Tag Archives: golf

Chip Beck, PGA Tour Great for Pitchfix

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Rick is joined once again this year, from the PGA Show in Orlando, but PGA Tour great and one of the nicest guys in golf, Chip Beck.

Chip is once again at the show serving as a brand ambassador for Pitchfix.

Pitchfix USA, a global market leader in switchblade divot tools and other golf products, introduced new products at the 2019 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando (Jan. 22-25). In addition to the Pitchfix Tour Edition and Tour Edition 2.5 divot repair tools, the Pitchfix 4 in 1 MultiMarker Chip will make their debuts at booth #2015 at the World’s number one golf merchandise show.

The Pitchfix Tour Edition divot repair tool is the first non-switchblade metal product from Pitchfix. Two versions are available, one with the traditional fork (Tour Edition) and one with the award winning RepairtecTM pins (Tour Edition 2.5). Both have a club rest and removable ball marker. Each model has a combination of treated finished steel and soft feel plastic. The manufacturing process allows for special color combinations, personalization as well as adding logos for branding and promotional uses.

The Pitchfix MultiMarker Chip is an alternative to the standard poker chip ball marker. With the same diameter as a poker chip, the Multi Marker Chip is easy to find in your pocket and has a small magnetic ball marker that’s useful when you are close to someone’s putting line. The MultiMarker Chip has a ‘tee toss’ function on both sides and a putting alignment function on the reverse side. The multi marker chip is available in a wide range of colors.

“We’re excited to introduce three new quality items to our extensive, award-winning product line,” said Bart Fokke, president, Pithfix USA. “We look forward to sharing the capabilities of these products and demonstrating them to PGA professionals and buyers at the PGA Merchandise Show and through our distributors worldwide.”

About Pitchfix

Founded in 2005, Pitchfix is the market leader for switchblade divot tools and other golf green related products in Europe and Asia and is renowned for its high standards in design and product quality. It aims to be the market leader in divot tools and other golf related products in the United States by designing, manufacturing and distributing an ever-growing line of high quality and innovative European designed products through selected distribution partners.
Pitchfix currently offers an array of diverse and innovative products for golfers worldwide: Twister 2.0 Divot Tool; Classic Divot Tool; Hybrid 2.0 Divot Tool; XL 3.0 Divot Tool; Alignmee Marker Alignment Tool, Hatclip Ball Marker, The Tour Edition and Tour Edition 2.5 Divot Tool, and the Multi Marker Chip.
The Pitchfix Fusion 2.5 was named “Best Divot Repair Tool” by Golf Digest in its 2018 Editors’ Choice Awards for the second consecutive year.
Pitchfix currently has operational and manufacturing facilities in Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands and the U.S. In the U.S. the company recently opened three fulfillment centers with five customer facing/support employees to facilitate custom order processing and fulfillment. Custom orders are fulfilled within two to eight days of receipt. For further information go to www.pitchfixusa.com.

CHIP BECK

At the youthful age of 10, Chip Beck’s mother first introduced him to golf by taking him to a junior clinic. Little did she know the impact that day would have on him. After a successful junior career, Chip enrolled at the University of Georgia where he would become one of the most decorated golfers in UGA history. As a three-time first team All-American and five-time tournament winner with more top ten finishes than any other player in the school’s history, Chip Beck decided it was time to test his skills with the best players in the world on the PGA Tour.
Chip had four PGA Tour victories and twenty runner-up finishes during his playing career. He won the Vardon Trophy in 1989 and spent 40 weeks in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings from 1988 to 1989. Additionally, he was the second player to ever shoot ’59’ in a PGA Tour tournament. Several players have accomplished this feat on the PGA Tour, but only Al Geiberger and David Duval have also reached that magical thirteen under par number. Prior to the Las Vegas Invitational, the Hilton family said anybody who could shoot a 59 would win a million dollars. Despite never having seen the course before, Chip had five pars and 13 birdies (a PGA Tour record for birdies in one round), including a three footer on the 18th hole to shoot a 59. Beck finished tied for third in the tournament, but half of the million dollars he won ended up funding the Chip Beck Scholarship. Since 1991, this scholarship has run in conjunction with the Evans Scholars Foundation with the Western Golf Association and still continues today.

In addition to his PGA Tour accomplishments, Chip Beck is also well known as a three-time Ryder Cup member, especially as a crucial player in the 1993 Ryder Cup, the last time the United States won on European soil. His all-time Ryder Cup record is 6-2-1, with a point percentage of .72. Furthermore, Chip is one of two people to ever have a hole in one on a par four, which he achieved on the 314-yard 9th hole at the 2003 Omaha Classic. Although Chip has never won a major, he was the runner-up in three Majors and one Players Championship. (1986 US Open, 1989 US Open, 1989 Players Championship and 1993 Masters).

To many around the world Chip Beck is simply known as ‘Mr. 59,’ but ask him and he will tell you he is just another guy who loves God, his family, and the game of golf. Chip is currently an ambassador for Arcis Golf and for PitchfixUSA, the company that manufactures the Golf Digest award winning Fusion 2.5 Divot Repair Tool.

Brendan McCarthy, KemperSports, National Director of Marketing and Sales

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As we approach the PGA Golf Show in Orlando, Rick is joined by Brendan McCarthy of KemperSports. Brendan is the National Director of Marketing and Sales and there is no better person to talk the business of golf as we look ahead to 2019.

Brendan McCarthy joined KemperSports in 2009 as a Regional Sales and Marketing Director and was promoted to serve as the National Director of Marketing and Sales. Mr. McCarthy has over 20 years of hospitality industry experience driving revenue and brand engagement results for resorts, private clubs and daily-fee operations. Brendan specializes in using data analysis to drive marketing and sales improvement. Previously, Brendan was a Director of Marketing for Vail Resorts and he earned both his MBA and BSBA from the University of Denver. Brendan is married with two young children living in the greater Chicago area where he volunteers as a youth sports coach and has served on the Youth Advisory Board for the First Tee of Greater Chicago and as a Commissioner for the Village of Wilmette Transportation Commission.

Founded in 1978, KemperSports has a rich history as a family-owned business with more than 7,000 staff members. From our first development project at Kemper Lakes Golf Course to our award-winning portfolio of over 130 facilities, including many nationally-ranked courses and tournament venues, our clients are at the core of the KemperSports family.

With a longstanding history of innovation and superior client solutions, KemperSports takes a unique, customized approach to each client. We employ the best people in the industry and provide ongoing education and continual review of processes to provide our clients with operational excellence and exceptional customer experience.

Mr. McCarthy is based in the KemperSports Northbrook, IL office.

He and Rick talk about the state of golf, what KemperSports is looking to do in the future and getting the word out about being a lifetime and family sport.

Paul Albanese, Architect of Sage Run Golf Club

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Had the fantastic opportunity to play the new Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Mich. and hear from the architect of the course himself.

Golfers in the northwest corner of Michigan have a new course to play as Sage Run opened in the town of Harris. The course is designed by Paul Albanese, ASGCA (Albanese and Lutzke Golf Course Design).

The course compliments the existing Sweetgrass Golf Club course at the Island Resort and Casino – another Albanese & Lutzke design.
One interesting feature of the Sage Run site is a large drumlin – a long, sloping ridge. Albanese said that this was used within the design to allow golfers to experience the landform throughout the round.

“We wanted golfers to be able to interact with the drumlin in different directions, North, South, East and West; climbing up, cascading down, diagonally, across the top, and along the bottom,” he said. “At the end of the round, golfers should really feel they got the flavor of this drumlin.”

With preparations now being made ahead of the course’s opening in late summer, Albanese says that golfers can expect Sage Run to deliver a “diversity of experience”.

“Every hole has its own unique flavor and character,” he adds. “In addition to the drumlin, the holes route though a pine scrub area, an open area, and a wooded part too. And, as an experience overall, this course will feel and play much differently to Sweetgrass. Golfers should expect to want to stay for a long weekend of golfing fun with all the golf there now.”

Picking up the game of golf at age 5, Paul Albanese was a single digit handicapper by the time he was 13 and was fascinated by the great courses he was exposed to in Northern New Jersey, such as Somerset Hills, Baltusrol and Plainfield CC. Paul was recruited by Cornell University to play on the golf team, and he was captain of the team his senior year. Paul received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University’s engineering college, where he specified his studies in environmental and agricultural engineering. His golf team experience at Cornell allowed him to see many classic courses on the East Coast, including the famed Bethpage Black course, where the Ivy Leagues Championships are played every year. After Cornell, Paul went on to Harvard University where he received a Masters in Landscape Architecture.

Here’s a little overview from Albanese.

Sage Run Golf Club

Barney Adams, CEO Breakthrough Golf Technology talks Stability Shaft

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This week, Rick is joined by entrepreneur, the founder of Adams Golf, inventor of the Tight Lies fairway wood, holder of several patents on golf products, author of The WOW Factor! – Barney Adams! And he has something new.

Adams was selected as Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 1999.[1] The 2010 Ernie Sabayrac Award for lifetime contribution to the golf industry was presented to Adams by the PGA of America. Adams has also been named an Honorary Member for Life by the PGA Southern California Section, Desert Chapter. Adams served as Chairman of the Board of Adams Golf until June 2012 when the company was purchased by TaylorMade-Adidas.

Introducing the Stability Shaft from Breakthrough Golf Technology. Breakthrough Golf uses scientifically advanced multi-material design with geometries never before used in a putter shafts. The Stability shaft has a unique look and a more solid feel than a traditional steel putter shaft.

CEO, Barney Adams states, “When I first learned about the product I knew that it could be significant. It’s a step forward in golf equipment technology. What has been rewarding for me is that the Stability Shaft works better for amateurs. Pros are great putters and while the shaft does help them, it’s the inconsistency of the amateur that it corrects most”.

The performance of the shaft was exhaustively tested with hundreds of putters using state-of-the-art high-speed cameras, robots, SAM Putt Lab, Quintic Ball Roll software and Trackman4. The result was to re-invent the putter shaft from the ground up.

There are four parts of the Stability shaft that work in concert to greatly improve putting performance. BGT calls this ‘Advanced Materials Integration’™:

Eight layers of high modulus carbon fiber specifically layered, wrapped and widened, with a no-taper design to greatly reduce torque.

Through ‘Finite Element Analysis’ a lightweight 22g aluminum insert was developed and precisely located to reinforce flexural rigidity.

A 7075-aluminum connector that helps to stiffen and reinforce. This versatility allows attachment to virtually any tip diameter of any putter, regardless of the bend profile.

The stainless-steel tips have extremely consistent wall thicknesses for superior strength and are coated with a smoke PVD finish to add protection from corrosion and rusting.

Designed to improve any golfer’s game. The Stability Shaft delivers the face more squarely at impact for improved accuracy, solid feel and has a lower launch for a predictable roll, resulting in better distance control.

You’ll get a higher ‘Smash Factor’, hit the clubface more consistently and ultimately make more putts. It’s a perfect synergy of technology and materials to improve putting performance.

The Stability Shaft has a MAP price of $199.99 and is available from golf retailers in the US and Canada.

Founder Barney Adams, who has always had the unique ability to see what is truly missing in Golf equipment decided to focus on the putter shafts since there had been no significant innovation for decades.

A team of award winning engineers was assembled and no shaft company on the planet delivers innovation in golf shafts like Breakthrough Golf Technology.

For more than 50 years, the putter shaft hasn’t changed — it essentially has remained a steel pipe. Yet putter head designs have evolved and gotten dramatically heavier. The result; Shafts that are neither stable nor strong enough to keep these advanced putter heads from oscillating, twisting and turning during the stroke. In fact, the strongest part of the putter shaft is right underneath the hands, where it does the least good; the weakest part is near the head. So why would any golfer having a better option trust their putter to a cheap steel shaft? After all, they use their putter nearly twice as much as any other club.

Have a listen to Rick and Barney!

Barney Adams

Catherine Rotman, Inlet Sports Lodge, Marketing and Golf Director

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Rick is joined this week by Catherine Rotman, the marketing and golf director at the Inlet Sports Lodge in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Located in the heart of Murrells Inlet, The Inlet Sports Lodge is a boutique hotel catering to golf lovers, fishing, boating and outdoor enthusiasts, or anyone simply looking to relax. Just 1 mile north at the Murrells Inlet Marshwalk and Marina, enjoy a variety of award winning fresh Lowcountry dining and a variety of watersports. Minutes away from many of the area’s most recognized golf courses – including our very own affiliated courses – Caledonia Golf and Fish Club and True Blue Plantation and all the courses of the Waccamaw Golf Trail, plus dozens of boutique shops, beaches and historical area attractions.

If you are into sports and heading to the South Carolina coast, there is no better place to base your travels than the Inlet Sports Lodge. Catherine gives us a in depth view…  Thanks to Catherine for coming on and in my opinion, the Inlet Sports Lodge is the only choice to stay when in the Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawley’s Island area.

Have a listen.

Inlet Sports Lodge

 

Mike Yagley, Director of Innovation, Research and Testing at Cobra PUMA Golf

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Rick is joined by a great guest this week, Mike Yagley, Director of Innovation, Research and Testing at Cobra PUMA Golf.

Cobra PUMA Golf makes some of the finest golf clubs in the world, but a new partnership with Arccos Golf has everyone paying attention to the unique technology one will find in the KING F8 line of irons.

Yagley talks about experiencing seamless COBRA CONNECT™ embedded sensor technology and automatic shot tracking Powered by Arccos®. The complete line of KING® F8 clubs pair with the Arccos 360® app for full bag shot tracking and the KING F8 Drivers pair with the Arccos Driver® app for driver shot tracking. Download the appropriate app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and get connected.

“Arccos is invested in building and refining the sensor technology, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence platforms that we’ve brought to consumers through Cobra Connect technology in the grip of our Cobra KING products. We believe the insights players gain about their games through this technology will make them smarter, better golfers,” said Mike Yagley, Sr. Director of Innovation / AI at Cobra Golf.

Rick is using the clubs and of course, enjoying all the data and shot tracking. have a listen to Rick and Mike talk about this unique technology and how it can help your golf game.

For more information, please visit: www.arccosgolf.com and www.cobragolf.com.

CobraConnect

Mike Yagley