After three costly purchases, drivers that go for $350 to $400 each, the 62-year-old King reverted to his trusted woods for long distance shots. "I bought three drivers and I gave them all to my son because I couldn't hit it," King said, shrugging his shoulders. "I have been playing golf for 30 years and I never had a driver, only woods."

But the retiree's longing to improve his game led him to resume his hunt on Monday. This time, technology aided King where guesswork had failed earlier. One computer at the store reported how he struck the ball differently with different clubs. Another device simulated where his drive would have landed on a golf hole. The last machine rang up his sale. "I'm going to buy it," King said, gripping a driver. "I don't think (my son) is going to get this one."

Some local golf merchandise businesses have begun catering to buyers like King who need extra help finding the right club among the hundreds available. Although the costs can amount to tens of thousands of dollars at the outset, owners investing in the machinery for their stores agree about the benefits. Offering high-tech swing and shot analyses can turn a sales pitch into a gimme.

  Typically, in sports merchandising, new equipment and technology is developed at the elite level and trickles into the mainstream over time. Titleist execs refer to it as the "pyramid of influence."
  "We feel that if we can make a product that meets and exceeds the expectations of the world's best players, the (products) will be accepted by the next level of the pyramid and so on," said Joe Gomes, spokesman for Acushnet Co., which encompasses the Titleist, Cobra, Pinnacle and FootJoy brands.

Pros on the tour are at the top of the pyramid. Club pros and amateurs form the next layer. Hobbyists — the weekend golfer or retiree — provide the base. Now, high-tech gadgetry is trickling down to that base.  Why? Two words: "availability" and "competition."

Though still expensive, razzle-dazzle gadgets that sports equipment manufacturers once used mostly for in-house monitoring and testing now are widely available at the retail level. It's competition that provides the incentives to make them available­ — competition among golfers eager to shed a stroke or two — and willing to pay for whatever can give them an edge.

There's another form of competition as well — among merchants vying for as fat a slice as possible of the nation's multi-billion-dollar golf equipment pie.

How it works  

Launch monitors like the one that helped King find his driver are an example of the pyramid in action. Although the machines have been available to the elite for more than five years, they are just now starting to appear on Savannah's public golf landscape. Put simply, the machines use enhanced digital photography or lasers to capture precisely how a person's club impacts the golf ball during an average swing. Measurements such as launch angle, pitch, club facing, distance and spin are recorded.

If you're at the top of the pyramid, the information is then processed by the computer and analyzed by businesses like Titleist. If you're part of the pyramid's base, local club fitters work to improve your game. Wherever you are on the pyramid, the information is used to select and built equipment customized to your swing.

Joe Gomes compared the tech marriage of club and golfer to a man and his tailor. "If you go to buy a new suit, the suit that looks great on me might not look great on the guy next door," he said. "We are all a different size, a different shape.  "If you are going to go out and buy a set of golf clubs — which is a sizeable investment — you want to buy something that suits your needs. You don't want to buy something off the rack that may or may not fit you."

Over the last 10-to-12 years, Gomes said Titleist has developed several kinds of launch monitors. The company uses them strictly for data collection and professional outfitting. Manufacturers have been producing them for use by retailers for the last 5-to-8 years.

Savannah proprietors have spent from $6,000 to $10,000 on launch monitors. Prices depend on how detailed the readings are. The service is generally included as part of a purchase. Customers are charged if they take the information and leave, presumably to shop elsewhere. (Remember: one club can cost anywhere from about $75 to $250; drivers are $350 to 400; and a high-end set can reach into the thousands.) When it comes to golf, people spend a lot of money. Everybody wants to buy a golf game.

As a golfer, Ken Morton Jr., said he would trust a knowledgeable professional over a computer to wed him with the right clubs. But as a businessman, Morton - director of retail for Morton Golf which operates several courses and pro shops near Sacramento, Calif. - cannot risk going without the latest technology. His customers expect it. "The computer age has really changed the consumer perspective," said Morton, who serves as vice-president of the 850-member Association of Golf Merchandisers. "We have taken for granted that everything the computer spits out is correct when that is not always the case. It's another evolution to the club-fitting process that just helps."

Usher golf

Chip Usher of Usher Golf off of Hodgson Memorial Drive never said as much, but with 17 years experience making clubs, he probably knows what his new computer will tell his customers before the printout appears. Still, technology helps every facet of his business, whether it is loosening the glue that fastens a club head or measuring the vibrations and stiffness of a club's shaft.

Fitting clubs to people had been one of the remaining aspects of the trade Usher performed the old-fashioned way — by consultation. He would converse with customers over the phone and during appointments to help him gauge someone's swing tendencies — hook, slice and distance, for example.

"Golfers are nuts in the sense that if they think there is something out there to improve their game, they want it," Usher said.

Without a split-second hesitation, golfer Fred Beasley agreed. Beasley, 56, is an above average spender when it comes to his hobby. He plays about four rounds a week and shells out roughly $8,000-10,000 a year on greens fees and golf equipment.

In the last six months alone, he has tried and traded-in four sets of clubs. He's hoping the last set - one he purchased after tests on a launch monitor - are just what he needs.  But don't count on it.

Better clubs, bigger drivers and the next phase of cutting-edge technology could be the one-stroke difference that makes his day. "Most athletes are competitive. They don't want to lose at tiddlywinks," Beasley said.

"Golf is the same way. We buy clubs like they are going out of style. If there's new technology, we're going to get it."