Acushnet is the name of the company that owns the brands of Titleist golf clubs, Cobra golf clubs and FootJoy golf shoes. On November 10, the U.S. District Court ruled that Titleist must stop selling Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls permanently by 2009. Supposedly, Titleist has infringed on some of Callaway’s patents. The company’s CEO, Wally Uihlein, came out with a public statement discussing their new Pro V1 design. Uihlein stated that the newly designed Pro V1s “will perform differently from and better than the current Pro V1 models. Due to this new design, which has nothing to do with the patents in question, the sale of these golf balls will continue uninterrupted. However, Acushnet is continuing to wage its legal battles with Callaway.
One of the funniest golf commercials ever was for Titleist’s NXT golf balls. They have a character named Ian MacCallister who is a Scotsman and in favor of more traditional style of golf. He believes that the NXT makes golf too easy. The best golf commercial I’ve ever seen in the ongoing series was when Ian was outside of Titleist headquarters carrying a picket sign all by himself, screaming angrily at anyone who helped Titleist put out the NXT. The postman drives by and shouts out, “Hey, Ian.” Ian in a calm, friendly voice shouts back to the mail man, “Hey, Stewart.” I guess you had to see it, but here’s a commercial where Ian goes after Wally Uihlein himself.

On their NXTube.com website, they have most of the commercials available, and they’ve created quite an in-depth character out of Ian MacCallister. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find my favorite commercial on their website, so my description of it will have to suffice. However, there are plenty of other great commercials to watch on their website.

Phil Mickelson had a tough year in 2008 earning a paltry $5.1 million (3rd on the PGA money list). Life is hard. His ranking dropped from second in the world to third in the world when Sergio Garcia recently overtook him. Phil is considering playing on the European Tour in 2009. He believes that golf in the U.S. has become stagnant, and there is more opportunity for growth in Europe. Many have accused him of threatening to move to Europe because he’ll make more money there. I’m sure that his sponsor would be pleased if he left America, as they hope to sell more Callaway golf clubs internationally.
Anyway, here’s Phil’s trick. I’ve never seen it before, and I think I’ll have to try to learn how to do it.

Phil is known for his short game and being left-handed. However, he isn’t actually left-handed. He learned how to play left handed as he would mirror his father’s golf swing. I actually think that those of us who swing right handed, would be better off with left handed golf clubs. A right handed golf swing is dominated by the left hand. The problem is that it’s far too late for most of us to switch now. I hope my kid (due in May ’09) will be born left handed so that he can use right handed clubs. I guess the only alternative for the rest of us is try to strengthen our left hands.
Phil’s favorite golf course is the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale Arizona. The 2008 Frys.com Open was held at this course, and Cameron Beckman won. It’s going to cost you a pretty penny to play the course, though. $190 per person is about the best rate they offer.

One thing that has confused me about hybrid golf clubs are the names they put on the clubs. You have to have a table to tell which club corresponds with which iron or wood. Usually they only specify the degrees of loft. It can get confusing, but Wilson Staff has come up with a way to alleviate the confusion. They have a hybrid that replaces each of the 3, 4 and 5 irons, and to replace the 3 and 5 woods. In between the 5 wood, and the 3 iron, they have what they call a FY hybrid. They FY replaces the 7 wood, 2 iron and 2 hybrid. The line of clubs is called “Fybrid.”

Padraig Harrington, who appeared in the video, just signed a deal with Wilson Staff to extend his endorsement of their products for several years. He has won the British Open, and the PGA championship, and you would expect that Wilson will be paying him handsomely. They are currently paying him $2 million, and while they haven’t released the numbers, many think that the new deal is for $4 million per year.

Clearly, Harrington could have endorsed any company he wanted, but chose to stick with Wilson. There is always some doubt as to whether PGA players stick with a company because the like the clubs, or because they’re getting paid a lot of money. In this case, it seems that he genuinely likes Wilson Staff golf clubs. There are probably other companies that would have paid more, or nearly as much.

I think it was important for Wilson to retain Harrington. Their golf clubs aren’t overly popular, and to lose their big name player might have meant a big loss in credibility. Both Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead endorsed Wilson clubs, but that was a long time ago.

Ian Poulter was supposed to play in the Singapore Open this week, but someone stole his Cobra driver. However they left all his other Cobra golf clubs. Cobra wouldn’t be able to get him a replacement driver until the second day of the tournament, so he has decided to withdraw from the tournament. He considered playing with a different driver, but with the world golf rankings being so sensitive, he decided that he shouldn’t risk playing without every advantage.

Poulter is known for his wild outfits, which is a habit that he inherited from his mother. He has come out with his own line of clothing, and I have to admit that I’m hoping it doesn’t sell very well. The world is crazy enough with most people dressing normally.

Poulter was one of Europe’s most valuable players in this year’s Ryder Cup. He won four points out of his five matches. However, he accused Anthony Kim of bumping into him on purpose to try to upset him. There were many accusations from the European players, which led to people accusing them of being poor losers.

Here are the golf clubs Ian Poulter used at the Ryder Cup:

Driver:                    Cobra Speed Pro S (8.5°)
Fairway woods:      Cobra Speed Pro (15°, 18°)
Irons:                     Cobra Pro MB (3-PW)
Wedges:                Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (54°, 60°)
Putter:                    Odyssey Tri Force 3

Even though it’s still fairly early in the morning here on Mountain Standard Time, the first round of the Singapore Open is in the books. Lam Chih Bing has the lead with a 67 on the par 71 course. However there was a rain delay, and only about half of the field was able to finish their round. Most of the big names are playing in the Singapore Open, including Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Adam Scott, Ernie Els and others.

The first time I saw this ad for Maxfli golf clubs and balls, I thought it was funny, mainly because John Daly’s singing goes from horrible to horrific. From what I know about him, the ad is all too true to Daly’s life. He’s had several wives, and is quite a drinker. He was arrested on October 27, in Winston-Salem North Carolina and held overnight. He got drunk at a Hooters, and was so drunk and uncooperative, that the police had no choice. After learning of this news, the ad isn’t quite as funny as it was, but here it is:

Daly has given an explanation for the whole incident. He explained that he was on his bus, sleeping with his eyes open, and this panicked the bus driver who thought Daly was dead. The bus driver called 911. There were no criminal charges filed against Daly, and the reason he was arrested was as a service to him, to give him time to get sober without getting in trouble.

Daly is sponsored by Hooters, and he’s worried that this incident will lead to them dropping him. While Daly is having a rough time, I think if he keeps his focus on golf he may be able to come back. He’s only 42 years old, and while that’s well past a golfer’s prime, he still has 8 years until he can play on the senior tour.

About five years ago, I saw him play at the International at Castle Pines. I was standing by the green at a par-5, and Daly was pin-high after his second shot. He left a terribly difficult chip shot for himself. It was a steep slope up to the green, and there was very little green to work with. He hit a fantastic chip right next to the hole. I wouldn’t have even thought that that good of a shot was possible.

Hopefully, Daly will recognize that he needs to stop drinking, and he’ll be able to come back out and play some great golf.

I guess Cobra golf clubs are at the front of my mind lately. Here’s another funny ad from them.

Everyone has to love David Feherty’s accent. I think in general, Americans think British and Australian accents are charming. While Feherty’s accent might be charming, I doubt that charming is one of the things that really comes to mind when describing the man. Of course, I’ve never met him, but he seems funny in a smart alecky way.

I once heard a New Zealander describe American accents as “cool” rather than charming. He was a little bit older guy, and he explained that when he was a kid the only Americans that came to New Zealand were, of course, wealthy. (It’s still not cheap to get there, but a little more within reach than it was in the past.) This guy and his friends would joke around in their American accents saying, “Go and buy me that hill, James.”

I decided to take my old King Cobra out to the driving range today, for old time sake, since I’ve been thinking about it recently, and I probably shouldn’t have. The memories were much sweeter than reality. I was hitting a high, nasty hook with it. I can understand why it was going high, as it has three degrees more loft than my Cleveland driver, but I don’t know why it was hooking so bad. The shaft is just as stiff as my current driver. The club head is remarkably smaller. Clearly the trend in club head size is to get bigger, and they certainly have since I got that King Cobra in the mid 90’s.

Of course, golf club technology has come a long way since then as well. I’ll try to put today’s fiasco at the driving range out of my mind, and remember my King Cobra driver with fond memories.

Jamie Sadlowski won the 2008 RE/MAX long drive competition last July. He managed to do it with Cobra Pro Drivers that he borrowed from some friends. It turns out that Cobra golf clubs are popular among the long drive crowd. Almost all of them used Cobra products. Jamie won $250,000 with his 418 yard long drive in the final round.

Players are limited on how much they are allowed to modify their drivers for competition. The maximum length of the shaft is 50 inches as measured from the ground when the shaft is perpendicular to the ground. Of course, they all use stiff graphite shafts with high kick points. A stiff shaft is only good for players who swing with higher swing speeds. That’s only three or four inches longer than my Cleveland driver. The club head is limited to 460 cubic centimeters, but the club heads are often have as low as four degrees of loft. What the long drivers do is tee it up farther forward in their stance, and the lower loft reduces backspin, and allows the ball to roll farther upon landing. Most average players are better off with 10 or 12 degrees of loft.

The old saying, “Drive for show, putt for dough,” doesn’t hold with most long drive competitors. Many of them are very good players, and could even play on the PGA tour. The average swing speed for these guys is 150 mph, as opposed to 80-90 mph for the average weekend player.

Sadlowski is from Canada, and Jason Zuback, a prolific long driver who has won several championships is also Canadian. Sadlowski won a junior long drive championship in Canada with a stock Titleist driver, and started to get serious about long driving. Zuback actually had 29 Cobra drivers to choose from in the competition.

I remember my senior year in high school, our English teacher made us identify the advertising techniques used in different ads. For homework, we had to bring in some ads out of magazines or newspapers, and identify the the technique in the ads. I had a subscription to Golf Digest and I brought in some ads for golf clubs and golf balls. I don't really remember any of the techniques that they used, but humor is a good one. Below is a funny ad from Cobra golf clubs, and maybe I'll be able to post others from other companies.

Humor is a great technique to sell any product; it is much better than a bunch of technical jargon. David Feherety appears in some of their commercials. If a company starts using technical jargon in an ad, I can’t help but think they’re being deceptive. If it is simple enough to fit in a 30 second ad, it’s overly simplified. If they spout off a bunch of graphs and jargon, they don’t usually bother to explain what it is they’re talking about. The only thing that matters is whether you like the looks of the club, and how well you hit it.

Some of Cobra’s hottest selling clubs are:

• The L5V driver, which offers the ability to change out the club face and shaft.
• LD fairway woods
• The S9 Irons.
• For hybrids, they offer the 2008 Baffler DWS Utility club, which has an improved design over its predecessor, which was the #1 selling utility metal.
• Cobra offers the IM Putter and the Optica Putter, which are both mallet style putters.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Cobra. I used to play with a King Cobra driver, and it was a great driver. Even though I don’t use any of their clubs now, they look really cool, and I think I might have to try out their drivers again.

While humans can never say for certain what the future holds, it’s pretty clear that the financial industry is facing serious problems. The U.S. government is buying 700 billion dollars worth of bad loans, and similar problems face Europe. Iceland may be the worst hit. The government has taken over all of the banks, and shut down the stock market for a week. Icelandic banks were paying higher interest rates than most other countries, to attract foreign money. Due to the high interest rates, many Icelanders were encouraged to take out car or mortgage loans in foreign currencies. When the government seized the banks, the Icelandic currency dropped to half its former value in the course of a week, and many Icelanders will have to pay twice as much to make their car or mortgage payment. Hopefully, the crisis has been averted for the rest of the world, but what might a recession mean for the golf industry?

Golf is a hobby for most people (or maybe an obsession), but if there are tough economic times, it may be one of the first extras in many people’s lives to get cut. People may not be playing as much golf, buying the golf clubs they had their eye on, or traveling to play as much as they have. Of course this may become a serious problem for local golf courses who have to spend a lot of money to maintain the course and pay the salaries of their employees.

The PGA is tied into the financial industry, with 13 tournaments sponsored by credit card companies, banks or investment firms. For instance, Wachovia Bank sponsors the Wachovia Championship. Wachovia is pretty much gone, but it appears that a bigger bank will end up taking it over. Will the new owner still sponsor the Wachovia Championship? While the new owners of Wachovia will probably honor the agreement with the PGA, which lasts through 2014, no one knows whether it will still be called the Wachovia Championship or something else.

All of the PGA’s sponsorships are taken through 2010, so they should be all right, unless a company just defaults on its obligations to the PGA. During the Great Depression, the firms that survived were the ones that hired new salesmen. If sponsoring a PGA tournament was beneficial to a company in the past, it would probably be wise to maintain its investment in marketing that works.

While everyone hopes for the least amount of pain, it’s hard to tell what the future holds.

I’ve always been suspicious of the advice a place like Jiffy Lube offers to change your oil every 3000 miles. They have a vested interest in getting you to change your oil as often as possible, and they aren’t really offering unbiased advice. My Oldsmobile Alero has an indicator light that shows when the oil should be changed, and the manual says it may only need to be changed after 12,000 miles. However, I don’t think even I am so cheap that I would wait that long.

The same problem applies with re-gripping your golf clubs. How often does that need to be done? Do you really need to listen to the company that makes the grips and says they should be changed every 4-6 months?

Grips are the only point of contact between you and the golf club, and when the grips have the proper tackiness, it will help you have a proper grip on the club. Anyone who has ever read a golf instruction book, or taken even a single golf lesson knows that the grip you have on the club is important to your golf swing. If you grip the club too hard, that can do harm to your swing. New grips are made to give you every advantage in having as light a grip on the club as possible, while still being able to hang on to the club. As grips wear out, you’ll have to grip the club harder to be able to hang on.

Oil from your hand and dirt are not helpful to preserving the tackiness of the grips. You should make sure the grips are clean, which may require you to clean them every few rounds. Washing them with dish soap and warm water is a good way.

When the grips are just worn out, it is good to replace them, and it is fairly easy to do it yourself. You should be able to tell by looking at them, or maybe comparing your grips with new grips. The vast majority of golfers don’t need to re-grip their clubs more than once every year or two. But, if you think you need new grips, and cleaning them doesn’t help, don’t hesitate to re-grip them.