Ball Golf - Used Golf Balls maybe?

Mar 30, 2006 @ 09:58 pm by Nigel Da Costa

I love running this web site but the downside of any internet related business is spam.  I understand it is something which is going to happen but I can’t help but laugh at the amount of spam with horrible spelling or grammar.  I understand a lot of it is coming from places where English isn’t the first language but I still find it funny.  I recently began receiving emails asking me to purchase ‘Used Ball Golfs’.  I laugh every time.



Par 5 – 5 Questions with Bob Weeks of SCOREGolf

Mar 29, 2006 @ 09:57 pm by Nigel Da Costa

GL: Your name is synonymous with Canadian golf, as writer, TV host, Commentator and nBob-Weeksow blogger.  How did you get started in Golf?

BW: Well, to be sure, I was never a threat to join any professional tour; my start really came from a  journalism side. I started submitting freelance articles to SCOREGolf Magazine back in 1988 and shortly thereafter, they hired me full time as Associate Editor. I have remained with the company since that time and I guess it’s been a bit of being at the right place at the right time. Golf began to boom and so did the company. When I started, all we did was publish four issues of SCOREGolf Magazine as well as the programs for the Canadian Open and (then)du Maurier Classic. We now have six issues of SCORE, a women’s annual, four editions of SCOREGolf Quebec (french language edition), two radio shows, a weekly television show and five one-hour tv specials, as well as the internet site. In addition, through a partnership with TSN, I cover all the majors and a number of regular tour stops as well as working on live coverage of the men’s and women’s Open and the Skins Game. But to be sure, I’m a journalist first and a golfer second.

GL: From reading your articles over the years, you have played with athletes and musicians who is the best celebrity you have played with?

BW: I have played with a number of notable people from time to time but I guess the most fun I’ve had on the course playing with someone of that ilk would be the time I teed it up with Dave Barr at my home course of Weston in Toronto. Dave is a very misunderstood guy and I really enjoy his company.

He’s become a good friend over the years and it’s too bad that a lot of people have the wrong impression of him. I played there in 1990 as he was preparing for the Cadillac Classic which was the forerunner to the Telus Skins Game. It was Dave, Warren Sye — a two-time Canadian Amateur champ — and our head professional Herb Holzscheiter, who has played in the U.S.

Open. All I could think of was that Sesame Street song. . “one of these things is not like the other one, one of these things doesn’t belong.” I’ve also had fun playing with Lorie Kane, Gord Sinclair (bass player for the Tragically Hip) and Sergio Garcia. But to be honest, I don’t get that many opportunities to play with notables, especially Tour Pros. Heck, I don’t get much chance to play golf at all — I get about 20 to 25 rounds a year in due to my schedule. Rod Black and Jim Nelford and I try to play when we’re on the road, but that doesn’t always work out. Mostly I prefer to tee it up with my buddies at my home course.

GL: Aside from the Canadian Open getting such a bad deal this year, what do you foresee building to be the biggest Canadian story so far in this young season?

BW: I’d say two stories are on the front burner. The first is how Mike Weir will play and whether or not he gets back to form or slides again. I have a feeling it will be the former. The other is the number of golfers in this country. I think that while the sport is still healthy, it’s definitely on the decline. Yet courses still seem to be being built. I unfortunately think we’re going to see some courses go under and possibly get plowed under to make room for housing. Right now, that story is a bit of a sleeper for the general public, but it’s a dangerous situation we’re in.

GL: SCOREGolf’s annual course rankings are very popular amongst Canadians. Can you rate your top 5 Canadian Courses?

BW: Before I do that, I want you to realize that I don’t vote for the Top 100 courses. That’s important to know because a lot of people think I somehow fix the rankings. But I leave my own choices right out of it. However, for the record, my five favourites would be: Jasper Park Lodge, Crowbush Cove, Weston, Taboo and Big Sky. But I also have to admit that there are a lot of courses that I haven’t played. On that list would be Highlands Links, Rosedale, Marine Drive, Copper Creek, Fox Harb’r and Royal Montreal. It’s not for the lack of invitations but just a lack of time.

GL: You recently started blogging on SCOREGolf.  Why start now and what are your expectations for it down the road?

BW: I started blogging because the boss told me to. Just kidding. Actually, there was a push for it from our web management people who thought it would be popular. I have to admit that I’m still adjusting to it and trying to get a feel for it. I wasn’t dialed into the blog world much prior to this. I’ve only been doing it for a month or so and I’m just starting to get comfortable. We have a lot of other new things to be added to the web site in the next few weeks including podcasts and some video diaries that I’ll be doing as well. As for my expectations, I really hope that it will start conversation, stir some discussion and get people talking. I’m not as concerned with whether they agree or not, just that they find it interesting and entertaining. Golfers are passionate people and if you can touch them in an area on which they have strong opinions, then I think it’s good.

Thanks Bob.  We look forward to reading, seeing and hearing a lot more from you in 2006



Par 5 – 5 Questions with Natalyia Hearn - CEO Element 21 Golf

Mar 20, 2006 @ 01:04 pm by Nigel Da Costa

In a previous post, we wrote about Element 21, A Canadian company who is planning on having a Russian Cosmonaut hit a golf ball in space.  We thought it was a great marketing concept for a company who’s clubs are just hitting the market.  We were fortunate enough to get some time with the company CEO Dr. Nataliya Hearn for 5 Questions.  Hope you enjoy. 

NATALY.JPG

GL: Dr. Hearn, you are a Doctor and the CEO of a golf club manufacturing company.  Were you simply combining your profession and love of golf or did you see a business opportunity and jump on it?

NH: My Ph.D. in engineering has given me foundation to recognize winning technologies and to develop these technologies into marketable products. As a founder and CEO I was given an opportunity to create a unique business model to introduce new metal into the golf industry. To create a vertically integrated structure in E21 Golf has been a real challenge and a labor of love. Today, E21 Golf encompasses patented scandium alloys, proprietary manufacturing path (for shafts and heads) and unique engineering of scandium golf products. This is an unprecedented combination in the golf history. My current goal is to convert science into a highly profitable business, and recognition of E21 as a world brand. (That should keep our shareholders happy).

GL: Your company is named after Scandium, the 21st element on the Periodic Table. What makes Scandium so special and why did you start developing clubs made of this element?

NH: Scandium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any material used in golf today with a 70% improvement over steel, 40% over graphite/epoxy and lastly a 25% improvement of titanium. These properties have enabled our engineers and designers to produce significant advantages in both shafts and heads.Scandium shafts have several game enhancing benefits including added distance and improved accuracy as compared to steel and graphite. E21 Scandium shafts have been engineered to redirect contact energy away from the player’s hands and back into the club face. We have trademarked this as “ShockBlok” technology, which reduces shaft vibration up to 300% compared to steel shafts and contributes to the shaft’s unprecedented soft feel. Our proprietary manufacturing process, creates seamless, perfectly symmetrical, lowest torque (1.5) and the safest shafts on the market. The most outstanding feature of the first scandium driver is its unprecedented accuracy. In recent robotic testing our Scandium “Shock” Driver was approximately 3 times more accurate than titanium drivers tested.The average dispersion for the “Shock” Driver was less than 7 yards off center compared to 22 yards for the titanium drivers tested. E21’s driver, which has a much larger ball response hitting area, produced the lowest recorded angle of deviation off-center of just 1.6 degrees compared to 4.2 degrees for titanium driver heads.

GL: Recently we heard you are working with the Russian Space Agency to have a Russian Cosmonaut hit a golf ball in space. Experts predict this will smash the current long drive record by approximately 3 billion kilometers. How did this great marketing idea come about and how hard was it to convince the Russian Space Agency to come on board.

NH: First and foremost, scandium is a space metal. Parts of the ISS are made from scandium. E21 golf shot from the ISS is first and foremost a tribute to all the explorers who push the boundaries, pioneer new ideas and champion progress. 35 years ago, Alan Sheppard with his makeshift golf club hit the most watched golf shot, and brought the experience of space back to the millions who watched it on Earth. This is why the Russian Space Agency thought that this mission has extraordinary merit, and agreed to once again to bring the experience of space to the billion viewers and 300 million golfers.

GL: After years of development, your clubs are just hitting the market.  Aside from the “Space Drive”, how else can we expect to see Element 21 marketing itself? PGA Sponsorships perhaps?

NH: In the last several months scandium shafts have literarily taken the PGA tour by storm. Our count has close to 80 PGA tour players testing and switching to scandium shafts. Having top players playing our products on an unendorsed basis is by far the best possible endorsement for E21 products.

This undoubtedly makes competition uneasy. However, our view of the golf industry is NOT to compete, but for other golf companies to join E21 in helping all golfers improve their game with scandium.

GL: What is next for Element 21? Are you developing any new golf related products which we will see hitting the market in the next few years?

NH: We have an incredible “treasure chest” of technologies and designs that we will bring to the golf market. Before we unveil new products, we need to create trust in the golfers, that E21 represents a significant point of difference and point of reference. Once we have this trust, then the “sky is no longer the limit” both for E21 golfers and the Element 21 Golf Company (EGLF.OB).

 GL: Thanks and all the best.  We look forward to seeing a Canadian company do great things in golf!



Golf Ball in Space?

Mar 07, 2006 @ 11:43 am by Nigel Da Costa

How do you go about smashing the world long drive record?  Try hitting a golf ball in zero gravity and crushing the long drive record by approximately 3 billion KM.  This is what Russian Cosmonaut will attempt to do from the International Space Station with a special gold-plated golf ball and a 6 Iron.  Who is behind all this you may wonder…a good old Canadian company called Element 21.  Element 21 is a golf club manufacturer who’s clubs are made from a rare metal (Element 21 on the periodic table) known as scandium.   

Element 21 CEO and founder Dr. Nataliya Hearn confirmed they are paying the Russian Space Agency for this opportunity to raise awareness of their clubs but it is also a great way to celebrate the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. when he hit a golf ball on the moon in 1971 while travelling on Apollo 14.     Dr. Nataliya Hearn has agreed to take part in an interview with Golflogic which will be posted here in a few days.  Stay tuned.  

While it does sound like a fun stunt, some people think it may be a little dangerous.  You can read the entire article HERE but here is an interesting bit:  One expert told New Scientist magazine that the ball could potentially hit the station with the force of a 6.5-tonne truck travelling at about 100 kilometres an hour.