Golf Practice-zine Newsletter for May 2008

Thanks for signing up to receive the May 2008 issue of the Newsletter. The season has started and I'm off on vacation to Vancouver Island. Time for some serious golf practice and to test my game. Here is where I begin to do my major retirement preparations. I'll be out West for the whole month of May, so the June edition may be a few days late when I get back. Anyway, here is the lineup for this month:

Newsletter Contents:

1. Golf in the Olympics?
2. Maltby Playability Factor
3. Nicklaus Wyndandsea Resort
4. Kickspikes Update
5. More Women in Golf, Please
6. Play Better Golf
7. FiZGOLF

1. Golf in the Olympics?

That year, the Olympics was in St.Louis and the medal was contested by a huge field of contenders. George Lyon was 46 years old at the time and showed remarkable stamina in winning golf by playing over twelve rounds in six days. He won the gold by defeating U.S. champion Chandler Egan 3-and-2.

One of Canada's greatest golfers, George Seymour Lyon went on to win the Canadian Amateur Championship eight times between 1898 and 1914, including three times in a row from 1905-07 which earned him the right to keep the Aberdeen Cup in perpetuity. The trophy now contested by Canadian Amateurs is one donated by Earl Grey who was Governor General in 1908.

George travelled to the 1908 Olympics in London, England in 1908, game to defend his title, but the tournament was cancelled at the last minute. A dispute amongst British golfers led them to boycott the games; U.S. golfers decided not to travel to London due to this uncertainty, leaving Lyon the only entrant deemed eligible to compete by the Games Committee. Though offered the gold by default, Lyon declined, refusing to claim the medal without having played a round in competition. Golf has not been an Olympic sport since.

There's a move on to regain Olympic status for golf once again. Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour have endorsed a move to apply to have golf reinstated as an Olympic Sport. An application has to be made through the International Golf Federation to be considered by the International Olympic Committee. Once entered, an application requires seven years before the sport can be added to the Games. Next IOC meeting will be in 2009, so golf would go Olympic in 2016 at the earliest.

Two recent tries at Olympicdom failed. In 1996, in Atlanta with Augusta National touted as the host course, the application flamed out when IOC members criticized the all-male membership policy of Augusta as exclusionary. In 2005, the application did not receive endorsement from the professional tours which cast doubt on the ability to draw the world's best players to the games.

Now, times seem more ripe for Olympic endorsement. Golf professionals have developed the World Golf Championship format, Southeast Asian Tours are merging into a more unified entity of economic reasons and growth in the game is centered in India, South America and China. Golf is really becoming a world sport, suited to international representation in a competitive Olympic format.

True amateurism is still an irksome issue to sport purists, but the doors have opened to NBA basketball with a field full of professionals from all over the world. Hockey is the same. So, it seems the drawing card factor is the biggest issue -- especially for host nations who want a debt-free games at the end.

What's your take on Golf as an Olympic Sport? I'd love to have your feedback. Send me an email at:

info@best-strategies-for-better-golf.com

Or go the the website: (http://www.best-strategies-for-better-golf.com), click on the Contact Us link and complete the Comments field with your feedback.

Back to Contents

2. Maltby Playability Factor

There are lies, damn lies and marketing hype in the world of golf club sales. Every year, some new fad or hype-ologist is flogging the newest greatest thing. We've got Titanium, liquid metal, square-headed drivers and fairway woods; huge putter heads and putter grips. This year we got all of the above plus interchageable shafts.

All these terms are presented as game-improvement designs. Are they? Will they improve my game? Yours? How do I compare one game improvement club with another? Will I feel the difference or can I measure game improvements in distance or lower score?

Some of the statements about new clubs make sense. However, they're often clouded in physics that expose my lack of engineering background. I believe it when they say the larger a club head, the greater the moment of inertia (MOI, resistance to twisting force) will be. That's nice to know I've got science on my side, allowing me to strike the ball off-center slightly and not give up much distance with a driver or iron or straightness with my putter. But now all drivers are 460cc in size so how do I tell the difference?

The same with irons. How do I know whether one set of irons has a greater probability of improving my game than another? It's not like I can go get a copy of Consumer Reports and read a comparison table like I can when I buy a refrigerator or car. Where is my iron guide book when I need one?

Measuring Key Golf Club Features

Ralph Maltby has made a career out of researching golf club design and performance factors. He has wrestled with what makes a good golf club and how best to convey straightforward guidance on these features to consumers.

Mr. Maltby has written a book on the subject. The book is titled: The Maltby Playabilty Factor: Understanding Golf Club Dynamics.

Maltby has 40 years experience in the golf industry. He was a product engineer for Spalding in 1969 and later became Product Manager for all golf products. In 1976 he formed the Golfworks, a company known for manufacturing golf club components and design for club manufacturers worldwide. In 1991 he was listed by Golf Digest as one fo the 36 most powerful men in golf. His credentials as a club designer and industry commentator are impeccable.

The MPF Objective

Here, Ralph Maltby says it best:

Golf is a great game, but it has lacked standards that help consumers separate fact from fiction and most importantly from making a buying decision that is wrong for them. This is a major reason why almost as many people that enter golf, leave it. The reason given is that it is simply too hard of a game to learn. It is not important if this new frustrated golfer bought golf clubs because of promises in an ad, because this model is played on television by pros or his best friend told him these are the best clubs for him. What is important is that any golfer can select and play with golf clubs from a number of manufacturers that have playing characteristics that fit that golfer’s ability and will help him or her the most. This is the importance of the Maltby Playability Factor, to bring out the best golf in all of us.

Be warned the book is a tome. It deals only with irons and putters and is the first of a series -- wedges, drivers, and other clubs will follow. The intended audience is people with a sophisticated knowledge of golf club making and design. The tables of results describe the relative playability of clubs based on the common variables measured across all makes and models. The tables form an excellent consumer guide to the likelihood a given set of clubs will improve your game.

The book explains Maltby's "Playability Factor" (MPF)in relation to irons and putters. Maltby outlines the measurable components that can be quantified from any club head design. He applies these variables to the computation of the MPF formula for a comprehensive list of current and historical clubs from every significant manufacturer for an extensive range of iron models and designs.

The MPF formula includes, "Certain mass and dimensional qualities along with a mathematical computation determine this playability factor and rate each iron into one of six different categories. The golfer can then determine which category of playability will help the most, assuming of course the golfer uses an honest evaluation of ability."

The playability factor alone is a major breakthrough in golf club comparison. It offers an objective, traceable approach to indexing club performance as a standard-based measurement. It can be a great tool to bridge the gap between marketing myth and actual golf club performance.

Other Factors That Affect Performance

The MPF is not perfect. Beyond playability factors, there are many more golf club attributes that affect how well a golf club will play that MPF does not take into account:

• sole bounce
• loft angle
• lie angle
• face grooves
• sole width >li>offsets
• headweight
• swingweight
• club length
• the golf shaft

Playability factor also does not take into account how different swings can bring the club head into impact on different planes, arcs and angles and how the ball is affected regarding launch angle, backspin and feel back to the golfer.

Maltby Playability Factor Categories

The actual MPF values are derived through an involved series of physical measurements of club dimensions and weights. Basically, MPF is based on three fundamental properties of the iron head:

• the basic vertical center of gravity (BVCG)
• the head's horizontal center of gravity ((HCG), and
• the moment of inertia (MOI)

The formula then becomes: HCG - BVCG = MPF

The higher the MPF, the higher the Playability Factor of an iron. The reason this formula works is that the basic understanding that the lower the center of gravity of the club head, the more solid the golf shot. The golf ball is launched more easily on a good trajectory for a given golf swing and the club is usually easier to hit. This result is based on testing experience. So, the lower the center of gravity, the larger the resultant MPF will be when it is subtracted from the Horizontal Center of gravity.

The calculation has been applied consistently over the years to hundreds of iron sets from dozens of club manufacturers. The playability index values are broken into six categories:

MPF Points	MPF Category	Description
851 & Up	Ultra Game Improvement	All Players Benefit - Absolute Easiest to Play Designs
701 - 850	Super Game Improvement	All Players Benefit - Extremely Easy to Play Irons
551 - 700	Game Improvement	All Players Benefit - Fairly Solid on Off-Center Hits
401 - 550	Conventional	For Better Players Only - 0 - 14 Handicap
251 - 400	Classic	Difficult to Play - 0 - 5 Handicap
0 - 250	Player Classic	Not Recommended - Essential to Strike the Ball Perfectly

The book contains lengthy tables of MPF values for a large number of irons; both current and historical models are shown. Maltby continues refining his measurement techniques and measuring instruments in order to update the list. For updates you can go to Ralph Maltby's website (www.ralphmaltby.com) for a free download of all the current MPF tables. I recommend them strongly for interest and as a useful guide to what clubs are on the market.

The tables are also posted on best-strategies-for-better-golf.com for the years 2007 and 2008

If you don't see your clubs on the tables, the Golfworks will measure your clubs to give you their MPF rating.

Back to Contents

3. Nicklaus Wyndandsea Resort

Jack Nicklaus has two 18 hole courses in operation on Vancouver Island, both of them at the Bear Mountain Resort near Victoria. Now a third is under construction for Marine Drive Development of Vancouver. The $650 million Wyndandsea Oceanfront Golf Resort is right on the Pacific Ocean near the beautiful community of Ucluelet.

The venture is the site for the first Jack Nicklaus Golf Club (JNGC) of Canada. Wyndansea will become one of up to 25 clubs worldwide to share the JNGC designation. The program is intended to create an exclusive roster of courses with reciprocity agreements for members between clubs. Each club is in turn limited to 35 members.

Construction began in summer of 2007 on a property of approximately 370 acres. The course stands as center piece to 26 lots, ranging in price from $1.4 to $1.9million. One lot is devoted to the "Jack Nicklaus Home", established on each club to act as a base for Jack Nicklaus, his family and other JNGC members who visit under their reciprocal privileges from time to time. For members, there are no membership fees, no annual dues, no green fees plus the amenities of club facilities and services at all JNGC locations.

Nearby is Pacific Rim National Park, famous for its beaches, beautiful, rugged coastline and scenic surf. Developers do not imagine there will be much difficulty filling membership subscriptions. Wyndandsea will feature a mix of vacation homes, a 210 suite condominium hotel, estate home sites and commercial condominiums. Hotel suites began going on sale in fall of 2007. Condo prices are expected to be $500 per square foot.

Other JNGC club sites include:

• New Zealand
• Royal Island (Bahamas)
• Anguilla, St.Lucia (Caribbean)
• Patagonia (Argentina)
• Mount Holly (Utah)

Back to Contents

4. Kickspikes Update

In the February 2008 newsletter (Issue #002) I mentioned Kickspikes and their Canadian inventor Darrell Bachmann. They had a grea run at this years PGA Merchandise Show, but not much has been heard since.

Well, news is the company has its own website (www.kickspike.com) which illustrates just how busy they have been. The site has some photos of the shoes (shown here) as well as some video of the shoe in operation.

There is also media showing some telling evidence of missed putts on the PGA Tour as a result of spike marks in greens and some testimonials that illustrate the company's innovation is reaching the right minds regarding the approach their invention is taking.

In the decade-long span it has taken courses to ban metal spikes, the Kickspike is causing a rethink amongst players and course superintendents alike. Since the spikes retract as players approach greens (where their traction enhancements are no longer needed) they actually improve on softspikes since no spike marks are possible from Kickspike-wearers.

Since purists have been griping that softspikes leave slight depressions all over the greens they touch -- marks virtually unreadable by putters, a retractable spike design would improve green maintenance scenarios on almost every course.

So, check out their website and hope for the best. Though there is no word about upcoming manufacturing or licensing by big vendors like Callaway or Footjoy, the impact is being made.

Call me a crazy fanboy if you like, but I think these shoes and their patents pending are going places. The golf industry knows a good idea when it sees one. So do golf consumers. Stay tuned, I promise to keep you posted on this one. Again, let me know what you think. Feedback as always is appreciated.

Back to Contents

5. More Women in Golf, Please

I enjoy golfing with women. I know several women who enjoy the game and play a very good level of golf. They happen to be married.

I don't have numbers to back this up, but it is my impression that fewer women golfers are taking up golf than was the case a few years ago. That's too bad, because from a marketing perspective the golf industry would dearly love to have more women players.

Women are a growing presence in the workforce. They are climbing increasingly to management/decisioin-making positions and carry huge clout with regard to spending decisions in the household. From golf course managers to retailers, women must be an attractive potential growth market indeed.

In the U.S. the National Golf Foundation has surveyed the current situation. Women represent 25 percent of all golfers; 40 percent of all beginners. However, they quit the sport sooner than men.

One introdued to the game, the NGF found that five years later, 27 percent of women stay in the sport to 54 percent for men. Retailers seek ways to reverse this trend. How do they recruit more women into the golfing ranks?

Callaway golf is trying to grow the game for women. Their new CEO, George Fellows (formerly CEO of Revlon cosmetics) formed a team to study how women behave as golf cosumers. Some initial findings:

• Women spend more time researching purchases than men
• women spend much of that research time online
• women take seven to nine times longer than men to make a purchase
• women experience much frustration with their games around the green
• golf's allure for women comes from its "keep active, stay fit" appeal
• women are attracted to the opportunity to socialize, meet new people and network with business contacts

In response, Callaway has re-focused their sales pitch to women:

• more prominently display women's products on their web page
• increased their resources devoted t online distribution of their product
• Developed a new Gems line of clubs directed at women golfers
• addressed promotional events toward women's media publications such as Marie Claire, Allure and Shape to sell golf's benefits
• enlisted 50 female PGA professionals to serve as brand representatives in marketing events all over the U.S.
• launched plans for demo days exclusive to women to get them to try the latest in Callaway equipment.

Callaway officials see this as a long term proposition. Results are expected to pay off slowly. To Callaway, the growth opportunities with today's demographics are too few not to exploit the possibility that women will be drawn in to the game. They are too attractive a market to miss.

I'm still single, but if I met an attractive woman my age who was an avid golfer and 12 handicap or less, I'd propose marriage instantly. Who knows, it's never too late to try. If I'm lucky, she might even accept.

Back to Contents

6. Play Better Golf

Ralph Maltby has written a little book on the subject of how to play better golf. Entitled, "How Golf Clubs Affect Your Ability to Score" (Maltby Design Publications, 2005), it deals with factors related to improving your ball striking/golf swing -- what he calls the Five P's. I can't help but agree with all Maltby says. I would recommend his books to anyone.

I would also add two more factors that I consider just as important factors to your becoming a better golfer. One is better fitness (physical development), and better course management (mental development).

Taken together, the factors required to help you play better golf are:

1. improve your physical fitness
2. Properly fit, quality equipment
3. Professional swing instruction
4. Practice
5. Play
6. Positive Attitude
7. improve your course management (mental game)

Maltby's five P's are shown in bold. They are what must be done to accomplish better ball-striking and shotmaking. Numbers 1 and 7 help your overall performance and ability to maintain that performance during and between rounds.

These factors are straight forward, logical thoughts on what you need to focus on to become better golfers. The factors receive summary treatment here. Ralph's book and my website try to expand on these topics and help you visualize and adapt more detail to your game. Check them out. Let me know what you think.

Back to Contents

7. FiZGOLF

Golfers are often criticized for their on-camera spitting at PGA tournaments. Now, there is no need; FiZGOLF has come up with an artificially enhanced replacement that could also be touted as an etiquette recovery tool on the course.

Why not? This gizmo has a lot of merit. The science-backed solvent can be sprayed directly onto golf clubs, the chemical cleansers go to work to dissolve dirt and keep grooves clean. The formula also helps remove grass stains.

FizGolf (www.fizgolf.com) is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The founder/inventor is Aaron Heap who accelerated development when watching the 2006 Ryder Cup. As Steve Williams was trying to get his towel wet in order to clean one of Tiger's clubs, he accidentally dropped Tiger's nine iron into the pond. If he'd been using Fiz, the accident would not have happened.

Fiz is a self-contained cleaning cartridge, complete with bag clip and cleaning bristles. Simply squirt a little Fiz foam solution on the face of your club or ball, scrub it with the flexible bristles on the bottom of the container and wipe away the grime with your golf towel. You've already got the towel for cleaning, why not complete the suite with a useful liquid to improve your cleaning performance.

Besides being clever Fiz is cheap, the cartridge sells for $10.00 in the U.S. and I'm sure it will be coming to Canada soon. The other good idea is that it can be easily logo'd for use by companies looking for schwag-filler at tournaments as promotional items. The cartridge is good for at least 350 sprays -- reasonable enough for any self-respecting caddy or player to make it standard equipment.

Back to Contents

Visit the Site for Back Issues of Golf Practice-zine

Visit Best-Strategies-For-Better-Golf.com