Equipment

10 Revealing Photos from the Crowne Plaza Invitational

Published

11 years ago

May 22, 2015

We’re underway in the PGA Tour’s pseudo-Texas swing (which only lasts two tournaments) this week at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club.

Most people know Colonial as Hogan’s Alley, and it’s fitting that the course puts a premium on ball striking with its tight fairways and small greens.

GolfWRX was live this week from Hogan’s old stomping grounds, and you can see all of our photo galleries here.

Now let’s see what those galleries offered us in this week’s Revealing Photos.

The Ducks’ Thomas Lim with an intriguing WITB

Iomic AND Golf Pride grips? It’s tough to pull off the mid-bag grip switch up, but the University of Oregon standout does it.

It looks as though the once Volt-colored swooshes on his irons are running out of electricity. Time to plug them back in and recharge?

Also, Lim has a 20-gram weight in the toe and a 10-gram weight in the heel of his Odyssey Tank 330M putter, which is most likely used to slow down the release of the toe of the putter.

Golfers with the case of the pulls on the greens, take note.

Ben Crane’s caddy: “Whoa! Slow down and take your time, Ben.”

Everyone else: “NOOOO!”

Train yourself to putt better for dollar-menu prices

Want to groove your putting alignment and stroke? A long string, two rods, two tees and something with a straight edge is all you need, even if you’re on the PGA Tour. This is a very comprehensive putting training station that you can have for less than $10.

Here’s another good one from Adam Scott.

Get yourself an alignment aid, draw a chalk line to the hole, and stick a tee behind your putter head to limit stroke-length, which encourages acceleration into the ball.

Another drill from Kevin Chappell. All this one takes is an alignment rod, which you probably already have laying around somewhere. This drill will encourage golfers to rock their shoulders and release their putter at impact.

Max Homa’s Kobe Bryant-inspired stampings

Kobe gave himself the nickname “Black Mamba” after watching Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and thought the snake, which was used as a code name for a deadly assassin in the movie, was a perfect description of his basketball game.

In his veteran years, the 36-year old goes by the name “Vino,” meaning “wine,” implying that his game gets better with age. “KB24” is self-explanatory (hopefully).

Nike Vapor irons just don’t look the same for lefties

Because of the design of the club, the Nike Swoosh sits backward on the lefty’s irons. That’s gotta mess with Cody Gribble’s mind just a little. At least it puts my brain in a pretzel.

John Huh’s wedge stamp has to be one of the coolest ever

John HUH?!

The simple luxuries of the PGA Tour

Testing putter grips for most people means taking grips on and off of the same putter. Testing grips for PGA Tour pros means two of the same putters with different grips. Must be nice.

Congrats to KingMade Jerky on making the Wall Of Champions at Colonial!

KingMade Jerky: The mouth-wateringly tender champion of golf snacks. A well-deserved induction.

Here’s Charles Macdonald’s bag, the 1895 U.S. Amateur Champion

He defeated Charles Sands 12 & 11 at Newport Country Club 120 years ago. It’s impressive to see him teeing it up at the Crowne Plaza at Colonial in 2015. Talk about career longevity.

Hunter Mahan’s weak cover up

We’re on to your tricks, Hunter. One layer of lead tape isn’t enough to hide from GolfWRX. We know you’re testing a Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind wedge.

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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.

13 Comments

Benny

May 24, 2015 at 11:13 am

Love this new section. Awesome stuff!

Reply Report comment
- Colin
  
  May 25, 2015 at 10:27 pm
  
  Yes! Definitely keep this section going for future tournaments.
  
  Reply Report comment
Chuck

May 23, 2015 at 8:33 pm

What’s the name of the green Adam Scott putting device?

Reply Report comment
Chuck

May 23, 2015 at 8:31 pm

What does Vokey call that very dark finish on Max Homa’s wedges? If they were simply unchromed, they wouldn’t have such an even finish, and they wouldn’t be so blue-gray, right?

That finish really looks nice.

Reply Report comment
- AndyB
  
  May 25, 2015 at 5:27 am
  
  I think it is probably the raw black finish that has been tinkered with to give it that even and darker raw finish. I stripped my raw black sm5’s with CLR, and this is about the color they were after the first soak and a light rub with scotch brite pad. I continues to work on mine until they looked like a typical raw wedge, but after seeing these, I am starting to regret it. Great looking wedges.
  
  Reply Report comment
Rich

May 22, 2015 at 9:28 pm

Hunter Mahan testing a mack daddy pm grind. That’s hilarious! He used to use an eye2 so it’s even funnier that he’s gone elsewhere for the same design! I guess Callaway did it better. Karsten will be rolling over in his grave!

Reply Report comment
- Chuck
  
  May 23, 2015 at 8:12 pm
  
  Well that Callaway/Mickelson wedge looks the way it does precisely because Callaway was imitating an old Ping design that Mickelson longed for, right? The Ping guys ought to stamp “PING” into the lead tape.
  
  Here’s another golfwrx thread, featuring Mickelson’s Ping wedge with logos covered up via lead tape, just like Mahan’s Callaway:
  http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/955275-phil-and-a-ping-wedge/
  
  Reply Report comment
RG

May 22, 2015 at 7:33 pm

Keep’em coming Andrew, look forward to this every week.

Reply Report comment
Agreed

May 22, 2015 at 4:25 pm

The PM grind is a Ping eye 2

Reply Report comment
- RG
  
  May 22, 2015 at 7:38 pm
  
  Yeah, I don’t get why they are getting so much hype. I game the Eye 2 XG and the Cally is a straight clone of a wedge design that’s been around for 30+ years. Ping invented the U grind.
  Well if your gonna rip-off something, that’s a good one to rip-off caus the Eye 2 is the greatest sand iron ever.
  
  Reply Report comment
LorenRobertsFan

May 22, 2015 at 12:52 pm

You’d think that Ping would easily mill grooves out on the toe of a EYE 2 Gorge for Hunter so he wouldn’t have to test the PM grind..

Reply Report comment
- Teaj
  
  May 22, 2015 at 2:09 pm
  
  +1
  
  Reply Report comment
  - KCCO
    
    May 22, 2015 at 6:13 pm
    
    The height of toe looks a lot higher in person than any other oem’s wedge….may be the grooves making an optical illusion. But my comment is kinda pointless as I didn’t sit another wedge next to it to see height at top of toe if there is a significant difference
    
    Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Interesting clubs at top of bag – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

10 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, users are talking about top of bag setups that are non-traditional or thought-provoking in some way. Original poster @SuperSpurs106 inquired about other members who might use unorthodox set-ups to help with gapping issues or weak spots.

They wrote:

“I currently have a PING G430 driver, TM Qi35 3W and a TM Qi4D 7W. Driver and 7W are fine but can’t get on with my 3W and have always struggling with this club over the years. Thinking of adding a 2H which I know would look odd. Just wondering if anyone else had a weird set up at the top of their bag?”

Our members in the forum have offered up their thoughts and personal experiences with non-traditional top of bag set-ups, and their reasoning for thinking outside of the box to begin with. 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.

BowMain42: “Don’t worry about what “looks” odd. If the club does what you need it to do, it’s the right club.”
scooterhd2: “I cant hit 3 woods either. Thats why I roll with a unicorn XL Hibore 2 wood. 400 cc head at 16 degrees of loft and its just a monster 3 wood off the tee. Off the deck, we are playing the f6 baffler. 5 wood at 41.75 inches and its easy to control.”
phizzy30: “I had driver, 3 metal, 2/4 hybrid once upon a time as a higher ss player. 4 hybrid is gone and in place is a driving iron nowadays. I don’t think what you’re proposing is weird in anyway, however the yardage gap might be glaringly huge between driver and 2 hybrid. What is it about your 3 metal that has got you all messed up? You could always go 4 metal with shorter shaft and see if that works.”

Entire Thread: “Interesting clubs at top of bag”

If you aren’t a member, join us in the GolfWRX forums today!

Equipment

Members of the Mini Driver Club – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

10 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has gone searching for fellow users of a mini driver. In a post, @TightFade asked for other mini driver users to chime in with their weapon of choice, the reason for employing a mini, and what club follows it in the bag.

@TightFade asked:

“What mini are you playing? What spot in the bag did it take over? What’s the next club after it? For me: Elyte mini 13.5. Replacing 3w. Next up club looks like it’ll be 5w.”

Our members in the forum have been sharing their own bag setups featuring the mini driver, and the various reasons they purchased one in the first place. 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.

RCGA: “Ping G430 Max 12* ‘Thriver.’ Next club is a 4w and 2i (I play a weird course).”
JMB3: “R7 at 12.75 with Diamana BB 63s. 3w replacement. Next Club: Elyte Ti 5w at 17*.”
ColdOkieGolf: “R7 15.5 turned down to 13.5 It replaces the 3w. I found it surprisingly easy to hit off the deck, and it’s very rare that I need or want to hit something beyond 250 from the fairway, so next club is my 7w.”
ChaosTheory: “I’m sub-90 MPH with driver. But I’m able to hit DOD. I have been wanting something like the R7 15.5, so I just ordered one. I have a spot in the bag so nothing has to go. But I could see it replacing my trusty 4 wood, which I never use for approach shots. Just tee shots and lay ups. If I drop the 4 wood, I will turn my 7 wood down to ~20 degrees and will have good gaps. I recently tried a thriver build: 12 degree driver turned to 14, with a heavier 44 inch shaft and added head weight. I hit it great. Very accurate and not overly high, but the problem was that it sometimes went as far as a typical drive. And that’s not what I needed. So I will probably turn the 15.5 up to 16.5 or even 17.5. It’s all theoretical at this point. ?”

Entire Thread: “Members of the Mini Driver Club…Check In.”

If you aren’t a member, join us in the GolfWRX forums today!

Whats in the Bag

Chris Gotterup WITB 2026 (June)

Published

10 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Chris Gotterup had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Drivers: TaylorMade Qi4D (8 degrees), Ping G440 LST (9 degrees @8), Ping G440 LST (7.5 degrees)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Grey 6.5 TX 70 g, Project X HZRDUS T1100 Handcrafted 6.5 TX 70 g, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Grey 6.5 TX 70 g