The Gear in Review

Golf’s equipment wheels just keep on turning. But just as the recession weeded out under-performing golf courses, so the economic slump has had a dramatic effect on the gear industry, with Adidas offloading TaylorMade (will Tiger Woods be involved in a future purchase?) and Nike deciding to shut its hard goods shop altogether. Likewise, it seems to have slammed the brakes on crackpot inventors producing questionable equipment.

That’s not to say dubious items don’t still cross our desk from time to time. There is definitely the occasional product that makes us frown when opening the box and laugh out loud when testing it, but on the whole the general level of quality appears to have risen.

Here, in no particular order, are our ten favorite products of 2016. They may have stimulated a lot of interesting discussion, allowed us to enjoy the game more, or may even have given us the 15 extra yards promised by the ads – okay, nothing gave us 15 more yards, but a few at least.

Click to launch photo gallery…

Wishon Sterling Irons
People familiar with Tom Wishon who know how highly regarded he is in the industry, and for how long he’s been making sense of the complex world of clubmaking, might have assumed he’d regard single-length irons as something of a gimmick. That he re-engineered the single-length set, cutting each shaft to match that of the typical 8-iron, shows in fact how beneficial he believes they might be for many golfers…not just Bryson DeChambeau.

Ikkos
Sean Hutchison’s ingenious device is helping golfers, as well as participants in several other sports and disciplines, achieve their goals quicker and with considerably less physical input than might otherwise be necessary. By downloading the CopyMe Golf app and sliding your iPhone into the Black Box viewer, users can watch the swing they are hoping to copy (or use elements of), repeat the action in slow-motion several times, and thus store the motor patterns in your brain. It is a far more efficient way to practice than standing on the range casually beating balls all day long.

Avian 530
Jay Turner played golf with Fred Couples as a teenager, and had visions of turning pro with his friend. But he decided against it when he realized just how good Couples was. The PGA Tour’s loss was equipment’s gain, however, as Turner formed a clubmaking company – Redbird – that has produced numerous solid sellers over the last 30+ years. He launched the first iron in his new upscale brand – Avian, in April and now he has a new band of followers.

High Heat hybrid
Yes, we’re still banging on about Dean Knuth’s incredible High Heat clubs. Have you bought some yet?

Ben Hogan PTx
Could the Ben Hogan Golf Company possibly back up the success of its Fort Worth 15 irons from 2015 with another good-looking, high-performing club? Why, certainly it could. The PTx, as handsome as a cavity-backed club can be, was aimed at mid-handicappers and featured perimeter-weighting that Mr. Hogan himself might not have been terribly keen on, but would have gladly permitted after hitting the club.

Carbon Putters
We enjoyed bringing you the story of the Centennial-based Kurtenbach family and the top-quality putters – Holliday, the Kid, Ringo and Ringo ¼ – it showed off at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. Editor Jon Rizzi followed up the original story in August, and found that testers using the Ringo ¼ could expect to shave 1.86 shots per round off their score.

Callaway XR 16
Callaway teamed up with Boeing to improve the aerodynamics of the driver and came up with the XR-16 featuring raised section on the crown called Speed Steps that reduced air resistance by as much as 30%. The combination of increased clubhead speed, and higher ball speed produced by a clubface 19% thinner than its predecessor, produced Callaway’s longest ever driver.

Cleveland RTX-3 Wedges
We can’t remember being so excited to test a new club as much as we were Cleveland’s new wedge – the RTX-3. And it lived up to all expectations in terms of looks, feel, and versatility – especially the blade which we much preferred to the cavity back model. We had the most joy with the V-LG grind – Cleveland’s narrowest low-bounce sole ever.

Ping iBlade
If you’ve always admired Ping clubs for their forgiveness, but have long harbored a distaste for their looks, then the iBlade probably changed your perception of the company’s capabilities entirely. The iBlade was both very attractive and forgiving – the well-concealed tungsten weights in the heel and toe producing an MOI 4.5% higher than that of the Ping S55. The 431 Stainless Steel body, meanwhile, allowed for a significantly thinner face than on previous Ping models, and provided soft feel.

PXG 0311
Our first equipment post of the year featured a company that had made a lot of noise the day before by posting the news it had signed eight PGA Tour and LPGA players to its stable including the reigning Open champion Zach Johnson. That gave what had been up to then a boutique brand a significant measure of credibility which rose again with the signing of Charl Schwartzel in July. The O311 irons featured a combination of an S25C soft carbon-steel body, thin HT1770 high-strength steel face, and hollow head injection-molded with a thermos-plastic elastomer to dampen vibration. The effects were impressive and, rather than disappear in a cloud of founder Bill Parson’s own smoke as some people expected, PXG is still very much alive and promising big things for 2017.

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Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.