Shell Houston Open

3/31/10

Well I pretty much dedicated Wednesday's work day to Rich Beem. I had two clubs to build for mini tour player, Dave Davis. He had requested the 56 and 60. Dave has played the Series 4.1 and Tour 7.1 but now needs conforming grooves. On to Rich Beem.

The morning started around 7:00am. I had slept on Rich Beem's wedge and come up with a plan. On Tuesday he said he needs to make a change with his SW. His main complaint was the inconsistency of his performance in the bunkers. I took a look at his current gamer and discovered the heel contour had been modified and had no bounce. He was complaining about the wedge "digging", well having no bounce in the heel will produce just that! I handed him the FC-10/60 degree and he hit a few shots. The club was working perfect! He asked me to build him one to match his current gamer? This is where my better judgment had to come into play. I agreed I would build him one and would have it ready Wednesday morning, but I what I didn't tell him was what I would build. I took all of the necessary measurements and decided to sleep on it overnight. I almost succumb to the fact and built it as he requested, but decided to think! Scary uhh?

I had to ask myself one question, "why would I build him a wedge identical to the one he has"? This didn't make any sense, the one he has isn't working why duplicate that? So, guess what I built one that was going to solve his problem! The next series of photos are showing the process each step along the way. In the end he was very happy and his new tool worked perfectly! I didn't tell him this but the Big Boy with all of their engineers and R&D support don't always make or suggest the best fit for the player! I won't bore you through all of that again, but I think you catch my drift! You can't pee like a puppy of your if going run with the bigdawg! HIHI...

On one of my several trips to the tee with Rich, I had a good friend and caddie call me over to the putting green. It seems he was eager to show me something. Here said, "take a look at this", see anything familiar here? This was in his players bag that he was looping for this morning in the pro-am. The player said he bought it at one of the major retailers! Some of this crap just never seems to go away! I asked the player why he wouldn't have bought the real thing and guess what his answer was? "I play all Taylormade"! Well there you have it!

On with the real business!

Here is Rich's finished wedge. The stamping of "58" is the new loft number. This way when he goes to grab it he has a little reminder other than that "thing of beauty" look staring back at him! I decided to build him a 56 as opposed to a 60 due to the fact he wanted me to bend some off-set into it like his gamer. I did agree to do this since it was more of a visual thing. In order to get the bounce where I needed it I took a 56 and bent the off-set into it and set the loft and lie angles. This would put me close to 12 degrees of bounce which is exactly what Rich needed. I would have had close to what his current gamer was if I had gone with the 60 degree. It is always best to add loft when wanting more bounce and conversely if you want less bounce you de-loft. There has to be care taken when de-lofting, if not careful you will create a "digger"! Richy didn't need that! He already had that!

Here is a look next to a stock 56 degree, Rich's is on the left. Here you can see the off-set that I put into it. Actually the wedge looks really great, it would make a nice addition to our product line!

On one of my trips to the tee I ran into Henrick Bjornstad. Henrick plays the Nationwide Tour and he had changed over to the Solus in Omaha last year. I thought I would show him our new FC-10. He loved it but said he was pretty much set if you know what I mean? You see the pull the big companies demand on the players? I left the door open for him and told him to call anytime! He is a really nice kid!

My third trip back making last minute adjustments to Rich's wedge. Here he has asked me to square the leading edge up slightly.

Ditto, damn this looks really good! Boy am I good! HIHI....

Side by side with his "new" gamer the FC-10! Notice the heel grind in his old gamer, this is what was causing all of the problem!

Cookin with gas, baby! Started testing from all over the place!

Problem solved out of the bunker! It worked just like I told him it would! I think he was a little skeptical when I told him I wasn't going to build him one identical to his "old" gamer. Like I said earlier little ol Solus has the tools for the job! Check in with the DAWG!!

Keeps getting better, he hit quite a few quality shots "no digging" here!

Awe putting the ol "tour pose" on it!

One last adjustment for the full shot number and he is good to go! When all was said and done it was around 11:30am. I would love to see a success story come from him this week! He can play but has just fell in a rut and needed a little change! This little change will do nothing but produce positive results! This is very rewarding to me personally I love to help these guys and see good things from the fruit of my labor!

We all are off until Hilton Head. I am so glad I am going to have to miss all of the Tiger's "entrance party and welcome back" festivities at Augusta. It will be much more relaxing watching from my easy chair with cold one in my hand! Enjoy the golf!

3/30/10

Well Don's truck was broken into overnight right in front of the Crown Plaza! As you can see they punched the lock set in to gain entrance. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago in Atlanta! Don lost all of his clothes and a $300.00 rain suit along with various personal items. The trailer got broken into here as well a few years back. The side window was broken out and the every company lost their tour stock but Solus! We think this was an inside job since there was a security guard on duty in the lot. Solus was the last bag to go and was full of wedges which made it really heavy, we think this is why they left it behind! Long story short the equipment was tracked through and E Bay account and a raid was conducted not too far from here where most of the equipment was recovered. I am staying down the street from Don so I will probably get an hour of sleep tonight!

I ran into a really close friend of mine, Bryan Gathright. Bryan and I worked on a couple of other "golf" related projects a few years back and it has been some time since I have seen him. Bryan is a well known instructor in this area. Here is a shot of Bryan working with Jimmy Walker.

 

Ok we all normally line our bags up in single file on the tee and stay pretty organized. Take a look how Callaway set-up their little cluster, they are now bringing out four staff bags and most recently set a bag of wedges out as well! UMM.......

Here is another comparison to the FC-10. This shot is a 56 degree Mizuno on the left next to ours.

I ran into a real good friend from Wichita looping for Woody Austin, Rod Nuckolls. Rod has been an accomplished PGA Tour player himself and now plays a few Champions Tour events a year. Rod and his brother Rick are very close friends of the family. Rod's older brother Rick worked under my Dad as assistant pro and Rod took over as head pro for my Dad when he retired. So needless to say we are close. Woody has just invested in the two brothers golf course in Wichita. Since Woody is from Wichita himself he supports their efforts. Rod was also roommates with Freddy Couples at the U of Houston! Small world in this business!

Good friends of Solus, Rick George(inset in the navy sport coat, rt side) joined us all on the tee for a BBQ lunch catered in for players, caddies and reps by the Houston Golf Assn. Rick always makes it over to say hi regardless of his schedule. Rick is the Chief Operating Officer for the PGA Tour. He previously held the same position for the Champions Tour before being promoted to this tour. He is a really nice guy and well liked by all!

I built a new set of the FC-10 56/60 for Brian Mitchell, here is his caddie with the clubs and hats I gave him. Brian missed the qualifier for this event but will play in New Orleans in a few weeks. Brian also plays the mini-tours and the Nationwide and has been a Solus player for a few years.

The next few photos are of Rich Beem's gamer 58 degree. He is struggling of late and I decided to see if Solus could help. Naturally he has a tough build. The club needs to have a swing weight of D0 which is part of the problem. The club is light due to the fact it is 1/2" under standard length.

He has changed to the Nippon 1150 Prototype shafts. No problem Nippon is on our van!

Naturally he wants "off-set" which is another problem. This much off-set will cause pulled shots especially in partial shot situations around the green unless he really holds on with his hands. This is really all the off-set in my mind is good for. Some swear by it, but I for one do not! Sorry he asked me for help!

Ditto the dreaded off-set!

Here is Padraig Harrington working on the launch monitor. His caddie is on the ground working Paddy's personal launch monitor which is right next to Taylormade's on the left. Paddy worked on his game all day long. You can really tell who is tuning up for the Masters!

Ol friend Doug Sanders spotted me coming from the van. He wanted to know how my Dad was getting along but more importantly put an eye on the FC-10. Here is his putting is touch to it! Doug as you all know is a tour veteran and in fact my Dad played with him on the PGA Tour back in the 60's! Boy was I young! He still remembers and will always look me up here in Houston! It is always good to see him!

Today was a tough day! It seemed nobody wanted to talk to me! I have these sort of days but really I didn't need one today.... I tried to follow up with Charles Howell, not once but three different times! Not once, did he act like he wanted anything to do with me! I was just trying to check and see how the 60 degree I got to him in Tampa was working. I had the same luck with Brandt Snedecker. Oh well, some days are like that!

You know I have given this tour thing some really heavy thought as of late. I think these players are so brain washed with big brands to the point they ignore or won't look at the equipment that is available at their finger tips, such as Solus. I think these players think we do not know what we are doing or know anything about technology due to our size. They know we don't have the monies to invest in big contracts nor the R&D budget or support as does the big boys. So how could we possibly have a better product than that of Titleist, Callaway, Taylormade that have a plant full of equipment, pay players to play and test the equipment and all of the big money to support this cause?

Believe me when I say this there are players that look at me like I have three heads! How can this fat guy know what my short game needs? Well I will tell you why? Because the stats don't lie and if the player was playing the best possible equipment which has undergone all of the engineering and relentless testing and support, still can't get the ball up and down. Because all of this hype doesn't make it will be the best equipment for maybe this particular player? Agree? So given that, why would a struggling player not try or look for alternatives? I will tell you, money and loyalty! Contracts can be an evil thing. The field this week has several players that are virtually holding on or on the way to losing their status. Believe you me brother there will be no contract if you don't perform! No ifs, ands or buts! I am always looking at everything available and I am not out here. But I can promise you I would never shut the door on a product until I have tried it all, you just never know? The Solus could put a few of these players back on the map, but they will never know because they are stuck in the big game of brand loyalty. Where will this loyalty be when they loss their status? They will walk as fast as they came! True!!!

There is no equipment out here regardless of size made to fit every player! Just as Solus is not for everyone, but then again it is for some! It's my job to put the two together. So in the long run it has nothing to do with size but playability for particular players not ALL players. We specialize in one segment of this game which allows us to focus on one thing and one thing only, which we think we can do it better than most! Just a little rambling! Sorry!! Needed to clear the air! Hey nobody would talk to me today so I thought I would keep you here reading about me!! HIHIHI.....

3/29/10 Part 2

Ok, here are a few more comparisons for you to look at. Here is the FC-10/56 next to a 56 degree from Fourteen.

Here we are on the left, next to the 56 degree from Scratch Golf. We still look the best to my eye!

Here is a great short game practice area at the end of the range. I was keeping an eye on Chad Campbell. I wanted to get our wedge in his hands.

Well I got the new wedge in his hands and that is as far as I got. He looked at them and said a few nice things and that was about it. He was playing with the Vokeys and in my mind struggling with distance control and ball spin rates. This is tough enough as it is but for a player to not try something regardless of club or manufacturer is pretty common. Once they get use to something and have an idea what the club will do under pressure it is hard to get it out of their hands, especially the money clubs such as the wedge. This is the case regardless of performance. The driver is one thing but yet a whole other animal. The wedge is so tough to get them to at least try! You would think that a player that is struggling would be willing to try anything under the sun to get back up to speed. I offered and that is all I could do to help at this point.

Here's a couple of shots of Paidraig making his weekly adjustments to his wedges. No he does this every week he plays in competition. Here he is making his requests to the Wilson rep. Paddy uses a lie board to make his adjustments from.

He tweaks his whole bag from time to time. This week it seems to be wedges and hybrid shafts.

Here is a shot of good friend Rich Beem testing the FC-10/60. He wants me to build him one to match his current gamer on Tuesday. He naturally wants a loft that I do not have yet, 58 degree. Naturally! We will hop right on this and adjust the 60 to 58!

I spotted another good friend on the putting green, Brennen Pappas. I took a stroll by his bag to discover all of this. It doesn't look for good for me. He is apparently under the grips of TM. I will still check just to make sure. He has played the Solus in years past so it only made sense to follow up and display our wears!

Here is Brian Bingham checking out his new set of FC-10's. Brian plays the Nationwide and various mini-tour events. He tried to qualify today for this event and missed the cut. He said he needed the new wedge!

3/29/10

Take a look at this shoe! Large and in charge! I sit it on the floor to compare it to my own, whew!! I could put my foot in my shoe down into this unit! I have never seen a shoe this big! It fits a big man.....

We all had fun just looking at this thing! It is a size 22 and we think the pair is for Shaq! This pair comes in two boxes! Big boxes!!

I am experimenting with a few ways to ID our tour clubs. I like to have an internal tracking code. In years past I have used a "T" which naturally stood for "Tour" in various locations on the club head. Here is one of my first thoughts. I put a "punch" mark just under the loft number. One punch would be PGA Tour, two punches would be Champions Tour and three punches for the Nationwide. They are just enough for me to see. This method could change! I really don't like this position!

Another look, bad photo! Sorry!

I decided to check in with Billy Mayfair this morning. He is still working with the FC-10. I just wanted him to know I haven't forgotten him!

The API had to be finished today due to bad weather that moved into Orlando on Sunday.

I told you last week I would give you a look at Bernhard's FC-10/56 once I finished it. Take a look at the off-set that I bent into the club. It's not hard to see but his is on the right.

He wants the leading edge back even with the ball side of the hosel. I wanted to show you how detailed his spec is.

 

 Bernhard plays a Green Victory Cord grip that is ribbed. Some call these grips reminders. It basically feels like a piece of coat hanger that has been put underneath the grip creating a raised area that is supposed to ride in the finger tips of both hands. These reminder grips are pretty common when installed in the square or neutral position which looks like the one on the left. Bernhard is a little different due to his being installed in a "weak" position or what we consider the "10:00" position. Here you can see the install compared to the square position.

Well my tour marking or ID position has changed! I will punch the club right next to the FC-10 on the hosel. It is out of the way and just as easy to see. I will stay with the punch marks though.

I ran into my real close friend KJ Johnson. KJ has graduated to the "big show" and has played the Solus in years past. He took a look at the new wedge and really put his stamp of approval on it. Of course he has already been nabbed by the big boys! Too late! But I did offer!

The Cap Cana Championship

3/24/10

I received news from Mike in the Dom Rep at the Cap Cana Championship. He reports that Jack Ferenz has his new FC-10/56 in play as does J. Ross with his FC-10/60. Bruce Fleisher put his 56 and 60 right in play! Loves them!

Hal Sutton is trying to amend his Callaway contract so he can play the Solus wedges! We are not sure how this is going to play out?
Tom Wargo picked up a FC-10/56 to begin testing with. Knowing Tom he will put it right in play this weekend!
Hal Sutton and Mark Hayes thought the 56 need a little more bounce. The bounce can be adjusted in the field on the tech van. The new 56 has 10 degrees of bounce on it already. I am not really sure the bounce is the issue. I think the lie angle needs to be checked first before any adjustments are made to the bounce.

3/21/10

Mike continued to distribute the new FC-10 during his off week. The players are all getting ready to travel to the Dom Rep for the Cap Cana Championship next week. There were a few players Mike took care of fulfilling their last minute requests. Gil Morgan wanted a 60 to match his 56. Good friend of Mike's, Mark Hayes got set up with a 56 and 60 while Jack Ferenz and Steve Thomas had a 56 shipped to them.
Mike will ensure the clubs design and performance next week by following up closely with these players. This follow up will be ongoing to confirm how many clubs go into play. Stay tuned, Mike is making some creditably head way on the Champions Tour!

Arnold Palmer Invitational

3/24/10

Today at the API we had a big pro-am which was going off with tee times instead of a shot gun start. This process really drags the day out!

I decided to work on a request from Bernhard Langer. He wanted a new 56 FC-10 but we needed to put his adjustments on it first. Bernhard likes the leading edge about 1/2 shaft behind the hosel. In other words the off-set will move the leading edge back the width of 1/2 of the shaft tip. This puts the leading edge in the off-set position. What we call on-set basically means the leading edge is in line with the ball side of the hosel when you look down on the club in the playing position.

Here are a few shots of the process it takes to do this. I was very pleased to find that the hosel has sufficient length to accept the adjustments and the head material is pliable enough to take the stretching necessary to make this adjustment without breakage.

His spec calls for a slightly longer than stock length which required a head that was light accordingly. Here is what I started with.

The wedge needed to be chucked up in the loft/lie machine so it can be held in place for bending. I am starting to make the first adjustment which is grabbing the wedge in what is considered the "par" area or heel contour and pulling or bending forward towards my chest at close to a 45 degree angle. The wedge will have to be bent upright then to around 75 degrees loft in order to start the process of "goose necking" the hosel to achieve the offset.

Here you and see how much adjustment has been made and how the wedge is held in place for bending. You might make note how upright the club looks at this point.

  

Here the wedge is now ready for the final adjustments, the loft/lie angles need to be put back to the correct number while finishing the smooth transition up the hosel.

It came out perfect and in fact looks really good to my eye! This is naturally in the playing position. When I finish the club next week in Houston I will set a stock wedge next to it so you can really get the idea of what has happened here!

Here you can really see the "gooseneck" effect from the back side.

If done correctly the hosel will have a smooth bend on the back side of the hosel leading to the bottom of the club. This is spot on!

Here is a front view. It really came out great he will be very happy with this look! We now have the offset he needs and maintained the full function of the sole contour and bounce angles. I am really excited as you can tell that the new club will accept these kinds of adjustments!

We will keep you posted on the progress of Bernhard's new club and we will share his feedback once he has had a chance to test it and put it in play.

Well it's been a really good week and we have got a lot accomplished! I will load up this afternoon and start my travels back across the country to Houston, Texas and the Shell Houston Open! Until next week have a great weekend!

3/23/10

Solus was the first on the tee this morning although it was still a little dark players were already on the tee warming up for their Tuesday am practice rounds. The first tee time was 07:30. I have had good luck this time of the morning, it’s quite and a perfect time to catch a player or two before the circus starts!

It was so dark I thought I would take one with the flash! Just in case you couldn't see the bag! Ha-Ha!

I caught Jason Gore first thing and had him take a look at the FC-10. He said they were beautiful and said we were on the right track. Naturally Jason has a deal with Cobra/Titleist but things will change soon since Puma is the new owners. I wanted to plant the seed now so when he needs a new wedge set Solus is the first in line! You never know what will happen, things could change tomorrow!

True Temper engineers were out testing their new "spinner" wedge shaft. They had all of the big boys wedges but seemed to overlook Solus, Scratch and Fourteen? We all have wedges! Oh wait the three of us don't own enough of the count collectively out here, I wonder why? Duh.......

I thought you might enjoy taking a look at all of the new groove configurations side by side. This collection from left to right are Vokey, Cleveland, Taylormade and the last two are Callaway. Does any one or two of these stand out over the others? You know what you see!

Here is another view which gives you a look at the new "spinner" shafts.

OK, let’s compare the new FC-10 this time from right to left, first the FC-10 the two Callaway's and then the Taylormade on the left end. I am not sure how Callaway has got around the USGA but something doesn't look quite right does it? I thought Solus was the "rebel"? UMMM.....

  

Here is good friend, Don White. Don is considered one of the best club grinders in the business! He is the "Grinder from hell" in my mind. He is a seasoned vet coming from years with Macgregor Golf. He has now been picked up by Scratch Golf to assist them with their new iron and wedge program. Don took a look at our new FC-10 and had a lot of good things to say. He said the shapes were really good and the sole contour excellent. He said we made the right move going to forged, they were perfect and really nice! His comments meant a lot to me about this new design, we have worked very hard to get it right! Here is one of the best giving his opinion! All good!!!

I started working on my list of targeted players for the day and caught up with Joe Ogilvy. He really like the look and feel. One problem he has a thirteen club deal with Taylormade! Oh well you never know?

I thought it would be fun to compare the new FC-10 side by side, one on one with each of the "big boys!" The first look is next to the Vokey on the right.

Next up the new Taylormade on the right. Of course the FC-10 on the left! You'll get the trend.

Callaway you know on the right. I still don't know how this is going to play out. I am going to ask some tough questions! I really don't see any advantage here, but it gives you the sense that something isn't quite right?

Finally the Cleveland, yes on the right! FC-10 left!

 

Hey check it out I ran into Davis Love III and he told me to go take a look at his "Tour Beast", here it is. Pretty cool but dirty! Can't have that! It needs a little detailing compared to the Solus TAV! Oh, for those of you that need to be caught up, the TAV stands for "Tour Assault Vehicle" or "The Beast".

Here is Solus player David Huffman looking over his new FC-10's. David plays the Tarheel Tour, Nationwide and will try to Monday "Q" for the Byron Nelson. Although he said he loved the 4.1's and 7.1's the FC-10's look, shapes and feel are the best! He really liked them. I put the personal touch on them by stamping his initials on them and setting them up to his spec.

David Huffman ditto!

Hey, I told you nine time buffet close you go home! HIHI!! Things a little more crowded a little after 1:00pm don't ya think?

I had four spectators hail me down on the tee to let me know they love the new "Tour Blog" and have been tracking me here all day on Twitter and Facebook! They all love it and thought I was doing a hell of a job. They had no idea how hard this duty was! Guess what the first thing they were NOT going to ask me? Yep, "how many clubs do you have in play?" They now understand and thought it was pretty funny to rib me a little. I told them to stay tuned that we had a new series starting soon call the "Tour Gig". This golf business is tighter than you think. I have made a lot of new friends over the years but nothing that compares to this now that we have started the new internet programs. They are coming out of the walls. This is the second week in a row that I have been called over to talk to the gallery! Pretty neat!

Not having all of the lofts right now is starting to manifest. D.A Points came by to look as did Rory "Sabo" to pick up a couple of wedges. Both wanted either a 54 and 58 or just the 58. I told them as soon as they arrived I would look them up!

Briny Baird told me to look him up in Houston next week! This week wasn't good and he apologized but was having difficulties with his swing and didn't have the time today. That's fine I respect that and will catch him next week!

Gabriel Hjertstedt from Sweden came looking for me! This is something different! He is currently on medical leave and is now starting his comeback. He is allowed to work on his short game now. He had heard through another player that our new wedges were really good. We got him fixed up with a 56 and 60, but he would like a 58 just as soon as I get them. We went ahead and adjusted the 60 to 58 for now and he said he would let me know how it worked. I explained my concerns and he understood. He said they look so good he would make sure they worked, regardless. He really fell in love with them! This is a good hit for us he is a very good international player this will spread the word of Solus!

It is really difficult now that there are three small wedge companies all going after the same player group since the pickings are few and far between! Hey there is still enough to go around and we all respect one another enough that we have fun helping each other in times of need! Pretty cool and a great working relationship!

3/22/10

I had a really pretty busy Monday! I was picking and choosing my targets for Tuesday morning. We had a big pro-am go off this morning so the work time was shortened. The wind was blowing at close to 25-30mph not a good day to test a wedge! Mt Tuesday plan will be to take the FC-10 to Chad Collins, Joe Ogilvy, Matt Every, Tim Herron and Vaughn Taylor. I got in front of Billy Mayfair and built him a 60 first thing.

Man this week we are packed in here like sardines! When we are this close together the sound and fumes from the generators it’s all you can do to be in the area!

The Golf Channel here crew getting ready for Mr. Palmer. They are shooting a piece for the Golfix segment to air on Monday night.










Players in the Monday morning pro-am got to select their gifts from the make shift pro shop that was set up right on the practice tee!

Good friend Boo Weekly gave the FC-10 a look and feel for me. Although he cannot play them he will still put an eye on things for me and give me his thoughts.



OOOH, it looks like there's an opportunity

in John Mallinger's bag take a close look! Doesn't appear there is a "full" bag deal here?

Looks like another target there appears to be room for one wedge in Vaughn Taylor's bag!

The King arrived on the tee preparing for the GC shoot with Boo Weekly. Mr. Palmer is in the purple sweater.

 

Like Father, like son! Rory "Sabo" brought his son out to the tee to practice with him. It appears is son is also on the Taylormade staff!

Another peek in John Mallinger's bag, if you look closely there appears to be two opportunities once I looked closer.









Here is Roger Cleveland finding out how hard it really is. Here he is showing the new Callaway wedge to Ping staffer Hunter Mahan. I do not believe there is any way he will get in his bag!

We have had several requests for more photos from inside our "Tour Van".

Here is my first club build in process this morning.

It is a FC-10/60 for

Billy Mayfair. I am setting the loft and lie angles.

Here's another view inside.

This is our technician, Don Parker at work.

Ditto

Don got pretty covered up for a Monday! If you look close you will see the new FC-10 heads in the lineup for assembly. It seems all of the shaft reps had quite a few to re-shaft today for some reason.

Here are two work orders for my requests this morning. This is a typical Tour order request form that we use internally in the van. This request has all of the pertinent build specs on it. These two requests were for clubs that I will be testing with the new KBS Tour Hi-Rev wedge shaft.

I built two sets one with standard size grips and then a set with a new build up grip which is a lot like Phil Mickelson uses. Basically we start with a mid-size grip and then build up is used to basically take out the "tapered" end of the grip making the diameter consistent from the butt cap to the end. This build up or oversize grip slows the hands down through the shot making them less active and more passive. This build up produces the same results as if you were to install a bigger pulley on a motor, this would slow the RPM's down and conversely you install a smaller pulley the motor will increase in RPM's. This is the same principal as this oversize grip with no taper. I think for wedge play this is ideal! We have a special grip coming that will allow this same feel without the buildup. I see more time than not amateur players using grips that are too small on their entire set make up. The grip is where it all starts. I think players need to pay closer attention to this aspect of their equipment.

These are the two sets ready for gripping.

This is the grip station, in fact this is the set that I am getting ready to install the buildup grip.

Billy Mayfair testing.

I no sooner got done delivering Billy's new wedge, here came Callaway and Roger Cleveland right behind me! Here is a shot of Billy looking at their new wedge. Billy didn't take one! The FC-10 was setting in his bag looking right up at Roger! Hihi...

3/21/10

Some might say the week was pretty slow for me! I think not. You see my attitude with this tour and all of the money and contracts is just this, R&D. This is absolutely the greatest R&D lab on earth when you are in the golf business. Where else would you get this sort of testing and feedback from the best players of the game! This is where the real benefits come in. I validate the design and make changes, test shafts and listen. If you think for one minute we are going to come out here and have 90 wedges in play you are sorely mistaken of how this game is played! If you can’t handle rejection, the ol Heisman move or the word “NO” or get discouraged easily due to player contracts you need to find other employment! This is a game and not a cheap one either, but if you are in the golf club manufacturing game you have to be here on the PGA Tour. I don’t care how good your mousetrap is you have to pay to play and the size of Solus will not yield the opportunity, say Taylormade has. They are a full line golf company and have the dollars to buy up the players! I will expand on this process over the next few weeks in a step by step walk through of the “Tour GIG”!

My main goal with our new FC-10 is to make sure every player that I can get to takes a look at the new design. I don’t want the players thinking that I came out like the rest with the same models as last year with nothing more than a groove change. I want all of them to know we have come out with a completely new offering not just a groove change! I will continue, plus you never know I might pick up one or two players along the way! There are always opportunities just around the next corner! If one door closes another one will open! You can defiantly tell times are tight, the equipment isn’t going out to the players quite as swiftly and abundantly as it has in years past!

I have started next week’s player target list. It consists of JB Holmes, Jimmy Walker, Briny Baird, Brandt Snedeker, Jonathan Byrd, Paul Goydos, Arnold Palmer and Luke Donald. I will update this list over the Next few days. Please standby!

I am in Orlando getting myself organized for next week’s event the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Organizational duties include laundry, dry cleaning, truck cleanup and misc duties. I am going to visit a few old friends over at the Edwin Watts stores. There are quite a few fellow reps staying out between Tampa and Orlando so there will be a few adult beverages taken in at some point over the weekend!