SwingTip Gets CES Launch

John Strege wrote about it in more detail last September, but it's still interesting to see the potentially cool SwingTip data collector get a launch at the Consumer Electronics Show and backed by $4.4 million in financing.

Tiffany Hsu of the LA Times reports on the $129.99 one-ounce device that latches on to your club and can last 18 holes before sharing the data with your smart phone. Roll your eyes, but Hogan would have been all over this!

But for its Santa Clara maker, the selling point is the gadget’s ability to track and analyze users’ golf swings using motion sensors. SwingTip then wirelessly transmits 3-D animations of the golfer’s movements via Bluetooth to iOS or Android mobile devices.

The tool can gauge swing path and speed, club face angle, impact zone and more. The metrics are broken out individually into a scorecard and also used to compile an animated video tutorial showing the swing from three different angles.

Cordillera And Its 54 Holes Auctioned For $14.2 Million

The Denver Post's John Mossman on the paltry price paid by Rose Holdings LLC for Cordillera's Fazio, Nicklaus and Irwin 18's along with a Pelz practice area, though developer David Wilhem only opened the Fazio course the last two seasons.

Donald Trump lost out in the bidding and according to Risa Wolf-Smith, an attorney with Holland & Hart of Denver that represented the unsecured creditors, he put on a good show.

"Auctions are always interesting, and this one was a little bit crazy," Wolf-Smith said. "It really was fun to listen to Donald Trump. He has a personality even on the phone.

"He wished the best to the other bidders as he passed on his last opportunity to bid. He muttered here and there that he didn't think it would go this high. There's always a possibility that he may try to work something out with Wilhelm on the back end."

The bankruptcy case was complicated by litigation between Wilhelm and 610 club members.

Last spring, Wilhelm promised to open all four golf courses but — for the second year in a row — opened only Fazio's Valley course. He also laid off dozens of workers.

It's A Good Time To Be Peter Millar, Whoever That Man Is!

John Strege on the sale of upscale golf clothier Peter Millar to Richemont, parent of brands like Alfred Dunhill, Cartier and Montblanc.

Couple that with a Brandt Snedeker Tour Championship win and it sounds like at least one golf company had a good week!

Even better, Strege answers one of the great mysteries in golf: who the heck is Peter Millar? And you say this blog doesn't lead you to life changing information?

Anchoring Ban Could Cause "Chaos" For Manufacturers, Says Manufacturer You've Probably Never Heard Of

Jim Achenbach and the likely mass hysteria and financial ruin that will come to makers of long putters who will not sell as many if the governing bodies eliminate anchoring. Stephen Boccieri of Boccieri Golf:

“Chaos,” Boccieri said. “I can see some golfers revolting against this. I can see them playing (in non-tournament rounds) by their own rules.”

Because that never happens now...

The folks at Odyssey see the ban as a chance to innovate.

Odyssey’s Koske was more optimistic.

“If they go and ban anchoring,” he said, “it opens up a whole new avenue of putting. There are so many different ways to do it. The opportunities are endless. There are a handful of things we are testing, and we expect to be ready for whatever happens down the road.”