It seems like the marketing departments at Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Cobra, Nike, Adams & Cleveland have been a sleep at the wheel the last 3-5 years. Rehashing the same old acronyms, that makeup the same old drivers that hit the ball just as far as the marginally different model that was released what seems like only just a few months ago! And how can they get away with claiming that every new club they offer up will get you 15-20 more yards?

And now with the current economy taking a dogleg right turn for the worse, I think you’re going to see a lot more golfers playing their current equipment longer, without any thought or desire to change or upgrade, no matter what new technology arrives over the horizon.

I’m not going to go as far as to spell out doom & gloom for the golf industry, but you should see a nice decrease in overall retail pricing for the next year. I can’t imagine a company right now introducing a new driver between $399 and $499 and expect big sales, it’s not going to happen. No one is going to pay that. Not now, not for quite a while.

So, for those of you who don’t know, the USGA, as of Jan 1 2010, will be ‘…placing new restrictions on the cross sectional area and edge sharpness of golf club grooves.’ What does this actually mean? Well, do you own a Titleist, Cleveland, TaylorMade, Cobra, Ping, Callaway or Adams wedge? In fact any club with 25 degrees of loft or more will all be deemed illegal as of 2010, well not officially but kind of, I’m still trying to get to the bottom of that one. Let me see if I can explain it a little better…

Since 2005, the USGA has been diligently studying and testing the amount of spin that some of the newer wedges put on the ball, specifically with shots out of the deeper rough. They feel that majority of the newer wedges create an unfair advantage for those skilled players who use urethane covered golf balls, which most professional golfers do. Balls were spinning at the same rate out of the deeper grass as compared with shots from the fairway, so the USGA wants to change the current groove design to soften their edges by 30°, making it more difficult to create spin.

OK, fair enough. So the USGA, which is the governing body for all rules of golf (along with the R & A), has looked into this for a few years (not a knee jerk reaction to negate newer technology or design) and has decided to change the sharpness of my clubs grooves. Ball spins less, scores even out(?), whatever, and officially I have until 2024 to comply to these rules. On the surface I can accept that, but what gets my panties in a knot is this paragraph from an August 2008 USGA press release about the upcoming rule change;

“Our research shows that the rough has become less of a challenge for the highly skilled professional and that driving accuracy is now less of a key factor for success,” said USGA Senior Technical Director Dick Rugge. “We believe that these changes will increase the challenge of the game at the Tour level, while having a very small effect on the play of most golfers.”
http://www.usga.org/news/2008/August/grooves.html

So the rules are changing to increase the challenge of the game on the tour level? Hmmmm…..so let’s do some math here.

Number of golfers in America – 28,600,000
http://www.ngf.org/cgi/whonews.asp?storyid=261

Number of PGA Members – 28,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Golfers’_Association_of_America

So the percentage of golfers who this rule will directly affect if is .001%?

.001% of golfers who get paid to practice & perfect every imaginable shot in the game.

.001% who if needed, could spin back a Gutta Percha ball using a cut-down Patty Berg 9-iron with a worn leather grip.

.001% who are not going to worry about replacing their equipment since their equipment is basically given to them by club manufacturers.

Now for the 99.999% of golfers who, with the sharpest of grooves and the softest of balls, might create a marginal amount of spin, the new rules should void all ball spin from their game (backspin of course). And I mean completely! And for what reason? To prevent a tour player from Bombing & Gouging? To raise the scores of .001% of players who make golf their living?

Will the average golfer, who uses whatever ball is in their bag at the time and whatever wedge they got on closeout at their local discount shop, feel the sting when the rules take affect? Most likely they won’t. I mean how much spin do you think a ‘professional golfer’ would create using a Dunlop LoCo golf ball? Or how about a Top-Flite Freak (Freaky Long!), even if they were using the latest zip-groove wedge? Probably not much. But for those 5-14 handicap golfers who use the softer urethane balls and create a fair amount of spin, the new rules could stymie their short game quite a bit.

You want a better solution to this? Put more rules in place to govern how soft a ball can be. Soft cover golf balls spin more and are used mainly by professionals and experienced amateurs. There, that was easy. And for those who don’t believe me that golf balls are getting extremely soft, check out the new Callaway Touri balls, they are soft enough to put on the end of a stick and roast over an open fire!

RE: for those who didn’t understand the last statement, the new Touri balls are so soft they feel like marshmallows!

This rule change equates to taking an aluminum baseball bat away from a little leaguer and saying “Sorry kid, tests have proven that professional baseball players hit the ball way too far using metal bats, so that’s why we make them use wooden ones. And since you play baseball, you also must use a wooden bat. Thats the rules. It’s ok, with enough practice and HGH, you will grow into that bat someday.”

My letter to the USGA:

Dear USGA,

Thank you for all that you have done for the game of golf. An organization like yours should be commended for all your efforts on and off the course.

As for the new rule changes regarding grooves being too sharp and professionals creating too much spin from out of the rough, did you weigh out all your options before deciding to kill the hopes and dreams of all us hack golfers who pray every time we hit a sand wedge that our 150 compression golf balls spin enough to keep them from rolling off the green?

If its technology that you truly want to regulate to keep the playing field level, bring back the persimmon wood and balata golf ball.

Thanks again,

Duff
President of the Persimmon Wood & Balata Golf Ball Preservation Society

Are golf companies over hyping their products by using engineering jargon to make their clubs out to be more than what they are?
You bet they are!

Moment of Inertia (MOI), Coefficient of Restitution (COR), Center of Gravity (CG) are just a few of a long list of technical keywords used by club makers to help hype their products performance. What does it all mean? If I have trouble hitting it past the ladies tees, is a high MOI driver going to help me?

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“COR” is an acronym for “coefficient of restitution.” Coefficient of restitution is a measurement of the energy loss or retention when two objects collide. The COR measurement is always expressed as a number between 0.000 (meaning all energy is lost in the collision) and 1.000 (which means a perfect, elastic collision in which all energy is transferred from one object to the other).

The current USGA rule limiting the coefficient of restitution of a clubhead states that the COR cannot be higher than a measurement of 0.830. This means that when the clubhead impacts the ball, there cannot be more than an 83-percent transfer of the energy of the head to the ball.

“Moment of inertia,” or MOI, is a property of physics that indicates the relative difference in how easy or difficult it will be to set any object in motion about a defined axis of rotation. The higher the MOI of an object, the more force will have to be applied to set that object in a rotational motion. Conversely, the lower the MOI, the less force needed to make the object rotate about an axis.

Center of Gravity (CG) of any object is the one small point which represents the intersection of all the possible balance points of that object. In a golf clubhead, the CG can be determined by balancing the head on its face, sole, or any place on the head – the intersection inside of the head of all these different balance points is the center of gravity of the clubhead.

From golf.about.com/

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Who gains from all of this? Is this information for real? Will golfers benefit from a driver with a high COR and low Center of Gravity?

Answer – You betcha.
But here is the kicker. Since there are very specific rules and measurements that designers and club manufacturers must abide by, the playing field has sort of leveled out a bit, meaning that most of todays drivers should be of equal performance, so to speak. No, your $39.99 Wal-Mart special driver cannot be compared to a TaylorMade Tour Burner driver, but the gap is narrowing. Shaft quality is now the focus for a lot of players that are looking for a little extra yardage and control. This is why when some you go to your nearest golf shop in search for a new driver or fairway wood, you end up having 5-6 different options of shafts to choose from per model. It’s not all about flex anymore, there are kick points, torque and shaft weight you also need to consider, all playing a key role with your drives trajectory and ball spin.

MOI, COR & Center of Gravity – yeah, they all say it, but they all need to stop saying it!

Note to all club manufacturers

You’re boring the every day golfer with these pointless acronyms that mean nothing! I say to you all (Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, etc.), adopt the caveman approach to marketing your new equipment – “Club real BIG, ball go far!” Now I’d buy that approach!

Next topic I might try tackling – Offset clubs: Can they help my slice?

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your irons properly fit to your swing. Most of the time your averaged sized weekend duffer won’t need any major adjustments, a tweak here or there will do, but you will be amazed with the results.

A few years back I was having issues with my short game, so I thought I should consult my local pro for some chipping advice, maybe a tweak or two might save me a couple of strokes. After hitting a few dozen balls he notices a consistent enough pattern and decides to put me on a lie board to see if he could pinpoint any issues. “Your clubs are too flat.” Now I have been around golf for 30+ years and I never thought for a second that my irons weren’t a perfect fit for my game. “Are you sure?”

Lie Board - Special hitting surface material leaves a small temporary mark on the sole of the clubhead indicating lie angle at impact.

Fitting on a lie board is about the simplest and most accurate way to determine your irons proper length and lie angle. What my local pro was able to tell me is that due to my height (6’6) and short arm length, I needed irons that were 5 degrees upright, not 2 degrees like I have had them since the beginning of time. I called instant BS. No way. Don’t attempt to convince me that my short but perfect swing needs irons that are off-the-chart-upright. I just can’t envision that mutilating my clubs is going to make that much of a difference to my game. But I was still curious, so I had my pro only adjust my pitching wedge. I thought to myself, “my clubs are forged, I can always bend them back, no harm no foul.” Honestly it felt pretty good. My shot pattern was perfect! Straight on target with a slight draw, just like the good old days. But I was still reluctant to have my complete set adjusted, so I told my pro that I would practice with the pitching wedge some more before I decide to have my complete set bent upright.

A couple of days later I am out on the golf course, first hole, par 4 385 yards, after a perfect drive that left me about 95 yards to the pin, I pull out my pitching wedge. It didn’t even cross my mind that I was about ready to hit a shot that I had been struggling with for months with a club that I thought my pro had butchered by bending it 5 degrees upright. With a slight open stance and a short three quarter swing (I’m just hoping to make it somewhere on the green) I watch with complete amazement as my ball, with a smidge of a draw, barrels in on my target line and after hitting the green, on its 3^rd bounce, it rolled right in the hole. I KID YOU NOT!

Let’s just say that after the round I couldn’t get to the pro shop fast enough to have the rest of my set adjusted.

I just heard through the grapevine that Cleveland Golf will be introducing in the fall a kind of ‘short-iron hybrid’ called of all things, a NIBLICK.
Click HERE for a high resolution image.

From the British Golf Museum

Definition: The “pitching niblick” was the historical golf club (wooden-shafted, pre-20th Century) whose short shaft made it the club of choice for chipping and short approaches. In the way it was used, the pitching niblick was most equivalent to today’s wedges.

That doesn’t mean the pitching niblick was necessarily a high-lofted club, however. With antique golf clubs, loft could dramatically differ from set to set among the same clubs. That’s why you’ll sometimes see this club also compared to a 4-iron under its alias, the “jigger.”

It’s sometimes not the loft of an antique club that is used to equate that club to modern ones, but how the club was used. And the pitching niblick – a k a jigger or lofting iron – was used to approach and chip.

The Niblick hybrid chippers are the length of a standard putter (35”) and the loft of your typical 8 & 9 iron.

What would the Niblick be used for?
Mainly for chipping around the green. Perfect for pitch shots where the pin is some 30+ feet away. You could also use it for low running shots where you might be stuck under a tree or group of trees.

Is the Cleveland Niblick ‘NEW Technology’? No. The Odyssey Maxman chipper is similar in design.

Is the Cleveland Niblick a gimmick club? A big NO!

When this club comes out in October, for those who struggle with their short game, you need to give this club a try. I mean it. Personally I have used chippers in the past and the Niblick looks like the best design I have seen. The Odyssey Maxman felt great but is limited to just chipping close to the green. The Niblick is built more like a iron due to it’s traditional hosel compared to the putter like hosel of the Marxman, which will open up more possibilities (longer shot range).

If I demo a Niblick anytime soon I will let you guys know.

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Interview with MacGregor’s head club designer Don White.
Great insight into club making, custom grinds and the various tour pros he has built clubs for.

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Then just a couple of days ago I finally got to see a close up picture of what looked like ‘retro’ irons Don built specifically for Norman to play in the British Open. I swear I’d seen these before. After some digging I had a lookie-what-we-have-here moment:

Eerie similarity aren’t they? Rumor has it these irons (2009 VIP Pro Diamondbacks) might be introduced this coming fall/winter.

Don White, my friend, I commend you for your continued preservation of the classic forged blade and the name MacGregor, ‘The greatest name in golf!’

A funny little side note: Just yesterday I purposely attached the picture below to my refrigerator to send a little hint to the wife that I might have my eye on some new irons and within minutes she comes barreling around the corner doing her best Soup Nazi impersonation – “NO CLUBS FOR YOU!”

Buddy – “2-irons?”

Me – “Yeah?”

Buddy – “Do they still make them?”

Me – “Yep, but they are now being made by the same people making 8-track tapes!”

Buddy – “Funny….really, does anybody still make them?”

Me – “Sure, they’re still being made. (long pause) Why would you want one?”

Buddy – “I saw some players using them at the Open, I play in the wind sometimes, maybe it might help.”

Of course I come back with a classic analogy:

Me – “Using a 2-iron to hit into the wind would be as effective as cleaning your dirty laundry down by the river using an old washboard.”

Buddy – “Huh?”

Me – “Exactly!”

Why do golfers think that if they use a club a tour pro uses they will hit it just like them?

Quick, sort of related story –
A few years back a friend of mine was part of a small group (8 music industry people) that had a meet & greet with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Before Eddie showed up, the group was able to demo the guitar, amplifier and effects pedals that he sometimes uses during recording sessions. Now 3-4 guys in the group were pretty accomplished guitar players and after a few minutes playing around with Eddie’s equipment, most agreed that it didn’t sound like his kind of setup. Where one thought the tuning was all wrong another thought the tubes he used in his amp weren’t right, the guitar just didn’t have that signature Van Halen sound. Then Eddie walked in. Cigarette in mouth, saying nothing, he walked over to his guitar, turned up the volume and let her rip. Eddie played some of his classic Van Halen riffs note perfect, sounding eerily close to the original recordings, which of course stunned everyone in the room. “It’s not the equipment, it’s the player.”

So I explain to my buddy that he should look more at getting a low lofted hybrid than putting a 2-iron in his bag. There are pro model hybrids that have a slightly higher center of gravity that lowers shot trajectory, like the Adams Idea Pro, Taylormade TP Rescue, or even the Cobra Baffler Pro. “..and if lower tee shots are what you are after, remember this equation: tee the ball lower + play the ball back in your stance = lower tee shots.”

Graeme McDowell, a professional golfer from Northern Ireland, was asked if he had put a 2-iron in his bag for this years British Open, he answered:
“No, the 2 iron is only for very windy conditions.”

Now for all of you reading this that live in the land of the sun, let me try and explain. No, I don’t store fluids in my shoes, nor are my feet extremely sweaty, I just live in the Pacific Northwest where it rains a lot. A good portion of my rounds are either played in the rain or on a course that has a fair amount of standing water, so waterproof golf shoes are a must have.

So was I surprised they leaked? A little. I mean I have had my fair share of shoes go bad -

• ’94 Dexter DrySports – Both soles came completely off. I later found out that the DrySports were one of the few Dexter golf shoes made in the US, the EPA told them to use a less toxic adhesive, so they ended up using a ‘water based glue’. Oh the insanity!
• Nike Air – All of my Nike shoes with the air support bubble in the heel have deflated. I know I am a big guy but……
• Mizuno Permanent Spikes – No need to ever change them, spikes never wore out, absolutely loved them, until a couple broke off. Side note, soft spikes killed those shoes.

My shoes that leaked last weekend were FootJoy DryJoys. I have probably owned 10 pair of FootJoys over the years and have never had any issues, so did FootJoy make a faulty pair of shoes? Not necessarily. Shoes still need a little personal maintenance to help keep them from leaking, and one of the worst offenders to their waterproof seal is grass fertilizer. Fertilizer eats away at the glue that keeps the sole and leather upper together, allowing water to penetrate into the uppers membrane, causing your feet to get wet. A way to prevent this is simply to take an old tooth brush and scrub water along the area where the sole meets the upper after every round, which helps breakdown the strength of the fertilizer, prolonging the life of your shoe.

So in this case, it looks like it was a defective shoe. FootJoy has a great comfort and waterproof guarantee, so no worries about getting them replaced.

And before I get a bunch of responses, yes, I do own a pair of rubber golf boots. I’ll make sure to wear those next time.

Now I am beginning to prove myself wrong.

When I play I prefer to carry my bag instead of using a motorized cart or push/pull cart, it’s just something I have always done. I like the time between shots to think about my round and how I might be attacking the next hole. My buddies argue that when I walk, I slow down their play (marginally); I think it more has to do with my not paying the other half of the cart fees, too bad.

Just last month I had some tournament book money to spend, and while I usually get 3-4 dozen Pro V1s and call it a day, I had this epiphany, so to speak, and suddenly found myself walking out of the Pro Shop with something I never envisioned myself owning, not even demoing, and I was excited about it! I bought myself a 3-wheeled push cart!

And with 4 rounds under my belt with this bad boy (Clicgear 2.0), it was like I was reborn! Why didn’t I do this years ago? Oh, my back…it feels sooo much better!

So, after putting a new driver in my bag, and currently looking at picking up the new TaylorMade Burner 3-wood and Rescue Hybrid, I am beginning to rethink all of my old traditional ways.  I am actually starting to see that the new golf technology might be beneficial.

Maybe in another week I will do a detailed review, after I accessorize it a little (that means ‘Pimp it Out’ for all you hipsters).

The most consistent club in my bag over the last few seasons has been my driver, a Cobra 440 SZ dialed in to do whatever I want. Turn it over, no problem! Slight cut, piece of cake! High shots, low shots, nothing could touch it….until a couple of weeks ago when I demoed a driver at my local driving range that changed my perspective and opinions I have for the over hyped blandness of the newer clubs on the market, and to the amazement of my golfing peers I broke down and bought it, the latest TaylorMade driver which I predict will be the driver of the year, the Tour Burner. My golfing buddies have been talking about it for the last couple of weeks and I finally was able to get my hands on one the other day to see what all the fuss was about, what an amazing driver! The crown of the Tour Burner has a slightly different shape (triangular looking), the head size is not too big (450cc) and it has an average feel but was surprisingly quiet off the tee compared to most titanium drivers. It didn’t impress me much until I hit the golf course with it; there is where I saw what it can really do. I am a believer!

Now I was just told that TaylorMade is releasing the matching Burner Fairway Woods and Hybrids (2008) at the end of June (I currently play the 3-4 TM Rescue Mid TP Hybrids) and it has got me thinking…I usually don’t match up my clubs (in fact I sometimes make fun of people who do), but if they are anything like the driver, I might just have to take back all those silly comments I have made in the past about using matching brands and models and pick me up a hybrid or 2. I’ll keep you posted what I decide on.

I was able to score some stock photos of the new clubs from a friend who is in the business, enjoy!.

2008 Burner Fairway Wood
2008 Burner Tour Fairway Wood
2008 Burner Rescue Hybrid
2008 Burner Rescue Tour Hybrid