GOLF:

Even in a tough economy there is no reason to believe that Mark Timms won’t succeed with his third venture into the golf business.

Timms certainly had a phenomenon in Hot Stix, his second golf company and is now banking on Cool Clubs.

The Irvine Co. apparently recognized Timms’ expertise and entered into an exclusive agreement with him to service both Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine and Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast.

“From the beginning, Pelican Hill Golf Club and Oak Creek Golf Club have offered an unsurpassed golf experience by combining the exceptional courses and stunning locations with the highest level of service and amenities,� said Steve Friedlander, general manager of golf operations for both clubs. “In bringing Cool Clubs’ innovative services exclusively to our guests, we have added another special amenity that sets our golf clubs apart.�

Timms began his career in the banking industry but wanted to get into golf. He left banking in 1990 to start Custom Golf of Connecticut. There he established a reputation for his club fitting and design capabilities both with customers and the major club manufacturers.

In 2000, he moved to Scottsdale, Ariz. and founded Hot Stix Golf. The business and its reputation thrived under his direction and he subsequently founded Hot Stix Technologies in 2004 and Hot Stix Mobile in 2005.

Timms sold his interest in the company, but still had the desire to build quality golf clubs and last year started up his newest venture in the golf business, Cool Clubs. He partnered with former Williams-Sonoma President Patrick Cowell and got financial backing from high-profile investors such as Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo Chairman Dick Kovacevich, Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel, and George Roberts of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

The clubs are definitely hi-tech and Timms used cutting-edge, technology-driven analysis to turn custom fitting into an exacting science. The highly detailed fitting sessions have the goal of making the perfect club for each golfer. The fitting sessions are intense.

Using an array of specially designed machines and software, Cool Clubs intricately measures and calibrates a player’s swing dynamics, then matches it with equipment performance characteristics to determine the perfect club for the individual golfer.

The process determines whether the player is well-matched with current clubs, or whether adjustments are called for, as well as provides three recommendations for new clubs.

The custom fitting is performed inside a mobile van and a tent booth on the driving range at Oak Creek and is outfitted with $500,000 in technology. Inside the fitting studio utilizes such devices as V1-8Cam video analysis, which simultaneously captures eight angles of video streams allowing the fitters to more accurately see and precisely evaluate performance to determine optimal club specifications. TrackMan, the new standard for ball and club measurement based on Doppler radar technology, measures exact three-dimensional club movement and provides precise data on the ball launch, flight and landing.

Adjustments may be done on-site, while the making of new clubs and changes to existing clubs such as installing a different shaft are handled at Cool Club’s main facility in Scottsdale.

“Our purpose is to help you play better golf and I know that the golfers we custom fit at Oak Creek Golf Club and Pelican Hill Golf Club will come back to tell us about the significant improvements to their game,� Timms said. “Professionals have long attained peak performance with custom clubs, but the difference can be even more dramatic with amateurs, whether beginners or advanced players.�

Fitting costs, which are per grouping of clubs cost $100 an hour for a driver, $100 an hour for fairway woods and hybrids, irons $150 for 90 minutes and $100 an hour for wedges.

People didn’t believe Hot Stix would work and Timms proved them wrong. It appears he is about to do it again with Cool Clubs.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.