OLF IS MORE THAN A GAME OF 18 HOLES. IT IS A STATEMENT ABOUT WHO YOU ARE. BRINGING OUT YOUR BEST — ON THE LINKS AND OFF — HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER, THANKS TO INNOVATIONS IN FASHION, CELL PHONES AND CLUB DESIGNS. PEBBLE BEACH RESORTS STANDS AT THE FOREFRONT OF MANY OF THESE WELCOME ADVANCES. READ ON AS WE ZERO IN ON FIVE WAYS TO MAKE THE GAME OF GOLF MORE INVITING TO YOU THIS YEAR.

Golfers come in all shapes, strengths, and styles. A driver that works delightfully for one may be objectionable to another. Face the golf fact: Clubs do make a difference in your game.

Fortunately, technology serves as a welcome matchmaker between golfers and clubs. That's where custom fittings enter the picture as a must-do for golfers wanting the most pleasure from their game.

Dramatic advances in the design of golf balls and new materials in club heads and shafts make custom fitting even more essential.

Jim Hayes, manager of instruction at Pebble Beach Golf Academy, monitors the readings on the Callaway Golf OptiFit system. A launch monitor feeds data to the computer to determine which of nearly 700 combinations of shaft and club head provides optimum performance for a particular golfer's swing.

"Golf balls don't spin so much now, so you need clubs that will launch balls higher in the air," says Laird Small, golf pro and director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. "During a club fitting, we educate golfers about the launch angle of the ball, the angle of approach of the club to the ball, the spin of the ball, and how to keep the ball tip in the air longer. You can take away a lot of knowledge and education from a customized club-fitting process."

Small points to the new Callaway Golf FT-i driver released this Year. It features a square club head with a light-carbon shaft and titanium club face.

"This club offers the highest [moment of inertia], and Callaway Golf has taken the weighting in the club and put it as far back in the club head as possible so that nearly the entire club face has a sweet spot," Small says. "You will hit this club so straight, it is incredible."

Custom-fitting programs are offered at Pebble Beach Resorts, as well as at the Carlsbad headquarters for Callaway Golf, a Pebble Beach brand partner and well-known innovator of golf club design. When booking an appointment, allow an hour for irons and an hour for woods. Each hour session costs $150. Small, master club-fitter Jim Hayes, and golf instructors Kathryn Marren and Dan Pasquariello are available at Pebble Beach Resorts for custom-club fittings.

Honing your golf skills by the best in the business can be a phone call away. If stormy skies or long workdays cancel your tee time, you can still soak in golf knowledge thanks to the world's first instructional golf videos feattired on cell phones.

GolfSpan, the first on-demand mobile golf instructional video service, showcases top golf instructors sharing valuable tips and advice. Powered by I-play, GolfSpan is available for Sprint Vision or Power Vision customers for $4.99 per mouth.

Among the instructors profiled is Pebble Beach Golf Academy Director Laird Small. "On this video, I offer 15 golf tips and plan to do more," Small says. "I show you how to putt, chip, make the ball spin from the fairway, handle bunker shots, and more. The coolness of this technology is that you can take it with you anywhere to help improve your game.

Tom Kite, who won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, mentors junior golfer Mina Harigae at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

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The service adds instructional video clips every week — easily accessible though navigational options on cell phones.

"Beginners and pros alike can take their game to a new level with on-demand golf instruction from world-famous instructors," says David Gosen, chief executive officer of I-play. "Our technology allows users to view streaming golf video content wherever, whenever, and however they want."

Small reports that some of his golf students download the lessons he gives them on their iPods. Some then share their golf-swing critiques with friends on the Internet. "This is where golf technology is going and I love it." he says.

"It is helping to distribute golf-teaching advice in a fast, fun, and, most importantly, effective way."

To view a sample of featured golf clips on this mobile subscription service, visit www.golfspan.com/ga/index.asp.

Credit the talents of Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie for triggering a youth movement in the ageless game of golf. Here's a fact to share with your golf foursome: Golfers younger than 18 represent the fastest-growing segment of the sport — up 14.2 percent in the United States since 2000. (Pebble Beach Resorts also sees many Baby Boomers on the links with their children and grandchildren.)

Recognizing this trend, Pebble Beach Resorts welcomes the annual Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, a Championship Tour event that pairs a Senior PGA professional with a youngster from one of many First Tee facilities around the world. The First Tee is a World Golf Foundation initiative (www.thefirsttee.org).

About 20 years ago, Pebble Beach offered a two-week junior golf camp each summer. Today, it offers year-round youth instruction.

Confess. No matter what your golf score, you want to look good on the course. Ever wish you could don an air-conditioned shirt on those hot days and stroll into the clubhouse feeling cool and refreshed?

No sweat. Now you can. Counter those hot, humid days on the links by wearing a performance-fabric golf shirt. Whether it is the Pebble Beach Classic golf shirt or one made by another manufacturer, like the fabled Pebble Beach courses, these shirts are anything but ordinary. They feature wicking weaved into the polyester-spandex fabric designed to actually pull sweat away from your skin and keep your body cool while you play 18 holes.

"These shirts for men are new for 2007, and the key characteristics are that they offer some stretch with a soft feel and the wicking yarns never wash out or lose their ability to keep perspiration avav from your body," says Monry James of SWC Dynamic Design, the Maryland-based licensee for the Lone Cypress brand by Pebble Beach, available at Nordstrom stores across the country.

These high-tech shirts also deliver UV protection against the sun's intense rays and are antistatic and antibacterial. The line comes in a variety of solid colors and conservative stripes as short-sleeved polo-style shirts.

"We've found that bigger guys especially love these shirts because they don't have to worry about perspiring when they're playing or having ing to put on a new shirt when they finish their rounds," James says.

The high-tech fabric of the Pebble Beach Classic golf shirt draws perspiration away from the body and provides UV protection.

Callaway Golf offers a ventilated travel bag to prolong the life of shoes.

Face the facts: Most of us hold our breath when we take off our golf shoes, especially after a long round on a hot, humid day. Phew! Well, the new golf-shoe carrier by Callaway Golf features special ventilation to "de-feet" that odor and extend the life of your shoes.

The ventilated shoe caddy is part of a line of travel golf gear unveiled this year by Callawav Golf. Other innovations include ergonomic golf-bag carriers, laptop cases, toiletry kits, and sunglass cases.

"What hurts golf shoes is that they break down because they stay wet from the salty sweat inside a golf bag," Small says. "Professional golfers tend to have four or five pairs of shoes that they rotate, but most recreational golfers have one, at most two pairs. This ventilated golf-shoe carrier has been tested, and it does work."

The ventilated shoe bags come in red, orange, blue and black and feature micromesh vents to promote air flow. They accommodate up to size 13 EEE. They also contain a special finish to prevent bacteria and an inner divider to prevent scuff marks.

View the shoe carriers and other new golf travel gear at www.callawaygolftravelgear.com.