![\"The](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/tomharack\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/09\/Waubeeka10th.jpg\")
<\/a>The new 10th hole at Waubeeka. Photo: Tom Harack<\/p><\/div>\n
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Good tidings in the golf industry may be hard to come by these days, but they do <\/i>exist. Two recent examples with special resonance for this writer reinforce the point.<\/p>\n
Waubeeka Golf Links<\/b>, in Williamstown, Massachusetts has been rescued from the real estate development block and continues to operate as the cherished layout it\u2019s been since it opened in 1966.<\/p>\n
Purchased by Mike Deep, a businessman and golf fanatic from nearby North Adams, Waubeeka\u2019s<\/a> long had a checkered ownership history. Before Deep stepped in, a 2007 sale to a Colorado-based investment banker led to a facelift that included redesign (by Mark Mungeam) of several holes and construction of a first-rate practice facility with a mountain backdrop, pictured above.<\/p>\n Having been a member at Waubeeka<\/a> in the late 1980s and early 90s, it\u2019s always been to me what Aberdovey, in Wales, was to golf-writing luminary Bernard Darwin: a course whose charm surpasses its reputation and scale, a layout that seems more engaging the more you play it.<\/p>\n Waubeeka also embodies the elements frequently cited as key to the game\u2019s survival: playability, affordability, accessibility. At 6,368 yards, par 71 from the back tees, its defense is clever greens complexes, not length. It\u2019s a great walk, with two contrasting nines, in a quintessentially New England setting. And its golf-crazed membership \u2013 thrilled to retain their favorite track \u2013 are happy to welcome outside play.<\/p>\n Part of the Hillerich & Bradsby brand, a family-owned outfit that includes Louisville Slugger bats and Bionic gloves, PowerBilt has made clubs since 1916 and has been used intermittently to win major championships; but the brand has languished in golf\u2019s evermore marketing-heavy sales environment in recent years.<\/p>\n Now led by Ross Kvinge, a well-liked and \u2013respected golf industry veteran, PowerBilt\u2019s making a comeback. Touting what it calls Nitrogen N7 technology, its marquee product for 2014 is the Air Force One DFX Driver.<\/p>\n No metal woods can ever be as eye-pleasing as their persimmon predecessors, but the new PowerBilt model is pretty cool-looking. In my decidedly unscientific comparison \u2013 there\u2019s a reason you\u2019ve heard of Iron Byron, never Rubber Byron \u2013 using the launch monitor at Golf & Body<\/a>, in Manhattan, the Air Force One performance matched that of other major-brand models.<\/p>\n Good looks and performance undoubtedly account for PowerBilt\u2019s particular popularity with junior golfers. So some things, thankfully, never change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n<\/a>PowerBilt <\/b>golf clubs. The first set of sticks my folks gave me were PowerBilts<\/a>, quality equipment that lasted through my formative years and even accompanied me to college.<\/p>\n