Clubs and balls have come a long way in the
past 20 years or so and the latest and greatest golf equipment is always a
favorite hot stove league topic. So, with spring at least in sight, it’s worthwhile
taking a look at what the 2014 models tell us about trends in design and
technology. The reader can draw his or her own conclusions but recognize change
is being driven by the very nature of the competitive equipment marketplace and
there’s no sure way to know which new design or exotic material will give us
the next big performance improvement.
Some may argue Callaway Golf’s Big Bertha
Driver in 1991 or even the first driver using titanium in the clubhead, Mizuno
Golf’s Pro Ti 110 driver in 1995, marked the beginning of the modern golf club.
However the fact is it was a golf ball 14 years ago that pushed club makers to
rethink designs and materials.
Acushnet Co.’s brand, the Titleist Pro V1,
wasn’t the first urethane covered multi-layer solid core golf ball but coming
from the market leader it had an immense impact. The Pro V1 hit the fairways in
October 2000 at the PGA Tour Invensys Classic and if there ever was a “game
changer,” it was this ball. Compared to the then standard balata covered wound
construction it went “miles further” and in no time almost every player on Tour
was teeing up a Pro V1. Recreational players followed the pros lead and that
served to further widen Titleist’s already large lead in the ball category, a
position they still confidently hold.
To take advantage of the performance gains
brought by the Pro V1, drivers had to improve as well. The Big Bertha clubhead
was steel but makers soon switched to an “exotic” metal from the aerospace
industry, lighter and stronger titanium. It allowed clubheads to increase two
and a half times in size making them much easier to hit while at the same time,
along with shafts made of graphite fibers half the weight of steel, kept
overall club weight down to where they were still playable by recreational
players. Further help came for golfers in 2004 when TaylorMade Golf introduced
the R7 Quad driver and for the first time players had the opportunity to modify
ball flight by adjusting the weighting of the clubhead.
For the coming season the drivers from every
major manufacturer have some method of player adjustment and the hottest ones
have pushed clubhead weight even lower and more forward towards the clubface.
When combined with clubface coefficient of restitution values near the limit set
by the USGA the result is more distance because the ball has much less spin.
However trajectory is also lower, a lot lower, so to maximize results touring
pros are using drivers with lofts 1 degree higher than before and in some cases
1.5 degrees. Recreational players have also seen the need to ratchet up the
loft on their low and forward weighted drivers to achieve the correct
trajectory for the most yardage from the tee.
Two major players in the driver category have
introduced a track for a sliding weight, one on the sole of the clubhead and
the other on the rear. The principle is to make adjustments of the ball’s
curvature tendency more precise and at the same time easier to do. Loft in both
is adjusted by use of a sleeve on the hosel.
Fairways and hybrids are taking advantage of
the materials such as titanium and designs until now used only in drivers.
Clubfaces producing shots with relatively low spin and trajectory are forcing
players, just as with drivers, to go to higher lofts. One manufacturer has been
making use of a slot behind the clubface to achieve increased flex and
therefore distance for some time but now is complementing that with the lower
and more forward weight placement. Look also for a continuation of the trend to
longer shafts since, all things being equal, they produce more clubhead speed
and distance. But the average recreational player should be cautious about
going to more length because just as with drivers they are harder to hit and
control.
An interesting trend is the appearance of
game-improvement category clubs particularly irons in the bags of touring pros.
With the advancements in the casting process used to manufacture heads of irons
there are several brands available that offer the same feel as forged irons but
with game improvement irons hit-ability. In fact in a blindfold test they are
impossible to tell apart. Add to that the development of forged heads with
larger cavities more like game-improvement models and the difference between
the two types, i.e., player’s models and game improvement models, has become
blurred.
Look for titanium in the faces of irons for
the same reasons as in woods, more distance but the real story is a bit more
complex. The latest, most popular irons have a combination of larger, deeper faces
which makes for more rebound at impact as well as having the center of gravity
repositioned much more forward than is traditional. These irons produce a
higher launch angle and a lower spin rate producing more speed giving higher
flying shots. Therefore they give more distance and because they land more
vertically and don’t run as much they are more accurate. Some models have slots
behind the faces to further enhance their performance so taken all together the
average golfer should see a significant increase in distance with a higher and
more controllable ball flight.
Putters continue to exhibit an astonishing
variety of design and the now familiar extreme perimeter weighting has
blossomed into several new configurations. There is one trend though that may
be around for a while, the counterbalance putter, a response to the ruling by
the USGA that disallowed anchored putting strokes effective in 2016.
The principle is to put a heavy weight at the
grip end of the putter to “counterbalance” the weight of the putter head and
provide a pendulum-like stroke, a main feature of belly and chest anchored
putters. Counterbalance putters are usually two to three inches longer than
usual and gripped down to produce the desired effect during the stroke. There
is also at least one of the new putters that uses a super lightweight grip on
an almost featherweight shaft which creates the opposite effect to
counterbalancing and we’ll have to wait a while to see which design, if either
of them, becomes popular.
----------------Cutlines----------
Billy Andrade, a Titleist staff player, put
the Pro V1 in play the first week it was introduced in October 2000 and won the
Invensys Classic in Las Vegas.
The Titleist Pro V1 and complimentary model
Pro V1x are still on top, a position they have held for over a decade.
The first Big Bertha driver from Callaway Golf
in 1991.
Mizuno Golf introduced the first driver making
use so titanium in the clubhead, the Pro Ti 110, in 1995.
Another milestone in driver technology occurred
in 2004 when TaylorMade Golf brought out the R7 Quad driver with player
adjustable weights in the clubhead.
TaylorMade Golf has the #1 driver with their
SLDR model that’s been on the market since August 2013. It has a revolutionary
track in the sole for a 20 gram sliding weight to adjust the draw or fade bias.
Callaway Golf’s Big Bertha driver has a
sliding weight at the rear of the clubhead.
ED TRAVIS | Golf Opinion & Commentary
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