One of the "major questions" currently facing the golf
industry is how much equipment will be purchased over the
Internet in the future, according to Garry Smits of the FL
TIMES-UNION, who wrote that there are "almost as many
different answers as there are brands of clubs." Analysts
have "estimated that around" 2% of golf equipment sales
"currently are made on the Internet." Liquidgolf.com COO
Dwain Brannon said, "Buying golf equipment on the Internet
is only going to get bigger. ... People are going to buy
golf equipment on the Internet for the same reason they buy
anything else: for the convenience." But Adams Golf Founder
& President Barney Adams said equipment sales on the
Internet are "going no place. People are going to want to
hold a club, feel it, swing it" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/22).
CHIP SHOTS: GOLF DIGEST'S Dave Kindred profiles Tiger
Woods and writes that Woods' coach Butch Harmon suggested
two options when Woods "grumbled/muttered/whined" late in
'98 about his "celebrity-under-a-microscope life." Harmon:
"I told him, (1) Retire and count your money, or (2) deal
with your life; have fun with it. ... Michael Jordan loved
being The Man. Tiger does, too. Now he's comfortable being
Tiger Woods" (GOLF DIGEST, 4/00)....In Boston, Jim McCabe
writes on the new appeal of pro golf and reports that
"giants of the corporate world have realized the star power
golfers have with the younger generation," citing
Microsoft's new deal with Sergio Garcia. McCabe: "Perhaps
these companies know the results of a survey you may have
missed. When a group of New York youngsters, aged 7-13, was
asked what their favorite sport was, golf finished No. 1"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 3/23). In a sidebar, McCabe reports that a
series of eight "lighthearted" Footjoy ads via Arnold
Communications, Boston, will debut this year. Actor Matt
Griesser, who was also featured in Footjoy's campaign last
year, plays a PGA Tour volunteer "who is assigned the duty
of 'standard bearer,' the person who ... carries a sign that
shows the scores." Griesser "comes off as an annoying,
overbearing volunteer, one whom the players politely put up
with" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/23)....In FL, Garry Smits reports
that 35,000 spectators per day will attend The Players
Championship this week at Sawgrass, marking the "12th year
in a row" the event will "sellout" (FL TIMES-UNION, 3/23).
