Equipment
Cameron Champ cracked his driver right before teeing off on Sunday
Golf’s new sensation, Cameron Champ, triumphed at the Sanderson Farms Championship over the weekend, and he did so without the ideal preparation on Sunday afternoon. The 23-year old arrived on the range ahead of Sunday’s final round with a four-shot lead attempting to land his maiden PGA Tour title, and 30 minutes before his tee time the American cracked the head of his PING G400 Max driver.
This is the driver of Cameron Champ 20 minutes before his final round tee time with a 4 shot lead. He had a backup in the car, and was able to hit a few on the range. pic.twitter.com/QfnvStHFqW
— Justin Leonard (@jlmountainman) October 28, 2018
Champ may have just a handful of appearances on the PGA Tour so far, but he has already made a name for himself with his incredible raw power. At his opening event of the season at the Safeway Open, Champ lead the field in both average club head speed (129.66 mph), and ball speed (192.67 mph). To put those numbers into perspective, the top average in both categories for the 2017/18 season was 124.67 mph from Keith Mitchell for club head speed and 182.22 from Trey Mullinax for ball speed.
The Californian, by all accounts, dealt with the adversity excellently. According to Golf Channel’s Justin Leonard, Champ calmly asked his father to retrieve a backup club from his car, casually saying, “Don’t worry, not a rush, I’m not going to hit it until the third hole.”
Champ lead the field in two of his opening three rounds for strokes gained off the tee, and cracking the head of his trusty driver just before the off on Sunday looked to be far more costly than Champ had imagined, as he saw his four-shot lead evaporate over the front nine in Mississippi.
However, Champ kept his head and rattled off five birdies in his last six holes to take the title by four. Speaking after his round, Champ commented on his shock at the incident, and the difficulties he faced because of it.
“It was very unexpected. Then my backup is my old one I have that week. I didn’t bring a new driver head. It was an older one from my previous driver. I know the weighting was just a little bit off, so just tried to hit as many balls as I could on the range with it just to get used to it a little bit. I tried to manage it. Obviously I knew mostly today was probably mixed with nerves and adrenaline and just trying to find my tempo and my swing and whatnot.”
Manage it he did, with Champ leading the final round in driving distance and proving that he is not just a sensation with the driver, but also very adept at dealing with adversity.
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- Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond T (15 degrees @16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-AW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (4-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue (AW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F @55), WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One #7S
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
Check out more in-hand photos of Sam Burns’ WITB in the forums.
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- Will Zalatoris’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X (44.5 inches)
3-wood: Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T350 (3), Titleist T150 (4-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Prototype G.O.S.T. 10 ST X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-08F, 54-10S @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
See more photos of Will Zalatoris’ WITB in the forums.
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New Level has been making some really good golf equipment since the company started up in 2018. Offering irons that are more geared towards the better player, precision has been a fundamental philosophy for New Level in creating irons and wedges.
The 480 line of irons has been the flagship of the brand, and the newest member of that team is the 480-DB iron that is now open to pre-orders. A new cavity design is what the whole 480 line is about, and the 480-DB takes advantage of that with added ball speed and a larger sweet spot.
For players who require their irons to offer the best feel, rest assured the DB is a fully forged (from 1020 carbon steel) one-piece golf club. No multi-piece, hollow design with this iron.
While the 480-DB is the next generation of the popular 902-OS, New Level didn’t follow the current trend in golf by chasing distance with the new iron. They actually weakened the lofts on the 480-DB with the spec sheet showing a 33-degree 7-iron and 45-degree pitching wedge. These lofts allow the DB to have less offset while still offering consistent distance off the face.
A traditional design was also at the forefront of the new irons to make sure that golfers with an eye for detail can look down at them with confidence that they will perform under any condition.
A weight low in the back cavity will allow their master club builders to dial in the perfect weight for the golfer, no matter the length or shaft being used. New Level believes that the new 480-DB is one of the most forgiving one-piece forged irons on the market today. A pre-worn leading edge on the sole should get through the turf quickly and with reduced digging for better turf interaction.
You can pre-order the New Level 480-DB right now on the New Level website.
Pricing specs availability
- Irons: 4-PW
- Price: $149/oron
- Availability: Pre-order
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Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
Will Zalatoris WITB 2024 (April)
Will Zalatoris’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)...
Scottie Scheffler’s winning WITB: 2024 RBC Heritage
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (8 degrees @8.25) Buy here. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (45 inches) 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy...
Nelly Korda’s winning WITB: 2024 Chevron Championship
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 Max (10.5 degrees) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana GT 60 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)...
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The dude
Oct 30, 2018 at 3:57 pm
How do you crack the top??
Tom
Oct 30, 2018 at 1:54 pm
Crown suffered structural failure? Sounds like a design flaw or QC issue!
geohogan
Nov 9, 2018 at 9:57 am
Jamie Sadlowski had to have specially made clubheads with less COR. He cracked off the shelf clubheads after a few shots. At those speeds shaft tips (0.335 inch diameter) will also break relatively quickly.
dat
Oct 29, 2018 at 4:01 pm
typical WRX’r
Tom54
Oct 29, 2018 at 3:05 pm
At nearly 130 mph swing speed he may need to have several drivers on hand. Wonder what the max speed is when these drivers are put through their tests. Glad to see him get his first win.
~j~
Oct 29, 2018 at 2:52 pm
Happens to the best of us. ????
Rick
Oct 29, 2018 at 2:29 pm
“F#$%K”!!!!!!!!!
-Ping
Peter
Oct 29, 2018 at 1:19 pm
Isn’t this exactly why tour trucks are there?
Tim
Oct 29, 2018 at 1:31 pm
Tour trucks usually pull out wed or thurs. Some stay around longer especially at majors and it also depends on the length of drive to next event.
Chris
Oct 29, 2018 at 1:32 pm
The tour trucks usually leave after Wednesday.
mlb
Oct 29, 2018 at 3:04 pm
A tour truck would have made no difference. The kid is strong
Greg V
Oct 29, 2018 at 12:10 pm
So, what was his old driver?
and if you are Cameron Champ, why not travel with a spare head.
Johnny Penso
Oct 30, 2018 at 4:18 pm
Probably an old McGregor persimmon driver because, according to some here at WRX, it’s almost as long as a modern driver, it’s the ball that made all the difference back in the day.