Category: Bag Drop

Scotty Cameron Tweaks Circa 62 Putter Lineup

Introduced last year, the Circa 62 putters were a big hit. This season brings a new model along with a new finish, color scheme, and headcover. Huzzah!

Bag DropThere’s no question that Scotty Cameron putters engender mixed feelings among the general golfing population.

On the one hand, there are those who balk at the price or complain some designs are too derivative. On the other hand, there are players like me who really appreciate the subtleties of his improvements and the tremendous feel they afford. These people don’t mind shelling out the bucks for his putters. Not to mention the legion of fanatic collectors (last year one rare Cameron went for $35,000).

Coming out April 1 along with the Newport Detours we talked about in a January Bag Drop, the new Circa 62 putter lineup fixes one complaint I had with mine and introduces a whole new classic design. Unfortunately, it looks like one of last year’s models bites the dust. Here’s the story…

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Titleist Launches New 907 Drivers

With many new drivers coming out now, Titleist adds to the mix with their 907D1 and 907D2 models. These are seriously good clubs for seriously good players.

Bag DropI guess it’s official now. After writing about all the new drivers introduced in the past few weeks, it’s clear that a two-model strategy is now the industry norm. And that’s a very good thing.

While so many choices in head shape, lofts, and shafts can be confusing, in the end all those options mean you can find a driver that really is the best for you, your swing, and the courses you play.

The options Titleist now offers include their new high MOI (moment of inertia) 907D1 with its stretched out “triangle” clubhead and the more traditionally shaped 907D2. Both are 460cc and are “multi-material” designs using different metals, mostly titanium. Here’s the story…

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Dear USGA: Try My Equipment Rules Suggestions

In the spirit of the proposed equipment rule changes to grooves and adjustability, I offer up my own proposals for change. Hey, some may even make more sense.

Bag DropAs you may have gleaned from last week’s Bag Drop, I’m not particularly fond of the USGA’s recently proposed rules change on grooves. Still, as many have suggested, maybe it isn’t that big a deal.

So in an effort to calm down a little, I tried to follow the reasoning of the USGA as they researched, discussed, and promulgated these pithy proposals. I must report it was a prolonged contemplative exercise employing some Zen meditation, navel lint picking and omphaloskepsis, and a fair amount of gin.

Eventually it came to me that the grooves rule comes down to this: really good players are getting an unfair advantage from their equipment the rest of us aren’t. Following that premise, then, what else might we do to equipment to save the game from its very best players? Here are some ideas…

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Too Little Too Late? The USGA Revisits Square Grooves

Ever since the Ping debacle in the 1980s, the USGA has kept a wary eye out for lawyers as they’ve tiptoed around equipment rules changes. Here they go again.

Bag DropWith the USGA’s recent announcement that they’ve glommed onto yet another corporate sponsor (I wonder how many Open tickets American Express and Lexus bigwigs are getting?) ostensibly to help with legal bills, it would appear golf’s ruling body in the U.S. is feeling frisky.

Last August they issued a 104-page report to club manufacturers indicating that currently permissible grooves allow the game’s best players to impart more spin on the ball from light rough than should be acceptable. While they promised no immediate action, it seems obvious they seriously want to consider an equipment rules change.

My question, and the question of many others, is whether a rules change on grooves is necessary or even advisable. Are they making rules for the top 0.5% of players in the world, or for they rest of us?

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Titleist Launches New Pro V1 and Pro V1x Golf Balls

Here comes the next generation of top line golf balls from the industry leader.

Bag DropEver since well before I took up the game 47 years ago, Titleist has been the most popular ball among the best players and, for most years, the best seller. That’s a remarkable run when you consider all the changes in design and manufacturing over those many years.

It’s also amazing when you consider the many competitors who have come and gone as well as the many who still scrape for a sliver of market share. According to Golf Datatech, a market research company, last year the Pro V1 and Pro V1x had an on-course market share greater than Bridgestone, Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, Top-Flite, and Maxfli combined.

That kind of market dominance is no accident. Titleist rules because they continue to refine and innovate and produce a superior product. So, based on their overwhelming market share, here’s the story on the balls most of us will be playing this season…

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Adams Golf Launches Insight Drivers and Fairway Woods

Contrary to some opinions, MOI doesn’t stand for “Mighty Odd Implement.” It means “Moment of Inertia” and Adams has joined the race to deliver more of it.

Bag DropAs we wrote in last week’s Bag Drop, MOI appears to be this year’s marketing battleground for drivers with most manufacturers opting to offer two different models.

While some companies have come up with some very odd shapes to increase MOI and thus forgiveness and resistance to twisting on off-center hits, others, like Adams Golf, are introducing high-MOI drivers that actually look like a golf club.

Adams new Insight lineup of drivers and fairway woods keeps to the current trend of multiple model introductions. In fact, there are three versions within the line… BUL (Big, Ugly, and Long), BTY (Beauty), and Belle (for women). Despite the BUL moniker, it doesn’t look anywhere near as odd as some others. Here’s the story…

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TaylorMade SuperQuad and Burner Drivers, Fairways Unveiled

With the 460cc limit on head volume now routine in drivers, the next frontier is MOI or “moment of inertia.” It would seem TaylorMade now leads the race.

Bag DropOver the past few weeks we’ve covered the latest driver introductions by Callaway and Nike, Tour Edge, and Cleveland. Except for Tour Edge, every company brought out two different models at the same time… one more conventional and workable, the other more radical and forgiving.

This week and next we’ll be taking a look at the latest driver and fairway wood offerings from TaylorMade. TaylorMade has also followed the “two model” format.

What’s so interesting about the TaylorMade unveiling of its SuperQuad and Burner drivers at last week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is that their stated MOI number for both is very near the USGA limit. And they’re not shaped like a science fair project. Here’s the story…

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Callaway Shipping X-20 and X-20 Tour Irons

The fifth generation of Callaway X-Series irons is now showing up in stores and pro shops and bringing with it a new name and new look for the player’s version.

Bag DropEver since their introduction of the Big Bertha irons in 1994, Callaway has expanded their line with models aimed at the more accomplished player. This trend seemed to culminate in last year’s X-Tour forged irons and this year’s X-Forged models.

The X-Series began in 1997 with the Big Bertha X-12 regular and pro versions and was the company’s first attempt at reaching out to the player who needed less forgiveness than the Big Bertha irons. The next generation X-14 irons became the best selling irons in Callaway’s history.

With the new X-20 line, the “Pro” version becomes the “Tour” version. And with that change comes an entirely different club. Here’s the story…

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Adams Golf Launches DiXX Digital Instruction Putter

For those of us who find putting a mysterious, elusive art, here’s a gizmo that can separate fact from feel to tell you exactly why you’re missing all those putts.

Bag DropFor something so seemingly simple as rolling a ball with a flat-faced stick, it’s a sad fact that sooner or later putting bedevils every player. Were you aimed wrong? Did you pull it? Push it? Was it your tempo? Your transition? Do you even have a clue?

Well now, if you have very, very deep pockets, Adams Golf comes to the rescue with answers to all the above. They’ve reached agreement with a South Korean inventor to become North American distributors for the DiXX Digital Instruction putter.

The device, which Adams will unveil at this week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, looks to me to be pretty amazing. Here’s the story…

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