Are racing stripes extra?

These are times that try a golfer's soul. The Super Bowl is history, the temporary high received from sniffing travel brochures at the Greater Columbus Golf Show has faded away, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow and the most recent blast from winter has harshly reminded us that golf season in central Ohio is far beyond the current snow-covered horizon.

Maybe that's why golf equipment makers use this time of the year to launch their 2010 sales campaigns in earnest, knowing golfers battling cabin fever are at their weakest in terms of trying to resist the call to improve one's game by reshuffling what's in one's golf bag.

Yesterday, Oldgolfdawg received an e-mail from Golfsmith offering generous trade-in discounts for those interested in upgrading to "new technology," and a Golf Galaxy brochure found its way into his snail mailbox with the headline "Launch Your Game For Less." Sunday, a few hours before the Super Bowl, good friend and high school sports writer extraordinaire Steve Blackledge stopped by the house to drop off his Sports Illustrated Golf+ Equipment Issue for Oldgolfdawg's examination.

Did you ever notice how there are similarities between the way golf equipment and new cars are pitched? Marketing departments and designers for both work overtime to come up with "innovative breakthroughs" in an effort to move more metal.

Did you know, for instance, that the 2010 Burner SuperFast is 14 grams lighter than last year's Burner Driver? The TaylorMade folks want you to know that advanced aerodynamics, a longer, more powerful shaft, and a stripped-down, lighter grip ignites its clubhead speed. This is important stuff to know when considering what type of snake-killing device you want to be wielding the next time you sneak up on a golf ball.

Bet you didn't know that "Cleveland Golf is once again revolutionizing the short game by introducing Laser Milled Face Technology on its new CG15 wedges. On these clubs, four perfectly calibrated texture lines are milled in-between each of the Zip Grooves to create a breakthrough in surface roughness that maximizes spin within the rules of golf." The last line of this sales pitch is the best. "If you want to change the face of your scorecard, put a set of CG15 wedges in your bag today."

It's hard to argue with such advanced thinking, especially if you're the kind of person who likes racing stripes on your new car. But buyer beware. Twelve months from now another "revolutionary breakthrough" in golf design is going to entice you to spend more money. It's the nature of the beast in the golf equipment game.