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The Golf Lab Members-Only Newsletter
August 2005
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in this issue
-- MacGregor is making a play to stay in the limelight.
-- The Mitsubishi Diamana Shaft is the “Real Deal”
-- Max Out Launch Monitor
-- Launch Monitor for Putting? -- New Shafts for 2006 -- Hybrids are Hot -- More Golf Equipment Information -- Stop By
Breakthrough Technology at all Levels A couple of months ago, we made some changes in our email communications. The results might be interesting and useful to you. On the software side, we started using a service called Constant Contact. www.consta ntcontact.com. If you are using email to communicate with your customers, Constant Contact is a great tool. Most importantly, it keeps track of outbound email and reports back the percentage of contacts that open, and read your message. We were happy to find out that more than half of our customers read our email. That is much higher than industry standards and very encouraging. We will always put some “deals” into our emails to motivate our customers to pay us a visit. Here goes: |
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MacGregor is making a play to stay in the limelight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owner Barry Schneider made news with his bid for
Callaway, backed by Bain Capital. The buzz on the
street gives him a good chance for success. To help
us bring customers in the door MacGregor
offered a
special purchase of some of their classic MOI
putters
by Bobby Grace. For the first four customers
who
want to own a putter that has been very successful
on the PGA Tour – we’re letting them go for $50
each. That’s a pretty good discount from the original
price of $249
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The Mitsubishi Diamana Shaft is the “Real Deal” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tiger, Retief, Sergio, and Ernie are doing
pretty well
with it on Tour. Most of the Golf Lab regulars are
playing the Diamana and it’s staying in the
bag. The
biggest benefit is that it makes your misses better.
We’ve got a couple set up in demos so you can see
for yourself. If you’re thinking about buying one,
we’re offering a great Members Only deal. While our
current inventory lasts, we’ll run a swingspeed test
on our launch monitor to confirm the right fit and
then set your driver up with a brand new, SST PUREd
Diamana for $290 That’s a cool $100 off of the
MSRP. With the fitting, there’s no risk that the shaft
won’t work.
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Max Out Launch Monitor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may have seen the August Golf Magazine
article
about Mitch Voges – titled “Rocket Scientist”. Six
months ago, we made a strategic alliance with
Mitch’s Max Out Golf Labs in Los Angeles.
They have
developed some ground-breaking technology for
clubfitting. We are currently using one of Mitch’s
inventions – a launch monitor based on color high
speed photography. We think it’s the most accurate
launch monitor in the world for determining ball
speed, launch angle and spin rate. The Max Out
system includes an “optimization” module so you can
compare your ball flight with the theoretically perfect
launch angle and spin rate and know exactly what
you’re leaving on the table. The Max Out Launch
Monitor is so good it’s even useful for detecting
the
difference in how the golf ball performs. For Golf Lab
Members Only who want to do a “tune up” of their
current driver – we’re offering a half hour test of your
driver and your golf balls to let you know how your
current setup is performing. Our fee is an affordable
$50 Complete driver fittings are $125 Please call
the shop for an appointment. (650) 493-1770.
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Launch Monitor for Putting? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look for major breakthroughs in applying technology
to putting. Several manufacturers are developing
systems to analyze your putting stroke and compare
the performance of different putters just the same
way that launch monitors can evaluate and compare
the performance of golf clubs.
We have acquired the best putting analysis system in the world. Science and Motion is a German company that uses proprietary sensors and wireless technology to test putters. Like all technology, the S&M system requires some “tweaking”. We’ve been working with the system for a couple of weeks. We will offer putter fitting service starting in September. If you would like to take part in our “beta testing” give the shop a call. We’ll offer a free fitting to the first few customers who are willing to experiment with us.
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New Shafts for 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The “buzz” is starting for 2006. All of the major shaft
companies are testing new releases. Most have
started some kind of “Tour Shop” program to make
different models and weights available in custom
shops. As you would expect, The Golf Lab is
authorized as a “Tour Shop” for every major shaft
manufacturer. If you would like to check it out,
here’s an example: www.usttourship.
com. Here are
some high points for the upcoming new shaft season:
Nippon has released the 1150 Tour steel shaft. This is Bob’s current favorite. It’s a 115 gram shaft, comparable in weight to Rifles and True Temper lightweight steel shafts. He’s now reshafted his beloved Miuras with 1150 Tours. True Temper has been prolific in late 2005. The Tour Concept shaft is gaining acceptance on the PGA Tour. Their Dynamic Gold “SL” (super light) shaft has been popular in the 115 gram weight range. The SL is now available in Sensicore. True Temper is also responding to competition from Rifle with a new stepless shaft, code named “Black Pearl” that is in prototype stage. If you are currently playing standard TT S-300 or X- 100 shafts, you should consider testing the performance of your long irons against softer shafts. Mixing shafts within a set of irons has been very effective for Golf Lab clients who were concerned about their long iron play. Royal Precision has filled a big hole in their line. For the last year, the Rifle Project X shaft has been a favorite for better players. The downside is that the PX plays very stiff. Rifle now offers the PX in a 4.5 flex which makes the shaft much more useful for normal players. It also opens the possibility of mixing a set of shafts with 5.0 in the short irons and 4.5 in the long irons. UST is not sitting still. They now offer all of their shafts in “tour weights” to a select group of custom shops – including the Golf Lab. We like the Harmon shafts. In the heavier weights, they’re a very good choice for fairway metals. Another shaft to consider is the successor to the venerable purple and gold Pro Force. The “V2” boasts a little livelier tip and lower torque. It’s gaining a Tour following.
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Hybrids are Hot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the virtues of the Golf Lab is that we pay a
lot of attention to narrow product categories.
Hybrids and utility clubs are going to change the
way
your bag looks in the future. Today, most of the
custom sets we sell start with a 4 iron. The 3 iron is
replaced by a 21* or 22* hybrid.
The Sonartec MD is still the most popular. You can try one for $235 with a high performance Fujikura Banzai shaft – SST PUREd, of course. We have complete offerings from Mizuno, Nike, Nakashima and Tom Wishon. If you aren’t sure, pick one up at the shop and take it out for a session at the range or a round on your course.
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More Golf Equipment Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our customers frequently ask how they can find out
more information about golf equipment. Here are
three good references. For advanced equipment
information – (expensive and “Tour” focus) – you
can’t beat
www.bombsquadgolf.com. At a slightly
lower level, try www.freegolfinfo.
com. If you’re a
reader of conventional books, pick up a copy of
Tom
Wishon’s “Search for the Perfect Golf Club” – at
the
Golf Lab for $25
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Stop By ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keep in mind we’re easy to visit. The Golf Lab is only
one minute off of 101. If you want to hit some of our
demos, it’s only two minutes over to the driving range
at the Palo Alto Muni. We look forward to seeing you
in the near future.
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Best regards, Leith Anderson and Bob Huff
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
leith@calgolftech.com
phone:
(650) 493-1770
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