Equipment
The “real” firsts of the golf industry
Any time a new club is introduced, the phrase “for the first time ever…” is usually not far behind. In some groundbreaking cases, the statement is completely true and applies to the entirety of the modern golf industry, while in other cases it’s only a “first” for that particular manufacturer—so watch for the asterisk.
This ultimately begs the question: What were the true firsts of modern golf technology, and how did they change the direction of design?
After some in-depth research here is my list of true firsts.
The first metal driver: TaylorMade Original (1979)
As the story goes, Gary Adams took out a $24,000 loan against his house to found TaylorMade Golf. The focus of this new endeavor was to create a driver made from metal and to make persimmon a thing of the past. The first product to market was a 12-degree metal driver; the very first of it’s kind. It still took more than a decade to make persimmon obsolete, but as they say, the rest is history.
Moveable weight: TaylorMade R7 (2004)
TaylorMade engulfed the driver space when it launched the 300 Series metal woods and went on an ever further tear when it introduced the 500 series (they skipped the 400 names). Interesting fact—the number four is mostly avoided in global marketing because “four” is pronounced almost exactly the same as the word “death” in Chinese. It’s the same reason Callaway went from FT3 to FT5.
When the R7 Quad debuted, it was a game-changer because it was the very first driver to offer the consumer easily adjustable weights to help golfers fine-tune ball flight. I say “consumer” because club builders and tour vans had been using hotmelt to adjust CG for some time, but on a consumer level, the ability to tweak your driver on the range was unheard of. It was a lot of weight too: 24g total—more than 10 percent of the clubhead’s mass. After the R7 Quad, drivers would never be the same!
Sliding weight: Mizuno MP-600 (2007)
When it comes to drivers, Mizuno’s reputation for irons overshadows its history of producing innovation in the metal woods space. The MP-600 was the very first driver to offer a sliding weight track to fine-tune CG. Although the weights were only 8g a piece is was extremely innovative at the time and created new options for OEMs to help reposition mass around larger heads.
They have utilized the technology on and off over the years, but the newest ST200G is by far the most adjustable Mizuno driver yet.
Graphite (composite) shaft: Golfcraft (1954)
In 1954, Golfcraft (the same Golfcraft discussed here: Greatest Titleist Irons of all Time) announced a breakthrough in golf shaft technology: a shaft made from fiberglass that could one-day make steel obsolete, the same way steel made wood obsolete.
Beyond just the promise of more consistent shots, Golfcraft also declared the shaft vibration-proof, rust-proof, and almost unbreakable, something that modern club throwers would know is quite untrue. Although they never took off like the steel they promised to replace, it was the very first non-steel shaft to enter the market.
Soon after, a few other companies started to enter the market to offer these new fiberglass shafts for golfers, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s when Frank Thomas (yes, the same Frank Thomas that went on to be the technical director of the USGA ) used graphite to produce shafts for Shakespeare—the fishing rod company.
This is when the market completely evolved, and not long after its introduction, graphite shaft manufactures started to pop up to get into the game. Thanks to a better understanding of materials, and the physics of the golf swing with the help of highspeed camera and tracking tools, graphite shafts have never been more advanced than they are today.
Carbon composite crown: Mizuno MP-001 (2003)
The Mizuno MP-001 was released the year after the much talked about, but often ridiculed, Callaway C4—the very first (and only) carbon composite driver. It came in three different models released in succession; 360cc, 400cc, and then eventually 460cc, which if you are on the lookout for a value, the 460cc driver is still high on the list.
Beyond what Callaway was up to with Fusion Technology, the MP-001 was the very first driver to utilize a multi-material crown to save weight, and the results speak for themselves. It sounds extremely solid, offered low spin, boosted MOI—and looked really cool too.
Multilayer solid core urethane ball
This is the one breakthrough that has a hard-to-find solid start date—no pun intended. The first multilayer performance balls were the Precept (Bridgestone brand) EV Extra Spin and Extra Distance. At the time of its introduction around 1995, the Precept EV was competing against the Titleist Professional, which was still a wound ball. The EV offered more distance and great control while still not quite competing from a short game control perspective.
The biggest mainstream change came when Mark O’Meara won the 1998 Masters with a multi-layer Strata ball and then went on to win the Open Championship the same year. Many attribute his win in part to the fact that he was using a new Strata multi-layer urethane ball that offered less spin off the driver and more spin around the greens.
A year later, in 1999, a year before Titleist introduced the Pro V1 (October 2000), Nike launched the Tour Accuracy ball (manufactured by Bridgestone), and with it came this…
Soon after, the Pro V1 arrived, and as the market leader, the impact was a seismic shift. The wound ball was officially dead, but we can’t forget the change that Precept/Bridgestone pioneered half a decade before.
What other “firsts” of the golf industry do you think are notable, GolfWRXers?
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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
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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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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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
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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Delbert
May 31, 2020 at 10:45 pm
The first sand wedge by Gene Sarazen
Psarro
May 29, 2020 at 11:15 pm
I would think range finders should be on the list?
storm319
May 18, 2020 at 11:40 pm
Correction: The Precept EV Extra Spin was a 2-piece with a TPU cover. The first multilayer solid core ball was the Top Flite Strata in 1996 (cover was synthetic, but not urethane).
arnaud
May 16, 2020 at 4:28 pm
Tom Wishon (for SNAKE EYES, GOLFSMITH then WISHON GOLF) :
1st driver with adjustable hosel sleeve (1994)
1st heel weighted / draw bias driver (1996)
1st metal wood with cup face construction (1997)
1st driver with moveable weight for CG / draw / fade bias (2005)
1st illegal driver to achieve a COR of 0.900 (2006)
1st fairway wood to achieve a COR of 0.830 (2004)
1st hybrid to achieve a COR of 0.830 (2008)
1st set of irons to achieve a COR of 0.830 (2009)
and this is a short list …
andrew_s
May 14, 2020 at 5:18 am
COBRA E9 face technology (dual roll)
ColinKelvin
May 13, 2020 at 11:54 am
Ping Anser – a headshape with bumpers and a plumber’s neck which has been #1 in golf ever since, copied by all the leading putter makers over and over and over again.
Ping irons – peripheral weighting / game improvement through the ages.
Jin Teh
May 13, 2020 at 9:40 am
You missed the world’s first two piece ball…the first non core wound golf ball…Dunlop
DDH around 1980…I was the first to break the ball in half on with a driver!!!
Another first bring launched today…Face thickness fitting…drivers with different face thickness for different swing speeds 20-40 yards more 1st swing..who cares if they are not USGA Conforming…go to http://www.krankgolf.com
Delbert
May 31, 2020 at 10:41 pm
My college golf team was given the DDH. They were workin out great until some started break in half.
D
May 13, 2020 at 9:21 am
Ping putters
Ping irons
Adjustable hosels, who started that?
Ping Hoofer with dual strap
J-Dog
May 12, 2020 at 7:08 pm
I thought the Callaway C4 would technically be the first driver to have a carbon crown.
Nicklaus#1
May 12, 2020 at 1:09 pm
I could of sworn Northwestern made the 1st metal driver.
alexva
May 12, 2020 at 11:51 am
Precept Flying Lady was hot for a while among better men players
matt
May 14, 2020 at 7:43 am
haha i remember that
Brandon
May 11, 2020 at 11:23 pm
How about that powerbilt driver with the nitrogen inside?
Stanley
May 11, 2020 at 10:52 pm
Pxg and their foam filled irons
Jack
May 12, 2020 at 8:20 am
Not a first . Taylor made , and maybe even someone before that.
Nack Jicklaus
May 31, 2020 at 4:35 pm
And their woods were foam filled before they made the foam filled irons too.
C
May 11, 2020 at 9:52 pm
Scotty Cameron Putter Headcovers changed everything in what a headcover could be…seems trivial but he certainly upped the ante…Inspired a whole new generation of designers over the years in the process!
Holla
May 11, 2020 at 7:47 pm
Pedersen began making metal headed woods back in 1927.
KP
May 11, 2020 at 7:45 pm
Let’s not forget PING and the innovation of perimeter weighted irons!
Steve
May 13, 2020 at 9:24 am
This!!
Daniel Howard
May 11, 2020 at 7:22 pm
Spalding Tour Edition
Gary
May 13, 2020 at 11:46 am
Yep, first urethane cover.
Think A. Little
May 11, 2020 at 6:12 pm
First driver with removable/sliding weight???
Whoever used lead tape first on whatever they were using.
Eric Seatvet
May 11, 2020 at 6:05 pm
Adams Golf – Hybrids. They may have not been the first, but they made category big.
BodineJCS
May 11, 2020 at 5:51 pm
Taylormade Golf …founded in Mchenry Illinois , my hometown were I still live … Those were the days …
Lou Cesarek
May 11, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Investment cast irons.
Titleist AC 108 and Ram Accubar .
The Accubar had the largest sweet spot of irons during this time frame .
Regis
May 11, 2020 at 2:50 pm
First rescue (hybrid for non TMAG) Taylormade
Richard Douglas
May 11, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Hogan Edge: the first perimeter-weighted, forged iron
Cleveland VAS 792: the first set of garden tools to be converted into golf clubs
Ping Anser
TM Rocketbladz
Polara Ball
SoftSpikes
Nack Jicklaus
May 11, 2020 at 9:53 pm
I think I was one of about 10 people who thought the VAS irons were beautiful back then! I still laughed out loud when I read your comment though…
dwayne bretzky
May 11, 2020 at 2:18 pm
tough luck for Mizuno making those great innovative moves in the driver industry and really never getting a hold of the market share at all over the years. I have used multiple mizuno drivers over the years and they were all great..I guess this really proves how marketing campaigns help a product.
Nick
May 11, 2020 at 1:29 pm
I think you’d have to include the r11. First white driver, sparked a market frenzy. This club and Taylormade’s marketing made everyone seriously question “Should I be playing a white driver?” It allowed companies to see the success that selling a product predominantly a different color than black or grey. This same idea holds true to Taylormade’s red putters…now Odyssey had their own line of red putters too.
The thing that always makes me chuckle is how they are such masterful marketers. Not only did they convince the golfers around the world that the coolest drivers are white, they flip the market on it’s head and come out with the R1 SPECIAL EDITION BLACK DRIVER! I mean how genius…like it or not they know how to play the game, literally and figuratively!
stam
May 11, 2020 at 6:10 pm
COBRA made the first white driver..
Holla
May 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm
MacGregor made a white driver in the 50’s
Kep
May 11, 2020 at 1:12 pm
I have an old Yonex Super ADX 0 driver with a pressure molded graphite head. I believe this was before the composite Callaway C4 mentioned here but i cant seem to find any info about it.
JIM
May 11, 2020 at 6:21 pm
My wife still has a C4 sitting in the garage, I know for a fact it lasted 2 rounds in her bag….I had to take her out to buy a new driver right away. Also the instructor at the range I use was the first to show us that grip pressure took most of the good away from movable weights in driver heads….his slog-gen the tighter the grip the more money you waste on movable weights in your driver.
Mark M
May 13, 2020 at 9:21 am
That’s exactly the club I was thinking of when I read the C4 listing. I think it was mid to late 90s – came out the same time as the Yonex Super ADX tour Forged cavity back irons which were magic.