PGTAA Endorsed Products
Three More Top 10 Finishes for Tour Edge this week on PGA Tour Champions; Breakthrough Performance by New Exotics EXS Hybrid.
Three players finished in the Top 10 of the SAS Championship on the PGA Tour Champions this week playing Exotics by Tour Edge hybrids. Fifteen Tour Edge clubs were in play this week in Cary, North Carolina , according to the Darrell Survey. That included seven hybrids, six fairway metals, and two Iron-woods.
Exotics hybrid staff player and former SAS Championship winner Tom Lehman finished T4th at Prestonwood Country Club this week playing his Exotics CBX 18-degree hybrid. It was the 9th Top 10 finish with the Exotics club in the bag for Lehman this season, including his victory at the Principal Charity Classic in June. Lehman earned Exotics clubs its 32nd Top 5 finish of 2018 on the PGA Tours.
Fellow Exotics staff player Scott Dunlap also placed inside the Top 10 at the SAS Championship with a 10-under-par 7th place finish. He was also playing an Exotics CBX hybrid, a 20-degree, as he has been for all of the 2018 season. It was Dunlap’s 6th Top 10 finish of the year.
This week was the first week that the Tour Edge Tour department introduced the new Exotics EXS hybrid to the players. Nine Exotics EXS hybrids were brought to the event to show off the new look and feel. Five players took EXS hybrids for further testing.
One of those players was the #5 ranked player on the 2018 PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab money list.
He became the first player to put an Exotics EXS hybrid into play on a professional tour when he pulled the trigger on a 17-degree EXS hybrid after only two days of testing with the brand new club.
The Louisiana State alum ended up finishing 9th at the SAS Championship this week, also providing the EXS its first-ever Top 10 finish.
“The EXS hybrid opens the door to players seeking out more launch and high spin rates who want a hybrid that will land softly into the greens,” said Tour Edge President and Master Club Designer David Glod. “The feedback on the new EXS hybrid has been unbelievably positive. The professionals loved the shape and sound and easy high launch angles produced by EXS. The Exotics CBX and the Exotics EXS hybrids now serve both spectrums of the tour when it comes to players who prefer a lower ball flight and more penetrating ball flight into the wind and those who are seeking a higher, soft landing shot.”
The PURE Insurance victory in the last PGA Tour Champions event before the SAS Championship earned Exotics clubs their 6th win of the 2018 PGA Tour Champions season on top of nine runner-up finishes. With 15 total wins and runner-up placements, Exotics clubs have now finished 1st or 2nd in over 60% of the Champions events played this season.
Watch video of Tom Lehman discuss his Exotics hybrid here: www.touredge.com/media/staffvideos18/lehman.html
Watch video of Scott Dunlap discuss his Exotics hybrid here: www.touredge.com/media/staffvideos18/dunlapvideo.html
In all, 48 different PGA Tour Champions professionals have put over 300 Exotics CBX clubs into play since Exotics CBX was launched to the tour in the last year.
There have been six winners on the 2018 PGA Tour Champions playing Exotics: the PURE Insurance champion on Sept. 30th, two-time winner Scott McCarron at the Shaw Charity Classic Sept. 2nd and the American Family Insurance Championship June 24th, Bart Bryant at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on August 19th, Lehman at the Principal Charity on June 10th and the non-endorsed winner of the 2018 Chubb Classic in February.
On top of the six victories and nine runner-up finishes, players using Tour Edge clubs have earned 32 Top 5 finishes and 57 Top 10 finishes in the 24 events played this season on the PGA Tour Champions.
Bernhard Langer, the Winner of The PGA TOUR Champions SAS Championship Played a Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-6 X-Stiff Flex Wood shaft in his Ping G400 Driver.
Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts, Inc. announced today that Bernhard Langer, winner of The PGA TOUR Champions SAS Championship event held last weekend at the Prestonwood CC in Cary, North Carolina was playing a Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-6 X-Stiff flex wood shaft in his Ping G400 Driver. The champion won his 2nd PGA Tour Champions event of 2018 and 38th career PGA TOUR Champions tournament by 6 strokes over the 2nd place finisher, moving him into the #1 position of the 2018 Charles Schwab Cup money list.
“Congratulations to Bernhard Langer. We are excited he chooses to use Graphite Design in his bag and the timing of his win is perfect heading into the playoffs”, stated Wayne Ageno, President, Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts, Inc.
The Graphite Design Tour AD IZ – “Into the Zone” shaft was designed and is manufactured at the Graphite Design Japan factory headquarters. The Tour AD IZ wood shaft has a very stealthy look to it in black with white/orange accents and a sleek matte finish and are available in 40g R2, R1 and S flex, 50g R2, R, S and X flex, 60g SR, S, X and TX flex, 70g S, X and TX flex and 80g S and X flex.
The Tour AD IZ, like all of the premium Tour AD wood shafts, utilizes premium, aerospace quality 50t carbon-fiber materials in order to deliver the best feeling and performing shaft available to golfers.
The Tour AD IZ shaft has a firm stiffness starting at the handle, and medium center section and a firm+ tip profile to promote a high launch angle and low ball spin rates. The Tour AD IZ also utilizes TORAYCA ® T1100G carbon-fiber pre-preg with NANOALLOY ® technology in the tip section of the shaft for additional shaft stability, exceptional feel and precise ball control.
Reach out to your local Golf Club Fitting professional and ask about how to get your Driver or Fairway metal wood “Into the Zone” using the new Tour AD IZ model of premium Graphite Design graphite golf shafts.
About Graphite Design:
With 29 years of designing and manufacturing premium graphite golf shafts, Graphite Design shafts can be seen in play by the best professional and amateur players worldwide. Revolutionary technology, design and sourcing the most advanced materials are trademarks in all Graphite Design shafts, making them the highest quality performance golf shafts on the market. Validating the company’s “Tour AD” logo, all of Graphite Design’s Tour-proven shafts specifically promote “Accuracy and Distance”.
On Tour, Graphite Design golf shafts recorded 51 Global tournament victories in 2017 and have helped numerous golf professionals earn well over 200 victories and millions of dollars in professional prize money since inception. Graphite Design golf shafts continue to be the #1 golf shaft brand on the Japanese JGTO Professional Tour and has been for the past fifteen years.
About Pro’s Choice:
Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts is the exclusive distributor of Graphite Design golf shafts in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, UAE , S. Africa, S. America, and Australia. Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts distributes all of the current Graphite Design shafts including the new 2018 MAD and Tour AD IZ wood shafts as well as the YS Nano Reloaded, Tour AD TP, Tour AD GP, Tour AD MJ, Tour AD MT, Tour AD BB, and Tour AD DI models of shafts. The company is located in Carlsbad, California with a distribution warehouse located in San Diego.
For more information about Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts or Graphite Design shafts, please contact Bill McPherson at 619-454-6283 or b.mcpherson@proschoicegolfshafts.com, or visit www.proschoicegolfshafts.com. For tour promotions inquiries, please contact Erik Boysen at 760-519-2362 or e.boysen@proschoicegolfshafts.com.
For more information about Pro’s Choice Golf Shafts or Graphite Design shafts, please contact Bill McPherson at 619-454-6283 or b.mcpherson@proschoicegolfshafts.com, or visit www.proschoicegolfshafts.com. For tour promotions inquiries, please contact Erik Boysen at 760-519-2362 or e.boysen@proschoicegolfshafts.com.
How has anxiety affected some of your scores?
By PGTAA member Dr. Patrick Cohn
Chances are that anxiety prior to a golf round caused you to play far below your ability.
The main reason for anxiety prior to a round is uncertainty.
Uncertainty can cause some golfers to mentally envision potential mistakes or fear the worst prior to a round, which leads to tension and a lack of trust in your skills.
While other golfers become anxious because they have no idea what to expect in the upcoming competition.
Seeing the worst and fearing the worst become negative images that will ruin your performance every time.
What is the answer to combat uncertainty?
The answer to dealing with uncertainty is to experience the round before the round even happens.
That’s where visualization comes into play. Visualization helps you be mentally ready for the event so you feel you have "been there before".
If you have already experienced the round in your mind and visualized yourself playing well, the upcoming round becomes less stressful.
That is, experiencing a round in your mind through visualization reduces the anxiety that comes from uncertainty. Seeing yourself fail has the opposite effect.
A relatable example of the effects of uncertainty is the first day of school in September...
You don’t know what to expect, new teachers, different classes and classroom, new classmates, a different schedule and uncertainty about how much homework and projects you will receive, a different grading system and possibly a brand new school...
All the unknowns make the first few days of school nerve-wracking but after a few days, when you settle in, it feels more comfortable.
Most of the uncertainty washes away and you are ready to get going with the year.
A good example of this is Juliet Arnswold, a track and field athlete who specializes in the hurdles has utilized visualization to help her mentally prepare prior to a competition.
Arnswold uses visualization as a regular part of her pre-meet routine starting days prior to the event.
Arnswold visualizes herself arriving at the meet, running through her warm-up and then visualizes her entire race, from start to finish including the time she had hoped to attain.
ARNSWOLD: "Before going to sleep two nights before my race, I visualize myself going through all of the steps that I take on race day. This includes what I’ll eat for breakfast—oatmeal and a piece of peanut butter and banana toast. The visualization process gives me a plan of what I want to accomplish and helps me feel less anxious."
Images can make or break a performance. Instead of leaving your game to chance, visualization can help prepare for the round.
Visualizing Your Round:
Rehearse staying calm in your pre-round routine.
See yourself arriving at the course and getting ready in the locker room feeling relaxed and confident.
Image your warm-up feeling excited and ready to perform with confidence and trust.
See yourself hitting solid shots and immerse yourself in the images of the round.
Vividly experience the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, movement, confident thoughts and positive emotions of your performance.
When it's time to tee it up, don't expect your game to be perfect like you experienced in your preround rehearsal. Accept that stuff happens and you have to adjust.
As Ken Ravizza said many times, it's not always about playing in the zone. As an athlete, "you have to be comfortable feeling uncomfortable."