Category: Clubs

If you remember a few years back all of the buzz around the golf world was about grooves. Manufacturers were making them deeper, wider, and sharper, giving golfers of all levels the ability to put an insane amount of spin on the ball from nearly any lie. One of the best examples we saw of this was, of course, the Mack Daddy grooves that Roger Cleveland developed for the Callaway X Forged Wedges. These grooves were mean and nasty and had the reputation for chewing up any ball that crossed its path. Then it all stopped… the ruling bodies of golf decided that enough was enough and put limits on the size of grooves that manufacturers could make and since that time everybody has been trying to figure out how to achieve those insane spin numbers while still conforming to the new regulations.

Once again, it seems that Roger Cleveland has done it, or at least, that is what Callaway would have you believe. With the introduction of the new Mack Daddy 2 wedges, Callaway has brought back a old favorite that conforms to the new rules. They say that the new grooves aren’t only as good as the originals but even better. Read on to see if the mack is really back.

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Last year I reviewed the Two Ball Metal-X putter. When I had the chance to get my hands on the new Two-Ball Versa I jumped at the opportunity.

This is now the third different version of the Odyssey Two Ball that I’ve had a chance to put in my bag. I kept the Metal-X for the better part of last year and didn’t replace it until the Versa came. While the changes last year were more in the materials of the putter, this year the changes are a lot more in the design.

Did they improve on what they had done last year? What are the big changes other than the color? Read on to find out.

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Starting with the release of the R5 driver, TaylorMade has been pushing the envelope of shifting ball flight by using removable weights in the head of the driver. This has been adapted to a point where the weights were put on either side of the driver in order to coax a draw or a fade depending on what the golfer wanted to play. With the release of the SLDR driver TaylorMade has taken ball flight to a new level. The weight to move is now only a single weight and is set in a slider at the bottom of the clubhead.

TaylorMade also introduced a number of other improvements in order to provide a driver that would help them ensure their number one ranking on the PGA Tour. For this review I was given a 10.5 degree driver with a regular shaft. I was lucky enough to get to take this driver for a spin and here are a few of my thoughts.

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For a while, in my opinion, Callaway golf has been a company that has struggled from a bit of an identity crisis. It seemed that they were coming out with numerous offerings every season, trying to have something for everybody, and yet it wasn’t clear what clubs were aimed at what golfer. Between the RAZR, Edge, Diablo, Octane, X, etc. it became hard to track what was what or even what was the newest. This year, Callaway as trimmed it back a bit and has just three new sets of irons. For the better player looking for minimal forgiveness but maximum feedback and workability there are the new X Forged irons. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the company has the new X Hot irons which give higher handicappers a bit more distance and a lot more forgiveness. For the rest of us caught in the middle, there are the new X Hot Pro Irons.

In many ways, the new X Hot Pro irons look to fill a very large middle ground in between the standard X Hot irons and the X Forged. In addition to this, players on both ends of the ability spectrum should see some desirable qualities in the X Hot Pro as lower handicap players looking for a little more help will appreciate them as will a mid handicap player that is making strides to improve their game. They are a set that one could pick up as they start to make serious improvements in their game and continue to play long after they have become a better player.

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When I heard that we had a chance to review the BombTech Golf Grenade driver, I jumped after the opportunity after a bit of research. BombTech Golf is a new company, based out of Vermont, that makes clubs by hand in the United States. Their first club, the Grenade driver, was co-engineered with the University of Vermont engineering department as a part of their senior design project.

Why did I jump at the opportunity? Because I’m an engineer myself.

The BombTech Golf website reads more technically than most. It includes SolidWorks CAD models and computational fluid dynamics simulations, as well as a drag force calculation, not exactly the types of information that companies like TaylorMade or Nike would be willing to give out.

They might not market like the big boys of the golf industry, but could their drivers perform like the OEMs’? Let’s find out.

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Over 5 years ago I reviewed the original Callaway X-Hot fairway wood. I was drawn to it’s length off the tee due to an extra inch on the shaft and a larger and more forgiving face. Since that time I’ve tried at least one fairway wood a year to see if I could replace it. Each time I felt like I was giving something up.

When the new Callaway X-Hot clubs were announced I jumped at the opportunity to take a few swings with the new version. While the shaft is a half-inch shorter, I felt like technology would make up the difference and also gain a bit in accuracy.

After a few sessions on the range and a handful of rounds all I can say is that I can guarantee that there will be an X-Hot in my bag the rest of the foreseeable future. Which one? Read on to find out.

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Last year, with the release of the RocketBallz line of woods, TaylorMade unleashed a massive marketing blitz unusual for the golf market. While their irons have long been solid, TaylorMade still hasn’t cemented themselves as the same dominating force from the short grass as they are off the tee.

Enter RocketBladez. TM’s newest line of irons were leaked back in October, and they claim to have brought the same (or similar) Speed Pocket technology from the woods. The Tour model that I have been testing is, of course, aimed at the better players, with thinner soles and toplines, minimal offset, and a straighter leading edge.

Ever since I played my first set of wide-soled super-game-improvement irons, I’ve been of the opinion that most people can get away with (or even benefit from) playing irons slightly better than their skill level. That was the main take-away when I reviewed the Adams CB3 Black irons last year, and that’s what I’ve come to believe here again. Read on to find out why.

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About a year ago, TaylorMade-adidas Golf announced that they had acquired Adams Golf for roughly $70 million, a large sum of money but a price that the most profitable company in golf was willing to fork over. Adams had purchased the putter makers Yes! a few years prior, and between the two they held a sizable sum of patents, all of which TaylorMade now controls.

Adams has become TM’s little brother; a place for the big boys to take risks, test things out, and share in the mutual spoils. TaylorMade has worked to integrate aerodynamics from Adams, and, as the crowns of this Super S line of woods show, Adams has integrated some of TM’s technology into their own clubs.

The Super S fairway woods are along the lines with what Adams has been cranking out for a few years now (including the Fast 12s that I reviewed last year), but the hybrids are a bit of a departure. Adams held onto a more iron-like hybrid design much longer than most OEMs, but they too have transitioned to a more fairway wood-like sole and crown design.

Has Adams managed to balance their own traditional design with the influence of TaylorMade? Read on to find out.

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Adams Golf has undergone a great deal of change in the past few years. After the company was purchased by TaylorMade many thought that they would kill the Adams line. In the short term at least that does not appear to be the case. Which for those of us who have liked the Adams clubs is great news.

Since their introduction that Adams hybrid line has been the number one hybrid on the PGA Tour, and even though that doesn’t help you or I hit more greens, it does say something about the quality of the clubs. For this season Adams has announced the Idea Super LS hybrids along with the Idea Super S line. Even more recently they have announced the Idea Super DHY and the Idea Super 9031 as well. For this review I was give a 19 degree Idea Super LS with a Stiff Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 graphite shaft.

Join me as I take this hybrid through its paces.

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