Shanks, Whiffs and One-Irons, Laura Aiken – Olympic Update.

The International Golf Federation’s Olympic Committee pressed its case for golf at the World Amateur Team Championships last week in Australia. The event was a prime opportunity for Ty Votaw, executive director of the committee, to raise support for the movement to include golf in the 2016 games. The International Olympic Committee is slated to determine golf’s fate in October of 2009, when it will choose two of seven sports on the docket. Golf is competing against baseball, karate, roller sports, rugby, sevens, softball and squash.

The push for golf’s inclusion on the Olympic world stage has been in and out of the news for years. Some have argued that securing the biggest names (Tiger Woods et. al) will be the key to winning the bid. I think securing golf’s image globally will be the key, and the fact that the golf industry is a growing and significant contributor to Europe, Middle East and African economies will only help its case. So will the stats that give 20 countries representation in the 2008 top 100 world rankings. Clearly, it is a global sport. The four finalist cities for the 2016 games are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. There is potential for good golf.

Golf’s biggest struggle will be its weakness as a spectator sport when compared to some its competitors that allow people to see the whole game and all its players from one convenient seat. Rugby and karate are tough contenders for riveting action, which is what defines much of the imagination concerning the Olympics, where glory is won and lost in split seconds and split fractions. Missed putts haven’t been around since the Olympics of 1904.

Laura Aiken is the editor of Bay Area Golfing magazine and communications director for the BAGS Junior Golf Tour. She has been a golf writer for six years, and a mediocre player and fashion activist for 10. Laura can be reached at laura@bags.on.ca.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – THE BEST NEW COURSE AND THE SUPER TEE

Ontario Golf Magazine’s selection of Tarandowah as the Best New Club for 2009 has been well received by readers. Writes Dennis Pritchard, “I couldn’t agree more with the #1 choice for best new course. I have an index of 8-10, depending on how much I get out. I have played Tarandowah about four times. The best score I have come up with there is 84. I have never had more fun playing bad golf in my life. This course has all you can eat from (the first) tee to the last putt. I hear they may be having financial problems. I hope that is not true, it would be a disaster to not have this course able to survive.”

TEE ALL YOU CAN BE
As much as I have a hard time believing that a tee can make an inch of difference in how far the ball goes, unless I actually hit the tee first, which I’ve been known to do, it’s difficult to dispute the numbers of Evolve Golf’s Epoch tee. Turning Stone Resort Championship winner Dustin Johnson was the 33rd PGA Tour winner to use the model since its 2004 debut. Four other top-10 finishers at Turning Stone also employed the eco-friendly, mower-friendly design which reportedly lasts 10 times longer than a wooden tee.
A part of 106 major Tour wins in the past four-and-a-half seasons, the Epoch features radius posts that span the width of a golf ball dimple, which supposedly creates the lowest coefficient of friction of any tee, eliminating deflection at impact and increasing ball speed and control. The company reports that a series of rigorous independent robotic tests combined with extensive player testing reveal improvements of up to 12 yards distance and nine yards accuracy.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – MIKE FRANCIS GETS GM POST IN U.S.

Nike Golf today announced the appointment of Mike Francis to U.S. General Manager, effective by December 1, 2008, according to company President
Cindy Davis. Francis will be succeeding Davis, who was recently promoted from GM to the position of President.
Currently Nike Golf’s GM for Europe, Middle East and Africa, a position he has held for three years, Francis first rose to prominence as Nike Golf Canada’s GM, operating out of the company’s head office in Thornhill. As U.S. general manager, Francis will oversee the American business for Nike Golf, including sales, operations, marketing and sports marketing.
A native of Halifax, the graduate of Dalhousie University began his 21-year career in the golf industry at Ram Golf before moving to Wilson Golf, where he had ascended through the ranks from territory sales to merchandising management, marketing, and ultimately sales leadership. Francis joined Nike Golf in June 2003.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – Cobra Unveils its Newest Weapon

A few of us ink-stained wretches got to take a peak at Cobra’s newest weaponry yesterday at Eagles Nest GC in Maple. A week prior to launching the L5V driver, Titleist/Cobra reps gave us the low-down on the sleek new, multi-material, game-improvement model. Although it’s targeted at weekend warriors, the previous generation (L4V) was used by J.B. Holmes to win the FBR Championship and by Camillo Villegas in a pair of Tour victories this season, including the BMW Championship, so the technology clearly works for all levels. The L5V’s obvious new feature is “adjustable flight technology.” An exclusive hosel design allows players to close the face slightly to create a draw-bias setting. (It also allows players to remove the shaft entirely and customize from 30 available options, should they so desire.) A series of swingweight screws that are matched to each of the three exclusive stock Mitsubishi Diamana Red Board shafts (X, M and L) optimize the swingweight.
However, what Cobra is pushing is not this newest feature, rather the improvements on existing technology. Featuring the largest allowable head in both volume (460 cc’s) and in width and length (5 x 4.95 inches), the L5V is touted as the company’s longest, most forgiving and straightest driver ever. The effective face area has been increased more than 13 percent while the “dual rhombus” face technology has noticeably improved performance of off-centre hits.

The advancements were quite visible during driving range testing by the media yesterday afternoon, with compulsive faders beaming at their new laser-straight drives, as others revelled in their newfound draws.
Available in lofts of 8.5 (RH only), 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees, the L5V is expected to retail in the $449 range. www.cobragolf.com/L5V.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre - Who is Keith Kleven and what is he talking about?

I mentioned Hank Haney appearing at The Art of Golf at the Toronto Convention Centre earlier this year. He wasn’t alone. Nevada native Keith Kleven was also a guest speaker.

A founding member of the American Hand Society (probably because no one previously thought of founding it) and the Sports/Physical Therapy section of the American Physical Therapy Association. Klevin holds the distinction of being the most confusing man I’ve ever listened to. He counts among his greatest joys as working with the UNLV golf team for the past 15+ years, and reportedly also still works with many tour pros including Tiger Woods. By the way, 15 division I colleges have won more than one NCAA Championship–UNLV isn’t one of them. Not that I count this against Mr. Kleven, except that..I mean seriously..there were people walking out and others giggling in my row. There was lots of talk about physiotherapy, I think, and I distinctly recall him talking about carrying around a thermometer to take the temperature of various “joints, your thigh, all sorts of areas.”
Next up was German putting expert Marius Fimalter. Marius (below) was very cool–and almost hypnotizing as he rocked the putter back and forth in his outstretched hands like a metronome.

Marius noted that tests reveal how the top putters on the PGA Tour all have similarities: they all add loft at impact and all consistently accelerate through their putting stroke until a millisecond before impact, at which time the putter begins to decelerate. Also, their backswings are the same distance as their followthroughs. Conversely,the worst putters on Tour were found to accelerate through the ball (something we are typically told is a good thing).Marius likes the pendulum motion of a putting stroke–a motion that begins with the core muscles of the body turning the trunk and shoulders (not the hands or arms or shoulders!). He’s not a big fan of the straight back and straight through method, which requires a conscious manipulation of the club to keep it on the proper line, he says. The pendulum motion is more in harmony with natural law, he explained, and therefore more unconscious. And once we’ve determined the line and how far back the club needs to go to propel it the proper distance, you want your brain turned off at that point. Fimalter is also a big proponent of practising your putting in the same way as you do your irons. Everyone, he says, knows how far they hit their seven-iron, but nobody knows how far their putts go on a full or half-swing for that matter.
Further, the right elbow never moves away during a good putting stroke, he maintains. For that reason, Marius says, Phil Mickelson will never be a good putter!
Fimalter concluded with a great tip for short putts. Think of the metronome, he noted: “Tick, tock.” Back and forth. It’s more abut rhythm that way, and less about technique.

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – Gerry Kesselring at the GAO Hall of Fame

OK, it’s a tad late, but here’s some video for those who couldn’t make it–and those who did–from Gerry Kesselring’s great speech during his induction ceremony at the annual Golf Association of Ontario’s Hall of Fame day this past May at Wooden Sticks Golf Club. What a classy guy!

TED BITS, Ted McIntyre – Smashing Pumpkins

As part of a revamping of the Ontario Golf website, we’re going to be breaking out a few new looks, which involves breaking up a few old things, like maybe water balloons, or fruit, or Lego buildings–the possibilities are endless (we’ll restrict the exercise to inanimate objects). What I’m talking about is driving objects other than golf balls with an assortment of 460cc clubs. Capturing the events for posterity, not to mention your viewing pleasure (at least one new edition a month), will be the new Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1, which features an ultra-high-speed burst shooting ability for still images as well as a high-speed movie recording mode, enabling users to capture a split second’s movement with exceptional detail. The EX-F1 shoots 60 frames per second in full 6.0 megapixel resolution, allowing the camera to catch movement that the human eye cannot. The model starts snapping pictures even before you fully press down the shutter.
Swing analysis is also possible thanks to an extraordinary recording ability of up to 1,200 frames per second, allowing for ultra-slow-motion playback never before possible with a consumer camera, so rest assured you’ll also see this puppy in action when we start uploading instructional tips in the coming weeks!
If you’re interested in your own EX-F1, they retail for around $999 and are available at Henry’s and London Drugs. For more information, log on to www.exilim.com/intl/ex_f1.