Equipment
Bridgestone introduces ultra-premium Tour B Series
Coming mid-Spring and only available through Bridgestone-authorized fitters (and only available for a limited time): Bridgestone’s ultra-premium Tour B Series of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons.
Bridgestone’s Tour B Series of drivers includes three models: the XD-3, XD-5 and XD-7, each featuring a matte finish and adjustable hosel that allows eight face-angle/lie configurations.
- XD-3: 455cc head, round shape, deep face, medium launch, neutral trajectory.
- XD-5: 460cc head, flatter, shallow-face design to promote a high launching draws.
- XD-7: 445cc head, classic pear shape, lower-launching, fade-biased tractory.
From a features standpoint, the drivers include Bridgestone’s Flex Action Speed Technology (FAST), which is designed to increase ball speed for maximum distance, even on off-center hits.
XD-3
XD-5
XD-7
In combination with F.A.S.T. is a technology Bridgestone calls “Power Ribs,” which were added to internally to the driver heads to increase ball speed and dampen vibrations. The faces of the Tour B woods also feature Power Milling, which is designed to stabilize the ball at impact to increase compression and reduce spin.
The XD drivers come with a set of interchangeable weights (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 grams). Exotic premium shafts are offered stock, including top models from Mitsubishi, Fujikura, UST Mamiya and Aldila.
“We wanted to do something really special this year and decided to go ultra-high-end in every facet to create a line that combines incredible craftsmanship with the latest technological innovations,” says Zack Kupperbusch, Golf Club Marketing. “To launch the product, we will be working with a select group of authorized fitters, who will custom build each club to perfectly suit customer needs and preferences. Further information on fitting locations will be available shortly.”
XD-F
XD-F fairway woods are equipped with a shallow face and are available in lofts of 15 and 18 degrees. Featuring the compact shape preferred by better players, the XD-H hybrids come in lofts of 18, 21 and 24 degrees.
XD-H
Bridgestone Golf is also adding to its forged iron line the cavity-backed X-CB and traditional X-Blade. Both feature 1020 Endo forging, 15 premium shaft options and minimal offset. The X-CB is engineered with a wider sole to prevent digging and encourage smooth turf interaction, while the X-Blade has a narrower sole.
X-Blade
X-CB
Drivers will retail for $699, fairway woods and hybrids for $399 and $249, respectively. Both the X-CB and X-Blade will be $1,200 (4-PW).
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)
Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here. Driver: TaylorMade...
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At the 2022 RBC Heritage Jordan Spieth defeated Patrick Cantlay on the first playoff hole after nearly holing his greenside...
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Ludvig Åberg what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)...
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Jake Wherley
Jan 20, 2017 at 2:06 am
I, as a Bridgestone staff member, and as a huge equipment junky, cannot wait to try these suckers out and put them in the bag! Look absolutely fantastic! And I didn’t think they could make anything that would take my J15 CBs out of my bag…I’ve been proven wrong.
Stevegp
Jan 20, 2017 at 12:56 am
I like Bridgestone gear. It will be interesting to see how they new releases do.
Stevemac
Jan 19, 2017 at 10:30 pm
i just cant imagine there is that big of a market out there. i love tinkering but as ive gotten older and the USGA limits on COR, etc- I am losing interest in spending the money. Look at the flurry of attention the Costco ball generated. New club introductions have slowed so manufacturers have to find $$s somewhere. Most club reviews are not seeing notable differences from model to model. I definitely am not the first in line for new product now.
Dunn2500
Jan 19, 2017 at 9:41 pm
Everything is priced right cept driver and fwy wood…….don’t forget it’s being able to get all the premium shafts as well, that so many were crying about few years ago…..well now you can but it’s gna cost you……still cheaper than buying clubs and reshafting on your own…… $699 is gna be hard sell though for drivers that aren’t even that popular…….all irons are $1200 now
And these are endo which is kinda nice…..I think they will limit the quantity as they don’t sell that many here but am sure they’re team has looked at all pertinent aspects and feels they can still profit so……all of it looks nice……
Hopefully they don’t make the blade length so long heel to toe…..only complaint with their irons
Jack
Jan 19, 2017 at 9:15 pm
I don’t know about the driver being 700. On the rakuten website (japanese Amazon basically), it’s about 400+ USD for the XD-03 with Tour AD TX1-6 shaft. For that price difference might as well just get it from Japan.
Philip
Jan 19, 2017 at 5:35 pm
Ultra – premium, not just premium clubs. Now those clubs are definitely much better than all other non-ultra clubs :o)
Chris
Jan 19, 2017 at 5:15 pm
I hope everyone complaining about $1200 for a forged set of irons understands that they cost more for these irons now with the materials they are building them from. These are companies that have to make money, too. For what it costs them to get the materials for those heads, this isn’t really a huge price markup for them. I remember people complaining about $1000 for Mizuno’s a couple years ago when it cost them about $800 to get those made. Throw in the fact that a lot of these companies add in shafts at no extra cost, and you’re right in line with where they should be.
Joshua Rodgers
Jan 19, 2017 at 3:32 pm
1020 Endo Forging…I’m betting those blades will find their way into Tigers bag.
the bishop
Jan 19, 2017 at 7:34 am
Both irons, the X-blade in particular are spectacular looking and $1200 is not unreasonable in today’s market for forgings. $249 is in line with other manufacturers top line hybrids. $699 and $399 for drivers and fw’s respectively is another matter. Jury is out but they may have a hard time moving them at those price points.
Takehiko Takaoka
Jan 19, 2017 at 5:11 am
Almost same price as in Japan
Mat
Jan 19, 2017 at 3:23 am
For everyone on here complaining about the pricing, turnabout is fair play. If you live outside of the US, these are pretty normal prices anymore. Granted US$700 is a little high even for imports, most equipment is straight up 30% more overseas before taxes and such.
Bert
Jan 18, 2017 at 7:28 pm
Picked up a used but flawless set (4-PW,AW) of RSi 2’s the other day for $275. Sounds about right.
Kevin
Jan 18, 2017 at 5:08 pm
Bridgestone sells a lot globally and definitely has a cult following here in the states, for irons and woods. Driver looks good but I still agree with most that $699 is to much for even some of the most hardcore Bridgestone fans. The irons at $1200 seem very reasonable. To bring that cost down they would have to go to a harder metal and all the fans would complain, a no win situation for them. $1200 has been common for a forged club for a couple of years now, this is nothing new.
golfraven
Jan 18, 2017 at 3:19 pm
Certainly like the CBs but prices are at premium. I would expect that performance is at same level otherwise those will be a shelf stocker.
Mike
Jan 18, 2017 at 2:42 pm
Welp, I was waiting for this driver to compliment my J15 CB’s (which I got for $400 and probably couldn’t be replaced by these because they’re too awesome), but would never pay that price for any driver. Even if it is an unbelievable product, what’s it going to give me, 4 yards? I’m almost offended
Ron
Jan 18, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Hmphf.
How come no one makes a 3-iron anymore?
Chuck
Jan 18, 2017 at 2:53 pm
I can’t say that “everybody” makes 2- and 3-irons, but most do. They just prefer — as marketing has told them — that more and more people would rather buy a 4-PW set, or a 5-PW set or (my new favorite) 4-9 and 5-9 sets.
Because we are also seeing more, not fewer, choices with lots of utility irons in the 2-4 range.
Feel the Bern
Jan 19, 2017 at 9:33 am
I also think is a price gouge. People wouldn’t be able to stomach 1400$ for 3-PW, for clubs that used to cost three digits. Dropping a club off while raising the price slightly minimizes the optics of said price gouge.
Myron miller
Jan 18, 2017 at 1:24 pm
As others have said, $699 for a driver and $399 for woods is crazy. I can get custom made, fitted driver for same or less. What does this driver do that many others don’t? Certainly its distance is pretty close to everyone else. So why so much more expensive. Last time i checked Bridgestone wasn’t known for its driver usage or for anybody buying them.
Lap
Jan 18, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Import prices. Duh. Different agreement in the WTO deal between Japan goods and China goods coming into the US.
Large Chris
Jan 18, 2017 at 1:15 pm
“Only available for a limited time”
Thank goodness for that, where I live I can hardly get through the doors of the golf retailers due to the thousands of Bridgestone driver, irons and hybrids on offer in all the stores (that’s being sarcastic by the way).
Large Chris
Jan 18, 2017 at 1:29 pm
To be fair the pics do look very nice, the X-blades in particular.
Dat
Jan 18, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Will prices ever come down at all in this market? These companies are doing this to themselves. There is a reason that Srixon’s 945 blade only sold like crazy when it went down to $400 this winter.
Glfhsslr
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:53 am
All the high price tags mean is, you won’t be buying a new set of irons every year lol
Smitty
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:42 am
Another set of irons that retails for $1200?! OEMs are going to run themselves out of business trying to keep up with PXG. I’m a HUGE Bridgestone fan and love the look of these clubs but there is absolutely zero chance I’m dropping that kind of cash on these.
creeder
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:18 am
thanks PXG for all the ultra premium high priced gear. Dont fall in the trap.
chinchbugs
Jan 18, 2017 at 10:42 am
I would enjoy a combo set in those…but I would also enjoy some manufactures coming out with a set of irons priced under $1k these days…
Tom
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:05 am
brilliant idea!
Deron
Jan 18, 2017 at 10:30 am
Trying to follow the PXG model? Hope this sort of thing doesn’t become a trend.
NolanMBA
Jan 18, 2017 at 10:22 am
Their price point is interesting… Is bridgestone a hit globally or something? I know people like their irons and balls but not their woods and certainly not at $699.
Branson Reynolds
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:43 am
Those irons look great. i understand their price. But a $700 Driver from a company that has to be last in Driver sales among the big names…i don’t get it.