Balance-Certified Shaft Stabilizer
 

The "Balance Boys" - Jeff Lindner and John Cranston - former NASA engineers - have been working on improving the feel and performance of golf clubs for the last seven years. Their newest product, the "Shaft Stabilizer" is the closest thing to a miracle we've seen in the golf industry.

The Shaft Stabilizer is a counterweight. Unlike other counterweights, it moves the weight under a player's hands. It delivers 2-3 MPH of extra ball speed when installed in your driver. That means up to another ten yards of carry distance. Part of the improvement comes from a higher percentage of on-center hits. So that's the story: "make your current driver longer and straighter".

Measuring performance improvement is straightforward. We record a series of shots on the Achiever launch monitor with your current driver. Then we take your driver to the back room for some "therapy". That might be a little length adjustment and a little weight adjustment. Then we install the Stabilizer and hit another series of shots. We compare the results. You will see some of the following improvements: an increase in ball speed, longer carry distance, tighter dispersion, more consistent launch angle, club head speed and swing path.

After we make your own driver perform better, we will try to knock it out of your bag with one of our new creations. We employ a combination of ultra- lightweight shafts, variable weight heads and the Stabilizer to increase your ball speed. Our fittings - just like our "driver spa treatments" - produce measurable performance improvement. If we can't do that for you, we'll waive the fitting fee. Call for an appointment: (650) 493-1770. Driver fittings are $125. The Shaft Stabilizer is $55 installed.

 

 Bobby Jones/Jesse Ortiz/Dave Pelz Wedges
 

You could make an argument that the most primitive of all the golf clubs in your bag are your wedges. Jesse Ortiz and Dave Pelz have joined forces to design a new wedge For Bobby Jones golf that is truly different. A high tech wedge?

Over the last couple of years, "spin milled" wedge faces have become popular with Tour professionals and better amateurs. Spin milling is adding texture to the face of the wedge, producing a little more spin. For Tour professionals who need to back their ball up on linoleum, spin milling has been effective. The bad news about spin milling is that the surface wears quickly. Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington have been reported to change their wedges weekly. That gets a little expensive if you have to buy your golf clubs.

The Bobby Jones wedge incorporates a textured, spin milled face, and deep grooves in a hardened steel insert. The insert is bonded to the face of the wedge with a space-age adhesive that includes a very thin foam pad. The result is a face that will not wear out for years. The adhesive pad provides a bit of cushion to give the Bobby Jones wedge a soft feel despite the diamond-hard face.

The body of the wedge is soft stainless steel so it's easy to bend. Wedges are available in 52*, 56* and 60* lofts, each in low and high bounce versions. If you have an eye for customization, the heads are heavy enough to permit grinding to shape the sole to your preference. Another interesting option is to fit your Bobby Jones wedge with a custom shaft. Good candidates are the 125 gram Aerotech wedge shaft, the Nippon "blue peening", and the True Temper Project X. A different shaft might very will improve your feel. Prices start at $170.

You can check out a set of Bobby Jones wedges for a complete round on your own course. There is no guesswork. You can know for sure if they will work for you.

 

 Bobby Jones "Workshop Edition" Driver
 

Since we're on the subject of Bobby Jones and Jesse Ortiz I wanted to show you a picture of the new "Workshop Edition" driver. If the Bay Area has a favorite son in the golf industry, it's surely Jesse Ortiz - he's dedicated his life to designing golf clubs with a distinctive, flowing, organic flair. If you're a Jesse Ortiz fan, you can get his newest creation, custom fitted at the Golf Lab. Prices start at $399.

 

 Adams "Pro Series" Drivers
 

One of the up-and-coming companies is Adams Golf. They've quietly built a very good product portfolio - added some name-brand Tour players this year (Aaron Baddely and Bad Boy Sabbatini) - and sponsored the Long Drivers' Association (LDA) and the "Big Break".

We've liked their drivers - last year the 4350 and the 5000 BUL were great performers - still are. This year, Adams released the "Pro Series" that is one of the best drivers of the year. At $349, it came with a quality Graphite Design YS-Q shaft - the real deal not "made for" el-cheapo model.

There's something going on in Adams land. With all of the major companies offering giveaways to boost sales, Adams just dropped the retail price of the "Pro" driver to $199. At that price, it is one of the biggest bargains in the golf world. We've got a nice selection in stock for your testing pleasure. This is one of those deals that's just about good enough to get you to buy a new driver even if you don't want or need a new driver. And, as usual you don't have to take your Adams driver with the stock shaft. We can install the shaft of your choice. If you really want your new driver decked out we can SST PURE the shaft and install the B-C Stabilizer and the whole package will only cost $299. You can add a $300 Mitsubishi Red, White or Blueboard or a Fujikura Rombax and the package will only cost $449 - decked out, PUREd and totally souped up. That driver might just turn into your gamer.

The story behind the story: (From "company sources".) In their sponsorship of the LDA Adams stumbled into a new design that "really works". It's reputedly delivering higher ball speeds than the Pro. Even more unusual, big-time Tour players are putting the prototype in their bag without getting paid. So, Adams is clearing out the pipeline to bring in the new model. The newest, "really hot one" is scheduled for October release. There's plenty of time to get $199 out of the Pro before you'll be tempted again.

 

 MacGregor "MT", "MT-Mid" and "MT-Mid OS" Iron Heads
 

MacGregor is one of those companies that engender fond memories if you were around golf in the 50's and 60's. It was one of the "Big Three" - MacGregor, Wilson and Hogan. With Callaway shutting down Hogan and Wilson owned by the Finns, the last hope to bring back the glory of the old days for a proud old brand is MacGregor.

There have been plenty of false starts. Jack Nicklaus took his turn and lost a bundle. More recently, Barry Schneider bought the company and plowed a reported $50 million into rebuilding the brand. It didn't work out. Styling went fussy Japanese. In the last five years they had a couple of good models but the line was dead at retail. It makes you wonder if you're not better off starting from scratch.

Last year, Barry Schneider merged MacGregor with Greg Norman's apparel company. To say things didn't go well is a polite understatement. This Spring the "Shark" showed his teeth. Norman and the investors took over the company and "dismissed" Schneider. Greg Norman is now the Chairman.

The goal of the "new" MacGregor is to produce "modern classics". They did a nice job on their forged irons. The "Pro-C" (cavity back) and "Pro- M" (muscle back) are small, tidy heads with a classic shape. You can put them down against the VIP's from 1967 and you'll have a hard time telling the difference.

I built out a set of the Pro-C's and they're nice. I wouldn't say that they are much different from any of the forged blades in my collection. I do like the small size and the square shape. They come in a black oxide finish so that's different enough if you're in the market for another set of forged blades.

The most interesting part of the MacGregor line is the "game improvement" models. If the new MacGregor becomes successful, I think it will be because of the new models. Why not? Those of us old enough to remember MacGregor with enough fondness to actually buy their products are, sadly, a little too old for compact forged blades. The "MT" series is a well thought out series of irons that can be "mixed and matched".

From a design standpoint, the MT Series is a complex construction. The irons are manufactured with a thin face, welded to a stainless body. The company touts a "lively" feel - implying a bit of a "spring effect" which I never thought was much of an advantage in irons.

I built out the MT's for myself, shafted with the new Kim Braley (KB Light) 90 gram steel shafts from FST. The MT is aimed at the low index player who wants a little more forgiveness. The key design feature is a very low offset combined with a pocket cavity to move the center of gravity away from the face. After a couple of rounds, I decided that I wasn't crazy about the shaft choice but I liked the irons well enough to try again.

The MT-Mid has found a few customers at the Golf Lab. They have been senior players who were moving from older Callaway models. They liked the idea that they could get an iron that was pretty similar to a Callaway but with the MacGregor name. Is that the old constituency coming back to the brand at long last?

I could see mixing a set of the MT-Mid and MT Mid-OS for players who wanted extreme game improvement in the long irons, coupled with a little less offset in the short irons. There is definitely a trend to mix iron styles within a set. Players are discovering that for short irons and wedges - a straight out forged blade is not really that much harder to hit and gives better contact from tight fairway lies and is more effective when you have to "gouge" a shot from the rough.

If you want to try a demo set on your course, we have a couple of complete sets that you can check out as part of your full irons fitting. No guesswork. You can know for sure if they will work for you.

 

 Shaft Fitting - Nickent Style
 

There will be a lot to say about the "interchangeable shaft" systems that have been one of the biggest stories of 2008. So far, there is little indication that the Callaway and Taylor Made systems are selling. The inexpensive, open market solution from Club Conex was denied USGA approval to take to the course - so that will be a good story as soon as the smoke clears. Meantime, Nickent is shipping their system - tabbed the "Evolver" - and has even logged a couple of Tour wins with the Evolver driver.

We have the complete Nickent fitting system in the shop. Here's the best feature. Until now, it was virtually impossible to test different shafts in any meaningful way. It doesn't do that much good to try to tell the difference if each shaft is mounted in a different head. With the Nickent Evolver system, we can install different shafts in exactly the same head. We can tell precisely how much a shaft change affects trajectory, spin and ball speed. If you're thinking about different shafts, the Nickent system is the way to find out which one works best for you.

Once you find the perfect combination, you can put exactly that setup in your bag. Our mantra: "Always buy the demo" is finally possible.

For players who want in-depth shaft fitting, we can incorporate the Nickent Evolver Driver into our Complete Driver Fitting.