TaylorMade r7 Draw Driver Review

The TaylorMade r7 Draw Driver is supposed to help cure a slice and add distance, but so say many other drivers. Does this one have what it takes to cure this slicer’s problem?

Taylormade R7 Draw Driver HeroThere is no mistaking TaylorMade’s popularity when it comes to drivers. They are a consistent driver count leader on the PGA Tour. There’s a reason for that. The r7 driver is the latest in a long series of drivers released by TaylorMade, makers of the first metal driver. The latest iterations in that series, the r7 425 and 460, were reviewed positively earlier this year.

Fast forward to the present. TaylorMade’s latest r7 driver is the “r7 Draw.” After reading about the r7 Draw driver at TaylorMade’s site, I felt that I understood what the club offered. As a slicer, I was filled with hope.

Reading about something on the Internet is one thing. Playing with it is another. After spending a few weeks with the driver, it didn’t take me long to find my answer. Read on to find out if TaylorMade’s newest release is hit or miss.

Puku Long Putter Review

Does your putting stroke make your stomach turn? Puku Golf’s adjustable belly putters could help your game.

Puku Putter HeroLong putters – the broomstick-style flatsticks like Bernhard Langer has used for years – have been part of the golf equipment landscape for the last couple decades. Some players swear by them, and some would never touch one. The last few years saw a spike in the use of mid-length putters, also known as “belly” putters for the tendency of golfers to anchor the end of the shaft around their navel. Mid-length putters have the benefits of a long putter, mainly taking the wrists out of the putting stroke, while providing for a more traditional stance and stroke.

An interesting new twist on the belly putter idea comes from New Zealand’s Puku Golf Company. Puku – which is Maori for belly – makes mid-length putters with an innovative design that allows golfers to adjust the length of the putter. We had the chance to try one out, and here’s our gut feeling about it.

Nickent 3DX Hybrid Irons Review

With hybrids now mainstream equipment, Nickent leverages its success in this niche to introduce an integrated set of irons and hybrids that totally rethink loft progression. So is their lofty promise justified?

Nickent 3Dx Hybrid Iron HeroAs our editor, Erik J. Barzeski, reported in his review of the Nickent 3DX Pro irons, Nickent has taken on noted club designer John B. Hoeflich and, with his expertise, launched itself into the iron market in a big way.

Their latest offering is an evolutionary – maybe even revolutionary – take on set makeup. The Nickent 3DX Hybrid irons are designed from the hybrids on down. What this means is that there is no longer a gap in loft between the shortest hybrid and the longest iron. Loft progression through the set results in extremely strong mid-irons and weaker short irons.

Nike SasQuatch Tour Driver Review

The Nike SasQuatch has found its way into the bags of Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie. Will it find its way into yours, too?

Nike Sasquatch Tour Driver HeroWhen we first scheduled our Nike SasQuatch (SQ) review back in May for August 4, we did not know Tiger Woods would have won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool less than two weeks prior after pulling his SQ only once in competitive play.

Only a few years after being dissed by Phil Mickelson as “inferior equipment,” Nike has built some incredibly well performing golf balls and clubs as well as a large stable of PGA Tour pros to use them.

During the SasQuatch’s development, many believed “SasQuatch was merely a code name and that “SQ” or some other product name would be used upon release. Of course, the average person knows only that Michelle Wie and Tiger Woods play the SasQuatch, and “Woods” and “Wie” carry a lot more weight than any individual product.

I’m no Tiger Woods (or Michelle Wie), but I’ve given the SQ a thorough test. Read on to see what I thought of the driver that wasn’t used to win the 2006 Open Championship.

Nike Slingshot Hybrid Review

Nike entered the golf market only a few short years ago. Originally just another means for Tiger Woods to collected obscene amounts of money Nike has begun to offer products that perform. Nike’s Slingshot Hybrid is one such item.

Nike Slingshot Hybrid HeroYou can all thank your lucky stars that you were born in the age of super-forgiving drivers, game-improvement irons, high-MOI putters, and easy-to-hit hybrids. If hitting a 2-iron off the fairway sounds less pleasurable than a visit to the dentist, take heart. There is an answer for you and it may just come in the form of the space-age Nike Slingshot Hybrid.

A fantastic long-, mid-iron or 5-wood replacement, the Slingshot Hybrid provides loads of technology, forgiveness, and accuracy.

I have officially become a hybrid groupie. There are enough options in today’s hybrid market to satisfy the most discriminating golfers with almost every conceivable look, feel, weight configuration, and loft available. How does Nike’s Slingshot Hybrid stack up to other manufacturer’s hybrids? Read on to find out…

Nickent 3DX Pro Irons Review

Nickent, long known for their hybrids, has leapt into the iron-making game with one of the biggest names in iron design. Does John Hoeflich’s first effort live up to the “Pro” title?

Nickent 3Dx Pro Irons HeroNickent, long renowned for their hybrids, took a big step forward when it hired John B. Hoeflich as senior vice president of product development. Hoeflich’s design credits include the Tommy Armour 845 irons, the original Titleist DCIs, and recently the TaylorMade RAC irons and wedges. A while ago, Donald MacKenzie wrote “Look for new Hoeflich-designed clubs to debut by year’s end under the Nickent name.”

Those clubs are here, and they’re the Nickent 3DX Pro irons. Though one may wonder why any iron labeled “pro” features such a game improvement look to them, with cavity backs and low weights, one only needs to consider that the TaylorMade LT2, the Titleist 755, and the Callaway Fusions and X-Tours all see a lot of play on the PGA Tour and all are far from muscleback irons.

I currently play the Titleist 735.CM or the TaylorMade RAC MB TP. Do these Nickent 3DX Pros kick them out of my bag? Read on to find out…

Callaway X-Tour Forged Wedge Review

Callaway’s X-Tour wedges are a mixture of old and new, especially the models with the PM grind and MD grooves.

Callaway X-Tour WedgeCallaway Golf built its position in the golf business on the strength of its Big Bertha woods. The company later became a force in the irons market, its Odyssey brand of putters is a top-seller, and its golf balls are gaining traction at retail.

Wedges, however, probably aren’t what you think of in conjunction with Callaway. But the company’s lead golf club designer is a fellow named Roger Cleveland – the founder of Cleveland Golf and designer of many classic wedges, like the enduring 588 line. The X-Tour wedges are the third line of forged wedges he has designed for Callaway. Is the third time the charm?

Roger Cleveland left his namesake company and joined Callaway Golf in 1996. He combined with Big Bertha inventor Richard C. Helmstetter on several designs, including the X-12 irons. The duo collaborated on the Big Bertha Tour Series wedges in 1997, which were cast from stainless steel and aluminum bronze, and the cult favorite X-14 Pro Series wedges in 2000.

Titleist Forged 695MB Irons Review

Titleist’s Forged 695MB is not for the weekend duffer, but for the golfer who takes tremendous pleasure in hitting a forged, muscleback iron on the button.

Titleist 695MB HeroLet’s cut to the chase: you’re either interested in Titleist’s 695MB irons or you’re not. If you’re looking for a forgiving iron with no feel, these aren’t the irons for you. But if you’re a single-digit handicapper with a penchant for the buttery sweet feel of a modern muscleback, read on.

Titleist’s Forged 695MB Irons are the successor to the previous model, the 690.MB (preceded themselves by the dotless 690MB). Sister set to the Forged 695CB, the 695MB offers an evolutionary, not revolutionary, step forward in the line.

If Titleist’s irons were placed on a scale with the more forgiving Forged 775.CB irons and the rare Forged 660 at the other, the 695MB would occupy just beside the 660 and a good bit away from the combo 735.CM.

But again, we already knew that. What’s new in these models and how well they work, why, that’s what the rest of the review will tell you. Read on, but bring your proof-of-handicap…

Ping Readying Rapture Irons and Woods

Ping appears to be readying a new line of irons and woods with their recent introduction on the PGA and Champions Tours.

Ping G5 Driver Crown GraphicIt looks like Ping has a new line of irons and woods coming out soon. Dubbed “Rapture,” the clubs were captured in pictures in the bags of Champions Tour players at the Ford Senior Players Championship and popped up last week on Sand Trap partner Golfwrx.com here and here.

The irons were also recently spotted on the PGA Tour, where they first turned up at the Cialis Western Open.

Word is the driver features a first for Ping – a composite head. There will also be a matching line of fairway woods, although it’s not known yet if they too have a composite head. Unfortunately for Ping, they ran into a snag introducing the driver at the Western. Here’s the story…