Many golfers have been to “demos”  and “club fitting” clinics, but how many can claim they have been to a “golf ball fitting” session?
 
Wednesday at Cape Neddick, this writer attended his first ball-fitting which was sponsored by Bridgestone, and conducted by two of the firm’s ball-fitting technicians,  Joe Machado and Jeff Sartorelli. They are based in the Boston area and cover all six New England states plus part of New York State.
 
When they are in Maine they work at two locations, Cape Neddick and The Golf & Ski Warehouse in Scarborough. 
 
Machado, 39, was a PGA club pro for 16 years before joining Bridgestone three years ago.  The two of them operate in the northeast from April through September. Then Machado moves to  the “Sun Belt,” where he is based out of Naples, Fla. from November to April.
 
“I’ve always enjoyed the technical part of golf, so this is great for me,”  Machado said.
 
On the Cape Neddick practice range, they set up a camera, which sent signals to their computer. For me, they had to change the camera alignment a bit, because I am a left-handed golfer. Club speed, ball velocity, launch and back spin were measured, along with distance and accuracy. I was tested for the BSG-e5, the golf ball which I normally use, and the BSC-xFIXx, which I was told had less compression. The FIXx ball tested better for me, in terms of distance and accuracy, so it will be given personal tryouts at my club, Fairlawn.
 
About the time I was going to leave, four Cape Neddick members showed up and asked to be tested. One of them, Denis Latulippe, is a former Lewiston resident, who graduated from St. Dominic Academy in 1958 and returned to his alma mater as varsity ice hockey coach 1971-73.  He is best known in this area, however, as a former Lewiston City Councilman and Council President.
 
“I was a milkman, so I had afternoons free to coach,”  Latulippe said. His father owned a local dairy and he was in that business until he moved to the Ogunquit area where he owned and operated a motel, Studio East, which is still run by family members. 
 
Latulippe, who plays to a 22-24 handicap index, admitted he was somewhat skeptical about the ball-testing procedure.
 
“I didn’t have too much faith in it at first, but I found that I liked it a lot,” he said. 
 
Both of us enjoyed the golf ball-testing experience. That said, we were realistic, understanding that while a different golf ball might increase the distance of our golf shots, the jury is out on whether or not it will improve our overall golf games. In golf, we agreed, there are no guarantees.
   
Noteworthy
 
Shawn Warren of Nonesuch River continues his dominance of the Exotics Pro-Am Series. With just one event of five scheduled remaining, Warren has finished tied for one championship and the outright winner of the other three, after having recorded the best score (70) Sept. 5 at Old Marsh.
 
That victory assured Warren of winning the overall money championship for the 2013 Exotics season, which will conclude Oct. 2 at Falmouth.  The top eight Exotics money leaders are:
 
1. Shawn Warren, Nonesuch River , $7,675.50; 2. John Hickson, Dick’s Topsham, $3,170; 3. Jason Harris, Bath, $2,508; 4. Ryan Gay, Augusta, $2,113; 5. Leon Oliver, Bath, $1,362.50; 6. Chad Hopkins, Hopkins Golf School,  $1,200; 7. Dave Grygiel, Tee ‘N Tee Golfland, $981; 8. Dan Limauro, Old Marsh, $742.
           

The Maine State Golf Association this week has a senior tour event Thursday at Cape Arundel and its regular Friday-Saturday tournaments at Riverside … The Northeast Senior championship is Tuesday and Wednesday at Portland.

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