05.08.07
Posted in Pro-Golf News at 6:56 pm by rich
Most of us who play golf probably either have a TaylorMade club in their bag right now, or have tried one of their clubs. I know that my bag is pretty much filled with them. From my perspective they are solid, well-built clubs that perform very well. I had never really put much thought into the investment in time and technology that TaylorMade (or any golf club manufacturer) must go through in order to develop state-of-the-art clubs. They start out designing clubs for the professional players…and then their products trickle down to the general population, after many tweaks and changes to allow the average weekend duffer to use it. So even if you think you are playing with the same clubs as the pros, chances are that the version of the TaylorMade SuperQuad or Callaway Fusion you have is drastically different from the version Sergio Garcia or Phil Mickelson is using.
There is a very interesting interview with Sean Toulon, TaylorMade’s executive vice president of product and brand creation. In it he talks about the club development process and the input they get from the pros as they design their clubs. It is a long interview but I strongly recommend you watch it if you are at all interested in what the club manufacturers go through as they develop new products.
I’d be very interested to learn if any of the leading club manufacturers design clubs with the average player in mind…or are all of our clubs just descendants of clubs the pros currently use? Anyone have any comments?
The interview can be found here: http://www.podtech.net/home/rockymountainvoices/2915/taylormade-golfs-product-and-brand-man
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05.06.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:57 pm by rich
The final round of the Wachovia Open looked like it was going to be an exciting one. With Tiger, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, and Rory Sabbatini within a couple shots of each other I was expecting a fantastic finish. We ended up a lot of excitement during the round, but the ending was anti-climactic. Tiger seemed to be in command after going eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 7, 8 & 9. The double bogey on 13 added a little drama but did anyone really think Tiger wouldn’t come through in the end? I never really had any doubts.
I heard an unreal stat on the CBS telecast on Saturday. They said that during the 2005, 2006 & 2007 PGA season Tiger Woods has had 1059 putts within 3 feet. Guess how many he has missed? ONE!!! He has missed only 1 putt within 3 feet during the last 3 years!! That just blew me away. If I needed to count the number of 3 footers I have missed during the past 3 years I would need all my fingers, toes, and the finger and toes of about 20 other people. I guess it just goes to show that you drive for show and putt for dough. I would really doubt that any other PGA player has that same level of success from 3 feet and in. Who else do you think would even be close to Tiger? Mickelson? Maybe. After hearing that statistic during the telecast I felt a strong urge to head to the putting green and practice those 3-footers. I never made it to the putting green…now I know why I don’t make them very often!
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05.04.07
Posted in Pro-Golf News at 9:31 pm by Ted
The New Zealand stuff.co.nz reports that Michelle Wie’s swing coach David Leadbetter said “She’s going to commit herself to the LPGA and play a number of events and next year, she’ll probably take up membership”. The rumors are that Michelle’s parents who have been pressuring her are beginning to understand that they need to let Michelle progress through the ranks. Read the whole story here
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