moving weight in multiple places and you have to offset that movement in other places, to be sure you keep the center of gravity in the same spot. Also, when you move certain chunks of weight in certain places you might affect the sound, or the feel. All that had to be optimized and taken into consideration in the design of the OptiFit cart heads."
Likewise, Colton says, the iron heads need adjustments to the hosels to allow the interchangeable system to work right.
Then, there's the issue of making sure the OptiFit clubheads, especially the irons, are sturdy enough to withstand the beating they take during testing.
"Durability is a key issue as well, because you're going to have multiple exchanges of different shafts, different people hitting, obviously making a lot of contact with the ground which is a little different from the driver, so that was a key design feature, making sure we did really durable design."
The result: A system that makes it easy for clubfitters to try different options; golfers to feel confident about their club purchases; and finished clubs that feel and perform just like the OptiFit version.
Of course, having a custom fit system like OptiFit does not just help golfers but is a bonus for Callaway. The company does not have to build as many clubs and supply its retailers with a lot of production clubs. And on tour, the system reaps a lot of benefits as it reduces time needed to create new clubs for their tour staff.
"Tour players burn through golf clubs," Colton said. "You spend three hours building them a driver and they hit one shot: 'Next.' You've just wasted a head, a shaft and that labor time -- all the opportunity cost as well."
Plus, Colton said, for pros and amateurs alike, the system reduces the number of variables in trying different combinations.
"OptiFit says 'OK, you've got one head, and the head stays the same through the entire process.' So you're truly measuring the effects of the shaft and how it responds to the player," he said. "That's the beauty of it, you're isolating variables in the process which makes it a much better fit."
OptiFit has been around for about a year, but this month the company introduced an expanded version of the system. Previously, golfers could only be fit for drivers. In the 2007 system, seven different shaft makers -- Aldila, Fujikara, Grafalloy, Graphite Design, True Temper-Royal Precision, United Sports Technologies and Mitsubishi Rayon -- are represented.
"We have our standard offerings in the cart but there are five to six key shaft manufacturers who grab the majority of volume in the marketplace. So we track the trends, what's popular on tour, what's popular in the chat rooms and make sure the offerings are current with contemporary shafts of interest," Colton said.
And someday soon, golfers may just be able to walk away from the OptiFit cart with a club, rather than wait the week or two that it takes for a custom-built club to be delivered to their doorstep. That's because the ruling bodies of golf are considering a change to the rules that would make adjustable clubs, like those in OptiFit's system where the shaft can easily be removed, legal.
"Currently these (OptiFit) clubs are nonconforming, meaning they are adjustable and there is a rule against adjustability," Colton said. "That rule is under review and it's entirely possible that the ruling bodies allow this type of configuration to be conforming going forward. So you could go get OptiFit and theoretically if you could pay the pro enough you could walk away with the club, take his demo, and play with it, play a round of golf with it.
"The ruling bodies are rationalizing the rule change from the sense that now the average golfer can get the same experience and the type of variety that the tour pro gets every week. So it's about enhancing the fitting process and enabling better technology for the average player."
Between the nearly 600 carts with the 2006 drivers-only system and the 500 or so that are currently being shipped, the OptiFit system will be available at more than 1,000 on-course and off-course golf facilities in the U.S.
For information on the OptiFit system, see www.callawaygolf.com/ en.cg.CustomFitting.OptifitSystem.html.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Tour Van Notebook: How Square is Tiger?
During a practice round at Oakmont, site of this year's U.S. Open, Tiger Woods was seen - and heard - giving a Nike Sumo2 driver a try.
Nike's square-shaped driver is noted for being exceptionally accurate - a plus for amateur golfers but not necessarily for pros who want to work the ball. It's also known for the loud noise it makes on impact.
Woods used the club in practice during two days at Oakmont. He's also experimented with the driver in practice, but hasn't yet given up on his Nike SasQuatch 460. In the past, the world No. 1 has indicated he gets increased distance but doesn't like the launch angle he gets with the Sumo2.
"The question is whether I use it at the Wachovia," Woods told the Associated Press, indicating he might put the driver in play at next week's PGA Tour stop. "I already know what my other driver does. It did all right at Augusta."
GORE LOOKS TO COBRA: Jason Gore is rumored to be signing a deal with Cobra Golf soon. At the Byron Nelson, he was working with Cobra reps on the range. Gore was playing Nike clubs earlier in the year, but allegedly wanted to use the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball - a no go as far as Nike officials (and Gore's contract) were concerned. Gore's move to an Acushnet company should allow him to use the Pro V1 with no problem.
In the time since Gore split with Nike, in early March, he's been using a Cobra driver and irons, as well as a TaylorMade fairway wood and rescue club. His tie for 44th at the Byron Nelson marked his third consecutive cut after he struggled early in the season.
TRION Z ON WINNER'S WRIST: Byron Nelson winner Scott Verplank must think there's something to the Trion Z bracelet. He sported an orange-and-black version during the week at Las Colinas.
More than 200 pros on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours wear the ionic/magnetic bracelets, which are endorsed by teachers Butch Harmon and David Leadbetter. Material that produces negative ions is woven into the fabric of the bracelets, which is supposed to reduce the effects of positive ions that build up during physical activity and exposure to wind and sun. Ultimately, this reduces physical stress for the athlete and improves focus.
Other golfers who have won with a Trion Z this year: Boo Weekley at the Verizon, Brittany Lincicome at the Ginn Open, Stacy Prammanasudh at the Fields Open in Hawaii, and Charles Howell III at the Nissan Open.
MODEL GOLF SWING: In all the talk of Byron Nelson during the first tournament after his death, one thing that didn't get mentioned much was his contribution to equipment testing.
The USGA used Nelson's swing as a model for its swing robot throughout the 1990s until it switched its method of testing golf ball compliance in 2000.
"The great swing of Byron's was used as a model for the mechanical device we created, which is affectionally known throughout the world now as 'Iron Byron,'" explained Winfield Padgett, who served on the USGA's Executive Committee in the mid-90s. "Byron was very cooperative and instrumental and guided us through that process, making sure that technology was where it needed to be and was giving us the very best we could use and still in use today despite all the advances that have been going on in the sport."
ODDS AND ENDS: Mike Weir put a full set of TaylorMade's r7 TP irons in play for the first time this week. ... J.L. Lewis returned after recovering from knee surgery and had a full bag of TaylorMade clubs plus the TP Black golf ball. ... LPGA Tour conditional player Lisa Fernandes started using new Callaway equipment and finished at even par after shooting a 69 in the first round of the Corona Morelia Championship in Mexico.
Nike's square-shaped driver is noted for being exceptionally accurate - a plus for amateur golfers but not necessarily for pros who want to work the ball. It's also known for the loud noise it makes on impact.
Woods used the club in practice during two days at Oakmont. He's also experimented with the driver in practice, but hasn't yet given up on his Nike SasQuatch 460. In the past, the world No. 1 has indicated he gets increased distance but doesn't like the launch angle he gets with the Sumo2.
"The question is whether I use it at the Wachovia," Woods told the Associated Press, indicating he might put the driver in play at next week's PGA Tour stop. "I already know what my other driver does. It did all right at Augusta."
GORE LOOKS TO COBRA: Jason Gore is rumored to be signing a deal with Cobra Golf soon. At the Byron Nelson, he was working with Cobra reps on the range. Gore was playing Nike clubs earlier in the year, but allegedly wanted to use the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball - a no go as far as Nike officials (and Gore's contract) were concerned. Gore's move to an Acushnet company should allow him to use the Pro V1 with no problem.
In the time since Gore split with Nike, in early March, he's been using a Cobra driver and irons, as well as a TaylorMade fairway wood and rescue club. His tie for 44th at the Byron Nelson marked his third consecutive cut after he struggled early in the season.
TRION Z ON WINNER'S WRIST: Byron Nelson winner Scott Verplank must think there's something to the Trion Z bracelet. He sported an orange-and-black version during the week at Las Colinas.
More than 200 pros on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours wear the ionic/magnetic bracelets, which are endorsed by teachers Butch Harmon and David Leadbetter. Material that produces negative ions is woven into the fabric of the bracelets, which is supposed to reduce the effects of positive ions that build up during physical activity and exposure to wind and sun. Ultimately, this reduces physical stress for the athlete and improves focus.
Other golfers who have won with a Trion Z this year: Boo Weekley at the Verizon, Brittany Lincicome at the Ginn Open, Stacy Prammanasudh at the Fields Open in Hawaii, and Charles Howell III at the Nissan Open.
MODEL GOLF SWING: In all the talk of Byron Nelson during the first tournament after his death, one thing that didn't get mentioned much was his contribution to equipment testing.
The USGA used Nelson's swing as a model for its swing robot throughout the 1990s until it switched its method of testing golf ball compliance in 2000.
"The great swing of Byron's was used as a model for the mechanical device we created, which is affectionally known throughout the world now as 'Iron Byron,'" explained Winfield Padgett, who served on the USGA's Executive Committee in the mid-90s. "Byron was very cooperative and instrumental and guided us through that process, making sure that technology was where it needed to be and was giving us the very best we could use and still in use today despite all the advances that have been going on in the sport."
ODDS AND ENDS: Mike Weir put a full set of TaylorMade's r7 TP irons in play for the first time this week. ... J.L. Lewis returned after recovering from knee surgery and had a full bag of TaylorMade clubs plus the TP Black golf ball. ... LPGA Tour conditional player Lisa Fernandes started using new Callaway equipment and finished at even par after shooting a 69 in the first round of the Corona Morelia Championship in Mexico.
Tour Van: Shaft Change Spells Difference for Verplank
Scott Verplank has suffered. First it was his elbows, for which he had three surgeries. More recently, it's been his shoulder. As a concession to his physical issues, he's been playing graphite shafts in his irons - something that few PGA Tour pros do.
But after 15 years of using graphite, Verplank said he wanted a change. He put True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts into his TaylorMade rac Forged TP irons and his victory at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship validated his decision.
"I've used graphite shafts for my irons after I started having all these surgeries, and I finally said, you know, decided I'd try and go back to steel. I wanted to because they're a little more consistent, and I've done it, and so far I haven't fallen apart," he said after his round Friday.
Verplank's stats show he tied for fifth in greens in regulation, improving from 67 percent Thursday to 72 percent Friday to 78 percent on the weekend (a 73.6 percent average). Coming into this week, he was averaging a mediocre 60.73 percent for 2007 - 141st on Tour.
"I'm hitting it pretty much the same distance. They're just more consistent. I've noticed that over the last two days, the shots and the flight of the ball and the way it hits, it's just a little more consistent than graphite. I've won a couple tournaments out here using graphite shafts in my irons and played pretty good using them, but it's just something different."
Verplank said he put the new irons with the True Temper shafts into his bag for Wednesday's Pro-Am. He finally made the switch after struggling with some graphite shafts that didn't seem to work well for his game.
"I had a nice set (of graphite) that I used for about three years, and they finally got worn out, so I switched about a year ago, and graphite shafts are very difficult to make them identical apparently," he said. "I mean, I put the exact same shafts in, and they just weren't the same, and I struggled with them for about a year, and finally I said I'm going to have to do something different."
It feels good, he said, but not completely different - he has always used steel shafts in his Titleist Vokey wedges. Plus, with the same loft and lie as his previous irons, he's not struggling with inconsistency. Apparently, it's just the opposite.
"I got really good with the steel shaft," Verplank said after his win. "I hit the ball at the hole, especially today, all week."
Now that he's gone more mainstream in choosing steel shafts for his irons, he said the number of players using graphite on Tour has dropped dramatically.
"I'm not sure I know anybody else that uses graphite in their irons. I know there's probably a couple people," he said. "It's hard to make it as consistent as steel."
But after 15 years of using graphite, Verplank said he wanted a change. He put True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts into his TaylorMade rac Forged TP irons and his victory at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship validated his decision.
"I've used graphite shafts for my irons after I started having all these surgeries, and I finally said, you know, decided I'd try and go back to steel. I wanted to because they're a little more consistent, and I've done it, and so far I haven't fallen apart," he said after his round Friday.
Verplank's stats show he tied for fifth in greens in regulation, improving from 67 percent Thursday to 72 percent Friday to 78 percent on the weekend (a 73.6 percent average). Coming into this week, he was averaging a mediocre 60.73 percent for 2007 - 141st on Tour.
"I'm hitting it pretty much the same distance. They're just more consistent. I've noticed that over the last two days, the shots and the flight of the ball and the way it hits, it's just a little more consistent than graphite. I've won a couple tournaments out here using graphite shafts in my irons and played pretty good using them, but it's just something different."
Verplank said he put the new irons with the True Temper shafts into his bag for Wednesday's Pro-Am. He finally made the switch after struggling with some graphite shafts that didn't seem to work well for his game.
"I had a nice set (of graphite) that I used for about three years, and they finally got worn out, so I switched about a year ago, and graphite shafts are very difficult to make them identical apparently," he said. "I mean, I put the exact same shafts in, and they just weren't the same, and I struggled with them for about a year, and finally I said I'm going to have to do something different."
It feels good, he said, but not completely different - he has always used steel shafts in his Titleist Vokey wedges. Plus, with the same loft and lie as his previous irons, he's not struggling with inconsistency. Apparently, it's just the opposite.
"I got really good with the steel shaft," Verplank said after his win. "I hit the ball at the hole, especially today, all week."
Now that he's gone more mainstream in choosing steel shafts for his irons, he said the number of players using graphite on Tour has dropped dramatically.
"I'm not sure I know anybody else that uses graphite in their irons. I know there's probably a couple people," he said. "It's hard to make it as consistent as steel."
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