Hybrid Vigor: Knuth High Heat

Knuth Golf’s follow-up to its explosive driver will add more blue to your bag.

Jon Rizzi

If the range at your local club is starting to sound more like a high school baseball game, you can thank Dean Knuth. Last year, the former USGA senior director known as the “Pope of Slope” put the result of decades of research into a driver—the High Heat—that changed the games of thousands of amateur golfers. As proven by independent testing, the High Heat was longer and more forgiving than many “name” drivers, and Colorado AvidGolfer joined the chorus of those who wondered if Knuth Golf’s High Heat was the best driver ever.

It certainly may be the loudest, resounding with the distinctive peal of an aluminum bat as the ball explodes off the face.

This year, Knuth is again making plenty of noise with its follow-up fairway wood and hybrid. Both clubs wowed pros and jaded media types at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show, and a recent personal demo here in Colorado generated similar response. 

The High Heat 3-wood sets up beautifully, with its cobalt head shining like a flame at its hottest point. It has a steel body and beta-titanium face, which lightens the clubhead by roughly 35 grams (1.234 ounces). This allows the head’s Center of Gravity (CG) to be positioned significantly lower and deeper than on other manufacturers’ fairway woods—something Knuth believes will facilitate the average amateur to make contact above the CG, thereby improving launch conditions and maximizing distance.

The 14° club has a low profile, and is noticeably longer from heel to toe than other fairway woods. This apparently increases the clubhead’s Moment of Inertia (MoI), and, thanks to the beta-titanium face, the size of the sweet spot. Hitting the 3-wood off the deck, I found the ball got high and small in a hurry, soaring in parabolic arcs. Shots off the toe or heel sailed straighter than they probably should have.

As good as the 3-wood is, Knuth’s 18° hybrid tested even better. The beta-titanium cup face is hotter and produces a more boring trajectory than that of the lower-lofted club. The low, angled center of gravity and center railed sole helps you get through the ball quickly and confidently.

One of the features on both clubs is the absence of shot-altering welding joints. Since fairway woods and hybrids have much smaller heads than drivers, the possibility of contacting a welding line increases. Knuth eliminates them through patented process that bonds the titanium face to the steel body with a silver adhesive paste.

That process helps both clubs. Bottom line: The 3-wood delivers the High; the hybrid delivers the Heat. Both are worth buying.

The fairway wood comes in 3- (14°), 5- (18°), and 7-wood (21°) models. The Hybrid features lofts of 18°, 21°, 24°, and 27°.

CAG EXCLUSIVE: Colorado AvidGolfer readers get discounts on the High Heat Driver, $319 (reg. $399); Fairway 3-Wood, $259 (reg. $299) and #3 Hybrid, $229 (reg. $249). Go to knuthgolf.com and click on Order. When asked How did you hear about us?, click on Colorado AvidGolfer. All clubs come with money-back guarantee. Knuth Golf only sells via knuthgolf.com.

This article appears in the May 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

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Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.