It’s not every week that a former major champion and top 10 player in the world ends one equipment endorsement contract and then signs a new equipment endorsement contract mid-season, but for the second time in the last 30 months, Callaway Golf is the beneficiary of such good fortune.
The company announced Wednesday evening that it has reached an endorsement deal with Ernie Els, a two-time U.S. Open Champion, 2002 British Open champion and the No. 6-ranked player in the world. On Monday, Acushnet Golf announced that Els had been released from his five-year endorsement contract to use Titleist golf clubs and balls and wear FootJoy shoes and gloves. That deal was set to expire at the end of this year. Els’ departure from Titleist and FootJoy marks the second time an Acushnet player left the company mid-season to join Callaway’s team. In September 2004, Phil Mickelson became a Callaway endorsee, weeks after ending a deal with Titleist and FootJoy.
Terms of the Els deal were not disclosed but sources indicate the contract is long term and multi-year. The deal will include ball, clubs, bag and the side and back of the hat. Els currently also has a major endorsement contract with SAP, which has a position on the front of his cap.
Els is playing on the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand this week, and he is expected to play the new Callaway FT-5 driver and the Callaway HX Tour 56 golf ball.
It is a strategic boon for Callaway, which has been in the market for a significant player on the international stage for several years. Els is one of the few players to routinely play on several continents, playing frequently on an annual basis in his home country of South Africa, as well as in Asia and in Europe. Els has won 43 times worldwide and 15 times on the PGA Tour. His last victory came in the 2006 South African Open, but his last PGA Tour victory came in 2004.
Nick Raffaele, Callaway’s vice president of sports marketing, said the deal happened very quickly after Acushnet had released Els from his contract. He said that Els specifically had expressed interest in the Callaway golf ball, although Raffaele admitted he was also surprised Els had put the FT-5 driver in the bag so quickly.
“I would say he’s probably only used the club once and that was in the pro-am this week,” said Raffaele, who indicated that because of the sudden nature of the deal, Els will be given time to transition to a full bag of Callaway clubs, including an Odyssey putter. Raffaele said Els will play products that are in the Callaway line, indicating that Els seems to be leaning toward the new X-Forged irons.
It is expected that Els’ next U.S. event will be the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Els won the event, played at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, in 1998.

GOUGE: Golf equipment industry insiders expect the U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to announce within days a proposal to change the rules governing iron and wedge grooves. Given both the tone and tenor of the recently released research of spin generation by golf's ruling bodies, it's pretty clear that the sharper-edged U-groove will be a thing of the past.

U-grooves have been the standard for the last quarter-century and have been continually refined, particularly with the highly milled faces of the newest wedges. A new rule proposal most likely would roll back those design specs. It would mark the first time in recent history the USGA has taken a current equipment design and stipulated it become less efficient to remain conforming. The USGA has not commented specifically on when or if an announcement on a rules proposal might come.

Still, several industry sources contacted by Golf World believe the ruling is coming sooner rather than later. The R&A's David Rickman commented recently that a rule proposal was in the offing. "We are in the throes of various meetings and wouldn't want to pre-empt their outcome,” Rickman told The Scotsman newspaper. “But all the signs are that we're very close to going out with 'notice and comment.’ ” When asked about Rickman’s statement, USGA senior technical director Dick Rugge did not dispute that a proposal could happen in the near future, although he declined to offer a specific timetable.

The groove change proposal most likely will not be a straight shift back to the pre-1980s V-grooves. Instead, the report suggests that a number of V-like grooves produced by the USGA for the testing produced results consistent with traditional V-grooves. The upshot could be that rather than be given specific instructions for what a groove must look like, the rules will prescribe a set of design windows or choices for all aspects of a groove design including, depth, spacing, edge radii, and sidewall draft angles. Most likely, the new grooves will have less cross-sectional volume than current configurations. The belief is that a groove with less volume won't be able to channel away as much moisture from lies in the light rough and one with duller edges won't be able to grip the cover of urethane-covered balls as easily.

BOMB: Buddy, take a freaking breath, will ya? Here I am basking in the glow of picking Henrik Stenson in our office pool this week, and now I’m getting calls from folks asking me if I’ve heard that the USGA might announce a proposal as soon as this week. Yes, I’ve heard it. Do I believe it? Yes. From all the drums that have been beating I’d be shocked if we don’t hear something this week. You only need to look at Rickman’s comments to know it’s on the way. But it doesn’t matter if it happens this week, next or the week after that. The USGA didn’t put two years into this to simply say. “All is well.”

Still, is this really the best solution? Or more to the point, is it needed? Everyone hears about the Bomb & Gouge style of play, and certainly looking at the boys have at it this week in Arizona during the Match Play, it’s worth looking at. But remember that what we see on TV is the best guys playing at their best. It’s not a gimme that just because you whack away and have square grooves that you’re gonna eat it up. Case in point: According to ShotLink stats from last year, Bubba Watson, Camilo Villegas and J.B. Holmes averaged about 2.5 strokes OVER par for every 14 holes (I’m using 14 since many courses have a quartet of par 3s) where they hit their approach shot from between 50 and 125 yards from the green in the rough. That’s gonna get you a lot of trunk-slamming on a Friday on the PGA Tour. Still, that’s not quite the half-stroke penalty most people claim the rough should be.

Also, for those everyday players in a tizzy that they’ll need new clubs, bet on some sort of grandfather clause for the masses. But if you listened to Johnny Miller on this week’s telecast talking about the groove issue, the pros will be changing out their wedges like polo shirts if a new rule is implemented. Miller said expect players to change wedges every few weeks to make sure they get the most spin. Still, if you’re starting with less than you had before you can change all you want and not get back to where you were. And maybe that’s just what the fellas in Far Hills have had in mind all along.

GOUGE: Having read all 180 pages and stayed awake, I can tell you this: Change your grooves out every round if you want. If the new proposal takes shape based on the findings in the report, they’ll be starting with grooves that offer about a third less spin than current grooves. Now, I’m not putting it past the smart guys at the golf equipment companies to find ways to maximize spin. I’m looking forward to the upcoming battle royale as designers try to find new ways to generate spin—just like what Tom Wishon did with his new approach to grooves on the CX Micro wedge.

The good news for average golfers? You won’t have to buy all new conforming stuff by next year. I’m guessing old stuff will be grandfathered for a pretty significant period of time (minimum five years is my guess). The other good news? It’s either going to make everybody a better golfer (increased pace of play) or half the golfing population quit (plenty of tee times for the rest of us). You start flying greens or having short chip shots run 30 feet by, and you either learn to hit fairways and greens or you throw your clubs in the woods. Whatever you do, though, buy a urethane-covered ball, which is the real hidden gem in the USGA's 180-page report on grooves research.

BOMB & GOUGE: More stuff from the PGA Merchandise Show that doesn't have to do with clubs and balls, but may be at least as important. Some of you may remember the groovy Shling bag from Ogio. The idea was to provide a simpler, more ergonomic solution to the double-strap bag. A great idea and well done. Now Sun Mountain has its own take on revising the industry standard double-strap bag, and this time, the idea is to show the best way to take a load off. We love the HUG technology from Sun Mountain on its Superlight 3.5 bag. The HUG incorporates a pair of form-fitting flexible arms that rest comfortably like a yoke around your waist. Easy on and easy off. But more importantly, it takes the weight of the bag off your shoulders and distributes it to your hips. Walkers have long experienced the nagging lean forward as we make our way up a hill or struggle through the last six holes of the round when we use typical double strap bags. The HUG technology not only redistributes weight, it straightens you up, and you walk with better posture. Just like that, walking 36 seems like a fine idea. It's certainly not a bag for caddies who double loop, but it would seem a godsend for college and top junior players, to say nothing of those of us pre-geezers who still enjoy a good walk and carry.

BOMB & GOUGE: And you think Bomb & Gouge only care about clubs, shafts and golf balls? (Well, Gouge does, but he spends weekends reading the latest entries from the Journal of the American Journal of Physics. Not that he understands any of it. He was a liberal arts major who took one science course in his entire collegiate life. His life is just that boring.) But really, think again. Of all the products that caught our fancy at last month’s PGA Merchandise Show, perhaps none had us saying “why didn’t someone think of this before” as much as Ogio’s Mammoth travel bag. Hey, don’t laugh. If you think travel bags aren’t important, then you’ve never had your hat crushed or tried to figure out a way to get your clubs, a pair of shoes and about a week’s worth of laundry in one only to find out that you can’t close it over the top of your 45–inch driver. In short, the Mammoth is the solution to all those crises. Just as JetBlue seemingly solved every nitpick of air passengers, so too has Ogio with golf travelers, thanks to input from its team of out-of-the-box thinkers (like their yoke-like bag strap you might remember called The Shling), with some real world traveling golfer input from national sales manager Tom Gocke, a former Nike Tour pro. For starters, the Mammoth has firm sides so instead of wrestling to get your clubs in the travel cover you can simply lay them in there and then secure them with a strap—a big plus when you get to the Avis dropoff and realize you haven’t packed your clubs and you have about two minutes before the shuttle bus that will allow you to catch your flight leaves. And it has plenty of room, so even the tallest driver fits, as will several loads of dirty clothes. One pocket is designed to hold two dozen golf balls, another will hold half-a-dozen caps in a crush-proof cocoon. Shoes? How about not only a shoe compartment, but one that zippers off so you can take it right in the locker room with you. Double that you can rinse out the shoe bag with a hose because its divider is not some weak fake fur that holds in dirt and odor, and you have the simple kind of genius so much of the golf industry is desperately lacking. But a bag with all these bells and whistles (and called Mammoth) must be a beast to get through the line at the airport, no? Not so much. Ogio has designed a bottom with four wheels that allows the bag to stand straight up and easily roll not only front and back, but side to side as well. We tried it. It works. A gentle push with your hand or foot will do the trick—without worry of the bag falling over on the 3-year-old in line next to you. What can we say, after seeing the Mammoth we were reaching in our pockets for the $250 American the bag will sell for at retail. Only problem is that this marvel won’t be available until May 15. Start saving. After all, it beats one of those cardboard freebies the airlines give you.

GOUGE: So here's thing No. 2 from our travels at the PGA Merchandise Show: Shafts are the kind of thing geeks get excited about and the rest of the world of average Joes couldn’t care less. Especially when they run about $300 a switch out, and most of us are too lazy to switch out our worn out golf cleats let alone embark on a search for a new shaft. That said, one thing that insiders have been rumbling about for the last few months is a new True Temper/Grafalloy project that got its debut in Orlando. The Epic shaft is what those in the auto business might term a concept shaft, but it’s more reality than concept. Nanotechnology will make any non-physicist’s ears bleed, but to put it in the most basic terms, it lets you lose super tiny amounts of something in the recipe for a shaft that give the shaft some of the strength and feel properties of the super-tiny stuff without having to add much or even any weight. For a better explanation, go here. The theory behind Epic is to marry the consistency and hoop strength of a stainless steel shaft with the shock absorbing qualities and lightweight design freedom of a graphite shaft. This is big time complex science stuff (the True Temper bunch had to build a new factory in Mexico just to produce this product), and what the Epic really is is something that’s neither steel nor graphite. It's called a nanometal or nanofuse material, and its potential is even more exciting than its current existence. (The Creation shaft from Accuflex is going down a slightly similar, but unique, road, too. To me, what’s most intriguing is that it shows an unwillingness to settle for the deficiencies in each material. We want to go light, we go graphite. We want the shaft to feel a little more solid and unified, maybe we go steel, but grudgingly. There are compromises, but there really is no true middle ground. It’s intriguing. But the real back story might simply be that shaft companies are doing whatever they can to develop a shaft that the best tour players will use, in particular Tiger Woods. You remember him? The guy who was playing a steel shaft until a few years ago. Now, he’s been fairly steady with his Diamana shaft. Which has been quite the rage. But truthfully that’s a little like changing your tires to Goodyear No-Tread racers because that’s what the NASCAR boys are using, isn’t it?

BOMB: Before you go off half-cocked, don't forget that green shaft, the Aldila NV, generated a fair share of trickle down economics. Meaning it worked. Tiger's tried the new Epic, but stayed with what he's got. A couple of players have put the new Epic in already, though, including Hunter Mahan this week. And two other guys I know who tried it are me and you. It was just dandy. And if it makes any sense, it didn't feel like graphite or steel.