Equipment

2022 PGA Show Demo Day notables

Published

2 years ago

Jan 25, 2022

An unseasonably cool and rainy day in Orlando understandably put a damper on the usual frenzy of Demo Day at Orange County National Golf Center. Plenty will point to the precipitation, the ongoing pandemic, the absence of major OEMs, supply chain issues, and whatever other boogeymen for the sparsity of exhibitors and attendees. But nevertheless, GolfWRX was on site at the 360-degree range checking out the wares and lending an ear to every product pitch.

A few notables, below, and one housekeeping note — we’ll be shooting Wednesday and Thursday inside the convention center. The usual forum photo dump should be complete by Friday afternoon.

Garmin Approach Z82 laser range finder

Laser range finder + GPS = must-see product. The usual suspects with respect to a high-quality laser range finder are joined with impressive Garmin GPS technology. Don’t sleep on Garmin’s R10 portable launch monitor, either.

Bridgestone OTTO

The humans at Bridgestone have long emphasized the benefits of ball fitting. Now, they’ve tasked robots with proselytizing. But really, Bridgestone’s OTTO — the world’s first autonomous ball fitting cart — is impressive. Per Bridgestone, “OTTO requires no more than a touch of the screen to get started, indicating your current gamer, and three driver swings to come up with a sound recommendation of which Bridgestone Golf ball is right for you. With each shot, OTTO provides carry and total distance, ball velocity, spin rate, and launch angle.”

Club Car Tempo Walk

Marketed as “a hands-free, autonomous caddie that offers GPS yardage, carries bags, coolers, and other accessories,” the Tempo Walk is neither cart nor caddie but it features some of the best elements of each.

Sqairz shoes

Look, we’ve heard the detractors. But the two most important things to know about Sqairz shoes are

The “squareness” of the toe, whether you use it as an alignment aid or not, won’t create the perception of wearing a box on one’s foot. It’s less of a departure from a standard rounded toe than you might fear.
With respect to the company claims about increased distance (+8.8 yards in a recent Golf Laboratories study), we think these are worth putting to the test because of the foundational stability.

Really, is there another shoe you’d demo to see if it helps your distance? From that standpoint, Sqairz shoes are worth a try.

A bit of the flavor of ’22 Demo Day, via the PGA Golf Shows Twitter, below.

The feeling of being back at the #PGAShow is unmatched! Thanks to everyone who came out to Orange County National Golf Course. Check out the full recap of today's events. pic.twitter.com/UwWRTFREws

— PGA Golf Shows (@PGAShow) January 26, 2022

That’s a wrap on Demo & Fitting Day 2022!

We’ll see you all tomorrow for DAY 1 on the #PGAShow floor. The Opening Ceremony starts at 8:15, be there or be square! pic.twitter.com/o7NWa2fJDR

— PGA Golf Shows (@PGAShow) January 26, 2022

*featured image via Bridgestone Golf.

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Whats in the Bag

Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB: 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

Published

8 hours ago

May 12, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X

Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB) Buy here, Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 Buy here.
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x Buy here.

(Photo courtesy of TaylorMade)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

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The winning WITB 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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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

3 days ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

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

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

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)

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

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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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

3 days ago

May 10, 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.

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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