Two weeks from now, the annual PGA Merchandise Show hits Orlando. That’s the week that the entire golf industry gets together in one place to complain. We’re hoping that there will be some new finds. If so, they will be niche products from small companies. All of the Majors have made their plans well-known. We’re pretty well locked and loaded for 2007.

If you are interested in getting a jump on the season, we have a few special offers to motivate you to visit the Golf Lab.

Offer Number One: Free reshaft for any player who bends his club over the head of a jerk who doesn’t replace divots.

“Mornings at the Muni” start in February. Call the Golf Lab for details.

The foundation of Max Out is unique technology. They have patented a string of inventions. The most recent patented upgrade to the Launch Max involves reading an array of colored dots on a golf ball. That lets the Launch Max detect sidespin as well as backspin. We are absolutely confident in our ability to dial in head, shaft, flex and weight specifications. Given your physical ability, we can maximize your potential.

Max Out is one of those “best kept secrets” that will begin to emerge into the consciousness of golfers as a worldwide organization that is bringing the most dedicated individuals and best technology together. We are proud to be a Max Out affiliate. We know that our customers will benefit.

Offer number two: If all you need is a quick update to your driver fitting, or you want to have a look at a few different balls to see which one delivers the best performance – give us a call and we’ll honor a “Members’ Only “ special for $50

We’ve still got the Sonartec MD. As the Charter Members of the Sonartec Custom Clubmaker program we can offer the MD head custom fit with any shaft. You don’t have to buy your MD and waste money throwing the stock shaft away. Our favorite? The Fujikura Banzai, hands down. Our Sonartec story is “premium product, perfect fit, great value”.

Sonartec is a little “spendy”. If you like the look but want to save $100 or so, you can give the KZG hybrid a trial.

On the PGA Tour the two leading brands at the moment are Adams and Nickent. Adams has clearly grabbed the position as the premium offering – translation: the most expensive. The Golf Lab was recently named one of the few custom shops authorized to carry Adams “Tour” products as components. This is a welcome trend for customers who know that customization is important. You can get the exact products, customized exactly like a PGA Tour player, at the Golf Lab. There are many different shaft options, so give the shop a call for a quote.

Don’t overlook Nickent. Nickent is a company that made its name by attacking the Nationwide Tour. They focused on building the best utility they could and convinced their customers. Nickent is a relatively inexpensive option. Decked out with a custom shaft, SST PUREd and ready for your bag, most Nickents cost a little more than $150

Finally, there’s the Nike CPR. We call this one, affectionately, the “flying saucer”. If you’re a traditionalist, you probably won’t pick the CPR, but it has tested out to be the easiest to hit of all. We have plenty of customers playing the CPR up through the 5 iron replacement – 30*.

Early hybrids were modeled after fairway woods. They were too long and too light. If you bought a hybrid a couple of years ago expecting a low-grade miracle but were disappointed, it’s time to try again.

This year, hybrids are designed to follow irons in specification but improve playability. That means much heavier heads, lengths that are the same as iron lengths and shafts that match your irons, not your driver. Matching length and swingweight is obvious. What’s not so obvious is you also need to pay attention to lie angle. If you’re having a hard time with your hybrid, it could be nothing more serious than a lie angle that doesn’t fit your swing.

The Golf Lab is the only custom shop in the Bay Area equipped with the latest Mitchell professional equipment to bend hybrids. With the right equipment, lie adjustment for hybrids is no more difficult than adjusting irons.

Offer Number Three: bring your hybrid into the Golf Lab for an evaluation and test. We’ll check your swing and test the flex, length and lie angle of your hybrid. If it doesn’t fit, we’ll tell you why. No charge for the checkup. If your hybrid needs adjustment – we’ll do that for only $10 Don’t waste another shot.

The most important thing for any beginner is to get off to a good start. Golf is hard enough to learn. It just doesn’t make sense to think you’re saving money by picking up a set of clubs in a bubble pack at Costco. The real expense is the time you spend playing.

Here’s the offer: If you know of someone who is trying to get started playing golf and could use some advice about golf clubs, we’ll offer your friend a free introductory fitting. We won’t launch our two or three hour marathon session, but we’ll spend enough time to get acquainted to provide some good advice. Most beginners would be much better off buying a set of lightly used, but good quality golf clubs than a packaged set. If you want to make a referral, please give us a call to let us know the name of your friend.

Remember, we’re only a minute off of 101 at Embarcadero.

Best regards,

Leith Anderson and Bob Huff