The envelope with a return address at from Dustin Johnson and TaylorMade. Inside was a letter from the guy who claims he isn’t really dating Natalie Gulbis. “Dustin” talked about how much he likes the new R11 driver and how great it is. Along with the letter — which featured a nice use of variable data — was an invitation to attend a launch event for the new R11 driver at Golf Galaxy.

That in itself isn’t that surprising. In recent equipment cycles, there has been more and more hype around the release of new clubs. Sometimes it is the new hot set of irons — there was a lot of hype around the initial launch of Titleist’s AP1 and AP2 irons — but usually it is around the driver.

The difference in this mailing was in the details. In honor of the R11 — the new driver with the white head that you’ve certainly seen ads for if you’ve watched anything on The Golf Channel — Golf Galaxy will be open from midnight until 2 a.m. on Feb. 4, the release date.

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