Phil's got a contest!

Hey! If you'd like the chance to show off your putting skills and score a sweet putter, then click on over to Odyssey's latest promo, and check if this promotion will be held at a golf course near you.

Phil's Drill Drain-'em-all Promotion will give you the chance to sink 10 putts in a row. If you do-you'll get the new Marxman Mallet. Sink 8-10 and be entered into a grand prize drawing for a Dave Pelz Scoring Game School.

The contest runs from April 13-May 31, and is part the Odyssey Day Demo.

Let me know if you win! The way I've been putting lately...I could use a new putter (yeah, that's the ticket...it's the putters' fault.)

JFB

Top Flite/Hogan's gonna get squeezed

My first clubs were Hogan's. Producer's, if I remember right.
I had a paper route, and the money I'd saved (or rather my mother saved for me) that first year, paid for a brand new set of Hogan's.
Those clubs are long gone, and are either being put to good use, or rusting in someones basement.

The same thing is going on at Callaway.

This morning, Callaway (ELY) reported its '06 year results. The company is doing really well with it's high net worth brands Callaway/Odyssey...but are failing miserably with the Joe Bag-o-Doughnuts Top-Flite/Hogan brands.

Remember '03? It's when ELY bought the remaining assets of bankrupt Top-Flite. The major assets included the ball maker Top Flite, the Ben Hogan company, and all its facilities.
At the time it seemed like a major coup. And the stock price felt old-man Ely's enthusiasm, going from $10-$15 in 6 months. Nothing like a brand new acquisition to get the fires burning!

But sadly, like driving for show...you to putt for dough.

And dough they haven't made....and as of this morning's year end results... for 3 years. ELY is taking another write-down of assets (um...that means investors get screwed) to account for restructuring initiatives (um...that means they fired a bunch of high-paid executives and paid them even more to leave) at the Top Flite/Hogan facilities.

As a stock market geek, I love reading some of these reports (I think you'd like them too...they can be hilarious (or frightful) at times...go to http://www.footnoted.org/ to see what I mean).

Basically, the ELY report talks about the new Top-Flite initiative, which (after seeing that sales declined again...last year 31% for the Top-Flite/Hogan brands) seems like the initiative would be to eliminate the Top-Flite/Hogan brand either by spinning it off as a private company or canning the brand completely and using the facilities for a Callaway/Odyssey brand expansion. Either way...I believe it's the beginning of the end for the TopFlite/Hogan brands.

ELY is tired of margin squeeze...they see their sales growth of products that cater to high net worth people bringing high margins (Callaway/Odyssey brands)...get pummeled by their products that cater to everyone else (Top Flite/Hogan), because they come with low margins, and uncertainties of spending habits with the economy. ELY's growth projections have more up-and-downs that Tiger Woods on his home course.

So I think ELY's latest initiative...that comes with Top Flite/Hogan brand roll outs and promotions...is more of "fitting the ugly princess with pretty shoes and a gown", and trying to gussy-up the old brand to make it attractive for a private equity firm.

I wonder what will happen to the brand...will the Hogan's be put up for sale one more time to be put to good use.

Or will they end up in a cobweb-filled corner of Callaway's basement, rusting.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Psst..need a stock tip?

Hey buddy, yeah you, get over here...you look worse-off than a fresh spinach salesman. Well buddy, this is your lucky day...why? Because I'm gonna make you money. You got a brokerage account, right? You get Golf magazine, right? Okay. Here's all ya gotta do:

The next time you're reading your Golf magazine, and you see where Phil Micklenuts has signed a new sponsor, call your broker.

And short the stock.

I'm not kidding buddy...this horse has stronger legs than Barbaro....more slam-dunks than the USA basketball team....a better track record than Dusty Baker....

Okay, that last one hurt.

I know, you say you want a sure thing, okay..how's this: Let's look at his top 3 sponsors (all of whom he's faithfully plastered over his frumpy cardigan-tattooed body over the last 5 years). Let's look at Ford, Bearing Point, and Callaway Golf.

Ford: phenominal company....if you sit on the board (not in one of their cars), or if you are Mickelnuts (in which I am assuming he is just collecting sponsorship checks...and not dividends as a stockholder). 5 years ago, F (for you home-gamers) has gone from the new-car showroom smell of $19 to the rusted-out junk-yard puke odor of $7.
Bearing Point: What was one KPMG Consulting (a top dog in its day for IT) has fallen on hard-times since the dot-bomb era. BE (todays' symbol) sat at $20 back then...now, you can find it in the bargain ailse with the Pets.com sock-puppet. It's given nothing but heartworms to investors....unless you're Mickelnuts. I wonder how much he's paid to pull that goofy visor over his bad haircut?
Finally, we have Callaway Golf, or ELY (founder's first name...cute isn't it?). This stock has had more combacks than Evander Holyfield....but it's gotten more than an ear bitten off, as it's been whacked from a high of $19 to where it languishes at $12.

So whattaya think buddy? Pretty good proof, right? I'm tellin' ya...it's golden information.

Hey buddy, gotta go, I think I just saw my new Golf issue goin' into my mailbox.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Upfront Rewards gets you from behind

I'm a Clark Howard disciple. He is a consumer advocate that helps people to make smart choices with their money.
I was reading the August edition of Golf Digest last night, in it was a promotional ad that, after doing some number-crunching, isn't such a good deal. Wanting to spread the gospel of Clark, I feel compelled to put a red flag on this promotion.

The ad states: Your Reward. Get it Now. We're giving you a set of X-18 irons or $800 in merchandise.
All I have to do to get either is to transfer $5000 in qualifying balances to the Upfront Rewards Visa. After I do that, in 6 weeks I'm swinging new clubs for nothing!!!!!

Intrigued, I read on:

"Your new card comes with no annual fee, no balance transfer fee, a low variable APR, and many other benefits and perks."

Now, being the kind of guy that squeezes a Buffalo Nickel so hard that it poops, I am immediately wary when I see the mice-type at the bottom of the ad that requires a high-powered magnifying glass to read.

In the mice-type, it states that I must carry a balance of $3500.00 during the first 18 months, if it goes below that amount, I will be assessed a one-time fee of $600.00.

Suddenly, those Callaway's are not a giveaway.

So I called the Upfront Rewards card company to find out how much the variable APR would be for this card (seeing that I would have to carry a balance). She informs me that the APR is based on my credit rating, and would range anywhere from 9.99% to 12.99%.

I politely hang-up, and immediately grab my handy-dandy......calculator.

Let's crunch the numbers to find out how much I would actually be paying for the X-18's:

Assuming the 9.99% APR, the compounded interest on $3500 is $569.00 in fees for 18 months.
If I punch-in the 12.99%APR, I come out paying $747.00 for the same period.

If I were to land in the middle of both those numbers, I would come out at $658.00 in interest.

Just for grins, I wanted to see how much these clubs would cost online, so I entered X-18 Callaway on my EatGolf Shopper site. In no time flat I found a brand new set for $699.00 that comes with a dozen Blue HX balls ($35 value).

I guess it's not really a giveaway. Just wanted you to be aware.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

"I think I got a bit lucky."

So said Australia's own Geoff Ogilvy after completing what was a dramatic 4 days of the hardest golf anyone could imagine, viewers and players alike.

Poor Mickelson. He is once again labeled "el-foldo", as he unsuccessfully navigated his way around Winged Foot on the final day....and once again, we are being too harsh.

Golf is a lucky game.....as the greatest golfers have been humbled by putts that have lipped out, iron shots that have been tugged too hard, or drives that didn't come off the face just right....we've seen it over and over again. Why do we hold golfers to a higher standard? Baseball players gets 3 strikes......Here Phil, tee it up again, that's only strike one...

Mickelson didn't lose the US Open....he just didn't win because, (and this will be viewed as the shot that won the Open), Ogilvy caught a lucky break. Let's look at it this way: if Ogilvy's chip doesn't go in on 17, Montgomerie stays with his original iron selection on 18 and stiffs it, and Furyk doesn't second-guess himself a million times and makes his putt on 18....oh yes, and Harrington pars-in, we'd have a different winner. Suddenly, Mickelson playing bingo-bango-boingo on the 18th is not so relevant.

I think what this Open in particular should remind us, is that sports in general, are the original reality show. The only scripts written Sunday were the one's over at Callaway minimizing damage control over drivers: "Here's the new Small Bertha platinum set...featuring...no drivers....!

Yes, Geoff got a lucky break. But I think the whole golf world needs to put perspective on the outcome. Everyone in the field had lucky breaks...both good and bad....(To wit: Ogilvy only hit 3 fairways on the back nine, Mickelson hit only 2 all day, so tell me who was getting more breaks). So what makes one guys' break (good or bad) more critical than the other guy's?

It comes down to who you're rooting for in the real "Survivor".


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB