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Editors’ Choice 2013

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[dropcap]G[/dropcap]olfWRX’s editorial team recognizes golf equipment of the highest quality, design and performance with our “Editors’ Choice” award, which signifies that a club is one of the best in its category. This year’s “Best of 2013″ nominees are the results of many months of observation, discussion and debate, along with countless hours spent reviewing data.

But don’t just take our word for it.

EditorsChoice_131 copy

A product that receives an Editors’ Choice award and makes the “Best of” list must pass through multiple stages of review, including feedback from our panel of elite custom fitters located throughout North America.

Their feedback, combined with objective analysis and reviews from our editorial team, allows us to filter through the hype to provide the GolfWRX community with a list of the absolute best golf equipment currently available. Click here to read the specifics on the voting committee and how we picked the best.

Note: Because new golf equipment is released year round, the “Best of ” list will grow and change as new clubs and data become available.  

Add all this up and one thing becomes clear: We take our Editors’ Choice awards very seriously. You can spend countless hours in the GolfWRX forums reading, writing and asking questions about the latest golf gear. If you’re really hardcore, you might even buy and sell clubs in our BST (Buy/Sell/Trade) forum to find the best match for you. We certainly don’t want to discourage you from doing that, because it’s a lot of fun, and our team and up to 1.4 million monthly visitors do it every day.

But we offer our “Best of” list as a much quicker and easier route to equipment nirvana.

Award Categories

Drivers
Fairways
Hybrids
Irons
Wedges
Shafts
Rangefinders

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600 best driver

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his year’s crop of drivers seem to have more buzz than we remember in the past. Even though golf’s ruling bodies capped the COR (coefficient of restitution) limit on drivers to 0.83 and club head size to 460 cubic centimeters more than a decade ago, manufactures have still found new ways to improve on their designs every year. This year is no exception — crazy graphics, cavity back sole designs and small tweaks have made this year’s drivers better than ever before. Here are eight new drivers that have rolled out these recent months.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/62101/launch-season-for-6-big-dogs/”]See Best Drivers for 2013[/button]

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600 fw best

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]olfers love fairway woods that allow them to hit long, straight shots off the tee and off the ground. But fairway woods are not only some of the hardest clubs to hit consistently — they’re also some of the toughest to fit. Start with these five top-ranked fairway woods in your next fitting session and we guarantee that you’ll be on your way to hitting more fairways and greens in no time.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/90773/2013-best-fairway-woods/”]See Best Fairways for 2013[/button]

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600-2013-best-hybrids

There’s a lot fewer long irons played on the PGA Tour these days than in years past. That’s because the pros have realized that some of the long irons they used to play aren’t as consistent as similar-lofted hybrids, which they can also hit higher and farther. Unfortunately, many amatuer golfers haven’t caught on with the trend. If you’re one of them, make your way to the nearest golf store and give one of these hybrids a swing.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/97848/2013-best-hybrids/”]See Best Hybrids for 2013[/button]

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600 best irons

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]very year brings an opportunity for all the golf companies to release something that makes us gasp, a set of irons that will make us want to kick out our current gamers out of the bag for something new. Maybe longer, more forgiving irons will be the spark we need to take our game to the next level? Here are some of our Editors’ picks for best irons for the year.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/95050/best-irons-2013/”]See Best Irons for 2013[/button]

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600 best wedges

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]olf equipment companies are currently offering more sole options than ever before, so there’s no excuse for not playing a grind that gives you the best chance to get it up and down. To help you narrow it down, we’ve created an Editors’ Choice list for the best wedges currently available. They’re offered in a slew of lofts, grinds, finishes and custom options, and are a great starting point if you’re in the market for a new wedge.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/90151/the-best-wedges-for-2013-editors-choice/”]See Best Wedges for 2013[/button]

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600 best shafts

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne of our favorite subjects to cover on GolfWRX is shafts. They can be confusing, but golfers who get fitted and know what works for them can get into a comfort zone on the course that can make the difference. But golfers buying new or looking to dial in their old gear need to know about the hottest shafts that are hitting stores this year. You can look HERE to see what shafts the Pros are playing in their equipment and also read through this article to find some inspiration prior to your fitting.

[button color=”black” link=”http://www.golfwrx.com/74447/hot-shafts-for-2013-latest-hot-picks/”]See Best Shafts for 2013[/button]

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GolfWRX is the world's largest and best online golf community. Expert editorial reviews, breaking golf tour and industry news, what to play, how to play and where to play. GolfWRX surrounds consumers throughout the buying, learning and enrichment process from original photographic and video content, to peer to peer advice and camaraderie, to technical how-tos, and more. As the largest online golf community we continue to protect the purity of our members opinions and the platform to voice them. We want to protect the interests of golfers by providing an unbiased platform to feel proud to contribute to for years to come. You can follow GolfWRX on Twitter @GolfWRX and on Facebook.

15 Comments

15 Comments

  1. .U7X-H5SSxXo

    Sep 30, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    We all know videos will be invoked among the appropriate
    and effective alternative to develop the business conveniently.
    As they update regularly, engines remain on
    this website for longer time periods. —Want to share his knowledge
    and experiences, in hope that I reach a high level of achievement.

  2. cg

    Oct 10, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    taylor made will come out with at least 3 new drivers before december…wait to them!!

  3. Travis

    Oct 5, 2013 at 5:55 pm

    Got balls?

  4. ragnar9

    Sep 26, 2013 at 3:05 am

    All in all a great presentation. Could we also have a “best bags” category for 2014? I’ve been struggling to find just the right one this year. Categories ultralight, carry, hybrid, cart, staff?

  5. Wheaton

    Aug 19, 2013 at 8:47 am

    wow. almost 9 months into the year and they still have not done hybrid or ball reviews. Great website

  6. Alfredo

    Aug 2, 2013 at 11:23 am

    Guys need to relax. We see the reviews on most the hybrids out. Try them all out, and see which you hit the best.

  7. Sam

    Aug 1, 2013 at 1:13 pm

    Sooo…. It’s now August…. Still waiting for those hybrid reviews.
    What’s going on here?

  8. Michael

    Jul 21, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    Like Travis, I’m also wondering where the hybrid and ball reviews are. As well as some of the unfinished iron reviews

  9. Travis

    Jul 14, 2013 at 5:36 pm

    July is halfway over, where are the ball and hybrid reviews? Especially since they were originally supposed to be up in June.

  10. Travis

    Jul 1, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    Where are the hybrid and ball reviews? Says coming in June, it’s July

  11. Dugan

    May 20, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    Do you have lists for previous years? Would like to see how my current setup ranks

  12. pablo

    May 8, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    2013 is barely 1/3 complete.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Equipment

Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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