Open de Andalucia

March 26th, 2010

The Titleist Tour Support Vehicle (TTSV) is back on the road this week for the first time in 2010 as the European Tour rolls into Malaga, Spain for the Open de Andalucia and a number of Titleist players took the opportunity to step right aboard and work on their equipment set-up.

Order of the week was definitely Titleist Vokey Design Wedges. The Vokey wedge is currently the #1 wedge on the European Tour and was certainly in high demand in Andalucia this week with around 40 being assembled on site for a variety of players. One of these players was Finland’s Mikko Ilonen. We told you in last week’s Blog about a change of iron specification for Mikko and the Titleist Ambassador was keen to switch to a new set of Vokeys with the same spec in Andalucia. The wedges were assembled aboard the TTSV and you’ll see evidence of Mikko working with his new wedges in this week’s slideshow.

Click here to view the slideshow

Mikko Ilonen

Model: Vokey Spin Milled C-C Raw Finish
Loft / Bounce: 54.14
Shaft: Dynamic Gold S200
Length: +1/2”
Lie: Std
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Round .580 (+1/64”)
Swingweight: D6
Custom Stamping: FF (Flying Finn)

Model: Vokey Spin Milled TVD C-C Raw Finish
Loft / Grind: 54° M-Grind
Shaft: Dynamic Gold S200
Length: +1/2”
Lie: Std
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Round .580 (+1/64”)
Swingweight: D6
Custom Stamping: FF (Flying Finn)

Model: Vokey Spin Milled TVD C-C Raw Finish
Loft / Grind: 60° M-Grind
Shaft: Dynamic Gold S200
Length: +1/2”
Lie: Std
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Round .580 (+1/64”)
Swingweight: D6
Custom Stamping: FF (Flying Finn)

Another player pictured in this week’s slide-show in Argentinean Titleist Ambassador Tano Goya. As you can see from the pictures Tano spent some time in Andalucia crushing the driver down the range under the watchful eye of Titleist Tour Technician Phil Dimmock. Tano has been using a 909D2 fitted with the Mitsubishi Diamana Kai Li shaft for some time but, whilst happy with the results, felt that the ball had a tendency to leak right when he winds up and gives it maximum power. Following a Trackman session with Phil, Tano found the new True Temper Project X 7A3 shaft gave him the added stability he was looking with the stiffer tip profile of the shaft coping better when he gave it the full treatment. The new shaft, in combination with a 1° drop in loft to 8.5° gave Tano the ideal flight and he walked off the range a happy man.

Tano Goya

Model: Titleist 909D2
Loft: 8.5°
Shaft: True Temper Project X 7A3 X-Stiff
Length: 45”
Grip: Golf Pride Multi-Compound Black/White (Reversed +1/64”)
Swingweight: D3

A regular visitor to the TTSV is Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal. Pablo really does have a penchant for a nice flatstick and didn’t need a second invitation to step on board the TTSV to check out some of the new Scotty Cameron putters we have available. Pablo couldn’t resist leaving with a new toy having taken a shine to a Del Mar from the California range. Pablo will be testing the putter over the coming weeks and the European Tour better look out if Pablo and his new putter start to gel. Anyone who saw the Alstom Open de France back in 2008 will know what can happen when Pablo’s putter gets hot.

Pablo Larrazabal

Model: Scotty Cameron California Del Mar
Length: 33″
Lie: 71°
Loft: 4°
Grip: Scotty Cameron Cord Black
Weighting: 20g (Heel & Toe)

Final word this week goes to our friends from our Korean Tour Team – Eric Kong and Mike Han. Eric and Mike were welcome visitors to the Open de Andalucia this week and spent the week with the Team seeing how things are done on the European Tour. The set-up for Korean Tour events is a little different from the European Tour as most event venues do not have their own practice facilities meaning the players visit local driving ranges for pre-tournament work. This means that Eric and Mike spend most of their time jumping from one range to the next in order to work with their players. It gets a little hectic for them to say the least!!!

The next event in the European Tour calendar in the BPI Madeira Islands Open and with the event coinciding with the year’s first major championship, the Masters, it will provide a real opportunity for some less established names to make their European Tour breakthrough. As for the Masters itself, we are of course supporting the Titleist Ambassadors making the pilgrimage to the beautiful Augusta National in the coping of capturing one of golf’s most coveted prizes – the green jacket.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized