Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Peace Missile Driver has disarming effect

BRIAN HILDERBRAND is a Las Vegas SUN sportswriter. His golf column appears Tuesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at [email protected]

Cary Schuman still recalls the historic day in 1986 when the United States and the former Soviet Union signed the nuclear disarmament treaty which, for all intents and purposes, signaled the end of the cold war.

Schuman, however, remembers the day differently than most Americans. Aside from the historical significance of the treaty, Schuman was intrigued by the commercial possibilities of obtaining the country's old nuclear missiles.

"When they announced that the Russians were going to blow up their missiles and we were going to dismantle ours, I thought at that time that it would be neat to get some missile parts," Schuman said.

It would be nine years before Schuman would get his hands on some surplus Russian missile parts -- and the professional golfer knew exactly what he wanted to do with them.

After obtaining surplus Russian SS-23 and American Polaris A-3 missiles, Schuman decided to melt them down and use the material to make golf clubs. The result was the Peace Missile Driver, the Peace Putter and the second-generation driver, the Peace Missile 2000.

The Peace Missile drivers are not only a collector's item with historical significance. Schuman calls the driver one of the best clubs on the market.

"We melt the missiles down and combine them with 15-5 stainless steel and the key is to heat treat them to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit to strengthen them," Schuman, president of Peace Missile Inc., explained. "Now you have a club that's almost as light, almost as strong as titanium but with the feel of stainless steel, which almost everybody prefers.

"It's better than anything on the market, plus it's also a commemorative item and an historic item because of its composite material and political implications."

When it comes to drivers, Schuman knows of what he speaks. The former Asian and European touring pro holds the accepted world record for the longest drive at 463 yards, 10 inches -- at sea level. Schuman set the record in 1991 during a PGA-sanctioned long-drive contest at Royal Fox Golf Club in St. Charles, Ill.

Although Schuman has yet to mass market the Peace Missile Drivers, he said response to the clubs have been overwhelming.

"We've been selling them on the Internet and we're going to do an infomercial -- that's our main focus now," said Schuman, who was in Las Vegas last week to put on a long-drive demonstration during the DirecTV Charity Golf Classic at the Desert Inn Golf Club. "Our newer model is the Peace Missile 2000, to commemorate the new millenium."

Schuman said that President Clinton, an avid golfer, carries a Peace Missile Driver in his golf bag.

While an infomercial regarding the Peace Missile Driver won't be out until spring, the drivers and putters are available by calling 1-800-700-1211.

* AROUND THE GREEN: Former UNLV standout Chris Riley finished tied for 44th place following a final-round 77 in the Nike Tour's Lakeland Classic last weekend in Lakeland, Fla. Henderson resident Jeff Gallagher tied for 38th while former Basic High standout Craig Barlow missed the cut by one stroke. ... Phil Mickelson, who won last weekend's Mercedes Championships in Carlsbad, Calif., has won seven of his 12 PGA Tour titles on the West Coast swing. ... Fuzzy Zoeller, who lost his endorsement deal with K-mart after making racially insensitive jokes following Tiger Woods' Masters victory, has signed a one-year endorsement deal with Sport-Haley clothing apparel and reportedly is close to a contract with a club manufacturer. ... The fourth annual DirecTV Charity Golf Classic, held last Tuesday at the Desert Inn Golf Club, raised more than $40,000 for the UCLA Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis Research.

* UPCOMING EVENTS: The PGA Tour will hold its first full-field event of 1998, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, starting Wednesday in Bermuda Dunes, Calif. Mark Brooks is defending champion. ... The Senior PGA Tour starts up this week with the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii. Hale Irwin won last year's event. ... The LPGA Tour also gets under way this week with the HealthSouth Inaugural in Orlando, Fla.

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