The European Tour visits many countries and many spectacular courses and this weeks venue just 50km northwest of Cape Town is up there with the best. Pearl Valley Golf Estates is set amongst some of SA finest vineyards and flanked by stunning mountain backdrops on every side. The course has a par of 72 and can be stretched to just short of 7500 yards.
Titleist Staffers in the field this week include Grégory Bourdy, Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Soren Hansen, Martin Erlandsson, Mikko Ilonen and Paul Waring.
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After a good week at Leopard Creek last week Grégory Bourdy successfully made the short flight to Cape Town but unfortunately his clubs didn’t. Grégory had to wait until Tues afternoon for his tournament winning MB irons to show up before hitting the practice ground.
Paul Waring made his 2010 season debut this week. The SA sunshine was a far cry from The Belfry in late November when Karl Arthur and myself met up with him to do some 909 metal testing, Paul has moved into 710 CB irons and C-C Vokey wedges during the short off season but was yet to find a 909 driver which he was totally happy with.
After a couple of hours testing we were able to identify the launch and spin issues Paul was facing and built him the following driver. I caught up with Paul this week at Pearl Valley and the 909 has gone straight in the bag.
Model: 909 D3
Comp: 8.5
Shaft: Grafalloy Blue
Flex: Standard X – Stiff
Length: 45″
Grip: SPIDERMAN 60R BLUE
Grip Size: 2 + 1
Swing Weight: D5.5
Tipping: 2″
Paul has also moved away from the belly putter this week into a standard-length SC Newport.
Model: Studio Select Newport
Shaft: Stepless Straight Tip
Length: .SC34″
Grip: SC Red Cord
Grip Size: 0 + 1
Loft: 4 Degree
Lie: SC 71 Degree Std
Weights: 15 grams
South African Staffer Branden Grace was back in his homeland, after a year of travelling around the world. Unfortunately his Titleist Staff bag was looking a little worse for wear, so SA’s Leadership Executive, Leonard Loxton, had arranged delivery of a new one for the 2010 campaign. When you look at what his caddie, Shane, is carrying around on a week to week basis it’s easy to see it’s not going to be light work!!!
Staffer Martin Erlandsson looked in great form on the range this week and has ordered a back up driver for the coming season.
Model: 909 D2
Comp: 8.5
Shaft: Fubuki 63g
Flex: Standard X – Stiff
Length: 45″
Grip: SPIDERMAN 60R WHITE
Grip Size: 0 + 1 UPS
Swing Weight: D3
Tipping: 1.5″
Staffer Callum Macaulay has been using his C-C Vokeys for a little while know and all the practice he has put in with it has taken its toll, so a new one was ordered this week.
Model: Spin Milled C-C
Finish: Tour Chrome
Comp: 260.08
Shaft: Dynamic Gold
Flex: Standard S300
Length: 35″
Grip: Tour Velvet 58R
Grip Size: 0 + 1
Swing Weight: D5
Loft: 60 Degree
Lie: 64 Degree Standard
Stamp: Callum
The Tour now takes a well earned week off for the festive period before returning to South Africa for the African Open at East London GC on the Eastern Cape.
Cheers!
Phil Dimmock
December 18th, 2009
After barely a moment to catch our breath following a stunning climax to the 2009 season the Race is on again as the 2010 season kicks off in South Africa at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. And what a place for the 2010 Race to Dubai to begin!!!
Located on the edge of Kruger National Park, the magnificent par-72 layout at Leopard Creek Golf Club offers up one of the most spectacular settings on the European Tour schedule. The course is literally built on the banks of the park’s “Crocodile River” which, as the name suggests, is home to some of South Africa’s most infamous residents!! But the crocs are certainly not the most famous inhabitant of Leopard Creek Golf Club; that title would have to go to a certain hippopotamus that resides in a lake on the 16th hole and has become something of a celebrity. Our Tour team were suitably intrigued and took time out to see Harry the hippo during some down time this week. Check out the picture of Harry in this week’s slideshow.
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But of course, our main concern this week in South Africa is the inhabitants of the golf course!! Some of the European Tour’s best are in the field and looking to get off to a flyer on the 2010 Race to Dubai. A number of Titleist Ambassadors are in the field this week including Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, a recent winner at the UBS Hong Kong Open, and Irishman Shane Lowry who is embarking on his first full season of European Tour play. Who can forget Shane’s sensational victory at the 3 Irish Open back in May whilst still an amateur; a win which secured his playing European Tour playing privileges for 2010. Shane has been slowly adjusting to life on Tour since turning pro shortly after his win and is clearly revved up for his first full season. At the time of writing Shane is off to a solid start currently lying in a tie for 14th place at five under par. The whole Titleist team would like to wish Shane all the very best for what is undoubtedly the biggest year of his golfing career to date.
With many of our Titleist Ambassadors not playing this week there was very little equipment activity to speak of at Leopard Creek. However, with a new season now upon us we are fully expecting business to pick up over the coming weeks. One thing’s for sure, the popularity of Titleist equipment on the European Tour continues to grow. As well as being the #1 ball on the European Tour with 65.1%* of players using Pro V1 and Pro V1x across the 2009 season, Titleist is also the most played iron brand with 22.7%* of European Tour players trusting the performance and quality of Titleist irons during the 2009 season. A Titleist iron was also in the bags of more European Tour winners than any other brand during the 2009 with 12* victories. With a new range of Titleist irons now on offer, a number of players have already transitioned into the new AP2, CB or MB irons and we fully expect more to follow suit as the new season gets underway.
One player who did touch base with the team to place an equipment order this week was Titleist Ambassador Michael Hoey. Regular readers of the Blog may remember Michael taking a shine to a 909F2 fairway metal being tested by fellow Titleist player Rory McIlroy in Hong Kong and, since receiving his own 13.5° version to this specification, Michael has been delighted with the performance. The specification has been so much to his liking that Michael has now asked the team to put together a 15.5° version to the same specification. The club will be built at our European Tour workshop back in England and shipped to him at the earliest opportunity.
Michael Hoey
Model: 909F2
Loft: 15.5°
Shaft: Project X 7A3 X-Stiff
Length: 43”
Grip: Golf Pride DD2 .600 Round Black/Yellow (Std).
Swingweight: D3
The Titleist Tour Team will remain in South Africa next week as the Tour moves further south to Cape Town for the South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates. Set in the shadows of the Drakenstein Mountains the course offers up one of the most challenging layouts in all of Africa and undoubtedly one of the most visually spectacular golfing locations on the planet. It promises to be a great week and we will of course bring you another Blog update from the event.
* Source: IFM Sports Marketing Surveys – November 2009
December 11th, 2009
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