Buyers Guides

Putters 2018: Flux Unity

Controlling spin on a golf ball, especially putts, is a big issue for even the best players. Most putter strikes have some form of side spin and backspin that take the ball off the intended line. Flux Unity is the first effort from a golf design studio and proven innovator in face insert technology. The “ambidextrous” double-face putter breaks a long-standing performance barrier in 2018 with DARtech. The patent-pending and USGA-conforming putter face geometry produces positive RPM (topspin) instantly upon striking. In other words, Flux offers performance through tech, not technique.

Traditionally, pro golfers and low handicap players have overcome the natural tendency for the ball to spin backwards off the club face with stroke styles that change the attack angle of the club. DARtech now offers the ability for all players to experience the same benefits of overspin combined with launch angle consistency without having to change their stroke.

Then there’s Flux’s FloW8 twist resist technology — 10 grams of 303 stainless were yanked and replaced with 30 grams of Tungsten…all in the toe. The redistributed weight resists twisting at contact, especially off-center strikes, and reacts as though it has a much higher MOI. This promotes an unencumbered stroke release on a consistent path regardless of player’s arch or distance to the target. Finally, Flux’s counter balanced grip is refined to optimize the player’s swing path. The putter is available this spring in black or brushed stainless with a polymer or stainless steel “Directional Angular Rotation” face insert. The face has two degrees of loft and shaft length is a standard 35 inches.

Lead Design Engineer J.A. Bergquist has made “The Quest for the Perfect Roll” his mantra for over a decade, and his over 40 production putter designs have borne results with wins on the PGA, LPGA, Champions and Web.Com tours. “With FLUX, I feel like this journey to create consistent roll in a golf ball has come to its nexus,” states Bergquist. “Years of innovation have led to this point: the most balanced and consistent putter we have ever brought to life.”

www.fluxgolf.com

Putters 2018: Odyssey Toulon Atlanta

Already a proven winner on Tour, the Odyssey Toulon Atlanta design is a mid-sized mallet, fully milled with a multi-material aluminum sole plate. The shaping is beautiful, it’s very forgiving and easy to align, and with both a face balanced and a toe hang option, there’s one to fit your stroke.

Every head is milled from a solid block of soft 303 stainless steel. Every curve, radius and line is painstakingly rendered. The face alone takes 40 minutes to mill. The “contact patch” at the center of the face incorporates diamond crosshatch grooves that form a pattern on the face that strategically channels vibration to promote a uniquely satisfying sound and feel. The putter’s headweight is easily increases or reduced by installing the aluminum, stainless or tungsten sole plate; on the grip end, SuperStroke offers the option of installing a 25g or 50g counterbalance plug into the butt-end. Configuring the sole plate/counterbalance in different weight combinations create a variety of ways to customize the putter’s feel and fit every style of release, whether moderate or aggressive.

When Callaway acquired Toulon in 2016, it was a big leap for both companiesa. Sean Toulon has been a student and practitioner of club design since joining the golf industry more than 30 years ago. He founded Zevo Golf in the 1990s and was a driving force behind some of the most innovative and iconic metalwoods, irons and putters introduced since the turn of the century. He founded Toulon Design in 2015; he now serves as Callaway’s senior vice president/general manager of putters.

www.odysseygolf.com

Putters 2018: Ping Vault 2.0

Ping Vault 2.0 putters are the next generation of 100 percent-milled flat sticks crafted and engineered to provide tour-caliber touch and performance through proven innovations like precision-milled, patented True Roll Technology (TR), plus a new custom-weighting system. The new system offers sole weight options in steel (standard weight head), tungsten (15 g heavier than standard) and aluminum (15 g lighter than standard) to match a golfer’s feel and balance preferences.

Precision-milled TR technology ensures full-face forgiveness for consistent speed off the face. The individually milled face pattern varies in depth and pitch across the face, which speeds up off-center impacts, improving consistency and ultimately leading to fewer three-putts.

“As we advance the technologies we apply in designing and manufacturing our putters, we’re able to offer more putter-fitting options than ever,” said Solheim. “The precision with which we mill the PING Vault 2.0 putters allows us to fine-tune the specifications that best match a golfer’s stroke and feel preference. With our new weighting system, we’re able to add or reduce the overall headweight to achieve the best balance for each player which will lead to more consistency on the greens.”

Golfers can choose from three premium finishes (Stealth, Platinum or Copper) in five models precision-milled from 303 stainless steel, including the new Dale Anser, which is inspired by one of the original Anser putter molds created by Allan Dale Solheim and detailed by his father, Karsten Solheim. The award-winning Ketsch mallet (Stealth or Slate finish) combines a fully-machined 6061 aerospace-grade aluminum body with a stainless steel sole plate for an extremely high MOI and offers exceptional alignment features.

All the models are fit for stroke and designed with varying alignment aids to fit a golfer’s preferred look and alignment style. As part of the custom building process that ensures optimal balance, putters between 34 and 36 inches in length are built with steel sole weights; models 34 inches and shorter feature tungsten weighting; putters built 36 inches and longer use aluminum weights.

Four proprietary PING Pistol tapered grips provide golfers with variances in shape and feel.

www.ping.com

Putters 2018: TaylorMade Spider Interactive

TaylorMade Golf’s putters can get lost in all the hype and hoopla of the company’s metal woods and irons. Nevertheless, TaylorMade’s Spider is the most successful putter in company history and one of the more successful putter lines industrywide the past several years. The TaylorMade Spider Interactive Putter Powered by Blast advances how golfers of all skill levels capture, analyze and progress their game where strokes matter most — on the greens.

The Spider putter’s incorporation of Blast’s motion capture sensors, according to TaylorMade, make it the company’s first totally-integrated golf sensor product in company history. The popular Spider mallet-headed model comes with a SuperStroke grip pre-fitted with the Blast Motion sensor, which in turn captures every stroke and sends it to the Blast app on iPhone or Android. Spider Interactive measures key putting stroke metrics including timing (backstroke time, forward stroke time, tempo), impact stroke speed and face rotation. Users will be able to easily analyze details of their putting stroke and track progress over time with performance history and interactive graphs, along with tiered training modules and drills to help improve putting. The app will also feature video recording and playback capabilities so users can review and analyze their strokes. YouTube golf instructional personalities Me & My Golf will have tips and tutorial videos on the app for further developmental content.

The Spider Interactive Powered by Blast putter is constructed the same as TaylorMade’s renowned Spider Tour putters; a 304 stainless steel frame combined with a lightweight 6061 aluminum body enabling weight to be positioned at the extremities, providing improved stability and high MOI. The Spider Interactive Powered by Blast putter also incorporates TaylorMade’s popular, tour-proven milled aluminum Pure Roll insert with a gunmetal finish to promote better forward roll, increased directional accuracy and improved distance control. Further, the sensor’s remarkably light weight does not impact the performance of the Spider Interactive putter.

Included with the Spider Interactive is a Blast charging pad, micro USB cable, sensor installation key, live sensor, yellow filler plug (inserted for conforming use in tournament play) and storage pouch.

TaylorMadeGolf.com | Check the price on Amazon!

Putters 2018: Titleist Scotty Cameron Select

The next generation of Titleist Scotty Cameron Select putters — introducing new four-way sole balancing technology — continues the evolution of a line engineered for performance, milled to precision and designed with elegance. It advances Titleist Master Putter Maker Scotty Cameron’s proven multi-material construction methodology of combining face inlays of either 303 stainless steel or 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum with stainless steel bodies for superior balance, weight distribution, sound and feel.

The Select line features seven tour-validated modern blade and mid-mallet models. The new Select Laguna joins Scotty’s classic Select Newport, Newport 2 and Newport 2.5 blade styles, while the popular Fastback and Squareback names return in updated mid-mallet offerings. Rounding out the line is the heel-shafted mid-mallet Select Newport 3.

Precise refinements made to the sight, sound and sole components of each Select model deliver key performance benefits. “Everything I’ve learned from refining and redesigning Newport-style putters over the last two decades has gone into this 2018 Select line,” Scotty Cameron said. “I always strive to raise the bar by incorporating new materials, milling and manufacturing techniques. I’m at the point with the Select line of putters that now I’m hyper-focused on the finest details. Tour players pick up on things most people don’t but those details can make a big difference in how a putter performs. We’ve reengineered the sole to account for the shaft and grip weight by actually moving metal in minute increments to help the putter align perfectly. I call it four-way sole balancing because we’ve balanced the putter from face to cavity, and from heel to toe.”

The 2018 Select line employs three unique setups — incorporating Scotty’s innovative face inlays that wrap around the sole and disappear from the player’s view at address — to complement each putter shape and size: Newport, Newport 2, Newport 2.5, Laguna, Newport 3, Fastback and Squareback.

www.scottycameron.com/2018-select | Check the price on Amazon!

Wedges 2018: Ben Hogan TK

In keeping with its namesake legend’s ultra-accurate game, The Ben Hogan TK wedges were “Engineered for accuracy. Forged for feel.” The wedges offer a unique V-Sole sole for excellent versatility from any lie.

Wedges have to be the most precisely engineered clubs in your bag. That’s why Hogan engineers designed their wedges independently of one another with focused precision. Each wedge is designed independently to maximize performance to each loft. The TK wedges are offered in every degree 44 to 63 degrees. They are forged to provide excellent feel and feedback and have a 100 percent CNC milled face for exceptional spin.

In Ben Hogan TK wedges, engineers re-distributed the mass more evenly across the back of the club head to fix every swing fault. In turn, they deliver more penetrating trajectories on full swings, and the distance control on all shots that is so important to scoring range performance. Plus, Ben Hogan TK wedges are easier to flight down and much more responsive to those “in-between” shots around the greens.

With Ben Hogan TK wedges, as loft decreases from the lob wedge down to the gap wedge, some of the mass is gradually redistributed more toward the heel and toe, and higher on the club head. This ensures optimum trajectories on full shots, and improved distance control anywhere. And shots caught high on the face fly almost exactly like a well-struck shot.

Distance control is the real measure of a good wedge player. Ben Hogan TK wedges are engineered to help you be the best wedge player you can be.

www.benhogan.com | Check the price on Amazon!

Wedges 2018: Cleveland RTX and CBX

The Cleveland RTX and CBX help keep this world-renowned wedge builder at the front of the pack for 2018.

When Cleveland announced its new cavity back CBX Wedge —designed for the 84 percent of golfers who play cavity back irons, according to their research — Golf Tips did an on-course comparison with the blade version of its sibling, the RTX-3, which debuted earlier in 2017 (there’s also an RX-3 “cavity back”). Both were 54 degrees with standard stiff Dynamic Gold shafts; the RTX-3 had a V-Fit “mid-range sole grind” to fit most amateurs’ games.

At address the wedges look quite similar, with identical groove/strike zones (both of which benefit from Cleveland’s Feel Balancing Technology, which moves the club’s center of gravity closer to the center of the Rotex face), and identical toe shapes. The CBX has a slightly more curved leading edge to help the wedge move more smoothly through rough or sand. Overall the visual feedback from both is of generous dimensions and a broad strike zone whether squaring or opening the face.

Their biggest difference — besides the “classic blade” vs. deep cavity-back trailing sides — is bounce. The RTX-3’s mid-range grind offers a narrower and shallower angle between the club’s bottom and leading edge, while the CBX is wider along the base with a more acute bounce angle. In other words, it’s built not only to launch the ball higher from grass but increase the odds of escaping a trap in one go.

RTX-3 performs well out of sand with a slightly opened face, losing little momentum with a medium swing and cutting through the slightly wet surface with ease. The RTX-3 gets the nod from a mid-range fairway bunker thanks to its slightly lower overall trajectory and tighter bounce.

On turf, both wedges boast that solid yet soft and smooth feel that golfers expect from Cleveland.The RTX-3 is a bit more workable in terms of distance elevation control, especially from tighter lies. The new stick’s more pronounced bounce is noticeable on those slightly hooded runners. The CBX, meanwhile, goes a great job from medium-length rough. Both excel on the spin side, completing check-and-runs and soft lobs with just the right amount of pull-back or roll-out depending on swing length.

In the end, the Cleveland RTX-3 lives up to its stated purpose as a stick for more skilled players, while the brand new CBX is, as the company purports, “a forgiving yet versatile wedge that caters to the needs of the majority of golfers.” If you struggle in the scoring range with your current old-school blade, the CBX could be the club you’ve been looking for (and beyond it is Cleveland’s Smart Sole 3 wedge, also a new model, which is “created for golfers who want maximum forgiveness”).

www.clevelandgolf.com | Check the price of the RTX-3 on Amazon! | Check the price of the CBX on Amazon!

Wedges 2018: Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth

The Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges’ 8620 carbon steel head and precision-milled grooves deliver a softer feel and higher-spinning shots for greater control. The tour-inspired Stealth finish, which yields less glare and makes the head appear smaller, is applied using a QPQ (Quench Polish Quench) process for added durability. This wedge fits the game and the eye of players for whom performance and appearance go hand in hand.

A patented precision wheel-cut half groove near the lead edge on the 56, 58 and 60 degree improves engagement with the ball (specifically low on the face) to significantly increase spin and control from all conditions. The wheel-cut milling process was developed by PING’s engineering and manufacturing teams to enable grooves with a sharper edge radius, which increases interaction with the cover of the ball at impact, creating more friction for improved spin and trajectory control. The grooves in the lower-lofted wedges (46, 50 and 52 degrees) are milled with a 20 degree sidewall and a .005-inch edge radius for optimal full-shot performance. The higher-lofted versions (54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees) are milled to a .004-inch edge radius and a 28 degree sidewall to impart more spin, especially around the greens.

“The tour player response has been exceptional,” said Solheim. “The players first comment about the Stealth finish, which not only looks cool, they like how it makes the head appear smaller and it limits reflections on bright days. Once they feel it and see how much spin and control the grooves provide, the wedges go straight in the bag.”

The patented design is offered in four sole grinds (SS, WS, ES and TS) to ensure Glide 2.0 Stealth wedges can be fit to a golfer’s divot depth or attack angle and most common turf conditions.

www.ping.com | Check the price on Amazon!

Wedges 2018: TaylorMade Hi-Toe

The new milled grind TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedge is designed to deliver optimal short-game control for a multitude of shots and conditions around the green.

Featuring a higher, more centrally-located center of gravity, the new Hi-Toe wedge launches the golf ball lower while generating more spin and control from a variety of lies. The result, a wedge that gives golfers full confidence standing over full strikes, delicate chips, bump-and-runs, controlled pitches and precision-based flop shots, as well as providing excellent escape options from greenside bunkers.

“Our Tour players couldn’t wait to put this in the bag; Dustin Johnson praised the performance of the Hi-Toe following his dominant victory at Kapalua; we’re confident that this wedge will benefit golfers of all abilities around the green, regardless of what style of course they’re playing on,” said Bill Price, senior director, product creation, putters and wedges.

The Hi-Toe’s full-face scoring lines ensure consistent ball contact out of the rough, while the high bounce leading edge and channel cut midsole make for a more efficient turf interaction which provides cleaner contact with the golf ball for optimal short-game accuracy and control. The enhanced heel and toe relief of the Hi-Toe wedge allows golfers to accomplish a wide array of shots without the club digging into turf, while the sole cavity features three trapezoid-shaped pockets that optimize weight distribution, which in turn enhances the wedge’s feel.

www.taylormadegolf.com | Check the price on Amazon!

Wedges 2018: Titleist Vokey SM7

Master Craftsman Bob Vokey and his pioneering R&D team continue to shape the future of wedge design with the introduction of the new Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled 7 wedges. They provide all golfers the opportunity for a better, more confident short game through unmatched craftsmanship, technology and performance.

Vokey’s prior generation SM6 models ushered in a new era of wedge innovation and performance with their groundbreaking Progressive Center of Gravity (CG) design. The advancements made with SM7 – already the most played wedge model on the PGA Tour, with four SM7’s in the bag of Jordan Spieth – further widen the performance gap between a Vokey and all other wedges.

Improving in all three areas of wedge performance, new SM7 models provide increased shot versatility with expanded fitting options, improved distance and trajectory control and more spin. Finely tuned Progressive Center of Gravity locations improve trajectory and distance control while creating the best-feeling Vokey wedges to date. A concept pioneered by Vokey R&D, Progressive Center of Gravity aligns the CG with the impact position of each loft to produce precise distance and trajectory control with exceptional feel. Engineered using cutting-edge CAD technology, Progressive CG is visible technology on the back of the wedge.

Bob and his team identified the opportunity for an additional Spin Milled cutting process for plated wedges (Tour Chrome and Brushed Steel) as compared to the raw offerings (Jet Black and Raw). This new method improves upon Vokey’s industry-leading groove cutting tolerances, resulting in a more precise cut by finish and more spin in the plated wedges. A proprietary heat treatment is applied to all Vokey Design SM7 wedges, resulting in longer lasting spin through the life of the wedge.

The fastest way to a better short game is through a wedge fitting. Developed through his collaboration with the world’s best shot makers, Bob’s six tour-proven sole grinds — F, S, M, K, L and the new D grind – allow golfers of all skill levels to be precisely fit for their swing type, shot making style and course conditions. Vokey SM7 offers the game’s most complete selection of lofts, bounces and grinds, with 23 different combinations Golfers can learn more about custom fitting, locate a fitter and try the online Vokey SM7 Wedge Selector Tool.

Advanced testing of SM6 models showed an opportunity to enhance the CG locations within SM7. The Vokey R&D team pushed the locations even further – higher on the high lofts and lower on the low lofts – to produce more consistent performance with noticeably better feel at impact.

www.vokey.com| Check the price on Amazon!