Equipment
5 equipment questions with Nick Dunlap’s club fitter about his winning setup
Nick Dunlap recently shocked the world by winning The 2024 American Express as a 20-year-old amateur, but really, his playing resume should have been an obvious sign of early success on the PGA Tour.
Dunlap, who’s currently a Sophomore at the University of Alabama, won the U.S. Junior in 2021, and the U.S. Amateur in 2023. He also won his first collegiate event in March 2023, then reeled off wins at the Northeast Amateur in June and the North and South Amateur in July.
Now, he’s a PGA Tour winner.
Following Dunlap’s historic victory at The American Express, GolfWRX.com caught up with his longtime fitter and TaylorMade Senior Tour Representative Cory Johnson for a five-question, gear-focused Q&A.
Check out our interview with Johnson below, or head over to Nick Dunlap’s Winning WITB to see his full-bag specs.
GolfWRX: When did you start working with Nick? Was there anything performance-wise, or in terms of his equipment setup, that stood out to you about him?
Cory Johnson, TaylorMade: I started working with Nick in 2015 when he was 11. He was put on our radar by a past KFT staffer and I’ve been helping him through TM’s elite amateur development efforts ever since. From the beginning, he was ultra-competitive and just hated to lose. I remember an AJGA event when he was 14; he took fifth place and had to be talked into staying for the trophy ceremony since he was so mad at not winning.
Currently, compared to PGA Tour players, how do his launch monitor numbers stack up? Does he have exceptional speed or consistency? What are his strengths?
Nick’s numbers are usually in the mid 180’s with the driver and he has about four speeds that he can move it. He essentially has a low/mid/normal tee shot, and full ship-it shot for what the hole puts in front of him. He has plenty of speed, but I think his huge strengths are his ability to hit it those different ways, and put it in play depending on the hole/wind.
Would you consider Nick a “gear head”? Does he enjoy getting into the tech part of golf, or is he more of a feel player?
Nick added a launch monitor to his normal practice in this past year so he has become way more in tune with those numbers, which a big part of his wedge game improving. When it comes to the actual specs on the clubs, he falls way more in the feel category and doesn’t get in to that very deep. Most of the initial feedback is going to be on head shapes, loft/lie looks, and weight.
What was the fitting process like for the Qi10 LS driver, specifically? How did he improve by making the upgrade?
We were fortunate to have Nick test some prototype heads in August before he won the U.S. Am, so we had a pretty good idea what we needed to start this year off. Nick wants a driver that will not go left, can maintain enough spin when he hits the low tee shot, and starts in his intended window. The Qi10 LS was about 2 mph faster than his previous driver, and launched a little higher. He played the new driver for 4 rounds on a trip to Forida before coming to Palm Springs, then the three practice rounds at Amex, and just basically never missed a shot. At that point, he was ready to go, which shows how good the Qi10 line is because he isn’t usually a tinkerer with equipment and is hesitant to change quickly.
Does he have anything particular spec-wise that stands out, such as lie angles, lofts, grip size?
The usual tricky part with the driver is Nick liking a driver that won’t go left, but his eyes naturally go to a club head that is fairly upright and around 44.75 inches. When he is playing his best, his driver is more a push-straight ball that just never moves. Right now he is playing the driver in the “Std upright” position to get that start line where he needs, and the sliding weight is all the way in the “Fade” position.
Thanks, Cory!
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Whats in the Bag
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)
- Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.
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FreddieKruger
Jan 25, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Great insight, thanks for the knowledge! Now, if only I can find a dependable “No Left” driver! The search is ON!
Benny
Jan 28, 2024 at 2:34 pm
Hahahaha, well said. I guess I would be happy in the 180’s no matter where it went.