Equipment
Nike Golf club nostalgia
As time passes, we often look back on prior events and designs with rose-colored glasses. This reborn love for classic designs has taken hold in a number of avenues, from clothing, to cars, and even golf equipment.
In the case of cars, models that would have been considered odd and ugly are now cherished by those that appreciate their origins.
Case in point, below.
Often, these nostalgic cycles are created generationally by individuals who at one point admired a design but were too young or not financially able to afford what they really wanted. Once these individuals reach an age of financial stability they seek nostalgia and are willing to pay good money to rekindle that fond memory.
In the case of golf equipment, over the last five years, there has been a renaissance of golf nerddom on a number of levels. From persimmon enthusiasts looking to capture and enjoy golf the way it used to be played, to other players seeking out sets of modern clubs they idolized as younger golfers but could also never afford. The great thing for those searching for older clubs is that it’s way less expensive than buying a car.
Notable Nike Golf moments
Nike fits well into this cycle of nostalgia, and there are a number of factors to consider, the most important being the resurgence of Tiger Woods as a major champion—even if he no longer uses those clubs. Around the late 2000s and early part of the next decade, it wasn’t just Mr. Woods racking up wins.
In fact, Nike had a number of its athletes achieve big milestones including Trevor Immelman winning the 2008 Masters, Lucas Glover winning the 2009 U.S. Open, Stuart Cink winning the 2009 Open Championship (*we all know you were cheering for Tom Watson), and Charl Schwartzel winning the 2011 Masters with four-straight closing birdies—all with bags full of Nike gear.
Let’s just take a moment to remember that both Glover and Cink won using the square Nike SQ Sumo2 Tour driver—the lower spinning version of the often-mocked SQ Sumo2, and Nike had a number of other very high profile players during this time period.
The retail experience
During this era of Nike Golf, I worked frontline in big box golf retail, and as much as we found Nike gear performed well, it was generally a difficult sell to (vast generalization coming here) older established golfers who were used to looking at the traditional brands. The loud colors we are used to seeing today were forward-thinking and also a turn off to many consumers even if the clubs did perform.
The story of Nike Golf’s life in the hards good space is well documented, so I don’t need to do an entire recap of its exit. It is well known that no matter what you thought of their clubs, the underlying dark horse was always their forged irons and wedges, and that leads us to one man—Mike Taylor.
Once Nike decided to exit the hard goods space, this left a lot of extremely talented people looking for new opportunities, and a small group from Nike went out on their own and created Artisan Golf out of what was previously “The Oven,” Nike’s R&D facility. Mike Taylor, Dave Richey, and John Hatfield, all men with decades of experience hand-building golf clubs from scratch started offering their expertise to anyone looking for a hands-on approach to their own equipment. With their well-documented history working with players, it didn’t take long for Artisan to build a following.
This following and newfound interest in this small team brought with it much deserved notoriety to more general golfers than they ever received while working under Nike Golf. As their well-documented history continues to become more well known, it has created a higher demand for their Artisan products and in turn, has golfers searching for alternatives and looking back with much more fondness to previous Nike clubs.
As a constant consumer of the used club marketplace and lover of forged blades, I have been pleasantly surprised to see how Nike clubs including the VR Forged Blades, VR Pro II, and older forged wedges have held value compared to similar clubs in the same category from other manufacturers. The only logical reason for this increased value is golfers realizing the people behind these clubs are true craftsmen and just as important in victory as the athletes who used them.
In the case of used club shopping, it’s still a relatively inexpensive pursuit compared to other hobbies, and if you are in the market for some classic Nike gear, be prepared to pay a small premium for the right to own some of the best-made forged irons of the last decade.
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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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Pingback: GolfWRX Spotted: Never-before-seen Nike Vapor Pro Combo FF iron – GolfWRX
Lefthack
Jan 28, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Try finding Nike gear in lefty. Not awful, but also not as easy to find as I’d like. But they made awesome combo iron sets.
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Dave
Sep 16, 2020 at 2:08 pm
My clubs are wicked dated so I went on eBay and picked up a Sumo2 driver, sumo 3 and 5 wood, and a Sumo 3h and CPR 4h. I got everything for less than $100 and am very happy with all of them. I didn’t play hybrids before getting these.
I am now looking at either the sumo or split cavity forged irons because a set of left are about $200. That seems like a deal for the forged irons and have good reviews.
Clarence
Apr 11, 2020 at 9:27 am
I wax using Nike slingshot, just upgraded to the VR pro Cavity.. i love them..
Hardy
Mar 27, 2020 at 5:02 pm
I have Nike blades (the VR Pro II – LOL), hybrids, and putter that I may sell if the price is right.
Todd
Mar 27, 2020 at 3:58 pm
The sq 2 fairway was super legit. I wish I had never parted with it
Egdew Rich
Mar 27, 2020 at 9:45 am
Vapor Flex driver..have two of them..were far ahead of their time!
Cliff
Mar 27, 2020 at 9:28 am
Have an orange, black and white Nike bag with a sumo2 driver. Ignite 5 wood. Slingshot 4 & 5 hybrid and Ignite irons and Nike wedges. Only club in the bag not Nike…. Odyssey putter. Love my Nike sticks.
Benny
Mar 26, 2020 at 12:30 pm
Last year I got a sick set of RAW Nike Tour Blades in Recoild X Prototype shafts. They were a steal and just assumed they wouldn’t be something I would game. Especially just after getting rid of raw MP68’s that I was dissapointed with.
These Nike blades were so small and tiny ut I went on one of my best summer runs in years. Not long and could only draw/hook them but I shot some of the lowest scores in 5-6 years and got myself back down to a 3.7 index.
Unfortunately I started to “hosel-rocket” them adter 6-7 weeks which put me into a side spin. Especially when I was playing against better players who use p790’s and PXG’s that were 2x clubs longer.
I agree with this. Nike made irons and wedges!
Greg
Mar 26, 2020 at 9:33 am
Good article but you missed an entire category where Nike still has a very loyal folllowong (including chasing/collecting unique clubs built at The Oven)…. their putters.
I am gaming a Mod 90 and you will have to pry this putter from my cold, dead hands.
Ryan Barath
Mar 26, 2020 at 2:04 pm
100% The putters were highly underrated!
My personal favorite before the Methods came along were the Unitized. Classic shapes, heavy heads… gone but not forgotten.
jgpl001
Mar 26, 2020 at 6:07 am
I was never a big Nike fan, but the VR Pro II irons and the Vapour MB’s were cracking clubs
Some Nike balls were very good too
Lewis
Mar 26, 2020 at 12:15 am
Last year i picked up a set of the old Nike TW VR forged blades in excellent shape. I was expecting to love the things but it just never happened for me. This article has me wishing they werent 900 miles away in my in-laws basement so i could pass them on to a fellow WRX member. Also just realized my all time favorite driver is in the same bag with those irons….. IDIOT!!!!!
BillyG
Mar 25, 2020 at 10:36 pm
Still playing a full set of VR Pro II blades, wedges, driver, and fairway. I also have a couple of hybrids which don’t have that draw tendency like many. These clubs are all really great to play because they are classic. Even the Method 001 gets to hand in the bag, too. How many pros still keep some form of Vapor Pro club in their bags?
Frank
Mar 25, 2020 at 9:20 pm
Why do people repeatedly call the VR pro blades the “vr pro II”?
Jens
Mar 26, 2020 at 2:19 pm
Thank you, Frank!
BillyG
Mar 26, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Because that is what is on the club. Duh!
Jens
Mar 27, 2020 at 11:40 am
It’s there for aesthetics/design purpose. You don’t read “Vr-II-Pro-Swoosh” just because it’s on the club, do you?
BillyG
Mar 27, 2020 at 11:48 am
Actually, its “there” for trademark law purposes if you want to be specific. Have a nice day!
Jens
Mar 27, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Thank you, BillyG!
JP
Mar 27, 2020 at 2:59 pm
PWN3D!