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AVAILABLE THIS MARCH  (check www.louisvillegolf.com )

Our SMART brand has traditionally been the place where our best ideas manifest. The Original SMART driver was the first oversized Persimmon wood ever developed, and was released to critical acclaim. In 2000 we made a Persimmon driver especially for a PGA Tour player who to date has won four tournaments on tour. We worked with this player to develop a head shape that was pleasing, and the SMART ProB.E. is what we came up with. We have finally decided to release this driver design that incorporates a traditional pear-shaped design, but enlarged to achieve a size that works better with graphite shafts. The SMART ProB.E. Persimmon driver has greater gear effect for more accuracy, and superior feel thanks to the black cycolac insert and abbreviated soleplate. It is a driver designed to proudly carry the SMART name.

Material: Persimmon
Size: 250cc
Face angle: Square
Soleplate: Abbreviated cycolac
Insert: Black cycolac
Loft: 11 degrees
Hand: Right
Hosel: Hand-whipped
Finish: Mahogany brown
Shaft: Steel or graphite
Shaft flex: R,S,X,A,L
Steel lengths: 43, 43.5, 44 inches
Graphite lengths: 44, 44.5, 45 inches

PRICE
$309.99 each steel shaft
$339.99 each graphite shaft
FREE headcover

When the Ryder Cup was held here in Louisville in 2008, Michael Jordan was a mainstay on the steps overlooking No. 13 green at Valhalla Golf Club. The pilots of his Gulfstream paid our plant a visit when in town for the matches and decided to give their employer a gift. This past Christmas we made a special putter for No. 23; below are pictures of the putter and putter stand we made and images the pilots sent us of his plane. Like when he played for the Bulls, Jordan flies with style.

(ABOVE) Custom Persimmon mallet and practice putter stand made more Michael Jordan December 2009.

(ABOVE) Plant order for custom Persimmon mallet and practice putter stand made more Michael Jordan.

(ABOVE) Michael Jordan’s custom Gulfstream.

Harry Vardon, winner of 7 major titles, including six Open Championships, remains one of golf’s luminaries, in no small part due to the success of Mark Frost’s book (and subsequent movie from Disney) “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” The book tells the powerful story of underdog Francis Ouimet’s unlikely win over Vardon in the 1913 U.S. Open. The book, winner of the USGA’s and Sports Illustrated’s Best Book award and published by Hyperion Books, tells the sub-plot of the game’s evolution, with the 1913 U.S. Open being one of the seminal events in the early years of the game of golf as we know it today. No discussion of the evolution of the game is complete unless golf’s equipment is discussed. Here Frost talks about putting:

“Putting has always been golf’s most ephemeral component; players as supremely gifted as Ben Hogan felt it shouldn’t even be considered part of the same sport. As a result, putters tend to be the one club about which players turn irrational and superstitious. In Harry’s case, his well-publicized search for a club to help him overcome his terminal yips became a national preoccupation; cartoonists depicted Harry forging crude homemade putter over an open fire, or carrying twenty-five different models in his bag like arrows in a quiver. Sympathetic fans, eager club makers, and fellow professionals alike shipped him oddball variations from every corner of the globe. He tried ones carved from exotic woods and forged from every kind of metal, one with a foot-long blade, others with heads as square as a block of cheese. Nothing did the trick.” – p. 117, The Greatest Game Ever Played, by Mark Frost, Hyperion Books.

Vardon’s search for his ultimate weapon on the greens led him to Arthur Brown; Frost describes the meeting which eventually leads to Vardon’s use of the Brown Vardon (BV) putter:

“A high roller friend of Harry’s named Arthur Brown, a successful timber baron, designed a customized experimental putter for Harry and presented him with it in early 1911. This new, heavier iron club altered Harry’s stance; more upright now, both head and body still. Instead of popping the ball with a wristy slap controlled by his unreliable fingers, the palm of his right hand held the shaft for a more even, pendulum swing that involved gently rocking the shoulders; a modern putting stance to go with his modern swing. To Harry’s enormous surprise, Arthur Brown’s p[utter appeared to solve his problem, but he refused to say he’d put it behind him until testing the club in competition.” – p. 119, The Greatest Game Ever Played, by Mark Frost, Hyperion Books

Vardon used the putter made for him by Brown (thus called the Brown Vardon) to win two of his six Open Championships. Our Brown Vardon (BV) putter replicates the original. The head is made of carbon steel. It is shafted with an authentic Hickory shaft (available in 34 or 35 inches) and is gripped with an authentic leather grip hand wrapped using pitched linen whipping thread. This putter is handmade from start to finish and completely playable with the modern golf ball. This putter has been approved for play in hickory events by the Society of Hickory Golfers.

Click Here to visit the Brown Vardon page on the Louisville Golf website.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 21, 2009

CONTACT: Josh Fischer, Marketing Director josh@louisvillegolf.com

Louisville Golf putter stars in “Avatar”

LOUISVILLE – If you have seen Avatar, James Cameron’s new epic motion picture now in theaters, about 30 minutes into the movie you will notice a Louisville Golf wood mallet putter prominently used by actor Giovanni Ribisi. Several years ago the production team called Louisville Golf and placed an order for a group of clubs. Louisville Golf is the world’s best-known manufacturer of wooden golf clubs. Made in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Golf putters are handmade with over 100 hand operations. Executives at Louisville Golf nearly forgot about the association with the groundbreaking movie.

“It must have been four or five years ago that we sent the putter to James Cameron’s team. I had no idea what they needed the clubs for, but they said they were working on Avatar, so it sounded cool. I hadn’t thought about it until recently,” said Josh Fischer, marketing director for Louisville Golf.  “When the movie opened on December 18 Andy Just (Louisville Golf founder Elmore Just’s oldest son) called me and excitedly told me that our putter was in the movie. When I finally saw the movie over opening weekend, I was thrilled to see the putter get some solid screen time.

“The actor wielding the putter, unfortunately, is one of the villains, but we aren’t complaining. In the movie he says twice: ‘I love this putter!’ as he is putting on a practice mat. And the movie is in brilliant 3D, so to see our wood mallet putter in 3D, on one of the most anticipated movies ever, was extremely exciting.”

“We have worked on, and been involved with, some exciting projects over the three and a half decades we have been in business,” said Mike Just, Louisville Golf president. “The driver we made for Tiger Woods, the Discovery Channel segments on How It’s Made and the Ryder Cup come to mind recently. Being in Avatar ranks right up there with those projects, although we had little to do with the putter being included in the movie, other than making it and selling it to them.”

“If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure that you do - it is more than a movie, it’s an experience,” added Fischer. “And he makes both putts with it incidentally.” Ribisi is seen with a wooden mallet putter (polie XL model) in hand, and after making a putt exclaims: “I love this putter!” twice. Louisville Golf has been making putters since the early 1980s, and is best known for their line of Persimmon woods and Hickory-shafted playable golf clubs. Visit www.louisvillegolf.com for more information.

If you have seen ”Avatar,” about 30 minutes into the movie you will notice our Louisvlle Golf wood mallet putter prominently used by actor Giovanni Ribisi. On Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night show the actor was interviewed about the movie; in this video you can see a flash of the wood mallet putter as it is taken away from the actor in the scene. It is in the 4th segment, and Jimmy Fallon and Giovanni Ribisi talk about his action figure that includes said golf club.

Several years ago the production team called Louisville Golf and placed an order: “I thought that some production assistant was using the expense account to get wholesale prices, but when the movie came out Andy Just (Louisville Golf founder Elmore Just’s oldest son) called me and excitedly told me that our putter was in the movie,” said Josh Fischer, marketing director for Louisville Golf. “When I finally saw the movie over opening weekend I was thrilled to see the putter get some solid screen time.

“The actor wielding the putter, unfortunately, is one of the villians, but we aren’t complaining. He says twice: ‘I love this putter!’ as he is putting on a practice mat. And the movie is in brilliant 3D, so to see our wood mallet putter in 3D on one of the most anticipated movies ever was extremely exciting.”

If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure that you do - it is more than a movie, it’s an experience.

Merry Christmas Louisville Golfers, we wish you all the best this holiday season and hope for all good things in 2010.

Gentlemen,

I could go on and on about why I think replica equipment is appropriate for Hickory golf, but I would just like the opportunity to address the concerns that have been presented, which seems to be that original equipment and replicas are not on a level playing field.

If the replica is a true replica/duplicate of the original, then why are they not the same? It has been mentioned that replicas are cast and not forged, as if castings are better. Castings are not better. Any type of groove or face pattern can be cast into the face, so there is not a “groove” advantage. The reason a replica is cast is that it is not economically feasible to create tooling and pay the price of a forging. The exact same club can be made by the casting or the forging process. The forged head will cost 5 to 8 times more than the cast head.

The purpose of the Society of Hickory Golers (SoHG) is to promote the play of hickory golf; to promote the experience of golf in a manner consistent with how the ‘royal and ancient game’ was played in the hickory era. I have incorporated this mission into every club we offer, especially the part about the experience of golf in a manner consistent with how the royal and ancient game was played in the hickory era. We at Louisville Golf have gone to great pains to make our replica clubs as close to an original as humanly possible.

The first iron we replicated was a niblick with a flange. This was a very hard to find original club but was a great club to have for getting out of sand traps. Not every player in the field had one of these clubs in their bag because not everyone could find one. So, do the guys who were able to find an original have an advantage over the guy who couldn’t find one? I think so. I found an H&B Par XL for my bag, but I had a lot of people calling me for one. So I took an original H&B and sent it out to be replicated. Now, everyone has an opportunity to have one in their bag, and the replica is an exact copy of the original. How is that not a level playing field?

It seems the people who are “original only” people are guys who have the time, knowledge, and means to acquire a set of very good, well-tuned originals. I think if you compared those original sets to a set of true replicas, you would find little or no difference in playability. I have heard the argument of a new shaft is better than an old original shaft. That is not true. An original shaft that has been tried and tested for 80+ years is a damn good piece of wood, and would be hard to match in a modern shaft.

I expanded our line to include other irons (all exact duplicates of originals) after having a conversation with Frank Boumphrey at Mid Pines (NC). He told me of his experience in trying to put together a good play set of clubs by buying on eBay. He had spent a few thousand dollars and accumulated a pile of rejects in putting together a good play set. Frank asked me if a short set could be made and offered at a reasonable price to make it easier for a person to get into Hickory golf rather than go through the frustrations he experienced. The outcome of that was Louisville Golf offering an introductory set of four irons and one wood for $675 which is a $185 discount from the regular price.

Again, if a replica is a true replica of an original, how can it be an advantage over the original club? I could take the cleek marks off the original and the Louisville replica, clean them up to the same condition, and you wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. I was talking to one golfer in Dayton a few years ago and he said he didn’t think Louisville Golf replicas should be allowed. I asked him why? He said “your driver will hit the ball 20 yards further than my original driver.” My reply was that he must not have a very good original driver. And that is my point, not everyone can find GOOD originals.

Here’s what I think replicas do for Hickory golf. They allow the average guy to put together as good a set of clubs as a guy who has the time, knowledge, and money to put together a “super” set of originals. I am always willing to learn, so if there are other issues with the Hickory golf equipment that Louisville Golf is making I am willing to listen.

Thanks,

Mike Just
President, Louisville Golf
e-mail: mjust@louisvillegolf.com

Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club
Southern Pines, NC
Nov. 6-8, 2009

1st Place: Roger Andrews 74/78 = 152 (plays Louisville Golf driver and putter)
2nd Place: Rick Woeckener 77/77 = 154
3rd Place: Rusty Wells/Ted Kopec = 158
5th Place: Marty Joy II 80/81 = 161
6th Place: David Ellis 83/80 = 163
7th Place: Hugh Cameron/Ken Holtz = 168
9th Place: Jay Harris 86/83 = 169
10th Place: Roger Brinkley/Jeff Hunt/Tanner Stewart = 172

Mid Pines Tourney pictures on Facebook = Click Here

Click Here to view Louisville Golf’s Hickory-shafted line of golf clubs.

Persimmon Pudding
8 ServingsPut through a colander 1 quart Persimmons. There should be 2 cups full of pulp.

“Why I Play Persimmon” by Billy Mac (golf entertainer)

Golf is so many things to me, means so many things to me.

I have been privileged to have played many wonderful golf courses from “Mom and Pop” layouts that just happened to be on the way to somewhere I was going to the Olde at St. Andrews. I am always cognizant of those who have walked those fairways before me. I cannot go shoot jumpers in the Boston Garden or shag fly balls in Wrigley Field but I can play Pinehurst and dozens of other tracks once played by Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan.

Golf is a game which embraces tradition and history and Persimmon clubs are not just integral to both, but are to this day a vibrant part of golf’s present and its future. The modern game’s obsession with distance is out of balance with the demand for shotmaking and out of harmony with the treasured art of working the ball and shaping the shot. Thus the inevitable question asked by those who have marveled at the beauty and craftsmanship of my Louisville Golf Persimmon golf clubs is “do you hit it as far as a metal wood?”

Now the answer is yes, but more importantly the questions should be “Do you score as well?” and “Do you play as well?” and “Do you enjoy hitting Persimmon?” Yes. Yes, and Yes.

Your flat-faced metal wood would wilt next to Mike Souchak with an old MacGregor and simply will not move the ball both ways with the ease and grace of a Persimmon wood. Your skinny-headed Orlimar 5-wood is no match for the v-sole Niblick that goes down and gets it in the rough and still smoothes it off the tight lie of the fairway. Besides the correct shaft, swing weight and setup of the club will sweeten your swing far more than the myth of metal distance.

But let’s get to the sweetest part of all: the sound of Persimmon. I’m a singer, a piano player, a songwriter. My life is full of sounds of the most wonderful and moving kind. I have used sound to entertain, to inform, to heal, to bring together and I can say without reservation that next to my wife’s voice and my dog’s welcoming bark the sweetest sound in my life is the sound of my Persimmon woods hitting the ball. In a world infected with the doink and plink and pang of metal drivers of all kinds the pure sweet sound of wood striking the ball is music to these ears.

As an artist my life is also about beauty, whether it be pruning my orchards, landscaping my home, seeing my wife – and the joy I get every time I pull one of these magnificently crafted clubs from my bag, every time I see that deep sheen and classic clubface I am connected to the beauty and history of the game and it enriches me every bit as does the beauty of the course I am playing and the smooth, measured swing it beckons me to take.

I’m a better player because I play Persimmon. Persimmon enriches my game and my experience of it. I would love nothing more than for every golfer to know that joy – it’s why I play Persimmon.

Billy Mac
www.billymac.com

If you would like to post your reasons for playing Persimmon send them to josh@louisvillegolf.com and I will post it here on the Persimmon bLog.