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Saltus Credits GEL Putter with Cambodian Open Victory

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Monday, December 3, 2007, London, UK; America’s Bryan Saltus clinched the US$300,000 Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open on the Asian Tour yesterday (December 2) and immediately gave credit to his GEL Groove Putter for helping him lift his first ever major tour title.

Bryan Saltus

“My putting has been the winning formula this week. I had a good start with three birdies and my confidence carried on after that,” said a thrilled Saltus, who was playing with a GEL Sapphire Putter in his bag.

Saltus, a regular on the Asian Tour since 2004, secured the tournament with an impressive 17 under par 271 that comprised rounds of 66, 67, 71 and 67, from Australia’s Adam Groom, who trailed Saltus by three shots.

In all, Saltus took just 114 putts over the four rounds of the tournament thanks to his GEL Sapphire which he used for the first time in Cambodia after missing the cut in Vietnam last week and throwing his old putter into a lake. The 114 putts included 31 single putts, forty two-putts and a just one three-putt.

Asian Tour statistics show that Salts’ putting average prior to Cambodia had been 30.4 per round but using his GEL Putter last week, that average plummeted to 28.5 putts per round.

“I heartily congratulate Bryan and am delighted that one of our GEL putters has made a positive contribution to securing his victory here today. It is GEL’s maiden tour win and we look forward to many more,” said Alec Pettigrew, managing director of Hong Kong-based GEL Golf.

“We have huge belief in our product as we know that Groove Technology really does work and Bryan’s victory in Cambodia should go a long way to exposing to the world the benefits of our technology.”

“Independent testing on our GEL putters, which have horizontal, precision-cut aluminium grooves, has proved that our technology produces greater grip on the ball, so reducing skid and creating more topspin at the moment of impact to keep the ball rolling more truly. The result – good putts are rewarded by ending up in the bottom of the cup and this is what Bryan found this week.”

It was biomechanical testing by Quintic in January that confirmed that GEL putters outperform a number of top competitive brands on the market such as Odyssey, Titleist and PING.

Launched earlier this year, the innovative GEL Groove Putters have already met with success on the Asian Tour. In November’s Hana Bank Vietnam Masters over the Hanoi Phoenix Golf Resort a record 13 players in the field placed their confidence in a GEL putter and three were rewarded with a top-10 finish.

American Anthony Kang had his third top ten in eight events when he clinched fourth spot in Vietnam, catapulting him up the Asian Order of Merit and earning him over US$140,000 in prize money. Alongside him Australia’s David Gleeson, who made his Open Championship debut at Carnoustie in July using a GEL Ruby Putter, has enjoyed a return to form ever since and secured his Asian Tour card for 2008.

Additional information on GEL pitters

GEL putters are all built from 431 stainless steel with a Black Nickel finish. They all have an aluminium putter face insert, which is softer and more responsive than the stainless steel face inserts of other groove putters. Of the six models (Jade, Emerald, Opal, Diamond, Topaz and Ruby) in the GEL range, two putters come in ladies specifications and three in left-handed specifications.

Tour professionals were also consulted during the design process which resulted in manufacturing the GEL putters with larger, heavier and more balanced heads, to encourage an even smoother and more rhythmical putting stroke.

GEL putters retail at around £100.

Source: Helen Heady, Heady PR

Email: helen@headypr.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)20 8789 0900

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