John Deere Classic

7/7/10

Well my new approach did get me in front of a few new players. The field consists of quite a few Nationwide Tour players so I will have more opportunities in the upcoming weeks to work this group. I noticed KJ Choi looking around so I kept a close eye on him. The opportunity didn’t present itself since he is once again revamping his putting stoke and putter. Keep an eye on him for the weekend he has changed his entire routine, setup and putter. He is going “side saddle”! I know it is hard to believe but he is. KJ is a good target for us if I can just catch him at the right time. I might need to jump back to the PGA Tour if the opportunity presents its self. KJ will try new things and will give them a thorough test if you can just get in there. I will stay on him!

The John Deere group offers a chartered plane to the British Open at no charge to those players that are in the event. This offer insures that this field stays strong otherwise the players at the top of the money list and had qualified for the Open would already be overseas getting ready. This is a pretty nice perk for the players that stay behind to play here in Silvis.


We just received the nomination forms from Golf Digest for the 2011 “Hot List” publication. This elusive list has presented itself again. We will nominate the FC-10 and see if we can “break the code” so to speak and make this year’s list. I have never understood that a product that is as good as the Solus has never made the list? You really don’t want to get me started on this subject, it would be more painful than the recent documentary regarding the truck ordeal! I will leave this one alone for now! We will be nominating the new wedges though! Stay tuned for updates.


I have received quite a few email messages regarding the availability of the new FC-10 at retail. At this point in time we have finalized and received the USGA blessing on the 52, 56 and 60. We have three remaining lofts 50, 54 and 58 to finalize which are behind schedule. We are hoping to enter the retail market place in the third quarter at some point with the first three lofts. I am keeping my fingers crossed at this point. In the bigger picture we have all been behind and have not really caught up since the groove change. As you know the bigger the company the more priority they receive so there is a pecking order we have to live with. Stay tuned to this blog for updates.


Hey more good news, I made it home without mechanical defalcations with the truck! Whew WhOOOOOOO…………. Onward and upward, going to the Nationwide Tour! Until then take care and have a great weekend!

7/6/10

It is amazing how hard it is to get clubs in play out here when you have such a good product as we do! I followed up with two players that I have been tracking for the past several weeks. I am looking for just a little love in the form of feedback. These two players (I will not mention names at this point) have had two wedges since Ft Worth and do you think they would take the time to give them a try? Hell no! These clubs were requested by them I didn't force feed the wedges on them! But if both would give them a test they would have been in the bag, neither one of these guys can spin a ball and make it stop anywhere near the hole! I know you have heard this for years but the money out here is so big you would think they would be looking for anything that would save 2-3 shots a round easy! Wouldn't you? This is so frustrating to me and I tend to take it personally. I know we have a tool that will help but what the hell do I have to do to get them to at least test it!

Hey Golf Pride is bringing back one the most popular grips, the "Tour Wrap". Take a look at the retro version.  Pretty cool and has really caught on in the past two weeks.

As I told you I was changing my strategy and moved to this location.  It proved to separate me from the rest while giving me more access to the players. Scratch Golf has been keeping an eye on my every move looking for an edge as well. I wished I had done this a week or two back but I thought I was making some end roads with a few players so I stayed put. There will be quite a few of these guys in Ohio in two weeks for the Nationwide Tour so I will have some follow up work to do. It seems that quite a few reps are going over there as well. The field should be a strong since the purse is one of the biggest on the Nationwide.

I keep an eye on a Taylormade staffer on Monday and he was going through shafts and wedges. I thought today would be a perfect opportunity to approach him since he really hadn't made his mind up or so it looked. I was soon told he had made his decision but when I looked in the bag the only thing missing was the Solus! I stepped back and decided to keep an eye on how things played out. I had another opportunity to make another pass so I did. He did agree to at least try the FC-10. This would prove to him we do have a better wedge. The comparisons that he did produced exactly what I had told him which was no surprise to me. The shots he hit were outstanding and I thought there is no way he cannot put this wedge in play? Wrong again! Although he produced more consistent shots with ball stopping spin. Distance control was one of his biggest problems and we proved we had the weapon, yet he yielded to the competitor! I cannot do anymore than that for him! The club and I were full service with positive results! This was unbelievable, but not the first time I have been through this drill!


My focus I think should be on the caddies of these players, they really have their ear! I need to distribute a few more clubs out to them to test and take to the player. This strategy has worked in the past. I think these players have a hard time believing that this club is that good! But it is!


The Nationwide Tour will give some relief and will be a lot of fun! I am really looking forward to the time away from here.


Listen to this, I had a player approach me on the green and ask me why we weren't paying players to play the wedge? I thought to myself let me see what he is thinking? He said if we paid him $40,000 he would put two wedges in play for the next four or six events! Wow now that's a low price! We could negotiate beyond that if things worked out like we thought. Now keep in mind I couldn't use this players name in any ads! So what benefit would Solus receive in return? The ability to tell you the consumer we have 2 wedges in play, that's it! Now given the magnitude of this investment just how many wedges we have to sell to back this up? Would it make you the consumer go buy the wedge? Could we pay for this? When in fact this whole game is a catch 22! We have to have clubs in play to be out here on tour and enjoy this luxury that you all so believe in. The clubs in play we cannot advertise due to the player’s contract. However the consumer has been conditioned to buy this club since player X plays it on tour. Is that the real reason? The clubs that are played out here are for athletes that play this wonderful game day in and day out throughout the season not just the occasional round during the weekend with buddies. So are really getting the technology to lower your scores or is it about who plays it? You have to ask yourself that question. Look at the technology and make the decision on your own "will this piece of equipment improve my game or lower my scores?" Hey it's been tested and proven on the PGA Tour! Isn't that enough? Not sure where I was going with this but I am still trying to make you realize how this game works without writing a book! Forgive me if you don't agree with all or part. I didn't confess to be a writer or reporter however it looks that way! Doesn't it? Oh well it's all in fun!


I literally had one player tell me that they had tested his current gamer against the Solus FC-10 and he lost 68 rpm of ball spin. I won't bore you with all of this data but I do think the launch monitors are killing this game. It is nothing but data which a lot of do nothing for the player. Do you realize what this player said? He lost 68 rpm compared to his gamer? The biggest question I had was "what was the shot doing?" "Were you getting the desired shot from either wedge?" No answer! They have no answer there is just so much data that has to be translated into results or performance. What did Ben, Jack, Arnie and the likes do without launch monitors? I can tell you, they were looking for results not the explanation of how to get the results, they needed to see it firsthand. If the club provided the desired results that was it! It went in play, no questions or other data was needed! Can you imagine? Granted the player lost 68 rpm, there is nobody on this planet can detect that loss in shot production or ball spin. The shot was doing what they expected but the data didn't back it up or support it! Unbelievable! Don't get me wrong testing and the equipment is a wonderful thing but do they really produce positive results in shot making? It is still up to the player that is holding it in their hand! Just give it some thought!


The reason I try to educate you all on this each week is to let you into my world on the PGA Tour. It's not always what you think it is. This is a very exhausting job that more times than not produce anything but rejection unless you are one of the few reps that work for one of the big companies. You can just imagine how much I could write each week if we had a stable of about 50 or more players in which all are being paid on contract. If things are too good to believe then they probably are! The wedge segment is the toughest one of all! If it's not the money and contracts it the player’s relationship they have with their wedges. These clubs are their friends and good friends are always hard to part with or ignore. Once they are comfortable with their friend it is tough to get them to see that there are so many more friends to choose from, which is the tough job and that's mine. You have to never let them see you sweat or show stress although internally you are turning inside out. This was just a little sidebar to continue to press forward and educate you on this process, it's not always as easy as you think even if you do have the best wedge on tour! Wedges are so personal....

7/5/10

There is reason for celebration! I made it to Silvis, IL in the TAV (truck)! I have traveled 559 miles without the "check engine" light! Finally! This time I went around the "Bermuda Triangle" a.k.a. St Louis where I had had my last two break downs. The truck is running good so we can now get back to business. That's what I am talking bout.......

I did have a cool thing happen during my travels to Illinois. I pulled in for fuel in Newton, IA, while I was fueling I had a gentleman come over to the truck. He said he was from the Quad Cities area and had been tracking my movements on the Tour Blog. Come to find out he not only plays golf but he is a mechanic for a GMC dealer. I thought this was pretty cool and even cooler for this man to take the time to come over and introduce himself. We had a great conversation and he took a look at the truck and gave me his number. He said "I want to make sure you get to your next stop, the tour blog must continue!" Now that's off the charts dedication to following my fool ass. I gave him a Solus hat and away I went on my journey! Still cool!


This will be my last PGA Tour stop for about four weeks. I will be working the Nationwide Tour for the next four events starting in Ohio. I have been building inventory for the Mike for the Champions Tour as well as getting my stock up to par for this next run. I will not have a van to work out of on the Nationwide so I am loading myself up with bag inventory, shafts and grips. Mike will be heading to the Sr. British in a couple of weeks so his needs were priority.


I needed to make sure that I had back up clubs ready to go in my absence out here on the PGA Tour. Sabbatini has three backups with him and I built a fourth for the trailer. He is already overseas getting ready for the British Open. The balance of the player backups I will take with me so I can ship them from location.

I wanted to make sure I got our logo up inside the trailer before I left. There are a few in trailer interviews coming up and I want to make sure we are in plain sight. Here a couple of shots of the new addition inside the van.

I am implementing my new plan this week so I will be shifting gears. I will be on the putting green tomorrow and have my targets selected. I will let you know how it is working tomorrow.


I wished we had the left handed models in. Good friend Tim Wilkinson is struggling and is trying everything, it would have been nice to help him get into the new FC-10.