Q & A for Balance Certified Golf.

GolfHelp: We are here today with CB Maxwell, Media Coordinator for Balance-Certified Golf of Huntsville, AL, the company who has lead the industry down the road of interchangeable weights and counter weighting.  Thanks for being with us.

GolfHelp: BCG introduced their system on Tour in 2000 and at the PGA Show in 2001, and since that time, we see industry giants like TaylorMade and others who have jumped into the interchangeable weight trend, was that anticipated by the founders of Balance-Certified Golf?

CB: Not really.  The team of John ( Cranston) and Jeff (Lindner) have been inventors for many years, including their work at NASA.  The original research was simply to quantify and improve “feel” that illusive goal for all golf companies.  When they determined that counter-weighting was the key, then they developed the fitting systems to test the results before installation.  After that, there was more concern that copycats would rip them off.  Fortunately, only a couple of players have tried to so.  But, they all want a “one size fits all” solution and BCG knows that won’t work since all golfers swing differently.  As for the big guns coming to table with weight ports for the heads, it is nice to be associated with a trend.  Yet, BCG is convinced that the most impact can be had in the butt of the club, not the head.

GolfHelp:  Company press releases indicate well over 100 professionals use the Pro-Balance System, how are those numbers compiled?

CB:  Well, there are really many more than that.  John Cranston, the VP and co-founder has been going to Tour events since ’01 and has personally fitted well over 120 guys...and more than one or two clubs for many guys.  The difficulty is knowing when they use a club or not in actual play.  But, for example, when we see our guy Tom Jenkins, do well, and he would NEVER play without his tuned putter, well we are pretty confident that the others are too.  When the Nationwide Tour Van asked for our kit, and the same thing happened on the Canadian and Champions Tour, we lost the ability to know just who or how many guys are getting it done.  We just know they keep ordering, and we keep shipping, so we know guys are putting our systems into play.  This year, OEM putter manufacturer’s reps on Tour like MacGregor, See More, YES and others are tuning their putters for their players, so it just keeps growing in acceptance.

GolfHelp:  The Balance-Certified.com website shows you have dealers all over the USA and in many countries, who are your dealers and how are they doing?

CB:  It is interesting, because at first we had a real struggle to get guys to “get it.”  As I am fond of saying, “guys in the golf business already know everything” and as a result, it is hard to introduce something they already have a prejudice about, like swing weight, lead tape, etc.  But, when we found that golf TEACHERS, and your home builder also wanted to become Certified, it really started to grow.  What is interesting is we have Certified Dealers throughout the entire demographic of golf.  We are in PGA Superstores in Mrytle Beach and Atlanta, where they do 100’s of fittings, and we have part timers like mortgage bankers and doctors who are club nuts in their garages.  Recently, we became a stock item for all new Golf Etc. stores, and we already had many of them on board.  So, we have found acceptance throughout the industry.  And our customer satisfaction is ridiculously high...over 90%.

GolfHelp:  We understand that BCG and UST have released a new putter shaft, can you comment on that?

CB:  This is a very exciting new product.  BCG has developed what we might call a “diffuser” type technology that we have licensed to UST, and will be sold world wide through all UST channels and they are calling this putter shaft, the Frequency Filter™ putter shaft which already has posted its first win at the First Tee event at Pebble Beach, where the Pro AM winner put it into play.  It is a really amazing technology where BCG figured out a way to keep the frequencies you want to feel when putting, and filter out the ones you don’t so you get immediate feedback on how well centered you hit the putt.  Kinda like the breakthrough that Dolby brought to stereos back in the 60’s.  It is that big of a deal.

GolfHelp:  So, what is next for BCG?

CB:  Well, I think the next cool thing we will do is release a new package that will allow the do-it-yourselfer tune his putter, driver or other clubs without having to find a fitter, and save a little money in the process.  It will contain the tools you need, and 3 different weights, so you can do more than one club, and have some fun.  It only takes two minutes to install, and you can remove it just as easily, so we think golfers will really get comfortable doing it.  This will be available on the web very soon.  We sell direct there now, but we are working on the price point.

GolfHelp: Thank  you.

To Visit The Balance-Certified Web Site  http://balance-certified.com/