Spike on Golf 08.01.09

2009-08-04

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By Steve Pike

Nike Golf officials weren't planning anything special in regards to marketing after Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open to become the first player to win a major championship with a square-headed driver - the Nike SQ SUMO 2 Tour. But now that Stewart Cink replicated Glover's feat at the British Open, Nike Golf appears to be changing its mind. A source told me earlier this week that Nike Golf is "considering a few options'' for tooting its horn (or Swoosh) in pumping up the volume about the success of the SQ SUMO 2 Tour.

Thing is, Nike Golf needs to hurry. Given the short attention span of consumers, retailers and media these days, combined with the fact that several companies will launch new product in the next few months, the window on playing off the SQ SUMO 2 Tour is small and getting smaller by the week.

Also like Glover at the U.S. Open, Cink used a Nike prototype putter win his first major championship.

Meanwhile, former British Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia played with Ping Golf's new G15 driver at this year's Open as well as a Ping i15 hybrid=2 0club. Each club is expected to be introduced to Ping Golf's sales force later this month and officially launched later this year.

For its part, Adams Golf is looking to take advantage of 59-year-old staffer Tom Watson's tremendous runner-up finish to Cink at the Open. Watson has been a long-time Adams Golf players and the Adams Golf logo on his hat received a ton of TV attention on the weekend at Turnberry.

"The amount of exposure we've received is beyond belief," Adams Golf President Chip Brewer told the Dallas Morning News. "Our name was everywhere – on SportsCenter, on televisions internationally. A lot of people don't even know who we are or that we're in Dallas, but I think they do now."

GROOVING WITH GREG: At this week's Senior Open Championship, Greg Norman, a two-time Open Champion, reiterated his belief that the upcoming groove change will bring back more shot-making to the game.

"Andy North (two-time U.S. Open Champion and current ABC golf analyst) said to both Tom and I when we were playing, 'You two should be out there playing every tournament at start of next year, because it will take six months for these kids to figure out how to play with these new clubs,''' Norman said. "V-groove clubs will definitely show the difference between a shot-maker and an average just power player, because now you have to think about the shots you're going to hit.
 
"Now you have to think about ho w hard you've got to hit that ball out of the semi-rough. Even at Turnberry, or even around here, some of this wispy grass here (at Sunningdale), the ball will go 30, 40 yards farther than what these guys think. They will have to make the adjustment. I don't know if they are doing it now. If I was them, I would be doing it now. I would be playing the last part of the year with the new grooves for 2010, no question about it, because it's going to be a dramatic change to the game, and a great one, too, it really is. It's a positive move.

"I heard Tiger Woods is already playing with the new grooves for next year. So he's obviously trying to get a jump on it. Smart move. But you would expect that. If I was in Tiger's shoes, or if I was one of the leading players, I would be doing that now, too. So depends on who is willing to accept it and make the adjustments fast enough to do it. Every great player has that ability. It's just a matter of getting on it straightaway.''