Take a look at the strange case of Bob Estes (not so strange to us here at Louisville Golf, but to the larger golf world) and his putter choice. There is nothing fancy to the Bulls Eye putter, nothing about it that you could talk about that increases MOI. No, the Bulls Eye is a no-nonsense blade from Acushnet/Titleist that is presumably extinct, except Bob Estes has recently used one with some significant success. As reported in the latest edition of Golf World, Estes used a Bulls Eye at the AT&T Classic, and finished tied for 6th while ranking first in putting.
So where is the technology in the Bulls Eye that is touted every golfer can’t play the game without? Estes, who played a Persimmon driver in 2000 with positive stats (he gained an average of about 15 yards more distance with his Persimmon driver) has played with this Bulls Eye over the years off and on. The point we are trying to make with this post, however, is not an advertisement or testimonial for the Bulls Eye, it is to say that the hype the large companies give the golfer about technology is just that, hype, offered by marketers who know how to sway the masses, and “technology” is the touchstone word these talented business people use, but it serves to create a disdain for the past that is not as antiquated as the stockholders might think. Estes is proof of this, and so is Tiger Woods. For example, Tiger uses forged iron heads, with Dynamic Gold steel shafts, he can hit his 6-iron well over 200 yards - the technology is in Tiger, and the ball.
The point of this post is simple - the tools that were sold in the pro shops in year’s past aren’t finished or washed-up, Estes proved that at the AT&T. This gives our company new hope, that golfers can sift through the hype and find clubs that make the game enjoyable, no matter what era they were developed in.
We love Geoff Ogilvy!
Here’s why: In the June issue of the current Golf Digest Mr. Ogilvy talks about Persimmon. CLICK HERE to read the article. In the article the U.S. Open champion gushes about his experience with a Persimmon golf club: “I played at Royal Melbourne with Persimmon clubs, and all of a sudden the game had so many more dimensions. I discovered that you don’t have to hit a driver full out. You can bunt it out there with a little draw and let it run. The 3-wood was my favorite club. I could hit half-shots and shape the ball into the fairway or green.” Clearly Mr. Ogilvy is one of us, a Persimmon golfer who gets what Davis Love III said about Persimmon once, that the game is “somehow more pleasing” with a Persimmon golf club. In fact, Mr. Ogilvy spoke of hitting a Persimmon golf club two years prior, before his U.S. Open win. CLICK HERE to view the article. This is a far more telling article on the positive attributes of a Persimmon club. It is an Australian website, where Mr. Ogilvy resides from. Needless to say, we will be pulling for Geoff Ogilvy this year at the U.S. Open, and trying to get him one of our new Persimmon woods to hit.
Louisville, Kentucky will play host to the 2008 Ryder Cup. The PGA has been good to our city, and to Louisville Golf. With an exclusive agreement with the PGA, we will making a couple putters from the wood we obtained recently from off of Valhalla Golf Club. We took logs of Ash and Cherry to be dried for these special putters. It will take about one year for this wood to dry, and at that point the PGA will sell these putters to its patrons. We are very proud to work with the PGA and the Ryder Cup on this project. Below are some images of Louisiville Golf president Mike Just, his brother Gerard Just and Louisville Golf marketing director Josh Fischer logging at the Valhalla facility.
A beautiful Cherry log from Valhalla Golf Club
Cutting the Cherry into flitches to dry
The wood will take one year to dry in our drying area
