News
Danzante Bay Golf Club joins TPC Network
The TPC Network, owned by the PGA TOUR, announced that TPC Danzante Bay in the Baja region of Mexico has become the fourth international facility in its collection of championship golf courses.
“We welcome TPC Danzante Bay into the PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties portfolio and look forward to growing our new partnership with the developer, the Villa Group,” said Jim Triola, PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties chief operating officer. “As a 35 year-old hospitality brand, the Villa Group places a premium on exceptional experiences we look forward to sharing with TPC Network members and guests.”
Having officially opened just three months ago, TPC Danzante Bay is home to a dramatic, 18-hole Rees Jones design that he says he considers one of his very best. The signature hole is the 175-yard par-3 17th, an oceanside gem that is already being hailed as one of the best in the world. The property also features a spacious practice facility, including a dedicated short game area, as well as a 9-hole putting course inspired by the famed Himalayas putting course in St Andrews, Scotland.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Danzante Bay and Villa del Palmar at The Islands of Loreto to the members of the TPC Network,” said Owen Perry, owner and president of The Villa Group, developer of the property. “It is like no other place. We have been able to create a golf experience that changes as you play, on a golf course that allows you to see landscape and wildlife that you never would have seen before.”
“There are not many golf courses that can offer a setting as beautiful, diverse and dramatic as Danzante Bay,” said course architect Rees Jones. “ This varying landscape allowed the creation of golf holes that are dramatically different from each other and combine to give the player a one-of-a-kind experience. Danzante Bay is destined to become a flagship TPC facility.”
The course is located at Villa del Palmar at The Islands of Loreto, a luxury destination resort on the Sea of Cortez, off the eastern coast of the Baja peninsula overlooking Danzante Island (one of five in the region). Flanked by the rugged Sierra de la Giganta range, Villa del Palmar is the first and only resort to occupy one of the Gulf of California’s last virgin coastlines. The all-suite resort features spacious, beautifully appointed suites with terraces, stunning ocean and mountain views, timeshare options, three restaurants offering gourmet dining, five swimming pools, a 39,000 square-foot Sabila Spa and Wellness Center, two tennis courts, beautiful beaches, a private beachfront Danzante Bungalow and a mild and warm climate year-round.
To see a live cam of the par-3 17th at TPC Danzante Bay, click here.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
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
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
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 Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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J Zilla
Mar 26, 2018 at 3:06 pm
jesuschrist that hole is scary.
Man
Mar 26, 2018 at 12:36 pm
“to occupy one of the Gulf of California’s last virgin coastlines”
Not any more!
Azucena Maldonado
Mar 26, 2018 at 12:15 pm
This is one of my favorite golf courses ever! I take a group of women golfers there on an annual basis because architect Reese Jones designed the course with 5 tee boxes and I love it!
Frankie
Mar 25, 2018 at 4:58 pm
Great, another course that can slap on $200 more for a round because it’s now “TPC”
Dr Troy
Mar 26, 2018 at 11:26 am
Most all of them in Cabo/Baja are pricey, however they all include food, drinks, alcohol if thats your thing and range balls. 2 to 3 times a round they have taco stations that are delish. And the conditions are Tour quality.