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TOUR REPORT: Jordan Spieth changes drivers, Josh Allen’s SICK putter, and Kisner’s new Wilson setup

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Welcome to Monterey Peninsula, one of the most beautiful golf properties in the world, for the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

In my opinion, this week is one of the most interesting weeks of the year for golf equipment entertainment. That’s because the field is stacked with celebrities who have varying levels of skill sets and industry access. Getting a peek at how the celebs setup their golf bags is intriguing and unpredictable; you just don’t know what kind of golf clubs you’ll find.

Also, Jordan Spieth, a celebrity in his own right in the golfing world, made a shocking driver change this week, and we got an awesome Arnold Palmer history lesson at Pebble Beach.

It was a packed week in the golf equipment world, so lets get right into this week’s Tour Report from the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Michael Pena is a gear head?

Actor Michael Pena, who’s a single digit handicap golfer, was testing out two different drivers – a Callaway Paradym and a Ping G430 – at the beginning of the week. By the time the event started, Pena opted for the Paradym. He was also testing out two different putters – a Bettinardi BB8 and BB8 Tri.

Testing out different clubs at the event to get as dialed as possible? Pena must be one of us.

Michael Pena 2023 WITB

Carlton’s saucy putter

Alfonso Ribeiro, best known for his role as Carlton in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has been a longtime participant in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and he carries a low single digit handicap.

Ribeiro has fresh clubs almost through the bag, using Ping’s new G430 metalwoods and i230 iron models. He does, however, use an older Ping Sigma2 Tyne putter, which was released back in 2018. The putter is caked with lead tape on the sole, too, proving Ribeiro always does things with a touch of flair.

Alfonso Ribeiro 2023 WITB

Charles Kelley’s old flatstick

 

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Charles Kelley, a country singer and lead vocalist for the band Lady A, uses a TaylorMade Ghost Manta putter, which was first released in 2012. The paint job has certainly seen brighter days, but golf balls don’t care about the aesthetics of a golf club. If it works, it works, and Kelley says it hasn’t left the bag in three years.

Charles Kelley 2023 WITB

Kira’s 7-wood

Kira K. Dixon, a reporter for the Golf Channel and Miss America 2015, has an eclectic golf bag setup, highlighted by a Callaway Epic Max, which she equips with a Project X Cypher Fifty 5.5 shaft.

Kira Dixon 2023 WITB

Macklemore embraces bogeys

“Thrift Shop” rapper Macklemore isn’t the best golfer in the Pro-Am field, but his outfits are certainly some of the most eye-catching. The Seattle native actually has an entire lifestyle golf brand, called the Bogey Boys, which has a uniquely fun fashion style that also embraces bogeys on the scorecard. His “Bogey Boys” brand name is laser etched onto his custom TaylorMade P-790 irons.

Macklemore 2023 WITB

Amanda puts the mic down

Amanda Balionis Renner, a CBS Sports reporter, is usually the one asking golfers the questions. This week ahead of the event, however, she competed in celebrity challenges at The Hay, and we were able to get a look inside her club setup. She was spotted with all-new Callaway Maradym metalwoods, new Paradym irons, and a custom Odyssey Toulon putter with a white-and-green LA Golf shaft.

Amanda Balionis Renner 2023 WITB

Darius unveils a new PXG driver?

Unveiling unreleased golf club prototypes isn’t usually the norm for celebrity golfers, but who better to show off a new PXG Gen6 0311 XF driver than musician and PXG staffer Darius Rucker? Judging by the looks of Rucker’s Gen6, PXG has spread out the three weight ports to the outer perimeter of the soles, which is likely to add forgiveness to the design.

Darius Rucker 2023 WITB

Arnold Palmer’s $250k irons

Behind the first tee at Pebble Beach is a putting green, and surrounding that putting green is a line of golf shops with green awnings. One of those shops, called “Golf Links to the Past,” is filled with antique memorabilia and awesome stories to tell.

Along the back wall, a set of Arnold Palmer’s game-used irons is on display. In fact, they’re Palmer’s personal Wilson Staff Model Dyna-Powered custom irons that he used to win 14 times in 1960-61, including the ’60 Masters, the ’60 U.S. Open, and the ’61 Open Championship.

They’re selling for a cool $275,000 at Golf Links to the Past.

How did the store acquire the golf clubs, and why are they worth so much money? Click here for the entire story.

Another Arnie story you may not have known

Across the street from Pebble Beach’s clubhouse is the Pebble Beach Visitors Center, and it’s well worth a visit for anyone interested in the history of the golf course and the surrounding area. There’s gold nuggets all over the place inside. One that particularly caught my interest was the “Palmer on the Rocks” story told in the photo above.

Check out more photos and stories from Pebble Beach here

ScHoolboy Q – Wedge of the Year, ft. Callaway

ScHoolboy Q, a rapper who sings hits such as “Man of the Year” and “THat Part,” is an avid golfer with keen eye for fashion – check out his ski mask look on Wednesday for proof. He also covers up his golf clubs with stylish “Malbon Golf” headcovers, and he has an awesome blue-and-orange Callaway Jaws Raw wedge with a laser-etched Q on the back.

ScHoolboy Q 2023 WITB

Josh Allen’s insane Tour-Only Scotty Cameron

 

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NFL quarterback Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills has a smooth-yet-powerful golf swing, and he also has one of the coolest gear setups of any player in the Pro-Am field. In the video interview with GolfWRX.com above, Allen shows off his Jordan sneaker putter cover, ultra-custom Scotty Cameron putter, and a new TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver.

Click here for more Josh Allen WITB photos, and check out our full story on Allen’s clubs over on PGATOUR.com

Jordan Spieth’s shocking driver change

Photo Credit: PGA TOUR

For the last several years, Spieth has mostly opted for Titleist’s TSi3 driver. He had a brief stint with Titleist’s new TSR3 driver model at the 2022 Travelers Championship, but he’s struggled to upgrade from his trusty TSi3.

This week, however, ahead of the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Spieth began experimenting with the Titleist TSR2 model, instead of the TSR3. Working with Titleist tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, Spieth found the TSR2, set in the D-1 hosel setting, was able to keep his spin numbers more consistent and provide greater forgiveness when hitting shots of varying trajectories and shot shapes.

On this week’s PGA Tour Equipment Report, we went in-depth on Spieth’s surprising driver change: Take a read here

A look at Camilo Villegas’ golf club lofts

Villegas has Srixon’s new ZX7 MKII irons in the bag, but his lofts are far from stock. Since Villegas writes his club lofts inside the back cavities, we can see his 7-iron is lofted at 36 degrees, which is 4 degrees weaker than the stock 32-degree iron spec. Interestingly, Villegas also plays one of the weakest driver lofts on the PGA Tour: a Titleist TSi3 11-degree head, although it’s in a C1 setting, which decreases it by 0.75 degrees.

Kevin Kisner’s new Wilson set

Kisner made one of the biggest off-season equipment switches on the PGA Tour, signing a new deal with Wilson for the first time in his career. This week at Pebble Beach, we got our first look at his equipment setup as a full-time Wilson staffer.

Check out his full setup: Kevin Kisner’s 2023 WITB

And, with that, we say goodbye to the beautiful cliffs of Pebble Beach. We’ll see you next week for “The Greatest Show on Grass” at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open in Arizona.

Click here to see all of our photos from Pebble Beach

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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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Ned

    Feb 6, 2023 at 6:25 am

    What happened to the Pebble Pro-Am a lot of the top players were absent. Guess the money is below their standard.

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Whats in the Bag

Troy Merritt WITB 2023 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees @9.25)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana BF 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees @ 14.25)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana 80 TX

Hybrid: Titleist H2 818 (19 degrees)
Shaft: KBS Tour Hybrid Prototype 105 S+

Irons: Titleist T200 (2-5), Titleist T100 (6-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F, 54-14F, 58-08M)
Shafts: KBS Tour 120 S

Putter: Yes! C-Groove Mollie Tour
Grip: SuperStroke Traxion Pistol GT Tour

Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

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Whats in the Bag

Sam Burns’ winning WITB: 2023 WGC-Dell Match Play

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Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees @10.3)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 TX (45 inches, tipped .5)

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond T (16 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees @19,9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X 125 6.5

Wedges: Callaway Apex TCB (AW), Callaway MD5 Jaws Raw (56-10S @55, 60-12X)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (AW), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56)

Putter: Odyssey O-Works #7S Black
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X

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19th Hole

The current average driving distance of men and women amateur golfers by age and handicap

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Distance in the game of golf is one of the hottest topics currently in the sport, especially with the USGA and R&A’s recent announcement that a plan is in place to roll back the golf ball for professional players.

When it comes to the amateur game, just how far are you hitting the ball compared to those in your age and handicap group?

Thanks to Arccos and their recently published study, you can find that out.

Per the report, which used data based on over 20 million drives – using Driver only – from the Arccos dataset, the numbers show that men’s numbers have increased on the previous year’s study but are down on the 2018 data. At the same time, women’s distance trends are continuing a downturn.

As for age and handicap, you can check out the full data and breakdown below, which also includes accuracy off the tee.

Men

Distance

Accuracy

Women

Distance

Accuracy

 

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