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Ben Hogan Golf debuts new PTx PRO irons

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Ben Hogan Golf has released its newest line of irons, the PTx PRO. The iron marks the fourth variety in the Hogan iron lineup and is available to the public via the company’s direct to consumer online ordering system. The newest model is an evolution of sorts from the successful PTx lineup with some important modifications worth noting.

“At Ben Hogan, we are always trying to innovate and improve,” Said Ben Hogan Golf President and CEO, Scott White.  “When Ben Hogan started his company in 1953, he said his goal was to design and manufacture the ‘best performing’, ‘best feeling’ and ‘finest golf clubs ever made.’ That is still our mission today.”

“The original PTx irons have been around since 2016; they are still great and have been our most-popular iron model. But as we moved away from the PreciseLoft system (with four separate launch profiles), we looked at that as an opportunity to review the entire design. So, rather than a re-engineered version or the original design, our R&D team developed something completely new … and better.” The PTx PRO model has some similarities with the original PTx irons … mostly each individual head was developed independently. Also, all heads are 3-piece forgings … and created through a process we call ‘Co-Forging’. However, the new irons have a slightly larger face and sole, and optimized offsets to deliver certain performance characteristics we were after.”

The 7-piece PTx PRO iron sets will be offered on BenHoganGolf.com exclusively for $770.00.  6-piece sets (5-iron – PW) and 5-piece sets (6-iron – PW) will also be offered for $690.00 and $600.00 respectively. And while the price point remains low without the in-store markup, the new irons stay true to the Hogan model in that they are designed first and foremost with the serious, discerning golfer in mind.

“Unlike other OEMs, we aren’t trying to ‘be everything to everybody,’ White said. “We make high-performance, premium golf equipment. Period. That said, the PTx PRO are suitable for a wide variety of golfers with varying skill sets. We’ve had some tour players and highly accomplished/competitive amateur players involved throughout the development process … and they LOVE the way the PTx PRO irons look and perform. We’ve also had a number of players with 10, 12 and even 14 handicaps hit the PTx PRO and LOVE them. So, while we developed them with the more accomplished player in mind, the PTx PRO irons are a viable alternative for a wider range of players than we originally anticipated.”

And the company has already received positive feedback from those that have been fortunate enough to hit the irons before the release.

“The word we keep hearing is pure,”said White.

GolfWRX was given access to the clubs for some in-hand photos:

 

 

The Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company also released a statement explaining a bit more about the company’s decision to release a new line of irons as well as the design of the club.

Here it is:

“The PTx PRO irons were developed for discerning, serious golfers who demand performance.  After consultation and testing with Tour players and many other accomplished golfers, Ben Hogan’s engineering and product design team successfully developed a forged iron that is pure and traditional-looking on the outside yet packed with technology on the inside.  The new PTx PRO irons offer the feel and feedback only forged irons can provide, while utilizing some of the today’s most advanced materials and manufacturing processes.  PTx PRO irons are truly a unique blend of traditional, elegant styling that Ben Hogan irons are famous for, combined with modern game-enhancing technology.”

“All PTx PRO irons are manufactured using a multi-step forging process that allows Ben Hogan Golf to combine multiple materials into the club head.  The long and mid-irons (#4 – #7) are hollow and made using a forged 1025 Carbon Steel frame and forged MS300 steel face for exceptional feel.  Heavy Tungsten weights are inserted in precise locations near the toe of each iron to promote a straighter ball flight, higher initial launch angles, and more spin to hold the greens on longer approach shots.   The shorter, scoring irons (#8 – PW) feature lightweight Titanium inserts allowing for optimal weight disbursement throughout the club head.   This delivers lower, more penetrating ball flight to eliminate ‘ballooning’ shots while enhancing distance control.”

“Additionally, the score lines on all PTx PRO irons are milled (not stamped) into the face to provide more spin.  The milled score lines also help to channel away water, dirt and turf for better contact and eliminate ‘flyers’.  Plus, PTx PRO irons utilize an enhanced V-SOLE® technology which combines a higher bounce leading edge with a lower bounce trailing edge for optimal turf interaction and allows more accomplished golfers to more easily shape their shots.”

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Johnny Newbern writes for GolfWRX from Fort Worth, Texas. His loving wife lets him play more golf than is reasonable and his three-year-old son is a tremendous cart partner. He is a Scotty Cameron loyalist and a lover of links-style courses. He believes Coore/Crenshaw can do no wrong, Gil Hanse is the king of renovations, and hole-in-ones are earned, not given. Johnny holds a degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University.

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Sam Snood

    Apr 25, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    Nice looking except REALLY wide sole. Not a players iron.

  2. Bob Dilkes

    Apr 9, 2019 at 1:37 pm

    Will they be offered for sale in the UK at all? They look great, my very first set was Ben Hogan here in 1978!

  3. Ryan K

    Apr 8, 2019 at 12:40 pm

    Ok ok ok are these essentially a modernized FTX? If so then it needs to be said because those were some sweet irons. Sweet enough to make me consider getting at from my Nike VPC.

    Very nice looking Hogan.

  4. Wally

    Apr 8, 2019 at 12:39 pm

    These are some nice looking irons with a very attractive price point. Their demo program is one of the best ways to test their irons and it only costs $20.

  5. Jesse

    Apr 8, 2019 at 12:38 pm

    Nice Classic look. I like it

  6. rex 235

    Apr 8, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    Nice looking, but-

    “We make high-performance, premium golf equipment*. Period.”

    *RH ONLY

    Fixed it for you.

  7. M

    Apr 8, 2019 at 11:54 am

    Forged in China? It doesn’t say Made in USA on the club

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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