August 2011: Hot List 365: Golf Digest

Stats unclear on the long putter debate

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

With three wins in three weeks, the long/belly/anchored putter buzz is going viral. I recently chatted with one manufacturer who suggested retailers are trying to order belly and long putters "by the thousands."

In other words, what we have here is classic media-induced frenzy. Golf's answer to a flash mob. The belief is that the longer putter is not merely a miracle cure for the deeply afflicted poor putter, but also is quite simply a better idea that every golfer should adopt in much the same way as he switched to Softspikes or metal drivers. Nick Price, who switched to a belly length putter last year and won with it, thinks the trend isn't necessarily a given but the technique does work.

"The belly putter isn't the easy cure that a lot of people think it is. It still requires a lot of practice," Price told John Paul Newport in the Wall Street Journal."But it simplifies the fundamentals of putting so much that increasingly guys who have putting problems or inconsistencies are going to end up turning to it."

But do the stats suggest an overwhelming advantage for players who switch to a putting stroke that anchors the putter to some portion of their thoraxes? Adam Scott has been noteworthy for his switch in February to a "broomstick" long putter. In 2010, he ranked 136th in putting average. This year, he's 81st. Of course, maybe he's just hitting the ball closer to the hole. How's he rank in 3-putt Avoidance, where the longer putter might excel in those nervous, potentially yip-filled situations? A year ago he was 188th, this year, he's 172nd. Hardly alarming. What about those short putts, like say 4-footers? He was 183rd last year, 174th this year. You would think he'd gone from 183rd to 2nd, no?

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Will Bradley's win prompt a rush on long putters?

Monday, August 15, 2011

By winning the PGA Championship at Atlanta AC, Keegan Bradley became the first player to win a major with a long putter.

Now before folks get all worked up. This means one of the Grand Slam events. There have been senior majors won with long putters (Charles Coody, Bruce Lietzke and, most recently, Bernhard Langer) and Angel Cabrera won the Masters in 2009 using a belly-length putter (although he did not stick it in his stomach). And although Bradley calls it a "belly putter" and uses it as such, in our mind it's the length of the club, not the technique used, that matters. Bradley's Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth with a double-bend ski-pole shaft is 46.75 inches long -- or just more than two inches shy of Adam Scott's 49-inch Scotty Cameron by Titleist broomstick. That qualifies.

Of course, Paul Runyan started this whole thing. In the 1936 Belmont Open held in Boston, Runyan used the forebearer of the belly putter by sticking his putter in his stomach and widening his stance for balance in the wind. When he found after a while that he couldn't find the touch on longer putts, he lengthened his putter. Runyan later wrote in Golf Digest something that seemed to side with the point of view that broomsticks should be swept away because they provided an advantage for those feeling nerves on the greens.

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Putter fitting: Ping opening a new frontier?

Thursday, August 11, 2011

We've extolled the virtues of the launch monitor and how it has expedited the fitting process, dialing in differences that when combined with the eye of a trained fitter will lead you to the right combination of head, loft and shaft in your driver in minutes.

We've lauded the development of shaft analysis tools, most notably Mizuno's highly popular Shaft Optimizer, that in just a handful of swings can pinpoint the ideal iron shafts for your particular swing.

The next frontier just might be putter fitting, and Ping is making an effort to make one of the most overlooked aspects of club fitting easier and as handy as your iPhone.

Building on its previously introduced iPing app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the latest version now offers a fitting component.

After five putts, the device analyzes your stroke to determine how it matches with one of three typical paths (strong arc, slight arc or straight), recommends one of Ping's seven new Anser Milled styles and even will determine proper lie angle, length and loft when you input some basic information (height and wrist-to-floor measurement).

While not a completely independent tool (it's not going to recommend an Odyssey putter, for example), the iPing Fit app gives us a taste of how accessible fitting could become. Right now, launch monitors are probably 10 times more prevalent than putter fitting labs. The iPing Fit app might be a big step toward shifting that ratio.

--Mike Stachura

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Another voice says new grooves are better

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Here's something you probably didn't think about with those aggressive groove wedges that aren't being made anymore: Remember how they tear the cover off the ball or at least remove little shavings of paint on those neatly nipped shots from clean lies? Remember how you thought that made them spin more?

Well, designers of today's newest wedge grooves say that's actually an indication of less spin, not more. David Llewellyn, manager of research and development at Mizuno, says the U.S. Golf Association's rollback of groove guidelines actually has led to some new discoveries about how grooves might perform best. It's one of the reasons, for example, the groove designs differ on Mizuno's new MP-R12 wedges depending on the loft.

"What we've seen is when the edges were so sharp that you were shearing the cover off the ball, what actually was happening was some slippage up the face and less spin," he said. "What we've said in looking at spin is 'Let's not just look at grooves as the only component that contributes to spin. Let's look at everything.'"

In some ways, he believes the new groove is better, echoing similar sentiments TaylorMade's Bret Wahl made in talking about the company's new R11 irons.

"On a full shot from a clean lie, I think we're beyond where we were," Llewellyn said, indicating that new shaft designs like True Temper's Spinner shaft are contributing more to spin, as well. "But from the rough, it doesn't matter what you do, you're going to lose spin with the new groove."

Llewellyn and the Mizuno team talk about loft-specific designs, including adjustments through the range of wedges in both the groove configuration and the sole grind. He notes that the lower-lofted wedges like the 50- and 52-degree models, "are really 11-irons. Those are used for full shots."

Other companies, including Titleist and its new SM4 Vokey Design wedges, are at work on new groove designs and are expected to unveil them later this fall.

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Long putter talk: Wonder drug or cell phone?

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

If we're going to go forward with the idea that the long putter is chosen because of some kind of affliction, it's worth noting some comments from a couple of those who've chosen to adopt the long putter recently. Reading these makes one wonder: Is the long putter more like a wonder drug (curing an illness) or a cell phone (a smarter solution that helps all perform a task simpler, smarter and better, particularly those most adept at adopting to the new technology)?

From his press conference today, here is Adam Scott's assessment for why he switched:

"Well, it wasn't one specific tournament or anything or I reached boiling point.

I came back from the Hawaiian events this year early in the year, and I lost my rhythm quickly when I was in Hawaii with the putting. Frustrating, because one day it's there and the next day it's not, and that's kind of how the whole of 2010 went. I think my coach, Brad, had seen enough of that, and he knew how frustrated I was, because the rest of my game was in good shape.

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Would long putter major win change anything?

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

While much talk heading into the PGA Championship this week has been about Adam Scott and his caddie, the bigger, potentially more controversial discussion may happen if he wins again this week, and it won't be about his caddie, it will be about his putter.

Scott would become the first player (non-senior, non-LPGA) to win one of golf's four professional majors using a long putter. Or more precisely, a putter anchored to one or more body parts. (Angel Cabrera won the 2009 Masters with a "longer" putter, but it was not a belly or long putter.) The first player to win a major championship of any kind with a broomstick type of putter was Orville Moody, who won the 1989 U.S. Senior Open with a putter that helped revitalize his game. (He also won the Senior Players Championship that year.)

Then, not unlike now, the win sparked some at least internal debate among golf's traditionalists. But a month after Moody's win at the U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Golf Association announced that, despite the rumblings and a meeting of the organization's Equipment Standards Committee, there would be no ban on the long putter.

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What TaylorMade video says about Phil Mickelson

Friday, August 5, 2011

Those of us who travel in these circles (and certainly more and more golfers who troll the internet for the latest in equipment gossip and news) are getting used to the image: TaylorMade CEO Mark King bounding up toward a stage, slapping high fives on all sides from staff and clients like company endorsee Hale Irwin reenacting the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah, leading full-throated exaltations over the latest TaylorMade innovation, and oozing equal parts televangelist and telemarketer (even the most jaundiced observer concedes King, who is a hot ticket at corporate conferences lately and gets a healthy five-figures a speech as a client of the Washington Speakers Bureau, is doing a better Steve Jobs than even Steve Jobs ever did).

What we're seeing is indeed a familiar site, another product introduction from TaylorMade. This time it's the company's new game-improvement iron, the R11, a sleeker-looking game improvement iron that incorporates multiple elements of the company's core iron technologies, including thin-faced inverted cone face design, progressive size and center of gravity locations through the set and a newly engineered groove design that attempts to break new ground in the groove debate.

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Callaway Golf issues recall on GPS device

Monday, August 1, 2011

Callaway Golf began contacting retailers and consumers today to announce that it was issuing a voluntary recall of its latest GPS device, the uPro MX.

The company cited "technical challenges" in the rollout of the new device, and was offering a check or Callaway gift card for all returns. Callaway said consumers who are satisfied with their uPro MX device may keep it, and the company would continue to support it through the website, callawayuxplore.com. Consumers can obtain refund information at callawaygolf.com/upromxrefund. The refund offer is valid to consumers through Sept. 30.

Introduced this spring, the uPro MX was the second generation in the Callaway uPro GPS family. In addition to being able to be used in basic form for thousands of courses worldwide with no downloads, the device included a website where users could download advanced maps of courses, as well as track statistics with every club in the bag. Callaway's GPS device is unique in that its course maps feature aerial images of holes, rather than computerized renderings.

According to Tim Buckman, Callaway Golf senior director of global communications, the device's "technical challenges" centered on two main issues: 1) problems with the device's website in registering users and downloading course maps; 2) on-course usage glitches that included unexpected freezing or powering down. A recent review by Golfsmith customers gave the uPro MX device a 1 1/2 star rating on a 5-star scale.

"It's too early to determine how many devices are presenting technical challenges," Buckman said, "but enough for us to decide that a voluntary withdrawal from retail and a full refund offer was the right thing to do."

Although rare, other golf products to be recalled in recent years. In 2007, drivers from Nike, Cleveland and Cobra, as well as Callaway, were found to be non-conforming to the spring-like effect rule due to manufacturing inconsistencies, and each company offered a return/exchange program. In addition, golf balls from both Callaway and TaylorMade had to be pulled from the conforming list after manufacturing glitches in 2009.

Buckman said the company's design team will continue to work on new software to improve the functionality of the uPro MX device, and that the company plans to remain active in the GPS marketplace. Currently, Callaway is the only major golf club and ball manufacturer to be involved in the GPS field. The company also has partnered with Nikon to launch Callaway-branded laser rangefinders.

"Our voluntary withdrawal [of uPro MX] ensures that once we have made the appropriate software update, we can return the product to market and deliver the high quality experience that customers expect from Callaway," Buckman said. "Our commitment to delivering best in class products and services is the guiding principle behind this decision and we will continue to do whatever it takes to earn the trust of our customers. UPro MX and the callawayuxplore platform represent an important area of focus within Callaway and we are confident that our use of innovative technologies will advance the category."

--Mike Stachura

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TaylorMade R11 iron: Don't overlook the grooves

Monday, August 1, 2011

TaylorMade officially unveiled its new R11 irons today, a cast, progressive-sized iron that looks to combine the distance-enhancing technology of the Burner 2.0 iron (introduced last fall) with some of the player-focused looks and feel of the forged Tour Preferred line of irons (introduced this spring).

While it is not white, what might be most remarkable about this new iron is something that few are talking about anymore: the grooves.

The R11's technology includes meaningful talking points about several elements: The thin-faced design (just two millimeters thick on the 4-iron, for instance) includes the company's inverted cone in the face to improve off-center hit ballspeed. A weight port in the back of the undercut cavity allows for more precision in matching the proper head weights for consistency and the wide variety of shaft lengths and weights. The progressive-shaping of the design means the head shape, sole widths, topline thickness, offset and center of gravity locations change with each different iron in the set in an effort to optimize trajectory and spin.

But what TaylorMade's engineers have spent a significant amount of time on is the groove design, brought about by the USGA's decision to roll back groove effectiveness in 2008. The new stipulations reduce the sharpness of the groove edge radius and the total volume of grooves in an effort to reduce spin. Forced to reevaluate not only the design of a cast groove but the ability to consistently manufacture that design, TaylorMade's engineers say they've found a new idea that might be better than the old one on shots from the fairway.

"I contend the new grooves we've put on the R11 irons are better today than grooves were in the past because we know more now," says Bret Wahl, senior director of iron development at TaylorMade, who indicated the new groove design produces 16 percent more spin on a pitching wedge from the fairway than in the Burner 2.0 iron.

Wahl said that in the first few versions of grooves on cast irons that came after the new rule was implemented, manufacturers had to err toward produceability. He also said that clubs that have milled grooves, like forged irons, tend to have more precision built into the groove than can be achieved in cast design irons, which are made in much greater numbers.

"We've found edge radii to be the number one thing," he said. "Less than one-thousandth of an inch of difference can have the value of a thousand rpm of spin."

Wahl believes that if tour players were given the choice of the old, pre-groove rule groove and the new groove, they would opt for the new groove instead.

"Everybody plays by the same rules," Wahl said. "You have to push what can be done."

--Mike Stachura

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