WRX Forum Buzzz

GolfWRX visits The Oven, Nike Golf R&D

Published

11 years ago

May 23, 2013

Nike Golf is not known to stick to typical golf tradition. Perhaps that’s rooted in the way it was born.

Ben Hogan never touched a Nike golf club. Until June rolls around, a Nike club will have never brushed the grass during a Major at Merion.

Nike was born late into the highly competitive world of equipment manufacturing. It was behind the curve and wanted to catch up quickly. The recipe: Hire experienced veterans from inside the golf industry, but don’t be afraid to attract talent from outside golf world. Look at things differently. Focus on the athlete. Innovate. Create. The Oven was born.

In the world of golf equipment, The Oven has an almost mystical quality. What goes on there? Who gets to visit? Can I visit? For the GolfWRXer, a visit to Nike’s R&D facility is a dream come true. We’ve been kicking the tires on the idea with Nike Golf for a while now, and finally got the chance to put it together.

Five GolfWRX members were sent surprise invites to Fort Worth to experience a golf junkie’s dream trip: A full 14 club fitting at The Oven. This is the same fitting Nike Golf Athletes experience. “Want to visit The Oven?” PM sent!

The Oven is about as unassuming as you can imagine. There is no massive sign on the street. No retina scanner to greet you at the door. Once inside, there are indications of Nike’s success. Nike Golf accomplishments and memorabilia are celebrated in the front hallways. Conference rooms have names of famous courses. Larger-than-life photos don the halls here and there. But above all, The Oven is a place for the athlete to feel comfortable, talk, test and tweak. Jhonattan Vegas said it best in a Q&A session with us (paraphrasing): “What impresses me most about Nike is how dedicated they are to making the athlete perform their best.”

That, in a nutshell, is what GolfWRX was treated to — the chance to experience a full Nike Golf Athlete fitting. A complete tour of R&D at The Oven. The opportunity to talk to some of the most brilliant minds in golf including Tom Stites, David Franklin and Mike Taylor. We saw what makes Nike Golf tick from the inside and got treated not as royalty, but as Nike Athletes. It was a truly amazing experience which lived up to its billing.

Read all about our experience and see all the pictures and video from The Oven in the Tour and forums.

Read all about our experience and see all the pictures and video from The Oven in the Tour and forums.

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Equipment

3-wood vs. Mini-driver vs. 2nd driver – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

4 weeks ago

Jun 25, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been having an interesting discussion on bag setups. WRXer ‘Ghostdunc27’ has been unable to replace the 3-wood he loved and is currently “toying around with the idea of a mini driver or even a higher lofted regular driver with a shorter shaft” to his bag, and reaches out to fellow members on their thoughts.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

tjwilliams31: “I am tinkering with this now. I currently play an SLDR S 14 degree driver at 42.75 as my secondary tee club and it works great. My issue with a lower lofted driver at that length was the tendency for the ball to drop out of the air with a lack of spin. Again this could just be an issue in my delivery at the ball. Everyone in the forum references the Marty Jertson WITB on Youtube with PING and he plays a secondary driver around that length in lieu of 3 wood.”
adamwon84: “I switch between a mini driver and a normal 3 wood (15 degrees, crank down to 14) depending on the course. The mini driver is the newest Taylormade mini driver, set at 13.5 degrees and the 3 wood is the Callaway Smoke AI 15 degree set to 14. Both are great, but I am finding that the mini driver is more and more impressive as I use it (especially off the tee box). I did have a mini 300 model that had a 42.5 inch shaft that was fun on the deck and off the tee, really really solid. My current one is with the stock length shaft, but I am looking at ordering a shorter shaft to experiment with.”
agree1977: “Have a TSR2 driver and the 13.5 TM BRNR, I use both about the same amount of times a round, it just changes throughout the year, depending on weather, form, course i’m playing, etc. I just found that my 3-wood and 5-wood were pretty much overlaying in a few areas, so set the 5 wood to 18 degrees and it does all i need for a fairway.”

Entire Thread: “3-Wood vs. Mini-Driver vs. 2nd Driver – GolfWRXers discuss”

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Equipment

What’s the most forgiving and longest driver you’ve played in past 5 years? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

1 month ago

Jun 11, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing the most forgiving and longest driver they’ve played over the past 5 years. WRXer ‘bogeykibg’ poses the question and also asks “does forgiveness mean shorter?”, and our members have been sharing their thoughts on the subject in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

Kai Slater: “The Callaway Rogue ST Max driver is the most forgiving/long driver that I’ve personally tried. It’s my current driver and, although, I see no reason to change, I’m very curious about trading up to the AI Smoke when the prices drop later this year.”
Ger21: “Srixon ZX5 LS MK II. Remarkably forgiving.”
scooterhd2: “If we are talking about average on course distance, and not max distance, or good hits on a sim, then its G400MAX. Theres no rollout in the woods or the lake. Hit em straight.”

Entire Thread: “What’s the most forgiving and longest driver you’ve played in past five years? – GolfWRXers discuss”

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Equipment

What club purchase has more impact on overall game: Driver or putter? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 months ago

May 31, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing whether a driver or putter purchase has more impact on the game of a player who regularly shoots in the 70s.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

hammergolf: “It’s always baffled me that guys will spend $500 at the drop of a hat to hit it 8 yds further, but will balk at spending that same $500 on a putter that could improve their score much more.”
WipeyFade: “I think with both it’s more about forgiveness than anything. I guess it would depend on which you mishit the most. In my opinion the only difference between a 10 year old driver and a new driver is going to be the forgiveness level. Same with putters.”
rooski: “The technology of a newer driver will do much more in forgiveness than any putter technology that has come out since they were shafted with wood (other than maybe L.A.B, that’s some real stuff). That being said, if you currently don’t like your putter, I would upgrade it first given that you seem to enjoy your current driver. If your current driver/putter are roughly equal, I’d go driver first.”
sheepdawg: “I’m a whole lot more finicky with drivers. I can putt pretty decent with most anything. Driver has to suit me just so.”

Entire Thread: “What club purchase has more impact on overall game: Driver or Putter? – GolfWRXers discuss”

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