Equipment

14-year-old hybrid in play at Q-School

Published

11 years ago

Nov 27, 2012

Australian Steve Allan finished first at the PGA Tour Q-School 12 years ago. He’s back at the Q-School Finals this year at PGA West in La Quinta. Calif., armed with a club that predates his Q-School win — a TaylorMade Firesole “Rescue” Hybrid with a “Bubble” shaft that was introduced in 1999.

Take a look at the almost 15-year-old technology Allan brought with him to the PGA Tour Q-School Finals this week at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., as well as the photos below of what a Firesole Rescue looks like when it still has its paint and its stampings intact.

Click here to see more photos from Q-School, and Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/pre-release equipment” forum.

Click here to see more photos from Q-School, and Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/pre-release equipment” forum.

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22 Comments

Dennis Clark

Jul 8, 2014 at 2:07 pm

If you’ve made it to the final stage of Q school good chance your equipment is working pretty well.

Reply Report comment
Straightdriver235

Jul 2, 2014 at 10:13 pm

I don’t get it. What is the deal? There’s many old clubs superior to the newer ones. These pros are generally paid to play stuff, but many serious players use old equipment quite effectively. You are pretty much a fool if you are buying clubs not two or three years old at the least. My Sonartec 18* hybrid is older than this, well used… and looks much better. It has always striped the ball, so why would I want to change it? I was using a Tommy Armour Ironmaster from the late 1930s until recently. I simply found it better than any other putter I ever tried.

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hawkeye3743

Jun 18, 2014 at 6:42 pm

HMMM, so newer is always better. And that old Bubble Shaft was a great shaft, too bad they quit it. I have a few new heads. Probably worth Millions if he is a success. LOL

Reply Report comment
West

May 2, 2014 at 12:35 pm

Wow, I’m just amazed at the fact he still uses the same shaft after all these years, in a stiff-flex no less. Also, that club face looks way closed? Anyways, to each their own, no “right” way to play the game…

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Max

May 1, 2014 at 12:58 pm

I still have on of those, in brand new condition. Never played it but will give it a try the next time.

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Walter

Apr 22, 2014 at 1:37 pm

I’ve been playing mine for years and when it started to look like this one I sanded the head. Looks awesome.

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grexa

Nov 29, 2012 at 12:20 pm

It shows the confidence in the equipment a player is comfortable with. It also shows how it’s the indian, not always the arrow.

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Tom McCarthy

Nov 29, 2012 at 12:10 am

Still playing my Taylormade Rescue club I bought on an American Express points promotion about 12 years ago. What a great club!

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3putt18

Nov 28, 2012 at 5:59 pm

I had 2 of these clubs. I sold them both last year. They were/ are great clubs.

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northhighlandway12

Nov 28, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but, weren’t the majority of clubs, way back in the birth days of golf,
wooden shaped heads with lofts that resembled todays 7-irons, 6,5, etc. Why are people calling hybrids, new technology?

Reply Report comment
- Shallowface
  
  Dec 16, 2014 at 7:52 pm
  
  You’re right, and we’re certainly headed back in that direction.
  
  I don’t think we’re too far from the day where the only iron in an average player’s bag will be a sand wedge. Everything else will be a hybrid of some sort.
  
  The long iron just wasn’t a good idea for most. I enjoy shopping thrift stores, and every now and then I’ll see a ladies forged blade two iron from the 1960s.
  
  What were they thinking?
  
  Reply Report comment
Dalton

Nov 28, 2012 at 11:46 am

I wish today’s hybrid’s were all as small profile as this original. I’ve still got one of these in my attic. May be time to break it back out!

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Omar R.

Nov 27, 2012 at 10:04 pm

needs to go to continental golf

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Greg M.

Nov 27, 2012 at 6:19 pm

maybe this hybrid is to Steve as the 7 iron is to Tin Cup! …old reliable

Reply Report comment
Mike D.

Nov 27, 2012 at 5:43 pm

The groove rule doesn’t apply to clubs with less than 24 degrees of loft.

Reply Report comment
Jake03331

Nov 27, 2012 at 4:51 pm

@Rick, the grooves back in 1999 were not of the same design as more recent years and those no banned under the “conforming groove” debate. Most irons still rocked V grooves, so this club would be good to go.

Reply Report comment
Rick

Nov 27, 2012 at 4:46 pm

What about the recent rule on the grooves shape?

Is this “Rescue” still conforming?

Reply Report comment
Rus

Nov 27, 2012 at 2:24 pm

It looks like he lost the H/C in 2000… Put an old sock or somethin on it!

Reply Report comment
CA

Nov 27, 2012 at 12:22 pm

+100000000000

Reply Report comment
John

Nov 27, 2012 at 10:36 am

Says a lot about my addiction of buying into new equipment frenzy…My wife is absolutely right, I’m an idiot.

Reply Report comment
- purkjason
  
  Apr 21, 2014 at 1:00 pm
  
  Haha … it’s the opposite in my house. My wife will always buy the new crap. Whereas I’m cool with my reliable Maltby Equipment.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Shallowface
    
    Dec 16, 2014 at 7:46 pm
    
    That Maltby gear is some of the best you’ll find anywhere. Great design through sound engineering principles.
    
    Reply Report comment

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Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

4 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to New Orleans, where TPC Louisiana plays host to the 2024 Zurich Classic. In between breakfast beignets and nightly Creole feasts, PGA Tour players are also competing in the unique two-man format at the Zurich this week.

Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

We spotted some recent changes from Rory McIlroy, a very rare Odyssey Backstryke putter, dove into the bag of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and spotted Patrick Cantlay continuing to test new equipment.

Get your beads out and crack your crawfish, because it’s time for an equipment rundown from The Big Easy (meaning New Orleans, of course, not Ernie Els).

See all of our photos from the Zurich Classic here

Rory’s on-and-off lob wedge

Since the end of 2023, Rory McIlroy has had an on-again, off-again relationship with a Titleist Vokey K-Grind lob wedge. In his last start, it was on, and the wedge is back in the bag again this week. We got a great look at the complicated grind that McIlroy uses.

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A full look into McIlroy’s bag above also shows that he switched out of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper that he used at the RBC Heritage, and he’s back into the Qi10 core 3-wood. As we discussed last week, McIlroy will likely keep the BRNR around as a course-specific club, trading it in and out for the 3-wood.

See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

Turning Back the clock

Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

For more than a decade – since the 2013 Sony Open in Hawai’i – Cochran has been stuck on 599 PGA Tour starts. This week will be his 600th.

Cochran is in the field at the Zurich this week playing alongside Eric Cole, whose regular caddie is Reed Cochran, Russ’s son.

The Backstryke putter was first released back in 2010, and its unique design helps shift the axis point of the putter closer to the CG of the head. And, the putter is getting a nod this week at the Zurich Classic, thanks to Cochran’s 600th career PGA Tour start.

The putter is certainly awesome, but don’t forget to check out Cochran’s full WITB from this week.

Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

Drew Brees, a legendary retired quarterback for the hometown New Orleans Saints, made an appearance at the Zurich’s Wednesday Pro-Am, playing alongside Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, and current Saints QB Derek Carr.

Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

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It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

See Drew Brees’ full WITB from the Zurich here

Stricker’s unrecognizable putter

Steve Stricker has made numerous upgrades to his bag recently, including a new TSR3 driver and T100 irons, but his longtime Odyssey White Hot No. 2 putter is still going strong. It’s the most recognizable unrecognizable putter ever.

Here’s a better look at Stricker’s flatstick, which he started using back in 2007.

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Patrick Cantlay has opened the equipment-switching floodgates

Over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report this week, we covered Cantlay’s recent switch into Ping Blueprint S irons, and a Titleist TSR2 driver.

Cantlay hadn’t switched irons for about seven years, so the iron switch he made at The 2024 Masters came as a shock to the norm. He simply isn’t one to change gear very often, so anytime Cantlay makes a switch, it’s news.

It seems the floodgates of equipment testing have opened up a bit for Cantlay, who was also spotted testing a custom Scotty Cameron blade putter on Tuesday this week. By Wednesday, Cantlay was back practicing with his familiar Scotty Cameron T5 Proto mallet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Daniel Berger’s custom Jailbird site lines

Berger, who’s currently using Odyssey’s Ai-One Mini Jailbird mallet putter, has a unique 3-dot, 2-line alignment on the crown of his navy-white-navy-white mallet putter. Looking down at the putter, it’s easy to see why this alignment system would help; it just seems impossible to set up to the ball off-center, or misaligned to the target.

Also, for anyone worried, you can rest easy. Yes, he’s still playing the 2013 TaylorMade TP MC irons, which we highlighted in our recent “Modern Classics: Old vs. New” video testing series.

FitzMagic teams back up

Brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick are teaming up once again at the Zurich this year, and Bettinardi Golf hooked them up with some festive “FitzMagic” headcovers to match this week.

See what else is in Alex Fitzpatrick’s WITB here

And, with that, we say goodbye to the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week, including 30 unique photo galleries full of equipment photos.

We’ll see you next week in Texas for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson!

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