Trying to attract a different type of player, Acushnet launches Union Green, a new brand aimed at people at casual golf lovers.
Titleist is one of the most iconic brands in golf and it’s sister brand in the Acushnet Company, FootJoy, is one of the most successful footwear and apparel brands in the sport. When golfers think about Titleist and FootJoy, things like tradition, history and high-quality products for serious golfers like Adam Scott and Justin Thomas come to mind. While it’s true that Titleist now offers a yellow Pro V1 and makes more game-improvement clubs than ever before, and FootJoy is making plenty of modern, sporty shoes to go alongside its classic-looking footwear, there has always been a level of aspiration to the brands.
That’s what makes Acushnet’s launch of Union Green, a new sub-brand, so interesting. Union Green is going in a totally different direction. The brand’s tone was established in the company’s first social media post, quietly published on Tuesday.
The idea of inclusion is everywhere on the company’s new website (uniongreen.com) and Instagram account, with hashtags like #UnitedByGolf and #JoinTheUnion everywhere.
No one in the images appears to be over 30 and if you study the image on the site’s homepage carefully, it’s hard to believe that this company has related to Titleist and FootJoy.
The main images on Union Green’s website sets the tone. (Union Green)
Awaiting on the tee of what looks like a windswept links, bathed in evening sunlight, a long-haired man wearing shorts has a hat on backwards while another is wearing tan shorts, white tube socks and brown shoes with red laces. They embody a statement found just below the image:
We’re not the golfers you see on tour. We’re different. The ones playing local, taking mulligans, over celebrating and always going for it. Club Championships, rule books, 18 holes every time – that’s not our game. We’re here for golf that fits our life. For fellowship. For the love of the fairway. We’re united by the game.
The two golf balls being sold on the site are the Teebird ($19.99/dozen) and Pinpoint ($27.99/dozen). Both are manufactured in Titleist’s Ball Plant 2 in Massachusetts. The Teebird is touted to be long and fast, while the Pinpoint is designed to give accuracy and control. Details are few at this point, but the target market for Union Green balls may not be concerned with details like compression and cover material.
Union Green Teebird and Pindrop golf balls (Union Green)
In addition to golf balls, Union Green is selling t-shirts, hats and mugs. More things will come in the future, but right now it is interesting to see how Acushnet is trying to tap into a growing number of people who enjoy golf as a vehicle for fun and friendship rather than competition. It is an attempt to grow the business with a new audience, while not diluting the Titleist and Footjoy brands or alienating loyalists who like that gear.
For golfers who try to maximize power, Footjoy’s Tour X is designed to maximize stability while keeping your feet dry and comfortable.
Gear: FootJoy Tour X golf shoes Price: $220 (laced), $250 (BOA)
Golfers are continually working to generate more speed and power. They want to hit the ball farther and create more power. To do that, they need a solid base and foundation for their swings. The new Footjoy Tour X golf shoes are designed to create that, with features built to provide traction, support and comfort.
The PowerStrap increases lateral stability. (FootJoy)
To keep you firmly in place throughout your swing, FootJoy designed the Tour X with a thermoplastic polyurethane piece that wraps up from the sole, around the outside of the shoe and into the lacing system. The company calls it a PowerStrap, and it enhances lateral stability, so golfers sway less from side to side.
The Power Strap works with a lightweight outside that features nine cleated pods. They have been placed around the perimeter of the outsole and extend beyond the seam where the upper meets the midsole and outsole. That helps maximize stability and lock players into position.
The cleats and outsole pods extend past the sole of the Tour X shoes. (FootJoy)
Inside the Tour X, FootJoy added an OrthoLite Impressions FitBed made from a dual-density foam. It molds itself to the foot but maintains cushioning. For added comfort, the collar is made from a breathable material and the tongue has extra stretch.
The Tour X’s leather upper is waterproof, and the shoes come with a two-year waterproof warranty. While the standard Tour X has a lacing system, golfers can also opt for a version that features a BOA lacing system. It lets players turn a small dial on the side of the shoe to tighten the laces for a personalized fit, then pull the dial out to loosen the whole system completely.
Several of Lamkin’s popular grips are now available with a reminder ridge to help golfers find and maintain their grip more easily.
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A vital component of any golfer’s pre-shot routine is gripping the club properly before every shot. For some players, that’s not as easy as it sounds, but Lamkin’s newest grips can make it a lot easier.
Several of Lamkin’s newest offerings include a feature called Calibrate, which looks like a series of bright yellow stitches running the length of each grip. In reality it is a reminder ridge, and it can give players reference locations in their hands and make it easier to establish the same grip before every shot.
The Calibrate reminder cord helps golfers grip the club the same way every time. (Lamkin Grips)
The USGA and R&A have strict rules about reminder ridges in grip, but while the Calibrate ridge is easy to feel when you hold a club, it is legal for play.
Lamkin is offering Calibrate in the Sonar+ Tour ($9.49 each), a grip that features the company’s Fingerprint Technology, which is a highly detailed micro-texture designed to enhance feel and touch while maintaining traction.
The company also offers the Sonar+ Wrap Calibrate ($8.49 each), which it said is the first wrap-style grip designed with a reminder.
Finally, Calibrate also was added to a version of the ST+2 Hybrid ($10.99 each), a grip that has Fingerprint Technology and two distinct zones. The upper portion is infused with cord to enhance traction in the top hand, while the lower half of the grip has a tacky feel for improved feel. The lower portion of the midsized grip is thicker than normal to replicate the feeling of having two wraps of tape under the golfer’s bottom hand, which is popular among tour pros.
If you love traditional-looking golf shoes with a classic saddle, akin to something Ben Hogan or Sam Snead might have worn back in the day, the new Adidas Codechaos is not the footwear for you.
The latest offering from the company that makes golf shoes for Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and numerous other pros is a modern, sporty looking piece of equipment designed to provide today’s golfers with a combination of traction, cushioning and comfort.
Adidas studied where golfers need traction as they swing, then developed the Twistgrip outsole design. (Adidas)
The standard Codechaos ($150) features a newly designed spikeless sole made from rubber and thermoplastic polyurethane that is covered with traction elements. While some of the traction elements have been positioned in waves, the pattern is broken up by several pieces that appear to be scattered in a random pattern in the forefoot.
After studying the way golfers swing and where they put stress on their feet, Adidas designers developed the chaotic-looking system. Called Twistgrip, it provides forefoot traction in every angle by pointing the edges of the traction elements in every direction.
The upper of the Codechaos features layers of mesh for breathability and is still waterproof. (Adidas)
The upper of the shoe is designed using a light multi-layer mesh that makes the Codechaos more breathable. However, because the shoe is made to be worn by elite golfers and people who want to play in any conditions, it is still waterproof.
To ensure comfort and to provide more cushioning while golfers walk, Adidas added Boost cushioning in the heel and forefoot areas. The Torsion X stability bar that debuted in last season’s shoes also was added to the Codechaos to give players more lateral support throughout the swing.
Adidas Codechaos BOA golf shoes (Adidas)
The Codechaos also is available in a high-top version with a Boa ratcheting system ($180). Like the standard version, it has the Twistgrip sole and a waterproof mesh upper, but instead of laces, golfers twist a small dial on the side of the shoe to tighten or loosen the wire lacing system.
The Codechaos Sport ($130) fits in with the other models but has been made with Bounce foam in the midsole. It has the same Twistgrip sole pattern on the bottom but does not have the Torsion X stability bar the standard and Boa versions feature.
Titleist has updated the AVX to offer players more distance and enhanced greenside spin.
Gear: Titleist AVX golf ball (2020) Price: $47.99 per dozen Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball. Available in white and yellow.
The most-played balls in golf are the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x. The Pro V1x tends to fly higher off the tee, spins slightly more and feels firmer at impact while the Pro V1 flies slightly lower, spins a little less and feels softer. With cast urethane covers, both balls also produce great greenside control.
In 2018 Titleist started offering a softer-feeling, lower-spinning option, AVX, for golfers who tend to create excessive spin and players who want an even softer feel.
For 2020, Titleist updated the AVX to offer players more distance and enhanced greenside spin.
For 2020, the Titleist AVX has a larger core and firmer casing layer. (Titleist)
The AVX’s position within the Titleist premium ball lineup has not changed. It is still the lowest-spinning, lowest-flying of the three balls, and the updated AVX has a larger core to help it develop more speed off the tee. Titleist also tweaked the casing layer than surrounds the core, making it thinner. While the core of the new AVX is bigger than the original ball’s, the compression is still around 80, so it remains softer than the Pro V1 (90) and Pro V1x (100).
The 352-dimple tetrahedron pattern that covers the AVX ball has not changed, but the walls of the dimples were tweaked slightly to give the ball more lift. The 2020 AVX flies higher than the original ball but still lower than the Pro V1.
To create more shortgame control, Titleist made the cover 17 percent thinner so the grooves in wedges and short irons can grab the ball more effectively and generate more spin, which should give golfers more control.
While the distance report signals changes in the equipment rules could come, the USGA and R&A propose significant time for research.
In a highly anticipated report that has kept the golf world waiting for a year, the United States Golf Association and the R&A have determined that distance is playing an excessive role in the game and causing the sport to go in an unsustainable direction.
The USGA and R&A, the game’s governing bodies, released their Distance Insights project on Tuesday morning, a 102-page document which includes data and information from 56 different projects.
“This is something that has been swirling for decades,” Mike Davis, the CEO of the USGA, told Golfweek. “But what’s interesting is that when it comes to distance increases, it’s happening to all sectors of the game. People say that it’s really just about the elite game, but it’s not.”
While the report signals potential changes in the equipment rules could come in the next several years, the USGA and R&A are proposing significant time for research and evaluation before acting.
Driving distances keep increasing
Like a lawyer laying the groundwork of a court case, the Distance Insights project tries to methodically piece together a narrative that is convincing and easy to understand for both golfers and people working in the industry.
Citing the Rules of Golf, the report states, “golf is a challenging game in which success should depend on the player’s judgment, skill and abilities.”
The report makes a compelling argument that the increases in hitting distances and length of golf courses is part of a continuing cycle that is “undesirable and detrimental to golf’s long-term future.” Course lengths have continued to grow with the governing bodies identifying 11 course projects in the last three years that will result in total length above 7,500 yards. This is important because as the USGA and R&A acknowledge, the sport recognizes the need to adapt to environmental and natural resource concerns.
Similarly, data reported by the USGA and R&A shows the distance elite players hit the ball has been increasing for more than a century. From 1900 to the 1930s, elite golfer driving distances rose from a range of 160-200 yards to between 220-260 yards, thanks in large part to the adoption of the rubber-core ball. From the 1930s to the early 1990s, the average driving distance on the PGA Tour increased to 263 yards. But by 2003, as multi-layer balls and larger, titanium drivers were adopted, the average rose to 286 yards.
Cameron Champ led the PGA Tour in distance off the tee in 2019. Here he plays his shot during the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
In 2019, the combined average driving distance on the PGA and European Tours was 294 yards, with the 20 longest hitters averaging 310. The USGA says the upward trend in distance is expected to continue in the future.
Possibility of a Local Rule
As many have argued that distance is a problem, they have called on the USGA and the R&A to roll back the performance of golf balls and dial back the distance of drivers. But the Distance Insights project does not make any recommendations for changes to the Rules of Golf or equipment standards.
It does, however, say that several research topics will be announced in the next 45 days, and different ideas will be explored and researched. This exploratory phase, which is expected to last between nine and 12 months, will look into several different factors that could help limit the effects of distance.
Among the topics that will be studied is the potential adoption of a Local Rule that could specify the use of equipment that would result in shorter hitting distances, like a ball that flies less as far or drivers that have less springy faces, in certain events or tournaments.
“We put that out there as a concept to assess as part of this next phase,” said Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior managing director of governance. Asked if the USGA would consider playing a U.S. Open under a Local Rule that required players to use special equipment, he said, “We don’t even know what that might be. There may not be a Local Rule. It’s just something we want to look at.”
The USGA and R&A also plan to review the specifications that govern current clubs and balls, but the report states, “(The review) is not currently intended to consider revising the overall specifications in a way that would produce substantial reductions in hitting distances at all levels of the game.”
In other words, the USGA and R&A could work to limit the performance of clubs and balls to the levels where they are now or not make any equipment changes at all. What is clear is the governing bodies are not looking to take golf back to the persimmon era.
“If (the issue of distance) was really just about what has been happening on the PGA Tour, then they could, hypothetically, find courses that work for them,” Davis said. “This is way broader than that. It’s way more than just what’s happened since the Joint Statement of Principles back in 2002.”
In May of 2002, the USGA and R&A’s Joint Statement of Principles outlined how the game’s governing bodies view the relationship between golf, technology and distance. Many critics of the increasing-distance trend have pointed to the nearly 18-year-old document, which states, “Any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable. Whether these increases in distance emanate from advancing equipment technology, greater athleticism of players, improved player coaching, golf course conditioning or a combination of these or other factors, they will have the impact of seriously reducing the challenge of the game.”
The Driving Distance average on the PGA Tour at the end of the 2002 season was 279.5 yards. In 2010 the average rose to 287.3 yards and last season it was 293.9 yards.
“(The Distance Insights project is) a long-term look, and we’re not trying to go back to some bygone era,” Davis said. “We’re saying, ‘Let’s look forward together.'”
Pressure on golf course operators
While players have gained distance over the years, new courses have been getting longer too. In the meantime, many older courses have been lengthened to maintain the shot values and risk/reward elements that are an integral part of the game.
According to the report, the average length of 18-hole courses between 1900 and the 1930s grew from between 5,400-5,500 yards to 6,200-6,300 yards. That range grew to between 6,600-6,700 yards by the 1990s. In the 2010s, the range was up to 6,700-6,800 yards, and the longest courses being constructed were over 7,400 yards.
The Distance Insights project concludes that as elite players continue to hit the ball farther, many golf courses either do not have space nor the resources to expand further. As a result, too many elite golfers can rely on power to hit over fairway bunkers, cut the corner on dogleg holes and take other challenges out of play.
A course worker waters the 14th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in 2018. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
“Eventually, over time, how each hole is designed to be played can be compromised,” Davis said. “You see less variety of shots. One of the things that will happen over time, but not necessarily overnight, is that those golf courses that can’t keep up with distance, there will be a perception among some golfers that it’s not a course they want to play anymore, or it has become obsolete. The data shows this.”
Many pundits and golf fans have been arguing these exact points for years, and they will wonder why the USGA and R&A are only acknowledging this problem now.
“Let me say this, we don’t have an emergency here. We’re not in a crisis,” Davis said. “Frankly, we are just seeing more pressure than we’ve ever seen on golf courses. When you look at the data in the U.S., there are many golf courses that have razor-thin profit margins and anything like having to build new tees, adding water, anything like that (can cause problems).”
Rand Jerris, the USGA’s senior managing director of public service, confirmed that approximately one in four golf facilities in the United States today loses money. The costs associated with water, fertilizers and course maintenance are expected to increase in the years to come, with some regions like the Southwest, Jerris said, likely to be hit harder than others. However, larger courses are inherently more expensive and require more work to maintain.
This is how distance, in the eyes of the USGA and R&A, is setting up an economically unsustainable cycle. If elite golfers continue to hit the ball farther, as the trend implies, it will force courses to spend more significant amounts of money to keep the challenge in the game. A lot of facilities will fail to keep up, and either shut down or be forced to charge more money and make golf even more expensive to play.
Davis and Jerris point out that while most golfers do not play from the back tees, those areas still have to be watered, fertilized and maintained for the few golfers who do. In that way, they argue, every golfer is paying for longer courses with their greens fees or club dues.
Some who read the Distance Insights project likely will be surprised to see that the USGA and R&A place some of the blame for the distance problem on recreational golfers.
“While there is a problem at the long end, with golf courses not being able to keep up with increases in distance, there is a problem at the other end, too,” Davis said. The data revealed to the USGA and R&A that too many golfers play from tee boxes that are too far back based on how far they hit the ball.
Golf facilities also fail to provide tees that are forward enough, and they do a poor job of educating players on the ideal course length for their game.
“Even if they have the tee grounds, there needs to be a discussion with golfers about where you really should play because that’s not only the way the designer of the course designed it to be played, but it’s also a more enjoyable experience.”
Wilson is selling a special version of its new Staff DUO+ golf ball on its website that commemorates the Chiefs win in Super Bowl LIV.
Fifty years is a long time for any fanbase to wait for a championship, but now that the Kansas City Chiefs have won the Super Bowl, it’s time for their supporters to celebrate.
Wilson is selling a special version of its new Staff DUO+ golf ball on its website ($29.99) that commemorates the Chiefs win, complete with the team’s logo and the officially licensed Super Bowl LIV logo.
Limited-edition Wilson Staff DUO+ Super Bowl golf balls. (Wilson)
Like the standard Staff DUO+ ball, the commemorative edition is a two-piece ball designed to provide golfers with more distance thanks to a new core formulation. Wilson claims the Staff DUO Soft+ produces 1 to 1.5 mph more ball speed than the previous version, and that should give players about 4 to 6 more yards of distance.
With an overall compression of 36, the Staff DUO+ also feels extremely soft at impact, which many golfers like.
TaylorMade boosted the stability of classic looking putters by added a triangular hosel system that disappears when you look at the ball.
Gear: TaylorMade Truss putters Price: $299 each with KBS Stepless Stability shaft and Lamkin Sink Fit Skinny grip Specs: Aluminum-bodied putters with tungsten weights and grooved face insert. Available: Feb. 7
TaylorMade has enjoyed success in recent years with its Spider family of putters because the mallets provide golfers with enhanced stability in a compact shape. But even as the Spider putters have been refined through the release of the Spider Mini, the Spider X and now the Spider S, some golfers have resisted switching to one. They want the performance benefits but can’t get past the untraditional look.
Now, for players who demand a classic look at address but also want more mallet-style stability, TaylorMade has something completely new: the Truss putters.
The triangular Truss stability system supports more of the putter’s weight, making it more stable on off-center hits. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
If you think back to your high school physics class, you might recall that a truss is a load-bearing framework, usually constructed with triangular shapes, that creates a rigid structure. TaylorMade’s putter designers have borrowed that idea from bridge makers and added it to the neck section of its latest putter family.
TaylorMade said it creates more horizontal stability and stiffness by creating a larger area of supported mass in the heel area. That means when you hit a putt outside the sweetspot, either toward the heel or the toe, the club stays square and resists twisting open or closed. According to TaylorMade’s data, the Truss TB1 blade deflects 61.5 percent less than a standard heel-toe-weighted blade, and the center-shafted TB2 deflects 80.3 percent less.
At address, the Truss TB1’s stability system disappears, so the putters look like traditionally shaped clubs. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
But the real beauty of adding the Truss stability system, according to TaylorMade, is that when a golfer soles the putter behind the ball and looks down in the address position, the whole system disappears and all the player sees is a classically shaped club. The triangular support system disappears by visually blending into the topline. So, TaylorMade said, Truss putters can deliver Spider-like stability in a classic size and shape.
The grooved True Roll face insert is designed to reduce skidding and encourage the ball to roll sooner. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
To enhance the quality of the roll of the TB1, TB2, TM1 and TM2, TaylorMade gave the four Truss putters the same Surlyn insert found in the Spider putters. The grooves in the insert face down at a 45-degree angle and are designed to grip the ball at impact and encourage it to start rolling instead of skidding for better distance control and consistency.
TaylorMade’s newest balls for budget-minded golfers offer more distance, softer feel and enhanced greenside spin for less money.
Gear: TaylorMade Tour Response, Soft Response golf balls Price: $35 per dozen, Tour Response; $25 per dozen, Soft Response Specs: Three-piece, 40-compression ball with cast urethane cover available in white and yellow (Tour Response); three-piece, 35-compression ball with ionomer cover available in white, yellow and matte red (Soft Response). Available: Feb. 28
TaylorMade takes a lot of pride in knowing several of the game’s top players, including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, use TaylorMade’s five-piece TP5 and TP5x golf balls. The company started a new ball fitting program in 2019, and more than 13,000 golfers nationwide tested their choice in ball against TaylorMade’s offerings. That program hopes to conduct more than 25,000 ball fittings in 2020 to highlight the performance of not only the TP5 and TP5x but also two new balls, the Tour Response and the Soft Response.
Taking the place of Project(a) and Project(s) in TaylorMade’s stable, the two Response balls were created to feel soft at impact and deliver more speed for recreational golfers who do not want to spend $45 (or more) on a dozen balls.
The three-piece TaylorMade Tour Response has a single core, firm mantle and urethane cover. (TaylorMade)
The Tour Response ball has a three-piece construction and the same 322-dimple, seamless pattern found on the TP5 and TP5x, along with the same mantle layer found in those premium balls. It also boasts the same cast urethane cover material that is on the TP5x for enhanced spin and control on wedge shots around the green.
Where the three-piece Tour Response differs is in the core design. The core is extremely soft to help golfers compress it more easily and generate more speed. It also makes the Tour Response, which has an overall compression of 40, feel softer at impact than the 85-compression TP5 and the 97-compression TP5x.
TaylorMade Soft Response (TaylorMade)
The Soft Response is also a three-piece ball, but there are some meaningful differences between it and the Tour Response ball.
First, it has a slightly lower compression (35), so it should feel softer at contact. Second, it has a different dimple pattern, and the dimples themselves have steeper edges and a more shallow design to provide the Soft Response more lift and less drag for increased distance for golfers with slower swing speeds.
The Soft Response has a lower compression to create a softer feel. (TaylorMade)
The Soft Response also has an ionomer cover, and while it probably will not create as much greenside spin as the Tour Response, it is $10 less expensive.
