Equipment

TaylorMade launches TP putter line, enters the “classic” category

Published

8 years ago

Oct 18, 2016

The putter category can be broken down into two general categories: “technical mallets” and “classic putters,” according to Bill Price, Director of Product at TaylorMade.

Technical mallets would include high-MOI (moment of inertia) performance-first putters — such as TaylorMade’s popular Itsby Bitsy, or its newest Spider Red Limited putters that Jason Day has popularized — that work to stabilize the putter head throughout the stroke, and have greater forgiveness on off-center strikes.

bcc6dba1be014714e0eacd831114e0a2

On the other hand, however, TaylorMade did not previously satisfy the needs of golfers searching for classic-looking, precision-made putters, according to Price. With its TP, or “Tour Preferred” line, TaylorMade will enter that category for the first time.

“Rolex and Breitling (watches) are classic designs that don’t change over time,” Price said. “This (classic) category is precision-based.”

The TP line features putters made of 303 stainless steel that are machine-milled to achieve the precision and classic look that Price says is crucial to the category.

“The toe hangs, sightlines, bumpers, they will all be perfect,” Price said. “In this category, you can’t have 90 percent (of the putter design and manufacturing) be perfect, it has to be 100 percent… there’s another guy out there making classic, precision putters, so we know we have to be perfect.”

b206a8e52bb97c885577015ac52a6898

Although the classic look and attention to detail are of top priority to Price and TaylorMade, the putters also have performance and feel benefits thanks to TaylorMade’s new PureRoll insert, which is inspired by the insert in Day’s Spider Limited Red. It’s made from 6061 aluminum — like PureRoll inserts of previous TaylorMade putters — but the filler between the grooves uses a softer polymer for a softer feel. The direction of the grooves, which each face 45 degrees downward, help impart higher launch and forward spin on the golf ball to get it rolling faster along the ground.

If your ball currently jumps and skids along the surface off the putter face, that may be because you’re not launching the ball high enough, or with too much backspin, or both. The PureRoll insert in the TP putters is designed to offset those issues.

Movable weights on the heel and toe of the soles control head weight, balance and feel.

TaylorMade will release four TP models — Juno, Soto, Mullen and Berwick — on December 1, and then two more models — Ardmore and Chaska — in April 2017. Each of the names are inspired from “areas, regions, and landmarks of some of the world’s greatest golf destinations and historic courses,” according to the company. More on those later.

The putters will be available in 33- (special order), 34- and 35-inch lengths, and will all sell for $199 with Lamkin’s Sink Rubber grip, or $219 with SuperStroke’s 1.0 GT Pistol grip.

Find out more about each putter offering below, and see what GolfWRX members are saying about the TP putters in our forums.

Juno

The Juno, which references Juno Beach — home of Seminole Golf Club in Florida — was put into play by Sergio Garcia at the 2016 Ryder Cup. It has squared-off and elongated contours with a single sightline on the top line, a plumber’s neck, and has 10-gram stock movable weights in the heel and toe that can be interchanged for customization.

Soto

The Soto, which is short for Sotogrande — home of the “Real Club de Sotogrande” — has shorter, rounder edges than the Juno. It has a plumber’s neck with a “scalloped” hosel for a lighter head weight, and also comes with 10-gram stock weights that are interchangeable.

Mullen

The Mullen, which is a reference to Mullen, Nebraska, that’s home to Sand Hills Golf Club, has a compact mallet design with an “S” hosel, 38 degrees of toe hang, and two sightlines on the back cavity. It comes stock with 5-gram movable weights in the heel and toe of the sole.

Berwick

The Berwick, which gives a shoutout to Scotland’s famed North Berwick Golf Club, has a more compact and rounded mallet shape than the Mullen, and has a “step-down” cavity. The single-bend hosel has 0.75 degrees of offset, creating face balance. It also comes stock with 5-gram interchangeable weights.

Ardmore and Chaska

Reminder: The Ardmore and Chaska models will not be available until April 2017.

The Ardmore, a name inspired by Merion Golf Club which is located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, is a 355-gram mallet cast from 303 stainless steel. It has dual sighlines, a double-bend shaft with 0.75 degrees of offset, and is face-balanced with 3.5 degrees of loft.

The Chaska, which references the city in Minnesota where Hazeltine National Golf Club is located, is modeled after TaylorMade’s Corza Ghost. Unlike the rest of the TP line, the Chaska is made from aluminum zinc alloy, but like the Ardmore, the Chaska is face-balanced, with 0.75 degrees of offset.

Click for more photos, and see what GolfWRX members are saying about TaylorMade’s TP putters here.

Your Reaction?

LIKE163
LEGIT46
WOW33
LOL6
IDHT4
FLOP14
OB7
SHANK143

Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

2 days 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.

Your Reaction?

LIKE4
LEGIT0
WOW0
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK0

Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

2 days 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.

Your Reaction?

LIKE3
LEGIT1
WOW0
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK2

Equipment

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

Published

2 days 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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

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

Your Reaction?