Equipment

An introduction to haywoodgolf

Published

4 years ago

Jan 13, 2020

Recently, I was in Vegas for some golf with friends (promise, it was golf only). During my round, I, unfortunately, broke a shaft on a root and had to get it re-shafted. Luckily, my buddies at Club Champion were there to help, and while the club was being prepped and set, they showed me a prototype head from a company in Canada by the name of haywoodgolf. The club had a sleek look, and because I was unfamiliar with the brand, and intrigued, I reached out to the company to learn more.

This story is about my experience with Joshua Haywood and his company.

The haywoodgolf story

Joshua, a long-time golfer, started haywoodgolf out of frustration after visiting his local Golf Town, Canada’s version of Golf Galaxy, to buy a new set of wedges. After exploring all the options and testing the few clubs he found visually appealing, he priced out a set that cost around $600 CAD.

After a little deliberation, and walking out of the store empty-handed, Joshua came to the realization that there must be a way to reduce the cost of clubs while maintaining the integrity and quality golfers have come to expect. After months of research, and dozens of prototypes of forged wedges tested in different conditions, Joshua officially launched haywoodgolf.com in June of 2018. With a select product release of non-conforming wedges, which offered the average golfer more spin and control, buyers were responding very positively to their quality, modern and minimalistic designs, which cost only half the price of the major OEMs.

As the team listened to feedback from existing users and from folks that decided against purchasing, they started working on the new design of their signature series forged wedges as well as their two-piece stainless steel game improvement signature irons, which have been tested and approved as conforming to the rules of golf by the R&A. The clubs are offered in both right and left-handed and have black and silver finish options.

With the wedges starting at $99 USD and iron sets at $650, I needed to find out if they measure up to what I had in my bag.

Testing of Signature irons

Josh kindly sent me a haywoodgolf signature series 7-iron, which I fitted with an Accra 70i R-flex shaft, measuring 37” inches long and 30 degrees of loft. This data was collected at Golf Galaxy in Wesley Chapel using Foresight and was compared to my personal 7-iron; a Cobra Forged Tec 37” iron with Accra 70R with a 29.5 degrees loft. Here are the numbers

Beyond the testing at Golf Galaxy, I actually used the club for almost two weeks, hitting range balls plus many shots on the course.

Bottom line, what did I think?

To be honest, I was shocked in the most positive way at the performance. I saw from my testing that they matched up to the major OEMs, while being almost half the cost. I’m very fond of its clean look, and even including the little-bit thicker top line it has (similar to the G700 or TaylorMade 790) along with a touch more offset than I’m used to. The club is hollow-body design, not foam-filled, and I noticed no difference in feel or distance versus a club like the P790, which are, and I have hit multiple times. I really enjoyed hitting the haywood iron, which feels very solid and has a crisp sound to it.

I consider these clubs to be one of the best bang for your buck sets of irons on the market. Haywood Golf has created an excellent product, and I think players looking for a new set would be wise to consider their products.

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Brendan Ryan

Brendan Ryan, an entrepreneur and scientist, is a passionate golfer who loves his local muni. Armed with a keen interest in the game, a large network of friends in the industry, Brendan works to find and produce unique content for GolfWRX.

12 Comments

Geoff

Jan 14, 2020 at 7:12 am

If you like these guys you’ll really love golfworks. Their maltby clubs have been around forever and they have very simple but beautiful designs at even better prices than seen here. Can get a wedge with premium shaft for $60.

Reply Report comment
- westy
  
  Jan 14, 2020 at 4:57 pm
  
  Nice. Dude is going after it, way to hijack.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mark

Jan 14, 2020 at 1:05 am

On a site like WRX, I suspect there will be many readers, like myself, who want to know more about who designs them and the process for selecting a manufacturing resource. (I doubt Haywood has the volume required to do business with Tier 1, Taiwanese-owned, China-based manufacturers.)

Reply Report comment
- Dan
  
  Jan 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm
  
  I found something similar to their irons and wedges on alibaba. Very likely that they didnt do the design and just stamp their logo on them.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Eric
    
    Jan 14, 2020 at 3:06 pm
    
    How can you make such a statement like this (Alibaba) without any concrete evidence? Not fair in my book to the owners, who may have done a lot of work on the design and securing a producer.
    
    Looks like great stuff, the best of luck to this company?
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Dan
      
      Jan 15, 2020 at 2:27 pm
      
      Its not like u have the any evidence that the owners actually design their irons.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - William
        
        Jan 15, 2020 at 7:19 pm
        
        And Its not like you have any evidence that they don’t.
        
        Reply Report comment
  - Jim
    
    Jun 17, 2020 at 6:27 pm
    
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000482009668.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.35ae3c00oCEbsj&mp=1
    
    And you can find any grind, loft, etc model of Vokey you want on AliExpress. The owner was actually selling OEM Aliexpress rangefinders in Vancouver locally before then – so he knows his way around Chinese sourcing.
    
    Reply Report comment
haywoodgolf

Jan 13, 2020 at 7:08 pm

Here there – haywoodgolf here.
We appreciate you checking out our site.

If you select the last photo on the irons page, that is the spec sheet, and then you can click the actual photo itself in the larger format and it will zoom in for you to make the spec sheet very clear.

Reply Report comment
- SV677
  
  Jan 15, 2020 at 2:39 pm
  
  Sorry, I missed that. Thanks.
  
  Reply Report comment
SV677

Jan 13, 2020 at 2:38 pm

After reading your article I thought I would click on the link to learn more about Haywood’s products. Their site gives different options when purchasing, but since they give no specs for the irons it is impossible to know if one would want a longer or shorter iron or have the lofts changed, which are options they offer. Being a left-handed player I am always interested in new alternatives, but I anticipate a company actually giving me information about their product.

Reply Report comment
- Johnny Penso
  
  Jan 13, 2020 at 6:05 pm
  
  Specs are there. Click on a set and on the bottom left where you see the various angled shots of the clubs are the specs. It’s tiny, but if you click on it you can read it…barely.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

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

Published

1 hour 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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