Equipment

Nike RZN Tour and RZN Speed golf balls

Published

8 years ago

Jan 7, 2016

Since the birth of the modern golf ball, there have been hundreds of thousands of different arrangements, styles, numbers, patterns and geometries of dimples. They’re a golf ball’s fingerprint, and that fingerprint plays a role in exactly how a golf ball will fly toward its intended target.

Figure 1

One look at Nike’s new RZN Tour golf balls and you’ll notice something odd; each of its dimples has dimples — 344 standard-sized dimples, and 13,558 smaller “micro-dimples.” Nike claims that the microdimples, which look like shallow pin pokes, reduce drag to improve aerodynamics. According to Nike, the micro-dimples are placed strategically around the ball, and improve lift and drag properties, especially at the end of the ball’s flight.

With the new line, Nike has also re-engineered its familiar RZN cores and the inner layers of its golf balls.

Nike’s two new RZN Tour golf balls (RZN Black, RZN Platinum) have four-piece constructions and urethane covers, and their new RZN 4.0 cores have been made 10 percent larger than previous models. Using more of the lightweight, RZN material in the design helped the company redistributed weight to the outer layers of the golf balls, increasing moment of inertia (MOI). With more MOI, the balls will fly straighter for the duration of their flight, reducing the effect of wind, according to Nike.

Figure 2

A graphic from Nike shows the microdimples (left) and how the RZN 4.0 core behaves at impact.

The new RZN 4.0 core is also said to make the ball softer, without sacrificing distance.

“The ball feels much softer, yet I’ve maintained my ball speed and even picked up a few yards overall,” Rory McIlroy said. “It’s easily the best combination of distance and feel I’ve ever played.”

The inner cores (pictured in blue in Figure 2) uses deep grooves and X’s on its surface to provide 26 percent more surface area contact than its predecessors for more efficient energy transfer from club to ball. The Speedlock Mantle (the yellow layer in Figure 1) also has similar “Speedlock” technology, which reduces slippage with outer layer of the golf ball and adds approximately 150 rpm of spin on approach shots, according to Rock Ishii, Nike Golf’s Senior Director of Innovation for Golf Balls.

The RZN Tour golf balls are for golfers looking for the ultimate in distance, feel and control. The RZN Black, which new Nike athlete Tony Finau will play, offers lower spin with a golfer’s longer clubs for more distance, according to Nike. The RZN Platinum offers slightly more spin and is “designed to Rory McIlroy’s exact specifications,” according to Nike.

For the golfer looking for a softer feel at a reduced price, Nike also has new RZN Speed golf balls.

RZN Speed (Red and White)

Nike’s RZN Speed golf balls have a three-piece construction, and are for golfers who desire a soft golf ball, or a lower price-point model. The balls have an even softer RZN core, according to Nike, and the same Speedlock X technology used in the RZN Tour balls to maximize energy transfer.

The RZN Red ball offers more distance, while the RZN White ball concentrates on a softer feel. Both the RZN Tour and RZN Speed golf balls will be available at NikeGolf.com on January 22, and at select retailers on January 29.

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Equipment

Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Published

1 hour ago

Apr 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)

MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype

MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.

Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype

We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.

Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS

Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.

Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2

This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.

Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype

This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic

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Equipment

Spotted: Project X Denali hybrid shaft

Published

2 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Brian Knudson

Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.

Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.

Check out in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s full WITB here.

The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.

Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.

Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
Check out in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s full WITB here.

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Whats in the Bag

Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)

Published

23 hours ago

Apr 24, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.

6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)

Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)