Take The Top Down And Enjoy The Ride!

Titanium Face.
Exceptional Results

If you have been paying attention lately, you might have noticed that our popular Acer XK irons were voted “Best Value” by Golf Digest in the 2009 Hot List.  Acer, instead of resting on their laurels decided to take a little walk on the wild side and try to improve upon it.  But the big question was how?

In order to enhance what was already an easy-to-hit design, Acer decided the club head should go on a diet to shed some unwanted weight. They started where it was needed least and that was ultimately the face area.

Most iron heads are made of a single material throughout, whether it is some grade of stainless or carbon steel. Doing so cuts down on tooling costs and production problems, plus, you can still make some fine products.  Since the metal on modern irons are stretched out to the max, one way to lighten the club is making the club smaller, and they didn’t want to do that!  The other option is to incorporate a secondary lighter material such as a thin, reactive titanium plate for the face. This state-of-the-art titanium face is an integral component in the new Ti-Ceptional irons.

If you don’t think there is some weight savings in the face, you would be wrong.  Simply substituting titanium where the stainless steel face resided, we shed 45% or a total of 25g of weight from the face.

All this weight was then put to much better use by placing it in the toe (position A in the diagram) and in the sole (position B) to help stabilize the head even more so on off-center shots.  So if you thought the standard Acer XK irons were easy to hit, just wait until you hit these!

The reason why titanium is used in drivers is not only for weight savings, but more importantly for performance.  Acer have captured this in an iron to help you to hit the ball longer and straighter with the same amount of effort.

Well if this head is so good, then why aren’t all irons made this way? The reason you don’t see more companies doing this is the much higher costs in raw materials, tooling and fabrication, cost that is ultimately passed onto you. But Acer, part of one of the biggest club head manufacturers in the world have found the way to cost effectively utilize this technology to produce superior professional golf equipment for a lot less than the major manufacturers sell their standard run-of-the-mill models.

Flap over Mickelson's 20 year old wedge 

It's right there in the U.S. Golf Association manual, just before the rule that regulates thread count in argyle sweater vests, and the one specifying approved colors for oversized tees.

The rule itself reads like the warranty for your new TV, so we'll paraphrase: "Square grooves are not allowed. Well, OK — sometimes."

In answer to your unspoken question, no, a square groove does not describe a middle-aged man with a comb-over and trick knee trying to bust a move upon hearing "YMCA" at the father-daughter dance. Rather, it describes a nontraditional wedge design, in which U-shaped (or "square") grooves are used instead of V-shaped grooves.    More...

What then is Bifurcation?

Laurence Donegan of the UK Guardian makes some canny observation.

One of great things about golf - supposedly - is that everybody, from major champion to 24-handicap duffer, plays under the the same set of rules and using the same equipment. That "connection" between the pro game and the amateur game also lies at the root of golf's appeal. How do I know this? Because the people who run the game, and the people who manufacture golf equipment, have been saying so for years.

These people have also been vocal opponents of something called "bifurcation" - whereby the pros play under a different set of rules from that that apply to amateurs. Others, including the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman, have called for bifurcation with the respect to the golf ball. If the pros played a golf ball that didn't go as far as the one available in the shops then people would not be forced into doing silly things with our great golf courses, like growing rough at Augusta and building the tee on the Road Hole at the Old Course in the next door driving range.

Among those who have eloquently put the case against bifurcation has been Wally Uilhein, chairman and CEO of the equipment manufacturer, Titleist, and he did so an interview published on the company's website, saying:

We have never supported the position of bifurcation. Playing by one set of rules, playing the same game, playing the same course and playing the same equipment is what makes golf different. It is the essence of the game. Two sets of rules involving the golf ball, or the golf ball and golf clubs, would result in 1) the longer players on Tour only getting longer in comparison to those who are less long, and 2) the opening of a Pandora's box with regard to the regulation of equipment at the local, state, sectional and national levels. Golf is not so cleanly a professional game and an amateur game. That is the great thing about golf. That is why our national championship is an Open Championship administered by the USGA. Bifurcation is only seriously advanced by those who think that the game is on some edge of ruination and who thus, as a result of their narrow and biased thinking, feel some form of radical surgery is required.

How strange it was , then, to find it reported that Titleist has made two new version of its most popular ball, the Pro-V1, that will only be available to tour players.

Since last August, Titleist has made two tour-only versions of the Pro V1 ball available to PGA Tour players. The Pro V1 Plus Spin is marked with a "s----PRO V1---s" on the seam while the Pro V1x Plus Trajectory has a "+---PRO V1x---" on its seam.

According to a Titleist tour rep, "These products are customized versions of 2009 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls that have been designed to optimize performance for a small handful of PGA Tour players."

So far, so normal. Tour players often play with balls that are not yet available to the public - although they soon will be. Not this time, however. Golf.com continues:

The tour rep also wrote in bold, "These products are not in response to nor designed to address new groove rules and they are not planned to be sold commercially."

Obviously these two balls have been approved under existing rules but they are something new and different; they have been designed for the pros, will be played only by the pros and they will never be sold commercially to the paying punter. Isn't that some form of bifurcation?

Debunking The Myth That  A Blade Is Hard To Hit

A common perception among golfers is that a blade style iron is hard to hit.  After all, the efforts of the late Karsten Solheim of Ping didn’t go unnoticed. He produced an iron with a deep cavity and immediately the concept of perimeter weighting was born.  This was so successful that every manufacturer followed suit and to this day the vast majority of clubs are a cavity back design which make the game a little easier to for you and me to enjoy. 

Today, blade style irons have a very small market share and are generally reserved only the very best ball strikers.  Also, less than 30% of the PGA players rely on blades for their livelihood.  But ask a player why they play blades, they will tell you that it allows them to work the ball to create different shots.  Plus, on a perfectly struck shot, there is no better feeling in the world.

So why would a company like Dynacraft take the risk of bringing a blade to the golf market?  Well that is easy. The secret is that it is not truly a blade; the Prophet Tour Blade just looks like a blade.  After all, most blades are compact from heel-to-toe, possess a thin 4-way radius sole, thin top line and reduced offset.  So if we are going by the checklist, the Prophet Tour meets all those criteria.

But what separates a blade (or sometimes called a muscle-back design) from a game improvement club? The answer is weight re-distribution.  Most people immediately think of game improvement clubs as models with a deep cavity in the back.  But there are also a few other features of a game improvement club that golfers may not be aware of.

Most blade style irons feature a long hosel which shifts the center of gravity high and toward the heel of the club.  Dynacraft shortened the hosel on the Prophet Tour Blade so you would be rewarded for hitting the ball where you are supposed to; low and in the middle of the face.

They also created a Stability Slot, which removes material than can be used better elsewhere.  This concept is similar to how an undercut cavity works.

When you look down on the club it is going to look like a blade, but know in the back of your mind the penalty for a mis-hit is greatly reduced over a typical blade.  The Dynacraft Prophet Tour iron still allows you the ability to maneuver the ball when needed and more importantly receive the immediate feedback when you strike that perfect shot.  For those that want the best of both worlds, the Dynacraft Prophet Tour might just be the start of a new category as a game improvement blade proving that not all blades are hard to hit.

The Dynacraft Prophet Tour Blade is manufactured from an ultra-soft 304 stainless steel for an incredible feel at impact and finished with an exquisite black PVD coating.

If you’ve always wanted to hit a blade but were a little shy because of your playing style, give the new Dynacraft Prophet Tour Blade a shot ... you'll be pleased that you did!

   Dynacraft Prophet Tour Blade Iron - Custom Assembled

US University Coach to join Golf Australia 

University of Minnesota golf coach Brad James has been appointed as high performance director of Golf Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport.

He will oversee the men’s and women’s national teams and also be responsible for developing Australia’s young talent.   

Brad James has served as the Minnesota men’s coach since 2001 and has presided over both the men’s and women’s teams as the university’s director of golf for the past 2 1/2 seasons.

He guided the men’s team to the 2002 U.S. college championship and has four U.S. college finals appearances on his resume.

The plan is for James to finish out the school year and take up his appointment in Melbourne mid-2010.

“Come Back Tiger,
   we need you!"

That’s what the Victorian Government is saying and why wouldn’t they? The much criticized $3 million invested to bring Tiger to Melbourne for The Masters has reaped a One Thousand Percent return according to an independent source.

Victoria state tourism minister Tim Holding said the American was welcome back anytime, despite the revelations about his personal life, after his appearance injected A$34 million (US$31 million) into the local economy, almost double the initial forecast.    More...

Tiger Woods is a joke

Unfortunately this Blog was non-accessible for the past week, even to me. This perhaps was a blessing as I’ve not needed to buy into the Tiger debacle.

However, what does concern me is the attitude of some media who are predicting doom and gloom for the PGA Tour and for golf without Mr. Woods. Forbes magazine is saying”Tiger Woods is the face of golf.”    More...

Is Australian golf a joke?

We here in Australia like to think that we are a force in world golf. Eight of our nationals are well represented in the World Top 100.

Truth is we are being treated at a joke.

Certainly the JBWere Masters was a huge success. Tiger Woods came, he saw and he conquered but whom else of merit, other than Olgivy, Scott and a couple more home grown loyals, was in the field?

Stars like Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie teed it up in Hong Kong, none came to Melbourne.      More...

Tiger Mania! Is it Over?

Golf in Australia has never had a week like this. All the skeptics who were critical of the Victorian state government involvement in bringing Tiger to Melbourne have crawled back into the woodwork. Today no one is complaining.

This last week has seen Melbourne become Tiger town; not even complaining about the traffic jams as fans flocked to Kingston Heath - 21,000 packed into the course each day. Even on Tuesday, when it was learned Tiger would play nine practice holes, something like 6 -7,000 people turned up. (Sydney are boasting that for the Australian Open fans will get in FREE for the first two days ... is that the only way they can get a crowd?)     More...