122 - Busy, Busy, Busy...

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m a sucker for technology and if that technology looks the part then I’m in. I was flicking through the latest issue of Golf Whine Monthly and stumbled across Nike’s new super game improver clubs and was left gawping like a fool. The new Nike Machspeed irons are either the best thing you have ever seen or an unholy disaster. Like I said, I’m a sucker...

Like previous game improver clubs from Nike, the Machspeed irons are designed to be easy to hit, forgiving and long. Having briefly used other Nike clubs from this end of the range I can confirm that they do exactly what they say on the tin. The clubs are designed to have a huge sweet spot and move the MOI lower to help fire the ball into the air with ease.

The lower end clubs are usually finished in Nike’s customary yellow and black and the new clubs continue the tradition, although you will need to have good eyesight to spot it as the back of the club is busier than Lime Street station at rush hour.

The boffins at Nike have welded what they call a ‘Powerbow system’ onto the back of the head, designed to move the MOI away from the face to help get your Srixon Z-Star air bound.

I can’t say whether it works or not, what I can say is that the Powerbow make the clubs look stunning.

The new fitting looks like the back of a Lamborghini Murcielago or something and ensures the clubs stand out a mile. Super game improver clubs are never the most subtle beasts (I’m looking at you Callaway Diablo Edge...) but the new Machspeed raises the overdesigned bar by some margin.

In a world where sleek blades are seen as the pinnacle of club aesthetics, where the ‘less is more’ philosophy is adhered to like some sort of bible the super game improver clubs are a breath of fresh air. Pure lines are replaced with bumps, lumps and bars in the pursuit of usability for the high handicappers and the Machspeed is the new King of design and performance.

121 - A Touch Of Menace...

The regular reader of this little blog will know that I’m a sucker for technology, if the technology looks good too then I’m in, hook, line and sinker. Needless to say I adore the Odyssey Sabertooth putter. Design and materials technology combined with extraordinary looks and real world performance means it is an absolute peach. But now Odyssey have added a touch of menace to the mix.

The original Sabertooth burst onto the golfing scene a couple of years ago and was an instant hit. The design was not to everyone’s taste with the ‘Pringle Jumper set’ having a good old moan because it wasn’t a traditional, ‘Anser’ putter (conveniently forgetting that the Anser putter was a radical design too when it first arrived) but new golfers loved it.

The press were keen to heap praise on the radical new putter too and it received a lot of plaudits for its ease of use, feel and ability to produce consistent results. Odyssey has a reputation for creating some of the very best putters and the stunning Sabertooth was another example of the company producing the goods again.

Not wanting to rest on its laurels, but not wanting to reinvent the wheel either, Odyssey has brought out a new Sabertooth this year. Although the distinctive shape has remained it is now menacing gunmetal grey with black and white accents.

The ‘fangs’ are still tungsten to help shift the weight wide to promote a straight putt but are black instead of maroon on the old model.

The face insert has also had a makeover and is now white instead of maroon but the change isn’t just cosmetic. The new Sabertooth has Odyssey’s White Ice insert which is apparently slightly firmer than the old model to produce a better feel on softer balls which are being used more and more. The distinctive inner fangs remain to help with alignment at address.

The new White Ice Sabertooth retails at £129 but I’ve already found it at nearer the £100 mark on some of the online retailers, for that price it is an absolute bargain. I’ve used the old Sabertooth and all that design really does work. The fangs do promote a straight swing, the mini fangs ensure the ball is correctly aligned and the insert makes the putt feel buttery.

Like I said at the beginning, I’m a sucker for technology and the Sabertooth is dripping with it. It is a bit of a Marmite putter though; you either love it or hate it which could put players off – not me, I think it is stunning, especially in this new stealth colour scheme. If I didn’t have a beautiful Mizuno Bettinardi putter already I’d be seriously tempted.

120 - No Having Fun...

Don’t you just hate miserable, joyless, nitpicking sods that seem to have nothing better to do than ruin the fun for everyone? Now I know that it is necessary from time to time for the powers at be to step in to stop the great unwashed masses killing themselves with stupidity but when I read that a Canadian judge has banned the undeniably brilliant ‘Happy Gilmore swing’ my head nearly exploded.

Justice Arthur J. LeBlanc has ruled that swing made famous by Adam Sandler “breached the standard of care owed to other players on the course” after drunken Travis Hayter hit a playing partner during a pre-wedding round. “I’m convinced the Happy Gilmore shot would’ve been less controllable than a normal tee shot because it involved a run up continued Judge LeBlanc, “and because the defendant had been drinking through the day.”

In my opinion it is the ‘drinking through the day’ part that is the key. Of course the Happy Gilmore swing is more wild (for those who haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about it is a tee shot where the player takes a run up before smashing the ball down the fairway in one movement) but surely being rat arsed and messing about on the course with a gang of friends is going to cause more problems to more people.

How long is it before they ban players who have a horrendous slice or hook? If a new player (or completely awful one) cannot reasonably control where their Nike Juice ball is going to end up then surely they are ‘breaching the standard of care owed to other players on the course’? Going by the recent ruling, no new players will be able to play on a course before they have reined in their drives. Will there be golf driving tests in Canada now?

Thankfully this petty ruling doesn’t apply to the UK but it is only a matter of time before those joy-thieves at the Health and Safety Executive step in follow the lead set by Judge LeBlanc. Don’t be surprised if you see a Daily Mail campaign to stop the spread of this menace to the Royal and Ancient game of golf (they will probably blame the whole thing on immigrants too).

119 - Shake The Fake...

I was reading an article in Golf Whine Monthly recently about the biggest counterfeiting scam in eBay history which saw thousands of fake clubs sold for millions of pounds. Initially I had a picture of a Del Boy Trotter character, a lovable rogue selling hooky gear from a shed but then it dawned on me that I should be very angry at this modern day Fagin.

I, like a lot of you out there I suspect, buy a fair bit of my golfing paraphernalia via eBay as it often throws up the best price. I don’t mind that the gear doesn’t come with a full warranty, that there is virtually zero after sales and that there is a good chance the equipment isn’t brand new. What I do mind is being ripped off by being sent fake goods knocked up in an Asian factory for a few quid when I have paid for the genuine article.

A guy called Gary Bellchambers from Rainham in Essex set up a number of eBay accounts selling the likes of Odyssey Two-Ball putters, Cleveland irons and TaylorMade R7 drivers. He would buy the fake kit from China for as little as £3 before hawking it on eBay for up to £100 (which was still a bit cheaper than the shops but not too much). The pricing was very clever as it didn’t raise suspicion with the buyer for being too cheap yet still had that delicious smell of a genuine bargain.

Over five years his team was responsible for over 96,000 golf related transactions on eBay but it all come to a juddering halt in March 2008 after a little old lady complained to Trading Standards after she didn’t get a refund on a shoddy fake she had been sent.

Normally Bellchambers would refund customers instantly to stop them escalating the complaint but in this case he was out of the country and couldn’t respond.

Trading Standards launched ‘Operation Augusta’ and raided a number of homes seizing computers and 2,500 fake clubs. Computer forensics found emails between the team with detailed lists of which customer had bought what equipment, common complaints for returned goods and how flaws in the golf gear needed to be addressed to prevent the operation being caught out.

Bellchambers was charged with the rather catchy crime of ‘conspiracy to sell or distribute golf clubs and accessories bearing signs likely to be mistaken for registered trademarks contrary to Sec 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977’ and is due to be sentenced any day now. If convicted he and his co-conspirators could face up to 10 years in prison.

Golf by its very nature drives us to strive for constant improvement. The big manufacturers play on this and are relentlessly producing equipment that promises to give us tiny advantages over our fellow hackers but with money tight we are all on the lookout for a bargain. Bellchambers and his crew exploited this situation and merrily ripped off thousands. Loveable rogue? Don’t make me laugh.

118 - Shots of the Week: Northern Trust Open 2010...

117 - Five Star...

I admit it; I’m a sucker for gadgets, technology and new developments in golf. Although I do tend to whine about the manufacturers attempts to make the game of golf easier, I always skip to the new product section of Golf Whine Monthly for a quick drool at the stuff I will never buy. Flicking through the magazines recently I stumbled across something I badly want which infuriated me at the same time.

It is no secret that the golf equipment manufacturers churn out stuff each year with the sole purpose of making themselves a few quid, good luck to them I say. Occasionally the powers at be fiddle with the rules slightly giving the companies an excuse to produce a new driver with a 460cc head or a wedge with v grooves for example, but sometimes the big corporations make stuff for the sake of making stuff it seems.

Modern golf balls are broadly broken up into two categories; two piece balls that are aimed at higher handicap players who put a premium on low cost and high life span of a ball and three piece balls that are aimed at lower handicap players who demand playability and flexibility from their ball (there are also a few four piece balls that are basically the same as their three piece brethren but cost more and erm, well that is it really as far as I can tell).

But what if a two piece ball isn’t enough for you? What if a three piece ball leaves you cold? What if a four piece ball sends waves of apathy coursing through the very fibre of your being? I’ll tell you what you need in that case, a five piece ball!!!

But what kind of deranged company would come up with a ball that has almost as many layers as an onion? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TaylorMade.

The ‘number one name in drivers’ is hoping to challenge Titleist to become the ‘number one name in golf balls’ with the release of its Penta TP five piece ball (above). Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Y.E. Yang, Justin Rose and Jason Day are all set to use it on tour this season but TaylorMade are confident that the ball will be a big hit because the multi layer technology makes it the ideal choice for every level of golfer.

So how does it work? Well the new hazard finding missile from TaylorMade has a core designed to promote high launch speeds and low spin for distance off the tee, an inner mantle which does something similar for long irons, a middle mantel to help promote a mid launch trajectory for mid irons, a outer mantel designed to stop the ball spinning back too much when using scoring irons and a cover designed to give ultimate control. Phew.

So what does all that mean? In theory TaylorMade have produced a ball for golfers of all ability that is effective at all ranges with all clubs. If it works in practice then the Penta TP could be the most significant development in golf ball design since Titleist unleashed the all conquering Pro V1 on the golfing world. Or it could be just another golf ball at the end of the day...

116 - Acceptable In The 80's...

Golf Whine Monthly ran a number of features about the range of new conforming wedges that have flooded the market since the USPGA banned the use of u grooves. Every manufacturer is bringing new kit out that is trying to stretch the rules as much as they possibly can yet the most popular wedge on the tour this year could be a 20 year old chipper from Ping. Intrigued?

To recap, u shaped grooves are wider and deeper than the v shaped type that professionals must use on their wedges now. The powers at be decided the professionals are receiving too much help allowing them to produce too much ball spin giving them too much control around the green. Apparently the change is designed to emphasize golfers' skill over technology. Hmmm...

Players being professionals are trying to get any advantage they can and it seems that Phil Mickelson has found a way to stick it to the man. There is a loophole that states that pre-1990 wedges – resplendent with the dirty, illegal u grooves – are exempt from the new cull in the US and can be used in competition. Queue ‘Lefty’ chipping with gay abandon at the recent at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego using a 20 year old Ping Eye 2.

It is fair to say that this didn’t go down well with Mickelson’s fellow professionals.

Lee Westwood and and American Scott McCarron were two players who spoke out against Mickelson's decision to use the club with McCarron labelling the former world number 2 a “cheat” – harsh words indeed.

McCarron has since apologised for his outburst but it is clear that use of the club is causing bad blood.

Mickelson has since said he would not use the club as a sign of respect to his fellow professionals, who rallied in support of him last season when his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. "I like and respect these players out here and when my wife and I were at one of our low points, the players came together and did one of the nicest things that could have been done to show support and it meant tons for me. Out of respect for them, I do not want to have an advantage over them, whether it's perceived or actual. My point's been made, I won't play it."

The American has now demanded that the USPGA close the loophole. "I have been very upset with the way the entire rule change has come about, and its total lack of transparency. This has got to change. To come out and change a rule like this that has a loophole... is ridiculous. It hurts the game and you cannot put the players in the position to interpret what the rule means. This should have been decided well before this came out. It put me and it put all players in a bad spot and it needs to be changed."

So after all the design, manufacture and testing work the club makers have gone through it is ironic that the best piece of equipment to use if you are a professional is a wedge from the 1980’s If you have an old Ping Eye 2 wedge in decent condition why not stick it on eBay where there is a chance to fleece a couple of hundred pounds out of one of the mega rich Tour Professionals hoping to get an edge.

115 - Cheap Shots...

Today’s Golfer have a sneaky little offer on that allows players like me to get a game on decent courses without the need to take out a second mortgage. The 2-FORE!-1 Golf offer provides discounted rounds at nearly 1,000 courses across the country apparently. “There must be a catch?” I hear my one visitor exclaim, well there is but it is only small.

In order to get the cheap round first you must dip your hand in your pocket and buy a 2-FORE!-1 Golf voucher for just £3.50 online and then book a round at one of the participating courses mentioning to them that you are using your voucher. Erm, that is it. It is either a free round for a friend or half price round for both of you. Sounds pretty good.

Just on the Today’s Golfer website today and there was a feature on the offers they have in Merseyside at the moment. This part of the world is known as the ‘Golf Coast’ apparently and has its fair share of top quality courses although I couldn’t see the likes of Royal Birkdale on the list (although the likes of the Nicklause Course at Carden Park Golf Resort near Chester is there I suppose).

The article mentioned some courses that my friends have played (and enjoyed) over the last few summers so I could well be tempted to give the likes of Leasowe on the Wirral, Childwall GC (where I attended the recent Woolton Village Golf Society presentation night – more on that another time) and Eccleston Park in Rainhill a crack when the weather finally gives us all a break.

At the end of the day, we all want to play on pristine courses, free from tracksuit wearing halfwits sharing a bag of clubs, unfortunately that usually means paying through the nose but this offer provides a good compromise I reckon. If you are interested in the 2-FORE!-1 Golf offer simply visit the Today’s Golfer website or phone 08451 241 000 for more details on how to purchase your vouchers.

114 - Three Stripes, Dozens Of Items...

After writing recently about my new Adidas rain suit I realised that I have a lot of golfing clobber from the German manufacturer with the three-stripe logo. I had a quick check of my course attire and discovered that most of it was made by Adidas yet I haven’t made conscious effort to buy their stuff. Why have I suddenly got a wardrobe full of Adidas?

It is no secret that Adidas make good stuff so I’m happy with the seemingly subliminal purchases I have made over the last twelve months I just didn’t realise how much I had picked up. I have bought jumpers, polo shirts, outer layers, pants, shoes and recently a rain suit all from the same company and all apparently subconsciously.

I can’t recall any of the adverts which no doubt litter Golf Whine Monthly trying to persuade me that the latest gear from Adidas will give me the edge on the course, will make me stand out in the clubhouse and will have women literally throwing themselves at me at the awards dinner. Maybe the German’s have mastered the art of the subliminal advert?

Actually, it is more likely that I have picked up all this kit because there are always tons of offers on for their stuff – I do like a bargain don’t you know?

I know that anything from Adidas will be decent quality and has the right image so buying their gear is usually a no brainer, especially if it looks good and comes in the right colours (always an important fact).

It is obvious that Adidas make golf clothing but I wondered if they produced clubs like other mass sport manufacturers do, Nike for example. A quick look on the Internet turned up a surprising answer; Adidas own TaylorMade. It turns out that the German company snaffled up TaylorMade in 1997 and has spent the last decade rebranding the club manufacturer to become one of the biggest names in golf.

This rebranding and collaboration has been so successful that in 2005 the company officially became the number one name in drivers with more tour pros using their woods than all the other major brands put together. In 2006 TaylorMade-Adidas Golf as the combined company is know made $1billion in revenue.

Now I know that TaylorMade is part of the Adidas family I’m surprised I haven’t been hoodwinked into buying an R9 driver, R7 irons, a Rosso putter or some Burner golf balls. Wonder if the usual suspects have any offers on at the moment...

113 - New Year, Old Story...

Happy New Year to my regular visitor (that isn’t a typo by the way, there is only one of you and I’m starting to suspect that it isn’t actually a person rather a search engine web crawler checking my page is still up in the remote chance that someone happens to do a search for a cruddy golf website written by a barely literate neurotic).

Anyway, happy New Year. To keep the feel good factor going I’d like to announce that I’ve already broken my New Years resolution. I vowed to play at least one round of golf a week regardless of weather conditions, availability of playing partners or work commitments. I lasted less than a week.

I had hoped to get 18 holes in this week, taking advantage of the empty courses as the fair-weather (sensible) players stay at home leaving the brave souls (idiots) like me to savour the crisp winter air, temporary greens and frozen fairways. The recent turn in the weather has emphatically put an end to this plan.

The temperature in this part of the world has dipped ever so slightly – when I say ever so slightly I actually mean a lot, an awful lot. Today for example it touched minus seven with the icing on the cake coming in the form of four inches of beautiful, fluffy snow. I love snow, it is probably my favourite type of weather but it does tend to ruin a game of golf I suspect.

The forecast is for more heavy snow over the next couple of days so the only reason to smash my Srixon’s down the fairway would be to use them to create a snowman. Once the snow clears the temperatures are predicted to plummet yet further too so the ball will ping off the fairway as if it was hit down a motorway.

All in all it isn’t the best weather to be playing in so it looks like I’m going to be forced to swerve golf for the next few weeks, at least on the course that is. I will be making a long overdue return to the driving range to hone my ball slicing skills though. There is nothing more soul destroying as fizzing shot after shot into the far right corner of a driving range – I can’t wait!

Feel free to drop by over the coming weeks to see if I’ve made any progress whatsoever or if I’m still utterly, utterly clueless. Chances are I’ve actually regressed but at least it might be mildly amusing watching me go postal on these pages I suppose.