What's that have to do with a set of irons? My two-iron was a PING Eye2, and until I tried the i15s, that single club represented the vast majority of my experience with PING irons. Sure, I'd seen how popular the Eye2s were with players in the 90s, but I never liked the look of the excessive high toe weighting, the bulge in the heel, the thicker topline, and the general look and feel. Even that two-iron had a bit too much offset for my taste - I had to watch that I didn't hook the thing off the planet.

Having played with the i15s for several rounds now, though, it's obvious to me that while PING has stayed true to their roots (the i15 is immediately recognizable as a PING iron), they've made substantive improvements through the years and deserve consideration from a wide variety of players.

Design and Technology
PING's i-series irons of irons - though not their "S" series for the best players (or those wanting the most blade-like irons, anyway) - were designed with the better player in mind. However, the i15 borrows heavily from the company's G15 line of irons and works the technology into a sleeker, more workable iron that better players will find more pleasing to look at and play with more compact heads and thinner lines to give these better players more workability and shot control.

PING's i15 irons remain true to their lineage while taking advantage of newer technologies.

The most prominent feature on the i15 is the tungsten weight low in the toe to add forgiveness. The bulge that houses the weight is visible at address only in the longest irons and only if you tend to lean the shaft forward a bit. The toe weight also helps to optimize the center of gravity to provide trajectories better players prefer across the set.

The back of the i15 features a dual stabilizing bar and a Custom Tuning Port (CTP) support the face for a solid feel and sound across the hitting surface. In photos, the bars and CTP are housed in the raised "PING" on the back of the irons.

The i15 was designed as a progressive set of irons. The long irons are slightly longer heel to toe for a touch of added forgiveness while the short irons are a more traditional width for better shot-making ability and control.

And yes, the i15, like all of PING's irons, is a cast club. If you're still hung up on the process by which the metal in your golf clubs is formed, then you've either drank the Mizuno Kool-Aid or you have a heightened (and unrealistic) opinion of your ability to feel things.

Esthetics
I've never cared for the look of PING's irons, but if I'm being honest with myself (and you), I really stopped looking at them a decade or so ago with the Ping Eye2. As you'll recall, that club had protuberances and bulges all over the place, with thick lines and a healthy amount of offset.

In the years since, I'd picked up a few of irons in the S series in golf shops, but hadn't really looked at the i or G series at all. My bad.

The i15 is still obviously a PING iron in the Eye2 lineage, but PING has done well to choose a color scheme that looks great and to do all they can within their design beliefs to minimize any obvious thickness, bulging, and protuberances, since I want to use that word again.

The silver/black/dark red thing PING has going on with the i15 irons appeals to me. Again, I've always liked their slightly darker grey/silver clubheads, and the i15s carry that color forward. The back of the irons get the bulk of the "decoration," and on the i15 that means a PING logo on the CTP, "i15" on the high toe, and a black meshwork pattern printed in the cavity with a splash of red paint between the dual stabilizing bars.

The hosel retains the look of recent PING irons: a gouge of metal is taken out of the hosel on the very heel end of the clubhead (which undoubtedly helps to move the sweet spot further towards the toe), and the hosel is angled at roughly the lie angle so that the collar is level at address.

Dare I say that a set of PING irons are attractive? The red/black/silver scheme is easy on the eyes.

The large tungsten housing in the low toe isn't as hidden as I'd like at address in the longer irons, and the topline is thicker than I prefer as well. Though these are nowhere near the "shovel on a stick" look favored by some other companies, they're halfway there. Some players may like this - they'll say it "inspires confidence" or something like that - but I've never been among them. The thick topline I can deal with - the protuberances and bulges (one more time!) less so. On the bright side, it's only a two-club issue: from about the 5-iron on up, the back cavity and toe aren't visible at address, and the notch in the hosel/sole is never visible.

On the bright side, again, the clubface remains relatively uncluttered. A number stamped on the high toe lets you know at address that you have the right club, and the bottom groove is filled with white paint to aid in alignment.

Performance
The PING i15 are targeted at better players. They're not PING's "top" club in terms of feel (and corresponding lack of "game improvement") - that honor belongs to the S57 - but occupy the second slot on the list.

The first thing I noticed when I picked up the irons was the reminder rib installed along the underside of the grips. The grips themselves were PING's standard all-rubber grips, and just fine for the job. This reminded me that PING pioneered what may still remain the most advanced custom fitting system in the world of golf, and they'll fit golfers to a wide range of shafts, lofts, lies, lengths, and grips. If you're ordering a set of i15s (or any other PING club), be sure to check out your options. PING's custom department is second to none.

Overall, and in a variety of situations, the i15s performed extremely well. The feel is freakishly consistent all over the clubface. No matter how good the contact, the i15s never felt as good as a svelte muscleback struck on the button, but only the worst mis-hits relay a noticeably different feel to your hands. I'd personally prefer more feel - I like to know exactly where I struck the ball on the clubface - but I've come to understand that I'm in the minority on this issue.

I've long postulated that feel and forgiveness are diametrically opposed to one another, and that seems to be the case here once again. While the lack of specific feedback and feel is mildly disappointing, the forgiveness offered by the i15 does more than make up for it. In short, the i15s are some of the most forgiving irons in this category that I've ever hit. If you make contact anywhere in the "it all feels the same" area on the clubface - say within a half inch in any direction of center - your ball will pretty much go where you expect it to go, give or take two or three yards. Ball flight is almost completely unaffected as well.

You can see the 3-iron's cavity at address, but from the 5-iron on up it's well hidden.

On a lark I grabbed some impact tape and hit some balls at the range. No, it's not the most scientific of tests, but the results were still surprising. Shots struck as much as 3/4" towards the heel or toe lost about five yards of distance and were a few yards offline. Shots struck high and low on the face were affected even less. No doubt the range mats helped (particularly on the "high on the clubface" shots, which on grass, would have been fat), but the results were still surprising. Play during rounds of golf did nothing to lead me to any different conclusion than: these are incredibly forgiving irons for better players.

If you're a golfer who likes to work the ball with every shot you take, these clubs may impose a bit of a ceiling on your ability to do so. However, such players are few and far between these days, particularly within the i15's target market. The i15 excels at hitting the ball high in the air - it's fairly easy to hit a 7-iron with a 9-iron trajectory and a normal 7-iron's distance if you need to clear a tree, for example - but it lacks the ability to really go downstairs, what with the thick sole and the tungsten weight. Though I understand the modern trend towards putting more weight in the sole, I still wish the center of gravity was a bit higher specifically for this knock-down, escape-from-trees shot.

Golfers in the northern states know that the lies can get somewhat "cuppy" in the spring and fall, and though I feared that the thicker soles on the i15 might cost me some striking quality from these cuppy lies, that never turned out to be the case. The normal adjustments one would make for a cuppy lie - moving the ball back a smidge in your stance to ensure a bit more downward angle of attack - worked just fine with the i15s. If anything, the thicker sole and lower center of gravity helped with those lies, as you could catch them a tad thin and still get a fairly normal ballflight and distance.

The i15s have grooves which conform to the 2010 groove rule, so I've got to mention something which will again become a factor in golf: the flier. The i15s are susceptible to flier lies, as I think all irons in 2010 will be, and golfers everywhere will have to learn the lost art of reading their lies. The i15s are what they are - neither better nor worse than other clubs with the "new" grooves, and I personally think having the occasional flier lie is fun.

Overall, the i15s were impressive in terms of forgiveness, consistency of ball flight and distance, and in providing uniform, consistent feel to the golfer within a wide range of strike positions.

Specifications
PING's i15 irons have the following specs:

Club  Length    Loft °  Lie °   Offset   Bounce
----  ------    ------  -----   ------   ------
3     38.75"    21.0    59.25    .26"     -2.7
4     38.25"    24.0    60.00    .22"     -1.8
5     37.75"    27.0    60.75    .19"      0.8
6     37.25"    30.0    61.50    .17"      2.8
7     36.75"    33.0    62.25    .14"      5.0
8     36.25"    37.0    63.00    .11"      6.0
9     35.75"    41.0    63.75    .09"      8.0
PW    35.50"    46.0    64.00    .07"      9.0
3I-9I swingweight is D0; PW is D2

I was going to compare these numbers against some other clubs in the same niche (one spot down from any company's "for the best players wanting the most feel" irons), but this is a PING i15 review, and I don't want to throw in the names of other clubs (and exclude others in the same market) just for the sake of comparison.

I will say that I found that the PING i15s tended to have as much as or more offset, particularly in the longer irons, than many of their peers. Their lengths and lofts are "fair" - they don't "give you more distance" via a 37.5" 40° pitching wedge. The bounces had the widest range, but that's largely due to the negative loft in the 3I. By the time the i15s get to the 6-iron or so they matched up well with the others.

This toe-angle photo gives a great view of the thickness of the sole and topline. Whether or not these are too thick or just right is a matter of personal taste.

The i15s are available in sets of 3-PW, and come with either the PING-designed AWT steel (Soft R, R, S and X flexes) or TFC 149i graphite shaft (L, Soft R, R and S flexes). MSRP is $115 per club with steel shafts and $142.50 per club with graphite shafts.

Overall
The i15 remains true to its PING roots while taking advantage of newer technology. If you're looking for a more consistent iron game, they deserve a look: they offer a consistent ball flight, distance, and dispersion when struck almost anywhere on the clubface. You won't get the marshmallow feeling on a well-struck shot, but nearly everything will feel "solid" instead, and that's a tradeoff I think a lot of people are willing to make.

© iacas for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

You can subscribe to the RSS feed for our podcasts here or download Episode 129 as an MP4 file. For those who want to subscribe to us in iTunes, click here.

For this week's Show Notes - links to articles we discuss in the show and additional information - just read on.

Off the Tee

• Schmooze it or Lose It
• Tiger Play of the Year
• Milwaukee Stop Disappears
• Twitter Mid-Round
• Barron Out for PEDs, Sues
• Turning Stone in the Summer
• 2010 Schedule
• No Change in FedExCup Points
• Duval Out
• Wie Wins First
• Tiger Wins in Oz

Colophon

This show was recorded with QuickTime Player over a Skype connection. We then used Soundtrack Pro 3 to edit the show and GarageBand to produce the AAC file from the AIFF file, to add the artwork, and so forth. Feeder was used to create the XML file.

Note: This is an AAC (MP4) file, an open file format. iTunes - free software - can play AAC files, as can numerous other players, though we heartily recommend iTunes.

You Can Contribute

If you'd like to submit a listener question that we can answer on the air, send the question to podcast@thesandtrap.com.

© iacas for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

However, if you came to the realization that you don't have all that much time in your schedule, you'll probably be much better off with a club that offers a little more forgiveness and an extra split second to square the club. Your ego may try and talk you out of it, or you may think that you'll hear a little flak from your buddies, but it will be a different story when your approach shot lands softly a couple yards off the pin, rather than on a sidehill lie off the side of the green.

Handicap aside, you also have to evaluate how well you strike the ball. The size of the sweet spot on the face of an iron can range from the size of a dime to the size of a quarter. Now manufacturers are doing all they can do to stretch that spot wider across the clubface, but regardless if you have hopes of getting better, or getting more enjoyment out of the game, don't go out and buy a club or clubs that you will struggle to hit consistently.

Everything Keeps Changing
We now have clubs with movable weights, adjustable faces, removable faces, and interchangeable shafts. While some may argue the validity of this new technology, those old stalwarts are fighting a losing battle. Technology has undoubtedly improved the way we play the game, and if you have yet to take advantage of it, now may be the time to take a look.

Again, your use of these technologies must first be preceded with a question to yourself. What is your reasoning behind wanting that adjustability? Is it to fix a slice/hook, or is it truly to help you shape your shots? Can you consistently have the same straight ballflight with your driver? The adjustability will not fix a major slice, though it can eliminate a fade or draw if desired. If you're expecting miracles, you'll be disappointed. Fix your swing first, then the club.

Don't Be Fooled
Know what you need, not what the dealer wants to sell you. If you don't go into your favorite retailer knowing what you want, don't buy something on an impulse. Verify what the salesman tells you by all means possible. I've had both good and bad experiences with retailers. Some are just trying to make a sale, while others take customer service seriously.

A friend recently went into a shop and bought a G15 driver. It's a great club, no doubt. The problem was that after they let him hit balls with it, no one paid attention to the numbers on the launch monitor, and they let him walk out the door with the regular flex stock TFC shaft. Though I wasn't there to see the numbers my friend put up, I can assure you stiff flex is a much better fit for him. Sure enough, in his first round with it, everything that used to be straight ended up left. I certainly don't blame my friend, as not everyone is an equipment freak like some of us. Instead, I think the retailer could have done a much better job and given him more attention and more options to hit.

Especially now, with retailers trying to move a lot of product before Christmas on top of trying to sell all of the new clubs that are being released, it is especially important to make sure you're getting the club that's going to help you bring your score down. If the guy at the store tells you 10 grams of weight in a shaft, or a half-inch longer or shorter shaft doesn't make a difference, my advice is to get out of that store as quickly as possible.

Keep An Open Mind
Though I'm not going to tell you to throw brand loyalty out the window, my advice is to keep an open mind. We all have our allegiances to certain clubmakers, but there are times when a competitor's product simply works better for you.

Also keep an open mind about the purchase of a previous model of a club. The funny thing about it is that there is a very good chance, a similar model from a previous year will suit you just fine. As an added bonus, you'll pay much less than what the new lineup costs. One of the only drawbacks is that your fitting may not be included in the cost of the irons, whereas it should be included on a set of current irons. This isn't always the case however, and is another good reason you should shop around.

A great example of this is the current prices of the '08 and '09 drivers. The Nike Sumo 5000 from 2008 can easily be found for only $129 right now. For $10 less, you can find the 2007 Cobra LD-M. No, they're not going to get the same ooohhhs and ahhhhs that they did when they first hit the market, but is it really that important to you? If it is, you might want to reconsider your priorities.

You'll read quite a bit of people posting their driver or their irons are the best, and that's what you should get. Or, maybe you get the same thing from your buddy that you play with every Sunday. While it's great to check out what people recommend, what works for them may not work for you. Because everyone's swing is different, various clubs may produce results you weren't expecting. For example, someone who has been playing for years may recommend a driver that has a face that is two degrees open. It works well for him, but in the hands of someone fighting a slice, it becomes a disaster. And I haven't even touched on loft, weight, or length yet. My point is that you should take all recommendations with a grain of salt, and make sure that what you get is what you need, not what your friend or someone on an internet forum tells you to get.

Get Fitted
Remember that shaft selection is just as important as the clubhead can be. I am thoroughly convinced everyone should go through a full fitting. Even if the stock length and lie are perfect for you, shaft weight and stiffness can play a large part in your experience and how you play with a certain combination. There is a sweet spot for everyone in terms of the weight of the club and how it affects your tempo and balance. If it's too light, and you run the risk of taking the club back too fast and losing control. If the club is too heavy, you run the risk of the club dragging you off-plane.

As I mentioned before, an half-inch longer or shorter is important, especially considering that the sweet spot on the face of an iron ranges form the size of a dime to the size of a quarter. Lie angle also plays a big role in whether you're straight, left, or right of your target. Sure, compensations can be made for both length and lie angle, but you then quickly begin to fall into bad habits because of that compensation.

Get fitted for what you're buying. Just do it. If you're spending a few hundred dollars on a new club(s), it only makes sense. Even if you fit perfectly into one manufacturers standard spec, that doesn't mean you fit perfectly for others.

Final Thoughts
Above all else, have fun. Trying and choosing new equipment should be fun. Making the right decision shouldn't stress you out. Don't be in too big of a rush to make a choice on a new club, as most of us only get that opportunity once every few years. With that said, what new equipment do you have your eyes on this year? Let us know in the comments!

© jlpucheu for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

In this volume of HTL we start off with a look at one dangerous golf hole, investigate why Hollywood isn't excited about golf movies, and check out the golf bra. Also, we find out who is atop the European Tour Order of Merit, see who is suing the PGA Tour, and do a wrap-up of the week's events. Read on!

Hole 1: The World's Most Dangerous Golf Hole
Check out this par three where a snap hook might cause an explosion! [Link]

Hole 2: Golf Movies
In Hollywood, a movie about golf is a tough sell. [Link]

Hole 3: For the Female Golfer That has Everything
This bra can be removed and rolled out to become a putting mat… No I am not kidding! [Link]

Hole 4: McIlroy in Charge!
Rory McIlroy takes the lead in the European Tour Order of Merit. [Link]

Hole 5: Close Enough
Justin Leonard's second place finish at Disney still earned him a return visit to Augusta National. [Link]

Hole 6: I Had a Prescription
Doug Barron has filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour for banning him. [Link]

Hole 7: Final-wie
Michelle Wie finally gets her first win on the LPGA Tour. [Link]

Hole 8: $3 Million Mate!
Tiger Woods takes home the first place check at the Australian Masters. Seems awfully selfish seeing they gave him $3 million already just to show up. [Link]

Hole 9: Ame-ing at Disney
Stephen Ames finishes the season with a win at Disney. [Link]

© NM Golf for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

Fortunately for Tiger and those same Australians, nobody was treated for an injury caused by a flying Nike driver, which only moments earlier had let the world's best golfer down with a poor tee shot on the thirteenth hole Saturday.

I've excused Tiger's verbal outbursts in the past. Ben wrote an article about them and largely supported Tiger as well. I continue not to care about Tiger's verbal outbursts, and will point out that he seems to have improved both in volume and content in recent years.

But tossing a club into a crowd of people? Well, now, that's well across the line.

So far as I know, Tiger's thrown a club only a few times like this - an overhanded hammer-throw - only once before. That happened at TPC Boston on a secluded tee well away from spectators.

He's thrown or slammed - sometimes quite violently - clubs into the ground, his golf bag, bunkers, and even a tee or plastic bottle - on several occasions. He's cursed and sworn, occasionally quite loudly, in the past as well.

These acts don't bother me so much. I prefer to see golfers who show a bit of emotion, and I think this aspect of Tiger is the yin to his fist-pumping yang. Take away one part and you'd be left with an unbalanced Tiger.

Tiger Woods retrieves his driver from the gallery after chucking it following a poor tee shot.

But there can be no offsetting yang large enough to absolve a yin which puts spectators at risk of injury (however small).

All that said, I'm willing to give Tiger Woods a pass on this incident. And before everyone jumps on me and accuses me of being a Tiger Woods apologist, read on.

Tiger gets a pass on this occurrence because people make mistakes. However, a smart person who cares about the traditions of the game as well as the respect and safety of the fans will learn from his mistake, and Tiger Woods is a smart guy. Additionally, there are ten ways in which this type of behavior can hurt him and none in which it can help, so even if Tiger's a prima donna jerk who doesn't really care if someone's eyeball gets in the way of his hurtling titanium, he's smart enough to realize that this behavior can't help him win golf tournaments, it can't help him fund the Tiger Woods Learning Center or his children's great-great grandchildren's lives, or anything else.

Everyone makes mistakes. People worth respecting learn from their mistakes and don't make them again. While the lesser offense of slamming a golf club down away from spectators may or may not cross your own personal line of "showing respect" or "acting like an adult," you'd be hard pressed to find a sane person whose line sits beyond "tossed clubs entering the gallery." That's just to say that while you'll find disagreement that the occasional "goddammit Tiger" is a mistake (or not), nobody will disagree that this most recent act is an egregious one.

I'm reminded of the time Bobby Jones threw a golf club (as detailed in the Mark Frost biography The Grand Slam):

But just prior to that, dissatisfied with his approach shot, Bobby had thrown his club back toward his bag, lying on the ground near the gallery. The club glanced off the bag, bounced up, and hit a female spectator in the lower leg… Walker [USGA President] warned: "You will never play in a USGA event again unless you learn to control your temper."

Tiger, you've crossed the line, both metaphorically and physically (the rope that's supposed to separate a player - and his equipment - from the gallery). Like Bobby Jones before him, Tiger is human. He deserves most of what people are saying, but he deserves a chance - like Bobby Jones - to realize the error of his ways and change his behavior.

I hope never to see a golfer behave like this again.

Photo Credits: © golf.com.

© iacas for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

What we don't always see are the products from companies such as those from Tour Edge. Though they make some pretty strong claims ("20 yards longer or your money back"), they also stand by another guarantee - one that says you can play their club for 30 days and if you're not completely satisfied, you're entitled to a full refund. That alone may make the latest in the Exotics line worth trying out. Continue on to see many other reasons to give the new XCG-3's a chance.

XCG-3 Hybrid
For starters, the new Exotics XCG-3 hybrid mixes the best of the older XCG hybrid with some new materials with a great end-result. So much of the emphasis on modern hybrids, fairway woods, and drivers is placed on the location of weighting, these being no different. The tungsten sole allows for the weight of the head to be low, deep, and well distributed along the outside edges. In fact, the tungsten sole in this hybrid is twice as heavy as steel, which helps to get the weight under the ball therefore improving launch. This low, deep concentration creates a center of gravity that assists in squaring the face, making the XCG-3 longer and more accurate than its predecessors.

The tungsten sole is mated to the maraging steel cup face via a weld-less process in which the two pieces are chemically treated, fused together and vacuum heat cured to create the permanent bond. That especially thin steel face works in conjunction with the low CG to bring the spin rate way down. Also hidden inside the clubhead are two weight pads, which not only helps locate that low CG, but also improves the sound of the hybrid.

Price, Options, & Availability
For $199, the XCG-3 hybrid comes with a Fujikura Motore 80-gram graphite shaft and the Golf Pride Exotics New Decade cord grip. 3H through 5H models are available, ranging from 16° up to 24°. Shafts are available from L-flex to X-Stiff, and the 3H and 4H have both right-handed and left handed options. They are available now at your favorite retailer.

XCG-3 Fairway Wood
Quite a number of design features are shared between all 3 clubs in the XCG-3 line. Like the hybrid, the woods employ a titanium cup face, crown, and body. The tungsten sole also returns in order to push the weight down and deep. In fact, the sole alone weighs 126 grams, and attributes to 63% of the overall load of the head. That low center of gravity produces a great deal of additional stability and forgiveness to help the golfer out on those not-so-perfect swings.

The face is improved thanks to a variable thickness, which is said to provide more flex and rebound across the entire face of the club. According to Tour Edge, this unique face combined with the previously mentioned low CG delivers drastically longer distances than any other competitor's product. Like the hybrid, the XCG-3 fairway wood is assembled using the same no-weld Combo-Brazing process.

Price, Options, & Availability
Again, the Fujikura Motore Exotics shaft is the stock shaft option, in a wide range of flex profiles. It is topped off with the Golf Pride Exotics New Decade cord grip. They are available now for $299 in a number of lofts ranging from a strong 3W (13°) up to a 7W (21°).

XCG-3 Driver
As expected, many of the same design features are shared between the hybrids, the fairway woods, and the driver. The 460cc driver consists of a heavy tungsten sole, an aerospace titanium body, and an amorphous carbon crown. The variable thickness cup face also has an X-contour technology that contributes to an explosive launch across the width of the face. In order to produce a larger sweet spot, an inner O-ring lines the outer edges of the face and allows the face to flex more.

A thinner, lighter crown is achieved by the use of amorphous carbon, which is essentially a more lightweight, yet stronger version of the carbon materials used in other clubs. The reason for this use of this lighter carbon is so that weight can be moved to the sole via the use of more tungsten. In fact, 28 grams of the material is used to take the CG lower than any previous Exotics driver ever made. Again, the benefit here is more stability through impact and a higher overall MOI.

Price, Options, & Availability
The stock shaft is once again, the proven Fujikura Motore Exotics, though if you choose the X-stiff flex you then step up to the Morore Exotics Tour 80 shaft, which is a lower launching shaft than the standard model. Three loft options are availabe - a 9.0°, and 10.5°, and a 12°, all of which are 45" long and maintain a square face angle. To maintain consistency with the other previously mentioned clubs, the Golf Pride New Decade corded grip tops off the club. Tour Edge has set the MSRP at $349.

Final Thoughts
Though the Tour Edge Exotics line may not be the first you evaluate when looking for a new wood, maybe they should be. It's obvious, the emphasis has been placed on forgiveness off the tee, which I know most of us can no doubt benefit from at times. The 20 yard guarantee may be a little played out, but far too often the engineers and designers get a bad rap because of the marketing department. Though I won't necessarily expect to hold them to that claim, I will definitely make an effort to at least try one of these new clubs because as I said, you never know until you try it.

© jlpucheu for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

This week we have schedule releases for both the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, a nomination for dumbest criminal of the year, and some guys named Phil and Tiger duke it out behind the Great Wall.

Hole 1: Phil Wins
Phil Mickelson wins the final WGC event of 2009 at the HSBC Champions by coming from behind to beat Ernie Els. [Link]

Hole 2: Click, Click, Ring, Ring
The cameras and cell phones were out in full force at the HSBC Champions. [Link]

Hole 3: One and Done or More?
Was the incident with Doug Barron an isolated event or the beginnings of something bigger? [Link]

Hole 4: 2010 PGA Tour Season
The PGA Tour has released the 2010 schedule. Cameron Morfit gives us his thoughts. [Link]

Hole 5: Empty Dates
The LPGA has a more than a few available spots on it's 2010 calender. Gather up your buddies, put together a few bucks, and you could sponsor a tournament! [Link]

Hole 6: No Tinkering
For the first time since it's 2007 inception, the FedExCup points system will stay the same for the 2010 season. That will give me another year to try to figure it out. [Link]

Hole 7: Peppered Out
After taking part in seemingly every event in 2009, Dottie Pepper has decided to leave behind the Golf Channel to focus solely on her NBC gig. [Link]

Hole 8: For Men Only
The Irish Supreme Court upholds men's only golf clubs in Ireland. [Link]

Hole 9: Prison Caddy
Rob a bank and then go hit balls seems like an interesting way to waste a day. [Link]

© aolson for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

Of course, I would be referring to the TaylorMade Raylor, which for those of you that may be too young to remember, was a very popular fairway wood back then. The Raylor name has been brought back for their newest hybrid club, and as you can imagine, there is a bit of difference between the old and the new. Along with the Raylor, Taylormade has also brought us their latest irons, which share the name with their very popular line of woods from 2009.

TaylorMade Raylor
The first order of business is the Raylor, which you may have spotted as far back as this year's U.S. Open, as it made its way into the bag of Kenny Perry as a replacement for his 3-iron and Mike Weir as a replacement for his ability to get the ball in the fairway. The rough conditions at Bethpage Black commanded a club that ensured crisp, clean contact from any lie, which the Raylor was designed to provide. It became an invaluable tool for cutting through the tall fescue, due to a somewhat sharp, pointed leading edge, and the "Raylor Sole." This sole design resembles the hull of a ship, as it slopes up at the sides, providing a means to separate blades of grass as the head accelerates towards the ball. In fact, Taylormade says there is a 23% reduction in the surface that would otherwise rob you of precious clubhead speed.

The design of the sole also serves another purpose: the sole radius provides a great deal of assistance for sidehill lie shots. The Raylor's sole radius presents an angle of 17° up from horizontal, as opposed to the previous Burner Rescue, which was only 10°. That leads to 70% more sole relief on the heel and toe side, and effectively makes it much easier to make clean contact with a ball above or below your feet. Another benefit to the Raylor is a near-guaranteed increase in clubhead speed, due to the inch of added length in the RE*AX 65 gram shaft.

Price & Availability
The Raylor is available in two lofts, a 19° 3-iron replacement, and a 22° 4-iron replacement, for both right- and left-handed players. Though the MSRP is listed at $229, it can easily be found more in the neighborhood of $180. It is available in stores now, and if you have already had the opportunity to try the Raylor out, let us know what you think in the comments section below.

R9 Irons
For the R9 and R9 TP irons, TaylorMade sought to design an iron that combined modern performance (as in forgiveness) with superb distance in a classic frame. In order to pay special attention to each iron across the entire set, TaylorMade's R&D took different approaches for the long irons and the short irons.

The long and mid-irons are said to be extremely long and easy to hit, thanks to the enclosed, foam-filled chamber that resides behind the clubface, under the cavity insert. The virtually weightless foam actually originates as a powder that is sealed in this chamber, and then transforms into the foam substance after the clubhead is heated during production. This design, which acts much like a shock absorber, has been titled the "Velocity Control Chamber," and it provides the means for a large area of the 2mm thick face to exist without any support behind it. This allows the face more freedom to flex, much like a driver. This trampoline effect leads to an increase in distance as you can imagine. The Inverted Cone Technology on the inner side of the clubface helps maintain a consistent ball speed, even on shots struck a little off-center. Perimeter weighting emphasis in the long and mid-irons helps to maintain stability throughout impact.

The design of the short irons is intended to promote a higher degree of control and accuracy while giving the player the desired amount of feedback. They feature a deep, undercut cavity, with a broad, low center of gravity sole and heel-toe weighting for added stability. They have a clearly delineated leading edge and beveled sole which promotes solid contact and playability through the reduction of surface resistance, so that contact is made with as much force as possible, every shot. All of this is wrapped up into a compact, simple teardrop shape that should be pleasing to see at address. There also resides a thin layer of visco-elastic adhesive (made by 3M) on top of the black badge in the cavity, which provides vibration dampening. Like the long irons, weighting was pushed to the heel and toe for added forgiveness. The iron is then capped off with a nickel chrome-plated stainless steel and pearl finish.

Options and availability
The groove-rule-conforming R9 comes with a KBS steel 90-gram shaft (either regular or stiff flex) as its stock shaft option, though the Fujikura Motore is also available. The cool thing about the KBS shaft is that the wall thickness increases proportionately as the shaft diameter decreases, which promotes stability throughout the entire shaft, and should give the player more control and consistency. The standard set contains 3-iron through PW, and has a MSRP of $999, though a quick search led me to quickly find them for $799. They are available and in stores now for both righties and lefties.

R9 TP Irons
The compact head of the R9 starts off with a semi-straight leading edge and a semi-square toe. The thin, cambered, beveled (sounds like hash browns Waffle House, doesn't it?) sole again allows the club to pass through the turf without becoming stuck. At address, the thin topline should be appealing to most all players, as it is beveled along the back edge, creating the appearance most golfers like to see on approaching the ball.

Remember the VCC (Velocity Control Chamber)? It's also used in the R9 TP, but only in the 2-iron up through the 5-iron. This again allows for a low and deep center of gravity and assists in increasing the MOI. Perimeter weighting (provided by the undercut cavity) also contributes to MOI and stability.

One standout design feature in the R9 TP is the variable progressive face thickness. As the irons get shorter, the face gets slightly thicker. The 2-5 irons have a face that is 2mm thick, whereas by the time we get to the 8-iron, 9-iron, and PW, the face is up to 2.5mm. Why, you ask? Because this results in a progressively higher center of gravity in the mid and long irons, and adds to the great feel in the short irons. The Inverted Cone Technology is again utilized throughout the entire set to provide consistent distance from off-center contact.

The shape of the R9 TP head is very similar to that of the popular Tour Preferred irons, but by use of the Inverted Cone Technology, and the way the face blends into the hosel, there is a larger overall contact area.

Options and Availability
On top of the normal 3-PW set, TaylorMade is also making a 2-iron available for those brave souls out there, though they say it's extremely easy to hit, thanks to a low CoG and even more extreme perimeter weighting. The stock shaft offering is the KBS Tour Series steel in either X-Stiff, Stiff, or Regular flex, and there is no graphite option. The R9 TP irons are available to both right handed and left-handed players, and though TM lists them at $1125, they can be found for $899.

We'll be reviewing the R9 and R9 TP irons before the end of the year, so stay tuned.

© jlpucheu for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

In this volume of HTL we first send out a get well soon to Joey Sindelar, then turn our attention to the rain soaked and canceled Viking Classic, and investigate the Eisenhower-golf connection. Also, we look at the LPGA's new commissioner, see who's playing golf in Afghanistan, and do a wrap-up of the week's events. Read on!

Hole 1: Joey Sindelar
Joey Sindelar had to be taken to the hospital mid-round during the Charles Schwab Cup Championships. [Link]

Hole 2: Nada Viking
This week's Tour stop,The Viking Classic, was canceled due to weather. [Link]

Hole 3: Eisenhower Golf
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was more than a golf enthusiast. [Link]

Hole 4: New Commissioner
Michael Whan is set to take over the reins of the LPGA Tour, but is that a good thing? [Link]

Hole 5: Afghan Golf
Golf equipment is being shipped to our troops over seas in the middle east. [Link]

Hole 6: Asian Amateur Championship
South Korean Han Chang-won wins the Asian Amateur Championships and a trip to the Masters. [Link]

Hole 7: Singapore Open
Ian Poulter wins the Singapore Open by one stroke. [Link]

Hole 8: Charles Schwab Cup Championships
John Cook takes home the first place check while Loren Roberts takes home the Cup. [Link]

Hole 9: World Match Play
Ross Fisher beats Anthony Kim to win the World Match Play Championships. [Link]

© NM Golf for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink

Have a look:

Not much is known at this point, but we can tell you that:

• The cart is early on in testing and, if I were to guess (and that's all this is), we should expect it in the spring of 2010.
• It's obvious in the video that the controls are very much like the Speed E Cart. I'm kind of hoping they added an audible sound to button presses so that you know whether you pushed "60" so you don't start to worry that your cart's just going to keep going… I think that was about the only thing I didn't like in the Speed E Cart.
• Speaking of the controls, they again appear about the same: 15, 30, and 60 yards, power on/off, and speed up/down buttons. The Speed E Cart maintains the same actual land speed over varying terrain, and this cart should do the same.
• The handle height adjustments - my lone complaint about the Micro Cart - are reported to be variable on the Micro E Cart.
• No word on price, but Sun Mountain seems to understand the economy and doesn't typically set high prices just because they figure golfers have money, so I'd expect the price to be about the same as the Speed E Cart's (give or take a hundred bucks).

So that's all we know - or can guess at.

© iacas for The Sand Trap, 2009. | Permalink