Cox Classic

7/28/10

Well this first week on the Nationwide Tour went pretty well. You need to keep in mind our penetration out here is limited so the players are a little apprehensive about changing equipment let alone a wedge, if know no one will be around to service their needs from week to week. Unfortunately I cannot be everywhere! So I have no preconceived notions that clubs will go out in play, it is what it is! I still need to make a showing and let the players know we are still around and we have new "conforming" product for them to test and use. In years past I end up getting a few pieces in play by the time I finish this run which is in Springfield, MO. Much less I have the opportunity to meet the new players coming up through the ranks.

You thought I was kidding about the contract thing but take a look here in the locker room this morning. I got to the course early and came through for a cup of coffee and look around. You tell me what you think? I will admit one thing after strolling through this area, there are more opportunities than I once thought for wedges! It still goes back to what I said above, you still need to be here to service the players, if not the chance of your clubs staying in play are slim to none.

The reason for me getting to the course early was to follow up with my targeted players list. One of the players I had not had an opportunity to get in front of, good friend of Solus, Luke List. Luke is from Nashville which is home for Solus. The first time I met Luke was at the US Open at Oakmont so it had been a while. I took several photos of his bag make up and wedges. Take a look. Bet you can't figure out who he is on contract with? Ha ha, I kill myself sometimes! I caught up with Luke coming off a quick 9 holes before the pro-am went off. We had a good conversation and set a plan in place to spec a set of FC-10's for him to test. As you know it looks like he is pretty well set. The only two clubs he has that are not Titleist is his hybrid and putter. Yes, that is the Scotty head cover with a Seemore underneath! I will build him a 52* adjusted to 53* and a 60* adjusted to 59*. He needs a 1/4" over standard length with a four layer build up on his grip. We will test them in Wichita next week. Although guarded he wants and is willing to try everything, you never know! These guys are hungry and understand the need to see everything that is available out here for game improvement.

I sit in on an interview with Trevor Murphy. Titleist jumped right on this! I am not sure you heard but Trevor had one hell of a round of golf in Columbus during the pro-am. He missed a 10' putt on the 18th hole to shot 55! Yea that's right 55! He ends up shooting 56 which I don't care how short the course 56 is 56 you still have to golf your ball and get it in the jar! I bet his pro-am partners had a blast watching that round! If I heard right I think he said he had a 12 birdie stretch! That's awesome! Congrats out to Trevor!

Solus is out here! I caught up with Dennis Mitchell and his son. Dennis is a caddie on tour and his son is an aspiring player who has the FC-10's in play. He will try to Monday qualify for the Wichita Open. He is a great player! We wish him the best of luck next week!


I really think if we had the resources' to have a little incentive pot during my Nationwide swing this would stir interest and get more clubs in play. As you can see money talks and will do a lot for the brand if done right. I think it would be fun to offer a progressive pot for the four week swing with a winner taking all at the end or paying out small bonuses each week for the best finish. Something along those lines to create the buzz among players while helping them with their expenses down the road. It's a win win, like I said if done properly.
I think we got Alex Carper fixed up and fixed his "digging" problem with his 60*. At least I think. He is staying in touch and we will see how he plays this week. I think he is changing out his shafts in his irons. He has settled on the new Nippon shafts. I got him hooked up with the Nippon rep on the PGA Tour. We will be tracking his progress.


The temps will remain in the 98-100 degree mark next week and I am sure the Springfield area will hold true to the same! Hey one good thing about the temp issue is my pants are fitting a little loser! Must be the water weight, ya think? HIHI...


Have a great weekend! Remember to play your rock where the mower runs it's a lot more fun, plus you can find your ball!

7/27/10

Well my day didn't start out very well. I had planned on setting up in the short game area but was told there would be a junior clinic going on from 10:00-12:00am. They would be using the entire area through their rotation. Ok so I moved to the main practice tee! Everything is going somewhat sour so far. Once on the main tee we had to move two more times since the plans seem to be changing by the minute. Here we are moving for the second time! It wasn't bad enough that we had a heat advisory out and is was going to be 139 degrees today with no wind! I noticed as I was driving into the golf course this morning around 6:30am that the course was full of players. The smart ones took out early to beat the heat and then left for the day! Secondly, after talking to several players I found out the short game area green was as hard as concrete and there probably wouldn't be any players down there practicing. On top of that it sets in a "bowl" so to speak and there wasn't a breath of air down there. So I was content on my decision to move up here!

I ran into an old friend and fellow rep this morning. We got caught up on old and new as well as family. He had changed bags and was now looping for one of the new young guns out here. I happened to look down in his bag and spotted this wedge. Does the groove pattern look anything like Callaway? I understand this groove configuration does nothing for adding spin but does give some relief from wet rough conditions. I am not sure why the copying game? But oh well who the hell I am to question it? After all I know this program!

I know it's hard to see but it amazes me how many of these big companies followed Solus with some form of cloning which all comes out to a slight "crescent cut" look or shape. You would think since they have all done it, why wouldn't one of these big companies just swallow up little ol Solus and the technology. It would be a no brainier! If you were to put anyone of the big company names on the back of the Solus wedge it would be a winner! The issue with clubs in play would go away and the numbers would automatically go up! Novel concept don't you think? The new wedge would be an overnight success! But there again who am I? But you have to agree it would clear up quite a few things, now wouldn't it?

There is one thing that I thought wouldn't be so prevalent out here and that would have been contracts. But boy was I wrong! Even though the heat had quite a few players in and gone early I still had the opportunity to talk to some old friends and past players of Solus. I receive nothing but positive feedback from all of them that I approached regarding the FC-10 but still the lingering sore spot was the same, I can't play them!


There are very few target players that don't have a contract. These contracts range from $20,000 to $25,000 for everything or at least mirrors the PGA Tour with 12-14 clubs and everything in between. It is amazing how much money is being spent out here now! This is very discouraging for me and the others that are employed by the smaller companies. It is next to impossible to get anything in play! Don't get me wrong there are opportunities out here and it will be with the players that are down the food chain or Monday qualifiers. Maybe a few strugglers but that is it.


With that said it is still nice to come out here on this tour because these players haven't been tainted yet but the big companies on working on that! They will talk to you and show their appreciation for all you do! If the club is no good they will kindly tell you! Hey that's what it's all about! I would love to work this tour full time even though the money is spoiling it. It just makes it more difficult to fight it week to week. But at least everyone gets along be it reps and companies.


I have said it in the past if all of the small companies would pool their recourses, knowledge and technology and join forces to form a new company under a new name we all would now have a chance to compete! I have brought this up to more than one person out here and they all have to agree it would give the rest of us a chance! Which what brings me back to the old haunting question, why don't these big companies by up some the excellent products that are right in front of them? Makes sense doesn't it? Why not? Oh well, I could go on for hours talking and writing about such things but it seems to fall on deaf ears! Maybe someday some of these products will succeed and make it in the market place. After all if it's not in play on the PGA Tour no one will buy it, right? Everyone wants to know "who is playing your club?" or "how many clubs to you have in play?" Am I right? Isn't that the reason for all of the contracts? Well who in the end pays for all of these contracts? Yes, the consumer! Hello?? Hellooo??


Ok, off of my post and on to other more important topics, like have I told you it's "hotter than the hubs of hell out here!!" Is my mouth still moving? Rambling on to the tunes, baby!


Solus player Alex Carper called this afternoon wanting to come by the course and pick up some "new grooves" and ask a few questions. Alex was on his way to Lincoln to play I think in a mini-tour event. We set a plan and he met me at my motel on his way through Omaha. He picked up two FC-10 / 60's and a FC-10 / 52. He was complaining about having a slight "digging" with his old 60. Alex still continues to play the Tour 7.1 and Series 4.1's since the mini-tours haven't adopted the new groove rule as of yet. We got him fixed up and on his way. He told me he has a friend that Monday qualified here for the Omaha event. He had told his friend to look me up. There was only one catch, he had just won an event and probably wouldn't want to change right now. I explained to him there was no need to come see me unless something was broke! If he just won with what he has why change? Hey I am a firm believer "if it doesn't itch, don't scratch it!" I did offer my services for the future. You never know?


Well other than all of the heat and frustration I still managed to have a great day and at least talk and see some old friends. I had a little blow out today with my belt! I pretty sure it's the heat not my waist line! HIHIHI......On to Bass Pro Shops to find a new one! I think they carry the smaller sizes. I need a small 30's range unit! HIHIHI... yep my mouth is still moving!

7/26/10

The face of this tour continues to grow in the direction of the PGA Tour. The big four are defiantly "marking" their territory with these players. From what I have seen this morning and in talking to a few players the staff bags, clothing and equipment support continue to strengthen. This is the first event for Solus this year so I will start by visiting with our past players and see how things are shaping up. I started to make my list of targets this morning so we will have to see what is happening as I go.

Since it was a little slow this morning I thought I would walk down to the 18th hole and take a few photos. Like I told you this event has one of the biggest purses on the Nationwide Tour and I think after you see the 18th you will have to agree it looks like a PGA Tour event. As I approached the 18th I spotted "my spot" to visit! This would be a great little oasis on the green!

As you can tell this golf course has a lot of undulation built in, here I am about 100 yards from the green next to my little "spot"! HIHIHI....

Obviously the folks here in Omaha feel the same way!

I went over to the "free" public bleachers which are located right behind the green and looked back towards the sky boxes and again "my spot"! First class all the way!

Hey I know it's boring but hell it's Monday and I thought some of you might like to see firsthand this beautiful finishing hole! This is back towards the tee box. Now that was painless, wasn't it?

I sent a photo yesterday of the new Nationwide Tour Workshop so this morning I took a little tour of the unit inside. This photo is from the back door looking towards the nose or front of the trailer. New on this trailer are the "manufacturers lockers" that you see. In years past this equipment was located in another trailer that was pulled behind a much smaller trailer than this one. This situation wasn't very secure and in fact they had experienced a pretty serious accident a few years back where the trailer came loose from the truck and rolled several times throwing equipment all over the highway. Luckily no one was hurt! Now this new trailer is long enough to accommodate this inside. Most all of the companies that do not have a trailer out here have a contract with this van. This is like we do on the PGA Tour.

Another shot of the lockers. On forward of the lockers you can see a TV on, this is the player's lounge.

Here's a shot looking back towards the back door from the locker area. Plenty of room to work and get around in here!

This is where I will be conducting my "beness" this week! This facility has a great short game area so I will be utilizing it for my player contacts and demos.

After the pro-am finished teeing off around 2:30pm it got pretty slow on the tee as you can see!

One of our fellow reps and friend, Scott "Cuppy" Cuppett lost his wife tragically last week. Scott and his wife lost their father-in-law the week prior to his wife passing. His wife hadn't really recovered from that but had been battling a rare blood virus for some time. She became progressively ill and had been rushed to the emergency room while Scott was working the Reno event. Scott has worked for several companies on the PGA Tour, Taylormade, Matrix Shafts and within the last 2-3 weeks took a position with Titleist. As soon as Titleist found out about his wife's illness they arranged for an emergency charter plane to take him back home where she passed at 2:00am the next morning. Scott and his wife have 5 children ranging from 1 1/2 to 14 years of age. Money is being sent to Scott in place of flowers to assist his children. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Scott, his children and family. So sad...

7/25/10

Well I made it to Omaha! I am in a loaner truck this week since the T.A.V. has been parked by GM. The final prognosis at this point will be to replace the truck. GM technicians continue to analyze the issues and they think they have come to a conclusion, the truck needs a bigger turbo. Only one thing the parts will not be available until January? Can you believe this? I was told that I could drive the truck but I could not let it idle? So…..how is that going to happen? The only fix at this point is to replace the truck. Bad timing of the year for this all to unfold but we will figure it out. I really miss our tour vehicle since it was set up perfectly for this job. This morning was a real pain in the ass to get what I needed out and reloaded into the loaner. No matter what I do I will need something that I don’t have once I get to Omaha. One thing that is a relief I made it without a “check engine” light glowing! I am done with this problem and ready to move on! I am sure you are too!

Once I got into Omaha today I thought I would run over Champions Run and take a look at the set up. Since this is our first Nationwide event of this season I was interested to see how many trailers are servicing this tour. I snapped a few shots. This event has really grown in magnitude and is one of the bigger events on the Nationwide. This event has one of the largest purses and will be televised by the Golf Channel. Take a look of the new Nationwide Tour van, pretty nice piece. I will take a few photos inside tomorrow when I get started for the week.