Visions of golf clubs may have been dancing in the heads of PGA TOUR players during the holidays. But with Hawaii on the horizon, most bags are pretty much set for the season, even with new groove rules to contend with. Still, the major golf equipment manufacturers are working with players who want to start strong in 2010.
J.B. Holmes and Ian Poulter are both settled in with Cobra ZL drivers to start the season. The ZL melds a carbon fiber sole and crown with a titanium body and face to direct weight where it's needed and to keep things light where it's not. Plus, a swingweight screw helps keep the heft low and back, encouraging a high flight and a little more forgiveness on off-center hits (TOUR players worry about that too?).
Camilo Villegas, also a Cobra staffer, is working his way towards putting the S2 driver in his bag; that model has a more traditional head shape. Both the ZL and the S2 have flight control technology -- by unscrewing and rotating the shaft tip to one of the preset hosel-lock locations, players can adjust between draw, neutral and fade configurations.
Also remaining on Cobra's staff this year is Jason Gore.
But Geoff Ogilvy is not -- instead, he's moving over to sister company Titleist. Ogilvy, by the way, is the defending champion at this week's SBS Championship at Kapalua. In other driver news -- well, this is more of a tease. But that's business as usual for Nike, which is using enticing video on its Web site to get consumers drooling over the Victory Red driver.
The club, which comes in the wake of the success of the VR irons, features a clubhead-perimeter-hugging "compression channel," plus the STR8-FIT adjustable technology Nike has championed for the past couple years. Stewart Cink and Paul Casey are likely to have them in the bag in Hawaii; they both played the club at the Chevron World Challenge in December.
Nike director of product creation Tom Stites, who studied at the right hand of Ben Hogan, likely will be happy to explain that compression channel when the driver is introduced to the trade at the PGA Merchandise Show, Jan. 28-30 in Orlando, Fla.
Ping spent the offseason solidifying its tour staff, mainly by signing a new deal with Lee Westwood. Westwood, now No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, has been playing Ping clubs since he was a teenager. The mature Westy won the Dubai World Challenge on the European Tour in November, securing the season-long Race to Dubai championship as that tour's leading money winner (?4,237,762; or $6,065612). The parties didn't disclose the terms of the multi-year agreement, except to say that Westwood will once again wear a Ping visor; he had sported another company's logo before this new deal.
In Westwood's bag for 2010: a G10 or G15 driver (he's still deciding), an i15 3-wood, a Rapture V2 5-wood, i10 irons, Tour-W wedges and a Redwood Anser putter. Interesting common thread: most of these products have the perimeter-weighted, high-flight forgiveness features that a lot of recreational players rely on. Yes, even the pros think about keeping it in play.
As for the new grooves. most players began experimenting in mid-to-late 2009 with irons and wedges that have grooves that conform to the new Condition of Competition, which went into effect on the major professional tours Jan. 1, 2010.
Charles Howell III mentioned in a recent conversation that he didn't have any trouble adjusting to the new-groove J38 irons that Bridgestone made for him. But when asked whether he considered changing out his Bridgestone B330-S golf ball for something softer, he said it never crossed his mind.
"One variable at a time is about all a pro ever wants to change," said Howell. "And sometimes, not even that many."
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