From the Country that names everything in an idiot proof way that even their most intellectually challenged residents know exactly what they are meant to be doing at any given time…

(Examples: ‘Side-Walk’ aka Pavement…a place where you can safely walk at the side of a road. ‘Waste Paper Basket’ aka Bin…a basket to put waste paper in. Basketball…a game where you try to throw a ball into a basket. Baseball…a game where you try to hit a ball so you can advance to a base)

...Brings you a Trophy that is neither a Bowl or particularly Super to commemorate the winners of a game that is made up of 99% running around to stop other people running around so 1 guy can throw the ball a short way to another guy who tries to throw it a long way to be caught by the only guy that hopefully hasn`t been caught by the guys running around that are trying to stop the other teams guys running around! Yes, welcome to Americas interpretation of Football and their version of the FA Cup!

Given that USA are more typically tempted to name things in an easily recognisable and very descriptive way I`m surprised it`s not just called ‘Scatter-Catch’ or ‘Launch-Ball!’

The Super Bowl is certainly worthy of the Razzmatazz although the game itself is almost in danger of becoming the side show! The Halftime ‘Entertainment’ saw more people tune in to watch Justin Timberlake perform than actually watch the Game itself!! Brands & Products clamour for an Advertising Slot that cost Millions of Dollars, and the latest Blockbuster Movies use the showpiece event to screen their latest Trailers! Although I was gutted that my recent ‘TOKEN’ Film Trailer didn`t manage to make it on!

Another impressive, but not all that surprising stat given the target audience, is that ‘Super Bowl Sunday’ is second only to ‘Thanksgiving’ in the States for the most amount of food consumed in a day!...AH! Maybe that`s why they call it the ‘Super Bowl’, because it represents the oversized trough that is needed to dispense all the Popcorn, Potato Chips (…eh, crisps!) and Nachos (except at the White House!!)

The Philadelphia Eagles got their hands on the prized trophy after a fantastic win over the favourites the New England Patriots! It was edam good result for the little Lincolnshire Town more famous for making Cream Cheese…wait, what? It`s not the people who make Philadelphia Cheese!? Philly me!! Ok, so the actual City of Philadelphia clearly took inspiration from their Teams performance and decided they too should get their hands on something that they had no right to claim…as the residents of Philly took to looting shops & stores in the hours following the Final. They were probably all looking for bigger waisted ‘sweat pants’ after their feeding frenzy!!?

But it wasn`t just for the Super Bowl that some people over indulged!

Over in Arizona at the PGA Tours Waste Management Phoenix Open the unique Golf Event atmosphere and football Stadium-esque environment and, ahem, hospitality (and perhaps the searing Scottsdale sun) clearly got the better of some of the spectators! Click here to watch.

Interesting to know if he was contravening any ‘Dress Codes’ given that I didn`t see him wearing denim jeans, football colours or a collarless shirt! Perhaps ‘the Emperors new clothes’ needs added to that list of fashion faux pas!? I love the typically golf reaction to his antics though. Any other event sporting or otherwise he would`ve been rugby tackled to the ground within seconds (well, maybe not by a Scots player if it happened at the Millennium Stadium as we couldn`t get our hands on anything that day!) but at a golf event his ‘moment in the sun’ was met with the sternest of tutting, a chorus of encouraging cheers and some disgruntled gesturing from the Marshalls…I just hope he raked the Bunker after he was finished!? Perhaps these Stewards need training from the main Sponsor, then they could be dispatched to look after all the drunk patrons as part of the ‘Wasted Management’ Team!?

The event itself reminded us that the game has some well named Players too. In the case of the fiery Spaniard, Jon Rahm gives you prior warning what he might to with his Club on the recoil if he happens to hit a less than satisfactory shot! I really hope we play well in this year`s Ryder Cup as we could potentially have one of the most crabbit Teams in the history of the event!

Not just Jon ‘Club’ Rahm and Tyrrell ‘Hissy Fit’ Hatton.

Thomas ‘Petulant’ Pieters

Henrik ‘Seething’ Stenson

‘Raging’ Rory McIlroy

‘Stroppy’ Sergio Garcia

Even our Commander In Chief is prone to becoming Thomas ‘Blood Boiling’ Bjorn! The Top 5 of this Top 10 doesn`t make for good viewing….although they are all quite funny!

Top Ten-Per Tantrums!

The eventual Winner was pretty well named too! The Big Hitting Gary Woodland would land his 3rd PGA Tour Title thanks to an awesome performance in Wood Land that were in the air so long it got you wondering when they ‘Woodland’.

Ok, enough of that…Gary won at the 1st Playoff Hole!

Over on the European Tour the winner you`d think was only well named if you were playing Scrabble! But in fact the Indian unknown, Shubhankar Sharma, who scooped the Maybank Championship in Malasyia was definitely well named that weekend as his surname translates into ‘Joy & Happiness’. Maybe Jon Rahm would find more Sharma if he kept a little Karma!?

It`s that improved performance that I`m really curious about.

So as I`ve mentioned in previous Newsletters I am hosting a ’10 Yard Challenge’ Event to give those Golfers signed up a chance to pit their current Drivers Performance against the new options from both TaylorMade (M3 & M4) and Callaway’s new Rogue Driver.

If neither of the new Club Models can out-perform the individuals current Driver I will reward that person with a FREE sleeve of Balls. Watch this space for the results.

But, here is a little taste of what I`ve already seen the new Technology do. I know some people are sceptical about how much some of the adjustability can actually do. Last week I had 2 Driver Fittings and both, because of improved Technology combined with expert Fitting, produced very noticeable results.

Player 1 was trying the Callaway Rogue Driver. His killer shot with any/every driver he`s used is a big miss right. Having had an On Course Trial with the Callaway Rogue he wanted a Fitting. Here is what transpired which is a real testament to the Moveable Weight Technology.

Driver 1:
Callaway Rogue with DRAW (Heel) Weighting
Loft: 10.5* set Closed
Shaft Length & Flex: Suitable & Established for Players Swing.

Driver 2:
Callaway Rogue Sub Zero with Low Spin(Forward) Weighting
Loft: 10.5* set Closed
Shaft Length & Flex: Suitable & Established for Players Swing.

I`ve highlighted on the images the main areas of ‘Performance’ – Driver 1 was, for someone with a big right miss, incredibly straight (0.4 Yards Offline on Average – Biggest miss right = 25 Yards) Carry Distance wasn`t too shabby at 248 Yards Avg but despite a good Launch Angle of 14* the Spin Rate at 3200+ RPM meant the ball flight appeared high and created a stalling flight and a fairly steep decent angle (45*) essentially meaning the ball was coming down with no forward momentum.

By using the forward weight position in Driver 2 we were able to dramatically improve the Spin Rate (2681 RPM), increase the Carry Distance (257) and change the decent angle (39*) however, because of the lack of directional help (Draw Weighting) the killer right shot re-appeared with the bad miss showing up more than once (46 Yards right! DOUBLE) as a result you could see the Player lose confidence in himself. A switch back to Driver 1 and the accuracy immediately returned.

The absolute utopia outcome for this Player requires some work on the Technique to eliminate the big miss combined with Driver 2. So while this Fitting couldn`t find ‘The Perfect Driver’ it was able to provide a solution to a problem through the use of the Clubs design and adaptability. We agreed to put any Driver Purchase on hold and work on improving the technique first!

Player 2 was looking for an upgrade of his existing PING G10 Driver. Again the bad shot was a curved miss right.

We analysed the performance/suitability of his current Driver. From which I was able to establish that the Launch was a fraction too low and the Spin way too high. Definitely a factor in this was his strike location was too low on the Clubface so a slightly higher Tee height was also recommended. The lack of any adjustability on the PING G10 meant the miss was, as described, well right (20 Avg – 40 Max Yards Right)

Recommended Driver Spec
TaylorMade M4 Draw Head
Loft: 10.5* set Closed & 1* More Lofted
Shaft Length & Flex: Suitable & Established for Players Swing

Again you can see we were able to dramatically influence Spin Rate (Lower Spin from a higher Loft!) and increase Carry (12 Yard Gain!) but again the main difference was in the Dispersion (8 Yards Left! Worst Miss right was 14 Yards but majority were left of Target but with a straighter stronger flight. Also contributing to this stat was the fact the Player tended to aim left to allow for his typical curve right)

The moral of the Story – Technology definitely can influence Performance! Expert Club Fitting and the correct honest & personal advice added to that can AND WILL unlock your optimum performance.

REMEMBER! I don`t sell Equipment I PROVIDE RESULTS!

With all this new Equipment & Technology hitting the marketplace alongside all the other latest product ranges and releases I just wanted to re-iterate my pledge to you as well as my plea to you.

I`m here to provide you guys with the best possible and highest value service I can. I`m striving to do things right and I will always do the right thing by your game and the money you are willing to invest in that game, above all else I will respect who you are to me and what you provide me…an opportunity.

All I ask in return is that you afford me the same respect and willingness to do the right thing with the money you are willing to invest in your game, who I am to you and what I provide for you.

Many of you may have seen the re-emergence of American Golf`s ‘DOUBLE TRADE IN’ Offer and are currently contemplating investing in some of the Technology & Models I`ve just spoken about. But remember the old adage ‘If something sounds too good to be true…it possibly is!’

Their Double Trade In WILL NOT guarantee you twice the value of your equipment! You may remember I was part of a ‘DOUBLE TRADE IN’ Promotion that TaylorMade themselves ran these past 2 years. That did what it said on the tin – I got you a Quotation/Valuation – TaylorMade Matched it!

Click Here to view all the T`s & C`s for the American Golf DTI

But I`ve picked out the important ones for you.

• The trade-in price is calculated using a fixed exchange rate of $1.50 to £1 and then doubled. For example a product valued at $150 on https://valueguide.pga.com/trade-in/ would have an AG DVTI promotion trade in price of £200. ($150 divided by $1.50 to £1.00 is £100 and then
doubled to £200). (I`ll give you a good recent example: I took a TaylorMade M2 2016 Driver in as a Trade In Recently – Using the same Valuation Model as AG that would have worked out as $72 or £50 x 2 = £100. Guess what the SINGLE Trade In Value I received off of Golfbidder was? Yip, £100!)
• Single wedges are excluded from the Double Value Trade-In promotion and cannot be traded in. (I accept Multiple Trade In`s)
• Trade-in is against new clubs only, trade-in is not against any pre-owned clubs, ex-demo clubs or any non-club products. (I`ll accept Trade In`s against any Hardwear)
• Any non-excluded club can be traded-in, subject to condition, against any new club on sale at American Golf stores, subject to stock and availability, provided the trade-in and purchased items are within the same category. For example, you can trade in a wood against a wood (hybrids will be classed as a wood), putter against a putter and a set of matching irons (minimum of 6 clubs) against a set of irons (I`ll accept ANY Trade In against ANY Hardwear)

So, who would you rather see survive, let alone thrive? I`m here for you…I cling to the belief that you will be here for me too!?