Golf Blogger Reviews
We sent some of our fellow Golf Bloggers a few www.savvygolfer.com products for review. Most of the packages we sent contained Brushtees, BirdieBalls, Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer. Here are a couple of the reviews:
beginning Golf
The Sand Trap

Golf Research In Play Launch (G.R.I.P.)
We had a very successful launch for G.R.I.P. www.gogrip.com last week. We got some fairly good press as well. Here is one story from Brent Kelley, the Golf Guide from About.com: http://golf.about.com/od/equipmentreviews/a/gripcompany.htm

We have had great feedback on all of the clubs. We have sold more Hybrids than anything else. Our very small supply of wedges sold out right away but our full order of wedges will arrive at the beginning of May. Overall, we are very pleased.

Make a great golf club from superior materials and provide your customers with an easy way to buy it for a fair price and they will be happy....

The Hybrids...Are Here
With the launch of Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P.) just a couple of weeks away, the first batch of clubs came in. I went to visit our beautiful new Hybrids at the warehouse. They look great and we brought them to the driving range and they are really fantastic.

I promised myself and my partners that we would leave them where they are until the G.R.I.P. launch April 10th - when www.gogrip.com is up and running etc. I LIED.

I quietly released the clubs on The Savvy Golfer. Use this coupon code: "GOGRIP34" and you will get 10% off your Hybrid(s). You will love these clubs and at $69.99 (and 10% off) they are the best deal going.

Also, if you try them, let me know what you think!

Here is a little preview of the Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P.) Clubs. We will start selling the Hybrids on www.savvygolfer.com in 10 days. The putters will follow shortly after and the wedges in mid to late April. The G.R.I.P. clubs will also be avaialble on www.gogrip.com April 10 - the date of the official G.R.I.P. launch. We are really happy with these clubs. They came out perfectly.

We absolutely love Wakefly www.wakefly.com
Wakefly is our web developer/graphic designer for The Savvy Golfer and http://www.gogrip.com/. The support has been super and they really work to accommodate us. They met some tough timelines when we launched http://www.savvygolfer.com/ and they are working very aggressively to complete the Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P) web site http://www.gogripcom/. If you have any web projects at all contact these guys first! We could not be happier with their work.

Cool New Products on The Savvy Golfer
We have finally found the time to add some of the new products from the 2006 PGA show. I would like to thank our suppliers for their patience because they were really good about getting their contracts back to us right away. We were so busy, that we were slow to get the products online. I think we have some really cool stuff:

• BirdieBall - Limited flight golf balls (40 Yards) they are actually shaped like little cylinders rather than balls. They are by far the best practice ball I have ever used. Don't be fooled by the shape. Additionally, if you buy the BirdieBall launch pad, you can play in the street. It hit 50 degrees by my house over the weekend (I live in MA) and I was living the back yard driving range dream. This product is a must have for anyone who can't make it to the driving range as often as they like. For those in the city, you should get it to. They are durable, they won't damage cars (I hooked one and learned first hand) and you can hit from the portable launch pad on any surface.
• Tri Bag - Cool to look at, cool to own, cool all over. Tri Bag is a very sharp looking golf stand bag with comfortable shoulder straps at first glance. However, it has a telescoping handle that pulls out from inside the bag where you store the clubs and a set of "Slick wheels" that snap on. This bag converts from a stand bag to a pull cart! It is also extremely light. The Savvy Golfer is currently the exclusive internet retailer in the US for this product. Everyone that I have shown this product to has ordered it. Okay, everyone who plays golf and saw it.
• Marvel Super Hero Head Covers - I can sum this up in only a few words. IF YOU USE AN INCREDIBLE HULK HEAD COVER YOU WILL PLAY BETTER GOLF. Sorry that I had to state the obvious.
• Golf Swing Ball: The former owner of Golfers Warehouse in New England brought me over to meet Benny Park, President of Swing Ball at the PGA Merchandise show. Not only is Benny a very nice guy but his product is fabulous. It positions your hands on a small medicine ball to help strengthen your swing but it also works as a great tool for warming up. I took a few swings before my round at the PGA show and then I worked with Swing Ball for a few minutes. After working with swing ball I felt much looser, my follow through was more natural and my legendary bad back felt much looser. This product does not guarantee you will hit more greens or out drive the pros like a lot of other training aids. However, I can promise it is good exercise, good stretching and good for healthy golf.
• Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer: I did not personally try Gorilla Gold but one of my business partners did. You rub it on your golf grips and it makes them very tacky. We had it in our bag of PGA show samples and he was nuts for the stuff. Everyone has the slippery grip problem due to rain, heat, or just bad grips. For $5 you can't go wrong carrying these in your bag. Besides, a product with the name "Gorilla" in the name has to be great.

We have a lot more products to add in the coming weeks and throughout the season. Visit the site www.savvygolfer.com to see the products and sign up for the mailing list to get the best deals and learn about new products as we launch them.

Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P) Clubs Are On The Way...
I am very excited because the golf clubs from Golf Research In Play (G.R.I.P.) are on the way. Hybrids and Putters are shipping this week and next and the Wedges will arrive in April. Our club designer, Michael Blair did a super job on these clubs and they are exactly as adverytised:

• Top Quality
• Best materials
• Super designs
• Easy to hit
• Inexpensive to buy

We have run into a few delays in getting the www.gogrip.com web site running because we did not have samples to photograph for the site until two weeks ago. For the loyalists and the curious, I will quietly add the G.R.I.P clubs to www.savvygolfer.com without any special promotions or advertising. Once www.gogrip.com is ready we will have a massive launch for our new club company. Check out the picture below. We used Tim Doiron photography for the photos www.timdoiron.com. He did a great job and he did it in about a week.

Additionally, Wakefly www.wakefly.com is working very quickly to get www.gogrip.com up and running. They did a fantastic job with The Savvy Golfer as well. I will try to post a few pictures of the clubs as a teaser this week. The look great.

Savvy Ethics and Standards
I have been reviewing a lot of new products that we saw at the 2006 PGA Show in Orlando. The first few pro-active calls that I received from potential suppliers came from a company that closely associates the branding of their golf balls with genitals and the second was from a company who makes a putter that has a picture of a bikini clad woman on the shaft. When you putt, she loses the bikini. Both of these companies have insisted that I can capture, "The other 20%" of the market with these products. I have a feeling that I would also lose the really good 80% of the golf market that we already serve. Ethical rule #1: We will not tarnish our name or the great game of golf by introducing "dirty" products to our customers.

We have also encountered many products that will help you become lazier on the golf course. Let's face it, golf can be long and tiring but it is not exactly a game of soccer when it comes to consuming energy. We will not sell products that allow you to pluck the ball from the hole without bending over or repair your ball mark with the back of your putter. I stand by this rule for the following reasons:

• I truly believe that if you can swing a golf club 36-50 times in a round and putt 36 - 50 times you can probably bend over and pick up your ball from the hole or kneel down to repair a ball mark. Golf is a sport and it requires that you use some energy. Besides, the pros pick up their ball and they are millionaires!
• I have a lot of respect for greens keepers and they work pretty hard. Little suction cups on the end of clubs for picking up balls damage golf holes for the next golfer. If you use one, you will at some point accidentally press it against the edge of the hole and ruin the integrity of the cup for those behind you.
• The ball mark repair tool on attached to the back of a 35" golf club will likely do more damage to a golf green then good. Please just bend down and fix your mark. While you are at it please fix another mark that you may notice!
  Ethical Rule #2: We do not promote and sell products that allow you to be really lazy at the expense of the great game of golf or the golf course.
  Some of the people who manufacture and sell these products are nice people so I apologize for not supporting them. However, with my powers as The Savvy Golfer I have a great responsibility to respect the game of golf and the courses where it is played.
  

About The Savvy Golfer
The overall goal with The Savvy Golfer www.savvygolfer.com is to provide a trusted resource for recreational golfers to purchase golf equipment that will help them play better golf, have more fun and save money on great golf equipment. The reason that I started The Savvy Golfer is because I have always noticed that there is no really good resource for recreational golfers to buy inexpensive golf equipment that they can trust. Anyone who plays golf somewhat regularly likes to feel good about the way they play and the equipment they use. There is something nice about having a good set of golf clubs and good golf equipment. However, not everyone likes to spend $600 on a set of irons. While there are plenty of resources to buy the major golf brands from, there has never been a good resource to find the best clubs on the value end of the spectrum. The Savvy Golfer is simply the best resource to buy premium golf clubs and accessories for a good value. We are very selective about the companies that we work with and the equipment that we sell.

Where did our customers go for golf equipment before The Savvy Golfer? Nowhere good!

Cat Food, Golf Clubs, and Paper Towels All in One Place!
Who wants to go to Wal-Mart or Target to get golf clubs? What does Target know about Golf? The golf clubs that they sell at these major retailers are on the shelves because they were cheap for the retailer to buy and they will ultimately pass those savings to you. However, cost is their only motivation! The buyers for these corporations do not review components, playability, forgiveness and other important considerations that you would have buying golf clubs when they decide what to order for their stores. Occasionally I have spotted an Adams Driver or Nike Wedge at Target (I don’t go anywhere without looking at the golf clubs) but it is mostly outdated equipment that the Golf companies could not sell off. The main point of this is that the major discount stores choose to carry golf equipment based on the profit margin. Their inventory purchases have nothing to do with improving your game or making sure you pick out great clubs. These are not golf stores. They are stores that happen to sell some golf clubs!

Any golf store that sells the major brands is focused on the major brands
Almost every “Green Grass” golf store or off-course golf store carries some cheaper golf clubs sets including brands like “AMF” clubs or “Knight” (junk clubs) just in case someone wanders in looking for a inexpensive set of clubs. These stores are primarily focused on selling their Callaways, Clevelands, and Titleists and for the most part they could care less about selling the inexpensive sets. I promise you that if you walk in to one of those stores and ask to be fitted for a set of Ping Irons you will be treated like a God. If you go back to the same store and ask what they have for around $200 in a full set of clubs someone will point to a box, tell you the two things they know about the set and leave you to choose. I have personally tested this theory at several stores. Just because a store is renown for custom fitting and major brands it does not mean that they are the right place for the budget conscious golfer to shop. Stores that sell major brands of golf clubs are focused on the sale of those brands. Anything they carry for the lower budget golfer likely required them to carry very little inventory and also provides them with a relatively high profit margin on a low dollar sale. They do not purchase these clubs with the same attention to detail or thought process that they use when they meet with the Ping sales representative.

Knock-offs...Just a pretty Face
The knock-off golf club market is always nice to play a set of clubs that look like the latest set of Nike Sling Shot Irons or Callaway Big Berthas. I can promise you that the similarities end at the cosmetics. Your knock-off Nike Slingshots probably have some clever name like “Hot Shot,” “Smart Shot,” or “Big Shot.”. They are likely crafted from Zinc and other cheap materials and they likely play nothing like a set of Nikes. It is a bit like buying a car that looks like a BMW only all of the parts were made by Yugo (If you are not familiar with Yugo Cars I am sure Google can direct you to some great sites). I think the reason that the major manufacturers have not declared more of a legal war on Knock-off makers is because they probably would never attract the knock-off buyers as customers even if all of the imitators disappeared. Please do yourself a favor and avoid these scams at all costs. I assure you that the $150 version of an $800 set of Cobras is overpriced by about $120.

Welcome to The Savvy Golfer
We do our best to assure that the products we carry on www.savvygolfer.com meet very high standards for quality, innovation and value. We strive to be a trusted source for the recreational golfer on a budget. We are confident that our products will help you play better golf and enjoy the game more.

Welcome to The Savvy Golfer Blog. We hope to provide a forum about all of those things that matter in the game of golf, equipment, rules, courses and of course it would not be a proper blog if I was not posting my own random thoughts.