Archive for April, 2010
Following another foray to the Far East the European Tour is back on home soil this week for the Open de Espana. The event is held at the Real Club de Golf in Seville, Southern Spain and the par-72 layout is rated by the players as one of the very best in the European Tour calendar. Bathed in glorious 40°C sunshine, the course looked in stunning condition this week but with water a plenty and some of the most brutal rough the players will see all season on the European Tour the course is far from a push over.
With the Titleist Tour Support Vehicle (TTSV) back on the road and fully stocked following a two-week hiatus, a number of players took advantage of the perfect conditions in Seville to work on their equipment. Driver set-up seemed to be the order of the week as a selection of Titleist Ambassadors checked in with the Tour Team to request a Trackman fitting. Players are always looking for that bit extra from their equipment, in particular the big stick, and with three driver head options available in the Titleist 909 series and new shaft offerings becoming available all the time many players check-in with the team on a regular basis to test new options.
Three of the Titleist Ambassadors working on their driver specification in Seville this week were Englishman Kenny Ferrie, Australian Rick Kulacz and Danish European Tour rookie Mark Haastrup. Each went through a full Trackman fitting session with the team and came away with a new 909 driver for further testing.
Kenny Ferrie
Kenny’s bad shot with the driver is to lose the ball to the right and he therefore prefers his driver head to look closed at address. Taking the standard 8.5° head and adjusting to 10.5° adjusts the visual perspective and the driver appears a little closed at address. Kenny’s new driver set-up is as follows and he will be looking to undergo on-course testing in Italy next week.
Model: 909 DComp
Loft: 8.5° (Bent to 10.5°)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki 63 Stiff
Length: 45”
Lie: Bent to 63°
Grip: Golf Pride Multi-Compound Blue/Black .600 Ribbed (+1/64”)
Swingweight: D3
Rick Kulacz
Rick hasn’t been at his best with the driver in recent weeks and following his Trackman session it became apparent that his spin rate had dropped quite considerably since the last time we saw him. With players constantly working on swing changes this can happen but the reduction in spin had meant Rick was losing carry distance and had become more prone to losing the ball both left and right. Work with a new driver option soon had Rick hitting the ball straighter and longer, in fact the new combination was a full 12 yards longer through the air and had Rick’s total driver distance back up near the 300 yard mark.
Model: 909 D2
Loft: 10.5°
Shaft: Oban Devotion 6 X-Flex
Length: 45”
Grip: Golf Pride BCT Black .580 Ribbed (+1/16”)
Swingweight: D3
Mark Haastrup
Model: 909D2
Loft: 8.5°
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blue 73 X-Flex
Length: 45“
Grip: Lamkin Crossline .600 Round (+1/64“)
Swingweight: D3
Final word this week goes to Titleist Ambassador Paul Waring. As you can imagine the travel plans of many European Tour players were effect by the volcanic ash crisis and Paul was one of those who was stranded far from home. His planned journey back from the Volvo China Open to his home in England left him stuck in Dubai for an unscheduled seven days of desert sun. Whilst there are worse places on planet Earth to be stuck for a week it did rather play havoc with Paul’s schedule and he only arrived in Seville the night before the opening round. That said, it would seem that Paul has taken all of this upheaval in his stride and it has had no ill effect on his golf game; round one saw the big-hitting Englishman saunter round the Real Club de Golf in just 66 strokes.
As the European Tour moves onto another great venue in Turin next week for the BMW Italian Open we’d like to remind you that you can follow the Titleist Tour Team on a daily basis through Twitter. Click here to become a follower as the guys are provide regular updates from inside the ropes on the European Tour.
April 30th, 2010
Amidst heavy downpours and thick fog, the European Tour and The Titleist Tour Team (TTT) arrived on Jeju Island in Korea for the Ballantine’s Championship at the beautiful Pinx Golf Club.
The hope had been that the bad weather – heavy rain, strong wind and thick fog – would pass as the tournament began. However, on Thursday the Tournament Directors decided that almost seven hours of lost play would be impossible to make up, and reduced the Championship to 54 holes.
Click here to view the slideshow
In spite of the bad weather, at the time of writing, Titleist ambassador Tano Goya had shot himself to a joint lead of the tournament after a stunning opening round of 66, closely followed by a 70, to take him to eight under.
Fellow Titleist ambassador Brett “Rummy” Rumford was just one shot behind after completing his second round – check out Brett’s patriotic bag in the slideshow!
The Korean Titleist Tour Support Vehicle was in attendance this week, so the TTT were able to help some players out with their equipment needs.
One visitor was up and coming Korean star and winner of the Maybank Malaysia Open, Seung-yul Noh. The full line Titleist staffer did some Trackman work, showing an impressive 178mph in ballspeed, 120mph in clubhead speed, carrying the ball 285 yards and rolling out to a total of 318 yards! Not bad for just 18 years old!
Noh, pictured signing a cap for a fan, (see slideshow photo 4) uses a 909D3 8.5° with a Fubuki 73x shaft and the new Titleist MB’s with Dynamic Gold X100 shafts. The good news is that he is going to be playing several European Tour events this summer and we expect great things from this young man! If you get the chance, get out to see him!
Staffer Tano Goya was also a visitor to the Korean TTSV, ordering a new driver this week – a 909D2 9.5° also with a Fubuki 73 x shaft. Almost as a sign of what was to come, Tano was looking very good on the range before the start of the tournament – let’s hope he keeps up the form on the course! The driver will be delivered to him next week at the Open de España in Seville.
Ambassador Rick Kulacz was looking at the new Titleist CB irons this week in order to promote a more penetrating ball flight, but wanting to keep some of the forgiveness that he gets from his current AP2 irons! Rick will be spending some more time with the TTT in Seville on the range and in the European TTSV next week to get his optimum specs. He will also pick up a new 60-V Vokey Design wedge.
Swedish staffer Martin Erlandsson is looking for some form this week and opened with a level par round. He was also looking good on the range this week, so we hope that Martin pulls together a good run! Martin has AP2 irons and 50, 54, 58 degree CoC (Condition of Competition) Spin Milled wedges by Vokey. Having had a look at his wedges, Titleist Tour Technician Mattias Jelver will be making some adjustments and delivering a new set to him soon.
After a good finish at the Volvo China Open, Pablo Larrazabal has got off to a promising start at The Ballentine’s. Pablo was happy with his finish last week and was hoping for a better one this week – an opening 69 puts him in a good position to push on!
We also managed to have some fun when Titleist’s Korean Tour Rep Eric Kong got behind the grill to cook us up some local treats! (see slideshow).
We’re hoping that travelling in Europe goes back to normal soon so delays and cancellations are a distant memory! We’ll be on hand in Seville to bring you the inside the ropes scoop on the European Tour! Happy golfing!
Keep in mind that you can now follow us on Twitter too (TitleistEurope)!!! We will be updating on a daily basis from the European Tour. Look out for Titleist Tweets!!
April 23rd, 2010
With the golfing world still catching its breath following a sizzling Sunday at Augusta the European Tour schedule takes us to Jinji Lake Golf Club in Suzhou, China for the 7th playing of the Volvo China Open.
The course at Jinji Lake marks a new venue for the event and the Gary Player designed, par-72 layout offers two very different nines. The opening nine holes have been designed in the style of a classic links golf course but, as the players hit the turn, the character of the course changes and the inward nine is pure parkland golf.
As the Titleist Tour Team landed in China for the practice rounds the major surprise was the local weather which resembled a typical February in the UK. Cold and rain was the order of the day and, as you can see from this week’s slideshow, the players were breaking out their winter gear in an effort to stay warm and dry.
Click here to view the slideshow.
With the event taking place in China the Titleist Tour Support Vehicle was not on site this week (UK to mainland China in a heavy goods vehicle is a tough commute even for our driver Ian “Iron Man” Martin) and equipment work was therefore fairly restricted. However, the Team did take time out to speak to a number of players about their wedge requirements. New Vokey Spin Milled C-C wedges were issued to all Titleist players at the start of 2010 to conform to the new R&A groove rulings but, with the amount of playing and practicing that these guys do, a number of players are already looking to order a fresh set of wedges. Titleist Ambassadors Pablo Larrazabal and Martin Erlandsson were two of the players to place their order for new Vokey C-C wedges and will take delivery of these at the Open de Espana in two weeks time.
Other Titleist Ambassadors to touch base this week were Australian Rick Kulacz and Argentina’s Tano Goya. Both players headed for Titleist Tour Representative Mattias Jelver to discuss potential changes to their equipment set-up. Rick is currently using the new AP2 iron with the True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shaft but would like something that offers a flatter ball flight. With the Dynamic Gold being one of the lowest launching iron shafts available a change in shaft would not have the desired effect and it was therefore agreed that we would build a new set of Titleist CB irons with the same specification as his AP2 set. The design of the CB iron features a higher CG which produces a naturally flatter flight than the AP2 and these should produce the ball flight that Rick requires. These will be assembled at Titleist HQ back in the UK and be shipped to Rick for his next event. Tano Goya’s request was somewhat similar but this time it was the driver that he was looking to hit a little flatter. Whilst generally happy with his set-up in his current 909D2 Tano felt that the spin may be a little on the high side and has booked himself in with Mattias for a Trackman session in Korea next week. These subtle changes in equipment really can make a difference at this level and, whilst a few hundred revs of spin on the driver doesn’t sound like much, it could be the difference between making a carry or not making a carry; the difference between success and failure.
Finally this week, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Titleist Europe Twitter page. This page will allow our Tour Team to provide real-time updates from inside the ropes at European Tour events. We hope that you will enjoy following the new page and feel free to communicate with the Team regarding their “Tweets”. We would very much appreciate your interaction.
Click here to visit the Titleist Europe Twitter page
April 16th, 2010
