Updated 3/11/8

Embroidery a Part of Our Services
Pat Ryan Golf is providing embroidery of all types of garments and other items.  We have the most advanced embroidery machine made and the ability to provide you with the highest quality embroidery at a very reasonable price.  Now is a good time to get some special garments ordered for this summer and fall.  We also would like you to know that we will put the Pat Ryan Golf Logo on any garment you bring in FREE.  It only takes a day or two.

Heavy Putter Selects Pat Ryan Golf
Pat Ryan Golf is proud to announce that Heavy Putter Company has selected it as their Custom Fit and Repair shop in Minnesota.  This means that Pat Ryan Golf has the expertise and equipment to alter your Heavy Putter and fit it correctly to your needs.  It also means that they can repair your putter and bring it back to factory specifications.

Puring a Shaft Compared to Optimizing a Shaft
Puring is a patented computer process of spining a shaft.  Click here to find out what Frank Thomas thinks about the process and what we do at Pat Ryan Golf

The Bunker is New Again
The Bunker is a indoor golf facility with 12 simulators and practice putter green, snack bar, and other amenities.  It is located in the same building as Pat Ryan Golf.  Each simulator offers over 30 courses and a practice range.   The Bunker has been renovating almost everything this fall.  They have replaced all the carpet; replaced all the mats and hitting screens.  All new computers have been installed, with new projectors, and new software.  The Bunker really has upgraded its facility.  If you are looking for an enjoyable round of golf during the winter months or want to play in a winter golf league call the Bunker at 952-936-9595.  This is a great way to stay on top of your game.  After your round stop in at Pat Ryan Golf and let us show you what is new in equipment for next year.

USGA Allows Additional Club Adjustability
USGA announced Aug. 29 that they are allowing additional forms of club adjustability starting in 2008. Interchangeable shafts will be allowed, which is exciting news for some clubmakers. Some nice head/ interchangeable shaft drivers are available from Alpha with their C-830-4 head.  We have the head in stock. Stop by and take a look.

When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Sue
When everyone is making money there isn’t time to try to take down the competition. With shrinking margins, stagnate revenues and tougher competition, if you can’t innovate your way to profitability, the only choice is to sue.

Take the recent court cases brought by Callaway against Titleis,, Bridgestone against Titleist and DogLeg Right against TaylorMade. All are suing each other because of supposed patent infringements.

In the case of DogLeg Right, they accuse TaylorMade of violating two patents that “...cover technology that allows the user to adjust the center of gravity of the clubhead in up to three dimensions in order to produce golf ball trajectories varying from high to low fades, high to low draws, and high to low straight shots.” The supposed clubs that violate these patents are TaylorMade’s r7 Quad driver, TaylorMade r7 425 Quad driver, and TaylorMade r7 CGB Max driver and fairway woods.

A recent court victory was awarded to Callaway over Acushnet, makers of the top-selling golf ball the Titleist Pro V1. The jury awarded Callaway a victory on “….the construction of a multilayer ball with a solid core and a polyurethane cover that are used in the Titleist Pro V1 ball.” Callaway acquired the patents in 2003 when it purchased Top-Flite Golf following the bankruptcy of parent Spalding Sports Worldwide.

Acushnet was recently involved in another golf ball case that has been settled out-of-court with Bridgestone Sports Co. Ltd., resolving a 2 1/2-year ball patent infringement suit. Acushnet will be required to pay Bridgestone on-going royalties for use of an undisclosed number of Bridgestone patents.

Lawsuits are part of the business landscape and suing your competition is generally the chosen path, but for the major golf businesses, if they spent more time on innovation and growing the game and less on legal court fights, maybe their businesses would perform better

The Evening Fundraiser
Pat Ryan Golf and the Cook Family are sponsoring "The Evening." This is a semi formal event that will be taking place at The Bunker/Pat Ryan Golf on May 17th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.  Those attending will enjoy an exceptional evening of fun activities, special entertainment, wine tasting, heavy hors D'oeuvres, free give aways, silent auction, and much more. The proceeds will be donated to the Osseo United Methodist Church Youth Program. Tickets are $50.00 and will admit 2 individuals.  Only 25 tickets will be sold.  You may order tickets by calling the store at 952-930-1119.  We accept Visa/MasterCard/Discover. 

Donations By Pat Ryan Golf
Pat Ryan Golf is on course to give more to charitable organizations this year than any year in its history.  Pat Ryan Golf does not give 3 percent of its profits to charity like some of the big companies...we give more.  We give 5 percent of our GROSS income.  We feel a responsibility to our community to do what we can to improve it.  We know there are organizations out there doing an exceptional job helping those that need the help.  We do our best to help them.  When you purchase golf clubs at Pat Ryan Golf you can be guaranteed a good percentage of you purchase is given back to the community.

Where can your child get quality instruction?

We are constantly asked by parents what instructors are good youth instructors.  We would recommend John Means Golf Camps and Schools.

John Means coached collegiate golf for 24 very successful years.  He was Golf coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Men's Head Coach at the University of Minnesota; and is now Head Women's Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  He now provides camps and schools for all ages, but is exceptional with youth players.  Many of the best young players in the area are instructed by John.  And...and on top of all that he's a great guy. We recommend him highly.  For more information on his camps and schools click on www.JohnMeansGolf.com. 

Golf Club Leasing
We have been leasing a lot of junior clubs in the last few months. If you have a junior golfer you might want to consider leasing clubs. It could save you money. Click on "Clubs for Junior Golfers" for more information.

Here we go again...your grooves and the USGA

The ruling bodies of golf are making proposals again, this time to change the groove specification. I have had so many questions about this that I’m forced to address it again. Once again, as I consider this proposal, I find myself asking Why? Does the USGA feel an innate need to purge its conscience, or because of its past indiscretions does it feel the need to do something – anything -- to demonstrate its relevance?

The United States Golf Association -- a body designed to lend order to the game -- has in the last six months lost its Amateur status by selling out to a Japanese car company, a Swiss watch company and an American credit card company. Can it still somehow accomplish its mission, or is the foundation crumbling?

We need the USGA. The association has as an object of its formation and existence, "the purpose of promoting and conserving throughout the United States the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf as embodied in its ancient and honorable traditions." This is truly an honorable cause and one which golfers can all support if it remains pure.

We follow and play by the rules the USGA and R&A have outlined in the "Rules of Golf" book because they make intuitive sense and form a code by which we can all abide, resulting in a semblance of order and peace. As long as those rules have a reasonable basis, we follow them without concern, assured that all is fair and well.

The rules are not intended to make the game difficult but rather to lend a degree of constancy, to uphold the integrity and protect the challenge that is so vital to this honorable sport.

Generally the Rules are reputable and make sense. They have been deliberated over for hours, in most cases, by wise and dedicated people.

But when this process goes off track, we need to be concerned. And we are reaching a point where something needs to be done; we need to question some of the proposals put forward by the ruling bodies and get some good answers  --or look elsewhere for true guardianship.

In the current example, the USGA and R&A have proposed a new rule to limit the size of the groove to half of its present cross sectional area. The reason given is that out of the light rough the pros are able to get more spin on the ball than the USGA feels they should. This new limit will make the game more difficult for everybody, but it is primarily aimed at the most accomplished golfers when playing from light rough (one inch deep), which is generally the first cut off the fairway. At some tournaments, this light rough may extend for some distance off the fairway, which allows the long hitters to flail away with little regard to their accuracy. 

Does “the ball stops too quickly when hit out of the rough” describe your experience?  Or that of anyone you know?  Does it sound like something you should be concerned about?  Does it sound to you like it falls under the rubric of “promoting and conserving throughout the United States the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf”?  I rather doubt these words were on the table or in the minds of the Executive Committee when this proposal was formulated.  More likely, the thought was one I heard so often from the Executive Committee trying to respond to the game’s elders concerns that equipment in the hands of the pros is spoiling  the game and “We have to do something.”

If spin from light rough is such a problem, then why not take the most common-sense approach: for the specific events (championships) where the very accomplished are competing and the object of the event is to identify a true champion, grow the rough to 3 to 4 inches, so the penalty is more than half a stroke for being wayward. The USGA did this at the 2006 Open, and achieved its goal splendidly.

Another proposal still under consideration is to roll the ball back (shorten its potential distance) by  25 yards.  This would be another irresponsible and irrational decision. It is safe to say that 95% or more of the golfing population can’t hit the ball far enough already; the proposal’s roots lie in the performance of less that .001% of the golfing population.  The USGA could and should have kept a lid on the upper ranges of distance almost ten  years ago when it allowed a certain amount of spring-like effect in the faces of titanium drivers, even though the rules clearly stated that none was permissible.  Now it may try to rectify this error, which aids everyone but can be fully exploited only by the elite golfers, with a rollback in the balls for everyone.  Will golfers follow a rule that hurts them unreasonably?  If the rollback is adopted, golfers may well decide to keep using the balls they have and feel comfortable with, and manufacturers will keep making them, and the USGA will lose influence and authority.

There is no evidence that the game will benefit from adoption of the new groove proposal. There is, however, evidence that if adopted, it will cause unnecessary conflict and upheaval at a time when the game needs peace and help. Rounds per year are decreasing, and that’s been true for approximately five years; more courses are closing than opening.

If there is any evidence that the new groove proposal is going to be good for the game as a whole, we need to see it before we blindly accept it and follow like lemmings.      

Let's support the USGA and what it stands for, but let’s also ask a few questions about whom they’re representing. In a recent survey, 60% of our Frankly Friends (avid and concerned golfers) believe that we should use course set up to control long and wild golfers, and nearly 90% believe the USGA is not representing the average golfer.

Based on the USGA's recent proposals and its entrée  into the commercial world, we have the right and obligation to ask if our ruling bodies are acting as the game’s guardians or simply in their own self interest. If it’s the latter, then we the golfers have a problem that needs to be sorted before it goes too far.

Tha..tha..thats all folks!