Equipment

Latest patents from TMag, Callaway, Ping and Titleist

Published

12 years ago

Apr 22, 2014

It’s been a month since we last looked at what the major OEMs have been up to in the world of patent filings. So it seems like a good time to see what the best and brightest (or at least best paid) in golf’s R&D have been up to.

This month: A sampling of recent filings from Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, and Titleist along with traditional patent drawings, which a comment on a previous edition in this series referred to as “napkin sketches.”

Without further ado, brief descriptions and corresponding napkin drawings.

Callaway/Odyssey putter

Screen shot 2014-04-17 at 2.42.57 PM

On behalf of subsidiary Odyssey, Callaway applied for a putter with a “low head center of gravity and a high MOI.” According to the filing, the putter features both low-density and high-density layers. In addition, the layers appear to be joined by a urethane dampening layer, and the heel and toe of the putter are outfitted with tungsten weights.

It appears that this putter will also include the white/black components the company has been including in their designs in recent years.

Overall, the putter appears similar to the flatsticks in the White Damascus family in terms of design and weighting, but presents elements of the Versa family of putters as well.

View the full patent filing on FreshPatents.

TaylorMade iron

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 10.32.54 AM

TMag has filed a patent “coated golf club head/component,” which features an “outer layer of titanium carbide, typically comprising at least forty percent…carbon content.” One would assume that the outer layer is designed to enhance distance, and indeed the multi-layer structure is engineered toward this end.

The filing indicates that the club will possess multiple layers. Further, it states, the “titanium carbide layer is durable and can provide the golf club component with a desired aesthetic appearance, such as a black color.”

Certainly, this could be a red herring. However, the document seems to suggest that TaylorMade, with its penchant for pushing boundaries, could be working on a (at least partially) black iron.

View the full filing here.

TaylorMade fairway wood

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 10.57.43 AM

California-based TaylorMade has also been granted a patent for a “fairway wood center of gravity projection.” The club will look something like the above, with three weights near the front of the sole of the club.

Not surprisingly, with the design the company is pursuing “club heads for a fairway wood that at least one of a high moment of inertia, a low center-of-gravity, a thin crown and a high coefficient of restitution.”

Yes. That ought to do it.

View the full filing here.

Ping hybrid

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 12.50.03 PM

Here’s a hybrid club Ping is working on referred to as a “club head with deflection mechanism and related methods.” The intention of the mechanism seems to be to make it easier to hit the ball on the center of the club face (reportedly, that’s not a bad place to consistently make contact).

The filing also features sketches of a fairway wood with similar characteristics.

View the full filing here.

Founder Karsten Solheim’s company is also working on an iron that looks like this, which looks to be part of a complete set of clubs with variable constructions.

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 12.57.39 PM

View the full filing here.

Titleist fairway wood

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 1.10.39 PM

Fairhaven, Mass-based Titleist filed a patent for a “golf club head with flexure.” According to the filing, “the flexure provides compliance during an impact between the golf club head and a golf ball, and is tuned to vibrate, immediately after impact, at a predetermined frequency.”

Thus, the design, which looks rather progressive compared the Titleist’s more traditional offerings, seems also to be at the fore of the trend toward enhanced feedback. And it doesn’t take an R&D whiz to realize that the face is likely hotter because of the flexure/increased face flex.

View the full filing here.

Related Topics:Callaway Ping TaylorMade Titleist

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

12 Comments

jc

Apr 23, 2014 at 12:05 pm

taylor made will announce that they are building a solid metal head with no slots and it will come in only black and the sheep will run and buy it because the ad will talk about pure mass being better than flex.

Reply Report comment
- Jim
  
  Apr 25, 2014 at 6:28 pm
  
  Introducing the taylormade SCREW”R” fairway wood its got to be atleast 34 yards longer by now . The titleist and ping club looks like every adams club and the rbzs the slots in the woods and hybrids do help with consistency i feel if nothing else , but if every one is doing it there must be something in it.
  
  Reply Report comment
SA golfer

Apr 23, 2014 at 4:13 am

Whaha titleist rbz 3 wood.

Reply Report comment
markb

Apr 22, 2014 at 11:50 pm

If a “gimmick” introduced by Taylormade (meaning slot technology) is then copied by the arch-conservative Titleist, does it not cease to be a gimmick and become an innovation?

Reply Report comment
- 78Staff
  
  Apr 23, 2014 at 11:51 am
  
  Introduced by Adams, not TaylorMade – at least in recent metalwood history. In reality there have been slots in woods for years, see Hogan, Wilson, etc going way back in the day. :).
  
  Reply Report comment
  - leftright
    
    Apr 23, 2014 at 8:22 pm
    
    Correct, Wilson made an iron in the 70’s called the “Reflex” iron. It was the forerunner to everything made today by Taylor, Callaway, Adams, etc. It was probably crude at that time but it was the first iron with that technology. It was a cast club, not forged and I am not sure what became of it’s legacy.
    
    Reply Report comment
- BlkNGld
  
  Apr 25, 2014 at 8:40 pm
  
  Looks more like a Nike compression channel to me.
  
  Reply Report comment
MHendon

Apr 22, 2014 at 5:26 pm

I hate to see Titleist go down the path of gimmicky crap, but I guess to keep up with their competitors they have to. It’s a shame so many people buy into it. I’ve put my old (by today’s standards) 904f up against many of the newest fairway woods on the market and it still outperforms them all. No adjustability, no moveable weights, no velocity slots, just a nice traditional pear shaped head that’s well balanced and gives me great distance and the perfect trajectory.

Reply Report comment
- enrique
  
  Apr 22, 2014 at 6:44 pm
  
  I don’t care how gimmicky/techie it is as long as I can’t see those bits. And it looks like I can see all that on this Titleist. Boo!
  
  Reply Report comment
BeTheBall

Apr 22, 2014 at 4:04 pm

I am a betting man and I bet that TaylorMade is finally going to bring the technology that they have in the face of the Gloire driver to an iron and bring it to the states sometime in the future.

Reply Report comment
chris k

Apr 22, 2014 at 2:59 pm

The iron from taylormade i believe will be the SLDR irons. More forgiving and a hotter face.

Reply Report comment
- K
  
  Apr 24, 2014 at 11:45 am
  
  Yup, they’re coming out with SLDR and SLDR S next. Irons will be called SLDR
  
  Reply Report comment

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Whats in the Bag

Alex Noren WITB 2026 (June)

Published

15 hours ago

Jun 6, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7, draw setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 6 X

3-wood: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana BB 83 TX

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (19 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black

Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Callaway Opus SP (46-10S, 50-10S, 56-08C, 60-08C)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey O-Works #1W

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Check out more in-hand photos of Alex Noren’s clubs here.

Equipment

Spotted: Titleist GTS USWO headcovers

Published

2 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore was at Riviera Country Club this last week in Los Angeles for the U.S. Women’s Open. While browsing the photos, I spotted a recent major trend in headcovers. That is, the Titleist GTS headcover line expands the majors theme.

Seen on the bag of Natalia Guseva were the red, white, and blue Titleist GTS covers. This is the third time we have seen limited-edition Titleist major covers, the others being at the Masters and the PGA Championship. But with the launch of the GTS line back at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, this is the first time we have seen Titleist come out with major themed head covers for the season (driver headcovers through hybrids).

Check out some photos below.

At the Masters, we saw the familiar Masters green, white, and yellow. While the PGA Championship design was colors synonymous with the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team. This shows the season major drops continue full steam ahead for major OEMs. New opportunities for each major for designs and themes, and who knows, maybe a lucky spark for a player and a major championship for their resume. It gets the wheels turning for what major theme headcover you would keep on your bag for the whole season!