Equipment

Stacy Lewis switches to Happy Putter prototype with adjustable alignment

Published

8 years ago

Apr 30, 2016

For many golfers, tinkering with golf clubs is not always connected to shooting a lower score. Sometimes it’s necessary for them to play their best, though, especially on the greens where the mental game is so important. The latest creation of Happy Putter founder Vikash Sanyal is based on that belief, specifically that a new “look” can help golfers focus better on the greens.

“I call it the lazy eye syndrome,” Sanyal said. “A golfer’s eyes get lazy after a while with the same putter. A new look can refocus their eyes on the line [of the putt].”

Stacy Lewis, a 13-time LPGA Tour winner and the No. 4-ranked women’s golfer in the world, isn’t much of a tinkerer with her putter, but a new Happy Putter changed her tune. It uses adjustable alignment aids, which improved her alignment and results in comprehensive testing Sanyal did with Lewis.

It hasn’t been a seamless change — Lewis has been off and on between the Happy Putter prototype and her old putter this year — although it seems she has settled on a Happy Putter Prototype M. Lewis was spotted with a Happy Putter in the bag by Beth Ann Nichols at the ANA Inspiration, and had it in the bag at last week’s Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She finished T18 and T27, respectively, and is currently ranked 17th in Putts Per GIR (Green in regulation) on the year averaging 1.77.

.@Stacy_Lewis made adjustments to her highly adjustable Happy Putter and is rolling at ANA https://t.co/H1BMAiB7yv pic.twitter.com/ddOfYf1CO1

— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) April 2, 2016

Her specs, provided by Sanyal, are listed below:

Design: Prototype M
Alignment: Shape 2, Line Pattern B
Length: 32 inches
Weight: “Heavy”
Loft: “Low”
Lie Angle: “Upright”
Offset: “Half”

The new technology from Happy Putter, which Sanyal said is expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks, allows golfers to switch out alignment aids without changing anything else about the putter, such as weight, loft, lie angle, etc. The putter found its way into Lewis’ hands when Sanyal showed Lewis and her swing coach what he was working on at Naples National Golf Club in Florida, where Sanyal put Lewis through his personal testing process. It includes:

Using a roll board to find out if the ball is skipping off the face.
Lie angle testing to make sure the sole is flat.
Trying different alignment aids to discover a visual preference.
Performance testing. Lewis hit 6, 12 and 18-foot putts, and well as lag putts from 50 feet in an 18-hole format.

Before they began, Lewis had to pick which of the alignment lines best suited her stroke and preferences. At first she picked a single line, which was similar to her old putter, Sanyal said. She repeatedly lined up left of where she was aiming, however, so they changed to another alignment aid with multiple, alternating-color lines. Sanyal said Lewis didn’t immediately like the look of the alignment aid, but she lined up perfectly to her intended target with it again and again. It outperformed her gamer, and she recorded seriously impressive stats during testing, according to Sanyal’s records.

6 feet: 39/40 (98 percent)
12 feet: 23/40 (58 percent)
18 feet 7/20 (35 percent)

Like the original Happy Putter, which you can read more about here, the new model allows golfers to adjust weights, loft, offset and lie angle, although the new version does not change dexterity.

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Whats in the Bag

Richy Werenski WITB 2024 (May)

Published

4 hours ago

May 2, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Richy Werenski what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Houston Open.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 60 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 8 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Richy Werenski’s clubs in the forums.

Hybrid: Titleist TSR3 (19 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 90 TX

Irons: Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 105 S

Check out more in-hand photos of Richy Werenski’s clubs in the forums.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (54-M, 58-L @60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Onyx (46-50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Onyx (54-60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron prototype

Check out more in-hand photos of Richy Werenski’s clubs in the forums.

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash

Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Richy Werenski’s clubs in the forums.

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Equipment

Adam Scott testing green “Masters Use Only” putter + 6 interesting equipment photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

Published

4 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson event at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, which, for your geographical reference, is about 25 minutes from Dallas.

In early-week equipment news, we saw some interesting putter testing from Adam Scott, a Maxfli golf ball signing on the PGA Tour, a 16-year-old’s WITB, a PGA Tour player using another PGA Tour player’s backup putter, and Jordan Spieth weighed in on why he recently switched out just his 7-iron (and then made a hole-in-one with it).

With so much to report and so little time to waste on the intro, let’s get right into this week’s equipment rundown from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

See all of our photo galleries from the week here

Adam Scott’s new L.A.B. putters

Before we get into a couple of the new prototypes Scott has been testing, above is a photo of the L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max prototype putter that he’s been using, and will likely continue to use this week in Texas.

That being said, following the Masters, Scott was looking to try a couple putters with a slightly lighter weight to help with his feel on fast greens.

One of the new prototypes we spotted on Tuesday was a L.A.B. Golf DF3 “Proto 2.1”, custom-built with Scott’s preferred blue colorway, and an Australia-inspired Kangaroo laser engraving…

We also spotted him with a green-colored “For Masters Use Only” Mezz.1 Max prototype…

While it’s unlikely Scott will make a switch this week, it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward, especially on courses with faster greens.

We also got a peek into Scott’s full WITB this week, which consists of a super-mixed set of Srixon irons, including a ZX Utility 3-iron, a ZX-5 MkII 4-iron, ZX-7 MkII mid-irons (5-7) and Z Forged II short irons (8-9).

See Scott’s full WITB from the CJ Cup here

An update on Daniel Berger’s Odyssey Jailbird

Last week in New Orleans, we highlighted Daniel Berger’s Ai-One Jailbird Mini putter because of its unique sightlines.

Well, we have an update.

According to Callaway Tour Manager Joe Toulon, who spoke with GolfWRX.com this week, Berger’s Jailbird Mini is actually from fellow Tour player Tom Kim’s stash. Kim is a prolific putter tester, and the exact putter Berger is currently using was actually originally made for and tested by Kim. The putter didn’t make it into Kim’s starting lineup, however, so he gave the putter back to Odyssey, and it eventually made it’s way onto Berger’s gamer roster.

Jordan Spieth’s new 7-iron

As the story goes, Jordan Spieth changed out his Titleist T100 7-iron on Wednesday before the 2024 Valero Texas Open, and then on Thursday, he used the 7-iron to make a hole-in-one from 199 yards on the 16th hole.

Good timing on that switch, Jordan.

On Tuesday at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson, GoflWRX.com caught up with Spieth to get the full story on why he switched just the 7-iron.

Our full story is over on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, but here’s a snippet of what Spieth had to say:

“I hit my 7-iron a lot, especially on my own. The spin rates, relative to my 6-iron and my 8-iron, were lower, so it was going too far. I was trying to figure out why, if it was something in the makeup of the iron. I got the lies and the lofts checked, and everything was fine. So finally I was like, ‘Can I just get a new one and see if it fixes it?’

“Maybe there was one other time throughout my career where I changed just one iron, so it’s very unusual. I think it’s just because the grooves were worn down from hitting it too much.”

Ben Griffin signs with Maxfli to play the golf ball

At the beginning of the year, LPGA Tour star Lexi Thompson signed a deal with Maxfli to play the company’s golf ball, and now, Griffin has officially joined team Maxfli, as well, thus expanding the company’s Tour presence.

GolfWRX.com caught up with Griffin on Wednesday in Texas for a video interview about his new golf ball of choice, and how he marks it…

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A 16-year-old is playing on the PGA Tour this week, using a 2-iron!

Amateur golfer Kris Kim, at just 16 years of age, is making his PGA Tour debut this week after receiving a sponsors exemption into the event. In 2023, Kim won both the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship and the European Boys’ International Championship.

On Tuesday in Texas, we got a look into Kim’s bag, which revealed that he’s currently playing a TaylorMade P-770 2-iron, and a bag full of TaylorMade clubs.

Check out Kim’s full WITB here

A smart golf ball stamping

I’m not going to sit here and pretend to be a big math guy, because I’m not. However, I do recognize David Nyfjall’s purple ball marking as a square root symbol.

While I don’t know the particular significance of the square root symbol for Nyfjall, I do know you have to be fairly intelligent to even consider using a marking like that. Pretty cool stuff from the Northwestern alum, and 2023 Byron Nelson Award winner.

And, with that, we say goodbye to Texas and TPC Craig Ranch. We’ll see you next week at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte for more insider equipment news and storylines.

For now, don’t forget to check out all of our photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

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Whats in the Bag

Wesley Bryan WITB 2024 (May)

Published

6 hours ago

May 2, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Wesley Bryan what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana GT 50 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana GT 60 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Wesley Bryan’s clubs here.

Hybrid: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus Rescue (19.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Blue 8 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Takomo 101U (4), Takomo 101T (5), Takomo 301 CB (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Check out more in-hand photos of Wesley Bryan’s clubs here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 52-08F, 56-14F), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (58-A)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400