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Golf Equipment Chronicles 2008 (Part 7)

AT&T Adventures and Best of the PGA Show 2008

by Leith Anderson

In the rest of the United States, the traditional start of the golf season is the Masters in early April. That’s the signal that you can walk out on a golf course in the Midwest or Northeast without sinking into mud over your shoe tops.

But in California, we start our season with the AT&T. I spent Saturday and Sunday of AT&T Week hanging out in Pebble Beach. On Saturday, I camped out at “Barbeque Joe’s” fronting on the fourteenth fairway at Spyglass. Just across the driveway is the fifteenth green and sixteenth tee. Overall, a pretty good corner for action – especially when you can come back home for the slow smoked pulled pork and baby back ribs. But that’s if you call watching a golf tournament “action”. I was struck, once again, by the sedate, slow motion pace of play. The pros have figured out that if they make every move at half speed, they won’t be frustrated waiting for their amateur partners and they won’t be tempted to crawl up the backs of the group playing in front.

Forget the raucous environment in Scottsdale. At Pebble Beach you can hear putter contact at fifty yards. Polite applause for good shots lasts fifteen seconds. There’s no “in-da-hole” or “you-da-man.” At Pebble Beach, the Patrons have manners.

How do you tell the players apart? Look at their pants. There’s not much you can do with a shirt, especially if it’s covered with sponsor logos. But slacks? That’s where the real pros stand out. The fabrics are exotic: silks and natural blends that shimmer in the sun. The fit? Strictly custom tailored. No Dockers for real pros.

On Sunday, we took advantage of our insider knowledge. We booked tee times at Poppy Hills, one of the AT&T courses that re-open for business on Sunday. Where else can you play the exact course the pros play – including the identical hole locations – the inside of the holes still whitewashed from the day before?

Poppy Hills is one of the great golf bargains if you’re a Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) member. You get greens fees and a cart for $87. If you want a replay, all you have to do is pay for the cart. Fabulous value for an AT&T venue course.

The buzz is that the pros hate Poppy Hills. Why is that a surprise? They shoot higher scores and the big galleries are all down at Pebble Beach and Spyglass. At Poppy Hills, they don’t bother to narrow the fairways. They don’t grow the rough. They just peel the greens. Poppy Hills might not be Augusta, but unlike most Muni’s, you’d better pay attention to where your approach shot ends up. Above the hole? You’re going to have ten feet coming back. Poppy Hills is more difficult than Pebble Beach.

The most interesting revelation from playing the tournament setup is knowing where the committee thinks are the most difficult hole locations. At least half of the holes at Poppy Hills had pins tucked in corners – mostly back corners. For years to come, I’ll impress my playing partners by pointing out the “Tournament” pin placements. Even the “easy” pin placements were tricky. Subtle breaks near the hole can make it almost impossible to make a birdie.

What does this mean if you’re a contestant (at least in my imagination)? Three three-putts and a ball in the water going for the “tournament pin” on number five produced a 42 going out. Coming home, I hit every green and only three-putted once for a 37. Fifteen GIR and I score a 79. It was great fun. If you don’t think that pin placements make a difference, book a time at Poppy Hills in 2009 – on AT&T Sunday. You’ll see.

Another feature that caught my eye was how the traps were raked. They looked like miniature Japanese gardens. All of the rake marks were aimed toward the pin. No chance for unlucky lies. If you’re used to stepping backward out of a bunker and dragging the rake behind you, you’re going to have to refine your technique if you want to make it as a caddy on the PGA Tour.

And the AT&T Tournament outcome? How great!! I played a round of golf on a tournament course and then came home to my Tivo. Instead of wasting five hours watching three hours of advertising, I played a round and then saw the tournament outcome, complete with replays in two hours. Steve Lowery is one of three PGA Tour Professionals that I’ve played a few holes with – back in my days as a high-tech marketing executive. How can you not root for a 47 year old player, outside of the top 300 in the world with zero expectations to pull out a win? Vijay doesn’t need the money.

Clubs for the Bag in 2008

Last month I described my favorite week of the year – PGA Show Week. That was a whirlwind of activity – seeing a lot of people and new products. I covered the “Big Idea” of replaceable shafts in detail. Most of the products that were announced at the PGA Show have not yet shipped so most of the hands-on testing is still over the horizon. But I got some testing done. In the meantime, I’ve had plenty of time to think about some of the most interesting products at the Show – and behind the scenes. I love the creative little companies that deserve our support. What companies will give us the best stories in 2008? What clubs will make it into your bag in 2008? For players who love tweaking their clubs – 2008 will be a banner year.

Three Drivers Stand Out

Nike SUMO2 - 5900

I think that there will be a new driver in your future. “High MOI” (moment of inertia) is here to stay. Last year, there were only a few “high MOI” drivers – Nike and Callaway leading the way, Nike with the SUMO2 and Callaway with the FT-i. This year nearly every Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has an entry in the high MOI category. There are two basic shapes: square and triangular. The naysayer’s all came to the party.

Nike’s entry is the SUMO2 - 5900. The “5900” is a reference to the maximum limit on “MOI points” established by the USGA. The “5900” is a major makeover from the original SUMO2 from 2007 – a driver that was criticized as “ugly, loud and short”. Nevertheless, the original SUMO won a lot of friends by just going straight.

The new SUMO2 – 5900 is constructed entirely of titanium, the crown is smooth with a black frosted finish. It looks sleeker than the 2007 model and most important, it sounds just like a normal driver. The SUMO2 – 5900 showed up in early February so we’ve had some experience both fitting the SUMO and on the course.

I managed two rounds and several practice sessions in February with the SUMO2 – 5900. The first surprise is that none of my playing partners noticed. Last year, playing the original SUMO I had to grow a tin ear to complaints about the sound. Not so with the new SUMO. It delivers a healthy “thwack” – just like a normal driver. The complaint about distance? Hard to say exactly because of chilly, damp weather, but I found myself in some places that I usually only visit in the summer. That was good. Then there’s the reason you go with a high MOI driver in the first place – it goes straight. The new SUMO hits that mark – possibly with a little more tendency to draw. The trajectory is also different. Last year I played a 9.5* SUMO. This year I found that the same trajectory required a 10.5* loft.

There are a couple of things you need to know about the SUMO2 – 5900. It is tall; Nike ships at 45.75 inches. It’s also heavy; most of the SUMOs we received tipped the swing weight scale at D-9. We trimmed our demos back to 44.5”, (the PGA Tour average driver length) and added a little lead tape to adjust swingweight. The SUMO2 – 5900 is available with “premium” shafts. We received a few with the Aldila VS Proto shaft – an expensive model from last year. In testing, the shaft seemed to be unusually soft. While the trajectory with my Mitsubishi White Board 10.5* loft was perfect, I thought that the VS Proto launched too high with a 10.5* head. My experience emphasizes the necessity to test the exact driver that you plan to buy. A launch monitor saves a lot of time.

Then, take the demo to your course and play your ball. If I had a tournament round to play next week, I would play the SUMO2 – 5900 – shafted with the Mitsubishi White Board, 63 gram, “S” flex, untipped.

Bobby Jones Workshop Edition

If the San Francisco Bay area has a favorite son in the golf business, he is Jesse Ortiz. Jesse cut his teeth building golf clubs the old way, working for his father Lou at the original Orlimar golf company. Orlimar, in its day, was the preferred supplier of handmade persimmon woods. That’s Jesse’s heritage.

You can identify a Jesse Ortiz driver, fairway wood or utility design from a distance. Jesse’s designs are flowing, organic. They look like they’ve been shaped by hand instead of by a software program and computer-controlled milling machine.

Jesse’s first new driver design in four years is the “Workshop Edition”. It is reminiscent of his original driver – but maxed out to just under 5 inches heel to toe and 5 inches front to back. The shape is triangular – the choice of all manufacturers designing high MOI drivers that missed the boat with square. I think that the new Workshop Edition driver will win the beauty contest for 2008. At press time, we had still not received a demo which was scheduled for delivery on “February 30th”.

Nickent Replaceable Shaft “Evolver” Driver

There’s an interesting dynamic in the golf industry today. Some of the old names are getting lethargic and new companies are rising up to challenge for leadership position.

Nickent is a company on the rise. The company is relatively young – kind of an interloper to the “Big names” – Titleist, Taylor Made, Callaway and Ping. Nickent made its mark by focusing on utility clubs and marketing to the Nationwide Tour – where free clubs don’t have to come with a check. A few Nationwide players graduated to the PGA Tour and stayed loyal to Nickent – Jeff Quinney – being the prime example.

There could be a good reason for Nickent’s success. They recruited a “name brand” designer – John B. Hoeflich – the designer of some of the all-time classic irons. With Nickent, he’s working with multi-materials and his new irons are a little “edgy”. Not so with his drivers. One of my favorites from 2007 was the “Tour Edition” – a classic, pear-shaped head with great feel. It was also popular on the Nationwide Tour.

A small company can also be nimble. At the PGA Show, Nickent showed its new replaceable shaft driver – named the “Evolver” - complete with two shafts – in packaging that claimed you were getting a “Tour Van in a box”. At $479, the price was just about half of what it will cost to build out a Callaway or Taylor Made equivalent.

The whole golf world is holding its breath, wondering if “adjustable clubs” will ignite sales in 2008. There are theories on both sides of that debate. It’s not certain that golfers will want to change their clubs from day to day and course to course. History from the Taylor Made “MWT” – moveable weight technology – is that golfers like to set their driver up and stick with it.

Personally, I love the idea of being able to change shafts in my driver. Today, buying a new shaft – especially an expensive, high-performance shaft – is a crapshoot. Players go through a lot of agony trying to decide on a shaft. That includes soliciting opinions from strangers, and launch monitor testing – but in the end you have to say a prayer and lay down your money. It will be much better if you can hit the actual shaft, in the actual head that you plan on buying. Then, you’ll know for sure. I’ve got my Evolver on order.

Short Takes and Best Stories

I don’t usually spend a lot of time covering the “Big Boys” – they have their own PR machines to get the propaganda out. I’m much more interested in the little companies – the innovators and the inventors. Those are the guys who found windmills to tilt. But if you’re looking for a new idea that might make a difference in your game, the little companies are more fun – and it will preserve the vitality of the golf industry if you spend some money with them. They deserve it.

Another Look at Adjustable Clubs

I love the idea of swapping shafts in driver heads – but there are “complications”. The Callaway and Taylor Made exchangeable shaft drivers are aimed at grabbing a share of the high performance shaft business. In effect, both companies are selling “components” and becoming shaft distributors. I think that they’re going to have a lot of trouble keeping the right shafts, in the right flex, on the shelves.

The biggest problem faced by Callaway and Taylor Made is that they are not really offering a custom product. Each shaft is cut to the same length and mounted in a permanent fixture. There is no good way to tweak the flex by tip trimming or to orient the shaft by SST PURE ™ in its most stable plane. Serious players expect precise shaft flexes and shaft orientation. Nickent is less committed to becoming a shaft distributor and has said they will offer their fixtures to clubmakers – permitting a player to use his own shaft with the Evolver head. That’s a step up.

The real winner might just be Eric Burch. He’s the inventor of a fitting system that’s been in the market for a few years – Club Conex. His original system was a little too fragile and was not intended to be played on the course. But he has a new system – this one similar in design to the Callaway, Taylor Made and Nickent systems. The great thing is that he sells a fixture that you can mount in any head – and you can use any shaft. At press time, I had only seen samples. The final production parts are scheduled for delivery in early March. By the time this article hits the street we’ll have the new Club Conex fitting system in hand. If it works, it will be a very economical solution that makes a lot of sense. Rather than choosing from four driver head designs, you will be able to use any driver. Rather than paying a king’s ransom for shafts, you will be able to recycle the shafts from your garage. The price? About $30.

Our Old Friend – Balance-Certified

Remember the answer to that question about “how do you tell a pioneer?” Look for arrows in the back. That pretty much sums up the experience of Balance-Certified Golf over the last few years.

Balance-Certified is a three person company – two former NASA engineers, Jeff Lindner and John Cranston and John’s son, Michael. Jeff is the scientist in the bunch, John the master salesman and Michael handles logistics. Five years ago, no one in the golf business had any idea what “counter-weighting” was all about. Today, the whole world knows that increasing the weight of your putter improves performance for most players, adding weight under the grip of your driver increases ball speed, and adding weight under the grip of your irons can improve consistency. The “Balance Boys” are responsible for serious innovation – and our understanding about changing the balance in our golf clubs.

If you haven’t tried a heavy weight installed under the grip of your putter, you should. The theory is the same as the “Heavy Putter” – the extra weight forces you to use your “big muscles” when you putt – and quiets your hands. If you’re looking for a couple of extra steps down the fairway, you can get that with a counterweight under the grip of your driver. If you want to know for sure, no problem, we can prove it with launch monitor testing – and choose the correct weight for best results.

Now, there’s a new idea from Balance-Certified. Jeff Lindner designed a new weight; this one is several inches long. The idea is that instead of placing all the weight at the extreme butt of the shaft, some of it is moved down the shaft and located under your hands. The scientific justification is that it increases the moment of inertia of the golf club. We haven’t had much time to work with the new weights and don’t have any testing data yet, but I can give you an early opinion that there is going to be a lot of attention paid to balancing clubs in more adventurous ways – especially for good players with a well-developed sense of feel. I’m trying to figure out a good way to test for improved performance – and working with the “Balance Boys” in the process.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area – I’m going to be recruiting some players for testing. If you’d like to find out for yourself the effect of the new weight system, get in touch.

Tour Lock Shaft Weights

Where there’s smoke, there’s frequently fire. At the same time that Balance-Certified is introducing a new distributed weight system, another company showed up with an idea that’s in the same ballpark.

John Johnson is a golf professional. He has invented yet another weight system that can be located farther down in the shaft. He recommends using much heavier weights than we have used with Balance-Certified. Installation is non-trivial. You need a specialized tool to reach down in the shaft and tighten the bolts. Choosing the amount of weight and the precise location in the shaft is still voodoo. But, I think the idea deserves a look.

As a golf professional, John is concerned with staying on plane and avoiding the “lefts”. He is convinced that his weight system does that. For me the concept of locating a good chunk of weight below the hands is appealing. John changed his shafts from standard, 125 gram X-100’s to lightweight graphite, heavily counterweighted. He claims a miraculous improvement in his consistency.

John is working on another idea that seems to have merit. He has created a very heavy (65 gram) graphite putter shaft that is engineered to take weights as well. He claims that in addition to better feel from graphite, he can affect the roll on his putts by moving up to 100 additional grams of weight up and down the shaft. Not satisfied, he also has a putter design that he’s hoping to get produced. So many ideas, so little time . . .

I find it extraordinarily interesting that the nature of golf clubs is possibly in for a dramatic change. In my day, you just bought a club and learned to hit it. There was no “custom fitting”. Now, there’s the possibility that golf clubs will become just a personal as a tailored suit. Fine-tuning shaft performance, increasing moment of inertia, and adjusting the balance to fit your individual swing all offer promise for the “next generation”. If you’re obsessed by finding the “Magic Clubs” like I am, find a clubmaker who can help you experiment until you get it right.

SST PURE ™ - Proof Positive

When we founded the Golf Lab over six years ago, our goal was to fit and build golf clubs according to the highest standards of the PGA Tour. That meant that we licensed the SST PURE ™ technology for shaft alignment.

SST PURE ™ performs two tests on a golf shaft. The first test measures the dynamic flex profile of the shaft. Utilizing sensitive electronics, the shaft is tested around its circumference to find the “hard side” – the exact point where the shaft is the “stiffest”. That point is located at 9 o’clock – on the leading edge of the shaft facing the target. Then, a second test is performed, also instrumented that discovers the most consistent shaft oscillation within a few degrees each way from that point.

The problem with SST PURE ™ over the years is that there has been no “proof” that the system actually worked. SST owner Dick Weiss never arranged for scientific testing to prove improved performance. SST PURE ™ has developed a following among good players – we usually recommend PUREing to players with handicaps of less than 15 – our view of swings that are repeatable enough to notice the difference in consistency and feel. Over 300 PGA Tour professionals have had their clubs PUREd – many several sets at a time. But to some extent, believing in PUREing has been an act of faith.

It finally happened. SST arranged for testing PUREd shafts with Golf Labs in San Diego, CA. The results are in. The testing showed improved dispersion. A surprise result was that the testing showed more consistent spin rates – a feature that will lead to improved accuracy. PUREing was never about distance, but about improved feel and consistency. We have the report in the shop and expect to get electronic copies for interested players. This testing should increase interest in SST PUREing.

If you are thinking about PUREing your clubs, a good place to start is your driver and fairway woods. The longer and lighter graphite shafts are more likely to deliver immediate improved performance. Then, the next clubs to look at are your wedges. At the same time, you might have a look at your wedge shafts. Most wedges are not “fitted”. Most short game gurus believe that wedge shafts should have a little flex. I think that “feel” can be improved with Nippon, Aerotech and Project X shafts. Combine that with stable orientation and you might find yourself putting for birdies from shorter distances.

More on Bobby Jones

One of the interesting things about the Bobby Jones Golf Company is the intense focus on quality – both in product and people. That’s been the goal of the company founder, Walter Rosenthal since he cut the original deal with the heirs of the Bobby Jones estate. These are the same guys who gave you $200 Bobby Jones label golf shirts from Hickey-Freeman.

They announced a new product at the PGA Show – another one with a pedigree. It’s a set of wedges. In addition to lead designer Jesse Ortiz, the wedges are co-designed by Dave Pelz. If you’re looking for a pedigree for wedges, it’s hard to top that.

What’s the story behind the wedges? There’s been a lot of attention paid to deep grooves and “spin milled” surfaces to produce extra spin. Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington have been described as changing their wedges every week, due to their practice habits and the tendency of their wedges to show wear quickly.

The new Bobby Jones – Dave Pelz – Jesse Ortiz wedges are quite different. They are made with a soft cast stainless body and an insert. The insert is unique. It is deep-grooved and spin milled. Then it is heat treated to super-hardness. The insert is bonded to the head with a special adhesive that provides a little resiliency. The claim is that you can spend several years hitting bunker shots without causing the grooves to wear. It looks to me like the new, high-tech wedge will stop the ball on a linoleum floor.

I had a chance to ask Dave Pelz the key question. “What about that soft, forged feel?” Over the years, we have come to believe that the softer the carbon steel, the better the feel of the wedge. Has that all changed? Dave Pelz said that the tradeoff was “spin versus feel” with spin being most important. He also said that he liked the “cushioning” effect of the adhesive. This could change our perception of wedges for years to come.

Maybe your decked out wedge of the future will include a hardened, deep-grooved, spin milled face – a 125 gram Aerotech Steel Fiber shaft for feel – SST PUREd of course – and tweaked with weights precisely located down the shaft. While we’re at it, make sure the grip has a few extra wraps under the right hand. Now, there’s a candidate for your new 2008 wedge.

Next Month:

We’re getting in some of the new products that were announced, but not quite “cooked” at Show Time.

We’ll find out how the Club Conex shaft fixtures work in the real world. That will be one of the key questions of 2008. Will Club Conex overtake Callaway and Taylor Made as the adjustable shaft system of choice?

Then, the new clubs will start showing up – Bobby Jones and Nickent are two that I’m waiting for.

And the shaft story will get interesting. There are three new shaft companies on the horizon. Loomis is coming back – Gary Loomis created the high performance iron shaft business back in the 90’s before flaming out. Now, he’s back – working with his nephew Bob to get back in the business with high performance driver, fairway and hybrid shafts – all distributed exclusively by KZG.

OBAN – named after the founder’s favorite Scotch whisky – and coincidentally a name that “sounds Scottish” – is coming out. The founders have a long history in the shaft business – notably with Graphite Design. Look for OBAN to be a contender.

Then, there’s Hybrex. This is a new technology that caught our eye when it was for utility clubs and fairway metals only. Now, there’s a new driver shaft on the horizon. Hybrex is designed with a graphite core and titanium shell.

Overall, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, look for the Golf Lab at the San Mateo Golf Show the weekend of March 14th to 16th at the San Mateo Convention Center. We will be showing off the two most advanced radar-based launch monitors – the EDH Cheetah and the ISG Trackman. If you want to book a fitting time, give the Golf Lab a call – (650) 493-1770.

Leith Anderson is a Partner in the Golf Lab, Palo Alto, CA.
He will answer any and all questions about club fitting and club making. Contact: Leith@calgolftech.com. Or by phone (650) 493-1770