Children's Miracle Network Classic

11/10/10

May I recommend the Dunkin donuts "Sausage Pancake Bites" for breakfast! I tried them for the first time this morning and I have to say they are really good! Take it from the "fatman!" Of course the single order of three bites just didn't cut it so I had to double up! Delicious!! These are a definite must try!

Well it's finally over! The 2010 tour season is over for Solus and me. Although sad we had a great year out here considering all of the trials and tribulations! It is always a sad day when you are done for the year, however there isn't much time between now and the start of the 2011 season. Q School finishes up the week after Thanksgiving and the reps were already booking their flights to Hawaii for the first event!


We talked to Ron Graham (Wilson rep that had the accident) today. He said he already had his hip repaired but the doctors were waiting for the swelling to go done in his heel so they can see what they need to do to fix it. He is trying to get back on his feet before Hawaii. I thinking it will be rushing things if he makes that schedule. Come to find out he was playing hide and go seek with his dog and fell off an 8' or 9' retaining wall back of his house when he lost his balance! Ron is an accomplished player himself, however this will really change his game especially since the all of the injuries were on his left side. Any of you that play golf right handed can appreciate the problems with injuries such as Ron's really playing havoc with his swing. His swing may never be the same.


I spoke with one of the PGA Tour officials regarding Fulton Allem. Fulton was rushed to the ER on Monday and it was discovered he had blood clots that had come from his legs and hit his lungs. They almost lost him on the table. I understand that he is doing better and expected to fully recover which is great news! Fulty plays the Champions Tour and has a great year. We all send out best out to Fulty for a speedy recovery!

As promised here are the closer views of the "Transformer" putter. Here is a shot of the back of the mallet style where you can see the weight ports.

Here is a look at one of the inserts that are available. Pay close attention to the shaft and hosel as it relates to the what I call the "face plate". This is the single piece the putter is built and spec'd around.

Yet a different model

As you can see this is the engraving on the bottom of the flange.

Here is a view of another insert which is on the "plumbers neck" model.

Here is a look at the opposite side of the bag.

Here's a good look of the three different hosel designs, which make up the base "face plate" the rest of the putter is assembled around.

Just a last look of the "presentation"! Really neat design which a lot of flexibility for player customization.

Not much else went on the rest of the day other than everyone cleaning and packing out equipment and wishing each other well. Just because this is the last event doesn't mean it will be the end of the blog spots. I will keep you informed of year end happenings and goings on! There's a lot going on in the off season so I will continue to share my thoughts and information from the "inside".


I am setting in a motel room tonight in Pensacola finishing up the blog up before making my way back home. It will be a long day tomorrow somewhere in the neighborhood of ten hours driving before stopping one more time. Oh one last update on the T.A.V., it's running beautiful and getting an average of 21-23 MPG!! Awesome! I just had to hit you one last time regarding the truck! Quite a few of you offered help and suggestions when I was having all the downtime earlier this summer, thank you for your support and suggestions! But we are all good now!!


All of us at Solus wish you all the Happiest of Holiday Seasons with family and friends! All the best!
The Dawg

11/9/10

Well it's Tuesday morning and here I am heading into the Magic Kingdom! Through these gates all dreams come true! I am dreaming that Solus will be the #1 wedge on the PGA Tour! Hey this is where it all happens! Justa a dreamin!!

I started my day really well running into a real good friend and Solus supporter, Rich Beem. He is finally back after being on medical leave. He made my day requesting a new 52, 56 and 60. It's good to see Rich back out and we wish him the best of luck this week! If you look close you can see the nose of the Solus van down in the left of the photo. Just a little something to point out!

This event is usually the place that the players are requesting equipment for testing in the off season. Quite frankly I have seen anything going out and in fact everyone looks wore out! Usually a lot of Christmas presents are going out to the players this week, however none of that has been going on either?

I built and speced out a wedge for the #1 12 year old junior in the country, Sierra Brooks. She won the US Junior her in Florida and has fallen in love with the new FC-10. She has been using a 56* but it's too long and heavy for her. The request came through a fellow rep and so we got her fixed up. I built her a 33" 60/FC-10 we set the swing weight at D0. She really loves the spin this wedge produces especially around the green.

I made my way up to the locker room to drop Rich's wedges off and on the way I stopped by the putting green to take a look at a new putter line, Samurai. This putter was designed by a very good friend and I saw the first prototypes earlier this year at the Colonial. The putter was then named the "Transformer". It is really a neat design and yields tremendous flexibly for fitting with a simple exchangeable base face plates. If you look there are three hosel offerings, plumbers neck, double bend and center shafted base face plates then you add the black back piece and face insert, BAM you have a putter! This design yields the flexibility of producing several different configurations in a matter of seconds. Pretty cool. I will try to get a closer look for you tomorrow. What you can't see is the weight ports in the back.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

11/8/10

Well this is it, the last event for the 2010 season! You can tell it by the amount of players that are on site. The weather is beautiful! All of us are taking inventory and moving equipment out of the van. The van goes into the shop for maintenance and fresh decals before hitting the tour next year in January.

I have a couple of things to get finished up while on the van. I have build orders for 10 wedges going out to Nationwide and Champions Tour players. There are a couple of wedges going to players that will be in the Q School finals.

This week I am assisting the LubriSyn hu company get their product in front of the PGA Tour players. I am distributing a dozen samples of this amazing product to few select players this week. I have been using this product myself since San Antonio, I really feel the improvement in my hip. This product improves and maintains healthy joints and the fluids that protect them. I am actually up for a hip replacement in the next few years if not sooner. Since I am on my feet all day my hip really gives me fits by the end of the day especially if the weather is changing. The timing of being introduced to this product couldn't have been better. Simply put it works! Visit their website at Lubrisynhu.com.

All of us at Solus send our best wishes to fellow rep Ron Graham. Ron suffered a fall this past weekend breaking his hip, breaking his wrist and crushing his heel. He fell while playing with a family dog. Ron is the Tour Rep for Wilson Golf and is primarily responsible for everything from A-Z for Paddy Harrington. Thank goodness it's the end of the season but like all of us it doesn't stop there. I am sure he had a hectic off season planned which will have to be postponed in Ron's world! All we can do is wish him a rapid recovery!

Well yet another health bracelet hits the tour! This is supposed to be the most powerful of the all. Good friend and fellow rep Paul Coe brought them out this week to distribute a few out to players. I have to say it is comfortable, it's constructed of soft rubber. I am a firm believer of these health bracelets. This technology happens to be the one currently being advertised on TV. They prove it works by pushing people over with and without the band showing the results.

I am really not sure why I snapped this shot but it does look a little awesome! It's the tour truck line up! Of course Mizuno just got their new truck and it dwarfs the rest of us. Mizuno was one of us being "pick up" trucks but has now graduated to the bigger class! He still runs and stands with the best of us! Like I said not sure why I took it but I thought it would look good in the history books!

My friend Paul has all kinds of goodies this week, check these puppies out! They are from a manufacture in Canada and they are competing with Crocs. I have never seen them but I guess they have been around and sell a ton of these here in the states. Paul has product to distribute to caddies, players and reps. They are seeing if there is any interest on the PGA Tour, if so they are planning on some sort of incentive program for the caddies next year. I snagged a pair to test since I am an avid wearer of Crocs. In fact that is all I wear until the snow hits the ground! These are really nice and feel great on my feet! I am not sure you have noticed the name, but it is appropriate don't you think? Dawgs! Ya man! That's what I'm talkin bout!

I am not sure all of you follow us on Facebook so I took a few photos for the blog. I went out to the truck to leave and felt something behind me as I walked over. Well I was right there was something following me, wild turkeys! These fellows were on the tee this morning and have no trouble walking right up to you close, but not that close! I may pull one in for thanksgiving! I realize this is Disney where all your dreams come true, but come on, wild turkeys!

As you can tell I am reaching since there wasn't much player interaction today!