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Fujikura Ventus HB Takeaways

Fujikura has added hybrid shafts to its successful Ventus line.The Ventus HB Blue is low to mid launch with low spin.The Ventus HB Black is low launch and low spin with a penetrating trajectory.Retail price is $200.

It’s probably understating things a bit to say that Ventus has been one of the most successful products in the history of Fujikura. Given that momentum, it makes sense the company would add the Ventus HB hybrid shaft to the lineup.

A little background

There’s an odd dichotomy in the shaft world. Like golf clubs, retail sales of shafts are usually highest in the first year after release. PGA TOUR players, however, are notoriously reticent to swap gear, so Tour use doesn’t typically accelerate until Year Two.

Well into its second year on the market, Fujikura’s Ventus is bucking trends. Not only does Tour use continue to grow but on the retail side, it’s an absolute juggernaut.

In the first six months of 2020, Fujikura sold more Ventus shafts than in all of 2019. Ventus has already sold 25 percent more in its first 18 months than ATMOS TS did in its first three years on the market – and it’s not like ATMOS was a dog.

The National Golf Foundation reached to executives and a strong variety of leading figures in golf, with hopes of hearing how they view golf’s “opportunity” created by the pandemic.

While it’s mostly a lot of vapid corporatespeak (engage!) and light on specific ideas, I did enjoy this from Kemper Golf’s Steve Skinner.

These scream like the operational priorities to me, too:

-We must welcome juniors, families and new golfers with open arms. This includes creative ideas like free, 15-minute introductory lessons, junior rates and family tee times. We should also continue to create and renovate alternative courses (short course, par-3s and putting courses) and consider alternative types of formats (scrambles and team play, such as PGA Jr. League).

-We must consider seniors, who still represent the game’s most loyal players but fall into a higher risk category. Be sensitive to their needs and consider their behavior in operational protocols.

-Create an efficient food and beverage system for delivery and grab & go options. Expand to-go selections and consider app-based delivery services to guests on the course. Creating more outdoor dining spaces is also key to supporting a limited F&B system during this time.

The Guardian’s Ewan Murray reports that Amnesty International is wondering about the oddity of the women’s golf coming to Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week the Ladies European Tour announced two November events in Saudi Arabia with $1.5m in prize money and called it a “landmark moment”.

From Murray’s story:

“With leading Saudi women’s rights activists currently languishing behind bars, there’s an unmistakable irony to the spectacle of Saudi Arabia throwing open its heavily-watered greens to the world’s leading women golfers like this,” Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, told the Guardian.

“Under the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a major sportswashing drive – attempting to use the glamour and prestige of big-money sporting events as a PR tool to distract from its abysmal human rights record.”

From Golf Channel PR

Yes, it’s a pandemic where the U.S. Open moved to September and, out of no where, NBC/Golf Channel reclaimed the rights earlier this year.

Still, it’s quite bizarre to read about the channel enjoying its best September and strong showing among sports channels as Comcast/NBCUniversal eliminates most Golf Channel jobs and moves a very limited operation to Connecticut.

From NBC Sports PR:

GOLF Channel’s Total Day viewership in the quarter (118,000) ranked #1 among all single-sport networks, posting a 33% increase from the same time period in 2019.

This AP story looks at the huge change in NASCAR’s 2021 move away from a schedule dominated by “cookie-cutter oval tracks” to a mixture. This includes six road course races and one dirt track race.

While professional golf sees a pretty solid variety of courses, a case could be made that the schedule’s almost complete reliance on 72 holes of stroke play is the NASCAR equivalent of cookie-cutter ovals.

From the story:

It is a true shakeup after a lack of imagination created the most predictable schedule in sports, one that favored new speedways — 1.5-mile ovals that not only all looked the same, but raced the same, too. Not since Indianapolis Motor Speedway was added in 1994 had a Cup race been awarded to a track that was not part of an ownership group for an active speedway.

NASCAR set aside all the old ways of doing business.

“We said back in 2019 ... 2021, you were going to see some really bold changes from NASCAR,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president. “We believe we’ve delivered on that. We are excited for our fans, it’s an historic schedule, the most changes since 1969.”

With obvious support of its TV partners at FOX and NBC, conservative NASCAR is shaking things up despite having stabilized ratings. It may simply be a result of upstart interests hoping to start new circuits emphasizing driving skill over technology. But even the most unimaginative executive on the planet has to know a weekly sameness does not make for great TV.

Sebastian Munoz's quest to defend his 2019 victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship got off to a good start Thursday as his 8-under 64 leaves him tied for the lead with Jimmy Walker, Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman.

Lauren Stephenson and Mi Hyang Lee share the first-round lead at the Shoprite LPGA Classic after shooting 8-under 63s Thursday on Seaview's Bay Course in Galloway, New Jersey.

Paul Lawrie is making his 620th appearance on the European Tour at the Scottish Open this week. It also will be his last.

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie is calling it a playing career at this week’s Aberdeen Standard Investment’s Scottish Open but plans to continue what has already been one of the more impressive off-course careers. From his Aberdeen golf center, his foundation, this summer’s Tartan Pro Tour and managing five players, the 51-year-old former Open Champion has already carved out multiple off-course roles.

From a BBC story at Renaissance Club, host of this week’s rescheduled Scottish Open:

"To have played 620 events is not a bad innings considering I turned pro [in 1986] with a five handicap and didn't think I'd play any," he added. "I haven't been a great player, but I've been decent and that's all you can ask for.

"I'm kind of almost pleased that I'm 51 and not 22 the way it's going. Technology has been unbelievable. My body is in bits and I'm still hitting it the same distance as I did when I was 22."

Oh he’s so modest. Those hours in the gym have done it! Come on, you know it Paul.

For those new to the distance debate or only mildly interested in this neverending saga, the role of course design drives the views of most. And yet, golf architects who could profit by rapid increases we’ve seen in the last two decades, should be loving the added work and calls to deal with safety issues.

But dealing with distance in almost every decision they have to make has 95% of European Institute of Golf Course Architects voting for some form of “rollback” in the name of safety and sanity.

The July survey questions and results can be viewed here, with a link to the PDF in the righthand column. From their president summing up the results:

“We surveyed the EIGCA membership for their thoughts on a range of factors relating to increased hitting distances, forged through their experience of designing golf courses around the world. The most eye-catching result is that 95% of respondents agreed that action needs to be taken to reduce hitting distances,” says Christoph Städler, President of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects.

“The vast majority of respondents (75%) believed that increasing ball flight length and advances in equipment technology are diminishing the skill of the game which is leading to a simplification of golf course strategy. 88% of respondents considered a reduction in driving distance of between 10% and 15% would be appropriate.”

The results have been sent off to the R&A and USGA who have suspended discussions until 2021 due to the pandemic.

This deer didn’t go all AJ Johnson and straddle the line for Katie Nolff, playing on an early fall day at Indian Springs in New York. But the deer was hungry and only slightly alarmed at the post-made putt celebration.

Secretly Snow White #wtfjusthappened #golf #nature #deerkisses ❤️ 🦌 @jaydudz_golf 📸

And I’m telling you what you probably know given she made Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt, who also got extra footage

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever make it on ESPN playing golf. ESPN! What in the world is happening 🤯 #ESPN @ESPN 🍌 @jaydudz_golf 📸

Plaintiff Justin Breault claims that NBCUniversal has been selling subscriber information to third parties is troubling given Golf Channel, Golfpass and Golf Now’s business.

The case was filed in a Massachusetts federal court and “accuses NBCUniversal’s Golf Channel of selling viewers’ personal information and viewing history without their permission.”

The information allegedly being rented or sold includes customers’ names and addresses, as well as “detailed transactional information” about the titles and subject matter of the media purchased by subscribers. 

Once the data is disclosed, the third-party recipients of the information can add other personal and demographic data for those customers, then re-sell the personal viewing information to other third-parties, the class action lawsuit says.

While not specified, presumably Breault was a Golfpass subscriber, or, before that, a Revolution Golf customer (a service purchased by Golf Channel and later folded).

Breault says he purchased a Golf Channel “subscription-based video good or service” within the past two years, and he was never notified, in writing or otherwise, that his personal or viewing information would be disclosed to third-parties.

However, Breault claims, NBCUniversal disclosed his personal information, “including, inter alia, Plaintiff’s name, postal address, telephone number, gender, age, income, whether he has children, and his homeowner status, as well as the title of the video service/product Plaintiff purchased” to marketing companies, data appenders and aggregators or other third-parties.

Set to begin at the end of November, the Hong Kong Open will now be postponed until 2021

October 1, 2020

Rule of the Month: Out of Bounds/Lost Ball/Provisional

Topic Overview:

Lost balls can cost you. Just ask Harris English, who opened the final round of the recent U.S. Open by losing a ball on the first tee (see below). As a result, his chances instantly plummeted. But there is also help should you find yourself in that situation.

If you hit your ball out of bounds or lose it (you have three minutes to search for your ball before it becomes lost), your only option is to go back to the spot of your previous stroke to play under stroke and distance. The only exceptions to this are if your ball is lost in a penalty area (when you can use any of the penalty area relief options) or lost in an abnormal ground condition or in an obstruction.

A final exception is when a new Local Rule which provides an alternative to stroke and distance relief is in effect. This Local Rule is recommended for casual play and not for competitions involving highly-skilled players. If it is in effect, for two penalty strokes, you can estimate the spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds and then find the nearest fairway edge that is not nearer the hole than the estimated spot. You can drop a ball in the fairway within two club-lengths of that fairway edge point, or anywhere between there and the estimated spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds. To see this visually and learn more about how this optional Local Rule works, click here.

If you think that your ball might be out bounds or that you might not find it, you can play a provisional ball to save time. You must announce that you are playing a provisional ball before doing so. If you are then unable to find your original ball, or you find it out of bounds, your provisional ball is your ball in play under stroke and distance, and you don’t have to take the time to walk all the way back to the spot of your previous stroke. Click here to learn more about playing a provisional ball.

Nike is launching another rendition of the Air Zoom Infinity Golf shoe. This time it’s a Tour Shield edition, intended to be used in wet and cold conditions.

The Air Zoom Infinity Tour Shield Golf isn’t available to the public just yet but we do know they’ll cost you $180 when they hit the shelves.

What do you think of the look? Browse the gallery below.

The post New Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour Shield appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Pre-pandemic the explosion of interest and respect for the role of par-3 courses was incredible and there is little reason to think that’ll be changing. Designed properly, pitch and putts are fun for all, a great option for kids or older golfers no longer up for a full round and essential to the facilities that have done it right.

While not the first, Pinehurst’s The Cradle was arguably the most ambitious given the prime real estate devoted to the Hanse Design creation. The numbers are in after three years and they are staggering.

Check out this post for all of them, but from a pure news and business perspective the primary number is the rounds played total: over 115,000 rounds in three years means over 100 players a day, depending on whether replays are counted. That’s with a $50 green fee—kids under 17 are free with a paying adult—and many other golf options in the region. Incredibly eye-opening, one would hope, particularly given how little acreage and cost such a course requires compared to a full course.

Hitting greens in regulation is the number 1 objective in golf if you want to lower your scores. Unfortunately we normally end up with a lot more chip shots than hitting GIRs. So chipping close to the hole for a one putt is really the most important shot for recreational golfers. Patrick Reed took an early lead in the US Open by chipping it close and then making a lot of 1 putt greens. Stabbing your wedge at the ball is NOT a good solution. You need to finish with hip rotation.

Clay Ballard at Top Speed Golf highlighted the setup and swing needed to avoid fat chips or worm burner bladed chips in a recent blog. NOTHING can mess-up a hole worse than a simple short chip. When the pressure is on you may go into a yip mode. With the proper setup and rotating finish you can break out of your missed chips.

1) Narrow Your Foot Separation and Open Your Stance: Keep your feet about 8 inches apart. When your feet are too far apart, it can cause you to be too rigid during the swing, and if they’re too close it can create issues with your balance. A chip is a simple rocking back and through (like a putt), but you want to be loose. Having your feet closer together also allows for a better ball position at the bottom of your swing arc.

2) Ball Position: You want the ball to be “directly under your lead ear”. That’s the natural low point of your swing (where your club grounds out). By having the ball under your lead ear, you’ll naturally be hitting the ball just before the club hits the ground. It helps you hit your ball first. NOTE: Other pros recommend more weight on your leading foot and lining the ball up with your trailing ear. Why not try both and sort out what’s best for you?

3) Shaft Lean: Setup with your shaft pointing up to your leading shoulder. This will also force you to keep more pressure on your leading foot during setup and throughout your chip. You want to impact the ball before you skim the turf.

Who is worth investing in, and whom should you fade? Our experts offer their best bets for the Sanderson Farms Championship.

What happens when you get golf ball experts from competing manufactures in the same room?

Plenty of spirited conversation.

Dean Snell (Snell Golf), Adam Rehberg (Bridgestone), and Alan Hocknell (Callaway) sat down (virtually) with MyGolfSpy staff to discuss a variety of pertinent golf ball topics.

So, what do the top names in golf ball manufacturing have to say about rolling back the golf ball?

Watch Now

The post [VIDEO] Rolling Back the Ball – Golf Ball Roundtable appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

MyGolfSpy Ball Lab is where we quantify the quality and consistency of the golf balls on the market to help you find the best ball for your money. Today, we’re taking a look at the Snell MTB-X.  An overview of the equipment we use can be found here. To learn more about our test process, how we define “bad” balls and our True Price metric, check out our About MyGolfSpy Ball Lab page.

Among an ever-increasing number of direct-to-consumer brands, Snell Golf has the best pedigree. In his years at Titleist and TaylorMade, company founder Dean Snell had a role in some of the most popular designs of their time. Nobody else in the DTC space can match Dean’s resume. Still, without the size of those companies backing him, can Snell match the quality of the leading brands?

In this report, we share what we learned about the 2019 Snell MTB-X and let you know how it stacks up against other golf balls on the market. Finally, we’ll give you the True Price – how much it costs to get a dozen “good” golf balls.

About the Snell MTB-X