Equipment
Brian Gay on what we might expect from the new Pro V1 and Pro V1x
“Tactician” is the first word that comes to mind when I hear Brian Gay’s name. He has never been a long hitter rather finding success plotting around the golf course and letting his putter and wedges do the talking.
If you want to put Brian Gay in a bucket, he would fall in the Kevin Na, Ryan Moore, Brendan Todd, Zach Johnson category…even Collin Morikawa could fit in there. These are precision-first players.
With the Bryson Effect, players like Gay, in theory, should be dying out little by little, but that hasn’t been the case. In fact, it’s gone the other way.
The “shorter” hitters are finding advantages in other places, and I believe that the golf ball provides more benefit to these players than the big hitters.
In an interview Brian Gay did with Titleist earlier this week, he discussed the different nuances of how he chooses a golf ball and gave us a little insight into what we may expect with the new Pro V1/X series.
Titleist: You put the new Pro V1 in play at Shriners. How do you come to the decision to change into a new golf ball – the one piece of equipment you use on every shot?
Brian Gay: Great question. The Titleist guys sent some of the new golf balls to my home in September, but I didn’t really get to even test them out before I went to Vegas. I didn’t play Puntacana and then the next week was Sanderson Farms. I was intending to play there but my lower back was kind of locked up and I couldn’t go. So, I just took the new golf balls with me to Vegas, practiced and played with them for a couple of days and told the guys I’m was in, “I’m going to play the new Pro V1 this week.”
I’d been using the Pro V1x Left Dash most of the last two years or so. I did play the 2019 Pro V1 when it first came out and even the 19X a little bit. But I found the New Pro V1 incredible. It’s super soft. I love the soft feel, especially with the putter. I thought it worked very well in the wind. The other thing, like I was saying, I’ve been working on my wedge game shots, say 50 to 100 yards, and it really flights nicely. I like that. The Left Dash is a higher flying ball and I was able to hit more low spinner shots with the New Pro V1 with my wedges.
Titleist: How do you prioritize what you are looking for in a golf ball?
Brian Gay: Being more of a short game player, not a power player, it’s important to me how the golf ball reacts on short shots. However, I am still concerned about distance, and that was what I loved about the Pro V1x Left Dash when it came out. When I tested it, I hit it higher and a little further from my mid-irons on up, yet I still was getting the spin with my wedges. It was just more of a feel thing versus spin and a little bit higher flight with the New Pro V1. Honestly, it’s a combination. Does it spin the right amount with my irons? The new Pro V1 was super soft. I love that feel. And I don’t feel like I lost any distance. It’s still going as far as the other ones, so I thought it was a good mix.
Titleist: So how much does distance come into play and how did this distance compare to the Left Dash?
Brian Gay: Distance does come into play. Like I said, I didn’t get a chance to really do extensive testing at home before I went to Vegas with it. I just took it out on the course. I did hit some drivers on the Trackman on the range. I did a little bit of comparison on the course, but I loved the feel of it. I know what the best numbers are on my driver and I was getting the same numbers with it. So I didn’t feel like I was giving anything up.
It’s easy to look at the long hitters and try to emulate what they do. However, if you really want to get better, paying attention to what Gay, Champions Tour players, and the LPGA is where you will find actual real-world nuggets to implement into your own game. All golf ball makers these days have great product,t and understanding what each ball really does and how it enhances your particular game is as important as anything. For me personally, it’s always ball first, clubs second.
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Whats in the Bag
Steve Stricker WITB 2024 (April)
- Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 7.2 X
3-wood: Titleist 915F (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist 816 H1 (17 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (3, 4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46-10F @55), Titleist Vokey SM10 (54-10S @53), Titleist Vokey SM4 (60 @59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 w/Sensicore
Putter: Odyssey White Hot No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Grip Rite
Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.
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Whats in the Bag
Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2024 (April)
- Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 TX
Irons: Ping iCrossover (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 56-12D, 60-08M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Bettinardi SS16 Dass
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Alex Fitzpatrick’s clubs here.
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Equipment
What’s the perfect mini-driver/shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been discussing Mini-Drivers and accompanying shafts. WRXer ‘JamesFisher1990’ is about to purchase a BRNR Mini and is torn on what shaft weight to use, and our members have been sharing their thoughts and set ups in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- PARETO: “New BRNR at 13.5. Took it over to TXG (Club Champ but TXG will always rule) in Calgary for a fit. Took the head down to 12, stuck in a Graphite Design AD at 3 wood length and 60g. Presto- numbers that rivaled my G430Max but with waaaaay tighter dispersion. Win.”
- driveandputtmachine: “Still playing a MIni 300. The head was only 208, so I ordered a heavier weight and play it at 3 wood length. I am playing a Ventus Red 70. I play 70 grams in my fairways. I use it mainly to hit draws off the tee. When I combine me, a driver, and trying to hit a draw it does not work out well most of the time. So the MIni is for that. As an aside, I have not hit the newest BRNR, but the previous model wasn’t great off the deck. The 300 Mini is very good off the deck.”
- JAM01: “Ok, just put the BRNR in the bag along side a QI10 max and a QI10 3 wood. A load of top end redundancy. But, I have several holes at my two home courses where the flight and accuracy of the mini driver helps immensely. Mine is stock Proforce 65 at 13.5, I could see a heavier shaft, but to normal flex, as a nice alternative.”
Entire Thread: “What’s the perfect Mini-Driver/Shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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Lame
Nov 7, 2020 at 11:52 pm
How much did titleist pay for y’all to run this?
John Wunder
Nov 9, 2020 at 7:19 am
3 Beyblades and a Wally Joyner rookie card.