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Awesome recaps and very cool to read. What an over the top event!!!
#PersonalDistance Recap Thread w/ THP & Wilson Staff
Scrap Iron
On The Eh Team
This is one of the best events that I have followed on THP.
Squints
Member
I must not have been there...I was absolutely up for whatever.
Dang, I am ridiculously jealous of those discounts! Especially Salomon, I love me some Salomon ski gear! Oh and PROBABLY the Wilson Staff gear as well 
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Spivey
Active member
I was at work all day, reliving the experience thru the posts on this thread.
As a THP first event, this was amazing!
I flew into Chicago Thursday night, Erky picked me up Friday morning for a round of golf at Mistwood with a number of other THP'ers. Eric and I hit it off great - lots in common, great conversation, we were cruising along, life was good!
Got to Mistwood, met a bunch of other people, played my round with AdamW238, Michigan Slice, and dhartman. Great guys, all of them, we had a blast. CJ and Adam had a little wager going, the round went well for a while, my game hit a pothole, couldn't putt, and Kelpie's Korner beat me like a drum. Game over - and three putted the 18th with the rest of the group watching us finish up, as we were the last group. Great time!
Jumped in the car, went to the hotel, and then off to Wilson HQ. Ran a few tolls, whatever…
At the HQ, walked upstairs and met Doug, Alyssa, and Alessandra from Wilson Staff Marketing. Great people!! Really easy to talk to, lots of good info about WS, and then a tour of the facility - Holy Smokes, so much good sporting equipment!! Baseball gloves, Golf clubs and bags, Tennis, uniforms, bats, ski stuff - unbelievable that this was an office where work was supposed to get done! Others have posted pictures, but justice cannot be done to how this place looks!
Then to the "staff lounge" aka the playroom! TV's, pool table, ping pong, and a putting green that ran probably 80 feet with a bunch of putters, new and old, just waiting to be hit! Steak, chicken kabob, salad, rice, and THP cake were on the menu - along with soda, beer, some hard stuff, and dinner was served!!
Spoke with the two ladies and Doug about skiing, golf, AZ, Chicago, etc., and then beat Jarod in ping pong - I was not going to play Josh at my first event!! His reputation preceded him, he trounced everyone.
Grabbed a few beers and headed back to the hotel (got lost on the way home). Drank w Erky, discussed the experience, and went to bed.
Next morning early (too early for my west coast body, IMHO) Erky and I cruised into Chicago to the innovation center, last to arrive, grabbed food, and Christmas morning started!! Really, it was impressive what gifts the folks from WS gave us - very personal, as I am a big skier and I played soccer in college and on a coed adult team here in Phoenix. So cool!
Info about the Driver - Info about the woods and hybrids - Info about the next line of Irons (they look beautiful) and some deep discussion about their target market and strategy to get back into the iron business. The marketing of the F-C-D players and how they differentiate themselves to their market and from each other. I was curious about this most of all, and they answered all my questions without me having to ask - as if they knew what I wanted to know!!
Then, I went to the fitting. After warming up w a 7 iron, Steve gave me a driver, then gave me a different shaft, saw the numbers, and put a Project X 6.0 on the 9* head, and my numbers on Trackman were exactly where they were supposed to be - my misses were less, my distance (265 carry) was right on, and I striped one about 275. Fitting done! Hawk was there, taking pictures, and it seemed as if he was one of the fitters!!
Back to the main conference room, where balls were being discussed. Great info from Matteus about compression and its benefit to all swing speeds - low compression, that is. Great explanation about how every golfer can benefit from low compression, with greater benefit experienced at slower swing speeds than at higher swing speeds. Also showed info about how every major ball manufacturer has low compression balls, but WS is the leader in that market - as if even they were surprised at that fact.
Discussion about material for metal woods and hybrids - Carpenter 455 steel is a major factor in cost of golf clubs, but the quality of the product is worth the cost, as is the performance. I had no idea. Really. Opened my eyes.
Lunch and a panel discussion with the president of Wilson staff, the Head of Marketing, and the Head of Development - all three great minds, very open with us, we asked some tough questions and they answered.
Off to golf, but first we got our personalized drivers, built to each of our specs! They looked great - I was pumped! I was also trying to get all my schwag out the door, It was a small juggling act, but I made it to the car.
Erky and I drove to the Highlands at Elgin, again running a few tolls (really, who has change in a rental car?) and warmed up for a few minutes. Erky was in the group ahead of me, so I got to hit the Wilson Staff clubs at the demo tent - I wanted to get my hands on the new V4's. I hit the 7 and 8 iron, and they are pure! Not as forgiving as my current gamers, but really nice! Well hit shots feel like butter and they fly!!
I then hit the new button back irons, their blades, and I loved them! I could move the ball each way, hit them well, and was pumped for the round!
First tee - me, GreekGodX, Girardcorp and Duffy Callahan (Wilson Staff club fitter), were grouped together. I hit my first drive off the heel but in the fairway about 230. The round proceeded to go downhill from there - although our group was slow, when JB's camera was on us, we all performed! Sunk my putt with the camera at the hole, I was pleased!
Great track, great time with the group!!
Dinner - Lou Malnari's is quite tasty! JB took control, ordered everything one could ask for, and we ate and rehashed the day! Got to meet and talk to some of the other participants, relaxed, and just chilled for a couple hours.
Sunday morning, Adam picked me up to go play another round at the Highlands of Elgin. Frost delay of an hour, we were sent off in the middle of a group tournament, rushed thru 4 or 5 holes, then relaxed and played pretty well from 7 thru 18, where Adam proceeded to kill the ball, sunk putts, and decided that chipping in was easier than putting! I shot about 10 strokes better the second day than the first, and discovered that I still cannot putt the Chicago area greens!! At least I only lost three balls on Sunday, one in the water and two in the long stuff.
Adam then gave me a ride to Midway (at least an hour away) - what a great guy for doing that! Top notch there!
Sat back while waiting for the plane, really could not get my head around what had happened over the prior 60+ hours!
This was a terrific experience - I cannot thank THP, JB, GG and everyone I played with enough! Erky and Adam are outstanding people, they went out of their way for a guy that neither of them had met before - I feel like I have new brothers!
Whew, that took longer than I expected.
As a THP first event, this was amazing!
I flew into Chicago Thursday night, Erky picked me up Friday morning for a round of golf at Mistwood with a number of other THP'ers. Eric and I hit it off great - lots in common, great conversation, we were cruising along, life was good!
Got to Mistwood, met a bunch of other people, played my round with AdamW238, Michigan Slice, and dhartman. Great guys, all of them, we had a blast. CJ and Adam had a little wager going, the round went well for a while, my game hit a pothole, couldn't putt, and Kelpie's Korner beat me like a drum. Game over - and three putted the 18th with the rest of the group watching us finish up, as we were the last group. Great time!
Jumped in the car, went to the hotel, and then off to Wilson HQ. Ran a few tolls, whatever…
At the HQ, walked upstairs and met Doug, Alyssa, and Alessandra from Wilson Staff Marketing. Great people!! Really easy to talk to, lots of good info about WS, and then a tour of the facility - Holy Smokes, so much good sporting equipment!! Baseball gloves, Golf clubs and bags, Tennis, uniforms, bats, ski stuff - unbelievable that this was an office where work was supposed to get done! Others have posted pictures, but justice cannot be done to how this place looks!
Then to the "staff lounge" aka the playroom! TV's, pool table, ping pong, and a putting green that ran probably 80 feet with a bunch of putters, new and old, just waiting to be hit! Steak, chicken kabob, salad, rice, and THP cake were on the menu - along with soda, beer, some hard stuff, and dinner was served!!
Spoke with the two ladies and Doug about skiing, golf, AZ, Chicago, etc., and then beat Jarod in ping pong - I was not going to play Josh at my first event!! His reputation preceded him, he trounced everyone.
Grabbed a few beers and headed back to the hotel (got lost on the way home). Drank w Erky, discussed the experience, and went to bed.
Next morning early (too early for my west coast body, IMHO) Erky and I cruised into Chicago to the innovation center, last to arrive, grabbed food, and Christmas morning started!! Really, it was impressive what gifts the folks from WS gave us - very personal, as I am a big skier and I played soccer in college and on a coed adult team here in Phoenix. So cool!
Info about the Driver - Info about the woods and hybrids - Info about the next line of Irons (they look beautiful) and some deep discussion about their target market and strategy to get back into the iron business. The marketing of the F-C-D players and how they differentiate themselves to their market and from each other. I was curious about this most of all, and they answered all my questions without me having to ask - as if they knew what I wanted to know!!
Then, I went to the fitting. After warming up w a 7 iron, Steve gave me a driver, then gave me a different shaft, saw the numbers, and put a Project X 6.0 on the 9* head, and my numbers on Trackman were exactly where they were supposed to be - my misses were less, my distance (265 carry) was right on, and I striped one about 275. Fitting done! Hawk was there, taking pictures, and it seemed as if he was one of the fitters!!
Back to the main conference room, where balls were being discussed. Great info from Matteus about compression and its benefit to all swing speeds - low compression, that is. Great explanation about how every golfer can benefit from low compression, with greater benefit experienced at slower swing speeds than at higher swing speeds. Also showed info about how every major ball manufacturer has low compression balls, but WS is the leader in that market - as if even they were surprised at that fact.
Discussion about material for metal woods and hybrids - Carpenter 455 steel is a major factor in cost of golf clubs, but the quality of the product is worth the cost, as is the performance. I had no idea. Really. Opened my eyes.
Lunch and a panel discussion with the president of Wilson staff, the Head of Marketing, and the Head of Development - all three great minds, very open with us, we asked some tough questions and they answered.
Off to golf, but first we got our personalized drivers, built to each of our specs! They looked great - I was pumped! I was also trying to get all my schwag out the door, It was a small juggling act, but I made it to the car.
Erky and I drove to the Highlands at Elgin, again running a few tolls (really, who has change in a rental car?) and warmed up for a few minutes. Erky was in the group ahead of me, so I got to hit the Wilson Staff clubs at the demo tent - I wanted to get my hands on the new V4's. I hit the 7 and 8 iron, and they are pure! Not as forgiving as my current gamers, but really nice! Well hit shots feel like butter and they fly!!
I then hit the new button back irons, their blades, and I loved them! I could move the ball each way, hit them well, and was pumped for the round!
First tee - me, GreekGodX, Girardcorp and Duffy Callahan (Wilson Staff club fitter), were grouped together. I hit my first drive off the heel but in the fairway about 230. The round proceeded to go downhill from there - although our group was slow, when JB's camera was on us, we all performed! Sunk my putt with the camera at the hole, I was pleased!
Great track, great time with the group!!
Dinner - Lou Malnari's is quite tasty! JB took control, ordered everything one could ask for, and we ate and rehashed the day! Got to meet and talk to some of the other participants, relaxed, and just chilled for a couple hours.
Sunday morning, Adam picked me up to go play another round at the Highlands of Elgin. Frost delay of an hour, we were sent off in the middle of a group tournament, rushed thru 4 or 5 holes, then relaxed and played pretty well from 7 thru 18, where Adam proceeded to kill the ball, sunk putts, and decided that chipping in was easier than putting! I shot about 10 strokes better the second day than the first, and discovered that I still cannot putt the Chicago area greens!! At least I only lost three balls on Sunday, one in the water and two in the long stuff.
Adam then gave me a ride to Midway (at least an hour away) - what a great guy for doing that! Top notch there!
Sat back while waiting for the plane, really could not get my head around what had happened over the prior 60+ hours!
This was a terrific experience - I cannot thank THP, JB, GG and everyone I played with enough! Erky and Adam are outstanding people, they went out of their way for a guy that neither of them had met before - I feel like I have new brothers!
Whew, that took longer than I expected.
Squints
Member
Alright, I know I’ve said a few things about my feelings on the #PersonalDistance event. But I’ll give a run-down for the entire weekend as it was my first THP event and I feel like the whole thing was an event.
Friday: I made the 3 hour trip down Mistwood. I walked up and didn’t know anyone other than Girardcorp so I did a little standing around. Finally Michigan Slice and Icey broke the ice and then it was just one intro after another…so thanks for that, gentlemen. I was paired up with the other JRod (at that time) we hit it off and hand a good time riding around together while I hung onto the cart for dear life as he drove. Erky and GreekGod were in the other cart. GreekGod and I struggled a little bit off the tee box while Erky and JRod pounded through the front 9. Then, the back 9 happened, and Kelpie got the best of us. It was fun, though there were some good shots, some not so good shots, plenty of laughs and cheering one another on.
After golf, I made it to the hotel and then rode along with Girardcorp to Wilson HQ where Doug, Alessandra, and Alyssa met and introductions were made as they gave us the tour through all the departments of the building. Aside from seeing all the staff bags there, my biggest memory was seeing a pile of Wilson A2000 baseball/softball gloves laying on a counter, amazing. Another one of the highlights included the walls made from different materials, ball leather, tennis ball felt, etc. It was really eye opening as Alessandra described all the markets that Wilson operates in and how they are a leader in most of them in one way or another. Wilson is SUCH a diverse company that can leverage knowledge specific to each sport and apply them across the board.
We finally made it down to the break room where we had food and drinks and got to chat with the three of them for a while as well as get to know the other THPers there. I beat JRod in a game of ping pong, but I’m pretty sure he was sandbagging me after watching him play against JB. I got to roll a few putters and without knowing picked up a new Infinite putter and loved it. When I took a look at which putter it was, I was immediately excited to hear more about them on Saturday. Everyone who used it was intrigued and wanted to know more about the new putter line. After a few more brewskis we decided it was time to head back as we’d be starting early the next morning. I don’t recall anyone saying anything about going out on Friday night because I absolutely would have gone…too bad.
Saturday: Made it to the Innovation Center with Girardcorp just before 7:00 where we got breakfast and were immediately showered with SWAG. Looking around the room, it was incredible the amount of thought that went into the gifts. I found an A2000 glove that I had been eyeing up the night before in my bags. Except this one was in Cleveland Brown colors (my favorite team) and had my name stitched into it. The other more personal gift I received was a waterproof hat that I can use golfing and/or fishing, which is a major hobby of mine. When going through my gifts, I was speechless and it’s still difficult for me to really express my appreciation to everyone involved for the entire weekend.
Then I got called in for my fitting. I met Duffy and warmed up with a few swings with the 7 iron. Being my first time, Duffy explained the Trackman and what it was measuring and showed me the optimal area. My spin was way too high and my misses were flying off to the right with the stock shaft and we proceeded to move the driver down in loft and to the draw setting. So at the 9* draw setting we tried a few more shafts and settled on the Tour Green, but he tipped it ½ inch. The driver felt good overall even though my swing felt all over the place. I was still able to carry 250 on my “misses” (generally high or off the toe) and mashed one or two of them about 280 and MUCH more straight than my initial swings. I also saw my swing speed just over 100mph, which was interesting for me to see, having never done anything like it before.
I came back into the meeting room to talk about the D200 driver that I was just fitted for and saw some of the testing stats showing the forgiveness of it. After gaming it for a round, I can vouch for the forgiveness and overall length of this thing. A big step up from my RBZ Stage 2, I believe. I had tried and really liked the Duos beforehand and it was interesting to see the data behind what I could feel regarding the softness of the Duo. It looks as though nearly everyone is lowering the compression of their golf balls, but Wilson seems to be on the leading edge of this movement. Lower compression balls aren’t solely for low swing speeds! There. I said it. Everyone benefits from lower compression, but those with slower swing speeds would see the “largest benefit”. We had the opportunity to ask them a plethora of questions where they gave us straight answers. It was nice to be able to receive some candid responses from the leaders of a company. You could tell everyone there was genuine and cared for the game of golf, which I think has lead them to being profitable during some tough times for other larger golf companies. Got a chance to hear more about the putters I had tried Friday night. I really think the Infinite putters are for real. They felt great, and for the price point they'll be at, I don't think they will be beat.
We then got our drivers on the way out of the building and made it to the range where they had a full set-up to try out their products. I took one swing with my 8 iron and topped it, decided that was enough and hopped along with Erky and PhillyV and then Jon from W/S. My first swing with my new driver was long enough and somewhat controlled, so I was pleased, then saw Erky smash one down the middle of the fairway. PhillyV was also getting into some of his drives…dude can really put a move on the ball. Jon was also able to really get after it. It’s not often I’m in a foursome where I feel like I might be one of the shortest drivers, but this was one. The course was gorgeous and we managed to sneak the round in just before dark. Started keeping score…that ended shortly into the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] 9. Highlight of the round for me: driving the 280-yard par 4, after I had just complained how I should have gotten a volleyball instead because I sure as hell couldn’t swing a golf club that day. Jon was great answering any and all questions we had. Erky managed to win a buck off us in a chipping contest, he almost holed-out. I had a real rough hole with Josh watching at the par-3, blooper tape worthy apparently. Went from a bunker at least 5 feet below the green, then plugged it into a bunker above the green… which resulted in the de-cell heard round the world. It was all in good fun though, but I definitely fell apart when the camera was on. I apparently have this ability to find lost golf balls, which is strange because I usually have so much trouble finding my own.
Dinner at Lou’s was great, spinach bread, salad, pizza, and beer. SO delicious. Good times catching up with everyone from the group and getting to chat with Josh a bit. Left Sunday morning and made it home in time to see the Browns beat the Steelers. What a great weekend, thank you once again to everyone who played a part in it whether it be setting it up, putting it on, or participating in it. It wouldn’t have been the amazing experience that it was without you.
Lastly: two JRods entered (well one JRod, and one JRodM13) and one survived. The dueling JRods was too much for me and I have now become Squints, which will probably make more sense if you ever get the chance to meet me. Thanks again for a weekend that I’ll remember FOR-EV-ER.
Friday: I made the 3 hour trip down Mistwood. I walked up and didn’t know anyone other than Girardcorp so I did a little standing around. Finally Michigan Slice and Icey broke the ice and then it was just one intro after another…so thanks for that, gentlemen. I was paired up with the other JRod (at that time) we hit it off and hand a good time riding around together while I hung onto the cart for dear life as he drove. Erky and GreekGod were in the other cart. GreekGod and I struggled a little bit off the tee box while Erky and JRod pounded through the front 9. Then, the back 9 happened, and Kelpie got the best of us. It was fun, though there were some good shots, some not so good shots, plenty of laughs and cheering one another on.
After golf, I made it to the hotel and then rode along with Girardcorp to Wilson HQ where Doug, Alessandra, and Alyssa met and introductions were made as they gave us the tour through all the departments of the building. Aside from seeing all the staff bags there, my biggest memory was seeing a pile of Wilson A2000 baseball/softball gloves laying on a counter, amazing. Another one of the highlights included the walls made from different materials, ball leather, tennis ball felt, etc. It was really eye opening as Alessandra described all the markets that Wilson operates in and how they are a leader in most of them in one way or another. Wilson is SUCH a diverse company that can leverage knowledge specific to each sport and apply them across the board.
We finally made it down to the break room where we had food and drinks and got to chat with the three of them for a while as well as get to know the other THPers there. I beat JRod in a game of ping pong, but I’m pretty sure he was sandbagging me after watching him play against JB. I got to roll a few putters and without knowing picked up a new Infinite putter and loved it. When I took a look at which putter it was, I was immediately excited to hear more about them on Saturday. Everyone who used it was intrigued and wanted to know more about the new putter line. After a few more brewskis we decided it was time to head back as we’d be starting early the next morning. I don’t recall anyone saying anything about going out on Friday night because I absolutely would have gone…too bad.
Saturday: Made it to the Innovation Center with Girardcorp just before 7:00 where we got breakfast and were immediately showered with SWAG. Looking around the room, it was incredible the amount of thought that went into the gifts. I found an A2000 glove that I had been eyeing up the night before in my bags. Except this one was in Cleveland Brown colors (my favorite team) and had my name stitched into it. The other more personal gift I received was a waterproof hat that I can use golfing and/or fishing, which is a major hobby of mine. When going through my gifts, I was speechless and it’s still difficult for me to really express my appreciation to everyone involved for the entire weekend.
Then I got called in for my fitting. I met Duffy and warmed up with a few swings with the 7 iron. Being my first time, Duffy explained the Trackman and what it was measuring and showed me the optimal area. My spin was way too high and my misses were flying off to the right with the stock shaft and we proceeded to move the driver down in loft and to the draw setting. So at the 9* draw setting we tried a few more shafts and settled on the Tour Green, but he tipped it ½ inch. The driver felt good overall even though my swing felt all over the place. I was still able to carry 250 on my “misses” (generally high or off the toe) and mashed one or two of them about 280 and MUCH more straight than my initial swings. I also saw my swing speed just over 100mph, which was interesting for me to see, having never done anything like it before.
I came back into the meeting room to talk about the D200 driver that I was just fitted for and saw some of the testing stats showing the forgiveness of it. After gaming it for a round, I can vouch for the forgiveness and overall length of this thing. A big step up from my RBZ Stage 2, I believe. I had tried and really liked the Duos beforehand and it was interesting to see the data behind what I could feel regarding the softness of the Duo. It looks as though nearly everyone is lowering the compression of their golf balls, but Wilson seems to be on the leading edge of this movement. Lower compression balls aren’t solely for low swing speeds! There. I said it. Everyone benefits from lower compression, but those with slower swing speeds would see the “largest benefit”. We had the opportunity to ask them a plethora of questions where they gave us straight answers. It was nice to be able to receive some candid responses from the leaders of a company. You could tell everyone there was genuine and cared for the game of golf, which I think has lead them to being profitable during some tough times for other larger golf companies. Got a chance to hear more about the putters I had tried Friday night. I really think the Infinite putters are for real. They felt great, and for the price point they'll be at, I don't think they will be beat.
We then got our drivers on the way out of the building and made it to the range where they had a full set-up to try out their products. I took one swing with my 8 iron and topped it, decided that was enough and hopped along with Erky and PhillyV and then Jon from W/S. My first swing with my new driver was long enough and somewhat controlled, so I was pleased, then saw Erky smash one down the middle of the fairway. PhillyV was also getting into some of his drives…dude can really put a move on the ball. Jon was also able to really get after it. It’s not often I’m in a foursome where I feel like I might be one of the shortest drivers, but this was one. The course was gorgeous and we managed to sneak the round in just before dark. Started keeping score…that ended shortly into the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] 9. Highlight of the round for me: driving the 280-yard par 4, after I had just complained how I should have gotten a volleyball instead because I sure as hell couldn’t swing a golf club that day. Jon was great answering any and all questions we had. Erky managed to win a buck off us in a chipping contest, he almost holed-out. I had a real rough hole with Josh watching at the par-3, blooper tape worthy apparently. Went from a bunker at least 5 feet below the green, then plugged it into a bunker above the green… which resulted in the de-cell heard round the world. It was all in good fun though, but I definitely fell apart when the camera was on. I apparently have this ability to find lost golf balls, which is strange because I usually have so much trouble finding my own.
Dinner at Lou’s was great, spinach bread, salad, pizza, and beer. SO delicious. Good times catching up with everyone from the group and getting to chat with Josh a bit. Left Sunday morning and made it home in time to see the Browns beat the Steelers. What a great weekend, thank you once again to everyone who played a part in it whether it be setting it up, putting it on, or participating in it. It wouldn’t have been the amazing experience that it was without you.
Lastly: two JRods entered (well one JRod, and one JRodM13) and one survived. The dueling JRods was too much for me and I have now become Squints, which will probably make more sense if you ever get the chance to meet me. Thanks again for a weekend that I’ll remember FOR-EV-ER.
Seriously. Dude can find a ball anywhere
Erky
New member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2013
- Messages
- 6,143
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One other thing I wanted to mention to other THPers is a product that nobody has really talked about. The neXus bags. They are already some of the best stand bags out there. However, they have a brand new neXus cart bag that I think a lot of people would like. I read that they come out on the 15th, but they are available on the website today. The feature I really liked was the "S-Lock" technology that easily clips your club into place to reduce all the banging around that clubs do. The locking bit is soft and flexible, but sturdy enough to hold your club in place. I played with it, and the clubs lock in very easily and quickly. A lot of people might not want to take the extra time, but this was so easy that you can slide the club in and lock it while still walking to your seat in the cart and not break stride.
Great posts from everyone here so far. I think i purposefully waited a few days to collect my thoughts, and i'm finally ready to weigh in on this legendary experience. A little background first. I joined THP about a year ago, looking for some information on Seemore putters that i had started researching after losing interest in the Scotty Cameron 'machine'. I found THP had quite a bit of knowledge on the subject, but i found a lot more. Here in Wisconsin, we have such a short golf season, i needed something to get me through what was probably the harshest winter i can remember. By May of this year, talk was heating up about an unofficial gathering in my state the first part of June. At the event, i met JB, Hawk, Howzat and quite a few others from the upper midwest, didn't play my best, but was hooked on playing golf with THP'rs. So when this event was posted, virtually in my backyard, i knew i had to put forth an effort to try to get into this one. I've got pretty much an all Titleist bag, but i wasn't getting the consistency out of my driver that i wanted. When I found out I gained entry into this event, I took a huge leap of faith and sold my Titleist driver almost immediately. I'm a pretty practical guy, I like to have clubs I play well in my bag, and didn't see the point of having two drivers, so off to the 'bay the 913d2 went. I had neither a positive nor negative stance towards Wilson Staff, with the last product i had played being the SmartCore golf balls.
Friday:
I'll skip over most of the Friday round as its not relevant to the event, but I got myself into a shootout between Hawk and IceyShanks, and my partner Lord Byron. Up until Saturday, that is the most fun i've ever had golfing. Hawk brought out his Bose Soundlink Mini (for which i'll be buying one soon) and we had tunes. Even though Byron and I lost, it was a great round, and that course gets tough especially the back 9.
Friday night at Wilson's headquarters was crazy. You know you are in for something good when you get into the elevator and there isn't a floor number button but the iconic Wilson 'W'. We stepped off the elevator into what i'm going to call 'Wilson World'. Everything was bright and clean looking with their 100th anniversary pictures dominating the entry way. The whole lobby can be a presentation center with the walls covered with projected images (or sporting events!). The tour we took was unbelievable. Our tour guides, Doug, Alyssa and Alessandra showed us all the different product areas as they are separate. Each area has their product on display for visitors to see and we really got to see the scope that Wilson Sporting Goods has for each line. Touring the golf area we got to see the new Nexus stand bags and the new clubs. I found a prototype staff bag i must own at any cost. We eventually made our way down to the second floor which is the employee lounge for some great food, cake and what I've dubbed the 'work cave'. Ping pong, pool and a putting green surrounded by televisions tuned to sporting events is something everybody should have available to them for lunch. I got to talk to Doug Thiel from the marketing area for quite a while and found out that he grew up about 10 miles from where I live. So we had a good time talking about the area and local golf. We all retired fairly early that night as we had to get up early in the morning for our time at the Innovation Center.
Saturday:
Saturday morning started off with a bang as we had breakfast and were handed our gifts from our new friends at Wilson. We each got a Wilson Staff backpack with our names on it. When i showed my wife a picture of the bag she told me she was going to use it. I wasn't even home yet and i had already lost my backpack to her. No way!
My backpack had two of the classic looking 100th anniversary tee shirts, a cool sock headcover, a hat clip/ball marker and a Blue Wilson/Staff hat. That hat has now become my go to hat on the course, it looks awesome and fits even better. In addition, we got a box of the FG Tour golf balls and a box of both the new Duo and Duo Spin which haven't been released yet as they didn't have the box graphics finalized at this time. Each had the #Personal Distance logo on it, which is a great touch. For my personal gift, i received an Arc'Teryx jacket which I was told i can use when visiting the frozen tundra and watching the Packers, or when i want to go skiing. I didn't know much about the jacket when i got it, but after a little research i was absolutely floored at how thoughtful the team at Wilson was when picking out our personal gifts.
We then got down to business and got a broad overview on the status of Wilson Golf from President Tim Clarke. As a couple of others had mentioned, they acknowledged where they were, are currently and where they are going. They are doing it smartly, focusing on getting the iron usage back up while introducing people to these great woods and hybrids. I think its safe to say the Duo golf ball has been a hit, and its only going to get better in the near future as they refine the lines. One of the ideas i think they excelled at was defining the type of market each of the product lines is suppose to compete in. For example, when discussing the 'feel' products, they wanted to invoke an emotional response akin to a Bentley, Rolex Watch etc... For the 'D' products, they invoked a muscle car etc... I thought this really made sense.
The Fitting:
I was probably the fourth person to get fitted, luckily I had sat through most of the iron talk in the main conference room. Ironically, i ended up missing all the info about the woods and hybrids. I was introduced to Duffy and started hitting 7 irons to warm up. I'm not one that does well when i have people watching me, so having both Duffy and Hawk who had a video camera was a bit nerve racking. I told Duffy what i had played in the past (Titleist 913d2, 10.5 degree, Diamana blue stiff flex) and he put together a D200 for me to try. As Hawk had eluded to earlier, my swing speed was about 85, ball speed 126 or so, and i was missing to the left pretty badly. Max distance i saw was probably 214 yards which was a pretty big let down as i know i have hit it farther than that on the course. I tried a couple different shafts, including the stock Elements Chrome, Rip Phenom and finally landed on the Fujikura Fuel in Regular flex. I started hitting it down the center line, and around 231 yards out, which at 17 yards, is a pickup of 12%. I think the biggest eye opener for me, was that he had it set to 9.0 degrees. I guess i had assumed (thanks to alot of marketing) that i needed to be playing a higher lofted driver to get distance, i was so wrong (more on that later).
Golf:
For some reason, Squints and I ended up being a couple of the last people to show up at the course. I went out to the range and hit a couple balls and then felt rushed to get out to the first tee box where we sat. As the big Wilson truck was there, and a tent with lots of product i was a bit disappointed i didn't get to try anything, which i thought was kinda the point. As I ended up being in the last group with Duffy Callahan, GreekGodx and Spivey we had at least 15 minutes to our tee time, so Duffy and I rode back to the range. I tried several of the irons, including the V4, M3 and C100 lineups. I really liked the feel of the FG Tour V4 and can say that they are nothing short of amazing, including looking just incredible. Any of the talk about them being 'too hard' for people to hit I didn't see. I've always struggled with the lower irons both getting them up in the air and keeping them straight. Just as a short informal experiment, i grabbed a 4,5 and 6 iron in the V4 and headed back to my mat. Starting with the 6 i hit golf balls until it just wasn't working out. To my surprise, i hit the 5 iron really well, but not the 4 iron. Luckily they are coming out with the utility irons in 2,3 and 4. After making my day knowing that i could hit the FG Tour V4 as well as my current AP1 irons, we headed back out to the first tee. As i mentioned I rode along with Duffy Callahan, who is the fitter from the morning session, GreekGodX and Spivey. The course was tough, but fair. For me, the D200 performed almost identical to my trackman results. Right down the middle and about 231 yards or so. The look at address and feel of the club through impact is unbelievable. It is not harsh in any way, and after hitting the ball i just want to stand there and look at it sail away from me. I learned that as i grew more comfortable with the driver in my hand during that round, i could lean into it a bit more and it still performed exactly as expected but just further. Spending a couple hours with a guy who fits Kevin Streelman and Ricky Barnes into stuff on tour is a pretty cool experience. I peppered him with lots of questions on many different subjects, and he pointed me in the right direction on a couple topics (right PhillyV??) The highlight of the round had to be when Duffy let me start using his FG Tour Utility 2 iron, shafted in Oban Kiyoshi Purple. It is such a beautiful club at address, and just sends the ball flying. For some reason i had trouble hitting off the tee box with it, but when i used it in the fairway it performed as expected.
Dinner:
To close out the event we went to Lou Malnati's for pizza and beer. It was a great time filled with awesome pizza, local Chicago beer (312!) and lots of banter. The dessert there is just amazing, this cookie and ice cream dish. Contrary to what you think JB, there is more to Wisconsin than Blugold, crazy Packer fans and dairy products. I mean, that is about 60% of Wisconsin, but the American Club/Kohler courses would make a great 'love is in the air' - just saying....
Final thoughts:
I got up about 4:30am on Sunday morning and was ready to get on the road and get home. I had about a 3 hour drive and finally found out when no one is on the highways around Chicago. That drive gave me a lot of time to go over in my head the events of the past two days and i just kept having trouble putting it into words. In one years time, i had gone from someone who absolutelyHATED being paired up with someone at the golf course (i'm always a single), to someone who has traveled 3+ hours now to play golf with complete strangers, or people i had only interacted with on the impersonal internet. I have met three guys who live within 30 minutes of me who I can play golf with any time, and we have stuff to talk about like we've known each other for years. I've learned that not every company makes everything the best, so its pretty foolish to have every club in your bag from the same company. I learned this weekend that getting fitted for your clubs is a necessity, and getting fit by a PGA tour fitter is a once (maybe twice) in a lifetime experience.
And as for Wilson Golf. These men and women have a clear vision of where there company is today, and where they want to go in the future. It may take some time, but 2014 was better than 2013, and 2015 is going to be even better. Their process is solid and they make great products that don't get enough credit. That old adage about 'you'll never know until you try it" really rings true with this company. If you haven't given them a shot you are truly missing out on something great. On Sunday afternoon after i got home i went out to one of my local courses. On the 2nd hole, a par 5 i took out my brand new D200 driver with my name etched on it and hit it right into the middle of the fairway 261 yards from where i was standing. That club isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and will probably be joined by some Wilson Staff companions very soon...
Friday:
I'll skip over most of the Friday round as its not relevant to the event, but I got myself into a shootout between Hawk and IceyShanks, and my partner Lord Byron. Up until Saturday, that is the most fun i've ever had golfing. Hawk brought out his Bose Soundlink Mini (for which i'll be buying one soon) and we had tunes. Even though Byron and I lost, it was a great round, and that course gets tough especially the back 9.
Friday night at Wilson's headquarters was crazy. You know you are in for something good when you get into the elevator and there isn't a floor number button but the iconic Wilson 'W'. We stepped off the elevator into what i'm going to call 'Wilson World'. Everything was bright and clean looking with their 100th anniversary pictures dominating the entry way. The whole lobby can be a presentation center with the walls covered with projected images (or sporting events!). The tour we took was unbelievable. Our tour guides, Doug, Alyssa and Alessandra showed us all the different product areas as they are separate. Each area has their product on display for visitors to see and we really got to see the scope that Wilson Sporting Goods has for each line. Touring the golf area we got to see the new Nexus stand bags and the new clubs. I found a prototype staff bag i must own at any cost. We eventually made our way down to the second floor which is the employee lounge for some great food, cake and what I've dubbed the 'work cave'. Ping pong, pool and a putting green surrounded by televisions tuned to sporting events is something everybody should have available to them for lunch. I got to talk to Doug Thiel from the marketing area for quite a while and found out that he grew up about 10 miles from where I live. So we had a good time talking about the area and local golf. We all retired fairly early that night as we had to get up early in the morning for our time at the Innovation Center.
Saturday:
Saturday morning started off with a bang as we had breakfast and were handed our gifts from our new friends at Wilson. We each got a Wilson Staff backpack with our names on it. When i showed my wife a picture of the bag she told me she was going to use it. I wasn't even home yet and i had already lost my backpack to her. No way!
My backpack had two of the classic looking 100th anniversary tee shirts, a cool sock headcover, a hat clip/ball marker and a Blue Wilson/Staff hat. That hat has now become my go to hat on the course, it looks awesome and fits even better. In addition, we got a box of the FG Tour golf balls and a box of both the new Duo and Duo Spin which haven't been released yet as they didn't have the box graphics finalized at this time. Each had the #Personal Distance logo on it, which is a great touch. For my personal gift, i received an Arc'Teryx jacket which I was told i can use when visiting the frozen tundra and watching the Packers, or when i want to go skiing. I didn't know much about the jacket when i got it, but after a little research i was absolutely floored at how thoughtful the team at Wilson was when picking out our personal gifts.
We then got down to business and got a broad overview on the status of Wilson Golf from President Tim Clarke. As a couple of others had mentioned, they acknowledged where they were, are currently and where they are going. They are doing it smartly, focusing on getting the iron usage back up while introducing people to these great woods and hybrids. I think its safe to say the Duo golf ball has been a hit, and its only going to get better in the near future as they refine the lines. One of the ideas i think they excelled at was defining the type of market each of the product lines is suppose to compete in. For example, when discussing the 'feel' products, they wanted to invoke an emotional response akin to a Bentley, Rolex Watch etc... For the 'D' products, they invoked a muscle car etc... I thought this really made sense.
The Fitting:
I was probably the fourth person to get fitted, luckily I had sat through most of the iron talk in the main conference room. Ironically, i ended up missing all the info about the woods and hybrids. I was introduced to Duffy and started hitting 7 irons to warm up. I'm not one that does well when i have people watching me, so having both Duffy and Hawk who had a video camera was a bit nerve racking. I told Duffy what i had played in the past (Titleist 913d2, 10.5 degree, Diamana blue stiff flex) and he put together a D200 for me to try. As Hawk had eluded to earlier, my swing speed was about 85, ball speed 126 or so, and i was missing to the left pretty badly. Max distance i saw was probably 214 yards which was a pretty big let down as i know i have hit it farther than that on the course. I tried a couple different shafts, including the stock Elements Chrome, Rip Phenom and finally landed on the Fujikura Fuel in Regular flex. I started hitting it down the center line, and around 231 yards out, which at 17 yards, is a pickup of 12%. I think the biggest eye opener for me, was that he had it set to 9.0 degrees. I guess i had assumed (thanks to alot of marketing) that i needed to be playing a higher lofted driver to get distance, i was so wrong (more on that later).
Golf:
For some reason, Squints and I ended up being a couple of the last people to show up at the course. I went out to the range and hit a couple balls and then felt rushed to get out to the first tee box where we sat. As the big Wilson truck was there, and a tent with lots of product i was a bit disappointed i didn't get to try anything, which i thought was kinda the point. As I ended up being in the last group with Duffy Callahan, GreekGodx and Spivey we had at least 15 minutes to our tee time, so Duffy and I rode back to the range. I tried several of the irons, including the V4, M3 and C100 lineups. I really liked the feel of the FG Tour V4 and can say that they are nothing short of amazing, including looking just incredible. Any of the talk about them being 'too hard' for people to hit I didn't see. I've always struggled with the lower irons both getting them up in the air and keeping them straight. Just as a short informal experiment, i grabbed a 4,5 and 6 iron in the V4 and headed back to my mat. Starting with the 6 i hit golf balls until it just wasn't working out. To my surprise, i hit the 5 iron really well, but not the 4 iron. Luckily they are coming out with the utility irons in 2,3 and 4. After making my day knowing that i could hit the FG Tour V4 as well as my current AP1 irons, we headed back out to the first tee. As i mentioned I rode along with Duffy Callahan, who is the fitter from the morning session, GreekGodX and Spivey. The course was tough, but fair. For me, the D200 performed almost identical to my trackman results. Right down the middle and about 231 yards or so. The look at address and feel of the club through impact is unbelievable. It is not harsh in any way, and after hitting the ball i just want to stand there and look at it sail away from me. I learned that as i grew more comfortable with the driver in my hand during that round, i could lean into it a bit more and it still performed exactly as expected but just further. Spending a couple hours with a guy who fits Kevin Streelman and Ricky Barnes into stuff on tour is a pretty cool experience. I peppered him with lots of questions on many different subjects, and he pointed me in the right direction on a couple topics (right PhillyV??) The highlight of the round had to be when Duffy let me start using his FG Tour Utility 2 iron, shafted in Oban Kiyoshi Purple. It is such a beautiful club at address, and just sends the ball flying. For some reason i had trouble hitting off the tee box with it, but when i used it in the fairway it performed as expected.
Dinner:
To close out the event we went to Lou Malnati's for pizza and beer. It was a great time filled with awesome pizza, local Chicago beer (312!) and lots of banter. The dessert there is just amazing, this cookie and ice cream dish. Contrary to what you think JB, there is more to Wisconsin than Blugold, crazy Packer fans and dairy products. I mean, that is about 60% of Wisconsin, but the American Club/Kohler courses would make a great 'love is in the air' - just saying....
Final thoughts:
I got up about 4:30am on Sunday morning and was ready to get on the road and get home. I had about a 3 hour drive and finally found out when no one is on the highways around Chicago. That drive gave me a lot of time to go over in my head the events of the past two days and i just kept having trouble putting it into words. In one years time, i had gone from someone who absolutelyHATED being paired up with someone at the golf course (i'm always a single), to someone who has traveled 3+ hours now to play golf with complete strangers, or people i had only interacted with on the impersonal internet. I have met three guys who live within 30 minutes of me who I can play golf with any time, and we have stuff to talk about like we've known each other for years. I've learned that not every company makes everything the best, so its pretty foolish to have every club in your bag from the same company. I learned this weekend that getting fitted for your clubs is a necessity, and getting fit by a PGA tour fitter is a once (maybe twice) in a lifetime experience.
And as for Wilson Golf. These men and women have a clear vision of where there company is today, and where they want to go in the future. It may take some time, but 2014 was better than 2013, and 2015 is going to be even better. Their process is solid and they make great products that don't get enough credit. That old adage about 'you'll never know until you try it" really rings true with this company. If you haven't given them a shot you are truly missing out on something great. On Sunday afternoon after i got home i went out to one of my local courses. On the 2nd hole, a par 5 i took out my brand new D200 driver with my name etched on it and hit it right into the middle of the fairway 261 yards from where i was standing. That club isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and will probably be joined by some Wilson Staff companions very soon...
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #63
Great recap.
And the day I make Love Is In The Air in Wisconsin, is the day I need to be checked for a concussion.
The good news is travel is even available in Wisconsin, and goes both ways.
And the day I make Love Is In The Air in Wisconsin, is the day I need to be checked for a concussion.
The good news is travel is even available in Wisconsin, and goes both ways.
I prefer the Nexus stand bag and found one for a crazy low price. This is smart idea. They seem to have a lot of them.
One other thing I wanted to mention to other THPers is a product that nobody has really talked about. The neXus bags. They are already some of the best stand bags out there. However, they have a brand new neXus cart bag that I think a lot of people would like. I read that they come out on the 15th, but they are available on the website today. The feature I really liked was the "S-Lock" technology that easily clips your club into place to reduce all the banging around that clubs do. The locking bit is soft and flexible, but sturdy enough to hold your club in place. I played with it, and the clubs lock in very easily and quickly. A lot of people might not want to take the extra time, but this was so easy that you can slide the club in and lock it while still walking to your seat in the cart and not break stride.
- Staff
- #65
Your fitting was probably my favorite to watch unfold Jeremy. It was just so cool to see the progression up to the final result. It really did go counter to so many typical solutions that we read about on the internet too.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Great recap Girardcorp and it was great meeting ya.
And those Nexus bags look bada$$ evenmoreso in person
And those Nexus bags look bada$$ evenmoreso in person
Awesome memories for all of you.If Wilson grows as most expect it will you will have even more to look back on.
gizmo3putt
Active member
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #70
We have a great event in California this year.
Not sure what 2015 will hold for our Albatross Club Members, but Love Is In The Air will most likely be in FL again.
Squints
Member
A few more thoughts on the weekend... product wise.
I've gained some confidence looking down at the D200 at address. The head is a sort of matte black and the alightment aid has this ghost finish to it that looks great and for some reason gives me confidence.
The irons: They all looked sexy, on looks alone I would be proud to game any of them. For those fans of blades, the newest addition might be one of the best looking irons i've ever seen. As Girard mentioned the V4s also looked great, as did the C & D lines. The new D irons also looked great and for some reason when looking at them I had this feeling that I'd be able to hit them much higher and straighter than my current AP1s, I haven't tried them, just again from a confidence prospective.
The wedges looked nice as well and the variety of finishes was also interesting.
I know I said this before, but the putters all looked and felt great. I 100% will be purchasing one when they're released.
I've gained some confidence looking down at the D200 at address. The head is a sort of matte black and the alightment aid has this ghost finish to it that looks great and for some reason gives me confidence.
The irons: They all looked sexy, on looks alone I would be proud to game any of them. For those fans of blades, the newest addition might be one of the best looking irons i've ever seen. As Girard mentioned the V4s also looked great, as did the C & D lines. The new D irons also looked great and for some reason when looking at them I had this feeling that I'd be able to hit them much higher and straighter than my current AP1s, I haven't tried them, just again from a confidence prospective.
The wedges looked nice as well and the variety of finishes was also interesting.
I know I said this before, but the putters all looked and felt great. I 100% will be purchasing one when they're released.
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Great recaps so far that I have read
That locking mechanism is very very similar to what I have on my bag that I bought just over a year ago and is very good at keeping clubs in place, although it does state that it doesn't work with certain shafts due to how thick they are
One other thing I wanted to mention to other THPers is a product that nobody has really talked about. The neXus bags. They are already some of the best stand bags out there. However, they have a brand new neXus cart bag that I think a lot of people would like. I read that they come out on the 15th, but they are available on the website today. The feature I really liked was the "S-Lock" technology that easily clips your club into place to reduce all the banging around that clubs do. The locking bit is soft and flexible, but sturdy enough to hold your club in place. I played with it, and the clubs lock in very easily and quickly. A lot of people might not want to take the extra time, but this was so easy that you can slide the club in and lock it while still walking to your seat in the cart and not break stride.
That locking mechanism is very very similar to what I have on my bag that I bought just over a year ago and is very good at keeping clubs in place, although it does state that it doesn't work with certain shafts due to how thick they are
cwmonroe87
Cherub Face Assassin
Looks like a awesome time and I'm really digging that bag.