Younger Awards - Part IV

Created: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:11:56

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It's time to celebrate some home cooking before Christmas. This instalment of my year-end equipment and business awards focuses on Canada’s golf industry winners for 2012. While this nation’s contribution to gear, apparel, accessories and services might be relatively small in an overall industry snapshot, Canada takes a back seat to no one for producing quality and craftsmanship.

Canadian Business Story of the Year
The nominees: Jim Little leaves RBC for Shaw Communications, PGA Tour purchases Canadian Tour, Wasserman Media Group acquires Catalyst Sponsorship Consulting, Callaway Golf Canada restructures, Cabot Links, Golftown merges with Golfsmith, Callaway Golf Canada assumes sponsorship of Golf in Schools The Winner: PGA Tour purchases Canadian Tour My take: Amid a worthy grouping of nominees, this category for 2012 was strictly no contest. After languishing under tough economic circumstances since its 10-year Golf Channel agreement ended, the Canadian Tour not only got a financial reprieve from the PGA Tour early in the year, it wound up under its corporate umbrella. What it means for the newly named PGA Tour Canada remains in prospect. But a deserving tour and a group of great people running it get something they have not had in quite some time: stability.
Canadian Golf Product of the Year
The nominees: Sunice ‘Silver’, Arnie by Quagmire Golf, Hollas Diversity Collection, Catwalk Zippy, Kikkor Men’s Pure Line, Dryrainge, ACCRA Tour Z shafts, Sligo Golf pants The Winner: Arnie by Quagmire Golf/ACCRA Tour Z Shafts My take: Nothing between the two winners who tied and very little between a worthy grouping of nominees in this category. Arnold Palmer’s trust in Geoff Tait and Bobby Pasternak of Quagmire was rewarded with the debut of an outstanding line of Palmer-inspired apparel from the 1950s, 60s and 70s appropriately named ‘Arnie.’ The three deliveries were all met with critical acclaim. ACCRA Golf of Kingston, Ont., continues to be a force in the high-end shaft market. Former world No. 1 player in the world Luke Donald continues to put his trust in ACCRA. Many, many players in 2012 put their trust in ACCRA’s Tour Z product.
Canadian Executive of the Year
The nominees: Don Nichols (Second Skin), Mark Fletcher (Fletcher Leisure Group), Geoff Tait/Bobby Pasternak (Arnie), James Lepp (Kikkor Golf), Adam Barr (Miura Golf), Dave Wilson (PING Canada), Gawain Robertson/Dave Makarocha (ACCRA Golf) The Winner: James Lepp (Kikkor Golf) My take: As I write this James Lepp is one of two finalists for Big Break Greenbrier. That’s not why he is Executive of the Year. The former NCAA Golf champion’s vision for his fledgling company Kikkor means he’s willing to go the extra mile to help brand his product and further infuse its identity into a younger golf demographic. Lepp works hard at it. He’s been strong in the area of social media, runs contest after contest to keep people intrigued and he’s never met a microphone he didn’t like. Lepp got added traction with a few Canadian Tour friends, as well as LPGA Tour player Ryann O’Toole. He continues to be chief designer, CEO and COO, communications and marketing director. THAT’S why he’s my 2012 Executive of the Year.
Emerging Canadian Golf Company of the Year
The nominees: BioSteel, Spanner Golf, MA-Nine, Team World Golf, Pin High Golf, Just Golf Inc. The Winner: BioSteel My take: An incumbent sports drink in the NHL with the likes of Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins, Carey Price of the Montreal Canadians and former Toronto Maple Leaf standout Gary Roberts, BioSteel entered the golf market in 2012 doing so in a big way. The Canadian company signed PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan to its staff and made great strides in introducing its healthy hydration product at golf courses across the country.
Canadian Golf Company of the Year
The nominees: Sunice, Quagmire/Arnie, Miura Golf, Sligo, Second Skin, ACCRA Golf, Sundog, Catwalk Performance Artwear The Winner: Sligo My take: A longtime Canadian brand that, rather than fall just under the radar, was all over the radar during 2012. Sligo’s spring/fall offering of products gained immediate acceptance with its retail accounts around North America and produced traction with emerging Sligo markets in Asia and Australia. Adding Weyburn, Sask.’s Graham DeLaet and Scotland’s Russell Knox to existing staff member Brian Gay on the endorsement team gave the brand more well-intentioned marketability with golfers interested in blending up-tempo fashion with performance.

ACCRA in Golfweek Magazine

Yesterday, ACCRA was featured in Golfweek magazine online by respected writer Jim Achenbach. This was an exciting day for all of us at ACCRA as we certainly consider ourselves as the biggest proponents of club fitting in the industry. Thank you to Mr. Achenbach for his belief in the club fitting community.

Golfweek link

SHAFT MONTH: ACCRA'S CO-OWNER, A PREACHER OF PROPER FITTING

Courtesy photo

Gawain Robertson, co-owner of shaftmaker Accra Premium Golf Shafts in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

By James Achenbach

As of Friday, February 8, 2013

Gawain Robertson, co-owner of shaftmaker Accra Premium Golf Shafts in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, may be the most straightforward person in the entire golf shaft industry.

Robertson was a touring pro for 16 years and a club pro for 9 years. In 2008, he and partner Dave Makarucha bought the Accra name from shaft manufacturer UST. Robertson is widely known as the man who makes driver and 3-wood shafts for former world No. 1 Luke Donald, although he appears to be just as concerned about amateur golfers as he is touring professionals.

And he is the first to tell amateur golfers that what they don’t know about shaft torque and flex can hurt them.

Robertson is a loud and insistent spokesman for professional golf club fitters, those individuals who understand how to put together a proper set of golf clubs for each golfer. Getting the right shaft torque and flex is a big part of that process.

The Accra business is based on intelligent, informed fitting, and Accra shafts are available only through a network of some 350 club fitters around the world. Accra shafts belong to two primary families: DyMatch ($199) and Tour Z ($299). Besides Donald, touring pros such as Peter Hanson, Ryan Palmer, Tim Clark, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Mark Calcavecchia have used Accra shafts.

A 30-year industry veteran, Robertson preaches the importance of grasping shaft principles.

“Be careful when you talk about torque," he said. "We know that torque is a measurement of how much a shaft twists. What we don’t always know is how that torque was measured. There is no standard method.”

One common way: Using a torque machine to take readings in two different directions. Then the two are averaged to produce a single torque number. In general terms, a lower number (2.0 into the low 3s) indicates more rigidity, while a higher number (the high 3s into the 4s and 5s) indicates a softer feel.

Accra is among the shaft companies that produce a torque profile by taking zone readings – in essence measuring the entire shaft to gain an understanding of how and where the torque is taking place.

Robertson also urges golfers to understand the whole flex profile of their shafts. Producing a single flex description – R, S or X – can be viewed as a simplification of a complex process that deserves more attention.

Why should all golfers seek an understanding of torque and flex? Because they are part of the equation in the loading of the club during the swing.

The element most important in fitting, Robertson insists, is how a golfer loads the club and the shaft. How much torsion – not swing speed – a golfer is producing during the swing is the critical factor. Torsion refers generally to leverage and specifically to the uncoiling of the body during the swing.

“Good fitters look at how you load a club,” he said. “It’s far more important than your swing speed. The question is this: Which shaft profile works best for you?

“Our Accra shafts don’t have a letter flex,” explained Robertson, who designates a letter and a number, such as the intentionally ambiguous M4 used by many touring pros, to classify each shaft. “We don’t want consumers focusing on what flex they have. A flex letter on a shaft is almost irrelevant.

“What you need to know is what profile shaft works for you. It’s the whole profile. Every good shaft company will make very good shafts that fit every type of player. As a smart golfer, you just have to find out which shaft it is.”

The new language of shafts is such that golfers should be talking about separate shaft characteristics in the tip section, mid section and butt section. Most golfers know that tips can be stronger or weaker, but so can the mid section and butt sections.

Know your swing, know your shafts. According to Robertson, this knowledge will pay dividends.