There were a few things that caught me eye on Tour and most notably the X range of prototype shafts from Grafalloy have been expanded to 80 gram and 60 gram, all with very low torque (we reported this Grafalloy shaft last October). I suspect they are trying out the heavier and lighted weights to see if this product is worth widening for the market place.
We also came across the new YS-QST shaft from Graphite Design which has a stiffer tip to keep the ball flight down and reduce back spin, this shaft is very new and this is its first week on Tour. Mitsubishi Rayon have also launched some additions to its Diamana range with a new White Board Hybrid “Thump” shaft and also a new Diamana Black, they are in very short supply so a full review will follow in a later issue.
Mike Perry from Golf Pride showed us a new compound grip which is a softer version of their full cord tour velvet. Golf Pride have stopped using velvet when making the corded grips and have moved to cotton which makes the grips much softer without losing the benefit of the tacky cord, especially in the wet. The new Ireland Grip was doing the rounds and was put into play by a few of the Irish players. ForeGolf was the first to have this popular grip in April and it's already proving to be a favourite.
I ran into my good South African friend, Thomas Aitken and had a quick chat to him. His putts per green in regulation is number 2 on Tour and he is in the top 10 stroke average statistics on The European Tour, after watching him putt, I would put him up for a win very soon, so watch this space. Padraig Harrington was testing a few wedge grinds from the Wilson truck. He always takes the time to say hello and chat for a few minutes. Rory McIlroy caught my eye while 100 young golf fans buzzed around him for autographs. He has created almost a “Tiger Syndrome” with an awful lot of fan attention. I wonder will he struggle to deal with this amount of support and the resulting impact on his tournament preparation time. We also hooked up with our new friend John Daly who was visiting Adams Golf trailer and sat with us in the Irish sunshine on Monday afternoon to shoot the breeze. This guy is the real deal and was a joy to be around, a real character who lives for the craic. Cleveland Golf's latest signing Gonzalo Fernandez-Costano was also on the trailer to pick up a new 3 wood to help harness the wind at Baltray. This guy is one of the nicest Tour players we have ever had the pleasure meeting, the technician's work hard during the tournament and he shows genuine appreciation for our efforts.
Our trip to Baltray for The Irish Open is our first Tour event this year and Derek and David took the short run to CountyLouth to join up with Iain “Clarkie” Clarke and Ian “Stainless” Steele aboard the Srixon/Cleveland Golf Tour support trailer.
Thankfully the weather was with us this year and the sun shone while we worked getting clubs ready for the professionals. Monday and Tuesday were quite busy at the Tour Trucks with players having grips replaced, clubs re-calibrated and new clubs built to suit course and playing conditions. The trucks were parked in the main car-park for the tournament but the practice area was quite a distance away and it was very difficult to service both areas. As a tour rep the driving range is our testing ground and having it so far from the truck proved very difficult. The wind was very strong and some of the players didn’t test any irons or drivers but instead concentrated on their putting and short game. I think a good ball shaper with low average putts per green will fair well around the links of Baltray.
It is always good to get another golfer’s perspective on clubs, we recently had one of our friends of ForeGolf test drive the new range of products from Taylor Made. Warren Kelly a scratch handicapper from Killeen Golf Club was our guinea pig for the day.
The new R9 Driver with a Grafalloy Pro-Launch Platinum The new R9 Rescue which had a Standard Stiff Graphite Shaft The R9 3 Wood which had a Stiff Standard Graphite Shaft The new Burner Iron set with Regular Steel Flex.
Driver:
He really liked the shape and the adjustable face angle meant he could manipulate the face to be more open which, in the past, he would struggle to find a driver that was open faced. He loved the solid feel of this club and the hit sounded solid. This is a very important factor to Warren as the past models always sounded quite tinny. He found the shaft very responsive and could hit little 10 yard draw shots all day with this driver. He had no dislikes except the head felt a little heavy for him. He was a little hesitant of the adjustable screw in weights as it could encourage a good player to modify their position if their swing gets a little out of sync. To safe guard this we suggested to glue them in place for him.
R9 Fairway 3 wood:
This club was not on his favourite list, he said the head felt too heavy and the club lacked balance. The heavy head made the shaft feel washed out and too stiff. All in all a very poor performance from the fairway wood but perhaps a shaft change could sort this out.
R9 Rescue 19*:
Taylor Made invented the rescue club and this one was just as good as anything from before. The head was a little shut but the feel of the standard shaft was great and produced a lovely little draw shot. This club is great for the normal golfer who wants a good performing hybrid club. Warren is looking forward to the TP model which we will have for testing next month.
New Burner Iron:
Taylor Made's marketing campaign says “the set is DEAD” and reckon that the set of clubs “never really worked for golfers”. The word from Taylor Made is that this “set” of clubs will revolutionise golf. This iron played just like a normal cavity irons and felt just like the last Burner iron. A good mid handicapper iron but certainly not enough to bin your current “DEAD” set. It's worth a visit to the TaylorMade US Website alot of work has gone into showcasing their new product.
A big thank you to Warren Kelly for his insight into the new range. To arrange you own individual fitting session where you can try these new club please contact us on 045 430660 or hello@foregolf.ie and book yourself in for an hour…
Another first Fore Golf, we have some exciting news to tell you about the new R9 from Taylor Made. Fore Golf have just secured the exclusive rights to Ireland’s most comprehensive shaft selection for the new R9 range. We will be able to fit any shaft required for every level of player into the new R9 product. We will be the only outlet in Ireland and one of only three in Europe to be able to customize this fantastic product for our very special customers.
So what does this mean, well Taylor Made will only supply the driver with three different shafts from there own Motore and Voodoo range. Fore Golf will be able to build the driver, fairway wood and rescue with any shaft from any shaft supplier and not only that but we will also customise the unique tip and spine align every shaft to make this R9 driver, fairway wood and rescue the most successful and consistent product to pass through our workshop.
Here are a few tips to getting the best from your grips, after all it’s the only part of the club you have contact with. In order to keep a good state of tackiness we would advise the purchase of a nailbrush in order to give the grips a scrubbing every once in a while. We recommend every 2 months take the clubs out of your bag.
Using a slightly luke warm water filled basin or in the sink scrub the grips with a mild soapy mixture.
Scrub the grip up and down while turning it with the club head part under your armpit.
Once you have done the set run clean water over the grip to remove all the soap and rub them dry with a dry cloth or towel.
Leave them to dry naturally lined up against the wall out of the bag. (Never put wet grips back into your golf bag).
If you have corded grips a light rub of some mild sandpaper will bring out the cord again and lengthen the life of the grip. Then wash them the same as the grips above.
If the grip looks shiny or feels hard if you push your nail into it or shows any signs of cracking it is time to re-grip.
Just drop the set into ForeGolf, for as little as €5 per grip you can turn your club into a new one again. If necessary we can re-grip you set in a day for you, we know what it’s like when the sun makes an appearance and the golf course beckons.
You should really wash your grips every month and change them once a year. You could even get the new Irish grips by Golf Pride, available from ForeGolf. When we work on Tour, David and I would change grips for some players every 3 weeks !
The Masters is a very special tournament on the tour calendar and the guys in ForeGolf have not missed a Sundays play on TV in over 14 years. Last Sunday was no exception and with baited breath we all watched Angel Cabrera roll in the putt on the second play-off hole to notch up another major and slip on the famous green jacket. Derek got to know Angel through his caddy while on Tour and has had many the run in with the fiery Argentinean. They have always made up though and Derek turned up at a little Italian restaurant in Maynooth, much to the delight of the golfers who travelled up to the Irish Open at Carton House, with Angel, Ricardo Gonzalez, Eduardo Romero and Jorge Berent. Angel is a real workhouse with tremendous power through the ball. He has the walk of a man on a mission but underneath respects those of us who want to see him do well. His nickname of El Toro (the bull) is very apt and all of us at ForeGolf want to wish him heart felt congratulations at joining the elite in The Butler Cabin in Augusta, Georgia.
The massive success of the Multi-Compound grip from Golf Pride has made the biggest splash in golf grips since the launch of the Tour Velvet. Now the choice of different colours has made the Multi-Compound famous over night. With Sergio teeing it up with his red and now orange and other tour players opting for blue and white the list goes on. ForeGolf have gone one step further (as always) and would like to unveil the first Irish Grip. This green white and gold beauty is set to be the biggest thing in grips to hit these shores and I hope to see all our golfers showing their pride and re-gripping with the tri-colour. We will have the grips in stock from the 18th of April. Go hana mhaith ar fád.
We've been busy making some interior changes to the Tour Truck so we can house the new custom fitting equipment for the coming season. With our nine suppliers onboard, we can offer a wide product choice to our customers - to be honest it's a lot of club heads and shaft solutions to organise. Recently, we re-discovered a memento of our hardwork - our Ping Anser Gold Putter has been quietly sparkling in a glass case, just waiting for it's story to be told.
In 2002 Derek Murray, ForeGolf received the Ping Anser Gold Putter Award, for outstanding services to custom golf. What began as a way of saying thank you has grown into perhaps the most valuable collection of putters in the world. In the 1970s, Karsten Solheim was looking for a unique way to thank and reward the professionals for using a Ping Putter en route to victory. He decided to commemorate each victory by creating two gold-plated replicas of the winning putter. One he gave to the champions, the other he kept at the company's Phoenix, Arizona headquarters. Both were engraved with the professional's name and the name of the tournament he or she won. As more professionals continued to win with Ping Putters, his collection quickly grew, requiring several moves into increasingly larger rooms. There are now more than 2,300 Gold Putters in what is referred to as "The Gold Putter Vault". Derek Murray is one of only a few people in the world, who haven't won a golf tournament, but who have been awarded a Gold Putter.
The award is in recognition of his services to the golfing community and his unique philosophy that has brought so much joy to golfers who play with his custom made clubs
We often get the odd driver in our workshop that have seen better days and even with a carefully placed head-cover there is always the chance of some scuffing of the paintwork.
A simple thing to do especially good for scuffing is to get yourself some T-Cut or even better car paint polishing compound from your nearest motor factors. You might even have some in the garage.
With a slightly damp cloth apply the compound and give it a good hard rub into the painted top of the club-head. We find rubbing in circular motions with just two fingers covering the cloth works best. Rub for about 30-40 seconds, leave to dry for another 60 seconds until the compound goes white and is dry to touch and with a clean soft cloth buff polish it to a brilliant shine. Next get some Mr. Sheen furniture polish and spray onto a clean cloth and rub the shaft up and down. You will be amazed at the shine it gives graphite and steel and it will protect it also.
If you’re in any doubt drop the driver into us here at the workshop and we will be glad to do it for you, you might even stick a new grip on it and then you have yourself a new club, well nearly new.
To the latest in everything ForeGolf, with product reviews and news from the European Tour with regular updates from Derek and Don Murray and also Dave Williams.
Derek and Dave both work on the European Tour and coupled with Derek's position as The Golf Digest’s Equipment Editor – we’ve got a sticky finger in a lot of golf pies.
ForeGolf, the custom fitting specialists our award winning technical staff are trained to the highest tour standards and bring the exclusive ForeGolf Tour Experience to golfers everywhere.
