Golf Clubs n Tips

Preview of new products from the major golf suppliers.

TaylorMade RocketBallz

What a name! Yes, it’s hot! TaylorMade has been on a distance crusade on this is the latest and longest. The lineup includes three driver series – The RocketBallz Tour Driver, RocketBallz Tour TP Driver, and the RocketBallz Driver – plus new RocketBallz Rescues and irons. To give you an idea of what’s going on here, the 6 iron has a loft of 26.5 vs. the Ping G20’s 29.0 and shafts are among the longest in the field. Yes, they are long and really are rockets.

We sampled an 18.5 Rescue that had a very long, boring flight. The sole has a slot and a very thin wall that allows the engineers to move the center of gravity low and forward for increased ball speed. It has a good sound and is just super long.

The Tour Driver series has a slightly heavier/stiffer shaft and smaller head said to promote faster speeds for faster swingers. They have the now well-known white crown and black face.

We can’t wait until these clubs are generally available to try the whole series. Here is a preview of the lineup. Golfsmith is our proline supplier for TaylorMade products

Ping G20 Driver – It’s long and forgiving. Yes, the engineers at Ping have done it again. You don’t have to fiddle with adjustments. Just take it out and hit it. It’s the real deal. The engineers redistributed the weight optimizing the center of gravity to generate a high launch with a low spin rate. We hit it on the range. Played 18 holes and put it in our bag. Go to the report in the right hand column for more.

Bobby Jones Workshop Edition Driver - It’s big and it’s long. Jesse Ortiz, the former head of and chief designer at Orlimar, has come up with another solid design. The 460cc club head has a unique profile that centers the mass and Aldila 45 gram shaft makes it a light but controllable club. Click the report listed in the right hand column for the more information on our field test.

Cleveland CG 16 Irons – The CG16™ irons are designed with a lighter overall club weight and longer club length for maximum distance. The large cavity back, with its full undercut, stretches the center of gravity low and deep to optimize launch angle and significantly improve forgiveness.  The large, thin face allows for increased COR and maximum ball speed that will produce distance that competes with any iron set in the market – but with increased control.  Available with lightweight steel or graphite shafts, the CG16™ irons are offered in either a Black Pearl or Satin Chrome finish. Read our review listed under Golf Information to the right.

Cleveland’s UltraLite XL270 Driver – One of the lightest drivers ever played on tour. The longer and lighter  shaft is engineered to increase clubhead speed without giving up forgiveness or feel. The 270 is also available in a Draw version, with heel biased weighting and a slightly closed face for slice reduction. Players who have tested either version of the XL270 have experienced a real “Wow factor” due to the effortless distance achieved. Click the review in the far right list for the write up.

Ping Anser Irons – Forged irons from Ping that are predictable and feel awesome. While expensive these are definitely worth a look. Multi-metal design that provides forgiveness in a forged iron that has that soft feel that only forged clubs have. The clubs are designed with a hollow sole cavity to position the center of gravity for higher launching shots that bite. Expensive but definitely worth a look. See the write up under Golf Information.

Callaway Diablo Octane Driver – Callaway’s latest driver is revolutionary. Lighter, faster, stronger is their claim and it is a rocket launcher. There are two models. The Diablo Octane is available with a square face or 1 degree closed with a 460cc head, 46 inch shaft, and a D4 swing weight. The Tour Driver is designed for more accomplished golfers with features that provide greater versatility to attack the course with precision shot-shaping and trajectory control. The 450cc head incorporates a deep face with a smaller footprint and an open face angle with less face progression.

PING K15 Irons – Ping engineers have done it again with an innovative game improvement design that incorporates four hybrid options. We think this is a winner and will increase the playing enjoyment for all weekend golfers.

Maxfli Tour Series Golf Balls – The new Tour Series is comprised of three new balls engineered to your swing speed. The Tour, Tour LC, and Tour XD have the tour proven urethane cover married to an isonomer mantle that works with the core to provide maximum initial velocity  and lower spin off the driver while providing superb short game control. See the review in the Golf Ball Section. We think this is a winner,

Mizuno MX-300 Irons – Mizuno has been known for its great forged irons, but not forgiveness. Our staff loves the traditional look and workability of forged Mizuno blades, but they have been known to have a sweet spot about the size of a dime. The new Mizuno-300 irons really are forgiving and still are great looking!

Ping G15 and i15 Drivers – The G15 is long and forgiving. The i15 may even be a bit longer on dead center hits and has more face curvature for shot making. The G15 is long and straight. Compared to theG10, the new G15 is a bit more forgiving and creates higher ball speed on off center hits. The launch angle is a little steeper to increase carry and is available in both neutral and draw versions. The G15 shaft’s balance point is closer to the handle and that allows more mass in the club head without sacrificing balance. The i15 is designed for players with higher swing speeds. The club face has more curvature for a higher energy transfer on center hits. Drives should have a lower trajectory and less spin for a penetrating flight. The club weighting encourages a slight fade for heavy hitters.

TaylorMade Rescue TP (May 2009) – The new Rescue TP is now widely accepted and in use on the tour. It has a compact head and comes with the Adila VooDoo VS8 shaft with S-Core technology standard. This is a great shaft also in wide use on the tour and by stronger players. The rescue TP has a MSRP $240, but we believe it will be discounted rapidly in this economy. Shaft options include Matrix Ozik Altus Hybrid and the Fulikura Motore 85. Lofts are 17, 19, and 22 degrees. For tinkers this club is like the R9 driver. You can adjust the face angle, loft, and lie. There is a non-adjustable version that comes with an Adila REAX graphite shaft (65 grams) at MSRP $199.

Callaway FT-9 Driver – Replaces the FT-5 and has engineering similar to the FT-iQ but has a more traditional look rather than the square FT-iQ. Has a very high moment of inertia and exhibits extreme stability. The FT-9 has a webweighting system on the lower rear section of the head and has a carbon composite body with a titanium face. There are draw, neutral, and tour versions. The Ft-9 draw and neutral versions come in a choice of 9, 10 11, and 13 degree lofts with an MSRP of $399. The Tour version is available in lofts of 8.5, 9.5, and 10.5 degrees with an Msrp of 4499. Both come with a standard Fujikura ZCom shaft. the company states that the FT-9 will be available in February.

Cleveland HiBore XLi Hybrid Iron Set ($599 steel, $699 graphite) – The set includes forgiving hybrids to replace the 3 and 4 irons. They have a square look and generate a higher moment of inertia. The short irons have a recessed sole to minimize turf drag. They should be a win for the higher handicappers that need some help getting the ball on a high trajectory.

Cobra Transition-S Hybrid Iron Set ($699 graphite) – This set is designed to maximize help for player with medium swing speeds. This is our choice for the mid-level handicapper that swings in the 80 – 90 mph range. The short irons have a wide sole and a two piece silicone insert to dampen vibration.

Mizuno MX-100 Irons ($599 steel, $699 graphite) – Most amateurs mis-hits tend to be towards the toe. Mizuno engineers developed a new cavity design, called the “Y-Tune”, to expand the sweet spot more towrad the toe. The set includes hybrids to replace the 4 and 5 irons. The hybrids have a low center of gravity to raise the probability to get the ball airborne. The 6 and 7 iron have a deep under cut cavity and the short irons (9 to gap wedge)have a thick solid bar behind the sweet spot. We think this is a great looking, good feeling game improvement iron.

Ping Rapture V2 Irons ($1,199 steel, $1,399 graphite) – This is the updated version of the original Rapture. The main difference is a 45-70 gram tungsten plug that varies by club (heavier in the shorter irons). These irons have a higher launch angle and higher moment of inertia. The higher launch angle has enabled Ping to strengthen the lofts to increase carry distance. They are long. These are fundamentally very solid irons as typical with all the Ping products that we have looked at. The only reason that these are not our favorites is the price.

TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons ($599 steel, $799 graphite) – Flexibility seems to be the key for TaylorMade. There is a combo set available with hybrids replacing the 3 and 4 irons or you can choose to include long irons. It’s interesting that the hybrids have the same lofts and length as the long irons they replace. The hybrids will, naturally, produce a higher spin rate and, hence, a higher ball flight. These irons have a .5 inch longer shaft that is lighter and will produce some additional club head speed.

Previewed earlier:

Aldila – Voodoo golf shaft recently reviewed

Callaway – Tour i and Tour ix Golf balls recently reviewed, IQ Driver, X-22 irons

Cobra – L5V Driver recently reviewed

Nike – Sumo 2 Driver 2009

Seemore – Offset putter line, first ever offset models from Seemore

Taylormade – New Burner r7 Burner driver with a very high moment of inertia and three weight ports MSRP $499.  Rossa Monza putter line expands with the Itsy Bitsy Spider MSRP $199. The new Burner TP for 2009 is lighter and longer than the present one.  Burner Plus irons will be available in two set makeups. The first contains 4-AW and  the second two Rescue clubs for 3 and 4 then six irons 5-PW. MSRP steel is $799 and graphite ranges from $899 to $1,099 depending on the number of graphite shafts. The new Tour Preferred irons have a thinner top line and cambered sole for the classic look. MSRP with Dynamic Gold shafts is $1,080.

Titleist – Scotty Cameron Squareback putters and a Scotty Cameron web site, 909 Driver Series reviewed last year.