Jump to content

benseattle

Members
  • Posts

    13
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

1,610 profile views

benseattle's Achievements

TSG Rookie

TSG Rookie (12/28)

0

Reputation

  1. As a relative newcomer, I try to see from Profiles where the members are but not everyone states a location. UK, Japan, of course, Chicago and Florida are a few that I've noticed so far but what about everbody else? If there's a thread such as "Introduce Yourself" or "Name your city and country," I haven't found it yet. By the way, I'm posting this under "Japanese Equipment" only because its the thread that gets the most views. Oh yeah... I'm near Seattle, WA, USA. Kirkland, actually.... near Redmond. Just down the street from Microsoft's World and Intergalactic Headquarters and not too far from Sahalee C. C. (1998 P.G.A. Championship, 2002 NEC World Golf Championship and 2010 U.S. Senior Open.) Anybody else? _______________________________________________________________________ Ah... just as I had hoped: title of my original thread has been changed by the Mods to better encourage greater participation. (Just who are all these JDM freaks anyway? ) I grew up in San Diego and learned most of my golf from the aces in the well-respected San Diego Junior Golf Association, competing against friends such as five-time Tour winner Morris Hatalsky (he and Tracy were married in my Mom's house) World Series winner Lon Hinkle and 1969 U.S. Junior Amateur champ Aly Trompas. I tried to walk on at Arizona State but after the coach looked his roster which included Hinkle and All-Americans Tom and Paul Purtzer, he told me "Uh Ben.... I think we're going to stick with what we've got." Probably a good call. I was a TV sportscaster for several years but one day I woke up and realized that "If I were going to be Bob Costas, wouldn't I be Bob Costas by now?" I then entered the financial services world so today I run a small, aggressive advisory firm here in the Seattle area. Golf? Low handicapper, won a few long-drive contests years ago and now simply want to continue to play low-70's golf from the blues. But with a soon-to-come bag of top-line JDM gear, I'm sure to be busting par one day soon, right?
  2. As the one who posed the original question, I appreciate being directed toward accurate infomation. Much appreciated.
  3. Forgive this question from a relative newcomer but after hearing such great things about various products from Epon I looked in the TourSpec drop-down menu but there's nothing for Epon there. I've sent this question to the site owners but have yet to hear back. These guys do an amazing job with so much Japanese gear that I'm certainly not complaining but perhaps someone can fill me on on where to go for Epon if not here. Is that a fair question? Thanks and happy golfing.
  4. Great stuff, everybody... thanks. I think it's fascinating regarding the contrast between the average golfer in the U.S. and Japan. Over here, endosements may not mean everything but they mean a lot. We're very interested when a Tour pro changes equipement companies. Sure, we're aware that they move for a better deal but there's always the undercurrent that "Hmmmm... Sam Speed moved from company "X" to company "Z". Does that indicate the gear from company "Z" is better?" Then, of course, there's the pro whose switch makes a big fuss .... and finally the results come in. Is there an average golfer who's now not wondering about Nike equipment following the dismal season endured by Rory McIlroy? (Of course, Player of the Year Tiger Wooods is bagging the same stuff. Weird, huh?) By the way, are you all familiar with the term "blueprinting?" Perhaps it's a phenomenon present only here in the U.S. In this process, the golfer purchases a set of clubs and takes them to his clubmaker. The clubmaker then proceeds to dismantle the entire set and throws the shafts away. He then weighs each head, making adjustments to get each to weigh exactly the same. He then selects the chosen shafts and measures and weighs every one... insuring that every single shaft is identical. The clubs are now assembled and again measured for consistently correct lofts, lie and weight. This "blueprinting" process apparently evolved as serious golfers discovered that "off the rack" American stuff was subject to wildly inconsistent specs.... often erratic in every important category including loft, lie, weight, etc. They may not call it "blueprinting" out there on the PGA Tour, but you can bet that every pro is playing with a perfectly constructed set, regardless of the manufacturer. Happy golfing.
  5. We know that American golfers place a great deal of emphasize on the endorsements of professional golfers when it comes to choosing their equipment. TaylorMade, for example, is well-known for it's "tee-up money" to members of the PGA Tour. In other words, if a pro uses, say, a Taylormade driver, then he's paid... what, $3000 or more just for using the club that week. Even if he's not a "staff" member. Callaway pays big dollars to a handful of major stars, Titleist has an array of PGA players on staff, Ping has their stable and so on. The thinking, of course, is that American amateurs "want to play what the pros play." As a newer member of TourSpecGolf (one who's now very interested in the renowned QUALITY found in Japanese products) I am nevertheless curious about the endorsement trend on the Asian tours. If, for example, Ryo Ishikawa, "The Bashful Prince," uses a particular brand of golf club, do buyers follow suit? More to the point, are there Japanese companies who place a great level of importance on their "tour staff" or is the concept of a "celebrity endorsement" primarily an American phenomenon? I ask because many of the best Japanese brands are new to me and I'm wondering if some of these companies seek to achieve a higher profile due to their association with the pros. Which Japanese companies have the highe profile due to their endorsement deals with Asian professionals? Thanks for the input.
×
×
  • Create New...