Equipment

7 times the auto industry influenced new golf equipment

Published

8 years ago

Jun 24, 2016

Golf clubs and cars. Not much in common except you use a car’s trunk to transport golf clubs to the course, right? Not so fast…

Ignoring the obvious size and price differences, the two things do have similarities, and more than they can both technically “drive.” Cars and golf clubs are designed to be aerodynamic, and for that reason we see similarities in their styling. After all, engineers have similar tasks with high-performance cars and clubs, notably, making them faster and more efficient. That’s why we hear many of the same trigger words in both worlds, including MOI (moment of inertia), a measure of twisting and turning, and CG (center of gravity), a measure of weight distribution in relation to the center of mass.

It’s only right, therefore, that car companies and golf club companies align themselves in the marketplace, even if it’s just for one-off products. Below, I take a look at golf clubs that were inspired by or made in collaboration with the auto industry.

Bentley gets into golf clubs

Bentley Golf stopped us in our tracks at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in January, where myself and others took the time to drool over the Bentley on the show floor, and look at this… Bentley-inspired clubs!

While you can get a set for around $2,000, the full custom fitting experience, which includes custom shafts made just for you, will run you about $100,000. That’s a lot of zeroes. Would you rather own the car or the clubs? If you’re thinking about your budget, then neither are for you. See more Bentley Golf photos here.

Ferrari and Cobra

Before Callaway’s drivers were made with input from Boeing, these limited-edition Cobra drivers were made with input from Ferrari’s aerodynamic experts. And as you’d expect, the influence of the Italian supercar brand drove the price of a driver to $2,000, roughly five times as much as the average Cobra driver at the time.

The Ferrari driver was designed using the Cobra ZL driver platform, and came equipped with a Ti 6-4 face with carbon fiber on the crown and sole, according to Golf.com. It was said to produce 1-3 mph more ball speed than the ZL, but never made its way to the PGA Tour, although Ferrari fanatic Ian Poulter tested it extensively.

Cobra’s Ferrari driver was released along with a collection of putters, hats, jackets, shirts and other overpriced items.

Mercedes AMG golf clubs

Before Bentley Golf drove onto the floor at the 2016 PGAM Show, Mercedes Benz rolled out a line of golf equipment at the show in 2012.

WSH Inc. acquired permissions to use the Mercedes Benz logo in its production of the line, which included drivers, woods, irons, wedges and putters. The drivers ($399) and woods were made in conjunction with aerodynamics specialists at the company, and employed “Venturi Channels” used to “to manipulate airflow whereby a funnel is created as air flows through the vehicle, and is constricted, and as it flows out…a jet effect is created,” according to an article from Golf Digest.

Click here to see more photos of the Mercedes AMG.

Callaway and Lamborghini

Lamborghini and Callaway combined forces in 2010 and developed a high-strength, lightweight material called “Forged Composite” that was used in both Lamborghini’s cars and Callaway’s drivers. The collaboration yielded the Callaway RAZR Hawk and Diablo Octane drivers, which boasted a lower CG thanks to the lighter material.

Callaway continues to use its Forged Composite construction to this day, although its new XR 16 Sub Zero driver debuted a new composite construction called “Carbon Triax” that the company says is lighter.

Kinsler races into putters

Kinsler Fuel Injection is a company that makes engine parts for race cars. James Kinsler, son of the company founder, used his mechanical engineering expertise and love of golf to start a golf company called Kinsler putters.

Its first run of putters feature a strong visual influence from the automotive industry, as you’d expect, with its curves and anodized finish. The alignment slot has an uncanny resemblance to a hot wheels track, as well. Read more about Kinsler’s putters here.

A Grand Theft Auto golf club?

I know, this isn’t inspired by an actual automobile. But this 5-iron designed after the Grand Theft Auto V video game — which featured a fictional “Los Santos Golf Club” — is pretty cool. The club can currently be found on eBay for around $250.

Willie Nelson’s Rolls Royce Golf Cart

OK, it’s technically not a golf club, but I wanted it on the list. Country music star Willie Nelson once had his 1981 Rolls Royce replica Golf Cart seized by the IRS, and it was auctioned in 2012 for about $4,200. The cart had a mini bar, radio, head lights, turn signals and of course, the iconic look of a Rolls Royce. It now sits in the Kingman Museum on Route 66 in Arizona.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

8 hours ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

9 hours ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Equipment

Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

Published

12 hours ago

May 10, 2024

Andrew Tursky

With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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