Before you read my blog today, which I deliberately delayed for two days (as you will understand after reading today's blog) please see my previous blog on Saturday about my attempts to contact Phil Mickelson about his trying my PROBE 20/20 putter. Then please read the COMMENTS from Saturday's blog. My question to you: "Do you believe the 25 million golfers in this country are ready to learn the truth about the golf equipment industry?"...........................................I started playing golf when I was twelve years old. My Dad taught me the game to teach me honesty, integrity, perseverance, courtesy, and the other good qualities most of us cherish in a person.
Growing up, my heroes were Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson. In my capacity as founder and President of Probe Golf, I have had the privilege of meeting all four of these great golfers. I detail some of these experiences in my new novel, LOVE WAS NOT ENOUGH (www.lovewasnotenough.com).
I was glad to help Mr. Palmer improve his putting in 1992 by showing him how my PROBE 20/20 center-shafted and inverted-shafted putter could control the break in short breaking putts, and eliminate the guesswork as to how his ball would break.
Tom Watson tried my putter and then confessed to me that the problem "was with the archer, not the bow".
Jack Nicklaus commented on how far my Probe driver carried the ball in the air in the dry air at Desert Mountain north of Scottsdale, AZ.
And Gary Player agreed to be the host in my PROBE 20/20 infomercial, wherein we sold 82,000 putters on TV in 1993. I spent three days with Mr. Player in 1993 while filming our infomercial at his Alaqua C.C. in Orlando, and learned what a true gentlemen he is.
I have always been proud that I was a golfer, and a good one. In 1986 I started researching what makes a set of irons great, and from that knowledge made myself my first set of PROBE irons. Although I had played golf for 22 years, I had never made a hole-in-one, until 1986. I made two in two months after playing my own irons, holing a 5-iron at 195 yards, and a 2-iron at 222 yards.
I have always bragged to friends that the game of golf taught us great life lessons, until Saturday, May 29, 2010. Saturday I learned that the game of golf, at least as far as equipment manufacturers in their contracts with tour stars are concerned, is tainted by dishonesty and corruption!
Last Friday and Saturday, I indicated I was going to try to help one of my favorite tour stars, Phil Mickelson, with his putting, especially on short, breaking putts. Phil has had problems with them. As Arnie knows, my PROBE 20/20 puts intentional side spin on breaking putts to reduce the break in a putt, and make them easier to make.
I thought I could help Phil make those putts, and help him pass Tiger Woods as the best player in the world! A great goal, right?
WRONG!
Saturday, after my blog, I was contacted by email by a Mr. Glenn Cohen, an attorney from Jacksonville, Florida, claiming to be Phil's attorney and agent. In no uncertain terms Mr. Cohen warned me never to try to get close to Phil Mickelson, period. He warned me that I would never be given the opportunity to talk to Phil, about his putter, about using my putter, nor about any subject at all! He warned me not to even try to get Phil Mickelson's attention, at all, period!
Additionally, in his email he told me, "you have no chance period in having a relationship with my client (Mickelson) - leave us alone and refrain from contacting people who have no intention of doing business with you - I hope I have made myself clear." Glenn Cohen.
I was shocked!
Could the equivalent of the Mafia be present within the golf equipment industry? Before Saturday I never would have believed it. Today, I am sure of it.
Four days ago I was Phil Mickelson's biggest fan. Today I am no longer his fan.
I have learned over the decades that you can usually judge someone by the company they keep. Yesterday I did some investigating of my own, and then instructed my attorney to continue with a more detailed investigation of Mr. Cohen.
I leaned that Phil Mickelson's agent is a personal injury lawyer, what some people would consider an ambulance chaser, the "bottom feeders" among lawyers.
The name of his law firm is Barnes and Cohen, located at 2747 Art Museum Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207. (www.barnesandcohen.com)
Interestingly, Mr. Cohen identified himself in his email to me as "G COHEN", but used the email:
"bbcohen@bellsouth,net". When most legitimate businesses use a "name"@(their own website), such as gcohen@barnesandcohen.com, Mr. Cohen does not do so. Again, very interesting.
Secondly, when I researched their website at www.networksolutions.com, and emailed the owner of the website, the email came back as "not a valid email". Network Solutions also showed that the website, www.barnesandcohen.com, was started in October of 2007, LESS THAN THREE YEARS AGO, yet they claim they have been in business since 1974! Emails, and the internet have been around much longer than three years, since the early 1990's!
Thirdly, there is another company behind Barnes and Cohen, Injury Lawyers, and it is BBC JUSTICE , which is located in Drums, PA, at a P.O. Box! If you have any business experience within the United States, you know that Florida is a favorite state for "dishonest" businessmen in the northeastern states to do business, because Florida allows anyone living there to hide all of their assets in their home, where no one can get their hands on their assets if you win a lawsuit (judgment) against them. Most states limit how much you can protect your assets in your home, such as the $185,000 limit in California. A dishonest person may hide millions in his own home in Florida, and no one can touch it.
Further investigation of Mr. Cohen on Saturday disclosed his involvement in actions (lawsuits) against organizations such as the PGA of America on behalf of PGA tour stars. Mickelson and many other tour stars are managed by Gaylord Sports Management! And who is the attorney that represents Gaylord Sports Management? That's right, Glenn Cohen!
How would an attorney like Glenn Cohen become Phil Mickelson's attorney? Does Phil Mickelson know what kind of person his attorney is, and what he is (or may be) capable of doing?
I have heard mixed opinions of Mickelson by golf fans, both good and bad. In the past I have chosen not to believe the bad. Now I am not so sure.
QUESTIONS:
Are you a Phil Mickelson fan? If so, 1) would you like to see Phil putt better by using a putter that will allow him to make more putts and win more majors and more prize money, or 2) do you not care if he plays a less productive putter because he is paid a lot of money to play it?
Do you believe the golf equipment industry is an honest one?
Do you believe that Callaway's management team is willing to test its equipment against any other company's equipment, and let its signed tour stars like Mickelson play the competition's equipment if that equipment proves to be superior?
Assuming I could get close enough to Mickelson so he could try my putter, I'm willing to bet I could talk him into using it on tour, and that he would then become the world's Number One player.
The question is, would Callaway allow him to even give my putter a try? Do you believe they would?
Do you?
Do you really?
Do you believe Callaway's management team is aware of Mr. Cohen's threatening tactics?
Do you think Callaway's management condones his tactics?
Do you think the world's golfers deserve to know what the golf equipment industry is really all about?
Do you believe most PGA Tour golfers really use the equipment they think is the best equipment for them?
Or, do you believe any tour player will play any equipment if they are paid enough money?
It sound to me like you have a business interist and so does Phil. Phil is a professional golfer this is how he makes his living and does pretty good for himself. Maybe you should let your product sell itself and withhold from the mudslinging or come up with the endorsement money like other companies. Really a poor way to sell if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Your point is well taken, and if I did not already have years of experience letting players demonstrate my putter, mostly on the Senior PGA Tour, I would not raise the issue. Maybe Senior Tour players are more inclined to play what works for them first, and what they are paid to play second, as compared to the PGA Tour. But after four years working the Senior Tour 80% of the time, and the regular tour 20% of the time, and never once running into an attorney that makes threats if I even say, "HI", to his player, that is shocking, in the least. Tour players are virtually always willing to try something, and if they are under contract, they say, "Thanks, I like it, but can't use it due to my contract with "so-and-so". I know most of the tour reps from most of the equipment companies, and have never heard of this happening until last Saturday. I will follow up on this subject after hearing back from former tour players that I have copied personally since Saturday, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. Thanks for your input.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I just thought of another addition to what I already said in my attempt to answer your question of "Why not just pay him to play my putter? If you had a golf club that you thought would benefit a player like Phil, would you just offer him $10,000,000 per year to play it, without his knowing if it worked for him? Or would it make more sense to let him try it, and then he could make an intelligent decision as to whether it would help him win more majors, and earn more in prize money, as compared to the $10,000,000 to play it? Which makes more sense to you? I for one would not want anyone to use my club unless they told me they wanted to play it because it was better than the competition. But if his attorney refuses to let him try it, how can Phil make that decision? Like I said earlier, I have never heard of a situation where a player's lawyer threatened any other manufacturer's rep, and told them to stay away from his client, in my four years of actively working with players, and talking to every other equipment manufacturer's rep on tour. Which begs an answer to my original question: Is the golf equipment industry dishonest? Or do you think it is honest to try to make the public think he uses a Callaway product because it is the best, when it is not?
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