Equipment

Chicago-inspired Swag covers, CC Sabathia’s WITB and Justin Rose’s old TaylorMade M3 driver

Published

9 months ago

Aug 18, 2023

As the FedExCup Playoffs climb toward the pinnacle of excitement with two events to play, the top 50 PGA Tour point earners were dialing in this week at the 2023 BMW Championship to compete for big money, and solidify their spots in the season-ending Tour Championship next week at East Lake.

Compared to “normal” Tour weeks, the early-week equipment testing was relatively slow at Olympia Fields, which makes sense this late in the season, and with this much on the line. That being said, the equipment news was still abound with a few interesting storylines at the BMW Championship this week.

Below are the top-5 equipment notes from the 2023 BMW Championship.

Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship

1) A taste of Chicago Swag

In case you haven’t noticed, Swag Golf has been elevating its connection to the PGA Tour this year. The putter/headcover company has sold its custom products inside official merchandise tents at several events, including The Players Championship, the Valero Texas Open, and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, according to the company.

This week, the Chicago-based company (technically, Northbrook, Illinois), kicked it up a notch for the local event. Inside the official BMW Championship merchandise tents, Swag Golf is selling four different custom headcover designs for the week, featuring Ditka-inspired Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza, the Downtown Chicago skyline, and, of course, Chicago dogs.

Swag also created a line of “Iceman” headcovers and putters, which are named after a popular local Olympia Fields drinks, that are selling in the pro shop.

Click here for more photos and discussion in the GolfWRX Forums

2) Rose is running the TaylorMade timeline gamut

Equipment free agent Justin Rose has kept things wildly interesting with his equipment setups this year, especially with the driver. Throughout the year, he’s used the TaylorMade M2 2016, the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, and now he’s using the TaylorMade M3 from 2018. He’s just sliding up and down TaylorMade’s driver release timeline.

Also, Rose has switched into TaylorMade’s new MG4 wedges, in addition to his Cobra King MB and CB irons, TaylorMade’s M6 fairway woods, and his longtime Axis1 putter.

Now THAT’S a GolfWRX-approved bag right there.

See Justin Rose’s full 2023 WITB from the BMW Championship

3) CC Sabathia’s lefty gamer setup

CC Sabathia, a legendary left-handed pitcher who used to play for the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians, played in the Wednesday Pro-Am at the 2023 BMW Championship alongside Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners.

Sabathia says he took up golf after retiring from the MLB in 2019, and the 15-handicapper has serious power and an eclectic equipment setup. He has a Callaway Rogue ST Max driver, a PXG hybrid, Titleist U-505 driving irons, Mizuno Pro 223 irons, custom-stamped “CC 52” Titleist SM9 Jet Black wedges, and an LA Golf all-carbon putter.

See more photos of CC’s bag here

4) New TaylorMade Spider Tour putters

This week at the 2023 BMW Championship, TaylorMade unveiled four new putter models, including the Spider Tour, Spider Tour X, Spider Tour V and Spider Tour Z.

GolfWRX Equipment Expert Brian Knudson wrote about TaylorMade’s new Spider Tour putters earlier in the week if you’re looking for more information and photos.

5) Chris Kirk speaks on his new Callaway Apex CB irons

Kirk has typically been a blade iron user throughout his career, but last week in Memphis, Kirk switched into Callaway’s new Apex CB irons.

My full story on his switch is over on PGATOUR.com, but here’s a snippet of what he had to say about the new irons:

“Last week [at the FedEx St. Jude Championship], was my first week with them in the bag,” Kirk told GolfWRX.com. “I had them at home for a few months, just kind of testing around with them. But the main reason I put them in, I would say, is because of the consistency out of the rough.

“My older blades were kind of coming out slow out of the rough. If I flew it 330, I would like that. But there were a lot of times, like in Greensboro [at the Wyndham Championship], I’d be 160 out and have an 8 iron and come up short. They were coming out slow. And I would get the occasional jumper. But these are really, really consistent out of the rough. They’re coming out a bit hotter.”

Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship

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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.

1 Comment

Benny

Aug 21, 2023 at 3:33 pm

Love it. Thanks Golfwrx!

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Equipment

Limited-edition gear spotted at the PGA Championship

Published

6 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

8 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

9 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.