Maxfli Makes PGA Strides

Hi everyone… hope you had a great weekend. I’m going to split today’s post up a bit. I’ve got a few odds and ends to get to and then I think I’ll do an informal “What’s Hot” list… a list of a few of the products that have been popular with my customers. Let’s get to it!

The Titleist website has been updated with all of the new spring products. We’ve talked a lot about most of these clubs but it’s always fun when a company “officially” launches them. I’ve had a lot of people asking about the 905R driver and I think it will be huge for Titleist.

Speaking of Titleist… we had a few emails last week asking about the Titleist Gran Z golf balls. A few of our readers spotted these on Ebay and wanted to know more about them. Titleist has confirmed that these are a new product offering in Japan and the current North American golf ball line is set for the year. We’ll keep you updated on new Titleist products as we get more information.

Another big weekend for Cobra Golf. Cobra staffer Camilo Villegas tied for second at the Ford Championship. The strong finish moves Villegas to #14 on the Money List too… giving Cobra Golf 3 staffers in the top 20 Money Leaders. It’s also worth noting that clothing company J Lindeberg had 2 players in the top 5 at Doral… Villegas and Fredrik Jacobson.

Lots of questions about Tiger’s driver shaft. Woods has been using a new Grafalloy Prototype shaft in his Nike SQ driver. This new shaft features BiMatrx technology (basically graphite with a steel tip section) and is designed to increase lauch angle while decreasing spin. No word on when we might see this shaft in stores but we’ll pass along more info as we get it.

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about Maxfli golf balls making strides on the PGA Tour but the company managed to tie Callaway and Nike for second in the golf ball count over the weekend. We’ll have more information in the coming weeks but watch for some new Maxfli/TaylorMade golf balls in the next month or so. Word on the street is that there will be two versions and they are currently being tested under the Maxfli name… thus driving up their numbers on the ball count. We’ll keep you updated.

The weather is starting to warm up a bit and people are starting to gear up for the golf season. I thought I’d run through some of the products my customers have been interested in so far…

Drivers - The TaylorMade R7 425 has drawn a lot of attention and the 460 should do the same. I’ve also has a lot of people asking about the new Titleist 905R and I expect it to do very well too. I’m interested to see what happens with Cleveland…. the Launcher Ti460 is a really good driver but the upcoming release of the HiBore has really slowed sales. The Ti460 has dropped in price to make way for the HiBore but we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out here.

Fairway Woods - The talk here has been over the new Callaway X Fairways. People love the way they look, love the way they feel and the prices are par for the course. Callaway fairway woods always do well at my shop and these should be no different. The Cobra Speed Series woods should do well here too… we just got ours in so it’s a bit too early to tell.

Hybrids - The TaylorMade Rescue Dual continues to sell well… as does the Callaway Heavenwood. I really like the Cleveland HALO and the Nickent 3DX but they haven’t sold as well.

Irons - More Callaway here. The Big Bertha ‘06 irons have done very well so far and their lower price makes them even more attractive. We just got our Wilson irons in and a lot of people have been looking. Their stuff continues to get better and better. We also have been getting a lot of requests for Ping G5 irons.

Putters - Obviously everyone wants to see the Odyssey SRT line and we’ve actually sold a few of the Tri Ball models. Odyssey has kind of cornered the putter end of things at my shop and they have something for everyone. Bring on the new XG’s!

Wedges - The Titleist Spin Milled and TaylorMade TP wedges have really cut into Cleveland sales. The Cleveland 588’s are still our best selling wedges but Titleist and TaylorMade are catching up.

Golf Balls - Not a huge shock here… we sell a ton of Titleist balls. The Pro V1 is a very good ball for us… as is the NXT Tour. People looking for a lower priced option have found the Callaway Warbird and Pinnacle Gold to be solid choices. We haven’t got our Bridgestone and Dunlop stuff in yet but they’ll do well when they get here. I’m very curious to see how our Maxfli balls will sell this year… there should be a real Maxfli push in the coming months.

I think that’s all for today. I’m off to get some lunch but I’ll be around all afternoon to answer your emails. Talk to you soon!