Equipment

Why Viktor Hovland made a sneaky club switch during the FedEx Cup Playoffs

Published

2 years ago

Aug 29, 2022

Ping staffer Viktor Hovland has bounced around to a couple of different lob wedges throughout 2022, but none of them were a Ping-branded product (see his February and June WITBs here). In fact, he only briefly used a Ping lob wedge as a professional when he first turned pro.

Ahead of the 2022 BMW Championship, however, Hovland worked with Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates to get fitted up into a new lob wedge, and he ended up putting a Ping wedge into play for the remaining two playoff events.

According to Oates, Hovland likes to look at a straighter leading edge. He also prefers to play shots around the greens with an open face, so he wants some heel relief for the sole to sit flatter, and he also benefits from a slightly higher bounce option. With Hovland’s preferences laid out, Oates and Hovland got to work.

Here’s how the pre-BMW Championship wedge session went down:

“Viktor has used and liked a straighter leading edge,” Oates told GolfWRX. “During his testing, we used a Ping Glide 4.0 60/S with sole relief and a straightened leading edge. We also tested Glide 2.0 58/TS and 60/TS options, which have lower bounce and a naturally straighter leading edge.

Image Credit: Kenton Oates/Ping

“Right away, Viktor was led to the Glide 2.0 58/TS, which we adjusted to 60 degrees. This provided more bounce, which was great, and it had enough relief so that he was able to open the blade and hit higher, softer shots with ease. It improved his capture and contact, and the added bounce allowed him to hit lower-launching, higher-spinning shots around the green, too.”

Increasing loft by 1 degree will increase bounce by about 1 degree, as well. Therefore, Viktor picked up about 2 degrees of bounce by bending it 2 degrees.

Hovland had a hot start with the new lob wedge, finishing 14th in strokes gained: around-the-green at the BMW Championship. For a guy that finished the year 191st in the category for the 2021-22 season, that’s a promising performance. He back-tracked a bit at the Tour Championship, finishing 23-of-29 players in the SG: ATG stat, but all things considered, it’s an improvement.

As the off-season gets underway and players disperse to conduct further equipment testing, we’ll catch back up with Hovland in his next start to see what lob wedge he ends up using next season.

Check out our latest WITB for Viktor Hovland here

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Related Topics:featured Ping viktor hovland wedges

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

3 Comments

MP

Sep 1, 2022 at 7:28 am

Viktor needs to get on to National Custom, sounds like exactly the profile that the guys made for me…

Reply Report comment
DB

Aug 31, 2022 at 9:36 am

I agree with him. Glide 2.0 and 2.0 Stealth are the best, and a TS grind with 8 bounce would be just perfect.

Reply Report comment
BC

Aug 30, 2022 at 7:30 pm

I do not undeerstand why Ping went with simuch a round leading edge on the 4.0’s. I am not a fan of it either.

Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Limited-edition gear spotted at the PGA Championship

Published

13 hours ago

May 15, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

The second major of the season is here, and with it, custom gear aplenty! Taking inspiration from both Louisville, Kentucky, and host course Valhalla, the OEMs have been having some fun with the designs.

Check out PGA Championship staff bags, some custom kicks, and a very cool putter grip from SuperStroke.

2024 PGA Championship staff bags

Callaway

PGA Championship Staff Bag Giveaway ? See below how you can win the bag and headcovers being used this week by #TeamCallaway at the second major of the year:

-Follow @callawaygolf
-Tag 2 friends in the comments pic.twitter.com/8HbGdPHiFK

— Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) May 13, 2024

Cobra

TaylorMade

From the stables to the fairway. ?

This year’s PGA Championship staff bag and accessories pay homage to the Derby City with callouts to the run for the roses, the fastest lap in track history and more.

Dive into all the details of this beauty: https://t.co/afhEVKHWLj pic.twitter.com/8eoP6tDZq1

— TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) May 13, 2024

Scotty Cameron’s putter cover features the Scotty Dog in Viking helmet

Bettinardi’s KFC-inspired putter covers

Ping’s bourbon-inspired putter cover

Rory McIlroy’s Kentucky Bourbon Trail-inspired Nike Air Zoom Victory Tour 3 shoes

FootJoy x Todd Snyder Mint Julep Premier Series

(Photo courtesy of FootJoy)

Brooks Koepka’s Kentucky Bourbon Trail-inspired Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour shoes

(Photo courtesy of Nike)

SuperStroke’s PGA Championship grip

Check out all of our photos from Valhalla here.

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Whats in the Bag

John Daly WITB 2024 (May)

Published

16 hours ago

May 15, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

John Daly WITB accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Newton Motion 6-Dot

3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Newton Motion 4-Dot

Hybrids: Ping G430 (17, 22, 26 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold

Check out more in-hand photos of John Daly’s clubs here.

Irons: Sub70 659-CB (6-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

Wedges: Sub70 TAIII (50, 54, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

Check out more in-hand photos of John Daly’s clubs here.

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Milled One T CH
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0

Grips: SuperStroke custom

More photos of John Daly’s WITB in the forums.

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

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Equipment

Toulon Golf collaborates with Valhalla Golf Club for latest Small Batch putter

Published

16 hours ago

May 15, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Toulon Golf has today officially announced its latest Small Batch putter — the Valhalla.

Discussing the putter, Preston Toulon of Toulon Golf said: “This putter is a collaboration with the club at Valhalla and incorporates three of the many things that make the state of Kentucky great – horseracing, bourbon and championship golf. The head of the putter and headcover have several allusions to a jockey’s silk and there are thoroughbreds on the sole.”

Inspired by Toulon’s classic tri-sole Santa Monica design, the company sought to modernize the profile and design leveraging its 904 stainless steel and 6061 aircraft aluminium across the sole. Toulon describes the Valhalla’s profile as “slightly oversized blade whose proportions are meticulously balanced to maintain the look and feel of the Santa Monica, while increasing the putter’s inertia to create one of the most forgiving putters we have ever designed.”

Throughout numerous prototypes, Toulon paid particular attention to the L-neck, with its full shaft of offset, adding a bit of length for better blending with the slightly wider and longer blade.

On the rear of the putter are homages to horse racing in the form of jockey silk diamonds and Churchill Downs-inspired font.

The sole of the putter features a large cavity covered by a 6061 aircraft aluminum sole plate. According to Toulon, this allowed for the addition length to the putter and improved inertia as well as moving more mass to the perimeter for greater forgiveness.

In another nod to Valhalla, Toulon uses a milled watermarked limestone pattern, a reference to stone featured widely on the property.

As with all the Toulon Small Batch putters, the team paid particular attention to the topline thickness and radius to achieve a desired look. “Soft yet crisp was the design intent,” according to the company.