One of the most impressive drivers I hit all of last year was the MacGregor MACTEC NVG. I played it for several weeks before writing a positive review of the driver. In short, I found it long, loud, and very straight.
A year later, you can add another adjective to my description of the MACTEC NVG: “discontinued.” That’s right. Thanks to the ever-decreasing length of the product cycle in the golf business, MacGregor launched two new versions of the driver this January. I’ve had the chance to play several rounds with the new MACTEC NVG2 Tour driver, giving me the chance to decide whether to add “improved” to the MACTEC adjective collection.

Starting with the original Big Bertha, Callaway has always been associated with quality, high-performance drivers. Nearly every company has rushed to the 460cc limit, although Titleist took their time getting the
Odyssey’s Two-Ball Putter is the world’s best-selling putter model over the last five years. While the unusual-looking putter has spawned scores of imitators and ignited the high-MOI, alignment-based putter craze, it takes an equipment nut with a sense of history to remember that it is a descendant of Dave Pelz’s 3-Ball putter from the 1980s.
Titleist is a traditional company, and with tradition comes a somewhat slower, more calculated pace. Though drivers have been capped at 460cc for a few years now, Titleist has made due with drivers measuring less than 400cc – the
If someone were to play a name association game with me and said “wedges,” the first word I could think of would probably be “
Titleist is undeniably one of the leaders in irons for better players. Since going to an all-forged irons lineup a couple years ago, the company introduced several blade, muscle-back, and cavity-forged irons that have devoted followers.
Good iron play is often overlooked, but other than putting, it could very well be the most important part of a golfer’s game. I’ve only had two sets of irons since I started playing golf in the summer of 1997. I had a set of knock-off Cobra clubs called “King Snake” irons that got me through my first seven or eight years of golf. They were all I could afford, and I was happy with them.
Let’s face it: we are the beneficiaries of significant advances in club technology. No longer does one need to fear the 1-iron, the 2-iron, the 3-iron, or even the 4-iron. Sweet-spots the size of neutrons are but a vague and unpleasant memory. Thanks to companies like Nickent, a recent and significant manufacturer of hybrid clubs, our confidence from about 170 to 230 yards has been restored.
Scotty Cameron’s line of Titleist putters occupies a unique niche in the flatstick universe. After joining forces with Titleist in the mid-1990s, Cameron’s milled product line essentially created the $250-plus premium putter market. Titleist regularly leads the PGA Tour in putters in play, and Cameron’s putters have such a strong reputation – and resale value – that entire businesses are built around buying and selling them.