Equipment
Callaway launches XR16 and XR16 Pro fairway woods
For its XR16 drivers, Callaway focused mostly on improving the aerodynamics of its crown for more speed. For the XR16 fairway woods, however, Callaway wasn’t singularly focused on improving just one facet of the club.
That’s because fairway woods take on different roles for different golfers, so simply making them “faster,” which is almost always the goal in driver design, isn’t necessarily a winning formula for fairways. Fairway woods also need to be forgiving and versatile, and move through the turf easily when hitting shots from the fairway or rough.
Therefore, when designing the XR16 fairway woods, Callaway wanted to increase ball speeds and lower spin compared to the XR fairway woods, but also introduce greater forgiveness and versatility to satisfy golfers’ every need.
Let’s see how Callaway accomplished that with its most “comprehensive and complete” line of woods ever, according to Callaway’s Senior R&D Woods Manager, Evan Gibbs.
For Callaway, fairway wood design starts with its bread and butter — Face Cup technology. Gibbs says Face Cup is the core technology that separates its fairway woods from competitors in terms of ball speed, and it serves as the “engine of the club.” And in its fourth generation, Face Cup continues to improve compared to its predecessors.
In the XR16 fairways, the Face Cup insert is made from a 455 Carpenter Stainless Steel alloy, a material that allows Callaway to make its face extremely thin and flexible; and its even thinner and hotter than ever, according to Callaway. Variable thickness — thinner around the perimeter and thicker in the center — also allows the club to produce higher ball speeds on shots hit across the face.
To maintain low spin and high launch of the XR’s, the XR16 fairways also have the familiar “Internal Standing Wave,” which sits behind the bottom portion of the face and drives CG low and forward.
Callaway also looked to increase moment of inertia (MOI), a measure of forgiveness, in order to make the “bad shots look more like the good shots,” as Gibbs puts it, with its new clubs. To accomplish that, the XR16 fairway woods were made with a larger profile with reduced weight in the crown — actually, the company’s thinnest cast crown ever — helping move CG lower and deeper.
Additionally, their soles feature more camber and more sole relief than their predecessors, which allows the leading edge of the club to sit closer to the ground at address and helps keep the club from getting stuck in the turf at it moves through the ground.
The result of the improvements? The XR16 fairway woods boast 28 percent more consistent carry distance and 8 percent more consistent ball speed compared to the XR fairway woods, according to Callaway testing. For golfers who want higher ball speeds on off-center hits (that’s just about everyone), that’s a positive.
Specs
With such a wide variety of offerings, how should you go about choosing the right fairway wood for you?
Loft for loft, the XR16 standard fairway woods (15.5, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 degrees) are larger than their XR16 Pro counterparts. They’ll produce a higher launch angle, more draw bias and more forgiveness.
The XR16 Pro fairway woods (14, 16 and 18 degrees) have a smaller footprint, will be slightly more fade-biased and will produce a lower-spinning, more penetrating trajectory.
An interesting option for golfers who rely on their fairway wood as a second driver off the tee to consider is the XR16 3+. At 14 degrees and 162 cubic centimeters, it has a head size that’s halfway between the 14-degree XR16 Pro and the 15.5 degree XR16. As far as its ball flight goes, it produces the low trajectory and low spin of the XR16 Pro, but has the draw-bias and forgiveness of the XR16.
Each of the fairway woods will be available on January 29. The XR16 woods will sell for $229.99, and come stock with a Fujikura Speeder 565 Evolution shaft. The XR16 Pro woods will sell for $249.99 and come stock with a Fujikura Speeder 755 Evolution II TS fairway shaft.
See more photos of Callaway’s new XR16 and XR16 pro woods here.
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Whats in the Bag
Patrick Reed WITB 2024 (May)
- Patrick Reed what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G400 (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125 MSI 70 Tour X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 80 Tour X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (18 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila RIP Phenom Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist 716 TMB (2), Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (50-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (56-08M @55), SM10 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot RX Pt Customs No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
More photos of Patrick Reed’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
John Daly’s $750 custom irons and 10 must-see gear photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
Welcome to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
In the last two PGA Championships held at Valhalla, Tiger Woods won in 2000 – when he famously pointed his golf ball into the hole during the historic duel with Bob May – and Rory McIlroy won the 2014 event, basically in the dark on the final hole.
The point is, history shows that Valhalla tends to produce top-tier champions and plenty of drama.
This week at the 2024 PGA Championship, GolfWRX got its first up-close look at what some of the LIV Tour players have in their bags in 2024. We also caught back up with a few PGA Championship legends, such as Rich Beem and John Daly, and we dove into the bags of PGA Sectional qualifiers, too.
In total, we captured 47 different photo galleries this week, including 32 individual What’s In The Bag (WITB) forum threads. Click here to see all of our photos from the event, or continue reading to see my 10 equipment highlights from Valhalla.
1) Brooks Koepka’s new putter
Koepka was previously using a Scotty Cameron T5.5 putter with a slant neck, which he used to win at the beginning of the month in Singapore on the LIV tour. This week, however, he tried a T5.5 with a plumbers neck instead of the slant neck, and it’s immediately going in the bag. According to Scotty Cameron Tour rep Drew Page, Koepka already loved the head, and now finds the plumbers neck a bit more familiar to the blade-style putters he’s used throughout most of his career.
2) The lead tape king returns, with putting goggles
Phil Mickelson has always been one of the GOATs when it comes to lead tape usage, so it was no surprise to see his 64-degree custom Callaway wedge slathered with slabs of lead tape on the back.
The big surprise was that lefty was spotted using ProAim putting training goggles on Wednesday during his warm-up session.
The ProAim goggles are helpful to find center lines and ensure proper alignment to the target.
See Phil Mickelson’s full WITB from the 2024 PGA Championship
3) Dobyns’ old-school gamer setup
Speaking of lead tape, check out Matt Dobyn’s old Titleist 718 T-MB irons, which are so loaded with lead tape that the club is nearly unrecognizable.
Respect.
The head professional at Meadow Brook Club is making his sixth start in a PGA Championship, and he’s using a throwback Callaway GBB Epic driver with MOI-boosting lead tape and adjustable weight placements.
As GolfWRX Forum user “InTheBag” pointed out in our Matt Dobyns’ WITB thread, he has the type of setup that makes you want to hide your wallet: “I don’t know Mr. Dobyns, but one look at that bag tells me he can take your money,” writes InTheBag.
Spot on.
4) John Daly’s custom Sub70 irons and wedges
We first saw John Daly using $750 direct-to-consumer Sub70 659-CB irons and TAIII wedges at the 2023 PNC Championship, and he still has them in the bag, but he’s since stepped up the customization on the Sub70 clubs.
Does Daly ever NOT keep things entertaining?
View this post on Instagram
A true showman.
5) DJ’s custom putter
Dustin Johnson has always been one to test multiple putters week-to-week, and he has a keen eye for different alignment lines and crowns. This week, he’s opting for a completely gray TaylorMade Spider Tour “T3.0” prototype with a short slant neck.
See the rest of DJ’s WITB from the week here
6) Patrick Reed still rocking GrindWorks irons
Patrick Reed knows his stuff when it comes to equipment, and he’s a prolific tester. Still, however, the GrindWorks PR-101A irons are squarely in the bag after his departure to the LIV tour.
The most notable new addition to Reed’s bag is this Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond 3-wood.
Click here to see Reed’s full WITB from this week
7) Beem’s Scratch set
Rich Beem, who won the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, came to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla with a bag full of Scratch Golf irons, which are loaded with lead tape and equipped with some of the coolest custom ferrules in professional golf.
See Rich Beem’s full WITB here
8) Jon Rahm’s 10-iron
Before going to LIV, Rahm was using a Callaway Apex TCB pitching wedge.
Now, he’s using a Callaway Apex TCB “10 iron.”
He’s also since upgraded to three Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke metalwoods, and fresh stampings on his Jaws Raw wedges. Click here to see Rahm’s full WITB from the 2024 PGA Championship.
9) “Why so serious?”
Tyrrell Hatton, another LIV player in the 2024 PGA Championship field, channels his inner Joker to ask everyone, “Why so serious?”
10) Block’s “Proto” iron, from address
As you probably know by now, Block switched out of his old TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2014 irons, and into a full set of TaylorMade’s new “Proto” irons. We’ve already seen the Proto 4-iron in the bags of Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa, but this is our first look at the higher-lofted irons in the set.
Here’s a look at the 7-iron from address:
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the Proto irons in our Forums
And, with that, we say goodbye to Louisville, and the second major championship of the 2024 season. We’ll see you next week at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas after a champion has been crowned.
Until then, don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week at the 2024 PGA Championship!
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Whats in the Bag
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 5: Another L.A.B. putter arises
We will be one quarter of the way through Thursday night men’s league season after this week. BK played much better last week, so he is hoping to continue that success and post another good score.
Here are the 14 clubs that will hopefully win him some skins!
Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops (9 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X (2024)
3-wood: Cobra Dark Speed LS Titanium (14.5 degrees, set +1)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7x
Fairway: Callaway Apex UW (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Blue 8 X
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops 4h (22 degrees, Flat Setting)
Shaft: KBS Tour Graphite Hybrid Prototype 85 S
Irons: TaylorMade P770 Phantom Black (5-PW)
Shaft: KBS Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (50-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (56-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (60-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Putter: L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max
Shaft: Accra x L.A.B. White
Ball: Titleist ProV1 Enhanced Alignment
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Bobby
Jan 7, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Huge fan of callaway woods, won’t touch anything else by them.
Clay
Jan 6, 2016 at 10:36 am
Is it too much to ask for a 15* XR16 Pro? Looks like my X2 Hot Pro may carry on another year. Depends on which of these specs is correct, is it 14* or 14.5*?
Max
Jan 5, 2016 at 6:15 pm
Bring back the 5 DEEP!!!!! Best all around fairway I have ever owned. If you have any XR16 5 Deep prototypes left over, send em my way. Thanks.
Dj
Jan 5, 2016 at 12:17 pm
They ran out of marketing material so now they say 28% more consistent carry distance? Lol not even sure what that means. So their old clubs went different distances on same struck shots? Normal
Billy
Jan 5, 2016 at 10:38 am
Just checking, so VFT in the XR16 face has a thinner centre and thicker perimeter? Not so sure if that’s how it works.
Andrew Tursky
Jan 5, 2016 at 11:46 am
To clarify, the center of the face is made thicker (.078 inches), and toward the perimeter it is thinner (.043 inches). Thanks, Billy!