BALL FITTING MYTHOLOGY & DAVIS LOVE III IS REALLY EXCITED!

by Doug McAllister

Well, golf fans, we can all rest a little easier knowing that Davis Love III has found a new sponsor. The perennial Titleist poster boy has now joined Bridgestone (isn't it interesting that he has also apparently sworn off FootJoy shoes? Check out the adiPures from Adidias...) and, as noted, on the Bridgestone web site, Love III is "excited!" Well, that's fine.


WHAT WAS SAID:

In the short video clip on Bridgestone's site, Love III mentions:
"I'm excited to be with Bridgestone! I'm really excited about the technology. I'm really excited about the equipment...One of the things that really attracted me to Bridgestone was the whole ball fitting thing...I'm excited about a fresh start with the Bridgestone ball!"


WHAT WASN'T SAID:

Unfortunately we didn't have the opportunity to be a "fly on the wall" of Davis' brain. If we had had such a chance, I think we would have heard something a bit like this:
"More than anything, I'm REALLY excited that a sponsor is willing to shovel a truckload of dollars my way at this stage of my career! I haven't won anything in a light year and, I know, I am on my way out. Just trying to survive long enough to skid into the Champion's Tour. Whew! I was really getting nervous there with Titleist. They're all about keeping a stable of the best young golfers, without any loyalty or consideration for someone, like me, who helped put them on the golfing map beyond just golf balls!"


Okay. I don't begrudge Love III having an opportunity to keep an income from a sponsor. It's just fine! What I can't stand is that — among touring professionals — golf is nothing more than money. NOTHING! They change their equipment more often than most of us change our underwear. And, after all, the golf equipment companies are all about getting their pound of flesh out of you and me.

As Davis Love III changes to Bridgestone there's the real chance that many of us might think it's because there is something dramatically wrong with Titleist's ProV1 family of golf balls. After all, Davis wouldn't jump ship if he wasn't getting a better game, right? Truth is, there really isn't that much difference between Titleist and Bridgestone — other than the fact that Bridgestone makes a far better tire for your car!


BALL FITTING MYTHOLOGY

And let's talk about this nonsense of Bridgestone's ball fitting prowess. Have you visited the Bridgestone site and gone through the ball fitting process they offer? Just in case you haven't, here's the content from a chat session about ball fitting that I just completed (the spelling and exchange is exactly as it occurred online):

Jeff: Hi, this is Jeff. Welcome to B-Fit. How can I help you today?

Doug: wanted to use the ball fitter and see which bridgestone ball to use

how do it get started

Jeff: Hey Doug,

Tell me a little about your game and your ball flight.

Doug: i play to a 7 handicap. Hit it pretty straight with a slight fade

Jeff: Do you know what your swing speed is w/ your driver?

Doug: not exactly...but I have a smooth, probably comparatively slow swing

Jeff: Ok.

About how far do you hit an average drive?

Doug: probably 250-270 yds

Jeff: Good.

Are you a low or high ball hitter?

Doug: generally a higher flight

Jeff: Any issues getting your approach shots to stop?

Doug: nope

Jeff: When you hit your driver, do you get much roll?

Doug: on my driver, yes

Jeff: What would you say is more important to you Doug, distance or spin?

Doug: distance

Jeff: Ok.

What ball do you usually play?

Doug: does that really matter?

Jeff: It gives me a point of reference. If you're already playing a raw distance ball, that would be different compared to if you are playing a spin ball for example.

Doug: At this point, I haven't played a Bridgestone ball. I assumed that the fitting process would look at my game and tell me what Bridgestone ball was best for me — independent of what other companies offer. Was I mistaken?

Jeff: I can certainly make a recommendation without know what ball you currently play Doug, but like I said, if I know what type of ball you are currently playing, that helps me decide which direction we may need to go. If you want more distance, and you are currently playing a firm, low launch high spin ball, I might make a differnt suggestion than if you told me you were playing our e6, which is already a really long distance type ball. It's not that big of deal, I've just never had anyone have a problem with it.

Based on what you've told me, I recommend the B330-RX.

The B330-RX is a high performance, 3 piece tour caliber ball designed for players who swing between 85-105 mph. It's the softest urethane covered ball on the market, making it easy to compress for players who have swing speeds less than 105 mph. It offers excellent distance, spin and shot shaping ability.

Doug: no problem with it. I just didn't want my current ball to bias the proper fit from Bridgestone.

Jeff: It doesn't bias it really at all. Some players are already playing a Bridgestone, but if I know which one, I can put that information together with the info I have been given about their ball flight to make a suggestion. The more info I have the better, that's all. No worries.

Doug: it's just that I have done ball fitting before with other companies and, nine times out of ten, when I have told them what competitive ball I play, they suggest their version of the competitor's ball. What good is that, really?

Jeff: I see where you're coming from.

Is there anything else I can help with Doug?


Interesting, don't you think? Did you follow all of that? The key here is simple. After the usual housekeeping items regarding ball flight, distance and spin — the selfsame items used in every ball fitting exchange, regardless of the manufacturer — the HUGE question is: "So what are you playing now?" In short, the whole gig is "we want to know what you are playing now and we will simply tell you to pick up the Bridgestone counterpart." PERIOD!

You should note, as well, that the jump from "I see where you're coming from..." to "Is there anything else I can help with Doug?..." to the session shutting down from Bridgestone's end was a matter of seconds! Jeff, probably sensing that he had hooked into someone who was onto him and his company, ran for his life!

But, I am REALLY excited about Davis Love III being REALLY excited!

HELAS!

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO...HERE WE GO AGAIN!!

by Doug McAllister

Well, it's the new year and, with its beginning, its time to get going right where it seems we left off. What am I talking about? Seems Camilo Villegas broke a rule while playing yesterday in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. As a result of the domino effect that ensued, he was DQ'd from the event.

Wow! Must have been something terrible! What'd he do? Punch someone in the gallery? Let all the air out of the cars in the course parking lot? What did he do? Okay...we don't even need to talk about that. Really! We don't!

So what's the problem? Also seems that some television viewer saw the violation — something that all the on-site rules officials missed — and called in and ratted on Villegas! Now, if you've read my stuff before, you know that this makes my blood boil more than taking a snowman on a par 3!


WHERE IS THIS CONTACT INFORMATION?!

Okay, I've heard the first part of this too many times. A television viewer "calls" or "contacts" the USGA or the PGA or the Golf Channel or Golf Snitches Anonymous. Where on earth do you find these phone numbers, email addresses or fax numbers? Where are they listed? It drives me nuts! Even if I wanted to play the stool pigeon — which I don't! — I don't know the numbers!

Which begs the question: why is this information available at all, especially during the course of an event? Heck, I can't even change my Fantasy Golf Foursome after tee off time. Why should there be anyone manning a phone or a fax or a computer during an event with the sole purpose seemingly being waiting for some 25-handicap golf vigilante who couldn't hit a straight putt in a rain gutter to blow the whistle?


AREN'T THE RULES IMPORTANT?

Of course they are! But there is also the human element that has to be taken into consideration and honored just as stridently as the rules of the game! There are officials all over the course at each event and it's their job to monitor things and cite those who break the rules. But do they miss violations here and there? Darn straight!

So now, with the added technological possibilities out there, we have thousands of officials sitting comfortably in their Lazy Boy's and watching for the violation that will get past the paid judges.


ISN'T THAT A GOOD THING?

Hell no! The game is played on the course and not inside a TV camera. Ergo, what happens on the course needs to be called on the course — when and where it happens! And what if a rules violation isn't caught? SO BE IT! Once the day of golf is completed the books on that round should be closed, hermetically sealed and dried hard like last week's cement! This nonsense of officials waiting at the 18th green the next day to deliver the bad news has got to stop!


RESOLUTION

It's simple. To the governing bodies of the game at sanctioned events: once the tournament commences do us all the decency of turning off every communications device you own. Turn off your cell phones (and get new numbers, while your at it, so viewers won't be able to call you), shut down your computers. And for Pete's sake, get off Facebook and Twitter! (Everyone knows that real golfers are NOT actively involved in social networking! It causes slicing and hooking!) Make it a New Year's resolution to accept that golf is a game played by fallible human beings and officiated by the same! Yeah, do your darnedest to see that the rules are upheld but, when they're not, don't have kittens over it!

Determine now that what happens on the course will be handled on the course and — regardless of how well-meaning they may seem — resolve to NOT take any tips, phone calls, Facebook posts or tweets from anybody! Not even from your sainted mothers!


Golf doesn't need an instant replay. NO INSTANT REPLAY! Remember? It's supposed to be the game where the players call penalties on themselves. Not the game that allows faceless, nameless, brainless fools to do it for them!

What golf needs is for more of the armchair rules officials to get off their butts and get out their and try to...

Hit 'Em Long and Straight!