John Peal

The Golf Today Equipment Q&A with John Peal of Titleist & Foot-Joy 1999 was an exceptional year for Titleist as their top tour star Tiger Woods bagged his second major and embarked on an incredible streak before renewing his playing contract with the company. Then there was the rise of Sergio Garcia, the phenomenal success of the 975D driver, the launch of the 990 irons and even an online ball-fitting system. DOMINIC PEDLER put 20 questions to Titleist's UK Marketing Chief, John Peal.

Golf Today: How important is 'the Tiger Woods factor'- not just as a flagship for Titleist but in terms of its implications for equipment designs?

John Peal: It has been - and still is - very important. Undoubtedly, Tiger is very special and he is one of the modern players who exerts a prodigious influence on golfers all around the world, especially those of his own age. His extraordinary performance at the 1997 Masters did more to sell the Scotty Cameron putters than any advert could ever have done. I still can't believe he did not 3-putt once in the four rounds - on those greens! Another illustration was in Japan where the market is very innovation-led and the golf ball market had moved towards a fashion in multi-layer solid construction. Singlehandedly, Tiger created huge demand for the Titleist Professional, whereas the wound sector as a whole was waning.

Golf Today: Are you finding, for example, a renewed potential for blade irons not mention a rush for his putters, driver and ball?

John Peal: Yes, he and players like Duval, Garcia and Davis Love (and plenty more we can't mention because of their club contracts!) have made the Titleist titanium driver #1 among better players. It was the most played driver at all four majors last year. But the beauty about the 975D driver is that although it gave Tiger a flat, boring trajectory he could not get elsewhere, it's a driver that a middle-handicapper could happily use. As far as the blade forgings he uses are concerned, yes, there is a small demand for them but we don't believe the design would be remotely playable for

golfers without Tiger's swing speed or hand/eye co-ordination. Which is most of us!

Golf Today: Talking of the ball, the Prestige has been a great success and many tour players have converted from the Professional. Tiger is not one of them - is that because his type of swing-speed favours a slightly lower-spinning ball (like, say, John Daly with his two-piece)?

John Peal: The performance characteristics of the Professional are ideal for Tiger's launch conditions and the shot shape he likes. Although he has a very high ball-speed, he generates a relatively low spin rate. This, coupled with the Professional ball, gives him a hard flat trajectory, giving him long carry and roll on the driver and yet enough control into the green to hold the ball, without it backing up excessively.

Golf Today: Last year's HP release saw three new lines. Please briefly identify what type of player might be suited to each model?

John Peal: The HP Tour is a mid-spin; a very soft feeling solid ball which is ideal for the more accomplished golfer. It's a full 10 compression points softer that the HP2 Tour it replaces and, with its high trajectory, gives good distance off the tee and great feel and control around the green. The HP Eclipse is a Jekyll & Hyde of a ball offering very low spin on the driver and long irons for maximum distance and reduced sidespin, yet offering relatively high spin on half shots around the green. It's very soft, too, so would suit skilled golfers seeking extra distance. The HP Distance is a low-spin design from tee-to-green, so would suit 'distance challenged' [short!-Ed.] golfers or those wishing to minimise unintentional hook- or slice- spin.

Golf Today: The fragmentation of the ball market is undoubtedly confusing. What suggestions would you make for golfers swamped by the choice?

John Peal: Don't panic! Ask your pro for advice; try different models; and use any of the different selection aids Titleist offers to narrow down the options and arrive at a model that suits your game. Try visiting www.titleist.com for an interactive ball-selection process, or e-mail us at ukoffice@tfjww.com for a free copy of our Golf Ball booklet or a Ball Fitting CD-Rom.

[Note: The Titleist Interactive CD-Rom is an educational disc where you can learn about the company's ball-making concepts, discover the performance differences between the nine models, interactively determine the best fit for you, while learning about which models some of the world's best players use. Titleist estimate that they demonstrated the system to more than 9,000 visitors at the Orlando Show].

Golf Today: 'Feel' has become a great buzzword in ball marketing in the '90s. For most players this is surely just 'sound'. If not, how do you define it?

John Peal: Feel is subjective, so everyone has different views on it. But it's true, sound does play a big part in judging the feel of a ball. Put another way, many players, even very good ones, cannot distinguish really quite significant compression differences if sound is eliminated by wearing earplugs. But we do hear the sound a ball makes when we strike it and it's part of what we consider when selecting equipment.

Golf Today: The Callaway ball has been long-awaited and much hyped. Can I ask you for a comment on it?!

John Peal: We are interested to see what any competitor designs and Callaway is no different. They will promote the balls vigorously, of course, but we feel we have built up a wealth of experience and expertise from working closely with the world's best players that enables us to produce balls of all constructions that offer demonstrable performance advantages to all skills of golfers.

Golf Today: Ball construction fashions seem to be very unpredictable: multi-layer was all the rage for a while, last year, three-piece models seemed to capture the headlines at both pro and club golfer level. Any thoughts? John Peal: There are some trends in construction from time to time but as Titleist has no construction limitations, we can use the appropriate construction	HP Eclipse
for each target market. Currently, we offer five distinctly different constructions from 'dual core', such as the new HP Eclipse, to the liquid-filled wound construction of the Tour Pro's favourite - the Titleist Professional.

Part 2