DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC VENUES ADOPT POWERPLAY GOLF® 
Two-flag game now at Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club

After the thrilling conclusion to this year’s inaugural Race To Dubai, another exciting development in golf is coming to the region, with two world-class golf facilities in Dubai confirming their intention to become Official Venues for PowerPlay Golf® – the two-flag, nine-hole golfing format which has attracted comparisons with Twenty20 Cricket.

Dubai Golf, owners and operators of Emirates Golf Club – the current home of the Dubai Desert Classic – and the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club – which has twice hosted the tournament – announces today that it will be adopting PowerPlay Golf® in 2010.

With a total of three championship-standard 18-hole layouts, plus two floodlit 9-hole par-3 courses, the clubs offer some of the world’s most spectacular golf. Dubai Golf has plans to run PowerPlay Golf® events for members, visitors and corporate guests at both venues.

PowerPlay Golf® is sending multiple sets of flags to Dubai, so club organisers there can run simultaneous events. Plans are afoot to turn the Faldo-designed Par 3 course at the Emirates Golf Club, potentially, into a permanent PowerPlay Golf ‘Super Venue’, where the two flags will fly on the greens all year round.

“We were attracted by reports of PowerPlay Golf® in play at other golf courses in the Middle East,” said Julian Danby, Commercial Manager at Dubai Golf. “And we were also interested in how PowerPlay Golf® offers a wide range of online and digital options for both golfers and clubs.

“We look forward to staging PowerPlay Golf® events at our prestige venues next year.”

PowerPlay Golf® co-founder David Piggins commented: “To deliver a global programme of televised PowerPlay Golf® events, as is our plan, you need prestigious golf clubs to showcase the format and to provide exciting venues where Tour pros can compete in events such as the future PowerPlay Golf® World Series.

“The championship golf courses at the Emirates and Dubai Creek regularly feature in World Top 100 lists, and we are delighted that these world-class venues will be playing PowerPlay Golf® in 2010 and beyond.

“We are looking forward to working with Dubai Golf to maximise the benefits which we believe PowerPlay Golf® can bring to their business.

PowerPlay Golf® is a trademark of PowerPlay Golf Holdings Limited.

SKYCADDIE®’S NEW SG2.5LITE GIVES ENTRY-LEVEL ACCESS TO WORLD-LEADING SKYGOLF TECHNOLOGY

You can’t trust the club, if you can’t trust the caddie. And since SkyCaddie®’s new entry-level SG2.5Lite features the same world-leading advanced GPS technology found in the company’s top-of-the-range SG5 model, this great value little wonder is the most trustworthy caddie you can buy

With unmatched reliability the SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite (available now) automatically calculates the distance to the front, centre and back of the green per hole, simultaneously, in less than a second – on over 95% of the 18-hole golf courses in the UK.

This rechargeable, ultra-light, compact handheld device also gives the golfer the true shape of the green in a mono visual display, and features SkyCaddie®’s popular Mark Your Ball function, enabling golfers to know the distance they have hit any shot.

The SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite is upgradeable to SkyCaddie® SG2.5 functionality, which adds powerful IntelliGreen® technology and additional target information on each hole.

SkyCaddie® has walked more golf courses than any other rangefinder in golf.

Like all SkyCaddies®, the SG2.5Lite accesses the growing SkyGolf® course mapping library, which now contains approaching 30,000 golf courses in 42 countries worldwide, including over 2,300 comprehensive, up-to-date downloadable maps for golf courses in the UK and Ireland.

SkyCaddie® also sets the accuracy benchmark in golf course mapping technology.

Only SkyCaddie® maps every single golf course on foot, with certified professionals walking the course with high-quality, survey-grade equipment triangulated with both orbital satellites and land-based positional beacons. And SkyCaddie® mappers mark up to 40 critical targets for each hole, including distances to hazard, fairway targets and layups which would not be visible with a laser rangefinder or from satellite maps.

SkyCaddie® Membership Plans keep your GPS rangefinder up to date with the latest upgrades.

SkyCaddie® provides golfers with a selection of Membership Plans, which provide access to the world-leading SkyCaddie® global golf course library. Crucially, the golfer who regularly updates his SkyCaddie® also receives free software updates; GPS updates; course updates and notifications, and has access to Favourite Course storage functionality.

This means that your SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite is a constantly-improving piece of technology.

Product Details

•    SkyCaddie® SG2.5Lite
•    Available in the UK August 2009
•    Rechargeable lithium-ion battery and AC battery charger
•    USB cable, heavy-duty belt clip, Quick Start Guide
•    38.1mm backlit mono display, 120×80 pixel resolution
•    Height 114.4mm, Width 55.9mm, Depth 20.3mm
•    Wide range of accessories available, including in-car charger, golf cart mount, screen guards, carry case, travel case, and SkyCaddie® golf caps.
About SkyGolf® and SkyCaddie®

SkyGolf® is a private company specializing in the development of innovative positioning systems and technology products specifically designed for personal use on a golf course. SkyGolf® is leading a revolution that is improving the way golfers play the game. The mission of SkyGolf® is to respect the long-standing traditions of the game, use technology responsibly and within the spirit and rules of golf, and to provide golfers of all skill levels with better and more rewarding golf experiences.

SkyGolf®, makers of SkyCaddie®, the #1 rangefinder in golf, is committed to providing the same reliable information a professional caddie provides to PGA Tour professionals. This unmatched reliability is created by walking the course just like a Tour Caddie does for a professional golfer, recording critical target information using the only method trusted in professional golf.  To date, only SkyGolf® has walked almost 30,000 golf courses using SkyCaddie®’s exclusive Tour Caddie Methodology, while thousands of golf courses are updated each year using the same reliable methodology. SkyGolf® believes every amateur deserves the same complete information with the same reliability professional golfers receive and would never play without.

The SkyCaddie® is the Official Rangefinder of The English Golf Union, The PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, The PGA of America, Canadian PGA, PGA of Germany, the Swedish PGA and a Technology Partner of the PGA Learning Center.

SkyHawke Technologies UK Ltd, based in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, UK, runs the European Headquarters for SkyCaddie®.

The black lines show the shoulder, arm and shaft angles at address.

This is the same view of address with red lines showing where the hands, shoulders, leading arm, and shaft will be at impact.

The red lines in the next photo indicate how the shoulders, arms, hands, and club have changed position at impact. The leading shoulder has raised approximately 18 degrees. The hands have moved forward, and the angle between the leading arm and shaft has been reduced to a straight line to the ball.

In the photo on the left, black lines show the starting point at address. The change of angles and position of the shoulders, leading arm, leading hand, and club at impact are indicated in red.

The yellow lines show an angle of about 25 degrees between the leading forearm and the back of the left hand at address.

At impact, the single yellow line shows the flat position of the back of the leading hand and how the leading arm and shaft form a straight line angle to the ball. This position of the leading hand has been called “the position of champions.”

In addition to the change in position and angles of the hands, wrists, and forearms, they are also rotating in counter-clockwise motion through impact. Clubface alignment to the target line can easily vary as the rotation occurs.
If the timing of rotation is late, the clubface will be more open than anticipated at impact causing the ball to start to the right of the target line. If the timing of rotation is early, the clubface will be more closed than anticipated at impact, causing the ball to start to the left of the target line.

The rotational motion of the leading hand, wrist, and forearm is supination, and can be more easily remembered with the phrase “holding a cup of soup”. The motion of the trailing hand, wrist, and forearm is an opposite motion and is called pronation.

Golfers using traditional pre-shot alignment technique, as shown above, are required to properly time the change in position of the hands, wrists, and forearms as they supinate and pronate so that the clubface is aligned properly at impact. This can be difficult even for the most highly skilled players.

An alternative is dynamic pre-shot alignment, which can reduce the variation in position of the hands, wrists, and forearms between the address and impact positions. Dynamic pre-shot alignment can help synchronize pronation and supination of the hands, wrists, and forearms so that clubface alignment at address is a more reliable representation of clubface alignment as it will be at impact.

Dynamic pre-shot alignment can result in a significant increase in control of clubface alignment at impact by reducing the need to rely on a golfer’s ability to properly time pronation and supination of the hands, wrists, and forearms at impact.

Dynamic pre-shot alignment is an integrated technique that also can stabilize alignment through impact for both putting and chipping.

To find out more, visit the Dyn-Align website at www.dynaligngolf.com

Putting experts have discovered that face misalignment at setup, and open or closed face angle when striking the ball, are the biggest causes of missed putts.

The Straight-Aim™ aiming system was designed by a Ph.D. expert in human factors to be the simplest and most effective in the industry. A single, wide, high-contrast aim line on a nonglare background makes accurate face alignment easy. Better than 2-ball.

Mallets come in a traditional brushed aluminum finish or a patented black coating that is used to absorb light inside of cameras. The blade heads are stainless steel or a cast bronze alloy, with a matte amber bronze color that naturally darkens a bit each year.

The virtual center-shafting used by Straight-Aim™ has become the most popular putter shafting method. It provides much more twist resistance than physical center-shafting. It puts the center of rotation and the center of gravity in the middle of the face, and the visual aiming line located at the middle of the sweet spot is unobscured by the hosel. Putters shafted in this way provide more consistent distance control than heel-shafted putters.

Removal of excess metal from behind the impact area provides heel-toe weighting of 88% for the mallet and 94% for the blade.

Heel-toe weighting is important: Published reports indicate that even the best tour pros miss the sweet spot 6 out of 10 times. And independent studies show that heel-toe weighting of only 70% provides significant improvement in accuracy and distance control. (See Golf Tips, August 1998, p.64)

Heel-toe weighting expands the sweet spot by creating a high moment of inertia (resistance to twisting from off-center hits). Thus, the energy from the off-center hit is transferred to the ball rather than dissipated in twisting the head. In this way, heel-toe weighting improves distance control as well as direction.

SWEET SPOT EXPANDED into a wide sweet impact area located exactly in the middle of the face: with Straight-Aim™ putters you can set the middle of the face behind the ball, point the aim line at the target, and you will hit on the sweet spot. Removable tungsten weights and bronze screws allow head weight adjustment between 301-330 gm.

Touring pros prefer head weights of 314-320 gm. Slower greens require heavier head weights. Use the same stroke for fast or slow greens. No need to stroke harder on slow greens or softer on fast greens.

Adjust weight on the practice green for green speed. Tool for adjusting weight available on request.

Most putters have thin heads with the top of the head so low that it often strikes below the ball mid-line, causing it to hop off the face.

Insert putters have the insert so low (for example, Odyssey insert at .81 in. high on left in the photograph) that sometimes the ball is struck with the metal above the insert. Straight-Aim™ putters use a face height of 1.25 in. to reduce hopping and to assure contact with the insert on every putt.

Straight-Aim™ Engineering has come up with a significant discovery in putter insert design that actually improves putting accuracy in a measurable way. It provides die-at-the-hole distance control utilizing the principle of Error Variance Reduction (EVR).

EVR is effected by insert construction which displaces impact force vectors from 180° (rebound) to lateral (90°) vectors in relation to impact force.

The EVR insert (pat. app. for) has been tested objectively, using a putting machine, and has reduced putting error (kept putts closer to the hole) by as much as 25% compared to putts with a standard metal or polymer striking surface.

You hit putts a bit firmer with this insert, which reduces deceleration, pushing, pulling and yipping the short ones, and increases control and confidence on fast green putts of all lengths. dispersion test results for 21 foot putt with stimpmeter green speed.

The EVR insert conforms with USGA rules, looks like an ordinary insert, and can be installed in putters from other manufacturers (please inquire). You can select the EVR % you want. 10% is suitable for average green speeds. 18% is suitable for fast greens. 25% is recommended only for very fast greens (Stimpmeter reading>11).

A special blade model that goes from 25% for short putts to 10% for long putts is popular with golfers who tend to decelerate or yip on short putts.

Simply Great !

Detailed information on the offical Straightaimgolf web site

Even with accurate alignment of the traditional guidelines, golfers at the game’s highest level can hit shots that are wildly off target. When this happens during television broadcasts, the explanation by leading experts is that the player either was early or late in their “release“. This means that the timing of hand and forearm rotation towards the target through impact was not synchronized to align the clubface in the desired configuration at impact.

The waggle is widely used and taught so that golfers can get a preview of the clubface as it reaches the point of impact (impulse) with the ball. While a waggle can be helpful in producing a desired clubface alignment at impact, it does not insure a successful shot. The fact that the hands, wrists, and forearms can easily rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise, or pronate and supinate, during a swing is a major reason that it can be difficult to produce a desired clubface angle at impact. Such rotation can cause problems as soon as the back swing is made, causing the club to travel inside, outside, above, or below the swing plane. Unless correcting moves are made during the swing, the shot will not have much chance of being successful. Clubface alignment is directly effected by pronation and supination of the hands, wrists, and forearms. This applies to putting as well as full shots. Comments that a golfer did not “release the putter head” following a pushed putt are frequently heard during television broadcasts. Clubface alignment is difficult to control because of the amount of potential motion of the hands, wrists, and forearms that can become motion during a swing or putting stroke. Golfer’s with elevated levels of hand-eye coordination are able to produce a high percentage of successful shots, but can also fail at inopportune moments. One solution to the problem of synchronizing club face alignment with a target line at impact is Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment. This method takes into consideration the potential pronation and supination motion of the hands, wrists, and forearms that can occur during a swing or putting stroke. Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment uses pronation and supination as components of a pre-shot routine so that the clubface alignment at address will have a greatly improved probability of being the club face alignment at impact. Putting accuracy can benefit greatly from dynamic pre-shot alignment because it stabilizes the hands without increased grip pressure. The golfer can relax the hands for optimum feel for distance while keeping the stroke on track throughout the stroke. A track type training aid is unnecessary because the hands and arms are naturally resistant to going off line. Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment minimizes the amount of undesirable motion that can occur during a stroke. Chipping accuracy is benefited as well from Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment. No gadgets or training aids are necessary to learn or use Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment. In fact, many of the most popular training aids for keeping your putting on track, or your swing on plane become unnecessary. For more information about Dynamic Pre-Shot Alignment visit www.dynaligngolf.com

“We’ve immediatelly been impressed by the light blue inserts of the clubs”, stated Jimmy. “I’ve started wondering if it could help me to play one of my favourite series of double or triple bogey… Or even a real albatross (hole made in three strokes under)”.

Talking together with one of the Golf Course expert we explored in details the functionalities of such wonderful Putters.

The Groove Technology is a new Putter design which improve the shot stability and control. Normal putters cause a ball to slide or backspin according to our experiences. Sliding and backspin overdistance was usually something that did not allow us to take the maximum control of the shot.

Infact, during the sliding distance the ball can skip or slide off course.

What happens if you use the GEL Groove technology ?

The GEL Putters we tested use special grooved inserts in order to create a faster top spin on the ball which is able to significantly reduce the slide and backspin distance, leading eventually to a more accurate shot !

Browsing on the Gelgolf website we were of course not the first ones to feel good in using such nice clubs. Here is just one of the Golfer feedback: “The Groove Technology really works. The bright colours also make Gel putters stand out from the crowd but it is on the green where you will notice the difference more than ever, and with a tag line like Believe in the roll, it’s easy to see where they are coming from”.