March 2012 Newsletter

Cobra Has An Answer For the Question: Where’s the Beef in Your Driver?

Where on the face of a driver do golfers miss most often? That’s the question Cobra-Puma Golf set out to answer in order to solve one of golf’s great mysteries – how to get better results off the tee by hitting a ball more solidly with greater regularity.
What Cobra came up with is the new AMPTM Driver featuring E9 Face TechnologyTM with dual roll and AMPTM Speed Tuning. The new AMP driver’s E9 Technology moves weight around the clubhead strategically to optimize performance. The bulge and roll of the driver have been titled from horizontal and vertical to elliptical access.
“We’ve always focused on making drivers more forgiving and easier to hit,” said Tom Preece, vice-president/club R&D. “Golfers miss from low heel to high toe in kind of an elliptical pattern. We’ve designed around this pattern to make the clubface hotter in the elliptical zone.”
“The benefit is we get much better accuracy on high toe and low heel contact.”
Increased curvature has been achieved by flattening the bottom half of the face and, yes, Preece ackjnowledged that there is “a lot going on there.”
Bottom line for golfers: The sweet zone has been significantly expanded, by 30 percent, to give golfers as much distance as possible on off-center hits.
Along with the improved technology, the new Cobra AMP graphics (focusing on orange) have been dramatically altered. From a very traditional look during its Titleist days, Cobra has taken to a more aggressive and colorful approach with its connection to Puma. The AMP Driver offers black and vibrant orange details on the shaft, clubhead and grip.
“The fact that Rickie (Fowler) likes orange doesn’t hurt, either,” Preece said.
More on the AMP Driver:
· It features Adjustable Flight Technology (AFT)TM which gives golfers the option to personalize face angle.
· Aldila RIP Speed Tuned shafts have progressive weight design and flex profiles that customize performance for various swing speeds.
· A premium Lamkin® R.E.L. 3Gen® Grip is vibrant orange to match the cub head design, introducing the elements of style and flair to go along with the technology.
· The AMP Driver is also available in an offset design to reduce the effects of a slice.
The 2012 Cobra driver line also includes the 48-inch Long Tom and the ZL Encore, in two cosmetics – an all-white version or black with electric yellow trim. New irons, fairway woods and hybrids also are featured.

Perfect Fit, Perfect Impact

The beauty of Mizuno’s Performance Fitting System is in its simplicity.
It works in large part because it takes what can sometimes be a difficult and complicated thing to understand and makes it easy and effective for everybody.
“It’s thorough but it’s very simple,” said Bill Price, Custom Fit Program Manager for Mizuno. “The fitting process sometimes can get intimidating.”
Not so with Mizuno’s PFS. The manufacturer has about 1,400 of its fitting units around the United States and when Price says it’s a thorough process, he’s not kidding. It begins with Mizuno’s state-of-the-art shaft optimizer.
“It measures the shaft and gives five data points,” Price said. “We take that measured information and put it in our proprietary software. From that we get a recommendation for a series of shafts. Then we go through a confirmation stage.”
The data is put into a computer and it spits out recommendations for Mizuno’s club models, shafts, grips – everything associated with custom fitting a club. Then the consumer gets to test the models from a test cart which has interchangeable clubheads and shafts.
“The fitter can sit there and measure shaft parameters, how it loads, unloads, bends – take that information and put it in our computer matrix,” Price said. “It will spit out graphite or steel – it takes the mystery out of shaft fitting. We’ve catalogued it for the consumer. The module in our software makes the set make-up recommendation.”
It’s all there, in easy to understand language. If you want improved ball-striking from a custom-fit club, all you have to do is visit a Golf Headquarters store near you and tell the experts there that you want to try the Mizuno Performance Fitting System.

New Roger Cleveland Wedges from Callaway

The new Callaway Forged Wedges are the latest offering from signature designer Roger Cleveland. The wedges are available in two finish options – copper and Trivalent Dark Chrome. Both feature Callaway’s Tour CC Grooves. The chrome finish is designed to oxidize over time for a distinctive look. The Trivalent Dark Chrome finish produces a smoky, muted look that helps reduce glare.
In either finish, the new wedges have a traditional look and style, with a higher toe and straighter leading edge for a square appearance at address.
According to Cleveland, the new Callaway Forged wedge is a product of 30-plus years of his association with some of the top players in the world, including Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.
“We've had great success both on tours around the world and with everyday amateur players with the C-Grind Sole on our previous wedges - the X-Forged and the JAWS - so we're incorporating that same design,” Cleveland said. “But with a twist: we've softened the leading edge to be straighter and smoother, which will satisfy golfers who have been asking for that look."
The goal of the blended C-Grind® sole is to provide a soft, more gradual 'C' shape for increased versatility and accuracy. The modified C-Grind sole enables golfers to lay the face open while effectively reducing the bounce angle. Twenty-one tightly-spaced grooves feature sharper edges, the result of a Triple Net Forging process. The wedges are available in lofts ranging from 52 degrees to 64 degrees and True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 steel shaft.

Mahan’s Winning Putter

A few days after Hunter Mahan used it to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the new Nome putter was officially unveiled by Ping.
The Nome is precision-milled from high-grade aluminum and features tungsten weighting in the sole. It is scheduled for arrival in your Golf Headquarters stores in April.
“It felt great immediately and it gave me a lot of confidence so I could just trust my aim and stroke the ball freely," Mahan said. “I felt like I could make just about any putt I looked at."
A black alignment bar and contrasting white sightline enhance the Nome’s aim. The putter’s extreme forgiveness factor and accuracy are the product of an optimized center of gravity position. The putter is available in three shaft bends to fit the following putting strokes – Straight, Slight Arc or Strong Arc. The standard version weights 355 grams with a belly version weighing 50 grams more.

New Look for Cleveland’s Ultralight Drivers

Classic never goes out of style. Cleveland Golf’s 2012 lineup focuses on adding tradition to its Ultralight drivers.
The Classic 270 has a unique sole design and color scheme inspired by the days of persimmon drivers. The pear-shaped head has the largest, deepest clubface ever produced by Cleveland Golf. It is designed to provide a hot, penetrating ball flight while the incorporated MaxCOR2 technology provides maximum distance on off-center hits.
The Ultralight technology helps players achieve increased clubhead speed and greater distance off the tee. The RightWeight Fitting system is designed to optimize feel and performance for every category of golfer.
The Classic 290 Driver offers a Miyazaki 43 shaft with an active tip section for a mid-high trajectory and more speed. The Classic Tour (overall weight 310 grams) features the Miyazaki Kusala Black 61 graphite shaft, a favorite among tour players and ideal for stronger or high-spin players looking to control trajectory.

Fast, Easy, Effective

The Model 3.0 Push Golf Cart from Clicgear offers a full-sized three-wheel pushcart that is very easy to maneuver down the fairway. It is smooth and compact – at only 13” x 15” x 24” when folded.
The Clicgear offers many convenient features. Those include an improved push button front wheel lock, ergonomic main hinge lever, new easy-action brake lever, maintenance free airless tires and oversized aircraft grade aluminum tubing.
A few more: A beverage holder is new and removable, a new mesh storage net, front-wheel alignment adjustment system for a smoother glide, coating to resist scuffing and scratching, umbrella tube storage bracket and adjustable bag brackets. The Clicgear weights about 18 pounds and comes with a 1-year warranty.

The Calendar

March 8-11 Puerto Rico Open, Trump International, Puerto Rico Defending Champion: Michael Bradley
March 8-11 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, TPC Blue Monster, Doral, FL Defending Champion: Nick Watney
March 15-18 Transitions Championship, Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor, FL Defending Champion: Gary Woodland
March 22-25 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill, Orlando, FL Defending Champion: Martin Laird
March 29-April 1 Shell Houston Open, Redstone GC, Humble, TX Defending Champion: Phil Mickelson

The Parting Shot

“To be the player I want to be, you have to win more. That's how you separate players. That's when you talk about players, how many majors have they won, how many tournaments have they won? I felt like I was capable of winning more than four, but that's what I have right now. And I feel like I'm doing all the right things.” – Hunter Mahan, after winning the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship over Rory McIlroy.

Articles provided by Vartan Kupelian.
Vartan Kupelian spent 40 years writing sports for daily newspapers, 37 of those at The Detroit News before he left that distinguished newspaper in August, 2008. He is the immediate past president of the Golf Writers Association of America. You can reach him at: golfstix@vartangolflive.com.