Pole-Kat Golf

Improving Games in Southwest Florida

The 66-year old Kisby, a seasonal member of Vanderbilt Country Club in Naples along with his wife Joanne, call Atlantic City, New Jersey, home when they’re not down in Florida escaping the harsh winters. “We’ve been coming here for years and love the area,” he says. Like many golfers, Kisby’s lifelong relationship with an internationally recognized golf company along with brand loyalty has seen him purchase new equipment from the same manufacturer over the years. “ I bought my last set of clubs two years ago, and I’ve always been satisfied with their equipment,” he says. “That’s why I was a little skeptical of a local manufacturer being able to help my game,” he adds.

Comfortable with his steel-shafted irons and graphite woods, including his 10-degree driver, Kisby is working to lower his 20 handicap. “I’ve been slowly improving my game over the winter,” he states. “I’m not getting the distance I used to have from my irons and woods, but I’m getting better at course management,” he adds. “ George had knee replacement surgery on both legs two years ago, and pins and screws installed in his lower back just eight months ago,” states Joanne.

“He’s worked very hard in rehab following each surgery, and I consider him a role model for what a patient should be,” she adds. Challenged with a skeptical golfer with a fairly new set of clubs from a manufacturer he trusts, Jason Walden, VP for Sales, and Brian Terski, VP of Operations for Pole-Kat, set out to improve Kisby’s game through their company’s 20 years of experience and new technologyoffered at their Colonial Avenue store and factory. Placing Kisby in their dynamic swing and fitting facility, they quickly determined his club head swing speed and swing technique.

The Pole-Kat duo found his 82 mph swing speed would benefit from senior flex graphite shafts instead of his current steel shafts. The graphite shafts with appropriate flex are designed to release more power at impact, depending on swing speed through the ball. Additionally, they determined he had a tendency to skull, or top, the balls during mis-hits, so the added half inch of length found on graphite clubs over steel shafts remedied this problem. They then determine the specific lie and loft best suited for Kisby’s swing. “We apply tape on the bottom of the iron to see where he consistently hits it,” says Walden. “If he hits on the toe or the heel of the club, we literally bend the metal to get the perfect lie or angle for his swing,” he adds. The loft of the club is then checked and adjusted to ensure he gets the distance he expects from each of his irons.

The Pole-Kat experts then set Kisby up on their launch monitor to determine the best launch angle for his swing off the tee with a driver. There’s a Pole-Kat in George Kisby’s game and he’s happy to have it.Golfing Naples& Southwest Florida’s 2005 subscription winner was the recent recipient of a custom-fit set of clubs and irons from the Pole-Kat Golf Company in Fort Myers and he says it’s improved his game significantly.

The monitor basically took high- speed photographs of the ball as it came off the tee and provided data on the amount of ball spin and the angle at which the clubface hit the ball. Following a number of drives off the tee, the computer determined Kisby’s swing was best suited for a 12-degree driver, which delivered an 14-degree launch angle providing the maximum ball flight and roll for his game. A quick stop at the grip display revealed Kisby needed to move from a standard grip to midsize based on the size of his hand and how he held the club.

Walden also suggested that he change from a popular and expensive high compression ball, to a low compression ball which offered more distance for his swing speed, and happened to be less expensive. Taking a tour of Pole-Kat’s factory operation, Kisby was impressed with the quality and technology put into their equipment. “I like the fact that they offer a lifetime warranty on their clubs, and it’s nice to know you can replace a club years later if necessary,” he states.

“ We introduced the original long putter now used on tour in 1985,” says Terski. “And the technology we put into our clubs today is easily comparable to that found in nationally known brands,” he states. Terski recently designed a popular and innovative 3 Wood Driver for the average golfer having difficulty using a standard driver off the tee. “The 3 wood loft (15 degrees) adds backspin for a better launch angle, and the large sweet spot helps keep it in the fairway,” he states. The 3D has been one of their better sellers since its introduction in January. Golfing Naples & Southwest Florida accompanied Kisby along with the Chairman of Pole-Kat Golf, Tom Veratti, on a round of golf at Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club, a challenging test for any set of clubs. Kisby was hitting his new irons with more consistency and better distance.

His selection of the Pole-Kat XR-2 450cc driver, a much larger head than his previous 380cc driver, appeared to be accurate, long and forgiving off the tee. “My skepticism has been replaced with appreciation, I plan on buying a set for my home course in New Jersey,” says Kisby. To that Veratti replies, “We’re happy we could fit George with the right equipment to improve his game.”