Golf Industry Online Equipment Reviews

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Golf Products with a Touch of Class

By: Dr. Barry Lotz

Ever so often new products arrive on the market that capture one's fancy, perform as they were intended to, and make one's life, especially that of a golfer's, so much more pleasurable. Herewith follows 3 of the most outstanding products we have reviewed.

Though the third item, wine, cannot really count as a golf product, it is in the spirit of the 19th hole and artistic license, that we have included David Frost's winery products.

The Club Glove FCO Golf Bag – Designed from the cart up.

Wow! This is a traditional style golf cart bag that exudes quality of design, fabulous construction and marvelous utility. Premium is an understatement. The bag has 13 pockets. The two rear pockets are designed to ensure that the bag fits snugly into a golf cart. The other 11 offer a plethora of uses, which are easily accessible while on the cart. Sturdiness, through the use of 2 riveted cart belt loops, maintain the bag extremely well and prevent a lot of movement.

The bag is hand-tailored and doubled-stitched on both the top and bottom. What are intriguing and well designed are the 3 fur-lined pockets and 3 hide-away pockets, which have an expandable auxiliary pocket -great for wedding ring, watch and key ring storage. The bag is made of durable, easy to clean buffalo vinyl.

Polished stainless steel hardware is used throughout with expensive YKK ® zippers with lockable clasps and brass padlock.

Additional features include a canopy style rain hood with an umbrella holster and full-length dividers.

The basic manufacturer's warranty is for 2 years, but is upgradeable to a 5-year unconditional warranty. The color selections (black, black and navy, black and kahlua, and kahlua and cream) help achieve an elegant look. The bag carries a suggested retail price of $249 and is available from fine golf shops or www.clubglove.com

The makers of the bag, West Coast Trends, are famous for their Club Glove Golf bags which the majority of touring professional's use.

Zero Restriction's Ubiquitous Presence in the Golf World

Zero Restriction (ZR) has become the premier manufacturer of ladies and men's outerwear on all the professional golf tours. Zero Restriction's Waterproof Outerwear is the number one outerwear on the PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA tours. Made with durable, breathable, 100-percent waterproof GORE-TEX® shell fabrics and liners, ZR's waterproof outerwear offers tough, long lasting wind and waterproof protection. The famous ZR design, with its many patented features, guarantees full freedom of movement and an unrestricted golf swing.

What separates ZR from a host of other outerwear makers, are ZR's patented features. Among these are their Telescopic Cuffs. The motion of the cuffs allows for full motion of the wrists and no restriction to the golf swing.

The Expansion Pleats and Stretch Liner feature work together to remove any restriction at the back and shoulders. The Snug Liner Snap System tailors away any bulkiness in the jacket front. The snug liner snap system is comprised of three rows of snaps on each side of the stretch liner insert. This system is located on the liner of the ZR's Tour and Tour-Lite model jackets only. The user can adjust the snaps evenly on each side. Once the snaps have been adjusted, try the jacket on until the jacket front hangs naturally 1 to 3 inches from the chest and stomach area and feels comfortable. With layering of sweaters etc. adjust the snaps out to allow for more room.

Zero Restriction Golf Outerwear is available in 30 different styles of rain and wind wear for men and women. Contact them at www.zerorestriction.com.

David Frost Wines – a Golfing Viticulturist.

Apart from being one of the PGA Tour's most consistent players and leading putter on the Tour (2001 PGA Tour Putting Average Leader with 1.708 putts per green), David Frost, South African by birth, is heavily involved with wine making. In the summer of 1994 David Frost and his brother, Michel, bought a 300 acre Wine Farm (called a Wine Estate in South Africa) at the foot of a mountain range in Paarl, South Africa.

To help them fulfill their dream, David employed Jason Fisher, a wine maker in the Napa Valley, California - Jason studied biology and viticulture at U.C. Davis and at Napa Valley's Napa College.

As a successful sportsman, David Frost has made a commitment to put something back into the community. He has decided that all future releases of his wine would be dedicated to a golfing legend. David Frost Wines will donate $1 from each bottle sold to a charity designated by that golfer (or their family/foundation). To date, the two honorees are Sam Snead (the 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, 1998 Merlot Reserve and the 1999 Chardonnay) and Arnold Palmer (1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, 1999 Merlot Reserve 2000 Chardonnay and 2001 Sauvignon Blanc).

Each year's release will be dedicated to a different golfer selected by a panel of some very notable people in the golf industry and business community - e.g. Bob Dedman Jr. - Chairman of ClubCorp; Tim Finchem - Commissioner of the PGA. The wine estate produces Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. Prices range from $24 per bottle for the Sauvignon Blanc to $33 per bottle for the Cabernet.

The wine labels for both the Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer vintages depict pictures of the golfers painted by world-renowned artist Leroy Neiman. Apart from the aforementioned two unique USPs (Unique Selling Proposition) adopted by David, the wine has received numerous accolades from magazines such as The Wine Report, American Way, Bon Appétit, Zagat Restaurant Survey and Food & Wine. The wines are currently available in 28 states and many private golf clubs. For a complete description of each wine's features, visit the web site below.

Collector sets are available at $1000.00 per set. Only 100 numbered collector sets have been produced for the Sam Snead Vintage.

These sets are ideal for one-of-a-kind gifts for the golf and wine collector, corporate gifts and for tournament prizes. Contact them at www.frostwine.com.

Barry Lotz, J.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Professional Golf Teachers Association of America. He is also a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, the California Golf Writers Association and a Mediator for the golf industry. He is a contributing writer to numerous national magazines. He can be contacted at drlotz@cbsgolf.net