Golf Digest Stix features Polara Golf's Own Dave Felker

Dave Felker is CEO of Polara Golf, which makes a slice- and hook-correcting golf ball and is marketing a driver that exceeds the USGA rules on clubhead size and springlike effect. He answers five questions from Mike Stachura.

Q: What’s wrong with today’s equipment rules?

DF: The USGA likes to say they’re here to preserve the game. Well, they’ve been around since 1894. Why didn’t they just keep everything the same as in 1894, or 1910, or 1940? One of the traditions of golf is the evolution of the game’s technology. The USGA should let technology evolve. There will continue to be challenges. It’s never going to get so anybody can shoot an 18.

Q: Your products are geared to average golfers, not tour players, right?

DF: I feel like I invented them for myself. Because I can hit it very straight off the tee now, golf is so much more fun. That’s what we’re shooting for: to make golfers have more fun.

Q: Do you think that’s what golfers want?

DF: If you can give people some hope that maybe they’ll do a little bit better next time, that brings people back. Also, if you can lower the embarrassment factor. I think they’re embarrassed because they hit it into the woods and slow up play.

Q: How would a nonconforming driver dramatically improve distance for average golfers?

DF: What we’re talking about here is a secondary effect. Once you get the proper loft, you can still get more distance if you go beyond the USGA regulations.

Q: How big can the market for these products really be?

DF: Forty percent of golfers told Golf Datatech in 2010 they’d be willing to play nonconforming equipment if it provided a performance benefit. We repeated the survey using Google in 2012, and it was 63 percent. I think the time is right.

To read the full Golf Digest Stix October Issue: http://www.golfdigeststix.com/golfdigeststix/20131001#pg1

TaylorMade to release non-conforming clubs, sources say, following Polara Golf’s lead into recreational equipment

New report by a senior equipment insider at MyGolfSpy alleges the “#1 Company in Golf” will launch a line of non-conforming golf clubs under the TaylorMade, Adams, or other Adidas brand, two years after Polara Golf spearheaded the recreational golf movement with the highly rated Ultimate Straight Ball and Advantage Driver.

 Sep. 27, 2013, Carlsbad, CA—According to “reputable sources” close to golf website MyGolfSpy, TaylorMade, a subsidiary of Adidas, “is planning to launch a line of non-conforming golf clubs,” reports senior equipment insider Tony Covey.

“This is nothing less than the biggest equipment story since…well…maybe ever,” Covey says. “While one reliable source recently put the probability of a non-conforming line at 100%, I’d personally be shocked to see a single USGA illegal club with the TaylorMade logo on it. Adams (also owned by Adidas) is a better possibility.”

In addition to the above report, an independent source close to Polara Golf this week suggested even more, telling company officials that “TaylorMade will positively start selling a non-conforming driver starting in November,” with an announcement expected within 30 days.

The unofficial news comes several months after overtures from a senior TaylorMade official, suggested his company will follow Polara Golf’s lead in the manufacturing of non-conforming equipment designed for recreational players. “Our job is to make sure we get golfers excited to go out and play more golf, and we can do that with better performance,” said the company’s Sean Toulon. “If the ruling bodies don’t like it, then it goes wherever it goes.”

In reaction to the rumor, Polara Golf president Dave Felker acknowledged TaylorMade’s interest in non-conforming equipment, just two years after the former’s upstart Carlsbad, CA equipment company made waves in the New York Times, Fox News, CNBC, and others with their Ultimate Straight golf balls and their Advantage Driver, new for this year.

“Today golf is facing the same kind of decline in participation and revenues that skiing, baseball and tennis faced years ago,” Felker says. “It was the performance characteristics of oversized rackets, metal bats, snow boards, and shaped skis that helped increase participation and revenues for those sports because the new equipment made the sport  easier to learn and more fun to play. Polara Golf is executing a similar strategy for golf. We were the first golf company to invent, market, and sell recreational golf equipment that truly makes the game easier to learn and more fun to play. We’re flattered that others are seemingly following our lead.”

Last year, Polara Golf commissioned a Google Consumer survey that found 73% of golfers admit to not following the rules, fewer than 15% keep a handicap, and 63% would consider playing non-conforming equipment in an effort to maximize their enjoyment of the game. A similar poll conducted by MyGolfSpy found that 76% felt consumers should have better access to non-conforming equipment.

“The closest parallel I can find to golf equipment is competitive cycling,” concluded Covey. “If I just want something to ride around the neighborhood, my choices aren’t limited to legal bikes. I’m free to buy a non-conforming bike from any number of reputable, top-tier companies, and nobody is going to accuse me of cheating in doing so. How is that any different from a recreational golfer who plays non-conforming clubs?”

For more information, please visit PolaraGolf.com.

Media contact

Joe Wieczorek, for Polara Golf
joe@themediagroupinc.com
Office: (847) 956-9090
Cell: (847) 812-7396

Non-Conformity is the Gateway to Innovation

MyGolfSpy.com's recent article by Tony Covey got us thinking. If recreational golf is the majority, why are so many trying to push them out of the game, not allowing them to use what equipment works best for them. Remember the saying, to each their own? Why doesn't this matter in the world of golf? Whose game is it anyway? These are some excerpts from the original article that really stood out for us at Polara Golf.

The USGA Has Over-Stepped

As trustee for the rules of golf, the USGA has grossly over-stepped in their management of the equipment space. It’s one thing to create rules defining competition-legal equipment, it’s quite another to issue a mandate effectively prohibiting golf companies from producing anything that doesn’t conform.

We’ve talked about Major League Baseball governing Little League or the NFL forcing its rules on Pop Warner (that ball is not regulation, kid), but the closest parallel I can find to golf is competitive cycling.

As with golf, the UCI (cycling’s governing body) has rules that cover every aspect of the spot, including equipment. There are bikes that are deemed competition-legal and bikes that are not. The difference between golf and cycling is that if I just want something to ride around the neighborhood, my choices aren’t limited to UCI legal bikes.

I’m free to buy a non-conforming bike from any number of reputable, top-tier companies, and nobody is going to accuse me of cheating anyone or anything.

How is that any different from a recreational golfer who plays non-conforming clubs?

And you know what…while cycling has its share of problems; recreational cyclists, and kids jumping mounds of dirt on Huffys aren’t among them.

Why should guys who aren’t competing against anyone be forced to make a choice between playing competition legal equipment, or non-conforming clubs from a relative nobody?

Why should the USGA dictate what equipment is available to the recreational golfer?

Non-Conforming Equipment is Good for Golf

You think I’m insane? I’m just getting started.

Mainstream non-conforming equipment could ultimately be good for the health of the game. While I’m not one to believe that slow play is killing golf, or long courses are killing golf, or the cost of equipment and tee times is killing golf (nothing is actually killing golf), I think there are some pretty simple steps we could take to improve the overall health of the game, and letting golfers play gear that makes the game more enjoyable is certainly one of them.

+ You want to mitigate the impact of longer courses? Let guys hit the ball farther.

+ You want to speed up play? Let guys hit the ball straighter and keep them out of the damn woods.

+ You want to attract new golfers? Make the game more fun, and part of that means giving non-competitive golfers the ability to play whatever it is that makes the game more enjoyable for them.

And what about the guy who can’t bend over, or who got hurt and lost 50 yards?

What’s the greater tragedy, having somebody who used to love the game walk off the course and never come back, or allowing them to play (recreationally, of course) with anchored putters and juiced up drivers?

Non-Conformity is the Gateway to Innovation

More than anything else, a line of non-conforming clubs would give the golf companies something they haven’t had in a while; complete and total freedom to innovate. As it is in nearly any other industry, imagination, not regulation, becomes the limiting factor.

Since a non-conforming line wouldn’t be bound by any of the conventions of what a golf club is, what it looks like, what it’s made from; golf companies would be free to experiment with new materials, new geometry, and completely new ideas.

How is this bad for golf?

To read full article online: http://www.mygolfspy.com/taylormade-non-conforming-illegal-clubs/

It's No Secret: Polara Golf Proudly Applies For Non-Conforming Status Of New Drivers That Exceed USGA Limits

CARLSBAD, CA - The governing body of professional golf, the USGA, lists almost 500 drivers that are banned from tournament play. This fall, another will be proudly added to the list: The Advantage Driver by Polara Golf, designed to be the longest-hitting driver in golf.

Made by the same California company that introduced the world to the "banned but awesome" Ultimate Straight™ golf balls endorsed on the front page of the New York Times, the new Advantage Driver is similarly effective in lowering scores and boosting recreational enjoyment of the rigorous game. It accomplishes this with a more forgiving, seriously oversized head which is made of lighter and harder titanium to produce a "trampoline effect" when striking a ball. The result is greater accuracy, straightness, and added distance of up to almost half a football field.

"We are proud to announce the introduction of our Polara Advantage drivers to help recreational golfers add up to 40 yards more per drive," says Dave Felker, president of Polara Golf. "Like our well-rated and proven Ultimate Straight balls, we specifically engineered these drivers to exceed USGA limits for more enjoyable rounds."

"Since our drivers are intended for the estimated 85% of golfers who want to score lower and have more fun outside of formal handicap tournaments, Polara Golf is proud to be listed on the USGA nonconforming list."

Polara's approach differs significantly from other equipment manufacturers, however, in that unlike Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway, Bridgestone, Nike and others that quietly release nonconforming equipment, Polara actively promotes the measurable enhancements of the new Advantage Driver and Ultimate Straight balls.

"We're different in that we advertise the fact that we are selling non-conforming golf equipment," Felker says. "The others do it secretly."

The reason for this can be traced to a double standard of golf purism, Felker says, in which recreational players are expected to adhere to the professional rules of golf, except in cases of more established infractions including foot wedges, gimme putts, and mulligans. Even more recently, it can be traced to the late Ely Callaway's remarks in 2001 regarding nonconforming equipment intended for recreational play. "If the [USGA] makes rules that are against the growth of the game and the enjoyment of the game, then we do not feel that we are wrong, immoral, cheating, bad people to give the public a choice," he said.

Today, Polara Golf stands by that remark. While 67% of Golf Digest readers recently said they would not buy a nonconforming club, "Their readers are not representative of the golfing public, and the data we have indicates the exact opposite: 63% of golfers would play nonconforming equipment since the overwhelming majority play golf for recreational reasons," Felker said.

Hence, the introduction of the Advantage Driver alongside the previously released Ultimate Straight balls. "Whether you're a hard-hitting golfer looking for some extra yardage, a senior golfer looking to recapture the distance of years gone by, or slow-swinging player craving an extra 40 yards, the Advantage Driver is guaranteed to deliver more distance than any driver on the market," Felker promises.

The 475cc oversized Advantage Driver is available in four lofts (10.5, 12, HL1, HL3) and in four shaft flexes (Stiff, Regular, Light, Ladies) for a tailored fit. The drivers carry a MSRP of $299 and are only available in limited supply at www.PolaraGolf.com.

About Polara Golf
Polara Golf is the leader in game improvement equipment for the recreational golfer. Polara Golf's mission is, "To make the game of golf more fun". All of the Polara products are designed for use by recreational golfers who want to take advantage of technology improvements designed to help them score lower and enjoy the game more.

For more information about Polara Golf, visit www.PolaraGolf.com or call 866-556-3100.

Media members interested in field testing any of the Polara Golf products for an editorial review should contact Joe Wieczorek joe@themediagroupinc.com of The Media Group at (847) 956-9090.

6 Of The Most Diabolical Holes In Golf

Once again, the Foursum.com blog does it again, always giving us interesting and out-of-the-box posts. We love this feature of the 6 most "diabolical" holes in golf, because what better way to play golf, than to play on a course made for the devil...

 
1. The 16th at Cypress Point:
You have to hit your ball 220 to 230 yards over the ocean. Yes, the ocean. If you are able to clear the 230 gap, you also need to hit your ball hard enough and with enough accuracy to clear the stone retaining wall on the other side.

2. The 5th at Pinehurst No. 2:
The green on this course is like an upside down bowl – high in the middle and sloping towards the edges. If that wasn’t bad enough, the green is protected by a couple of serious bunkers.  If you’re really lucky, you will end up taking an iron onto a tough green and you must strike with accuracy.

3. The 12th at Augusta:
“It’s a short par 3, what’s to worry about?” I wonder how many naive golfers have said those words just before they teed off on 12.  Golf Digest has called this hole, “… the scariest 155 yards in golf.”  No wonder.  You need to clear a creek, one intimidating water hazard, to get on the green. If you overshoot, you end up in a bunker. The shot from the bunker is terrifying. If you hit the ball too hard, you’re in the water.  Add into the mix the regular ferocious winds golfers experience on this hole and you’re in for one hell of a challenge.

4. The 18th at Whistling Straits:
The 18th at Whistling Straits is the most confusing hole on the course.  “At the Straits Course, no hole is more confusing than the 18th, a hole that bridges two huge dunes and already has been renovated three times,” writes Golf Week’s Bradley Klein. The semi-blind tee shot has to carry a vast wasteland but not go too far lest it tumble into oblivion.  It’s been called Dye-abolical, in honor of its designer Pete Dye. Your tee shot, if hit well, sets you up for a downhill battle to a torturous green that will test your will, your skill, and your sanity.

5. The 17th at Kiawah Island:
This hole is messed up.  For success, you need to clear a sizeable pond, avoid deep bunkers, and hit the horizontal green just right.  Easy, isn’t it?  Writing for the New York Times, Adam Shupak notes the 17th is another Pete Dye creation and is his most “diabolical,” or Dye-abolical.  He explains its challenge well: “From an elevated tee along the northeastern shore of the island, the 17th plays 229 yards for the pros over water lining the entire right side of the hole and front of the green. The putting surface may measure 44 yards deep, but the swath of green to land a ball safely is about 15 yards wide, punishing any tee shot that does not hew to the right line.”

6. The 17th at TPC Sawgrass:
This is a spectacular golf hole for both it’s beauty and its history.  The Golf Channel’s Joe Posnanski, when writing about the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, said, “It is certainly one of the most iconic holes.”  Any golf fan knows the hole. They have watched their favorites cross the narrow path to the green (and if they’re lucky they’ve walked it themselves).  We’ve seen golf’s legends make their approach hoping to catch the green, just wherever they can to stay out of the water.  It’s do or die.  The Associated Press’s Doug Ferguson wrote, “The 17th green rarely decides who wins, rather who loses.”  He couldn’t be more right.  One of the most astounding statistics about the 17th is that it has claimed 481 balls in the last decade of play at the Player’s Championship.

13 Ridiculous Golf Superstitions

Who knew there was such a thing in golf, but apparently every sport has its fare share of "superstitions."  The Foursum.com blog had a great post that recently highlighted some of the most ridiculous.  Number 8 has to be our favorite, I mean we all know you never wash it off....

 Original article featured on Foursum.com by Bryan Cromlish

1. Don’t Use Red Tees
This isn’t a superstition I’m prone to believing, but red is the color of stress and aggression – maybe that’s where it comes from. It’s hard enough keeping your focus on the course without added subliminal pressure.

2. People Have Their Lucky Club
I know some golfers who just love certain irons or woods – they swear by them. They take their favorite club with them and it never leaves their bag. Most of them probably don’t even remember why they love that particular club. In fact, many of them barely use their favorite.

The best I can figure is that they nailed an amazing shot with their favorite club a very long time ago. After that, they don’t want to use it because they’re afraid to destroy that memory with a bad shot.

3. Don’t Use Water Balls On Holes With Water Hazards
Somewhere inside some golfer’s head the thought occured: “Maybe a ball, once it lands in the water, is forever attracted to every other water hazard that exists.” Or, maybe the golfer who was first bit by this superstition thought that water worked like a magnet.

4. The Curse of The Stray Ball
I think this was started by people who couldn’t keep their shots on the fairway and got tired of having their balls stolen. This superstition says that if you pick up another person’s ball that was hit out of bounds, your game will be cursed and your score will suffer. I can’t hear this superstition without hearing a witch in the back of my mind chanting, “Double, double toil and trouble.”

Sure, it’s bad manners – but it’s not going to screw your game.

5. Don’t Use Found Balls During The Same Round
Okay, sometimes you’ll stumble across balls that aren’t out of bounds. The karma gods of golf aren’t going to penalize you for nabbing this ball. Well, unless you use it during the same round.

You see, if you nab another person’s ball that is in bounds, you just have to wait until the next round. Then you’ll be safe!

6. Tap The Inside Of The Cup After Long Putts
So, you just sunk a putt where the ball was more than three feet away from the hole. First, great work. Before you take the ball out of the hole, you need to tap the ball on the cup’s wall. If you don’t do this, says the superstition, you’ll suffer on every hole for the rest of your round.

The only possible explanation that I can even think of for this is that some golfers need routines. We know that pre-shot routines help golfers focus – maybe the same thing can be said for post-shot routines. If you don’t start this habit, you’ll never have to keep it up.

7. Don’t Wash The Awesome Off
Are you having a great round? Have you just birdied three consecutive holes? For goodness sake don’t wash your ball off! After all, your success on the course is clearly the result of some magical, invisible substance coating your ball and not you and your skill.

8. Use Only Low Numbered Balls
Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw doesn’t use any balls that are numbered higher than four. Why? Because he doesn’t want a score higher than that on any hole.

Could he have won two Masters without this? Maybe, but he’s a two-time champ and I’m not calling him out.

9. Picking Lucky Clothes
Remember that round you hit a 79 in the blue Nike shirt? Then, the next day you shot 103 in a black Nike shirt? Clearly the blue shirt is just a good luck charm. Lee Bacchus, writing for Golf World, admits he falls for this superstition. He writes, “It’s a damn good thing I’m a consistently bad golfer or else I may be still wearing the same Calvin Kleins I donned when I started the game two decades ago.”

10. Don’t Keep Extra Balls In Your Pocket
It’s pushing your luck, tempting fate, and you’re going to lose whatever ball you’re swinging at – all of this because you kept one in your pocket. I’ve also heard that you should never golf with anything in your pocket, but that makes a bit more sense. Sure, something in your pocket could cause discomfort and a messed up swing – but I don’t think it alone will cause you to lose your ball.

11. Only Golf With Stuff In Your Pocket
Throwing concern to the wind, some golfers refuse to tee off unless they actually have something in their pocket. Tom Weiskoff needs three cents and three tees in his pocket, and Jack Nicklaus will only golf when he has three coins in his pocket (the denomination doesn’t matter).

12. Every Ball Has Only One Birdie In It
This one comes from Ernie Els. Again, the man has been incredibly successful – so maybe he’s onto something. If you watch Els, every time he birdies he switches balls because he doesn’t think you can get more than one birdie with the same ball.

13. Ball Marker Madness
This is another common area where superstition prevails. There are many different beliefs about ball markers – some people will only use coins with pictures of states where they played a good round and others will only use coins of certain denominations.

Crime on the Golf Course

Our friends at GolfStinks.com wrote a great article about the use of "illegal" equipment throughout commonly played sports (by non-pro athletes). They make a great point in stating as a sport who’s players claim they are “playing against themselves,” they sure are awfully worried about what everyone else is doing (or using).

Authored by Chris Chirico, GolfStinks.com:
It’s amazing what an uproar is caused when a golfer finds out that another golfer is using “illegal” golf equipment.  You know, for a sport who’s players claim they are “playing against themselves,” they sure are awfully worried about what everyone else is doing.

Let’s start with that word…”Illegal.”  That’s a funny way to put it.  Illegal…not “non-regulation,” but illegal…like the golf course S.W.A.T. Team is going to come repelling out of the trees and surround you right there on the fairway for using the old Condor golf ball.  No other commonly played sport (by non-pro athletes) refers to non-regulation equipment as illegal, only golf.  People don’t call a basketball with better grip an illegal ball.  It’s simply a non-regulation ball.  When I played softball in a league, we didn’t care if someone wore specifically softball cleats or not.  Some players didn’t even wear cleats!  The softball justice squad didn’t bust through the gates to take us down.  No arrests, no charges.

Secondly, why does it matter so much?  If you’re out playing a pickup basketball game, do you care what type of ball you have?  Do you call someone on it when they show up without a Spalding Official NBA ball?  I sure don’t, and at $90+ each, who can blame them for not showing up with one?  If you’re playing a game of touch football, do you care if you’re not playing with an official Wilson regulation NFL ball?  Of course not.  So why do you care if someone plays with a Polara golf ball?  Or an “illegally” weighted putter?  Or pretty much anything made by a company like NGC Golf?  I’ll tell you why.  Because as much as you claim to be, you’re not really “playing against yourself,” are you?

In the grand scheme of things, in relation to playing at the pro level, you and I playing on our local public (or private) course is no different than a few guys playing pickup hoops or beer league softball.  So what do you care what kind of ball someone else uses?  Why do you care if some other guy is using an ”illegally” weighted putter?  What does it matter to you if the face of somebody’s driver has “illegal” grooves?  You’re supposed to be playing against yourself, right?  So worry about what you do, not what some other guy does.  I played an entire round with a guy who used the Polara balls.  I even tried it out once!  So what do I care?

However, if there’s money on the line…well now…that’s a different story.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

a sport who’s players claim they are “playing against themselves,” they sure are awfully worried about what everyone else is doing. - See more at: http://golfstinks.com/blog/page/4#sthash.UHiFfAmk.dpuf

a sport who’s players claim they are “playing against themselves,” they sure are awfully worried about what everyone else is doing. - See more at: http://golfstinks.com/blog/page/4#sthash.UHiFfAmk.dpuf