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CNN Saturday Morning News
Better Golf Through Technology
Aired June 16, 2001 - 08:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: For all you duffers, here comes our golf segment. The best golfers in the world are teeing up this weekend at the U.S. Open; but what about the rest of us, who often struggle? We're called hackers, I think. Well, there's always hope, in the form of a $500 driver.
CNN's Sean Callebs has more on this now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Talk around the green doesn't center on birdies, pars and course condition. Nope, these days it is all about bi-matrix shafts, titanium heads, and of course, coefficient restitution -- a fancy name for how fast the ball jumps off the club face. And golfers shell out big bucks for that extra ummph.
(on camera): It seems like people have no trouble plunking down that kind of money for a little better golf game, does it?
SCOT WOMACK, EDWIN WATTS GOLF STORE: For eight to 10 yards, people will pay whatever it takes, whatever it takes.
CALLEBS (voice-over): And do whatever it takes. The Callaway ERC driver is illegal for tournament play in the United States. The club face has a trampoline effect, rocketing the ball down the fairway, violating USGA standards. But that doesn't stop people from plunking down $500 plus to own the club. And, come on -- what does illegal really mean?
WOMACK: People hit two balls off the first tee, people give themselves four-foot putts all the time. You know, they will kick the ball on the rough, they will move the ball into the fairway. And you know, that's all cheating also.
CALLEBS: Looking for that extra distance? Here's the Hip-ti Orlimar.
WOMACK: The Hip-ti is the hardest-face golf club in the store. The way they process the material and the gasses that it gives off when they make it, it can only be made in Russia..
CALLEBS (on camera): You have got to be kidding me!
WOMACK: No.
CALLEBS (voice-over): It's not just the clubs leading the advances. How about spending $50 for a dozen balls: Titlist pro B-1.
WOMACK: Very hard to come by. Titlist has got a limited production on it, anywhere from 180 to 200 on the waiting list for this golf ball.
CALLEBS: Considering studies have shown the average golfer loses about four balls a round, this can be costly.
But the hottest ball out there: the Precept Lady -- yes, lady. It's made in Covington, Georgia by Bridgestone. And one out of every 10 balls sold in the United States is a lady.
STEPHEN GRAHAM, PRECEPT MARKETING DIRECTOR: The tour player endorsement is not there. It is not a NASCAR-kind of promoted item. It is not even a heavily advertised kind of item. This is done, and grown, truly by word of mouth.
CALLEBS: It is a low-compression two-piece ball offering distance, feel and accuracy. And they are relatively inexpensive, less than $20 a dozen. The ball was originally made for women, but --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the men call it the "lad-eee" ball.
CALLEBS: For distance and accuracy, a lot of men are keeping machismo in the bag, and proudly saying, lead me to the first tee.
Sean Callebs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, folks, we hate to tell you this, but if you're a hacker, and we're going to explain to you what that means in just a minute, new, improved technology just won't help your golf game. No matter how many big Bertha drivers you try or extra distance balls, if you don't have that natural skill, you just ain't gonna be Tiger Woods.
Just ask Bill Geist. He knows and he wrote a book about it. His new book is called "Fore! Play: The Last American Male Takes Up Golf." And Bill has taken a break today from his duties as CBS News correspondent to join us from New York and talk about hacking -- I mean golf. I'm sorry.
BILL GEIST, AUTHOR: No, you had it right the first time.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, exactly. All right, first of all, I've got to ask, the book is hysterical, Bill. It's right along your sense of humor. Why did you even decide to write a book on such a normal sport?
GEIST: Well, I took up golf because all of my friends were, at parties were talking about shanking and chilly dipping and I had no idea what they were even talking about. My dentist plays five times a week and doesn't even take off his golf clubs to examine me anymore. So I felt I had to kind of enter this new world of golf.
PHILLIPS: I identified with that story about your dentist. When I went to see my dentist, an hour later we were seeing his slides from the Master's. So I can totally relate.
GEIST: The same guy. Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, exactly. We have the same dentist. Now, what do you think, I've got to get your opinion, as a golfer, I've got to ask you these questions.
GEIST: Right. Of course.
PHILLIPS: How about the etiquette? What did you think of the whole etiquette stuff?
GEIST: Well, there's so much etiquette. There are so many rules and etiquette that we can barely stand it. I mean I always ask is it a real sport that has a book of etiquette? Show me the National Hockey League book of etiquette. I mean, really, you know? There are no cheerleaders, there are no bench clearing brawls, there are no fans yelling and screaming while the guys are trying to putt. I don't even know if it's a real sport.
PHILLIPS: And you know what's amazing? You'd don't have to be in shape to play this sport, do you? Boy, you've seen this...
GEIST: I noticed that.
PHILLIPS: ... the big beer bellies or the smokes hanging off the lips, right, as they're at the tee?
GEIST: Well, this is one reason it's gotten so popular is, I mean, basketball used to be my favorite sport and then my son started dunking over my head and I realized you couldn't use carts in basketball. So carts and cocktails are a big incentive to play golf for those of us who are a little bit out of shape.
PHILLIPS: All right, now, what do you think of, and this is what always drives me crazy when I go out to play, these guys that come up to the blue tees, the professional tees, and they take...
GEIST: I don't even, I didn't know there were blue tees.
PHILLIPS: Oh, you didn't know that?
GEIST: Yeah. Yeah.
PHILLIPS: There's the blue, the white...
GEIST: I mean, I never looked for those.
PHILLIPS: You didn't pay attention, huh?
GEIST: I go to the ladies' tees immediately.
PHILLIPS: Now, you know those are called the forward tees. Come on, Bill.
GEIST: I'm sorry, the forward tees. Correct.
PHILLIPS: All right...
GEIST: I don't know why you should get an advantage when you're probably better than I am at it. But that's another subject.
PHILLIPS: Well, tell me what do you think caught your attention? What were some stories that you just were on the golf course and you thought, OK, this just makes absolutely no sense?
GEIST: Well, you called it a humor book and it actually wasn't, it didn't start out as a humor book. It just started out as a book of me playing golf, which turned humorous. I mean I went out one day and hit my first tee shot. It went straight up. It had so much reverse spin on it, it landed behind me and didn't even ricochet off of anything. And frankly, I challenge Tiger Woods to do that shot.
PHILLIPS: And what happened?
GEIST: Well, then I kept playing and I went on to the next tee and I had my clubs slung over my right shoulder and I bent down to tee up the ball and all the clubs came cascading down over my shoulder. And at that point the book turned into a humor book.
PHILLIPS: So when you were out there playing with your buddies, how did they say you played?
GEIST: They weren't too impressed. I started, I was, this was, I'm playing with my buddies, these first two things happened. The next thing that happened was I was splaying someone else's ball by mistake and the guy came up very indignantly and said, you're playing my ball. And I said I am not, I've been playing this Jim Jeffries (ph) ball all day. And he looked at me and said, I am Jim Jeffries. I didn't know people put their own names on them. I would never put my name on a golf ball because mine will end up in people's car windows and on their front porches and in their condominiums.
PHILLIPS: Well, you keep people in business, right, folks that repair windows, cars?
GEIST: Well, you know, they say golf is good for business and in my case that would be it. It'd be the personal injury law business, the window replacement business, the used ball business, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: All right, before we let you go, you did gain an appreciation for the sport, right, Bill?
GEIST: Somewhat, yeah. Although there's a law up here in the New York City area, a guy took a mulligan which, as you know, is a do over. I also take McMulligans, the third do over, and he hit a guy standing at a 45 degree angle and they held him liable for damages for hitting that guy, which I couldn't believe that. And until that decision is overturned, I don't know if I'll be able to play anymore at all. PHILLIPS: We'll be following the lawsuit. Bill Geist, the book is "Fore Play: The Last American Male Takes Up Golf." I'm very impressed you play with your wife's clubs. We love you, Bill.
GEIST: Thanks a lot.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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