Equipment
11 Revealing photos from the 145th Open Championship
GolfWRX was live this week from the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. If you missed any of our photos from the week, browse all of the galleries in the links below:
It was a special week for GolfWRX, as this marks the first time we made the trek overseas to take photos at the Open Championship. That means we’ve finally completed the career Grand Slam (of photos at major championships). Exciting stuff.
But anyway, let’s reveal some photos from Royal Troon.
Leaderboard Bags
TaylorMade’s Commemorative staff bags for the 145th Open are nothing short of awesome, matching the iconic leaderboards at the event.
And Andy Murray won at Wimbledon. Well done.
Stimp Tunnel
How do they get a Stimpmeter reading when the Scottish wind begins blowing? Time to break out the plastic storage boxes.
Here’s to hoping they’re not running at a 14+ like the United States’ 2016 version of the Open.
The Equipment Switch Heard ‘Round the World
Charl Schwartzel made a major equipment switch this week. He changed sponsors and joined the #PXGTroops, putting mostly PXG clubs in the bag.
See his Open Championship WITB here.
Jackets and wedges
Jackets? What kind of jackets…Green Jackets? While Scotland has some odd names for potato preparations, they’re pretty creative with the dish names:
- The Big Easy (Ernie Els)
- Full Monty (Colin Montgomerie)
- Victor Dupoisson (Victor Dubuisson)
- Smokey Miguel (Miguel Angel Jiminez)
What’s going on here Vijay?
Where are the alignment aids, bamboo sticks, water bottles, Gatorade bottles, and all of the other range aids you normally use? And now that I bring it up, where is your golf bag??
It looks as though Vijay may be testing some equipment ahead of the Open Championship, figuring out what longer sticks he’ll have in the bag.
Going to hit a quick bucket of balls
Or should I say cage of balls.
The Wilson Gang
Throw up the “W” if you’re reppin’ Wilson Staff.
The Bogey Train
Royal Troon’s 11th hole, called “The Railway,” has a train track going up the entire right side of the hole. It played as the most difficult hole on the golf course in the 2004 Open, and it wouldn’t be a shock for it to play as the most difficult in 2016.
The players will definitely need to train themselves not to hit the ball right on this hole.
Postage Stamp
You can’t mail it in on Hole No. 8 at Royal Troon, nicknamed the “Postage Stamp” for how small its green is. There’s no bailout on this tee shot, despite it being the shortest hole on the course. It’s not often you’re guarding against making a huge number with a wedge in your hands, but don’t be surprised to see some “others,” and maybe even a double-digit number this week if the winds kick up.
Where’d the ball go?
Judging by where he’s expecting the ball to be and where it actually is, I’d say this ball hit the lip and went back into the bunker. As they say, pot bunkers are often stroke penalties, and this photo shows why.
For the kids
We all forget sometimes — even some of the best players in the world forget — but it’s all about growing the game and getting kids out on the course. Hey kid, nice move.
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Equipment
Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
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
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.
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)
- 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
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)
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)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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Benny Karpen
Aug 17, 2016 at 6:52 pm
Mickelson seized the moment with a birdie on the par-5 h from a bunker short of the green, and a 4-iron to 15 feet for birdie on the par-3 h to reach 8-under par.
Dave
Jul 19, 2016 at 11:45 am
Best tourney ever mabey the usga could learn about how to run a great event can’t wait until next year. Great write up.
Rob
Jul 16, 2016 at 8:55 pm
Merry Mex = Lee Trevino
Christosterone
Jul 16, 2016 at 12:53 pm
Those taylormade bags kinda remind me of a bang bag I had about 10 years ago…it was the exact mustard yellow of the leaderboard and was awesome…
Love your posts as usual…
-Christosterone
RG
Jul 17, 2016 at 5:07 pm
Yeah or RBZ headcovers!!
RG
Jul 17, 2016 at 5:08 pm
Stage II that is!
Greg
Jul 16, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Nice job AT.
Totally forgot I now have all the majors on the men’s tour. I have three of the five on the LPGA, also.