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VOLUME 1, NUMBER 60

Thursday March 25, 2010

ANY IDEA WHO SAID THIS? “I'd love everybody to stop asking questions about Tiger and his personal life. That's his life. We don't have any insight on it and basically we just want to get onto our basic tour lives.”

ON THIS DATE: In 1984 that Bob Eastwood won the USF&G Classic for his first win in a 13-year career. In 2003, the Ben Hogan exhibit opened on March 25th at World Golf Hall of Fame.

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME: Golf, it seems, has become a game of the big boys. Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway, Nike, Ping and Cleveland dominate the equipment side of the business; at least from an attention stand point. Tiger Woods is in a league of his own. Phil Mickelson is in a distant second place when it comes to media attention when compared to #1 but the drop off from Lefty is even greater. Getting noticed in a crowded marketplace is never easy and always a challenge regardless of the times or industry in question.

One upon a time (yes it does sound like a fairytale) golfers were eager to check out anything the competition offered, whether it came from Orlimar, Killer Bee, Lynx or any other name that wasn’t nearly as prolific in the quest to find some magic to improve their game. Marketing budgets typically employ, ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease theory’ to capture attention. Frequency and volume are two ways to garner attention. However, the great equalizer within this equation can often be found in product. Yet if few know about it, then it’s rendered moot.

“We are a unique company,” said Bill Holowaty, VP of Operations for Miura Golf in North America. “We don’t offer a new model every year.” As product cycles have become compressed in the industry, Miura Golf is truly on the path least taken. “Mr. Miura only introduces something when he believes it is better,” Holowaty continued. Ironically, there was a time when many golf companies said the same thing yet here we are at a place in time where the velocity of new products hasn’t been impacted by the recession...

Miura Golf recently introduced its CB-501 irons, which is a big deal to the company because of its product cycle philosophy. “Golfers who follow Miura Golf regularly know that we don’t have something new every year. So when we have a new model like the CB-501 irons, our fans have something to get excited about,” Holowaty remarked.

The irons are blades, which typically isn’t something many amateurs players feel they are qualified to use due to their handicaps. “In a sense, blades haven’t evolved much over the years other than the backs of them. We went back over the best of all models to see if there was a way to improve them. The philosophy was simple, to take the best of everything and see if we could put it together,” Holowaty explained. “A lot has changed in shafts, grips and fittings for example. These components have all improved over time. Our goal has always been to produce the ideal flight with our irons. Grooves have changed recently and some are anticipating the balls manufacturers will make changes to compensate for spin that is lost from the groove changes,” he continued. “Agronomy has certainly changed in recent years. Good to low handicap players won’t be scared of these blade irons. Forgiving is a marketing term that companies use to describe their clubs,” he added.

“The R&A recently tested our irons and said they spin less than other company’s products. There was some conjecture to why that is. Our manufacturing process is different than others which has an affect on spin rates,” Holowaty said. “Our club philosophy is build to performance first and selling is second. Mr. Miura has a saying that translates from Japanese to English that ‘Good golfers will find me.’ The deeper meaning of it is that if we are committed to making the best quality and golfers will eventually find it. "Golfers who are connoisseurs of forged irons should make it a point to hit the CB-501 irons. We are confident the CB-501s will quickly become your new best friend if you do," Holowaty said.

Ideas, big and small, come from many different sources. Solutions can be closer than you realize but not always in the places you look. Miura thinks it can help find some of those answers for anyone who is willing to go the extra distance to find them. More information on Miura products visit www.miuragolf.com.

PARTNERS: The Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy (Hank Haney IJGA) and the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) are proud to announce a partnership with Bridgestone Golf. Bridgestone Golf will become the title sponsor of the 2010 IJGT Tournament of Champions, held at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, FL.  In addition, they will serve as an official tour sponsor to the IJGT.  In this capacity, Bridgestone Golf will receive significant branding, signage, and promotion at the events and online at www.IJGT.com and www.IJGA.com.  As part of this sponsorship, Bridgestone Golf will supply the tour and its members with its Tour quality golf balls and Bridgestone Golf logoed hats. READ MORE>>>

HOW’S BIZ? “Sales for Cole Haan and Nike Golf were essentially flat for the quarter,” said Don Blair, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nike Inc., in sharing the company’s recent third quarter operating results.

Perhaps what might be the most revealing item within the conference call to Wall Street analysts was the absence of questions about Tiger Woods. So much for the notion Nike’s business might be affected by the recent fall from grace of the world’s #1 player.

GIRL POWER: It isn’t by design, yet the LPGA can often be over looked, especially in a world obsessed with all things Tiger. With a new point person in place, what is the state of the ladies’ tour? READ MORE>>>

PAY BACK: The Dubai government has pledged more than £6 billon of new funding for the restructuring plans of its flagship investment vehicle, whose assets include the QE2 and Turnberry golf course. "This proposal is based on amounts remaining from the loans provided previously by the government of Abu Dhabi and from internal resources from the government," said a government spokesman. Key creditors representing 97 banks met on Wednesday to finalize months of talks on how Dubai World could restructure its debt, which represents a hefty slice of Dubai's estimated total debt of £68 billon. READ MORE>>>

FOLLOW THE MONEY: A little incentive can sometimes go a long way. The world’s largest maker of golf club grips, Golf Pride, has moved its headquarters to Southern Pines. The Moore County board of commissioners had approved a $10,000 incentive to Eaton Corp. in October to lure the Golf Pride division to Moore County, which is one of the 13 counties in the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. Ray Ogden, director of the Moore County Partners In Progress economic development group, told the county commissioners that the company annually generates $700,000 in taxable assets and has a $4.5 million annual payroll. READ MORE>>>

WEB GEMS:

IT’S COMING: As the world anticipates the return of Tiger Woods, there is also the expectation of the first awkward moment that is bound to arrive. While it may not appear at the Masters, many believe its will happen sooner or later. READ MORE>>>

ALL WILL BE FORGIVE OR AT LEAST FORGOTTEN: An account of what Tiger has to do to turn the media attention in a completely opposite direction when it comes to writing about him. READ MORE>>>

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT? Augusta, GA is bracing for a few more outlets to set up shop in a couple of weeks to cover you know who versus you know what... READ MORE>>>

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ANSWER: Ernie Els

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IS BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, BUT IT IS NOT GUARANTEED. THE OPINION EXPRESSED IS THAT OF TERRY MCANDREW AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A SOLICITATION TO BUY OR SELL SECURITIES IN ANY OF THE COMPANIES DISCUSSED WITHIN THIS NEWSLETTER. CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER MAY NOT BE REPRINTED OR REBROADCAST WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED WRITTEN CONSENT OF TMAC GOLF