California Golf Technologies

What's new on the West Coast

Golf Equipment Chronicles 2007 (Part 6)

Sneak Peak at 2008

By Leith Anderson

A last minute change in plans prevented me from going to the Fall PGA Show in Las Vegas. I have a little too much traveling coming up in October. It turned out to be a net gain. I stayed home to play a couple of tournaments. Meantime, there is plenty of new product information seeping out. 2008 will definitely not be a boring year. That’s good news for those of us who get excited by the “Search for Magic Clubs”.

But First, the Best of 2007

We learned a lot about balls and ball performance this year. The biggest ball news was the Top Flight D2 – in three flavors: red, green and blue – just like Gatorade. I covered the “dimple in dimple” technology story and recommended the D2 as “lots of fun” if a little bit dangerous (too long? low spin). Dozens of Golf Lab customers gave the ball a try and reported back that they liked it. The Palo Alto Muni started selling stacks of the $17 fifteen packs. Then, at the beginning of September, a feature article on Top Flight and the D2 ball appeared in Time Magazine. It’s rare for golf ball stories make the mainstream media. The D2 turned out to be a hit – and I hope you read about it first in the Golf Equipment Chronicles.

If you missed the story, just trek down to your favorite golf shop and pick up a box of the Greens if you want feel and Reds if you want distance. I would skip the “Straight” as the gimmick for the Blue ball is a Teflon coating. A permanent Magic Marker rubs right off. You can buy a box of Reds and Greens and have enough left over for lunch instead of buying a dozen of whatever expensive ball you like. If you want detail, check the Chronicles archives on www.golftodaymagazine.com.

Will the D2 put a dent in the dominant Titleist market share? That’s doubtful, given how hard it is to change a golfer’s mind about what he thinks he likes. The most likely scenario is that Callaway – the parent of Top Flight – will incorporate the dimple in dimple technology in their top of the line “Tour” balls. Next year there will be some serious money spent to promote the new Callaway “dimple in hex” design.

With golf balls, it’s imperative to do your own testing. The expensive, soft-cover balls will deliver a more consistent launch angle and spin rate – the essence of “accuracy”. In our ball fittings for accuracy, based on the AGS software, the new Pro V (07) and the Nike Platinum frequently top the list. Our ball fitting experience proves that unexpected recommendations are possible. Slow swingspeed players frequently do well with soft cover, high spin Premium balls, exactly the opposite of the low compression, hard cover balls that they have chosen. Ball fitting has come of age. Check your specs.

Distance Measurement Devices

The year started with the USGA and Royal and Ancient deciding that it would be OK for golfers to use laser-based rangefinders and GPS systems in tournament play. That broke the dike for serious golfers. Until the official OK, the only way to judge rangefinders and GPS systems was as an expensive novelty. I’m finding that very few serious tournament players don’t use an electronic gizmo for a little competitive advantage – or a little less disadvantage.

But Laser Rangefinders are not for everyone. I arranged for Santa to bring me one a year ago – took it to the course a couple of times and then shelved it. It was just too tedious to use. Getting an accurate distance requires a steady hand and a good eye. Then, while you may know the distance to the pin, there are important things you can’t know, like the distance to the back of the green.

A year ago, we dabbled with GPS systems at the Golf Lab, but they seemed a little too confusing. They were not “legal”. There was the nagging issue about an annual fee for the software. But then, a customer came in from Arizona who stayed a few days to make sure he got the right custom fit. We met up for a couple of “Mornings at the Muni”. He had a Sky Caddie. I fell in love. The main feature is that the Sky Caddie is so easy. You turn it on and the satellite finds you. The newest version looks at the hole and reports the distance to carry bunkers from the tee. It gives you lay-up yardage. When you get in range of the green, it gives you distances to the front, middle and back.

The best feature might be the “mark” function. You hit a button to mark your position then hit the shot. When you get to the ball, hit “mark” again and the Caddie tells you the exact distance your shot traveled. You may not want to know that your “smoked” drive only went 261 yards. But it’s real handy to know exactly how far your iron shots traveled, with and against the wind. I think that the Sky Caddie could easily save two to three shots a round, just by helping you pull the right club.

How much does love cost? I was playing the Palo Alto Golf Club Championship and I decided I couldn’t live without one. If I were willing to wait a week, I could have bought one wholesale. But no, my instant gratification gene kicked in so I trekked over to the Golfsmith and laid out $350 for a new SG4. I was playing with it the next day. Here’s the best part: no buyer’s remorse. Setup was easy. The annual fee for all of the courses in California is an affordable $29.95. Credit cards accepted.

The Sky Caddie may not be quite as precise as the laser gizmo. Heck, if you park two carts side by side with GPS systems, you’ll get different yardages. At Poppy Hills, the Sky Caddie was five yards off from the on-cart GPS system. So, if you’re going for the pin, the laser will be more accurate. If you’re going for the green, the GPS is good enough. The day will come when nearly every golfer will have access to some electronic distance measurement device for every shot. If the price is too high for your budget, look for a friendly golf shop that will rent you one for a week or a weekend. At the Golf Lab, you can do that. Other shops will offer the same service.

High Moment of Inertia (MOI) Drivers

When Nike brought out the startling SUMO2 this year it was met by disbelief and peals of laughter. Players covered their ears to protect their hearing. Industry executives – especially those who didn’t have a square driver in their line – predicted that they would never sell.

We tried the SUMO and concluded that it was absolutely, positively straighter. Maybe not longer, but definitely straighter. For the first time in golf history, players knowingly chose drivers that were not longer.

Then K.J. Choi had a record year with the SUMO2 in his bag – winning the Memorial at Muirfield and the Tiger Invitational at Congressional. All of a sudden, the SUMO didn’t sound so loud. The competition jumped on the bandwagon with Callaway and Adams bringing out credible high MOI models. Callaway’s “Square” poster boy is Ernie Els.

For 2008 – shipment scheduled for February – Nike will have a new Square model in the market. It has an ultra-thin titanium crown to dampen the noise as well as a higher MOI rating. Prototypes circulating on the professional Tours in September touted a USGA “maximum” of 5900 MOI “whatever points”. That’s right up against the USGA limit which is interesting because no one thought hitting that limit was possible a year ago. I think that the high MOI story is here to stay and will be a tempting purchase in 2008 for those who sat on the fence in 2007.

If you’d like a taste of this year’s best high MOI drivers, you can buy a bargain this fall. The Nike SUMO is coming down $100 to $299 street price. That’s a pretty big drop from the $469 where it started the year. The Adams BUL – originally at $299 street price is being offered with a “free” fairway metal. You could look at that as a $200 discount on a $299 price – pretty cool. Nickent has a $199 square driver that’s a credible entry. If you want their “Tour” version, you’ll have to shake lose a few more dollars. Many companies are giving deals like “free driver with a set of irons”. Call your golf shop if you’re thinking about new clubs and don’t want to pay full price next spring.

Super Exotic Shafts

Two years ago, Mitsubishi entered the shaft market and benefited from the “perfect storm”. At one point, they had seven of the top ten players on the PGA Tour playing Mitsubishi shafts. Tiger is still playing a version of the Mitsubishi “Diamana” Blue Board in his driver. For a full list of Tour players and the Mitsubishi shafts they’re playing, log into www.calgolftech.com. Mitsubishi stole a lot of thunder from Fujikura. Fuji had been the traditional leader in graphite shafts on the PGA Tour for years, dominating with its Speeder line. But the Speeder got stale. Fujikura killed the Speeder once and for all by selling it out as a proprietary OEM “premium” shaft in a multitude of “custom” OEM versions for companies hoping to make their clubs look more valuable. Today, Fujikura wins the weekly graphite shaft count most weeks, but Mitsubishi tends to grab the “top of the Tour”. If you’re looking for a bargain – pick up an “old school” Speeder. The Speeder 757 is probably one of the all-time best shafts.

There’s a new kid on the block – vying for attention as the most expensive shafts in the market. Matrix Composite is the new upscale name for the company that we’ve known for years as Apache. Matrix/Apache built its reputation on high quality and low price. But that’s a business model that’s no fun. A year ago Matrix made a statement by marketing the most expensive shaft east of Japan. The “Grand OZIK” was just that - $1000 at retail. There were few buyers. But Matrix continued to plug away with a series of premium shafts. Their strategic goal was to get on top of the price pyramid – which they have done – carving out a niche at $400 to $600 – per shaft. (Top of the line Fujikura Rombax shafts and the Mitsubishi “Red”, “White” and “Blue Boards” are now embarrassed to occupy the second tier at $300. Matrix got a lot of help from the online retailer, Bombsquadgolf.com – which is known for charging the highest prices on the planet – Japan included.

At the Golf Lab, we tend to shy away from the highest prices – our philosophy emphasizes “value for money”. But our old friends at Matrix were offering an “OZIK Specialist” designation – promising fame and fortune for a $3000 opening order. We couldn’t turn that deal down. So for the last few weeks Fuji Bob and I have been playing an assortment of the current Matrix models, offering them to our customers as demos and gaining experience.

Guess what? They’re good. The early winner for ordinary, low index amateurs is the XCON-5. It’s a lightweight 50 gram shaft. We’ve mounted it in a series of our demo drivers in a variety of flexes. I had a great day at the Muni with a Nickent Tour Square, 251 CPM at 44.5”. That’s slightly softer than I usually play but the shaft held up well. I felt like I was playing a much stiffer configuration.

The season winner is the XCON-5 mounted in a Nickent Tour head at 261 CPM – also at 44.5”. That driver produced three all time best drives at Poppy Hills on a very nice Sunday round with Heather and Mikey. We have two weeks of experience on those drivers with several Golf Lab customers. In head to head competition against the Mitsubishi and Fujikura shafts, the XCON-5 is gaining recognition from VISA and Mastercard.

Matrix has a broad product line – more high end models than Fujikura or Mitsubishi. At the Golf Lab, we never recommend products that we haven’t tested and played on the course. Over the next few weeks, we’ll have a chance to put the entire Matrix line into our demo drivers. Personally, I’m looking forward to putting the “Half Grand” OZIK in my bag – as soon as I can decide what head wouldn’t devalue the setup. What to choose? If I believed that the most expensive was always the best choice I would surely try the new Miura driver head at almost $400 for the head alone. Or, I could take the second most expensive, the Ashton E3 for $350 – head only. Or, I might just go down market and pick the SMT 455 DB – hoping that the red color on the head wouldn’t clash with the OZIK cherry-red shaft. For an up to date list of Matrix Tour players and the models they’re playing, check out www.calgolftech.com.

Fancy Wedges

This year the premium wedge market took off. Cleveland and Vokey have been making the rest of the wedge world jealous for years, selling a very nice looking cast wedge for top of the market price. A couple of years ago, a golf-crazed dreamer in Eugene, Oregon founded Scratch Golf. Ari Techner focused on wedges. Not cast wedges but forged wedges, from the Ishihara Foundry in Japan. He offered them in a series of well-thought-out custom grind options – allowing a player to select the grind to fit their swing and the turf conditions on the courses they play. “Sweeper” “Slider” and “Digger” became household terms.

In the last couple of years, Ari has assembled a top-flight team of golf nuts at Scratch. Jeff McCoy – the master grinder and design guru was there from day one. Ari’s brother, Chad moved out from Michigan to run the office. Steve Zunich joined up to run sales after stints at Harrison, Accuflex and Heavy Putter. When you get Steve, you get his wife Julie and the Z-Group, PR firm. Patrick “Shaft Boy” Boyd completed his odyssey from the Golf Lab to Nakashima to Versus and finally, Scratch to run inside sales. For a very small company, I think that Scratch has the best team in the business.

Scratch has expanded into irons. The company is not challenging Miura – yet. But you can get custom grind and finishing options from Scratch that are not available anywhere else. That includes exact weight options, custom stamping and finishing. If you’re looking for a truly one of a kind set of golf clubs, Scratch is your best choice. Go to www.scratchgolf.com.

Other companies are jumping on the bandwagon for “custom” wedges. Mizuno’s new line features sole grinds that are reminiscent of the best custom grinds. The trend is clear: wedges are going to be like chef’s knives in 2008.

Hot Face Fairways

Most of us would give a week’s pay to get another ten yards off the tee. The bad news is that we already have – for some of us several weeks’ pay every year. “Magic Drivers” are rare indeed. The next step is to get more from the fairway.

I reported a significant increase in my fairway distance using the Wishon 949 fairway metals – paired most of the time with the Top Flight D2 balls. All of a sudden, I was within range of the green from 230 yards. The first company to bring out a “hot” fairway metal was Tour Edge with their Exotic line in 2006. It sold well but never caught fire due to its $399 retail price. That’s a lot of money for a fairway metal. It’s really a lot of money if you want a five and seven to go with your three.

The jury is in. The lack of a USGA rule against hot faces in fairway woods with higher loft than 15* has created a new category of golf club. If you don’t have one in your bag, you will.

Looking Ahead to 2008

I’m pretty sure that the “Big Story” for 2008 is going to be “swappable heads and shafts” for drivers. In early September, after a couple of years of debate, the USGA issued a statement that signaled that they would approve drivers that were held together by nuts, bolts and screws, just like “adjustable” putters that they already approved. The USGA statement was short of blanket approval – requiring every manufacturer to submit their candidates for a final blessing. The cynic in me suspects that there must be a fee involved.

“Swappable heads” have been around for years. Mitch Voges at Max Out Golf Labs invented and patented a system that was aimed at precise fitting. Max Out had their own heads manufactured in China. The focus was on the kinds of fitting parameters that were little understood at the time, like center of gravity and face angle. In those days, Mitch was putting the finishing touches on his “integrated fitting system” that focused on shaft load and launch ballistics instead of swingspeed where the rest of the market was stalled.

For golfers who ware intent on dialing in their launch ballistics, there was no better method than launch monitor testing of heads with known characteristics paired up with shafts with known characteristics. Tweak the head, then tweak the shaft. That’s the best way to optimize ball speed, launch angle and spin rate for maximum distance.

Bruce Burrows ambled into Max Out one day and tried to buy Mitch, Max Out and the fitting system for his rich at the time company, Burrows Golf. But Mitch is fiercely independent and turned the deal down. Burrows went on to copy the fitting system for Burrows and had the audacity to apply for his own patents – based on Mitch’s system. Alas, the Burrows story turned out to be a massive disaster. The driver with the “hole in the bottom” went on to lose $80 million before the investors gave up. Why is it that guys like Burrows never learn? If you’re selling a premium golf club, it has to perform better than average – and you have to prove it.

A reincarnation of the Max Out/Burrows fitting system appeared early this year in the form of the Callaway “Opti-Fit” cart. The idea caught hold. Players could go to the range and hit their choice of heads and lofts with their choice of shafts. Opti-Fit is basically a self-service fitting system which lends itself well to mass marketers who want to give the impression of custom fitting. The downside with Opti-Fit? What you hit is not what you get. The order still has to go into the factory and the club you receive is not the club you tested. The shaft that is mounted in the head permanently will not feel or perform like the fitting club. That’s always the problem at Demo Days. We believe that if you hit a certain club well, you should “always buy the demo”.

The USGA ruling removes the hurdle between swappable heads, shafts and mainstream golfers. The direction of the main stream is always determined by the tournament players. They will not waste time and money playing with a club that cannot be used in competition. I think that the USGA ruling on drivers will cause a surge in sales – similar to what happened with rangefinders and GPS devices.

In 2008 serious golfers will find a combination of shaft and head that performs well for them – tested and proven with launch monitor data – and take that exact combination home. That combination may be a “swappable” combo, or it may be a club built up on the spot and tested by a custom clubmaker.

Who, What and Why?

There have already been a couple of driver heads on the market that permitted “swappable shafts”. Nakashima was the first to bring out a commercial product based on the concept the “TEC” driver. The driver featured a fluted hosel that matched up with a hosel insert. You attach your shaft to the insert and then secure the shaft with a screw through the sole plate. The old adage about pioneers and “arrows in the back” described Nakashima’s development process. The first models didn’t pass the USGA “CORE” test so were illegal for USGA-sanctioned play. That’s a killer. Then after you tested different combinations until you found the one you liked, the letter of the law required you to secure the shaft with a drop of epoxy if you wanted to play the club in competition. That constituted “permanent” assembly.

Alas, the adjustable hosel fixtures caused the “TEC” driver to play differently than drivers assembled in the traditional manner. Testing showed that similar lofts produced much lower trajectories with the swappable model. Consequently, “custom fitting” was limited to a single model.

A few months ago, Nakashima added a feature that I think is going to make their TEC driver much more attractive. They engineered a new hosel insert to be adjusted. You can mount the shaft to play in the traditional way, square to the target. If you want to try an experiment, you can move the hosel insert fixture one flute to the left and you’ve got a “draw” face angle. One flute to the right and you’ve got an “open” face angle.

Nakashima added another feature that I think will be important. They supply their adjustable heads with bolts in different weights. So, rather than being stuck with a driver head that weighs 200 grams, like most of the drivers in the world, you can use a lighter or heavier bolt to change the swingweight. This is great for players who want to play their drivers at shorter lengths but don’t want to mess the heads up with lead tape. I think that the “time has come” for Nakashima’s adjustable system because now, at long last, you can test the exact combination that you buy. Why not test different shafts with lofts, face angles and swingweights? And most important, different length shafts? The day of one size fits all is over.

Once you find the exact combination that you like, you can take that to the course and play in USGA-sanctioned tournaments. If you are feeling stronger one day, you can substitute your shaft for a stiffer one. If you want to try a 48” driver, you can choose your long shaft and attach it to the TEC head with a light weight bolt. The “secret” for 48” drivers is to find a lighter head. You can do that with the TEC. You can make these changes on your own, without a heat gun.

There Will Be Others

It’s going to be interesting to see which companies will jump on the swappable heads and shafts bandwagon and which ones will declare, just like the “squares” that it’s a “flash in the pan”. Two companies have declared that they will have swappable shafts in their line.

Scott Son, a founder of Nakashima, is now the CEO of Versus Golf. He pioneered the swappable shaft product at Nakashima so it stands to reason that he would have a model in the Versus line. Jim Yeh at Alpha Sports is also releasing a swappable shaft driver. Details on these products along with the anticipated mainstream offerings from Callaway and Taylor Made will show up.

Meantime, Max Out has designed a new line of “fitting heads”. Watch this category.

My New Irons

Years ago, in a conversation with a trusted advisor – a lawyer – I asked him what was the most aggravating thing about his practice. His answer: “When my clients refuse to act in their own best interest.”

Golfers tend to ignore their own best interest when buying golf clubs. How do I know that? I looked in the mirror.

Chronicles readers know a lot about the fitting methodology employed by the Golf Lab. Our fitting system is based on an Achiever launch monitor and two proprietary electronic gizmos invented and manufactured by Max Out Golf Labs. The most interesting of those devices is the Shaft Max. The Shaft Max is an instrumented golf club. It records shaft deflection in two planes and plots that deflection against a timeline. The result is a graph that shows how a golfer applies force in his swing. Acceleration is mapped, along with tip deflection. It is a very accurate tool for fitting shafts for weight, flex and bend profile.

Our experience with the Shaft Max has taught us that swingspeed alone is an unreliable indicator of the best shaft for any given player. Over the years we have fitted dozens of senior players with relatively slow swingspeeds with “X” flex shafts – and they worked. Conversely, high swing speed players have been fitted with “R” flex shafts – and they worked too.

The Shaft Max reports a “flex value” on a scale of 1-12. Players that “top out” at 12 apply power efficiently – the maximum speed at the moment of impact. The Shaft Max fitting system recommends “X” flex shafts for players who score “12”. My swing is a Shaft Max “12”.

Disregarding my own fitting experience and advice, I have gradually turned to softer and softer flexes. Part of my motivation is reading the golf press which has focused on how players tend to buy clubs with shafts that are too stiff. I also think that softer flexes reinforce a player’s tempo and timing. A slight sense of “release” at impact tends to do that. The “conventional wisdom” says that the best shaft is the softest shaft you can play with control. So, what is control?

In a fit of reason, I decided to shaft up a set of Tourstage MR-23 heads that I’ve coveted for years. If you don’t know the model, it’s a very compact cavity back. This time, I took my own “advice” and chose “X” flex Nippon 950’s.

The results? Absolutely, positively fabulous. One of my motivations was to move to a little heavier shaft than the 90 gram Stulz Nano Arrows that I had been playing for a month. I began to believe that the light weight was causing me to overpower the club and yank shots left. Nippon 950’s actually weigh 105 grams installed. Heavier weight shafts are a good choice for players who want a little more stability in their swing. Distances went up and the feel was great. There was no sign of “too stiff”. No leaking right, no fades. Just nice tight draws. I played several rounds with high GIR numbers.

There was another very interesting outcome. One of the emerging ideas about “feel” is that it comes in through your ears, not your hands. Steel shafts have a more strident sound, which many players equate to “more precise”. After years of focusing on graphite shafts, I liked the change. Were the 950’s more precise? I doubt it. Did they “feel” different? Absolutely.

So, here’s the takeaway: if you’ve been going softer and softer, it might be time to reverse the trend. Stiffer shafts could be the answer. Find a clubfitter who can measure shaft load – with the Shaft Max, the True Temper Shaft Lab or with video. Fitting by swingspeed alone may not produce the best fit for your individual swing.

Look for an update on this question next month as I have an identical set that I’m building for a top amateur player with an average swing speed but high load factor. If he loves that set – in “X” flex, you’ll hear about it.

Leith Anderson is a Partner in the Golf Lab, Palo Alto, CA.
He will answer any and all questions relating to club fitting and club making. Contact: Leith@calgolftech.com.