Cosmonaut Readies for Event with Lesson from Hall of Fame Member Carol Mann and The Director of Instruction for the PGA of America, Rick Martino
TORONTO – July 18, 2006 — Element 21 Golf Company (E21) reported today that NASA has approved E21’s "Eagle One Mission" in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Alan B. Shepard Jr.’s, historic Apollo 14 Mission. E21 also announced that Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin will be given a golf lesson from LPGA Hall of Fame member Carol Mann and Rick Martino of the PGA of America on Thursday July 20, 2006 in Houston, Texas.
On July 11, 2006, a Flight Safety Certificate was signed by Mr. Michael T. Suffredini of NASA, for jettisoning a golf ball into orbit around the earth during a Russian Extravehicular Activity (EVA) this November. The International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 14 crew of Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria (NASA) http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lopez-al.html and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin (FSA) http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/turin.html will be trained for this program in the Hydro Lab (EVA simulation) at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center located in Star City, outside of Moscow, Russia from July 31 to August 8.
Prior to this training, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin will be given a golf lesson by Carol Mann and Rick Martino. The lesson will take place at 6:30 PM Thursday July 20, 2006, at the South Shore Harbour Country Club in League City, located south of Houston Texas. Also attending the lesson will be children of the local charity "Challenger Learning Center."
During her Hall of Fame career Carol Mann won 38 golf tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including the US Open in 1965. In 1968, she won 10 times and won the Vare Trophy with a then-record 72.04 scoring average. Ms. Mann was also one of the most influential President’s of the LPGA serving from 1973 to 1976. For the Women’s Sports Foundation Ms. Mann served as President from 1985-1990. Based in Houston, Ms. Mann is also a top ranked golf teacher hosting students and groups at The Woodlands C.C. in The Woodlands, Texas and takes an active role in facilitating the relationships between the World Golf Hall of Fame, located in St. Augustine, Florida, and its members and worldwide golf organizations.
Rick Martino is Director of Instruction for The PGA of America. He teaches at The PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and is ranked among the Top 50 instructors by Golf Digest Magazine and Top 100 of GOLF Magazine. Mr. Martino is also author of The PGA Manual of Golf. His public instruction can be viewed on www.pga.com. Rick also appears on the TNT broadcasts of the PGA Championship, the next being from Medinah C.C. near Chicago on August 17-20, 2006.
"We were fascinated and thrilled when Admiral Alan Shepard hit his moon shots and now honored and intrigued at the new challenges of helping Mikhail Tyurin launch his shot into orbit," Mann and Martino jointly stated.
"We are extremely pleased to receive final approval for this historic and international event," stated Dr. Nataliya Hearn, E21’s President and CEO. "We are honored that Carol Mann and Rick Martino have agreed to work with Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin. Having world renowned golf teachers conducting the lesson is only fitting."
About Element 21 Golf Company:
E21 holds the exclusive right to manufacture golf products using proprietary E21 Alloys. Through a sophisticated multi-technology production path E21 manufactures shafts, drivers, and other clubs with marked improvements in distance, accuracy and feel over competing products. In recent months a number of high profile golf professionals have switched to or began testing E21’s Eagle One shafts. E21 Alloys are 55% lighter and offers 25% strength to weight advantage over Titanium alloys, the current standard in the golf equipment industry. The advanced dynamics of E21 Alloys and the material economics offer a performance-enhanced alternative to manufacturing driver clubs with Titanium, the largest segment of the annual 4 billion dollar golf equipment marketplace.
E21 recently announced its "Golf Shot Around the World Mission" in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Alan B. Shepard Jr.’s historic Apollo 14 Mission. Just about every single record for distance in the golf industry will be shattered this fall when an astronaut will hit a golf ball into orbit around the earth – using an E21 golf club. It is only natural that this event takes place on the International Space Station, considering that E21 Alloys are also used on the Space Station in high strength, fatigue resistant applications.
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Media members interested in testing any of the Element 21 Golf products for an editorial review should contact Joe Wieczorek or Bart Henyan of the Media Group at (847) 956-9090 or e-mail joe@themediagroupinc.com or bart@themediagroupinc.com
Contact:
Joe Wieczorek
The Media Group, Inc.
(847) 956-9090
E-mail: joe@themediagroupinc.com
