Valero Texas Open

5/13/10

Today was really tough to work. We were all standing around waiting for the morning pro-am to start and looked up and they had a second pro-am which was shot gunning off of the other course! The Oak course had the normal format pro-am with scheduled tee times. There are very few events that have two pro-ams working simultaneously. The pros were allowed to wear shorts on the back course. This is something new!

I approached 14 new players this week with little success. Most of these guys are from the Nationwide Tour and haven't had a chance to see the new FC-10. I was shocked to find that the big companies have such a strong hold on even these players. Not having the other lofts hurt me here as well. I did get a few to allow me to follow up next week at the Bryon so not all is lost. It is just surprising! The SST shaft testing results rumor has trickled down to the Nationwide so the rumor is all over the tour regarding the FC-10 out spinning the competition without purring the shaft!! In the next few weeks I am going to really press this issue with the players that show interest. We continue to have an advantage over the others by design. I am hoping we will get the other lofts soon, this will really help.

I started building Rory Sabbatini's wedge for next week and will also get Daly's finished up next week for Colonial. I was told yesterday that Padriag Harrington will not play next week at the Bryon. This means the spin/shaft tests I had scheduled will be pushed back to the Colonial.

Steve Elkington's caddie came by this morning to pick up a 60* FC-10 per his request. He wanted to practice with it before next week. Little by little we are starting to penetrate the tour. Like I have said over and over if Solus could get 4-6 players out here week to week we would be doing fantastic for a company our size. We are getting close to that number. The clubs we currently have out are staying in the bag's which is more good news. The contract staff players as you know dominate this tour making it very difficult to get clubs in play. We are out here and we do have equipment in play. We have earned our stripes to be out here which is very difficult for any company our size trying to play this enormous money game!

This week in Birmingham, Mike had Gene Jones, Fuzzy and several other players take a look at the "off-set" samples I shipped over. They were a big hit! I am thinking this would be another great product line for the future. We could offer an "off-set" set which currently is not being offered by any major manufacturer that I am aware of.

I received the graphite shafts for Fuzzy's set this week. He wants a 52 and 56 with the same off-set and his shaft. Done!

I started on Rich Beem's back up and will have it ready for him on Monday morning at the Bryon.

I am also going to test this shaft from UST. Originally it was made for a putter but after talking to the rep it might make one hell of a shaft for a wedge! It is a combination of composite and steel joined together with a special fitment in the middle. You never know until you test! I will keep you posted as we go through the testing.

I told you yesterday they it if were me I would be camping out in this area, well take a look at today! Things are a little different since the greens are so hard to hold a shot on. I had my bag sitting right out in the middle but caught two amateurs helping themselves to my bag. I know better than this but thought I could keep an eye on things. I had to politely go retrieve my equipment with the help of security. The amateurs explained they thought they were there for demo? Yea, right!

It's amazing what a new Solus hat will get you! These are our ad dollars at work front and center in "Player" parking spot #1! Every amateur and pro had to walk right by here to catch the shuttles to the clubhouse. Perfect!







Our tour tech Don continues to have a downside in the "luck" department! Not only did his truck get broken into for the fourth time he encounter even more bad luck. Tuesday afternoon the wind blew so hard the steel door on the back of the trailer kept slamming shut and the clip to hold it open wasn't strong enough. After about the fourth or fifth time the door slammed this time knocking the thermostat off of the wall inside the door. Don was standing in the doorway attempting to replace the thermostat when the door blew closed yet again this time his fingers were in the jam. Yes the heavy steel door closed and smashed his last two fingers. His luck did change though it didn't break or cut them off which both were possible. So it's had been a rough road up to here. His back has two bulging discs position 4 and 5 making him walk at an angle. He is scheduled to go through therapy when he gets over to Memphis in a few weeks. In the meantime we are all pitching in to run the trailer while Don is injured! He is one stubborn dude!

Next stop Irving, TX for the HP Bryon Nelson Championship! The weather is already starting to boil up for the event. Every year we get hit at the Byron with inclement weather this year looks to be no exception! Rain, Hail and tornados are all predicted! It will also be very hot!

5/11/10

Well I know everybody's is tired of seeing the set up each week but it is important to this game we play out here! For those of you that want to see it here is the set up for Tuesday morning. This is the "short game" area. Nobody else moved in on me this week? Not sure why, maybe they knew something I didn't? It made sense to me so here I am!

Since this is a new venue for these guys most of them were hitting about 50 balls and heading straight to the course. The other factor is the wind! This course is up on a hill and the wind really blows through here, today winds were 35-40mph at times. Great day to test a new wedge! Not!

I will tell you one thing if it were me I would go play my practice round and then I would camp out at this short game area for the rest of the day! These guys will find themselves off to one side of the green or the other due to the green designs. There is a lot of undulation and run offs around the greens, additionally the greens will be hard targets in this wind. It will not be fun but your short game better be sharp and in order!

I thought I would give you a little sneak preview of the custom wedges I am building for Rory Sabbatini. Although he is not in the field this week I am getting them ready for the Bryon Nelson next week. Rory loves the "skull and cross bones" thing so away I went! Pretty cool don't ya think! Hey I will do whatever necessary to get our wedges in play sometimes you have to go to these lengths to do so! Here we go! Hold on!

I spotted John Daly and his caddie, Dee on the putting green this morning. It looks like JD is still in search of the extra spin. Out with the Callaway's in with the Taylormades! John and I have had our moments but I still really want to help him and I have the tools to do so if he will just give me a chance.

So we talked and I explained! Damn JD lost the weight but look who found it! UMM.......

Obviously I am the "big one" so to speak, hell maybe I need the lap band thing? Whew!!

Well I am finally making some head way here and the door is open. We decide to test a new shaft the Nippon Prototype wedge shaft first if this doesn't work I will build him one with the graphite shaft of his choice. But he agreed to let me see what I could do to help. JD cannot spin the ball believe it or not.

Here I go again! We will start with the 60 and go from there. If I fail today we will have another ready and waiting for him in FT Worth. This is the next event for John.

I know you have seen it before but bare with it some haven't seen this yet! We do have new friends each week on this blog so hang in there! John has a custom Master Grip leather grip which has six wraps of build up tape underneath the grip. It is like holding on to a tennis racket! No kidding......

Well we tested with mixed results. He loves the head but the dead weight of the club is too heavy for him as compared to graphite shaft he is playing. He wants to feel the club head, however it is very difficult to get him the swing weight he wants with all of the tape and leather at the other end! We did produce more spin though! As you know John had tremendous touch around the greens, the point of his "feel" is a big factor when fitting the right combinations together. I am going back to the trailer and order the graphite shaft in for next week. I will get this one built and see him in Ft Worth!





Rich Beem came by the trailer to order a "back up" wedge to match the one we spec'd him with at the Houston Open. Rich has had shoulder surgery and will be off of a couple more weeks. He did say the FC-10 is in play and he loves it! In fact his swing coach has been playing the Series 4.1's for years. He asked me if I could fix him up with a new set of the FC-10's. Rich will be at the Bryon next week and will come by the van to pick his "back up" wedge up. I started on it today and will finish it up next week. I have quite a few alterations that need to done such as the leading edge squared, 1/4 shaft off-set adjusted into the wedge and the new Nippon Prototype wedge shaft installed. It will take a few days to get everything in order!

I will get back after it in the morning!

5/10/10

Well the weekend didn't end up on a positive note for our driver/tech. On Friday while he was in checking in at the front desk of the motel his truck was broken into again! This time they broke the driver's side window out and took his computer and briefcase. He lost not only the computer but $800.00 in cash and two back up credit cards along with all passwords and banking information. Don called me Friday night to warn me of the break in. This all happened in broad daylight and nobody sees a thing! I heeded the warning and decided to take everything out of my truck and pack it in plastic tubs for storage in the bed, out of sight. Texas has not been good to Don!

The Texas Open has been moved to the new TPC of San Antonio. Although a little unorganized which is typical of a new venue. Here is a look at the new Marriott resort. No expense has spared! The parking for all of us reps was probably two miles away. The funniest thing was I parked and looked over to see a row of SUV shuttles staged and ready to take you to the clubhouse, I thought? I parked and jumped in to the first shuttle in line. The driver drove about 50 yards straight forward and turned and said "here you go!" Once I stopped laughing I said "You have to be kidding right?" The driver said no I can’t go any further! I then asked where the driving range was? Nobody knew? I arrived at the course at 6:30am and arrived after my morning stroll around 7:45am! Hard way for a fat man to start his Monday!

I am really pumped over the short game area! It is perfect and is about 30 yards from the trailer and directly behind the practice tee! Daddy likes this!

Here is another view from the practice tee. The photo doesn't do this view justice! This facility has two courses which are layout in the rolling quarrys and hills of the property. The players are saying this is the hardest course they have played yet! The greens super said they were going to hold the greens to 9 to 9.5 on the stimp meter. Otherwise there wouldn't be a player break par!

The trailers are set up right behind the practice tee. Not a bad set-up! Only half of the trailers came in for this tournament. This is usually an off week for a few since the field is primarily made up of Nationwide Tour players. So this week is pretty weak.

I was hoping to work with Sabo this week but he is not playing after all. I will share a photo of the personalized herds in tomorrow’s blog. They are cool!

The Players Championship

5/5/10

"Tip of the week"-Here is a little "groove sharpening" tip. Go to your local Lowe's or Home Depot and purchase the "red" Scotchbrite polishing pads. Scrub or polish the groove section from one end of the groove to the other, back and forth. This slight polishing will clean and dress the groove edges! That's all I am going to say! Catch my drift?

Since I was denied on Monday I decided to set up down at the other end of the tee, "where I was supposed to be?" right in front of the "Tour Academy". You might make note of who is in the area.

10 minutes later! Umm the wedge gardening is in full bloom!

I followed good friends Bo Van Pelt and Charles Howell III for a few holes. Here is Bo teeing off of the fourth tee. Keep an eye on Bo he has been playing very well this year since moving from Nike to Titleist.

Charles Howell III getting ready to tee off.

Ditto

Here isTitleist testing several new ball configurations with player Brian Gay.

OK the fun is beginning in the SST Shaft Purring lab. It was rumored last week that the results from the SST Shaft analysis shown Solus to have the highest ball spin rate! The notable others I am sure you can guess? Nonetheless, the proverbial games began. With the release of this information it suddenly has become a huge issue. I tried to confirm with SST the test results with no luck. Accordingly the officials at SST they did not get to test our wedge due to rain conditions. Something funny was going on behind the scenes! My test results were not like company A, B, C and D? My packet had been tampered with! The rumors had already started to fly and I was keeping a low profile. The long and the short of it was just this. Apparently during the testing our FC-10 was tested alongside A, B, C and D but it had rained out the last part of our test which was getting the data from the wedge with the purred shaft. All of the wedges that were tested had the S400 Tour Issue shafts. All were tested in the logo "down" position and compared to the "purred" position. I happened to see a few of these results and the numbers were amazing! I had seen and heard numbers that ranged from a 38% to 42% increase in ball spin rates in the purred position! I also learned that Scratch and Fourteen were not included in this testing! Seemed strange to me? To my surprise I was told once again that the Solus FC-10 produced the highest ball spin rates! This comparison was made from the logo "down" position since that was all the data they had to use! With that said you can imagine what companies A, B, C and D were thinking! The rumors had to be stifled quickly! This kind of rumors can't be flying around here, can they? Solus out spinning A thru D, can't be? Suddenly the powers to be began flexing and bowing up over this situation. It is great press for Solus though! Since we did have the advantage to see the numbers once the shaft had been purred we have to assume we would show an increase as well which really puts some heat on, ya think? This is very good news for us since the players were all hearing the rumors and asking questions. Man you should have heard some of the negative comments that were being made by A thru D, damage control! I think you get the meaning of all of this. A thru D thinks the testing was all BS and meant nothing. Hey the numbers in my books don't lie, it is what it is! In fact the numbers they had produced on the FC-10 pretty much mirrored the test results we produced from our robot testing back in January. Naturally the Taylormade launch monitor was used and away we went. Padrig came into the SST trailer and told him to assemble three wedges with all of the new shafts and grips. He wants to compare one to the one another.

Naturally the first player to go into the SST Pure tour van was Padraig Harrington. He asked the crew which wedges had the highest ball spin rates and they told him Solus, B and C not A. Company A was not happy and raised quite a bit of hell over it. Please note I am taking the high road on this issue and did not mention the other companies throughout this post, but you can pretty much figure it out for yourselves.

Padraig made his request to SST officials so we all scrambled to get things ready. He wanted to test the top three and compare them with his current gamer. I was told that all of the wedges would be spec'd using the DG Spinner wedge shaft. I thought this was kind of unusual at the time but ended up going the same direction as the rest, I thought? At this point this in my mind is a wonderful opportunity for Solus and the FC-10 as long as we were doing an apple to apple comparison. Personally if I would have installed the 6.5 Rifle in all of the wedges since that is what Paddy plays, but who am I to question? Right?

Here I am getting my shaft purred for Paddy. SST said they would build the clubs but I opted to build it on our van since that is where all of Padraig's wedges and for that matter his entire sets are built.

  

First off I had to lighten the head weight slightly to hit his swing weight number of D3. This is a simple and effective way to remove weight and keep the integrity of the design intact. The only other way would be to start grinding on the outside of the club which I didn't want to do. I took the lightest head I had in stock and went from there. No worries!

I recruited the help of Padraig's rep, Ron Graham. Ron handles all of Paddy's club requests and is the rep for Wilson which is on our van. Paddy has an unusual grip and position of installation and Ron is the only one trusted to get this right!

  

Here you can see what I am talking about. The grip is clocked on the club in a "weak" or what's considered an "open" position. The grip is a Victory undersized being what we call a "62 ribbed" as opposed to a "58 round" the 58 being larger in diameter and ribbed meaning it has a built in reminder which rides in the finger tips of the player. He is the only one that I know out here that uses this small of a grip.

This is the new DG Spinner wedge shaft.

  

All was good until I arrived at the tee and seen that the testing was going to be done by company A. I thought SST would at least be present for the testing. The problem with any test like this is the fact the testing can be always be swayed one way or the other. I think you know what I mean? As I looked at the other wedges I made note that Paddy's gamer and company A's both had the Rifle 6.5 not the DG Spinner. For a split second I thought, pick the FC-10 out and wait until another time. The reason being these two shafts are light years apart from one another which will not be an apple to apple comparison to each other. I thought to myself I have a 50/50 chance here and the other two wedges have the DG Spinner. Given Paddy's swing the DG Spinner is not the right shaft for him period! But not to make a scene I stay in the testing. You know hind sight is 20/20 well I was right. Company A's wedge out-performed the rest of us, naturally! Oh by the way this shaft is great for some players but not Padraig.

Here is a shot of Padraig testing the FC-10. He loves the shape and sole contour but we failed the test with this shaft. By now, I'm pissed as you can imagine so company A made their point. So what!! Once the testing was over and oh by the way I wasn't privy to the test data, duh........Ron told me after it was all said and done the test results failed all three of the wedges SST had tested as the highest spinning. As you can imagine I had to "walk it off" so to speak so I didn't say anything I would regret later. After the smell was gone I had a conversation with Ron and put together a plan to re-test the FC-10 with Paddy at the Bryon Nelson. I built two wedges for him to test, one is a direct spec copy of his current gamer and the second one I installed a new Nippon Proto wedge shaft. This shaft has not been player tested but is designed to have the weight and performance to increase ball spin while lowering the flight. It should prove to be perfect! I have a internal motto of my own, never give up, never give in and never quit trying! Thus I will continue to pursue Mr. Harrington! I will show him a thing or two of my own!

The reasoning for all of this testing is the fact the players are really starting to feel the effects of this groove change. The course conditions from the west coast to the east coast are night and day. Different grasses and softer greens on the west coast didn't really test the new grooves, but here it is a different story. Hard, dry, fast greens and thick bladed rough conditions all produce different results. The quest to master the new grooves continues.

On to other things! I thought I would introduce to you the principals behind the Darrell Survey. Here is John Minkley and Susan Naylor taking the count in Jim Furyk's bag. Yes that is "Fluff" his caddy.

I headed over to the famous 17th hole here at the TPC.

The crowds are not as big as years past. Normally the banks are full since this is the day the caddies take shots at the green.

Here's a look.

Here I am on the 17th tee getting ready to put on a little clinic for the boys and gallery! HIHIHI!!!

Great friend and fellow rep Jerry Walter's thought it was about time my photo show up in the Solus blog. Hey I think I'm ready!

I am not so sure why the cooler is so important to Jerry?

Like I said not sure why? Here it is again!

I think I am going to hit a little "Bobby Locke" knock down, hooded, 3/4 52 degree shot! HIHI...

Looking good in the neighborhood! Suck it up, big boy! I wasn't breathing at this point! Jerry had a laugh on me!

Once the player hits his shot the caddy then proceeds over to the wagering table which is located about 20 yards closer to the hole. The player makes a wager, which today looked like $100.00 that his caddy's shot will be the closest to the hole. At the end of the day the caddy that is closest to the hole wins the pot. This week the caddies and players have pooled monies together to honor and assist the family of Greg Rite. Greg had a brain tumor and passed away recently. The winning caddy will donate the closest to the hole pot to his fund to help the family in this time of need. Greg was a great friend to us all and will be missed dearly out here. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greg's family during this difficult time.

On to Texas for the "Texas Swing"! San Antonio is the first stop of three through Texas. The Texas Valero Open will be contested on a new TPC venue, AT&T Oaks Course next week. Then on to the Bryon and Colonial to complete the swing!

5/3/10

I am really not sure why I took these 2 shots other than I was sort of pumped over the parking situation! Not often are we so close to the trailers!

Dittio! This is really nice! Front row parking, Love it!

This is the short game area that I tried to set up in! Perfect for the wedge program don't you think? Of course I was denied by one of the officials!

I have taken this photo before, but for the few newcomers here it is again! The object in the photo is the tip of my ball point pen. The pin is directly over the area that the staff bags and trailers are. My vantage point is right in front of the pro shop looking back to the other end! It is quite a hike from down there all the way back here! Don't forget I am not light on my feet! Tough walk! Hot!

Today was the hottest day I have worked in quite some time! The humidity almost matched the temp! HOT, HOT and more HOT!

One of my really good friends, Pat McCoy passed on a few nice comments regarding our new "Tour Blog". He said he had been following it and keeping updated with my every move and thought the blog was very good and well written! He said he really enjoyed the reading it and the website was very professional! Pat is a representative of Fujikura Shaft Company. I really appreciate this kind of feedback especially from one of my peers such as Pat. I have great respect for Pat and he does an excellent job for Fuji! Thanks Pat!

PING has brought out their new "Forged" wedges this week. I wondered how long it would take PING to come out with a forged club? You knew it had to happen sooner or later! I will try to get a photo or two the new product if I can.

I ran into a good friend Scott Hend. Scott is a tour player playing the Italian Tour and is back in the states visiting. We had a little time to discuss wedges and his needs. He loved the look of the new FC-10's. He said he was having a lot of trouble with his 60, the ball flight and launch is too high. This problem I hear almost daily. The new grooves cause the ball to walk up the face before launching? This is part of the wedge design and the other the groove configuration. The problem can be addressed to a point. The player can de-loft the club to achieve the desired ball flight of work with the proper shaft for his particular swing. Either one will work and address the issues at hand! I gave him a card and told him to call me with his specs. Scott is a great ball striker and has been out on this tour for several years!

Long Drive Champion, Jerry James came by to take a look at the new wedges. He lives right here at Sawgrass. He missed the Champions Tour School qualifying for 2009 and is getting ready to try again this year. I am going to build him a 52 and 60 to his specs on Tuesday am! This might be a Cinderella story you just never know!

I still have people look at me, like what? Then I tell them what I do, or for that matter what we all do on the tours Monday through Wednesday? Simply put, we are "Tour Representatives" for a particular golf manufacturing company. Our work days consist of daylight to dusk Monday through Wednesday. This is the time for the players to fix, adjust or change and test equipment. We are not selling our product to the pros! The pros get whatever they ask for when they ask for it. This segment of the business is a cost center not a profit center! This segment validates and gives the particular product "credibility" as well as provides an R&D lab to finalize and design equipment. If you are on the PGA Tour you have paid the price and your product is "Tour Proven and tested" regardless of how many clubs or products are in play. You have arrived. The companies then use this information as a marketing tool. That's it plain and simple!

If you happen to be a rep for a big company you may be nothing more than a service technician. Seeing to it all of the staff players have what they need for that particular event. The rest of us little guys all fend for ourselves trying to get our products into the player’s hands for testing and hopefully in play! Please refer back to my "Tour Gig" segment for a more detailed description beyond this. The general public does not realize all this is going on behind the scenes until you tell them. Once told, they think, man you have got it made! No, not so fast! If it is usually too good to be true, it more than likely is! This is a very difficult, competitive job which brings a lot stress and rejection, as does everything else! This job is no different!

5/2/10

I still have quite a few people that don’t quite understand the “Tour Operations” purpose. Although I have posted what I believed to be a good explanation the tour game called the “Tour Gig”, I will briefly post a simple scaled down layout this next week at The Player’s Championship.

I still confusion in some eyes that think or perceive that I am out here on Tour selling clubs or “Fuller Brushing” my wares! Not so! I don’t sell anything out here much less to the tour pros.

With that said stay tuned next week for a brief explanation.