Equipment

An introduction to haywoodgolf

Published

4 years ago

Jan 13, 2020

Recently, I was in Vegas for some golf with friends (promise, it was golf only). During my round, I, unfortunately, broke a shaft on a root and had to get it re-shafted. Luckily, my buddies at Club Champion were there to help, and while the club was being prepped and set, they showed me a prototype head from a company in Canada by the name of haywoodgolf. The club had a sleek look, and because I was unfamiliar with the brand, and intrigued, I reached out to the company to learn more.

This story is about my experience with Joshua Haywood and his company.

The haywoodgolf story

Joshua, a long-time golfer, started haywoodgolf out of frustration after visiting his local Golf Town, Canada’s version of Golf Galaxy, to buy a new set of wedges. After exploring all the options and testing the few clubs he found visually appealing, he priced out a set that cost around $600 CAD.

After a little deliberation, and walking out of the store empty-handed, Joshua came to the realization that there must be a way to reduce the cost of clubs while maintaining the integrity and quality golfers have come to expect. After months of research, and dozens of prototypes of forged wedges tested in different conditions, Joshua officially launched haywoodgolf.com in June of 2018. With a select product release of non-conforming wedges, which offered the average golfer more spin and control, buyers were responding very positively to their quality, modern and minimalistic designs, which cost only half the price of the major OEMs.

As the team listened to feedback from existing users and from folks that decided against purchasing, they started working on the new design of their signature series forged wedges as well as their two-piece stainless steel game improvement signature irons, which have been tested and approved as conforming to the rules of golf by the R&A. The clubs are offered in both right and left-handed and have black and silver finish options.

With the wedges starting at $99 USD and iron sets at $650, I needed to find out if they measure up to what I had in my bag.

Testing of Signature irons

Josh kindly sent me a haywoodgolf signature series 7-iron, which I fitted with an Accra 70i R-flex shaft, measuring 37” inches long and 30 degrees of loft. This data was collected at Golf Galaxy in Wesley Chapel using Foresight and was compared to my personal 7-iron; a Cobra Forged Tec 37” iron with Accra 70R with a 29.5 degrees loft. Here are the numbers

Beyond the testing at Golf Galaxy, I actually used the club for almost two weeks, hitting range balls plus many shots on the course.

Bottom line, what did I think?

To be honest, I was shocked in the most positive way at the performance. I saw from my testing that they matched up to the major OEMs, while being almost half the cost. I’m very fond of its clean look, and even including the little-bit thicker top line it has (similar to the G700 or TaylorMade 790) along with a touch more offset than I’m used to. The club is hollow-body design, not foam-filled, and I noticed no difference in feel or distance versus a club like the P790, which are, and I have hit multiple times. I really enjoyed hitting the haywood iron, which feels very solid and has a crisp sound to it.

I consider these clubs to be one of the best bang for your buck sets of irons on the market. Haywood Golf has created an excellent product, and I think players looking for a new set would be wise to consider their products.

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Brendan Ryan

Brendan Ryan, an entrepreneur and scientist, is a passionate golfer who loves his local muni. Armed with a keen interest in the game, a large network of friends in the industry, Brendan works to find and produce unique content for GolfWRX.

12 Comments

Geoff

Jan 14, 2020 at 7:12 am

If you like these guys you’ll really love golfworks. Their maltby clubs have been around forever and they have very simple but beautiful designs at even better prices than seen here. Can get a wedge with premium shaft for $60.

Reply Report comment
- westy
  
  Jan 14, 2020 at 4:57 pm
  
  Nice. Dude is going after it, way to hijack.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mark

Jan 14, 2020 at 1:05 am

On a site like WRX, I suspect there will be many readers, like myself, who want to know more about who designs them and the process for selecting a manufacturing resource. (I doubt Haywood has the volume required to do business with Tier 1, Taiwanese-owned, China-based manufacturers.)

Reply Report comment
- Dan
  
  Jan 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm
  
  I found something similar to their irons and wedges on alibaba. Very likely that they didnt do the design and just stamp their logo on them.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Eric
    
    Jan 14, 2020 at 3:06 pm
    
    How can you make such a statement like this (Alibaba) without any concrete evidence? Not fair in my book to the owners, who may have done a lot of work on the design and securing a producer.
    
    Looks like great stuff, the best of luck to this company?
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Dan
      
      Jan 15, 2020 at 2:27 pm
      
      Its not like u have the any evidence that the owners actually design their irons.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - William
        
        Jan 15, 2020 at 7:19 pm
        
        And Its not like you have any evidence that they don’t.
        
        Reply Report comment
  - Jim
    
    Jun 17, 2020 at 6:27 pm
    
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000482009668.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.35ae3c00oCEbsj&mp=1
    
    And you can find any grind, loft, etc model of Vokey you want on AliExpress. The owner was actually selling OEM Aliexpress rangefinders in Vancouver locally before then – so he knows his way around Chinese sourcing.
    
    Reply Report comment
haywoodgolf

Jan 13, 2020 at 7:08 pm

Here there – haywoodgolf here.
We appreciate you checking out our site.

If you select the last photo on the irons page, that is the spec sheet, and then you can click the actual photo itself in the larger format and it will zoom in for you to make the spec sheet very clear.

Reply Report comment
- SV677
  
  Jan 15, 2020 at 2:39 pm
  
  Sorry, I missed that. Thanks.
  
  Reply Report comment
SV677

Jan 13, 2020 at 2:38 pm

After reading your article I thought I would click on the link to learn more about Haywood’s products. Their site gives different options when purchasing, but since they give no specs for the irons it is impossible to know if one would want a longer or shorter iron or have the lofts changed, which are options they offer. Being a left-handed player I am always interested in new alternatives, but I anticipate a company actually giving me information about their product.

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- Johnny Penso
  
  Jan 13, 2020 at 6:05 pm
  
  Specs are there. Click on a set and on the bottom left where you see the various angled shots of the clubs are the specs. It’s tiny, but if you click on it you can read it…barely.
  
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Equipment

Michael Block spotted with full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons at Valhalla

Published

2 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

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.

On Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, Block had a full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons in the bag.

Block is the first player of many on the PGA TOUR to bag a set of the mysterious “Proto” irons. Rory McIlroy first switched into a “Proto” 4-iron at the Valero Texas Open, and Collin Morikawa followed suit at the 2024 RBC Heritage. Block isn’t using just the 4-iron, though, he’s using a full set to go along with a TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron.

Speaking with GolfWRX.com on Monday at the PGA Championship, Block revealed the full backstory.

“I hit a couple super “Proto” irons when I was at the Kingdom (TaylorMade’s fitting facility in Southern California) a couple months ago, and it was a 9-iron that didn’t have any badges or anything on it,” Block said. “I had no idea what it was … It was very similar to what I was using back then, you know, my old MCs, and very similar from the top. I hit it and absolutely loved it. For me to even think about switching irons from the last 11-12 years is crazy.

“I got this set about two weeks ago, and I’m working my way into them. I hit them more solid; it comes off the face more solid. Much higher. I think they’re still slightly too upright for me, so they’re being bent a degree flatter, because they’re going a little too high for me and drawing a little too much. When that starts to happen, I start to drop the club under and compensate too much, so I’m getting them flattened slightly, and I’m going to test them on the range again, and hopefully have them in play on Thursday…

“They go further, and they go higher … that combination is kind of a no-brainer. If I can take a 5-iron from 204 rather than a 4-iron, it’s good on me. It’s going to help me out for sure, especially at a major with the pin locations. Having that height coming in, that descent angle is going to be huge.”

With such new irons in the bag, after using the same irons for over a decade, surely you’d think there will be a bit of a learning curve. Block, however, is finding immediate comfort with the new “Proto” irons.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.

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Whats in the Bag

WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2014 PGA Championship

Published

4 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Rory McIlroy outlasted Phil Mickelson at the 2014 PGA Championship. It’s even harder to believe McIlroy hasn’t hoisted a major trophy since his 2014 victory at Valhalla.

After a slow start to his final round, McIlroy tallied an eagle and two birdies on the back nine and his fourth major championship. Take a look at the clubs he played a decade ago in Kentucky.

Driver: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 70X

3-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

5-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (19 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

Irons: Nike VR Pro Blade (4-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0

Wedges: Nike VR Forged (46, 52, 56, 60 degrees) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Putter: Nike Method 006 Buy here.

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Nike RZN Black

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

WITB Time Machine is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.

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