Opinion & Analysis

Inside the world of PGA Tour reps

Published

9 years ago

Apr 15, 2015

The average golf fan probably doesn’t know much about tour reps. They’re masters of product knowledge, golf sense and interpersonal relations, and occupy the practice areas of the golf’s professional tours from Monday through Thursday to serve the players’ needs.

[quote_box_center]“It’s always been kind of a secret thing as far as what we do,” said David Wilson, a long-time tour rep who works for True Temper. “Most people show up on Thursday to watch the tournament, but we’re already gone. Once you tell people about what you do, they’re like, ‘We had no idea that even existed.'”[/quote_box_center]

Beyond the club and component reps, there are also “product” tour reps, eager to get their goods in the hands of golf’s professional elite. Rich Massey, tour rep for the DST Compressor training aid, is one such individual. He’s in the midst of an explosion of tour players using his product.

“Rich, he’s got that new club out,” Wilson said. “You get a couple of guys trying it, all of a sudden, they’ve got it on TV. I’m sure he’s getting hit up for guys to try it.”

Indeed he is.

The product ”kind of became viral,” Massey said. He explained that when he began showing the curved-shafted training club to teachers such as Sean Foley and Todd Anderson, every single one of them said, “This is genius.”

“It’s pretty powerful when you can get guys out there to talk about it like they are,” Massey said. “It makes my life easier.”

Rich Massey at work, DST Compressor in hand.

But tour reps aren’t stalking PGA Tour ranges making the hard sell.

“In reality, I’m not selling it at all,” Massey said. “According to the standards, you’re not allowed to openly solicit a player … so I can’t just walk up to a player and say, ‘I have this great club. Want to try it?’”

So how does a product rep get his goods in the hands of a player he doesn’t know?

“Ryo Ishikawa is a perfect example,” Massey said. “I got introduced to him by his caddie. I showed him the club. He was interested right away.”

It’s as easy as that — if you have a product players like and that’s beneficial to them. If not, well, there’s not much you can do. Massey indicated he’s seen many products on the range that you can’t give away to the pros.

Of course, you don’t always need an intermediary to talk to a player about a product.

“The scenario is slightly different if a rep has an existing relationship with a player,” Massey said. “If I already have an existing relationship with a player, I can walk up to him and talk to him about anything I want.”

Massey “socializing,” a key component of the job.

That leads us to the value of building relationships.

“Obviously, out there we’re doing a lot of socializing…talking to guys…telling stories,” David Wilson told me. “It’s all about enjoying those relationships, [enjoying] talking to the best players in the world about their lives and their families.”

There’s a lot of chitchat on the ranges of the PGA Tour. But as Massey noted, it’s not always about the subjects you might expect. One hot topic recently? Underwear. It seems that the new 2UNDR Swingshift Boxers are making quite a splash. One golfer has been particularly vocal about his delight with the support he’s getting: Jason Bohn.

“You would have thought he was a salesperson for the company,” Massey said of the 41-year-old tour veteran. (Sidebar: As you can see, Bohn enjoys bringing attention to that region of his anatomy).

So, how does one make it to the (usually) plush green grass of the PGA Tour’s ranges to pitch products and attend to players’ needs every Monday through Wednesday?

“There’s all kinds of different scenarios for how guys get to the PGA Tour,” Wilson said. “A lot of them are ex-players. I did half a year on the Web.com Tour … been doing the PGA Tour for the last 15 years. Keith [Sbarbaro], who works for TaylorMade, he was a good player. He played with Phil [Mickelson]. A lot of these guys, they’ve been in the industry for a long time.”

David Wilson strikes a pose in a tour trailer.

And how many of these experts in product knowledge are there from each manufacturer? It varies, Wilson said.

“TaylorMade, they probably have three reps that are taking care of players on the range. You have a putter guy. You have two guys in the van that are doing all of the building. Titleist usually has one or two ball guys out. They’re doing testing, [they have] guys in the locker room stuffing lockers. For the last 14 years, I was the only individual representing Aldila.“

The average day for a tour rep is a long one. They usually get to the range around 7 a.m., so they can catch players early in the day. An once the players’ golf shoes hit the ground, it’s crunch time.

“We basically have three days to work with these guys,” Wilson said. “If there’s an issue, you know. If the driver is spinning too much, etc. We have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to try to get that figured out.”

The goal is simple for a rep, but the responsibility is huge, especially for those working for major OEMs.

[quote_box_center]“Your overall goal is to get the players to play your products,” Wilson said. “Having those friendships, building those relationships is super important. They put a lot of trust in me. We have the ability to use TrackMan. These guys are playing for a lot of money and you’d hate for them to be playing the wrong product. There’s a lot of emphasis on making sure that their drivers are right, making sure their lofts and lies are correct, making sure that their grips are what they want them to be. There’s a huge checklist.”[/quote_box_center]

Also huge? The payoff.

“For us to be able to work with them and know, ‘Hey, I had an influence on building that driver that Jordan Spieth just won with.’ It’s huge,” Wilson said.

There are innumerable moving parts in a PGA Tour pros’ success, and it’s a team effort for sure. The Tour pro of today is much more akin to a NASCAR driver than the pro of 75 years ago, who hocked balls in a shop and played events when he could.

“There are some really smart guys that work on the PGA Tour,” Wilson said. “There’s guys that have been doing it for 20-plus years.”

Being part of the team is, as you would imagine, rewarding, and turnover isn’t high.

“We’re all kind of a traveling circus…play golf together…have dinners together,” Wilson said. “Most guys that get out here, they don’t leave.”

Can you blame them?

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

21 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 LIV Adelaide betting preview: Cam Smith ready for big week down under

Published

21 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.

For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.

The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.

The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.

*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*

Past Winners at LIV Adelaide

2023: Talor Gooch (-19)

Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami

Green in Regulation

Richard Bland
Jon Rahm
Paul Casey

Fairways Hit

Abraham Ancer
Graeme McDowell
Henrik Stenson

Driving Distance

Bryson DeChambeau
Joaquin Niemann
Dean Burmester

Putting

Cameron Smith
Louis Oosthuizen
Matt Jones

2024 LIV Adelaide Picks

Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)

When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.

At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.

The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.

Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)

Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.

In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.

For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.

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Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: What really makes a wedge work? Part 1

Published

5 days ago

Apr 18, 2024

Terry Koehler

Of all the clubs in our bags, wedges are almost always the simplest in construction and, therefore, the easiest to analyze what might make one work differently from another if you know what to look for.

Wedges are a lot less mysterious than drivers, of course, as the major brands are working with a lot of “pixie dust” inside these modern marvels. That’s carrying over more to irons now, with so many new models featuring internal multi-material technologies, and almost all of them having a “badge” or insert in the back to allow more complex graphics while hiding the actual distribution of mass.

But when it comes to wedges, most on the market today are still single pieces of molded steel, either cast or forged into that shape. So, if you look closely at where the mass is distributed, it’s pretty clear how that wedge is going to perform.

To start, because of their wider soles, the majority of the mass of almost any wedge is along the bottom third of the clubhead. So, the best wedge shots are always those hit between the 2nd and 5th grooves so that more mass is directly behind that impact. Elite tour professionals practice incessantly to learn to do that consistently, wearing out a spot about the size of a penny right there. If impact moves higher than that, the face is dramatically thinner, so smash factor is compromised significantly, which reduces the overall distance the ball will fly.

Every one of us, tour players included, knows that maddening shot that we feel a bit high on the face and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not your fault.

If your wedges show a wear pattern the size of a silver dollar, and centered above the 3rd or 4th groove, you are not getting anywhere near the same performance from shot to shot. Robot testing proves impact even two to three grooves higher in the face can cause distance loss of up to 35 to 55 feet with modern ‘tour design’ wedges.

In addition, as impact moves above the center of mass, the golf club principle of gear effect causes the ball to fly higher with less spin. Think of modern drivers for a minute. The “holy grail” of driving is high launch and low spin, and the driver engineers are pulling out all stops to get the mass as low in the clubhead as possible to optimize this combination.

Where is all the mass in your wedges? Low. So, disregarding the higher lofts, wedges “want” to launch the ball high with low spin – exactly the opposite of what good wedge play requires penetrating ball flight with high spin.

While almost all major brand wedges have begun putting a tiny bit more thickness in the top portion of the clubhead, conventional and modern ‘tour design’ wedges perform pretty much like they always have. Elite players learn to hit those crisp, spinny penetrating wedge shots by spending lots of practice time learning to consistently make contact low in the face.

So, what about grooves and face texture?

Grooves on any club can only do so much, and no one has any material advantage here. The USGA tightly defines what we manufacturers can do with grooves and face texture, and modern manufacturing techniques allow all of us to push those limits ever closer. And we all do. End of story.

Then there’s the topic of bounce and grinds, the most complex and confusing part of the wedge formula. Many top brands offer a complex array of sole configurations, all of them admittedly specialized to a particular kind of lie or turf conditions, and/or a particular divot pattern.

But if you don’t play the same turf all the time, and make the same size divot on every swing, how would you ever figure this out?

The only way is to take any wedge you are considering and play it a few rounds, hitting all the shots you face and observing the results. There’s simply no other way.

So, hopefully this will inspire a lively conversation in our comments section, and I’ll chime in to answer any questions you might have.

And next week, I’ll dive into the rest of the wedge formula. Yes, shafts, grips and specifications are essential, too.

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