World Golf Championships-CA Championship

3/10/10

Here is the first custom set heading to Nationwide Tour player, Alex Carper. I am anxious to plant a few early seeds over there and start the buzz. Alex also plays the Adams Tour as well. This set has the FST Hi-Rev wedge shafts with custom lie angles.

I spent a little time this morning trying to get a little love from the Golf Channel. I spoke to Adam Barr and found out he is no longer working for the Golf Channel. He is now doing free lance work.

I had a really good time working the crowds/spectators. Tremendous amount of Solus fans down here! There was a lot of excitement surrounding the new FC-10's. The most popular response "when will the new FC-10 be available for purchase?" The buzz is building!

In all three days I didn't see myself any player changing anything out other than maybe a shaft or grip. Yet there were 587 reps on the tee, well maybe not that many! But it looked like a 10 to 1 ratio, reps to player.

You know this money/contract thing has really got out of hand. I find it hard to believe these companies are selling that many $500.00-600.00 drivers or $2000.00 sets of irons? The money has to come from somewhere?

Mike Nickell called me and has been working a few pros during his off week. He got Mark Hayes set up with a new 56 and 60 FC-10 and shipped a 56 to Jack Ferenz. Jack called Mike and told him the word was out on the Champions Tour. Jack is going to the Cap Cana in a few weeks and wanted to start working with the new wedge before he went. On to next week’s event in Tampa, Transitions Championship. Have a great week-end!

Dawg

I thought I would take few more photos of our trailer with the new graphicsfor 2010.

3/9/10

Well I thought I would continue to hit my key targeted players today. It seems that every player in the field has a full bag contract. The big four have made sure they locked up the cream of the field. I had a few lengthy conversations with players that hold some weight on the money list about contracts. The general equation for offering a contract or tee up money to the player was pretty basic. If you want a contract you will play a full bag nothing less. Take it or leave it! Naturally they took it! The rest got basically tee up money for playing the driver that's it. With that said the fields this week all have contracts! This holds true for the balance of the players from around the world! One thing still stands, the balance of the players will be looking and changing equipment to get them back into the money or a new contract!

The new True Temper wedge shaft will be called a Dynamic Gold "Spinner" in three different weights which will affect flex. I didn't think the test shafts arrived but apparently Solus wasn't in the loop as previously told. Whatever, I am supposed to have a few pieces to test next week in Tampa. I did stand in on Tim Clark testing the shaft this afternoon. He really likes the shaft. The shaft has a unique step pattern which falls right below the grip then pretty much picks up the step pattern of the S400. I will keep you posted on my player testing next week.

Solus was invited to the annual Golf Pride Golf outing and luncheon in May. It is a nice gesture of appreciation to their customers. The event is usually in line with the Players Championship in May. I thought you might like to see the invitation.
Ozik/Matrix shaft company has designed a graphite shaft the changes colors with the temperature. It starts out a dark navy and as the temp goes up it turns to white. Not sure what this is all about but then again I am not in the shaft business!
I was introduced to a new grip today from Pure Grip. Here are a few photos of the grip. It has several key features that make it unique. First of all it is 100% rubber. I am not sure you are aware but not all grips are 100% rubber! If the grip is colored it is not 100% rubber thus these grips need to be changed out more frequently since they dry out faster. This grip has a one year warranty, stays soft and is considered "Eco Friendly". The big feature is the installation. These grips can be installed without grip tape or solvent, but air! The grip is blown on or off if build up is needed and the player can hit them immediately without the dry time. Additionally, they can be personalized and the price points are very attractive. They come in only one color which is black since 100% rubber only comes in black.
HIHI.....

Invitation to the annual Golf Pride golf outing/luncheon

New Eco friendly grip from Pure Grip

Closer look at the grip

Monday 3/8/10

Well for the first event and first day of the 2010 tour schedule I feel pretty good. We are back in the saddle! It feels good to be back out especially with the new FC-10. I am really excited and looking forward to having a great season although we missed the west coast swing. It will take a couple of events to get back in the routine and the players recognizing that I am back out.
After getting reacquainted with my peers I started to do some investigative work regarding wedge shafts. I needed to see what shafts were being used up to this point. It appears the True Temper S400 "Tour Issue" remains strong with a close second the FST Hi-Rev wedge shaft. There are a few sprinklings of KBS Tour Nickel here and there as well. I checked in with True Temper to get their thoughts. They have a new "spinner" wedge shaft coming out this week, in fact it was supposed to be here today. We have been invited to test this new product and Solus will be one of the first! This is yet another opportunity for us to get in front of the players especially with the new FC-10! I will keep you posted on developments as they come along.
It is evident that Solus is not the only one having trouble getting product! This issue is pretty much across the board with all of the manufacturers which made me feel a little better since I am starting with only the 56 and 60's first
The field is limited this week to the top 68 players/winners of events around the world on all tours. Although a slow week there will be ample, productive time for me to catch up and come up to speed.
I thought the player club contracts would "soften" a bit with the shape of the economy but not in the golf business! The majority of this field have full bag contracts! Hard to believe I know? Sad but true....
I took the day rather slow with the players and managed to get in front of my good friend Retief Goosen. I had him put an eye on the new FC-10/56. He said it was beautiful! The shape, bounce angles and overall view were perfect! Sad state of affairs he cannot play it! Contract! Hey, there are plenty of players to attack especially with a weapon like what we have.
Feels good to be back out! Until tomorrow...............TBC. Oh, to be continued! HIHIHI!!!!!

This is where I store our head stock inventory for the tour.

 

This location is my personal locker on board. I store head stock and misc supplies.

We are back in the line up on the practice tee, this was taken first thing Monday morning.

We have a new staff bag on the PGA Tour, Scratch Golf.Scratch is in direct competition with Solus. Their primary line is wedges although they do offer custom grind high end forged iron sets retail value $2000.00

 
Scratch has invested a lot to expand their presences on the PGA Tour. This is their tour van.

Hey the circus is back in town! Here is a shot of the midway!

I got moved back into our tour van here are a few shots of the
wedges that I check for loft and lie accuracy.

Sunday 3/7/10

Well Sunday morning I took advantage of an opportunity to off load my tour stock and supplies on our tour van. This will make Monday morning’s organization a little less hectic! Otherwise I would be toting all of my equipment close to a quarter mile which is hard on a "fat man" if you catch my drift! On top of that I would have had to make three trips! The grounds crew would have more than likely found me face down in a flower bed after my first round trip to the truck!

I thought I would snap a few shots of the "beast" next to our trailer, take a look at the new graphics. The trailer really looks good!