April 24, 2013 – With the star participation of Sergio Garcia, the TaylorMade Performance Lab (TMPL) was officially opened at Golf Santander (Madrid), on Monday 22nd April. This is the only centre of its kind in Spain and the fifth in Europe to offer a fitting service to amateur golfers of all skill levels, following the process and with the same high technology that TaylorMade uses with its Tour Staff players.

Along with Sergio Garcia, who came after his magnificent result in the Masters and having just played at the Spanish Open in El Saler (Valencia), the Castellon golfer was accompanied by Jason Howard, TaylorMade Brand Manager in Europe, Sean Brady, Manager Brand Experience TaylorMade Golf for Europe, José Enrique Ruiz-Giménez (in the picture with Sergio), head professional of TMPL, and Estanislao Urquijo, director of Golf Santander.

The new TaylorMade fitting centre is located in the School of Golf Santander, in a well fitted-out space just above the Jim McLean Golf School, and has a terrace with a bar, a comfortable lounge and the laboratory with a door which opens upwards, becoming first a darkroom for the filming of the swing and then a practice tee opening onto the driving range, equipped with all the necessary technology to experience the fitting like a professional golfer (MATT System, FlightScope, etc.).

After the introductory presentations, Sergio Garcia, No.1 in the Race to Dubai Ranking and 14th in the World Ranking, delighted the audience by giving a clinic with the clubs of his golf bag (all from the new range of TaylorMade 2013), starting with the R1 Driver, a prodigy of adjustability, the RocketBallz Stage 2 Fairway Wood, and the RocketBladez Tour Irons, both with the Speed ​​Pocket technology, and explaining in a series of display shots how the innovations help him control his shots even more during tournaments.

The equipment has changed a lot for professional golfers in the last decade, with new technologies that give you all possible parameters of swing, impact, trajectory and distance of the golf ball. “I remember when the first driver we could tune came out, and I loved it – the R7,” says Sergio Garcia.

“TaylorMade brings out some new product every year, like the R1, not only for us but also for amateurs. In general, there isn’t a great deal of difference between the equipment we use as professionals and what is used by amateurs. For example, the head of my driver is the same as the one used by Juan Carlos Ferrero (the tennis player) or my father.”

“Fortunately for professionals, we have all kinds of advantages that help us find the golf clubs that are best suited to our game, and unfortunately for amateurs, they haven’t got the truck that follows us in all tournaments nor the clubmakers that make our clubs,” says Sergio Garcia.

“But I think that TaylorMade is making a huge effort to improve what our sport itself is, opening laboratory like this which help improve the amateur game. TaylorMade has several centres in Europe like this one that give the amateur the chance to be treated like us, and give help to the game, to lower the  handicap a little, and build up more enthusiasm for the sport of golf.”

Meanwhile, José Enrique Ruiz-Giménez said: “We have chosen Golf Santander because it is a course open to the public where you can play, take a lesson, hit some balls or make an appointment with TaylorMade. We can attend a maximum of three golfers per day, as this is an experience of some three hours during which we assess and advise the player about the 14 clubs in the golf bag.”

“For us it is very important that Sergio gives us his vision of custom fitting, as this helps us raise the understanding about the need for golf clubs to be fitted to each player. In the TMPL we are going to give amateurs the same treatment we give professional players with TaylorMade technology, which is where we think the future lies in terms of golf equipment.”

According to Jason Howard, TaylorMade Brand Manager: “Fitting is an integral part of the golf industry, and we believe we are leaders in the fitting industry. The TMPL at Golf Santander is our fifth facility across Europe, and we are extremely excited by this investment that we’ve made with Santander.”

“We know that if we can get golfers into a fitting environment in front of our technology, which consists of the motion capture system with a unique tri-dimensional analysis system, so a golfer can go into the laboratory and see his swing from all different angles, and we can overly his swing with a professional like Sergio Garcia. Then he can see where he needs to make improvements, and the way we can fit equipment which is perfectly designed for his swing to make him a better golfer.”

“We thank TaylorMade for giving us the opportunity to install this laboratory for making clubs in Golf Santander”, said Estanislao Urquijo, director of Golf Santander, “which means a significant advance for any golfer. Banco Santander is excited by this new project that will help support the world of golf.”

More information at tel. (+34) 91 257 39 98 and escuela@golfsantander.es.

SERGIO GARCIA’S DRIVER (specifications):

TaylorMade R1: 8.5º loft, 1º open face angle, mobile weights 10g heel/4g toe, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana 103g and flex X.

Pictures: Fernando Herranz and MyGolfWay.com.

Por REDACCIÓN