Equipment

Tour Edge introduces new Exotics 723 series of drivers, fairways and hybrids

Published

2 months ago

Feb 7, 2023

Tour Edge has today unveiled their new Exotics 723 Series of metals, featuring two separate drivers, fairway and hybrid designs designated as Extreme (E) and Competition (C) spec.

The new E723 metals are MOI+ designs built for maximum forgiveness, while the new C723 designs are all about harnessing power and dialing in low spinning distance.

The Exotics 723 E and C drivers feature all-new design and technology called the Flight Tuning System or F.T.S., which was developed to provide Tour Edge’s largest fitting matrix ever produced.

In addition, one of the top design goals for the Tour Edge R&D team was to provide one of the most adjustable drivers currently available in the marketplace

With the player centric C723 Driver, the Flight Tuning System technology and all its available weight options total 4,860 different fitting configurations for the clubhead. This is due to the ability to swap different weights both on the back sliding track new to the 723 Series, and by having both front and back weights that are interchangeable.

“Every swing, every player type, every inch of performance you’ll need on the golf course is developed into our high technology Exotics 723 series. The Competition Spec player wants more adjustability with hotter and lower spinning flights, while the Extreme Spec player wants max MOI. for increased accuracy, ease of launch and overall playability. We have both sides covered and every swing in between with the 723 metals.” – Tour Edge founder and President David Glod

Exotics C723 Driver

This ultra-premium 445cc profile and deeper face of the C723 is designed for the competitive player to produce low-spin power.

The C723 Driver features a two-tier front/back Flight Tuning System with the back weight on a new sliding track that allows for
both extreme MOI and flight/spin rate manipulation. The C723 driver is designed to offer the ultimate in power, feel and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s 360-degree Ridgeback and Diamond Face VFT technologies.

Key Features:

Flight Tuning System – A two-tier Front/Back Weight System with the back weight on a new sliding track is employed in the C723 Driver that allows for both extreme MOI and flight/spin rate manipulation.

The C723 Driver will come standard with a 5-gram weight in the front and a 15-gram weight in the back. This allows for adjustability at a rate of +/- 300 RPMs of spin rate when the weights are switched.

The MOI range adjustment is from 5300 g/cm2 to 4900 g/cm2, making for an available adjustability of 11% at your fingertips. It’s a 5% increase in MOI over the previous C design.

Sliding the weight on the adjustable track allows for a +/- 7-yard heel and toe bias in directional flight. For example, if you were to slide the weight all the way to edge of the Fade position, your flight would adjust seven yards to the right for a right-handed player, and vice versa for the Draw setting.

Nine different individual weights that are transferable to every club in the 723 Series will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams.
Adding to its adjustability the adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft +/- 2 degrees and lie angle through a range of 3 degrees.

360° Ridgeback Technology – Tour Edge engineers created a thinner, more refined Ridgeback activation for C723 with increased structural properties and 360-degree perimeter weighting.

The Titanium Ridgeback spine running from the center of the face through the crown now wraps around the entire perimeter to frame the entire clubhead. Adding Titanium to the perimeter, along with Ridgeback down the center, allows more support on off-center hits to increase face deflection.

The additional perimeter Titanium has boosted MOI significantly. This Ridgeback spine and now 360-degree activation acts as a brace for the entire clubhead to produce more power across the entire face, including the extreme perimeters.

The C723 Ridgeback design is 15% thinner than the previous C722 model, while offering greater structural support properties. Ridgeback is designed to create a superior feel at impact.

The extra rigidity created by the brace through the crown produces a much stronger feel at impact when compared to a full carbon crown and results in a crisper and brighter feel at strike.

Quad Carbon Tech – Tour Edge engineers replaced extra Titanium from the crown and sole by creating Quad Carbon Tech in four different areas of the clubhead. The C723 features 5% more carbon fiber than its previous iteration.

The addition of Quad Carbon Tech saves considerable weight in the clubhead, allowing for the 360-degree Ridgeback design, an increase in MOI, greater face flex in the heel and toe areas so off- center hits achieve greater power. This weight savings has been re-purposed to the ideal location to help with creating optimal CG location.

Diamond Face VFT – New Diamond Face VFT is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face. There are 44 total diamond shapes featured on Diamond Face VFT, comprising seven different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The face thickness of the new Diamond Face VFT is thinner on the heel and toe on the C723 Driver.

The mini trampolines that make-up Diamond Face VFT create faster ball speeds and an expanded sweet spot. The increase in Diamond Face coverage to the extreme heel and toe dramatically increases ball speed on off-center hits while also greatly aiding forgiveness on these strikes.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 8°, 9°, 10.5°; Left-Handed: 10.5°
Price: $499.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

Exotics E723 Driver

This 460cc profile designed for maximum forgiveness aims to take MOI to the extreme. The E723 Driver’s extreme low rearward CG position produces an extremely high MOI of 5600 g/cm2, the highest MOI driver Tour Edge has ever produced.

The E723 Driver features a Flight Tuning System on a new sliding track, while bringing the ultimate in power, feel and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s 360-degree Ridgeback and Diamond Face VFT technologies.

Key Features:

Flight Tuning System / MOI+ – The Flight Tuning System is a weighting design on a sliding track features a 20-gram weight at the extreme trailing edge on the sole of the clubhead.

Sliding the weight on the adjustable track allows for a +/- 10-yard heel and toe bias in directional flight. For example, if you were to slide the weight all the way to edge of the Fade position, your flight would adjust 10 yards to the right for a right-handed player, and vice versa for the Draw setting.

Nine different individual weights that are transferable to every club in the 723 Series will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams. Adding to its adjustability the adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft +/- 2 degrees and lie angle through a range of 3 degrees.

The E723 Driver’s extreme low rearward CG position produces an extremely high MOI at 5600 g/cm2 MOI, the highest MOI driver we have ever produced. This leads to increased stability at impact and tighter dispersion. It’s a 5% increase in MOI over the previous E design.

360° Ridgeback Technology – Tour Edge engineers created a thinner, more refined Ridgeback activation for E723 with increased structural properties and 360-degree perimeter weighting. The Titanium Ridgeback spine running from the center of the face through the crown now wraps around the entire perimeter to frame the entire clubhead.

Adding Titanium to the perimeter, along with Ridgeback down the center, allows more support on off-center hits to increase face deflection. The additional perimeter Titanium has boosted MOI significantly.

This Ridgeback spine and now 360-degree activation acts as a brace for the entire clubhead to produce more power across the entire face, including the extreme perimeters. The E723 Ridgeback design is 15% thinner than the previous E722 model, while offering greater structural support properties.

Quad Carbon Tech – Tour Edge engineers replaced extra Titanium from the crown and sole by creating Quad Carbon Tech in four different areas of the clubhead. The E723 features 5% more carbon fiber than its previous iteration.

Diamond Face VFT – The new Diamond Face VFT is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face. There are 44 total diamond shapes featured on Diamond Face VFT, comprising seven different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The face thickness of the new Diamond Face VFT is thinner on the heel and toe on the E723 Driver.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 9°, 10.5°, 12°; Left-Handed: 10.5°
Price: $449.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

Exotics C723 Fairway Metal

This compact profile and deeper face is designed for the competitive player to produce low-spin power. The C723 Fairway features a two-tier front/back Flight Tuning System that allows for both extreme MOI and flight/spin rate manipulation.

This all-Titanium Player’s Fairway features the 90-gram RyzerSole Technology while aiming to bring the ultimate in power, feel and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s Diamond Face VFT ™ technology.

Key Features:

Flight Tuning System – An adjustable 15-gram weight directly behind the face and the addition of a 5-gram back weight to create an amazingly effective front/back weighting system for MOI and spin control.

The C723 Fairway will come standard with a 5-gram weight in the back and a 15- gram weight in the front. This allows for adjustability at a rate of +/- 200 RPMs of spin rate when the weights are switched All 723 series weights are swappable from club to club.

Nine different individual weights that are transferable to every club in the 723 Series will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams.

The adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft +/- 1.5 degrees up or down. With three lofts being offered (13°,15°, 18°) the 723 delivers a loft range of 11.5 degrees to 19.5 degrees, while various alternate settings afford lie angles from 56 degrees to 59 degrees.

Ryzersole Technology – The RyzerSole on the C723 fairways combine three distinct features on the sole of the clubhead; an unprecedented 90-grams placed as low as possible in the sole of the clubhead (75-permanent Tungsten weight and a 15-gram adjustable weight) as part of a sole rail that extends from leading edge to trailing edge.

These three design elements make up the new RyzerSole that produces a super-low and forward CG, high-launching shots with amazingly low spin rates, decreased turf interaction and maximum ball speed off the face.

The 15-gram adjustable weight in the middle of the RyzerSole is also available in heavier and lighter weights to provide an unprecedented range of 80 grams to 96 grams of optional weight for the ultimate in CG, MOI, and swing weight manipulation.

Diamond Face VFT – New Diamond Face VFT is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face. There are 35 total diamond shapes featured on Diamond Face VFT, comprising five different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The face thickness of the new Diamond Face VFT is thinner on the heel and toe on the C723 Fairway
Metal.

Titanium Face & Body / Carbon Crown – The compact profile and deeper face of the C723 Fairways were designed with the competitive player in mind, as was the full one-piece 6-4 Titanium body and face, a Carbon Crown and an adjustable hosel featured on the C723.

The Titanium face and body of the C723 Fairway Metal merged with a Carbon Crown provides the ultimate in power and feel. The Carbon Crown also contributes to the extremely low CG of the clubhead and increases face flex. These are ultra-premium materials that lead to ultra-premium performance in every aspect of the clubhead.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 13°, 15°, 18°; Left-Handed: 15°, 18°
Price: $329.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

Exotics E723 Fairway Metal

This fairway metal is loaded with tech in design for extreme forgiveness and distance. These fairway’s feature RyzerSole Technology while aiming to bring the ultimate in power, feel and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s Diamond Face VFT technology.

Key Features:

Maximum Forgiveness – MOI+ – An adjustable 10-gram weight at the extreme trailing edge on the sole of the clubhead. The E723 fairway’s extreme low-rearward CG position produces an extremely high MOI and a deeper CG position. The MOI rating of the E723 was raised 5% over the E722 fairway metal. The position of the backweight helps deliver an optimally located CG, maximizing MOI, and aiding extreme stability and resistance to twisting at impact. Installation of different weights also allows dialing in of required swing weight at custom lengths.

All 723 series weights are swappable from club to club. Nine different individual weights will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams for our largest ever fitting matrix.

RyzerSole Technology – The RyzerSole on the E723 Fairway Metal includes a sole rail and added weight that extends from leading edge to trailing edge. RyzerSole produces a super-low CG for high launching shots with optimized spin rates, decreased turf interaction and maximum ball speed off the face.

Maraging Steel Face / Diamond Face VFT – A new Diamond Face VFT on a Maraging Steel Face is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face. There are 38 total diamond shapes featured on the fairway, comprising five different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The ultra-premium Maraging Steel face brings extra power off
the face at impact.

Carbon Crown Design – A Carbon Fiber Crown covers the entire crown area of the clubhead on the E723 Fairway Metal.

The Carbon Crown provides the ultimate in power and feel and contributes to the extremely low CG of the clubhead and helps increase face flex. These are ultra-premium materials that lead to ultra-premium performance in every aspect of the clubhead.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 15°, 16.5°, 18°, 21°; Left-Handed: 15°, 18°
Price: $279.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

Exotics C723 Hybrid

This ultra-compact player’s hybrid features the high-flying and low-spinning RyzerSole Technology while it aims to bring the ultimate in power and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s breakthrough Diamond Face VFT technology.

Flight Tuning System – An adjustable 10-gram weight located directly behind the face, sitting in the middle of the RyzerSole.

The added weight further lowers the CG on this compact clubhead, pulling down spin rates while adding to launch characteristics. Installation of different weights also allows dialing in of required swing weight at custom lengths.

All 723 series weights are swappable from club to club. Nine different individual weights will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams.

The adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft +/- 1.5 degrees up or down. With four lofts (17°, 19°, 21°, 23°), the 723 delivers a loft range of 15.5 degrees to 24.5 degrees.

RyzerSole Technology – The RyzerSole on the C723 Hybrid includes a sole rail and added weight that extends from leading edge to trailing edge.

RyzerSole produces a super-low and forward CG, high-launching shots with amazingly low spin rates, decreased turf interaction and maximum ball speed off the face. Maraging Steel Face / Diamond Face VFT – A new Diamond Face VFT on a Maraging Steel Face is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face.

There are 45 total diamond shapes featured on the hybrid, comprising three different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The ultra-premium Maraging Steel face brings extra power off the face at impact.

Player Preferred Shaping with Adjustable Hosel – The ultra-compact profile and deeper face of the 100cc C723 Hybrid were designed with the competitive player in mind with its square-toe design and adjustable hosel.

The C723 Hybrid is the most iron-like hybrid on the market, allowing players to put an iron swing with an attack angle that is hitting down on the ball. This versatile hybrid will play from the tee, fairway, rough and around the green.

The adjustable hosel allows golfers to adjust the loft +/- 1.5 degrees up or down. With four lofts being offered (17°, 19°, 21°, 23°) the 723 delivers a loft range of 15.5 degrees to 24.5 degrees, allowing every distance to be covered by the C723 Hybrid line-up.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 17°, 19°, 21°, 23°’; Left-Handed: 21°
Price: $269.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

Exotics E723 Hybrid

This hybrid features tech designed for extreme forgiveness and distance featuring RyzerSole Technology while aiming to bring the ultimate in power, feel and forgiveness through Tour Edge’s Diamond Face VFT technology.

Key Features:

Maximum Forgiveness / MOI+ – An adjustable 10-gram weight at the extreme trailing edge on the sole of the clubhead. What does it do? The E723 hybrid’s extreme low-rearward CG position produces an extremely high M.O.I. and a deeper CG position.

The position of the backweight helps deliver an optimally located CG, maximizing M.O.I. and aiding extreme stability and resistance to twisting at impact. Installation of different weights also allows dialing in of required swing weight at custom lengths. Installation of different weights also allows dialing in of required swing weight at custom lengths.

All 723 series weights are swappable from club to club. Nine different individual weights will be available from 5 grams to 21 grams.

Ryzersole Technology – The RyzerSole on the E723 Hybrid includes a sole rail and added
weight that extends from leading edge to trailing edge. RyzerSole produces a super-low CG for high launching shots with optimized spin rates, decreased turf interaction and maximum ball speed off the face.

Maraging Steel Face / Diamond Face VFT – A new Diamond Face VFT on a Maraging Steel Face is made up of diamond shapes of variable face thickness behind the face. There are 38 total diamond shapes featured on the hybrid, comprising three different thicknesses in an interweaving pattern. The ultra-premium Maraging Steel face brings extra power off the face at impact.

Carbon Crown Design – A Carbon Fiber Crown covers the entire crown area of the clubhead on the E723 Hybrid. What does it do? The Carbon Crown provides the ultimate in power and feel and contributes to the extremely low CG of the clubhead and helps increase face flex.

These are ultra-premium materials that lead to ultra-premium performance in every aspect of the clubhead. The area of carbon increased 10% on the E723 Hybrid due to the overall size of the hybrid being made larger.

Specs, Price & Availability

Lofts: Right-Handed: 17°, 19°, 22°, 25°; Left-Handed: 19°
Price: $249.99
Available: Pre-sale February 8th; At retail March 1st

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Equipment

7 takeaways from an AWESOME equipment talk with Padraig Harrington

Published

2 hours ago

Mar 30, 2023

Andrew Tursky

Fans of golf equipment have long known that Padraig Harrington is one of us. Throughout his career, Harrington has been willing to test new products, make changes from week to week, and play with a bag of mixed equipment brands.

What equipment fans may not know, however, is just how brilliant of an equipment mind Harrington truly has.

Ahead of the 2023 Valero Texas Open, I caught up with Harrington to pick his brain about what clubs are currently in his bag, and why. The conversation turned into Harrington discussing topics such as the broader equipment landscape, brand deals in 2023, his driver testing process, why he still uses a TaylorMade ZTP wedge from 2008, square grooves vs. V-grooves, and using a knockoff set of Ping Eye 1 irons as a junior.

Padraig Harrington’s 2023 WITB

Below are my 7 major takeaways from the extensive gear talk with Harrington.

1) Padraig’s stance on equipment contracts, and why he prefers Wilson

Harrington is a longtime Wilson staffer, and although he supports the brand and uses their equipment, he doesn’t use a full bag of Wilson clubs. He finds Wilson’s understanding of a player’s need for flexibility to be beneficial to the player, and it’s attracting more and more professional players to the company (such as Kevin Kisner and Trey Mullinax).

“Wilson wants me to play whatever I’m comfortable with. It’s very important. They’re not a manufacturer that says, ‘We want you to play 14 clubs.’ There’s always a club you don’t like. That’s just the way it is. So Wilson is like, ‘We want you playing well and playing the best clubs for you.’

“I am very comfortable with their irons. I’m very comfortable with their wedges, as you can see. They have an old hybrid 4 iron that I love. They have a new hybrid 4-iron that is too powerful. I put it in the bag last week and I had to take it out. The thing is, I use a 4-iron and a 5-wood. My 4-iron has to go somewhat relative to my 5-iron, and then I have to bridge that gap between 4-iron and 5-wood, so it has to do both. The new 4-iron was going 230 yards. My 4-iron goes about 215-235, maybe 240 on a warm day. And my 5-wood is like a warm-day 265 in the air, but I have no problem hitting it 235, so I can cross it over. But this 4-iron, the new version, it just went. I couldn’t hit the 215 shot with it; it’s just too powerful. That’s why I have the old 4-iron in the bag, but it does the job to bridge the gap…

“As players get more money, they’re less dependent on manufacturers. They need the service of a manufacturer – because, like I need to be on that truck and get things checked. But you’re seeing more players see Wilson as an attractive option because you don’t have to use 14 clubs. If you’re not happy this week with the putter; you know, Wilson has the putters, they have everything, but if you want to chase something else for a moment…remember, there’s two things you’re chasing. If you’re a free agent, it’s not good to be changing a lot. That is a distraction. But it’s nice to have the option that if somebody…like I feel Titleist has come out with a great driver. And I’m able to work my way straight into Titleist and say, ‘Hey, gimmie a go with that. Oh, this is a great driver, I’m going to use this.’ Wilson is aware of that. They want their players to be happy and playing well. Like it’s still 10 clubs, but it’s just not 14 and the ball.

“The irons are great, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve won the most majors. They make a gambit of irons. If you want to use a blade, they have the blade. If you want to use my iron, which is just a good tour composite, it has a bit of a cavity-back, you can do that. If you want to use the D irons that have rockets going off there, you can have them. Like the 4 iron, the one they gave me, it was a rocket! And guys are happy to carry driving irons like that, but mine has to match in with the 5-iron. It was just too high and too fast.

“So yeah, I think you’re going to see manufacturers go more of that way. Our players want to be independent, but the problem is that full independence is not great. You don’t want a situation where you’re turning up – as you see kids who make it into their first tournament, and the manufacturers start giving them stuff, and they’re changing. You don’t want to be the guy changing too much.”

2) The dangers of a 64-degree wedge

Although Harrington himself uses a Wilson Staff High Toe 64-degree wedge, he seldom practices with it. Here’s why he warns against it:

“The big key with a 64 wedge is DO NOT use it. No, seriously, do not use it. It’s a terrible wedge for your technique. That club is in the bag and it gets used on the golf course, and it gets used when it’s needed, but you don’t practice with it, because it’s awful. So much loft will get you leading too much, and you’re going to deloft it. Hit one or two shots with it, then put it away. You’re better off practicing with a pitching wedge and adding loft to be a good chipper instead of practicing with a lob wedge and taking loft off. A 64-degree wedge is accentuating that problem. It’s a dangerous club. It does a great job at times, but it certainly can do harm.

“It’s not bad having it in the bag for a certain shot, but it’s a terrible club to practice with. I literally hit one or two full shots with it, a couple chips with it, and that’s it. I know if I spend too long with it, I’ll start de-lofting.”

3) The interchangeable faces on TaylorMade’s ZTP wedges from 2008 were Padraig’s idea?!

I couldn’t believe it myself, but Harrington says that the idea for TaylorMade to offer interchangeable face technology on its ZTP wedges in 2008 was originally his idea…

“The TaylorMade is obviously attracting a lot of attention, but that was my idea! Myself and a consultant for Wilson, I got him to build changeable faces and he sold that to TaylorMade…that’s fully my idea. He sold that then to TaylorMade, and TaylorMade produced them, which I was happy about. But TaylorMade couldn’t sell them. You can’t get people to clean the grooves, so they weren’t going to buy a new face. Why have 400 faces at home? So I went out and bought these faces to make sure I had them for life. And I was home chipping a while ago, and I have a nice 58. I like the grind on that wedge, and the fact I can just replace the face and have a fresh face every three weeks, it’s just easy, so that’s why that’s in there.”

4) Driver testing isn’t all about speed

“The driver companies know I’m a free agent when it comes to drivers, so every time a new driver comes out, they’ll come to me and say, ‘Hey, would you have a look at this?’

“I will test everything, yeah, but it has to beat what I have in the bag. And Wilson’s new driver is the same. They brought out a new driver and it’s great, but I love the driver I’m using. So I say, ‘Look, guys, not only do you have to be as good as the incumbent, you have to be better, because I already know this and I’m familiar with it.’

“Wilson has built a very, very good driver. There’s know doubt about it. But I love the driver I’m using. And none of these manufacturers can build me a driver that’s better.

“Ball speed gets a driver into the conversation, and then you bring it to the golf course. So the driver has to be going as good as my current driver, and then I bring it to the course and see if I can hit the thing straight. I have gone down the road [of prioritizing speed]…I used a driver in 2014, and it never worked weekends. But it was fast. I used it for about six weeks I’d say – six tournaments – and I missed six straight cuts. It never worked the weekend. It was really fast on the range, but it just wasn’t good on the course.”

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5) Playing with knockoff irons as a junior

“I played as a junior for Ireland, under 18’s, and I owned half a set of golf clubs, and they were imitation Ping Eye 1’s. I borrowed the other half set off my brother. We had a half set each. I had the evens, he had the odds. In that tournament, there was a guy playing with Ping Berylliums with graphite shafts. They cost 1,900 pounds. Mine cost 100 pounds, and they were knockoffs. So I played, for my country, with a set of knockoffs. Before I used those knockoff clubs, I used a mixed bag of clubs. As in, I picked up whatever club they had. The 6-iron might go farther than the 5-iron. The 5-iron might go with a fade and the 7-iron might go with a hook, but I knew what my clubs did. Each club had a purpose.”

6) Using square grooves and V-grooves simultaneously

Square grooves – or “box grooves” – were outlawed by the USGA in 2010 because they were said to help golfers spin the ball too much. V grooves are said to provide less of an advantage because they restrict the sharp edges of the grooves, thus reducing the amount of friction imparted on the golf ball. Prior to the rule change, however, Harrington actually used both V grooves and box grooves, and he’d adjust his setup depending on the golf course.

“What’s interesting is, when the box grooves were around – very few people know this – I carried two sets of clubs at all times. I carried a V groove and a box groove.

“Yeah, see, the box grooves were unbelievable out of the rough, spin wise, but if the rough got to a certain level, the ball would come out so low and with spin that it wouldn’t go very far. Your 7-iron coming out of this rough would only go like 140 yards and it wouldn’t get over any trees because it would come out so low. What I was doing was, if I got to a golf course with this sort of a rough, I’d put in a box groove 7-iron and a V-groove 8-iron. If I got in the rough and I had 170 yards, I’d hit an 8 iron and get a flyer, because the 7 iron wouldn’t get there depending on the lie. And I couldn’t get it over things. So if there were trees, you needed the V groove to get over the trees. A box groove wouldn’t get up in the air.

“No one else was doing it. I played with the box groove for a couple years before I realized that in certain rough, you need the V groove to get there. Hale Irwin played a U.S. Open seemingly with no grooves. Off the fairway it’s meant to make no difference. I would disagree, but that’s what the officials would say. But out of the rough you needed the flyers to get to the green. The V grooves were doing that for me. You get your flyer to get of the rough to get the ball there, but then if it was the first cut of rough, or light rough, or Bermuda rough, or chip shots, it would come out so low and spinny that you’d have no problem.

“I can’t believe that people didn’t realize that I was doing this two-groove thing all the time. I swear to you, you could stand here, you would not launch a 7-iron over that fence there if it was box grooves out of light rough, and V groove would launch over it. The launch characteristics were massively different.”

7) Blame the person, not the putter

Interestingly, Harrington, for all his tinkering, has only used a handful of putters. It turns out, there’s a good reason for that — although he’d like his current model to be a few millimeters taller.

“I used a 2-ball when it came out. Then I used a 2-ball blade, which I won my majors with. I always had a hook in my putts, so not long after I won my majors, I went to face-balanced putter because it helps reduce the left-to-right spin. I started putting really badly in 2013 and 2014 – I had some issues. And then come 2016-2017, I just said, look, I putted well with this putter. If I use this putter, I can’t go back and say it’s the putter’s problem. It’s gotta be me. So I went back to the face-balanced 2-ball blade because I’ve had good times with it. I may have only used 5 or 6 putters in my career.

“I’m really happy that I’ve got a putter that I know I’ve putted well with, and I don’t blame the putter. I can’t say that anymore. I don’t blame my tools, I blame myself if I miss a putt. So it comes down to…I know the putter works, then it’s me. Me, me, me.

“You know, I’ve toyed with using other shafts in the putter, and I will look at other putters, but things are askew to me when I look down. So I can’t have a putter with a line on it. It doesn’t look square to the face. I’ve never putted with a putter that has a line on it for that reason. I line up by feel. I know that putter works, I know it suits me, so that’s why I go with that…

“I prefer a deeper putter (a taller face). The one issue I have is I hit the ball too high on the face, but they won’t remodel the whole system to make me a deeper putter. I’ve tried some optical illusions to try and get it where I hit the ball more in the center, but I hit it high. It seems to be going in the hole so I’m not going to worry about it too much. But in an ideal world, if someone came along and said they could make the putter 3-4 millimeters higher, I’d be happy with that.”

See more photos of Padraig Harrington’s 2023 WITB here

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Equipment

TaylorMade survey on ball rollback finds everyday golfers massively against introduction of Model Local Rule

Published

7 hours ago

Mar 30, 2023

Gianni Magliocco

In response to the USGA and R&A’s recent announcement that they plan on rolling back the golf ball for the professional game, TaylorMade Golf issued a survey asking everyday golfers to voice their opinion regarding the topic of golf ball bifurcation. Today, they are sharing the results.

Almost 45,000 golfers across more than 100 countries spanning a variety of ages, abilities and participation levels took the time to complete the survey and have their voice heard, with some of the major findings shown below:

To the best of your knowledge, do you agree with the proposed golf ball rule?
- 81% No
- 19% Yes

Do you think average hitting distances in professional golf need to be reduced?
- 77% No
- 23% Yes

Are you for or against bifurcation in the game of golf (i.e., different rule(s) for professional golfers versus amateurs)?
- 81% Against
- 19% For

How important is it for you to play with the same equipment professional golfers use?
- 48% Extremely important
- 35% Moderately important
- 17% Not important

If the proposed golf ball rule were to go into effect, would it have an impact on your interest in professional golf?
- 45% Less interested
- 49% No impact
- 6% More Interested

The results also show that 57 percent of golfers aged 18-34 years old would be less interested in the pro game should the rule come into effect, while five percent said they would be more interested.

“The goal of our survey was to give golfers the opportunity to voice their opinion on this proposed ruling as we absorb the MLR and its potential effects on the everyday golfer. We are grateful that nearly 45,000 golfers across the world felt the need for their voice to be heard. The overwhelming amount of responses show the passion, knowledge and care for the game our audience possesses. Each response and data point is being reviewed as we will utilize this feedback in our preparation to provide a response to the USGA and R&A.” – David Abeles, TaylorMade Golf President & CEO

You can check out the survey results in full here.

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Equipment

Spotted: Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K Three “anti-right” prototype putter

Published

1 day ago

Mar 29, 2023

Brian Knudson

Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K putters have really taken off on tour, and we have seen a handful of models in tour player’s bags. The latest version we spotted out on tour is a very unique design.

Odyssey makes this putter head with a standard flow neck that offers plenty of toe hang for golfers who prefer or need that weighting. This prototype has a long slant neck installed more near the center of the putter head that lets the toe sit slightly up in the air when held horizontally. This is pretty different since most putters sit with the toe hanging down towards the ground or are face balanced (face sits parallel to the ground). A full shaft offset looks to be achieved with the slant neck and the look at address is definitely different.

We spoke to Callaway PGA Tour manager Joe Toulon about the putter and he had the following to say

“On course [we had a player who] had a little push bias that didn’t necessarily show up in practice but it is something that he felt on course. So we wanted to build something that was a little easier to release and maybe not necessarily open the toe as much in the back stroke and not have to work as hard to release it in the through stroke. That was kind of designed to give a little offset and when you rested it on your finger it would rest toe up a little bit. We thought for that player it would help him square the putter face at impact rather than leave it open a little bit.

“It was more of a concept we had and will continue to work on it. When we had it on the truck and we were hitting some putts with it we noticed that you had to work really hard to push this putter. We wanted to make an anti-right putter. Just a fun little concept that we have an idea and work with our tour department to test things out.

“It isn’t something that ended up in a player’s bag but we learned some things in that process and will keep in mind for future builds and projects.”

The finish also looks to be a little different than the standard Tri-Hot 5K putter’s black and silver motif. The face and neck are finished in silver and the rear done in more of a blueish-gray tone. The White Hot insert looks to be standard and the sole still contains two interchangeable weights.

The shaft looks to be painted in the same metallic red as their standard Stroke Lab shaft, but we don’t see a steel tip section. Not sure if this putter has a full graphite shaft or painted steel.