Equipment
14-year-old hybrid in play at Q-School
Australian Steve Allan finished first at the PGA Tour Q-School 12 years ago. He’s back at the Q-School Finals this year at PGA West in La Quinta. Calif., armed with a club that predates his Q-School win — a TaylorMade Firesole “Rescue” Hybrid with a “Bubble” shaft that was introduced in 1999.
Take a look at the almost 15-year-old technology Allan brought with him to the PGA Tour Q-School Finals this week at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., as well as the photos below of what a Firesole Rescue looks like when it still has its paint and its stampings intact.
Click here to see more photos from Q-School, and Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/pre-release equipment” forum.
Click here to see more photos from Q-School, and Click here for more discussion in the “Tour/pre-release equipment” forum.
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- Kevin Streelman what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
5-wood: Ping G (17.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 X
Irons: Wilson Staff Model CB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Wilson Staff Model (48-08, 54-08), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-L @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54, 58)
Putter: Scotty Cameron TourType SSS TG6
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Streelman’s clubs here.
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The year was 2012. Gangnam Style ruled supreme, its infectious beats and ludicrous horse-riding dance moves hypnotizing us with their stupidity. Everyone was talking about the Mayan calendar, convinced that the end of days was near. Superheroes soared on the silver screen, with the Avengers assembling in epic fashion. Katniss Everdeen survived The Hunger Games. And the memes! The memes abounded. Grumpy Cat triumphed. We kept calm and carried on.
In much the same way that automotive enthusiasts love classic cars, we at GolfWRX love taking a backward glance at some of the iconic designs of years past. Heck, we love taking iconic designs to the tee box in the present!
In that spirit, GolfWRX has been running a series inspired by arguably the greatest fighting game franchise of all time: Mortal Kombat. It’s not “choose your fighter” but rather “choose your driver.”
Check out some of the standout combatants of 2012 below.
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Nike VRS
Often harshly critiqued during its years releasing golf equipment (right, Phil Mickelson?), Nike’s tenure in the club-and-ball business gets a gloss of nostalgic varnish, with many of its iron and putter designs continuing to attract admirers. Among the company’s driver offerings, the 2012 VRS — or VR_S, if you will — drew high marks for its shaping and toned-down appearance. The multi-thickness, NexCOR face was no joke either.
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
Callaway RAZR Fit
Callaway’s first foray into moveable weight technology (married with its OptiFit hosel) did not disappoint. With a carbon fiber crown, aerodynamic attention to detail, and variable and hyperbolic face technologies, this club foreshadowed the tech-loaded, “story in every surface” Callaway drivers of the present, AI-informed design age.
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
Cleveland Classic 310
Truly a design that came out of left field. Cleveland said, “Give me a persimmon driver, but make it titanium…in 460cc.” Our 2012 reviewer, JokerUsn wrote, “I don’t need to elaborate on all the aesthetics of this club. You’ve seen tons of pics. You’ve all probably seen a bunch in the store and held them up close and gotten drool on them. From a playing perspective, the color is not distracting. It’s dark enough to stay unobtrusive in bright sunlight…Even my playing partners, who aren’t into clubs at all…commented on it saying it looks cool.” Long live!
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
Titleist 910
While there’s no disputing Titleist’s “Titleist Speed” era of drivers perform better than its 2010s offerings, sentimentality abounds, and there was something classically Titleist about these clubs, right down to the alignment aid, and the look is somewhere between 983 times and the present TS age. Representing a resurgence after a disappointing stretch of offerings (907, 909), The 910D2 was a fairly broadly appealing driver with its classic look at address and classic Titleist face shape.
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
TaylorMade RocketBallz
The white crown. The name. You either loved ‘em or you hated ‘em. TaylorMade’s 2012 offering from its RocketBallz Period boasted speed-enhancing aerodynamics and an Inverted Cone Technology in the club’s titanium face. Technology aside, it’s impossible to overstate what a departure from the norm a white-headed driver was in the world of golf equipment.
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
Ping i20
Long a quietly assertive player in the driver space, Ping’s i20 was more broadly appealing than the G20, despite being a lower-launch, lower-spin club. Ping drivers didn’t always have looks that golfer’s considered traditional or classic, but the i20 driver bucked that trend. Combining the classic look with Ping’s engineering created a driver that better players really gravitated toward. The i20 offered players lower launch and lower spin for more penetrating ball flight while the rear 20g tungsten weights kept the head stable. Sound and feel were great also, being one of the more muted driver sounds Ping had created up to that time.
Check out our coverage from 2012 here.
GolfWRXers, let us know in the comments who “your fighter” is and why!
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/29/24): Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Krank Formula fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft.
From the seller: (@well01): “Krank formula fire 10.5 degree with AUtoflex SF505. $560 shipped.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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Kevin Streelman WITB 2024 (April)
Kevin Streelman what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)...
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
Rory McIlroy WITB Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (45 inches) 3-wood:...
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Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4...
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Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
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19th Hole3 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole3 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
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19th Hole1 week ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTwo star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
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19th Hole2 weeks agoReport: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
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19th Hole2 weeks agoNeal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
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19th Hole2 weeks agoBrandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
Dennis Clark
Jul 8, 2014 at 2:07 pm
If you’ve made it to the final stage of Q school good chance your equipment is working pretty well.
Straightdriver235
Jul 2, 2014 at 10:13 pm
I don’t get it. What is the deal? There’s many old clubs superior to the newer ones. These pros are generally paid to play stuff, but many serious players use old equipment quite effectively. You are pretty much a fool if you are buying clubs not two or three years old at the least. My Sonartec 18* hybrid is older than this, well used… and looks much better. It has always striped the ball, so why would I want to change it? I was using a Tommy Armour Ironmaster from the late 1930s until recently. I simply found it better than any other putter I ever tried.
hawkeye3743
Jun 18, 2014 at 6:42 pm
HMMM, so newer is always better. And that old Bubble Shaft was a great shaft, too bad they quit it. I have a few new heads. Probably worth Millions if he is a success. LOL
West
May 2, 2014 at 12:35 pm
Wow, I’m just amazed at the fact he still uses the same shaft after all these years, in a stiff-flex no less. Also, that club face looks way closed? Anyways, to each their own, no “right” way to play the game…
Max
May 1, 2014 at 12:58 pm
I still have on of those, in brand new condition. Never played it but will give it a try the next time.
Walter
Apr 22, 2014 at 1:37 pm
I’ve been playing mine for years and when it started to look like this one I sanded the head. Looks awesome.
grexa
Nov 29, 2012 at 12:20 pm
It shows the confidence in the equipment a player is comfortable with. It also shows how it’s the indian, not always the arrow.
Tom McCarthy
Nov 29, 2012 at 12:10 am
Still playing my Taylormade Rescue club I bought on an American Express points promotion about 12 years ago. What a great club!
3putt18
Nov 28, 2012 at 5:59 pm
I had 2 of these clubs. I sold them both last year. They were/ are great clubs.
northhighlandway12
Nov 28, 2012 at 1:11 pm
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but, weren’t the majority of clubs, way back in the birth days of golf,
wooden shaped heads with lofts that resembled todays 7-irons, 6,5, etc. Why are people calling hybrids, new technology?
Shallowface
Dec 16, 2014 at 7:52 pm
You’re right, and we’re certainly headed back in that direction.
I don’t think we’re too far from the day where the only iron in an average player’s bag will be a sand wedge. Everything else will be a hybrid of some sort.
The long iron just wasn’t a good idea for most. I enjoy shopping thrift stores, and every now and then I’ll see a ladies forged blade two iron from the 1960s.
What were they thinking?
Dalton
Nov 28, 2012 at 11:46 am
I wish today’s hybrid’s were all as small profile as this original. I’ve still got one of these in my attic. May be time to break it back out!
Omar R.
Nov 27, 2012 at 10:04 pm
needs to go to continental golf
Greg M.
Nov 27, 2012 at 6:19 pm
maybe this hybrid is to Steve as the 7 iron is to Tin Cup! …old reliable
Mike D.
Nov 27, 2012 at 5:43 pm
The groove rule doesn’t apply to clubs with less than 24 degrees of loft.
Jake03331
Nov 27, 2012 at 4:51 pm
@Rick, the grooves back in 1999 were not of the same design as more recent years and those no banned under the “conforming groove” debate. Most irons still rocked V grooves, so this club would be good to go.
Rick
Nov 27, 2012 at 4:46 pm
What about the recent rule on the grooves shape?
Is this “Rescue” still conforming?
Rus
Nov 27, 2012 at 2:24 pm
It looks like he lost the H/C in 2000… Put an old sock or somethin on it!
CA
Nov 27, 2012 at 12:22 pm
+100000000000
John
Nov 27, 2012 at 10:36 am
Says a lot about my addiction of buying into new equipment frenzy…My wife is absolutely right, I’m an idiot.
purkjason
Apr 21, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Haha … it’s the opposite in my house. My wife will always buy the new crap. Whereas I’m cool with my reliable Maltby Equipment.
Shallowface
Dec 16, 2014 at 7:46 pm
That Maltby gear is some of the best you’ll find anywhere. Great design through sound engineering principles.