Open de France ALSTOM

July 3rd, 2009

The European Tour rolled into Le Golf National at Guyancourt, 20 miles South West of Paris, this week for the Open de France ALSTOM. One of the oldest events on the European Tour and featuring one of the biggest prize funds, the Open de France attracts a strong field every year, with players seeking to hone their games ahead of the Open Championship.

Previous winners include some very notable names, particularly in Ryder Cup circles, with the youngest winner of the event being the legend that is Seve (won at the age of 20) and the oldest winner being Sam Torrance (winning at just shy of 45 years old)! The defending champion is someone that we all have high hopes of becoming a Ryder Cup legend, Titleist Ambassador, Pablo Larrazabal.

Titleist Ambassador Pablo Larrazabal rips his 3 wood on the range

Pablo won in gun-to-tape fashion last year, prompting friends and fellow pros gathering to throw him headlong into the water that surrounds the 18th green! At the time of writing Pablo’s 2-under total after two rounds is a little off the lead, but his cheery outlook and strong work commitment will mean that he will put the experience to good use as he prepares for Turnberry.

He had been using his Titleist 906 F2 13° 3-wood this week, as he had for the whole of the tournament last year – not hitting his driver once! The team on the Titleist Tour Support Vehicle (TTSV) had also built him a 909H 15° hybrid, given that accuracy from the tee is key to success around Le Golf National. The spec for Pablo’s hybrid was:

Model: 909H 15°
Shaft: Rombax Prototype X-flex
Length: 41”
Grip: BCT Tour Velvet, 58 Round + 1 layer
Swingweight: D3

Titleist Tour Technician Phil Dimmock spent some time working with staffer Rob Dinwiddie on gap fitting – an often overlooked consideration by most club players. Repeated impact with the ground over a period of time can alter the loft and lie of irons and wedges and so you should work with your club pro to check your clubs at least once a season.

Back to Phil and Rob – over the past couple of weeks, Rob had been a little unsure about how far his “feel” shots had been going. He had felt that the ball was tending to go a little too far, making clubbing and scoring difficult! Phil worked with Rob using the Trackman launch monitor – Rob calling out how far he thought shots were travelling and Phil telling him the feedback from Trackman. After about five minutes, Rob was dialled in with the short clubs, having a much better feel for distances and the shots he was wanting to hit this week (and over the next couple of weeks).

Phil then went trough the rest of the bag with Rob and found the gapping to be good all the way up to the 5-iron. However, the 3- and 4-iron were almost identical due to a lack of trajectory on the 3-iron – it was coming out flat and not reaching the top of its flight, limiting distance. In fact, the 3-iron distance was often less than the 4-iron and around 10 yards short of where it should have been!

After checking the lofts, Phil found that they were on spec, but made the 3-iron about 1.5° weaker and they tried again. The adjustment definitely helped Rob achieve a higher flight, more distance and meant his gaps were back to where they should be – job done!

Other players working with the Titleist Tour Team this week included staffer Sören Hansen. Working with Titleist Tour Technician Mattias Jelver, Sören wanted to talk about a new driver, as he is currently using the Titleist 905R 9.5° with a Diamana White 73 shaft in X-flex. Sören gets a good flight with this driver, so was interested in what could deliver some improvements. Mattias is therefore going to do some more testing with the Titleist Ambassador next week at Loch Lomond to get him into a 909 driver – they will be trying out a new shaft from Aldila, the RIP 70x and the Diamana Kai’Li 70x in a 909 D2 head. We’ll bring you an update on this soon!

Titleist Tour Technician Mattias Jelver discusses shaft options with staffer Sören Hansen and his caddy Wobbly.

The TTSV is back at HQ in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, at the moment, being stocked and prepared for two of the busiest weeks of the season – The Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and, of course, the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry. The team will be very busy at both events, helping players to make those last minute adjustments that could give them the edge! The Titleist European Tour Blog Team will be inside the ropes as usual, looking for the scoops on your behalf and bringing you all the news from the sharp end!

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