News
Nike Announce New Equipment
Drivers, fairways, irons, wedges, balls, Nike have almost completely revamped their equipment line-up with the new Victory Red line up of irons and wedges, the Dymo woods and new Nike ONE balls.
Obviously taking inspiration from a certain Mr Wood’s favourite Sunday colour, the new Victory Red line up represent 3 new iron sets and a new wedge series. There are also 4 new Dymo drivers (including 2 with STR8-FIT technology), 2 new Dymo fairway woods and 3 new premium golf balls.
Irons
Victory Red Forged TW Blade, Victory Red Forged Split Cavity Irons, Victory Red Full Cavity Irons
Having lead the PGA Tour in iron wins since 2005, Nike have introduced 3 new irons aimed at different segments of the golfing market to extend this dominance: a traditional muscleback blade, a cavity back players iron and a fuller cavity back iron aimed at the average golfer. The muscleback has already seen Tour usage from the likes of Paul Casey and Trevor Immelman.
Wedges
Victory Red Forged Wedge
A wedge that was good enough for Tiger to use at his recent victory at the US Open and here’s why: forged from soft 1025 carbon steel, ‘High Rev ‘grooves for maximum spin, CNC milled flat face and a Tour-inspired heel grind.
Drivers
Top-left: SQ Dymo2, Top-right: SQ Dymo, Bottom left: SQ Dymo2 STR8-FIT, Bottom right: SQ Dymo STR8-FIT
Dymo stands for ‘Dynamic Moment of Inertia’ which Nike tells us combines all the elements of driver performance, including head size and geometry, centre of gravity, loft and lie angles and spin ratios to offer the optimal performance for each club. The two head shapes allow golfers to choose between the straight hitting square headed version and the more workable classical shaped head. Both come with Nike Golf’s proprietary UST Wide Body Shaft with an AXIV Core (available in weights of 59 grams, 69 grams and 79 grams). This shaft features a larger overall diameter throughout the body, to provide more stability through impact for the specific moment of inertia characteristics of each loft-tuned head, while the AXIV Core provides the tip stiffness required for optimum power transfer.
STR8-FIT technology allows the clubhead to be manually orientated into eight different positions to produce the desired shot shape and provide the most efficient means of hitting the ball straighter and hopefully longer. There are three different clubhead positions for a ‘closed’ clubface, which encourages shots to be shaped to the left; two positions for a ‘neutral’ clubface, which allows the ball to be shaped in either direction, and three ‘open’ clubface positions, which encourages shots to be shaped to the right
Fairway Woods
SQ Dymo2 Fairway Wood, SQ Dymo Fairway Wood
Nike Golf’s new SQ Dymo² and SQ Dymo Fairway Woods possess all the performance-enhancing benefits of larger head geometry, but also have the added benefit of featuring a sole that is specifically designed to minimise turf interaction at impact.
The Quad Keel Sole features four separate quadrants to make it easier to lift the ball cleanly from all types of lie, while maintaining total control over the clubhead throughout the impact zone. The raised angle of each quarter of the sole reduces twisting and maximises clubhead speed..
Balls
Nike ONE Tour, Nike ONE Tour D, Nike ONE Vapor
Nike ONE Tour: Four piece seamless Urethane covered ball for Tour performance
Nike ONE Tour D:Three piece seamless Urethane covered ball for maximum Tour distance
Nike ONE Vapor: Three piece Ionomer covered ball for distance and control at average swing speeds
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5 Things We Learned: Friday at the Masters
You don’t see leaves on the ground at Augusta National. The grounds crew and superintendent’s staff take care of those sorts of things, so that both course appearance and consistency of play are preserved at the top tier. We saw leaves on the ground today and, given the force and perseverance of the wind, we’re lucky that we didn’t see tree trunks along the fairways. We did see higher scores than secured in round one, and some of the three- and four-hole stretches were downright inconceivable. The cut after 36 holes came at six over par, and five dozen golfers reached the weekend of play. Numbers always define the story of a tournament, and we’ll let them define the five things we learned on day two of the 2024 Masters tournament.
One: 60 + 10
Sixty golfers posted scores of 148 or better through 36 holes, to reach weekend play. Ten more golfers posted 149 and missed the cut by a single stroke. The ones who missed the cut by a stroke included former champions Mike Weir, Zach Johnson, and Sergio Garcia. Also among the brood were current US Open champion Wyndham Clark, and Nick Dunlap, who won on the PGA Tour as an amateur in January, and subsequently turned professional. Of the ones who survived by the slimmest of margins, surviving to the weekend were former champions Jose Maria Olazabal, Hideki Matsuyama, and Adam Scott, along with Rickie Fowler and Tom Kim. Golf’s cut is a cruel and unconcerned blade, and each Masters tournament reminds us of this fact.
Tom Kim makes just the third birdie of the day on hole No. 4. #themasters pic.twitter.com/gtlLbVcQi6
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Two: One
The number of amateurs to make the cut in the 2024 Masters is solitary. His name is Neil Shipley, and most folks love him. He wears his hair to the shoulder, and appears to have the proper balance of intensity and chill. Shipley opened with 71, then held on for 76 on day two. He made the cut by three shots, and will collect his share of hardware on Sunday. It’s safe to say that Shipley will turn his attention to learning the course, as well as his own self under pressure.
Following a birdie on No. 13, Neal Shipley is the lowest amateur on the course. #themasters pic.twitter.com/3MAjI3yltE
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Three: 23
For most sorts fans, 23 recalls the greatest NBA player of all time, Michael Jordan. For Justin Thomas, it’s a number that will haunt him for a long time. Thomas reached tee number fifteen on Friday at even par. The two-time PGA Champion played the subsequent, four-hole stretch in 23 shots, missing the cut by a shot. On fifteen, he went for the green in two, in some sort of halfhearted manner. He got wet with shot number two, went long with his pitch, and three-putted from the fringe. On sixteen, he played away from safety and found elevated sand. His blast went down the hill, and he missed his approach putt in the wrong place. On seventeen, he missed his drive right and his approach long, and lost another shot to par. The coup de grace took place on the home hole: drive so horribly left that he had to pitch out to the fairway and hit three metal into the green. His third double bogey in four holes dropped him all the way to 151 and plus seven. Among the many questions, the foremost one was why he dropped his longtime caddy on the eve of a major championship. Surely Bones would have saved him one of those shots, and perhaps more.
Justin Thomas | 15th Hole, Round 2, Stroke 2 https://t.co/TYudRsbM8g
— ?????BuffaloGolfer.Com????? (@buffalogolfer) April 13, 2024
Four: Forty-Nine divided by five or six
Tiger Woods cannot possibly win title number six at Augusta in his 49th year, can he? Not on this broken body, and not from seven strokes behind, right? Not with so few competitive rounds over the most recent months, and not one year removed from a third-round withdrawal from this very tournament. Well, if he cannnot possibly win, allow us to dream and hope a bit, and hold on to a fantasy.
Tiger Woods gets back to one over par with chip-in birdie on No. 6. #themasters pic.twitter.com/h4G5CrbgdJ
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2024
Five: 3 that we like
We like Scottie Scheffler, of course. He seems to have a sense of Augusta National, and he was able to hold on in 2023 for the championship. We like Nikolai Hojgaard, because he might have just the proper combination of naivete and experience for a first-time winner. Finally, we like Collin Morikawa, a winner of two separate major titles. Winning at Augusta National requires a certain amount of length, unless you putt lights out. Morikawa might be embedded in one of those putting weeks.
Nicolai Højgaard chips in on No. 7 to move to red numbers. #themasters pic.twitter.com/CTE34kuOdh
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
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5 things we learned: Thursday at the Masters
The rains came early at Augusta, just as they did in Buffalo. The distinguishing factor was, they had a tournament to start in Augusta. Folks in Buffalo simply went to work, and paid attention to the clouds in north Georgia. By ten o’clock, the skies had cleared enough to begin play. Honorary tee shots were hit, and competitive play began. The delay assured that some of the afternoon groups would not sign scorecards on Thursday evening. Instead, they would rise early for completion of play, then turn right back around and go out for round two.
Round one was filled with the usual characteristics of major championship golf. A pair of golfers shot low rounds, with no guarantee that either would be able to preserve the blistering pace. Others gave shots inexplicably away, on the most confounding of holes, to push themselves away from the dream of the green jacket. Others played solid if unspectacular golf, to maintain the top of the board in sight. Finally, some held to a preserver for dear life, finding a way to stay within shouting distance of the leaders.
With that little bit of tease to lead us in, let’s get straight to the five things that we learned on Thursday at the Masters.
One: Can a horse be a horse for a course, for more than one round?
Both Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler have plenty of successful memories ’round the Augusta National course. Scheffle owns the ultimate prize, the 2022 green jacket, while DeChambeau was low amateur in 2016. That’s where the similarities end, however. DeChambeau has never finished higher than that low-am T21, while Scheffler has never finished outside the top 20 in four starts. DeChambeau has had fits of brilliance over the MacKenzie hills, but Scheffler is the one with four-round history.
While it seems unlikely the DeChambeau will miss the cut for a third consecutive time, the question of his ability to put rounds together remains. On Thursday, DeChambeau notched eight birdies on the day, and stumbled for bogey just once, at the ninth hole. For much of the day, he held a multi-shot lead over former champion Danny Willett, until Scheffler finished fast, with birdies at 12, 13, 15, and 16. His 66 brought him within one shot of the leader. Scheffler went without a bogey on the day, and ensured that DeChambeau would have much to consider over the night’s sleep.
Scottie Scheffler’s bunker shot on No. 12 finds the hole for birdie. #themasters pic.twitter.com/urr9NMj8gV
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Two: Find a way to hang around
Rory McIlroy never looked like he had his best stuff on Thursday. Three bogeys on the day, including one at the gettable second hole, had him steaming. Unlike prior years, when his not-best stuff led to mid-70s numbers, Roars was able to four birdies along the way. His 71 won’t win any crystal, but it will keep him in the tournament. Does he need a 67 on Friday? Absolutely.
Will Zalatoris plays Augusta National as well as anyone. Eagles and birdies are always on the table for the young Texan. He reached four-under par at the 15th, but closed with two bogies for 70. Without the shot that you see below, he may never have found the mojo needed to reach minus-four. Moral of the story: find a way to get in the house with a number.
Will Zalatoris chips in on No. 5 to save par and remain in red numbers. #themasters pic.twitter.com/BeyiTsLiUp
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Three: When you do things like this, find a way to keep it together!
The leaders’ board was filled with golfers like Ryan Fox (five-under through 12, inexplicable bogey at 13, finished minus-three), Erik Van Rooyen (minus-four through 13, only to close with three bogeys to finish one deep) Viktor Hovland (four below through nine, double at ten, one below at day’s end) and Matt Fitzpatrick (four deep through 13, three bogeys coming home.) What keeps these golfers from going deeper under par, or at least preserving their successful stature? It’s usually greed or the razor’s edge. There are too-safe places on the greens of Augusta, but there are always properly-safe areas, from where a two-putt is a probablility. In the case of most of these golfers, they either went at flags and short-sided themselves (leading to bogey) or tried to preserve their position, and landed in the three-putt zone.
Matt Fitzpatrick hits his tee shot close on Golden Bell, No. 12. #themasters pic.twitter.com/mRVfqszN3g
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Four: How could you do this?
Rickie Fowler at 76, alongside Hideki Matsuyama. Guys, there were plenty of birdies out there! How could you manage to avoid them, and instead, stockpile the bogeys? Well, at least Hideki has a green jacket already, and at least Rickie has some crystal from Wednesday. Odds are that one of them will post 68 on Friday and make the cut.
A Wednesday to remember. #themasters pic.twitter.com/ycWS0DK9sb
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2024
Five: Which golfers do we hope to see finish strong?
With plenty of round-one action left for Friday morning, we’ve scanned the board and determined that Nicolai Højgaard looks pretty good at five-under through fifteen. We’ll take three pars. We expect one birdie. We’d love to see two or three birdies coming home. Yup, we’re greedy!
Max Homa bounced back from bogey at 12 with birdie at 13, to get back to four under par. We have the same expectations for the California kid: lots of birdies coming home. We have our eyes on a couple of guys at minus-one, and then there’s Tyrrell Hatton at three-deep, along with Ludvig Åberg at minus-two. Plenty of golf left for first-round positioning. Set your alarm for early and don’t miss a single shot!
Tiger Woods couples his drive with an accurate approach and putt to birdie hole No. 1. #themasters https://t.co/2mrLiETCzy pic.twitter.com/YhiQsIQgZH
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
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Morning 9: Tiger’s Monday practice round | Brooks, Sergio switch putters | Masters eclipse glasses
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easyyy
Oct 15, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Q- “Are Paul Casey and Trevor Immelman playing the muscleback with the Tiger Woods logo on it?”
No they will not. They will play the VR muscle back iron shown int he tour forums here at GolfWRX. Take a look.
The TW Logo muscle back heads are for retail only.
Dow Jones
Oct 10, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I wonder how the new blades compare to the old forged nike blades. The new victory blades look pretty bad and not aesthetically pleasing at all. blades should be plain. i play the old blades and i love them. however i’m looking for a good player’s cavity back that doesn’t look gimmicky.
tiger woods
Oct 10, 2008 at 10:55 am
these irons are incredibly ugly. i would never even consider playing stuff that looks this cheap.
C Crail
Oct 8, 2008 at 2:09 pm
The blade looks good, but the other two irons sets look like garbage. They have the same blade shape of an ugly Nicklaus Air Bear from the early 90s, not to say anything of the graphics. Ascetically these may be the worst looking irons I’ve seen this season.
The Drivers look much better, though. Finally got rid of the yellow and the shape looks much better.
John
Oct 8, 2008 at 11:32 am
Nike One Vapor: B-330 RX anyone? I like the RX, but the cover shreds…if the ‘swing speed’ optimized balls sell as well as I think they are, everyone will do it…and it makes sense..after all, the Tour balls are optimized for the Tour players!
David
Oct 8, 2008 at 10:24 am
Are Paul Casey and Trevor Immelman playing the muscleback with the Tiger Woods logo on it?
Brett F
Oct 7, 2008 at 9:47 am
This new line looks great. I will be getting a set of the split cavity irons and a Str-8 fit driver. Can’t wait.
Scott N.
Oct 6, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Can’t wait for these irons and the new balls.