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What's new on the West Coast
PGA Show Week—2008
Copyright 2008 by Leith Anderson
All rights reserved
Originally appeared in February 2008 issue of Golf Today
In January every year everyone in the golf industry who can afford a
plane ticket ends up in Orlando. The annual rite is the PGA Show—the
traditional start of the new product year. The show dates are an
anachronism—a relic of days gone by when club professionals at the
prestigious East Coast private clubs sold enough golf equipment to
matter. They ordered in January for delivery in March to sell through
the summer. Today most of the major manufacturer (OEM) orders have been
written so Big Business is done for 2008. The Big Box stores have
stocked up and the Internet is buzzing. But there’s still
business to be done. Smaller, specialty lines rely on the PGA Show to
meet new customers and write orders for the upcoming season. If you
sell shirts and hats, it’s Christmas. And most important, report cards
are coming out on what makes sense for 2008. This is a buyer’s last
chance to pick the winners and the losers before the final spin of the
wheel.
Another growing trend is for companies and associations to use the days
leading up to the show to hold their own meetings—outside the walls of
the Convention Center. My main reason to come to the PGA Show is not
the products—but the people. When the industry gets together you can be
sure that “anybody who is anybody” will be in town at least sometime
during the week. The best insight comes from the private meetings in
the back alleys and bars.
I got on the plane early on Saturday morning the 12th of January headed
for Orlando. The travel day is always a nice respite. I like the chance
to catch up on my reading and think about what will happen in the week
to come. This year, there was an additional incentive. Golf Today
agreed to hold the presses so the PGA Show Week could be covered in the
February issue. There is no other publication that provides in-depth
coverage so close to the actual event. I knew that I was in for a big
and exciting week. Golf Equipment Chronicles readers
would have a chance for a vicarious, insider’s look at the “Biggest
Golf Show on Earth.” New product samples will be arriving in the next
few weeks for testing so the March will include product coverage with
hands-on testing. I love this job.
Sunday, January 13th—the Professional Clubmakers’ Society Expo
Before I opened the Golf Lab, I joined the Professional Clubmakers’
Society (PCS). The PCS was founded in the early 1990’s—an idea hatched
by an Indianapolis clubmaker, Bob Ubelor and brought to fruition by
Elmore Just. The fundamental idea was that the PCS would be an
independent, non-profit organization with a mission to help new club
makers gain competence through training and certification. Over the
years, the PCS has had its ups and downs, more or less mirroring the
trajectory of the golf industry.
In recent years, the trend has been down. The PCS became an intensely
political organization even as the treasury was depleted and a trusted
employee dipped her hand into the cookie jar. As a result, the PCS
doesn’t have much to show for the last couple of years—other than
staying alive. This year I looked forward to the Expo because there was
a significant turnover in the Board of Directors which promised a new
direction for the organization. I wanted to see how successful that
would be.
To complicate matters, the PCS changed the location and dates of the
Expo—moving it from March to January to permit members to attend both
the Expo and the PGA Show in one trip. The big question was about
attendance and vendor commitment. Would the change of venue be
supported? A couple of hundred members—out of a total membership of
700—trekked down to Tarpon Springs—a location I now know is well beyond
the end of the road. Vendor support was muted, but polite. The final
count was less than 2007 but the disappointment was redefined as a
“good restart.” Most members were happy to know that the PCS had
finally escaped from Louisville.
Overall, the outcome was positive. The Board unveiled a new strategy to
revamp training and raise certification standards—including a threat to
“re-certify” all members to bring the PCS up to date with current “best
practices.” Long time professional club makers, defined as PCS members
who derive full-time income from their club fitting and club making
activities received the message favorably. Potential consumers stood to
benefit. The referral process through the website promised to provide
much more relevant information to allow an informed choice.
It’s not all perfect. The PCS is still broke. There’s just enough dues
income to sustain a skeleton staff and feed the wolves so all of the
extra work will have to be done by volunteers. With the monumental
effort required to fulfill the plans, there is plenty of reason to
wonder if the newly designated committees will have the energy to
complete the job. In the meantime, the PCS will try to conduct business
as usual, recruit new members and conduct current training programs.
There were some high points. Despite the impression that the PCS is
made up primarily of part-timers and not-too-recently retired corporate
executives who “don’t need the money,” Mark Timms—the founder of Hot
Stix Technologies and more recently Cool Clubs in Scottsdale—arguably
the most successful of all club makers—showed up to support the Expo on
Sunday. He was accompanied by his master clubmaker at Cool Clubs, the
former technical director of the PCS, Jerry Hoeffling, Jr. The trio was
filled out by Kim Braley, the designer of the new “KB” line of shafts
that is hitting the market with great reviews. We had a nice afternoon
on the course.
Tom Wishon and Matt Mohi represented Wishon Golf Technology. Britt Hume
was there from Golf Works. I had plenty of time to talk to luminaries
and friends. That made it a worthwhile trip. I encourage any readers
with even a modest interest in clubmaking to join the PCS. Introductory
dues are $100 per year and your membership will help you get to the
next level in the craft.
Monday, January 14th—The International Professional Association of Clubfitters (IPAC)
A year ago, Jennifer King, President of KZG announced the formation of
the IPAC. Ms. King has always acted the courage of her convictions. The
IPAC was positioned as an alternative to the PCS—the difference being
that membership was limited to full-time club fitters with a commercial
location.
The IPAC was conceived as an “independent” industry association—despite
the fact that the original bankroll came from KZG and KZG employees
were tasked with all of the work. Most of the founding members of IPAC
were KZG dealers but Ms. King holds out hope that the organization will
become much more diverse in the future.
The IPAC meeting was lightly attended. Fewer than twenty companies were
represented. The program, however, was interesting. The content focused
on improving mental and physical health of the membership—a theme that
I tried not to take too personally. Speakers were Dr. Jerry Teplitz and
Dr. Christian Reichardt. Dr. Mike Thompson presented on “Marketing in
the Internet Age.”
As usual, the main benefit was having a chance to sit down for some
quiet conversations with the speakers and IPAC members and sponsors. I
reconnected with Lloyd Hackman—the inventor of one of the classic golf
gizmos—the Fit Chip. The Fit Chip is a little plastic box of
electronics that clips on to any shaft. It records the tempo and
acceleration of a player’s swing and makes a recommendation for flex.
The last time I tested the system, Lloyd fitted me into a shaft that
was softer than a noodle. It was a few years ago, before sophisticated
launch monitor testing was available so I never tested the setup
scientifically. I didn’t think it was correct but it could easily have
been an ego problem. I resolved to give the Fit Chip system another
try—if for no other reason to solidify my “Golf Geek” reputation. Watch
for a follow up.
Other Sponsors of significance in attendance were Henri Johnson and his
entire South African team from EDH Flightscope. John Cranston from
Balance-Certified introduced their new weight system complete with a
calculation of “more MOI.”
Tuesday, January 15,—ACCRA Dealer Day
The ACCRA dealer day is now in its third year. It started with just
fifty ACCRA dealers getting together for a day of product briefings and
golf. Today, it has morphed into the best of the pre-PGA Show
events—with over 130 of the highest volume custom club fitters from
around the world in attendance. It was an all-day program. The only
real challenge was wending your way from downtown Orlando to the
Windermere Country Club. My advice is that if you’re coming to Orlando,
rent a car with a GPS system or you’ll spend more time than you can
imagine driving in circles.
Gawain Robertson, president of PGMC—and sole distributor of the ACCRA
product line—previewed the ACCRA product strategy. When PGMC took over
distribution of ACCRA from UST, they limited their distribution to
custom club fitters. There is pressure to open up distribution. With a
lot of highly regarded club fitters recommending ACCRA shafts with good
results, the OEM Custom Departments are chomping at the bit to get the
product for their programs. Good for ACCRA, they’re turning down the
fast buck to stick with their dealer distribution channel. Gawain
announced a radical distribution strategy. Where most premium shafts
are sold as “installed only” ACCRA is opening up the option to their
qualified dealers to sell “shafts only” to club makers in their area
who they know personally and they can mentor to make sure that fitting
practices are correct. In essence, each ACCRA dealer is now a
distributor. No other shaft company has made that move. If you live in
the Bay Area, and build your own clubs, you can now get your ACCRA
shafts at the Golf Lab. SST PUREd, of course.
The attendee list at the ACCRA Dealer Day was literally a “who’s who”
from around the world. Key vendor sponsors included Miura—represented
by Bill Holowaty and Ted Cotter from Canada. Ari Techner represented
Scratch Golf. Also, the entire E-21 team was there, headed up by Sean
Schuyler.
The high point of the event for the Golf Lab was that we were named a “Top 50 Shaft Technologist” by ACCRA—recognizing fitting expertise as well as sales volume.
Tuesday, January 15, KZG Awards Banquet
Each year, KZG names their “Top 100 Clubfitters in the World.”
The cynical view is that the award is based on sales volume. It would
be a mistake to say that selling KZG products doesn’t matter, but the
company likes to name dealers who exhibit extraordinary skill in
fitting KZG clubs. Last year, the Golf Lab was named a “Top 100 Clubfitter.”
We repeated this year. I left the ACCRA event early to make it back for
the awards ceremony. Sacrifices are required to get another classy
plaque for the wall. Also, Fujikura announced that the Golf Lab
was number 21 Nationally on Fujikura’s list of Charter Dealers. That’s
a nice tribute for “Fuji Bob” and his expertise fitting Fujikura Shafts.
The BIG STORY—Club Adjustability
The major story of the PGA Show was definitely “club adjustability.” By
show time, Callaway, Taylor Made, and Nickent had all announced that
they planned to release drivers with shafts that could be exchanged and
played. (For readers who missed my article that previewed this subject
last month, it can be viewed at www.calgolftech.com.)
If you missed the news, the USGA announced that it was now permissible
to use a golf club with a shaft that is “removable and exchangeable” in
tournament play—as long as the club is not altered in a specified round.
The reaction from every company that doesn’t have an “exchangeable
shaft” driver ready to go is that this will surely be a “flash in the
pan.” I don’t think so. Last year, when the big story was moment of
inertia (MOI), the same opinion was offered by every company that
didn’t have a “high MOI” driver. This year, the whole world has
followed the “square MOI” or “triangular MOI” trend. I don’t think that
there will be very many “low MOI” drivers sold this year. New, high MOI
shapes are in. I predict that exchangeable shafts will become a very
important product. As usual, promises were overblown. Nickent offered a
“Tour Van in a Box.” In the end, acquiring a “driver system” that fits
is going to be just as hard as finding the true Magic Driver.
There are two kinds of “exchangeable shafts”—those that are intended
only for fitting and those that can be purchased and played immediately
under the new USGA ruling. Last year Callaway introduced “OptiFit”—a
cart with a dozen heads and a couple of dozen shafts that were meant to
be screwed together and whacked at the range. After a little
self-service “fitting” the player made his choice. The golf shop then
ordered the combination from the factory for delivery in two to three
weeks. Taylor Made had a similar fitting cart and similar business
model.
There are two principal methods for attaching the shaft to the head.
For both systems, a “proprietary” fitting of unique design is epoxied
to the end of the shaft and then inserted into a socket in the head.
One method utilizes a bolt that goes through the bottom of the club and
screws into the fitting at the bottom of the shaft. The other method
utilizes a threaded collar that secures the shaft to the top of the
head. To complicate matters, there is a web of patents and copyrights
protecting all of the systems. That is sure to make it more difficult
for other manufacturers to get into the business. Intellectual property
lawyers are licking their chops.
At the PGA Show a few naïve equipment buffs called for the USGA to
establish a single standard so that any interchangeable shaft would fit
any head. There is zero chance that any major manufacturer would let
that happen.
The Disconnect Between Fitting and Manufacturing
The problem is that “custom fitting” doesn’t mean that you will
actually receive a golf club that is exactly like the one you tested.
Your custom fitting doesn’t matter to the factory. You’re going to get
a standard product from their inventory—a standard head, standard
shaft, and standard flex. Normal manufacturing tolerances are plus or
minus a degree or two on head loft, plus or minus three grams on head
weight and plus or minus five cycles per minute (CPM) on shaft flex. No
company guarantees that the club you receive after your custom fitting
will match the club you tested. That’s the reason we’ve adopted the
mantra: “always buy the demo” if you find a driver that really works,
buy that one. Don’t take “NO” for an answer.
Maybe that’s what Callaway and Taylor Made learned from their custom
fitting experience last year. Buyers might have been disappointed with
the club that they received after their “custom fitting.” Or, buyers
may have bought something else when they found that it would take two
or three weeks to receive the club that they ordered. Americans crave
“instant satisfaction.”
Callaway, Taylor Made and Nickent introduced “screw and play” driver
systems at the Show. In 2008, you’re going to be able to walk into your
favorite retailer and pick a shaft and a head, screw the two together,
test the combination on the range and take the “finished” driver home.
If you pump your own gas, why not test and build your own driver? At
the PGA Show, Taylor Made announced a driver and shaft “combo deal”
that lets a player buy a head and three shafts in a box and take them
home, Callaway released a point of purchase display that was based on
“pick a head, pick a shaft.” When those products hit the shelves in
March, a golfer will not only be his own fitter, he will also be his
own clubmaker.
Nike—the Mother of all Fitting Systems
At the same time that Callaway and Taylor Made seem to have abandoned
the idea that fitting carts work—in favor of selling their drivers and
fairway woods as components—Nike has come out with the “Mother of all
Fitting Systems.”
The Nike fitting cart is unbelievable. It includes all of their heads,
comfortably protected in high tech protective cases. It includes dozens
of shafts—each one ready to screw into a head for testing.
With the Nike fitting system, you can assemble any combination of shaft
and head that Nike sells—test it on the range—and then send in the
order. Alas, I’m afraid that Nike is a step behind the market. My view
is that such fitting systems do not offer enough help to find the best
club for a player.
Retailers and golf professionals love self service fitting service
fitting systems. Why not? The customer does all the work and makes the
choice. In the process, the buyer also takes responsibility for his own
satisfaction.
Business Issues
Do the major OEM’s want to put custom club makers out of business? The
answer is “yes.” For years, the major OEM’s have been embarrassed by
guys working out of their garages who could take a Brand Name driver,
conduct a fitting, swap the shaft, sprinkle a little pixie dust and
produce better performance.
In the “old days” major OEM’s liked to put a “proprietary” shaft in
their drivers to keep their profits high. But it was cheap, low quality
shafts that created the demand for custom upgrades—the “aftermarket.”
Callaway and Taylor Made are jealous of the business they lose to
custom club makers. They’re trying to get the custom shaft business for
themselves.
All manufacturers are searching for ways to grow their business so it
shouldn’t be a surprise that expanding their custom departments is a
priority. I think that Callaway’s long term business model is to become
the “Dell of the Golf Industry.” They are putting more emphasis on
their direct sales programs through the Internet. The major
manufacturers moving aggressively into the custom end of the business
will surely have an impact on some custom club makers. But it is hard
to imagine that they will displace the true custom shop where an expert
fitter works directly with a player and then builds the clubs to
precise specifications in his own shop.
Tough Questions
The companies marketing exchangeable shaft driver systems make it sound
easy. The “benefits” mentioned in all of the sales presentations
mention choosing a higher launch shaft for wet conditions and low
launch shaft to make the ball run. They talk about a long driver to
“bomb it” on a wide open course and a short driver for control on tight
courses.
What they ignore in the sales presentations is that changing the shaft
length, weight and flex alters the performance of the golf club.
Swingweight will increase twelve points going from a 45” shaft to a 47”
shaft. If you’re going to change the length or weight of the shaft
significantly, you’re going to have to find a way to balance the club
by changing head weights. Taylor Made, with its moveable weight system
and Nakashima, with different weight bolts to secure the heads address
this problem. Callaway and Nickent make no provision for changing head
weight.
I don’t think that most players will see much difference in launch
angle from changing shafts alone. Altering trajectory will take a head
with a higher or lower loft. If “driver system” buyers are true
experimenters, they will probably want a least a couple of different
loft heads. Taking Callaway as the example: why wouldn’t you say the
FT-5 for long courses to bomb it and the FT-i for courses where
accuracy is important.
It remains to be seen what happens to “feel”. When I surveyed the
manufacturers that did not offer an interchangeable system, they all
said that the feel and performance of the golf club would be altered
for the worse. There were only a few users with hands-on experience and
they were mixed in their reviews—some reporting that feel was improved.
Finally, there’s the “proprietary system” problem. We know that the
manufacturers want the shaft business so they are refusing to sell the
shaft fittings—for now. All of the shafts come from the factory cut to
length and gripped. Since the tip fitting is already epoxied to the
shaft, there is no ability to change the shaft flex with tip trimming.
The same goes for shaft orientation.
Callaway and Taylor Made are taking a hard stand against some of their
best customers. Hot Stix and Cool Clubs will not handle either the
Taylor Made or Callaway system unless they are supplied with the tip
fittings so they can set the flex of each shaft precisely and deliver
their custom clubs in the SST PURE shaft orientation. I predict that
both Callaway and Taylor Made will blink on this one. True custom clubs
require precise shaft fitting. Nickent has said that they will offer
their fittings to qualified club makers who are also Nickent customers.
The systems will not be cheap. Callaway and Taylor Made are trying to
find the top of the market. The Callaway FT-5 and FT-i heads will
retail for almost $400. Add a couple of shafts at another $150 to $400
and your price will be north of $1000.
Taylor Made announced a “kit” of one head and three shafts for $1000.
The shafts that they offer are the Fujikura Rombax, the Mitsubishi
White Board and the Matrix X Con. Each of those shafts retail for
around $300 so the package offers good value. At the Golf Lab, we fit
all of those premium shafts. But our method is quite different. We test
for performance. We rarely find a player who performs well with the
Rombax performs equally well with the other shafts. It will surely be
interesting for a player to see which of these expensive shafts works
the best for him—but he is likely to find that one of the three is much
better than the others. It is much more economical to test first and
then buy.
Compared to the big boys, Nickent looks like a veritable bargain for
$479—their “Tour Van in a Box” comes with two UST V2 shafts—one regular
and one high launch.
True Benefits of Shaft Exchangeability
I’m excited about the fitting benefits of exchangeable shafts in our
own fitting process. For the first time, it will be possible for a
player to test and compare shaft performance precisely. Swapping
different shafts into an identical head—with a launch monitor looking
over your shoulder—will reveal performance and feel differences from
shaft to shaft. Once the best shaft has been found, dialing in launch
angle and spin with measured driver lofts will be easy.
Without exchangeable shafts, comparing shaft performance is normally
done with similar, but not precisely the same, heads. That’s changing
two variables.
The key question is “which head?” Callaway offers two models, Taylor
Made one model. Nickent has one model. On the “component” side,
Nakashima and Alpha each have one model. That’s not very many. Other
than the Callaway FT-i, there is no “high MOI” offering. Over the next
month or so, I’ll have a chance to get some hands-on experience and
will have a recommendation. Since all of the fitting systems are
proprietary, it is impractical to imagine supporting every
manufacturer. Imagine the cost of fifty or sixty test shafts—times five.
Once the weather clears, I think it will be a lot of fun for players to
attend Golf Lab “Shootouts” at Poppy Ridge and other courses around the
Bay Area. The fitting experience will become much more interesting,
certain and precise. Couple that experience with the chance to take the
best performing combination home—there will be no possibility of a
disconnect between the fitting and delivery.
Nickent announced that they had their famous hybrids and new fairway
metals ready to go with exchangeable shaft systems. One of the most
difficult challenges in fitting is finding the right shaft for a
hybrid. It would be very cool to be able to try every option. Delivery
was not announced but Jon Claffey, the Nickent director of product
marketing hinted at April or May.
The “Universal System”
There’s another possibility. For several years, there’s been another
system in the market aimed at swapping shafts for fitting purposes. It
was invented by Eric Burch and marketed by his company, Club Connex.
Eric’s original adapter was based on a threaded connection. Some club
fitters found it very useful but the system is strictly for fitting. We
thought that it was too fragile and never adopted it.
Eric has a new design, similar to his original but the parts are
fluted, not threaded, and the tip fixture secures to the head with a
threaded collar, much like the Callaway system. Assuming that he gets
through USGA approval and the morass of patents and copyrights, the new
Club Connex could provide the “Universal Solution.”
If Eric’s attachment proves to work, it could be the answer for any
head from any manufacturer with a standard hosel bore. That could be a
boon for all of the manufacturers who don’t want to bother to create
their own exchangeable system.
It could also be a great advantage for golfers who might want to use a
new, high MOI head, or even recycle a favorite old model from the
garage. And finally, it would solve the cost problem. Eric’s fitting
will sell for about $30.
My Picks—Reviews Coming in March and April
One of the really great things about a week at the PGA Show is that I’m
shopping for myself. With dozens of companies all offering new
products—and new companies with new products—this is truly the most
exciting time of the year. I’m not overly interested in the “Hot List”
products that get into the National magazines. I much prefer the small,
innovative companies with products that you’re not likely to hear
about. Look for in-depth, hands-on coverage of some of my favorite
picks in coming months.
Bobby Jones Golf—Jesse
Ortiz designed his first new driver in four years. It’s a beauty. He
also teamed up with Dave Pelz for a co-branded wedge line featuring an
ultra-durable face insert with extreme grooves and machining.
Nike Golf—Probably
the most anticipated driver of 2008 is the new, SUMO Squared. It’s been
trimmed up and quieted down. It has a smooth crown. Most important, it
has already been a winner in three late-season tournaments. Nike has
also released three new models of “game improvement” irons. Will they
perform?
Adams Golf—Adams mopped up “Hot List” awards
in several categories—from utilities to game improvement irons. They’ve
gone all out to sign Adam Baddeley and Rory Sabbatini to gain a Tour
presence. They also signed up to sponsor the Long Drivers’ Association
(LDA) and have promised that in 2008 their driver line will be “all
about distance.”
New shaft companies—OBAN—a new line
of premium graphite shafts brought to market by a former Graphite
design executive. Loomis is back—Gary Loomis and his nephew Bob are
reviving a brand. And not to be forgotten is Kim Braley of Royal
Precision fame, now working for FST—and bringing out a premium steel
line: “KB Shafts.”
Will Fujikura finally provide some competition to Aerotech with their new Rombax iron shaft line?
Full Release Golf Shoes—There’s
a lot of attention on fitness and “wellness.” I was introduced to a
radical shoe with a swivel sole that takes a lot of stress off of a
player’s body. It looks bizarre but the fitness guys love it.
Putter fitting systems—A
plethora of systems entered the market to promote better putter fitting
and especially better aiming. Just as I was getting deep in the weeds I
met up with Jeff Mangum—a putting guru with a unique approach and a new
book. He’s anti-gizmo. I’ll spend a few days sorting out what makes
sense to me. Over the years, I’ve neglected the putter. As I get older,
I’m thinking that I’ll need improved putting to stay competitive.
Training Aids—I
had a chance to try out the “Gyro” driver at the show. If a player has
a problem with an over the top move, the Gyro will certainly teach him
what swing plane is all about. We’ll review the best training aids for
Golf Lab customers.
Scratch Golf—one of my favorite
little companies that carved out its niche with wedges—focusing on sole
grinds—Scratch is coming out with a line of wedges intended to be
custom ground. Their irons are very good as well. Overall, top Japanese
quality from the Ishihara foundry.
Miura Golf—Mr.
Miura’s sons visited the PGA Show—their first trip to the United
States. Miura is producing a new line of wedges and another run of the
Limited Edition “Baby Blades” will be available in March. I’m going to
build out a couple of sets for myself—thinking that the new 102 model—a
little larger for forgiveness—is going to be the most popular model in
2008.
And finally, the craziest ideas from the Show—just for fun.
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
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