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Golf Equipment Chronicles 2005 (Part 4)

PGA Fall Expo Wrap-up--2006 Preview

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1900.

As a very close observer of the golf equipment market, I frequently wonder how new clubs can continue to be invented. Just when you think that after 400 years club designers must be out of ideas, relentless innovation and creativity takes over. I thought that 2006 might be boring. Absolutely not. 2006 is going to be a very exciting year.

By the way, Charles Duell never said what Richard Nixon cited in his 1988 book, Victory Without War. An Internet search revealed that the original quote was from the First Commissioner of Patents, Henry Ellsworth. The actual sentence Ellsworth wrote in the 1843 Annual Report of the Patent Office was, "The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity, and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end." Somehow, that quote got changed over the years and attributed to a guy who never said it. Luckily, the advancement of the arts continued at a rapid pace for the last 150 years. So goes history. . .

2005 Fall PGA Merchandise Show in Las Vegas

The low expectations for the annual PGA Fall Expo held at the Las Vegas Convention Center September 28-29 were met. That’s bad news if you’re an exhibitor, but not so bad if you come to the show to meet people, have a chance to sit down and talk and then do a little business. If you haven’t been paying attention to the trajectory of the golf industry lately, it’s been in decline for five years. Since "9-11" -- luxury purchases and activities have come under even more pressure. As a final exclamation point, as the 2005 show closed, the promoters announced that the 2006 fall PGA Expo will be demoted to the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Look on the bright side: it will be smaller but it will be more convenient. I’ll be there for sure.

Nike Sasquatch & Slingshot OSS Product Launch

Nike took advantage of the annual convocation to hold its fifth in a series of launch events for its new Sasquatch driver, to be known as the "SQ" and the new Slingshot OSS irons. They pulled out all stops, bringing in Tiger Woods and the full compliment of Nike executives and Golf Channel talent for the event. It was too good to miss.

The venue was the Reflection Bay golf course at Lake Las Vegas, about thirty miles from the Strip. Lake Las Vegas is aptly described as a playground for the rich and famous. If you haven’t been there, the next time you find yourself in Las Vegas, you need to rent a car and take a ride. The actual "Lake Las Vegas" is an extension to Lake Mead. It is a beautiful setting, overlooking the Las Vegas strip. There are three golf courses. The hotels are strictly high end: Ritz Carlton and Hyatt Regency. The shoreline is ringed with villas that look vaguely like the Mediterranean coast got moved to the desert. I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing many of those lakefront properties top $10 million. It’s just the kind of neighborhood that should make Tiger feel comfortable. The Hyatt Regency offered a bargain rate of $189. I chose a $49 room in Las Vegas.

Alas, the launch event was scheduled for a very corporate 8 AM start which required a 6 o’clock wake up call at the Low End Suites back in west Lost Wages. For early arrivals, breakfast was fresh fruit, yogurt, miniature rolls and Starbucks coffee. So Nike.

The leadoff was handled by Tom Stites -- the designer behind all Nike Golf clubs. Stites’ theme was "New Geometry -- all the adjustment you will need" -- an obvious swipe at the market leading Taylor Made R7. The slideshow was professional grade even by Silicon Valley standards, describing the "features and benefits," offering the "proof" and then closing with the "summary." Bill Gates would have been proud. The takeaway was that breakthrough products only result from radical changes in club geometry. Examples included the Callaway Big Bertha and the Adams Tight Lies. The intellectual foundation was interesting. If you would like to see the presentation complete with "new geometry" examples, download a copy from www.calgolftech.com.

The short story: the Sasquatch is "the largest footprint in golf" -- still 460 cc in size, but with a shallower depth. A flat protuberance at the back of the head gives it a flying saucer look. The effect is to move the weight back and down. The center of gravity is deep in the head. The design goal is to increase the MOI or "resistance to twisting" around the shaft axis. The SQ is advertised as the highest MOI in the industry. Nike dreamed up "Powerbow" to put a proprietary stamp on the radical shape. The objective is to help the average player take the right side out of play. There is no other driver that looks like the SQ. Purists will cringe.

Nike cut a deal with Mitsubishi to offer a "Sasquatch" branded Nike proprietary shaft that looks a lot like the $350 Mitsubishi Diamana shaft that Tiger and quite a few of his buddies are using on Tour. The biggest surprise is that the SQ takes standard .335 shafts. The new SQ carries a retail tag of $359 but Nike executives expect it to be sold at $299 street price to match the competition that will settle in at that level in 2006.

There will be a "Tour" version of the SQ available in February. It is also 460 cc but with a profile only slightly larger than today’s Ignite. Quite a few of the Nike tour staff players have put the Tour SQ in play. K.J. Choi is the first Nike winner on the PGA Tour with a victory at the Chrysler Classic, hitting 14 fairways in the last round. To be fair, he also had his clubs SST PUREd recently and his shaft was the Matrix OZIK -- not the Nike Diamana. I think that most low index players will want to hit the SQ, but they’re going to wait for the Tour version before they dig out their wallets. They might have to dig deep. The SQ Tour with the "true" Mitsubishi Diamana shaft is going to retail at $659.

The new midsize OSS Slingshots were Nike’s move to capitalize on their popular Slingshot line. The OSS is the Charles Barkley club, big, offset, with a spring face. It will be complemented by a new "Tour" Slingshot later in the year that is a trimmed down version of the original, which will also stay in the line.

Enter Tiger Woods

The Tiger press conference was scheduled to start promptly at nine, and did. All of a sudden, the product presentation ceased and a swirl of activity ensued. Tiger entered the room, accompanied by Kelly Tilghman from the Golf Channel who was recruited to conduct the interview. (The audience was warned to confine questions to Tiger’s relationship with Nike.) The questions were carefully scripted and everyone stayed on their best behavior. I must have been dazzled; the room was full of Nike luminaries from Kel Devlin, the top Nike executive managing superstars to Nike Golf general manager Cindy Davis. Tiger does not travel alone.

Tiger interview tidbits: St. Andrews is the greatest course in the world. British Open driving distance average: 341 yards. Tiger’s driver miss is "low on the heel" and his 460 Ignite with a 45" Diamana shaft misses the ball ten yards longer. He hits a three wood off the tee much less frequently because he’s driving it straighter. The new driver is giving him 20 to 30 yards farther on solid hits. The Nike One Platinum flies six to eight yards farther than the Nike One Gold. The main advantage of the new balls is how they hold their line in the wind. Eventually, a "speed limit" will be placed on the ball for professionals -- which would give Tiger a competitive advantage. That’s most likely to happen at the Masters first. Proper fitting is the most important step that amateurs should take to improve their games. When he was a kid, Tiger’s mom shrank his dad’s golf shirts -- he never had new shirts. But he always had golf clubs that fit -- thanks to his dad. Graphite shafts are now as consistent as steel shafts. He tested dozens of graphite shafts before choosing the Mitsubishi Diamana in a process that took several months. Tour pros are cracking the faces on their drivers "all the time." He’s not about to leave old technology metal spikes behind.

"The Chip" at the Masters was lucky.

Tiger’s Putting Clinic

After a brief break, the group reassembled on the Reflection Bay driving range which is one of the two or three nicest I’ve seen. Tiger’s ribs were still sore so a full swing show was out. We were treated to a putting clinic.

Tiger went into detail about how he prepares for a round. I’ve never seen his warm-up method in print. Here’s a summary for Chronicles readers.

Tiger arrives at the course an hour and 15 minutes before tee time. He goes straight to the putting green where he uses two tees to make a narrow "gate" and proceeds to sink between 50 and 100 three- to four-foot putts from between the tees. He finishes his early putting practice with 50-footers to get a good idea of the speed of the greens for that day. That drill takes between 20 and 30 minutes.

He then moves to the range for about a half hour of warm-up. After that he returns to the putting green for the last 15 minutes. During his second putting session he focuses on 10- to 15-footers, with a break. His reasoning is that he hits a lot of his iron shots to this range and he wants to start thinking about making birdies.

Tiger emphasized repeatedly that "it’s all about speed." Speed determines the line. He explained how he visualizes the line, looking at a spot near the hole. He does not try to roll the ball over an intermediate spot -- a technique followed by Jim Furyk, Tiger’s partner in the recently completed President’s Cup.

After the clinic, lunch was served. Palm hearts on the salad, little baby garden vegetables, very rare tenderloin, chicken for the health-conscious and corporate iced tea. So Nike. After lunch, we were issued a bag full of the new Nike clubs and played a scramble. I was paired with Adam Barr from the Golf Channel. We were not competitive but the conversation was lively. Later in the afternoon, I had the chance to sit down with Tom Stites for over an hour. Overall, it was a memorable day.

Fall PGA Expo Notebook

Demo Night at the Callaway Performance Fitting Center. Billed as the highlight of the Fall Expo, the event was dampened by the large signs prohibiting any alcoholic beverages inside the gates. It turns out that Callaway lost its liquor license the month before. No explanation was given. Exhibitors who chose their spots based on the location of last year’s beer cart were disappointed to say the least. The party atmosphere went south. The event was well attended and active, but the night was over early.

Despite the snafu, the Callaway establishment is a "must see" for any golfer visiting Las Vegas. It’s just a few miles south of the Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard. You can get your fitting, hit balls and even play nine holes on their par three course -- the "Divine Nine." The only drawback is that the only clubs they recommend are Callaway.

Hot Color Grips. Years ago, I was in the fashion business. Straight from Tokyo, a display of rubber grips in vivid colors from IOMIC, Inc caught my eye. Not only bright colors, they come with some kind of negative ion charge. That’s supposed to help you stay calm and relax. You can choose your shade of pink. All that for only $20 per grip. If they get away with that, Dr. Feel will be jealous.

New and Stubborn Putter Companies. I’m always interested by the dreamers who bring new putters to the Big Show. Aserta was there with their "upside down" high COG line. Aserta provided the entertainment on the last day with their "cash for putts" promotion and a putting contest with a first prize worth over $1000 won by the Golf Lab’s own Heather Hughes. She used a prototype Aserta blade and tried to take it home. No dice. The new kid on the block was Zivot Golf. Zivot is famous for their switchblade divot tool that could get you arrested at the airport. It’s the only divot tool that I like to carry and use. The company probably owns the best factory in the business. Better yet, everything is made in the USA -- a rarity in the global golf industry.

John Thomas is the designer of the new line of putters from Zivot. They are beautifully made. A little clunky, but the machining is intricate. They come with adjustable weights that offer a lot of adjustability. In the age of heavy putters, there could be a future for Zivot. I think they’re going to need another generation for refinement after trying their putters out on the indoor green, but this is a company worth watching. www.zivotgolf.com.

Hands on Nike Sasquatch

Shortly before press time, we received two production model Nike Sasquatch drivers with their proprietary Mitsubishi "Sasquatch" shafts -- painted up to look a lot like a Diamana. Nike is not trying to say the proprietary shaft is the same as the Diamana, but they hope that the family resemblance pays off.

One SQ came with a 9.5* with a stiff shaft, the other was a 10.5* with a regular shaft. First thing we did was take them apart. The stiff shaft tested out to 258 CPM, five inch clamp, grip off. The regular shaft tested out to 243 CPM. The heads each weighed 205 grams, heavy for consumer driver heads. The shafts branded Diamana technology by Mitsubishi, each weighed in at 63 grams. Swingweights were higher than usual consumer drivers, testing out in the D-4 range. That will be good for players looking to play their drivers at a more controllable length under 45"

We were interested to see how the shafts would test out on our SST PURE equipment and in play. In the SST PURE system, the first test tensions the shaft under a load cell and measures the stiffness around the circumference of the shaft. The result is a graph that looks like a sine wave which locates the spine or "hard side" in SST nomenclature. As a result of the first test, every shaft receives a proprietary grade from the SST system. Shafts that test with high consistency are awarded an "A" grade. The first Nike Diamana we tested earned a rare "A." The two production Sasquatch shafts tested to "B." I was a little surprised at the fifteen cycle delta in the frequency readings. The regular seemed to be a bit soft. That could have been by design.

The second stage of the SST PURE process finds the "Plane of Uniform Repeatability" with the shaft oriented in its most stable plane. The stock Nike Diamanas PUREd up to a good vertical deviation at less than .10". In recent years, golfers have increasingly distrusted proprietary shafts, especially in their drivers, frequently electing to reshaft with known premium quality brands. Such was the situation with Nike last year. The proprietary Ignite shaft was often replaced. It would be a great financial benefit to Nike customers if they find they can play the shaft that comes in the club.

One unusual result, albeit from a very small test, was that the final SST PURE position was logo up. Inquiries to Mitsubishi about any shaft orientation that might occur at the factory, before silkscreening, were inconclusive. Matrix Composite aligns its shafts before finishing. They recommend logo down. Is this a trend?

On Course Player Testing

I had a chance to play one "morning at the Muni" with the SQ drivers. It’s a little quiet out there this time of year so I hit two drives with each club on each hole. The results were surprising. Distance might be a little better than average. It’s hard to tell comparing October mornings with August afternoons. There were no bombs, but two or three times I found my misses a little farther down the fairway than I expected.

The SQ seemed to be quite a bit easier to keep in the fairway. I found my misses tended to veer back into the fairway, a resemblance of the "gear effect" from persimmon drivers. Larry Bischmann from Mitsubishi describes the SQ as the "Two-Ball driver" because it is so straight. I might not go that far, but out of 28 drives that morning, I didn’t miss the fairway with more than two. The big surprise was the trajectory. The 9.5 degree SQ launched the ball on what I thought was a low trajectory, contrary to the stated design goals. It could have been me, but if you’re planning a SQ purchase, you should be sure to demo one on the course.

The shaft story was inconclusive. The SST PUREd shafts felt stable. If anything, the stiff flex might have been a bit stiffer than I prefer. The regular flex shaft was noticeably softer. I thought the regular might have been spinning a little bit too much. As the SQ drivers become more available, we will gain experience with a range of players. We will also have a chance to detect any measurable performance differences with extensive launch monitor testing. Personally, I look forward to the availability of the SQ Tour head, sometime after the first of the year. The Nike SQ will definitely be one to watch in 2006.

The end of the PING ISI Experiment

It’s over. I played my Nickel ISI’s for three rounds. They were shafted with the new Nippon 1150 lightweight shafts. Well, not too lightweight at 115 grams playing weight, but with an innovative counterweighted design, they have a lively but crisp feel. I’m not keeping the ISI’s in my collection -- final evidence of disappointment. To get them ready for eBay, I pulled out the shafts and replaced them with a nice set of original Ping JZ stiffs. By the end of my testing period, I became convinced that the ISI’s were just too deep, too light and just not as solid as forty or fifty other heads that I plan to try. No longer recommended, nickel or not.

The 1150 shafts ended up in a set of Eye 3+ blades, maroon dot. I thought that would be a good test because the Eye 3+ blades shafted with Aerotech 80 gram Steel Fiber shafts are my current "gamers." My reasoning is that if you want to test shafts, you should test them on the same heads. Not wanting to alter my gamers, I picked up another set of Eye 3+ blades on eBay for the experiment. It’s a little expensive to work with Pings but I got in the habit a while back. If you’re looking for a more economical alternative, you might think about KZG PC III heads as a high quality but relatively inexpensive cast alternative.

The new set got one outing. It was the annual Stanford tournament to raise funds for the golf team, formerly known as the "Watson." (If you don’t show up for ten years, your name comes off the marquee.) My friend Bob Ireland put together a team that should have won in a walk. The format was a "shamble" -- everyone hits a drive and you play your own ball from there. One best ball counts. Bob made sure we had Eric Jones on our team -- his prodigious 350 yard drives sure to help. The foursome was rounded out with a former Sequoia club champion. Alas, we set the tone on our opening hole. Stanford’s sixteenth is an uphill par 5 about 550 yards. Eric blistered a drive to the middle of the fairway, to 190 yards out. He missed the green with a five iron and we couldn’t do better with fairway metals. We scored an inauspicious par 5. We parred on the four easiest holes, posted a 56, and lost by a stroke. It wasn’t a huge embarrassment, the winning team was lead by Jim Seki, a former Stanford player and winner of the Nationwide Tour stop in Stockton this year.

The Ping Eye 3+ blades, shafted with the Nippon 1150’s earned another chance. The short irons were the performers. They had a very crisp feel and a nice tight drop to the left. The downside is that I was short all day. I couldn’t tell if it was caused by the steel shafts delivering a little less distance than graphite, or lack of familiarity with distances at Stanford. It is perfectly clear, however, that if you’re thinking about trying a lighter weight shaft with a different feel, the 1150’s should be near the top of your list. They will also be good for players who are planning to build out over length clubs with standard weight heads.

On the Radar Screen

The world’s most expensive shafts are coming. Stay tuned for the full story as it develops. From Matrix Composite Corporation, formerly known as Apache, the OZIK. The OZIK is billed as a "handmade" shaft. The planned retail price is $1000, in very round numbers. That makes $300 Speeders and $350 Diamanas look like bargains. As I reported earlier, K.J. Choi is already a winner with the OZIK. But then, he owns a piece of the company. Not to be outdone, Fujikura is targeting January for release of their new Rombax line, a likely Speeder successor.

E21 Scandium. I’m told that Scandium has been around before. It’s back, this time in iron shafts that will retail well north of $100. E21golf.com is a company headquartered in Toronto with offices in California. The intellectual leadership hails from Russia. They have selected Howard Butler, a well-regarded industry consultant as their technical design leader. In addition to scandium shafts, they are producing complete clubs including a driver with a waffle-like crown. Scandium is supposed to be lighter and stronger than Titanium.

Super light weight steel shafts. From Nippon, a sub 80 gram shaft intended to retail in the $80 range. It is so light, it requires carbon fiber reinforcement at the butt. True Temper is aiming at the lightweight shaft business, with an 80 gram shaft, born in Japan.

That’s all for now. Look forward to December and the beginning of the drumbeat for the 2006 season.

Leith Anderson is a partner in the Golf Lab in Palo Alto. He will answer all questions related to clubmaking and clubfitting personally. Contact Leith Anderson by email: Leith@calgolftech.com. Cell phone 650-743-2816.