Equipment
7 equipment takeaways from the PGA Tour Champions (including Bernhard Langer’s INCREDIBLE iron setup)
During most weeks, GolfWRX.com reports live from the practice rounds of PGA Tour events, but occasionally we check out the Korn Ferry Tour, LPGA Tour, and PGA Tour Champions as well. To be honest, I personally think most amateurs can learn way more from the equipment setups on the LPGA and Champions Tour, but that’s another story for another day. I’ll save the gear lessons and get right to the seriously cool, custom, and throwback equipment that I spotted recently at Phoenix Country Club for the 2022 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Below are my 7 equipment takeaways from going inside the ropes at the Champions Tour season finale.
More photos from the Charles Schwab Cup Championship
1) Miguel Angel’s fairway wood faces are DIMED out
Miguel Angel Jimenez uses three different Ping G425 Max fairway woods (14.5, 17.5 and 20.5 degrees), and each of them have similar wear marks directly in the center of the face – aside from the 7 wood, which has a slight skymark near the crown.
We also got a close look at the type of cigar that Jimenez smokes, if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s a Chateau de la Fuente Opus X Rare Estate Reserve from 1992, for those curious.
Miguel Angel Jimenez 2022 WITB (Charles Schwab Cup)
2) Stickers are a viable way to customize your clubs
Rocco Mediate customizes his Ping G400 driver using stickers, while his Artisan wedges are stamped the old-fashioned way.
See more of Rocco’s bag setup here
3) 50 Cent’s new favorite Champions Tour golfer?
Y.E. Yang’s custom “Yangsta” Vokey wedge deserves a remix of rapper 50 Cent’s popular “What Up, Gangsta?” song.
What up, Yangsta?
And, as always, his bag is so packed with hybrids that his longest iron the bag is a 7-iron!
More photos of Y.E. Yang’s bag, and more
4) K.J. Choi bag update
It’s always fun to see what clubs K.J. Choi is using, because he seems to switch it up so often. Most recently, he was using Srixon’s brand new ZX7 MKII irons, with a small strip of lead tape on the back cavity.
More photos of K.J. Choi’s bag
5) A TaylorMade xFT ZTP wedge spotted in the wild
When I was heading toward Padraig Harrington’s bag to see what irons and wedges he was playing these days, I was NOT expecting to see an old TaylorMade XFT ZTP 58-degree wedge from 2010. I can’t help but get nostalgic seeing old clubs like this still being used by professionals.
Check out more photos of Padraig’s setup here
6) Goosen’s putter
Retief Goosen’s gamer putter used to be an Odyssey O-Works 2-ball. I’m not sure you can consider it a 2-ball putter anymore, since the crown is completely blacked out with a single white alignment line. Now it’s just the Odyssey O-Works “Goose Proto,” as I like to call it.
7) Bernhard’s tools
Bernhard Langer doesn’t use iron “sets,” per se, because he mostly crafts his bag setup by selecting individual clubs that are tasked with specific jobs and yardages to hit. As such, most of his irons are custom built exactly to his preferences. He uses Adams Idea Pro hybrids, Tour Edge Exotics CBX Forged long irons, Artisan Golf 8-9 irons, and a custom Tour Edge Exotics BL Proto pitching wedge. It’s seriously fascinating to analyze his clubs.
If you want to know more about his process and his work with master craftsman Mike Taylor at Artisan Golf, check out this story I wrote a few years back for pgatour.com.
He also uses an Odyssey White Hot 2-ball, with a heaping of lead tape on the sole and a permanent markered thick black line on the crown. As for his grip on the longer putter, he uses two split Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.
Incredible.
More photos from the Charles Schwab Cup Championship
- LIKE199
- LEGIT19
- WOW8
- LOL5
- IDHT1
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK7
Equipment
New Level launches new 480-DB irons, blending performance & forgiveness
New Level has been making some really good golf equipment since they started up in 2018. Offering irons that are more geared towards the better player, precision has been a fundamental philosophy in creating irons and wedges.
The 480 line of irons has been the flagship of the brand and the newest member of that team is the 480-DB iron that is now open to pre-orders. A new cavity design is what the whole 480 line is about and the 480-DB takes advantage of that with added ball speed and a larger sweet spot.
For players who require their irons to offer the best feel, rest assured the DB is a fully forged, from 1020 carbon steel, one-piece golf club. No multi-piece, hollow design with this iron.
While the 480-DB is the next generation of the popular 902-OS, New Level didn’t follow the current trend in golf by chasing distance with the new iron. They actually weakened the lofts on the 480-DB with the spec sheet showing a 35° 7 iron and 47° pitching wedge. These lofts allow the DB to have less offset while still offering consistent distance off the face.
A traditional design was also at the forefront of the new irons to make sure that golfers with an eye for detail can look down at them with confidence that they will perform under any condition.
A weight low in the back cavity will allow their master club builders to dial in the perfect weight for the golfer, not matter the length or shaft being used. New Level believes that the new 480-DB is one of the most forgiving one-piece forged irons on the market today. A pre-worn leading edge on the sole should get through the turf quickly and with reduced digging for better turf interaction.
You can pre-order the New Level 480-DB right now on the New Level website.
Pricing specs availability
- Irons: 4-PW
- Price: $149/Iron
- Availability: Pre-Order
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Equipment
Snell Golf launches new 2024 Prime lineup of golf balls offering ‘performance for all’
Snell Golf has today introduced its new 2024 Prime golf ball lineup.
Per Snell, the new lineup focuses on offering urethane technology at an affordable price, while optimizing the golf ball performance based on player swing speed, or a more frequently known data point, 7-iron distance.
On the new release, Dean Snell, owner and CEO, says
“As our company has evolved over the last 9 years we continue to learn more about our customers and what we can do to make golf ball selection easy for the amateur golfer. Sometimes there is just too much data, described as ‘paralysis by analysis,’ leaving many golfers feeling overwhelmed. The new lineup is positioned to make it easy for our players to choose their model based on swing speed, or an even simpler metric of their 7-iron distance. Each model is designed to give those player profiles total overall performance and do so at a price point that makes sense for their game and their wallet.”
The release of the new models: Prime 2.0, Prime 3.0, and Prime 4.0 offer three performance levels and three price points to fit golfers of different capabilities:
Prime 2.0
A new 2-piece urethane golf ball ball designed for more leisurely swing speeds. A high speed core is designed to offer players higher spin and higher launch to promote overall carry distance, and works with the urethane cover for higher short game spin than other 2-piece balls on the market. The new XV3 Urethane cover aims to provide very soft feel, excellent durability, and superior greenside control.
Price: $24.99 per dozen.
Prime 3.0
Total performance for a wide range of golfers, a 3-piece urethane golf ball that evolves from the previous “MTB PRIME” and “MTB BLACK” models, designed to provide high ball speed and low long game spin that most players desire. The mantle layer is designed for controlling iron spin
to mid-high levels needed to execute every shot in the bag, while the brand’s NEW XV3 Urethane cover aims to provide softer feel, ultimate greenside control, and improved durability.
Price: $32.99 per dozen.
Prime 4.0
Designed for mid to high swing speed players, this model is a 4-piece urethane golf ball designed to provide golfers with leading performance. An ultra fast core and low spin aims to offer superior distance, while the mantle layers work to offer higher short iron spin and optimal launch for long
irons. The XV3 Urethane cover provides ultimate greenside control, excellent durability, and a slightly firmer feel on this model.
Price: $34.99 per dozen.
The 2024 Prime 2.0 and Prime 3.0 golf ball models will be offered in a high visibility white & optic yellow immediately shipping April 22nd on SnellGolf.com. The Prime 4.0 will also be on pre-sale in white on April 22nd, shipping May 1. Yellow 4.0 model expected to be available June 1.
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK1
Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/22/24): Nike Method Origin Putter “Rors”
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Nike Method Origin Putter “Rors”.
From the seller: (@dlovage): “Nike Method Origin Putter “Rors” NEW 35”: mint in box. Traded it for another putter on here and never even took it out but making space for some new putters. $900 OBO –> $875 OBO.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Nike Method Origin Putter “Rors”
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW1
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Report: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
-
19th Hole6 days ago
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Neal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
-
19th Hole5 days ago
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Addiction, spinal fusion, and scam artists – Everything Anthony Kim revealed in candid interview with David Feherty
Donna Young
Dec 2, 2022 at 11:22 am
How about showing us what’s in the bags of LPGA players???? I had hoped you would at least share the LPGA players winners of the Majors bag set up. As you perviously stated the majority of readers could learn a great deal more from the set of LPGA Player’s and Champion tour players bag set ups.
Pingback: The Wedge Guy: Why modern irons aren't making sense to me - Fly Pin High
Pingback: The Wedge Guy: Why modern irons don’t make sense to me – GolfWRX
Benny
Nov 22, 2022 at 4:42 pm
so cool and well done. Thank you. Keep them coming please!!
Pingback: Rahm doubles down - Fly Pin High
Pingback: Morning 9: Leishman on potential Masters ban I Rahm doubles down I Ko nabs big prize – GolfWRX