Bubba Watson unveils his fashion picks for Masters week -- and Oakley reps explain why he will wear lighter colors for the weekend at Augusta National.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider
 
When Bubba Watson signed on with Oakley at the beginning of the year, he was quoted as saying, “Oakley gets it. I’m proud to join their family because they love the game and they never stop pushing technology to make the game better. Whatever they can do -- whatever can be done -- Oakley will do it. I respect that.”
 
The latest piece of technology from Oakley won't help Bubba hit 400-yard drives or hole every putt in sight -- but it will get him from Point A to Point B on the course in record time. 
 
Oakley unveiled Watson's newest toy on Tuesday: a customized hovercraft, aptly named "BW1," that has the look of a golf cart and the versatility of a hovercraft. 
 
Although the release of the video came just one day after April 1, Oakley 
spokesperson Dara Reiter confirmed that the hovercraft golf cart is no April Fool's joke.
 
"When Bubba told us he wanted to do something wild with golf carts, we got together with a company that builds the kind of machines that come straight out of childhood dreams," noted Reiter. "The result is pure Bubba, and beyond the bounds of reasonable limits -- which makes it pure Oakley as well.
 
"We wish we could say the inspiration came from concern over the hard work of greenskeepers whose sweat and toil is tarnished by golf cart wheels. We really do respect those people, but in truth, this project is the kind of thing that happens when you have a collaboration fueled by glorious defiance and grin-stoking fun. You would expect no less from the team of Bubba and Oakley."

Chris Fitzgerald, who discusses the advantages of the hovercraft, is president of the company that made Bubba's golf cart. Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. makes hovercrafts for recreational use as well as for commercial, rescue and military use.
 
Unlike Bubba's pink PING G20 driver, which was released last year in limited quantities, there's little chance Oakley will release the hovercraft in limited quantities. In other words, just enjoy the video clip of Watson flying down the fairway and going right over water hazards.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Masters champion Bubba Watson captured his first green jacket last year wearing the same pink and white Travis Mathew outfit all four days of the tournament. This year when he defends his title, he'll do so wearing four different Oakley outfits.

Oakley unveiled Watson's apparel scripting for the first major of 2013, with two of the looks, on Thursday and Saturday, sporting the red and black colors of Watson's alma mater, the University of Georgia.

Watson switched from Travis Mathew to Oakley during the offseason and quickly became the face of the California-based company when Rory McIlroy departed for Nike.

With the Masters only three weeks away, expect to see other apparel companies follow Oakley's lead and release the apparel scripting for some of golf's biggest names in the coming weeks.

PING staffer Tom Lewis (left) confers with Matt Rollins on the range.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

LAST WEEK: Q&A with Paul Loegering, TaylorMade-adidas PGA TOUR manager

Matt Rollins is constantly on the go. PING's Senior PGA TOUR manager spent 39 weeks on the road last season overseeing PING's operations on the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour.

Rollins said he's hoping to "cut back" to 35 events this year, but with names like Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahan and Louis Oosthuizen putting their trust in Rollins each week, he said there's always a chance that number could end up being closer to 39 events again.

Even with his hectic schedule, Rollins still found time to chat about life on tour, his friendship with Bubba Watson, and the pressure he faces to get equipment adjustments right.

You obviously have a lot on your plate each week when you're on the road. Give me a rundown of what you do when you step foot on the course Monday morning?

Matt Rollins: I'll usually fly in on Sunday, check in at the hotel and get situated. On Monday morning, Daniel [Udd], PING's master TOUR technician, and I will open up the truck, get a list of the tournament field and see which PING staffers are playing that week.

From there we'll pull PING hats for staffers, along with any equipment they may have requested over the weekend. We'll also start corresponding with the grip and shaft reps if we need anything, and meeting with players as they arrive.

On top of all that, you're posting pictures to Twitter and Facebook, fulfilling ticket requests, and also doing off-site stuff like setting up autograph signings like we did for Louis Oosthuizen during the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Tuesday and Wednesday is more of the same as guys continue to arrive at the tournament. We're also working with players on the range testing new equipment if they want something in particular. The first three days before the tournament usually fly by.

What happens when after you leave the course on Wednesday evening? I'm assuming you head home to relax?

Matt Rollins: Actually, it's the exact opposite. I'm at the office (PING headquarters) by 8 a.m. on Thursday and usually spend the next couple of days meeting with engineers to discuss what's working and what needs to be changed, as well as testing what's coming out in, say, the next six months. We'll go over everything from the finish to if the club is too flat or upright, open or shut. 

Upper management wants to discuss what's going on each week, and on top of that, I have to book my own airfare, hotel, rental car, fill out my expense report, make dinner ... and find time to go to my kid's baseball game. Needless to say, I'm always busy.

I've heard you and Bubba Watson have a great relationship. Are you really the only guy who's allowed to work on his clubs?

Matt Rollins: To an extent. We've worked together since 2002 and he trusts what I do. As far as putting the clubs together, Daniel actually builds them; I just make sure the grips are on as they should be. I know what he's looking for.

Through our relationship, he's trusted that if I say it's good, he doesn't doubt it, which is nice. But that kind of trust has been earned.

Going back to the trust players put in you for a moment, do you feel extra pressure to get it right when you suggest an equipment adjustment and the player takes your advice?

Matt Rollins: Definitely. There's a reason Lee Westwood trusts me — it's because we have history and he trusts what I've done in the past.

Here's an example: I got a text from Hunter Mahan a couple days ago and he told me he needed a 3-wood that goes a little more left with less spin. He didn't say what shaft, loft or head he needed. To read within the text, he basically told me that I knew what I was doing and to make it happen. I keep saying it, but trust is huge out here.

If you suggest a couple different driver options early in the week and one of them goes in the bag, you're constantly checking driving stats for the rest of the week.

I'll never call a player Thursday-Sunday during the week, but I'll usually text the caddie to see how the new driver or 3-wood is performing.

Is there also pressure to make sure players are using the newest equipment PING has out on the market?

Matt Rollins: That's the other part of the equation. We obviously want PING staffers to feel comfortable with what they have in the bag, but we're in this business to sell clubs as well.

It's tough to promote a win if the player's using a club that's five years old. But then again, there's a fine line between trying to get a guy to play the latest stuff, and making sure they feel confident with the clubs they have in the bag.

You always want your guys to feel confident when they step on the tee. If that happens to be with clubs from a couple years ago, so be it. It all boils down to never wanting to lose the trust of a player out here.

Bubba Watson added a personalized shaft to his new 4-wood.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Talk about the perfect way to deter thieves from stealing your clubs. Just plaster your likeness on them.

Bubba Watson already had the flashiest driver on the PGA TOUR -- a Ping G25 with a hot pink Grafalloy Tour Prototype Bi-Matrix shaft and paint fill. With the addition of a new Ping G25 4-wood to the bag, the Masters champion now has the most recognizable fairway wood in golf.

Looking to add his a personal touch to the club, Watson added a candy cane-striped Fujikura Tour Spec 8.2 shaft.

As if the shaft wasn't unique enough, Watson also added a caricature of himself -- the image is actually the same one that graces his Twitter profile -- to secure his title as the king of custom woods.

Watson started using the personalized Ping G25 4-wood at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM

Oakley will have another major winner on its roster for the 2013 season, after the company announced on Thursday that 2012 Masters winner Bubba Watson would be joining the team.

“Oakley gets it,” Watson said. “I’m proud to join their family because they love the game and they never stop pushing technology to make the game better. Whatever they can do — whatever can be done — Oakley will do it. I respect that.”

While Rory McIlroy hasn’t been officially unveiled as a Nike athlete — the announcement is supposed to come the week of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, McIlroy’s first event of the season — the move away from Oakley to the Swoosh is all but a done deal. With the two-time major winner no longer part of the equation, Oakley decided to position itself for the future with two former major winners in Watson and Zach Johnson, who signed on at the end of December.

“Oakley has the kind of attitude I connect with,” Watson said. “It’s about keeping it fun but staying locked-in on achieving the best, even when it means taking chances. Oakley doesn’t get bogged down with the kind of thinking everybody else is stuck on. They respect the game as much as I do, and they take good care of their family. That’s why I’m happy to join them.”

Watson, who was with Travis Mathew for the last three years, will likely become the face of Oakley’s performance golf apparel line. He’ll wear the company’s performance golf apparel for the upcoming season. The new apparel line includes Oakley’s O Hydrolix technology that manages moisture to minimize cling and maximize comfort. Oakley’s also added OctoStick grip tape to the hem to keep the polo in place during the round.

Oakley’s new performance golf apparel line is available on its website and ranges in price from $50-70.