Hello all, hope everyone is having a great day. We are starting to get a bit backed up on emails and news so I thought that today might be a good day for another “lightning round”…. Ready, Set, Go!
– An email from a reader who is wondering if he should spend the extra money and get his new irons fitted… I’m surprised that they would charge you in the first place but it sounds like you have some game so I think it is worth it. A better player will really benefit from fitted clubs because he/she has a consistant enough swing to fully utilize them. Spend a few bucks and get on a launch monitor and lie board and hit a series of clubs. A good fitter should have your specs figured out in no time! Hope you are enjoying your R5 with the NV shaft!
– A reader asking about Nakashima Golf. I don’t want to totally give it away but expect to see an in depth article on Nakashima in the fall. These guys make great stuff!
– An email about the stock shaft in the Cobra 400SZ. The Aldila HM Tour shaft is a decent shaft for the average player. I haven’t done too many shaft upgrades in the Cobra clubs because most people that play them don’t really need an upgraded shaft. The last one I did was a Grafalloy Blue in a 440SZ head and the guy loves it. Try the stock Aldila first… you might find that you like it! Thanks for the email!
– Hey look… SirDrinksBeerAlot wrote in too! Hope you had fun in Laughlin on the weekend… I’ve never been there but I’ve heard some good things! SirDrinksBeerAlot was trying to find my shop on the internet so I will save him some time… we don’t have a website! I know that might seem a bit ironic but it’s true. I do SirShanksAlot.com on the side and it’s totally seperate from work. SirPuttsAlot and myself would love to do this full time but it doesn’t pay that well! Maybe one day…
– A great email from a regular reader that talks about the art of the deal… negotiating a price at your local golf store. I am planning to do a whole Buying Guide entry on this topic soon. We in the business walk a fine line when selling product. The golf retail business is really competitive and a lot of shops (like mine) rely on negotiating prices to beat other stores. We basically have to decide on the route we want to go… do we try and sell lots of products at low prices and make profit through volume or do we sell less stuff at higher prices? Watch for a Buying Guide piece on this soon!
– A follow up to the TA2 comments yesterday. I checked with Cleveland today and most of the TA2 close outs are standard. They are not doing too much custom work on them because of the really low price. We’ve tweaked a few sets in house for people and that might be the way to do it. Get a Cleveland dealer to check on availability… if you have odd specs, you might get lucky and find a set!
– A question on Ashton Golf. I have a regular customer that plays Ashton fairway woods (the X-1D’s) and he just loves them. They make some great stuff but availability (around here anyways) is limited. I would say that Ashton is one of the better component companies out there. I would recommend Ashton products if you are in the market for some decent woods at a good price. Check with your local clubmaker for more details.
– A question about an Odyssey DFX putter grip. I have had lots of people come in and ask about this grip… I don’t know what it is about it! You can order the grips through any Callaway Golf dealer and they’re not really that expensive either. Our most popular putter grip at work has been the Winn WGVSG (the Winn Gold Pistol). It’s a lot like some of today’s stock putter grips and people really like it.
– A reader asking for an update on the Titleist 735.CM irons. I have heard a June release from a few different people and I think Titleist would be missing the boat if they waited until fall to release them. One of our regular readers hit the 735.CM’s last week and he says that they are “the single best Titleist irons ever made”. These should be joined by a 695 iron in the fall. And while we are talking about new stuff from Titleist/Cobra… sounds like the SZ line of woods is done after this year. It makes sense… this is the second year for these woods and Titleist/Cobra has been following a two year product life cycle as of late. I’m guessing that the COMP woods will be carried through until next year though. I will keep you updated!
– C-Thru Grips has announced that they are coming out with a series of NFL grips. These should sell pretty well… especially in NFL cities. Memo to the folks at C-Thru grips… feel free to send me a few San Diego Chargers grips! On a somewhat related note… thanks to Miss ShanksAlot for my Donnie Edwards jersey… it should be arriving in the mail tomorrow! Four more months until the pre-season!
– A cool promotion from the folks at Innovex Golf. They are getting the public to pick the name for their new driver. The author of the winning name will win a full set of Innovex golf clubs. I think the “SirShanksAlot Long Bomb Hammer” is a good name… I think I will send in an entry! Watch for the new driver in August.
That’s all for today. I put a big dent in the email but there are always new ones coming in! We love it! I’m off to bed… have a great day and we will see you tomorrow!