TaylorMade’s Stealth irons create more ball speed thanks to a hollow-body design, and they feature improved sound and feel.
Gear: TaylorMade Stealth irons Price: $999 with KBS Max MT steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips. $1,099 with Fujikura Ventus Red or Aldila Ascent Ultralight graphite shafts Specs: 450 stainless steel face with hollow-body design and polymer vibration-dampening peice. Available: April 4
TaylorMade has a full selection of irons for accomplished golfers who have repeatable swings in its P Series, including the P•7MB (from $1,399 at PGA Superstore). P•7MC (from $1,224.99 at PGA Superstore), P•770 (from $1,244.99 at PGA Superstore) and the P•7790. For golfers such as Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson, they are designed to deliver feel, precision and workability.
For mid- and higher-handicap players, TaylorMade has game-improvement clubs such as last season’s SIM2 Max (from $799.99 at PGA Superstore), which feature wider soles, distance-enhancing construction and feel-improving technologies. While better-player irons often see performance enhancements made slowly, club players tend to be more open to trying new things if they can deliver improved performance, distance and consistency.
With the release of the new Stealth irons, TaylorMade believes it has a game-improvement club that can do all that, even while wrapped in a cleaner, more-sophisticated package.
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TaylorMade’s new Stealth and Stealth Plus+ Rescues are designed to provide more distance and versatility off the tee and from the fairway.
Gear: TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ Rescue, Stealth Rescue clubs Price: $299 (Stealth Plus+ at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip. $279 (Stealth at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) with Fujikura Ventus Red FW shaft Specs: Stainless steel bodies with carbon-fiber crowns (Stealth) and V-shaped sole design. Loft offerings: 17, 19.5 and 22 degrees for the Stealth Plus+; 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 degrees for the Stealth Available: Feb. 4 for the Stealth, April 1 for the Stealth Plus+
In late 2019, TaylorMade hosted a commercial photo and video shoot with several of the company’s highest-profile players including Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa. Rory McIlroy was there too, and one of the clubs he tried that day was a SIM Max Rescue club (from $161.99 at Global Golf). It had the same loft as his 5-wood, and McIlroy loved the ball flight and how easy it was to hit. The following year, that club found its way into McIlroy’s bag.
If there was a criticism TaylorMade heard from players regarding the SIM and SIM2 Rescue clubs, it is that they were too similar, with both clubs getting the ball up quickly and easily. Elite golfers wanted to see something more iron-like, so with the release of the Stealth and Stealth Plus+ Rescues for 2022, that is what TaylorMade tried to deliver.
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Callaway’s newest drivers have computer-tuned faces, tungsten weights and carbon fiber crowns to help you get more distance and stability.
Gear: Callaway Rogue ST Max drivers Price: $549.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue, AV Raw White and Project X Cypher shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip Specs: Titanium body and face with carbon-fiber crown and sole pieces along with internal tungsten weight Available: Feb. 18
When it comes to drivers, every golfer, regardless of ability, is looking for two things: more ball speed and more stability. Increasing ball speed can lead to more distance, and extra stability means that the shots you hit outside the ideal hitting area fly straighter and farther.
To achieve those in its new Rogue ST Max drivers, Callaway is introducing a new technology and enhancing others.
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Callaway Rogue ST irons have compter-designed faces, hollow-body construction for more ball speed and extra stability.
Gear: Callaway Rogue ST Max, Rogue ST Max OS, Rogue ST Pro irons Price: Rogue ST Max – $999.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) with True Temper Elevate MPH or Project X steel shafts and Callaway Universal grips; $1,099.99 with Project X Cypher Black, Mitsubishi AV Series Blue or AV Series White graphite shafts. Rogue ST Max OS – $999.99 steel; $1,099.99 graphite (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s). Rogue ST Pro – $1,199.99 steel (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s); $1,299.99 graphite (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s). Specs: Cast 450 stainless steel with internal tungsten weight and urethane microspheres Available: Feb. 18
For 2022, Callaway’s new Rogue ST iron family uses new materials and improvements to established technologies to boost distance and forgiveness for a wide variety of golfers.
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Callaway’s newest fairway woods deliver more distance and stability thanks to an A.I.-designed cup face and tungsten weights.
Gear: Callaway Rogue ST Max fairway woods Price: $349.99 each with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue, AV Raw White and Project X Cypher shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip Specs: C300 maraging stainless steel cup face with tungsten weight. Available: Feb. 18
Over the past decade, fairway woods have transformed as companies add more and more driver-style technologies to clubs that used to have a reputation for being tough to hit. Many fairway woods now feature multi-material construction and can create so much ball speed that elite golfers are using higher-lofted models. On the PGA Tour, many players used to carry a 15-degree 3-wood and a 19-degree 5-wood, but now there are plenty of golfers who split the difference and take a 16.5-degree club instead. At the same time, 7-woods have gained popularity because they are so easy to hit, launching the ball high and bringing it down softly on the greens.
For 2022, Callaway added several technologies to its new Rogue ST fairway wood family and modified others to create an arsenal of clubs designed to hit the ball straighter and farther off the tee and from the turf.
Callaway’s newest hybrids have computer-designed faces for more ball speed and internal tungsten weights to improve performance.
Gear: Callaway Rogue ST Max hybrids Price: $279.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) each with Project X Cypher Black, Mitsubishi AV Series Blue or AV Series White graphite shafts and Callaway Universal grips. Specs: 455 stainless steel cup face with internal tungsten weight Available: Feb. 18
Most golf club designers will tell you that, aside from highly skilled players, no one should use a 3-iron and most golfers would probably benefit from ditching their 4-iron, too. As more and more golfers are custom fit, game-improvement sets are commonly starting with a 5-iron. Instead of swinging tough-to-hit long irons, hybrids are now the go-to clubs for most players.
For 2022, Callaway has a new family of hybrids called Rogue ST Max that the company said are the longest, most forgiving hybrids it has ever produced.
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Every Chrome Soft ball for 2022 undergoes a new 3D X-ray process to insure each ball is consistent and ready to perform.
Golfers dream about hitting the ball farther and thirst for more yards off the tee and from the fairway. We love blowing it past our playing partners and hitting one less club into the green on approach shots than anyone else in our group.
“Nice shot Steve. What did you hit back there?”
“Thanks Jim, you too! I hit a 6-iron. What about you?”
“7-iron.”
While distance is sexy, consistency is, well … not. But Callaway has made $50 million worth of improvements and upgrades to its golf ball factory in Chicopee, Massachusetts, over the last few years to make balls that not only perform well but also deliver more consistency shot after shot, ball after ball. That work is at the heart of 2022’s Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft X LS balls.
As most golfers know, modern premium balls are constructed in layers, typically three, four or five of them. One of the hardest things to do from a manufacturing standpoint is to ensure each layer fits inside the other symmetrically. If the core is off-center, the ball will compress more on the side with more core material and create sidespin that will make the ball curve in the opposite direction. For example, if a player tees up a ball and the core is off-center to the right as it sits on the tee, the right side of the ball will compress more than the left and hook spin will be created, even if the driver’s face is square to the path at impact.
To ensure that all its balls have perfectly centered layers, Callaway is now using a 3D X-ray machine to scan each ball after it is produced. It measures the dimensions of every layer in the ball, including the mantle and cover, to make sure each is centered and the desired thickness in every direction.
Here’s are the other things you need to know about the Chrome Soft, Chrome Soft X and Chrome Soft X LS balls.
If the name Tri-Hot rings a bell, you are remembering a family of putters that Odyssey featured in the early 2000s.
Gear: Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K putters Price: $399.99 (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) Specs: Stainless steel heads with tungsten weights and White Hot face insert. Available: Feb. 4
Over the past five years, a growing number of professional and amateur golfers alike have switched into compact and mid-size mallets that feature some toe-hang, making them ideally suited for players who want the forgiveness of a mallet without sacrificing an arched putting stroke.
Some golfers, however, are not willing to change. The stability and forgiveness of a mallet are not enough to sway them from the classic looks of a heel-toe-weighted blade, so they stick with a blade putter.
Now, for golfers who insist on playing a classic-looking blade, Odyssey is offering the Tri-Hot 5K, putters that offer high moments of inertia for stability without sacrificing classic looks.
If the name Tri-Hot rings a bell, you are remembering a family of putters Odyssey featured in the early 2000s. Like those putters, the new Tri-Hot 5K putters utilize multiple materials to achieve performance attributes that would not be possible otherwise.
Odyssey Tri Hot putters have large tungsten inserts in the heel and toe that are covered by an aluminum back piece. (Odyssey)
With designers mandated to stay within specific shape parameters, Odyssey made the hitting area, hosel and topline of each new Tri-Hot 5K putter using stainless steel, then attached an exceptionally light aluminum back flange. Using aluminum allowed designers to reposition mass and add a pair of internal tungsten weights that combined for more than 120 grams. The Tri-Hot 5K putters also have a pair of 28-gram adjustable tungsten weights in the sole.
The result of using so much tungsten in a blade putter is mallet-like stability and moment of inertia in a club that looks like a classic blade.
While the Tri Hot One looks like a classic blade, it has mallet-level stability and MOI (Odyssey)
The added benefit of the Tri-Hot 5K design is the extreme perimeter weighting is complimented by the forward center of gravity. Odyssey said one of the shortcomings of high-MOI mallets is after taking the club back, many golfers struggle to rotate the face and square it at impact. Instead, they leave the face pointed slightly to the right because the center of gravity is so far back. The Tri-Hot 5K’s center of gravity is significantly more forward, so rotating the face and squaring it is easier, Odyssey said.
The Tri-Hot 5K family is comprised of five putters.
The Tri-Hot 5K One is a classic-looking heel-toe-weighted blade with rounded bumpers and a single white alignment line. The Two is like the One but has more angular back bumpers, a thinner topline and a longer blade length. Both the One and Two have plumber’s neck hosels.
Odyssey Tri Hot 5K Three putter (Odyssey)
The Tri-Hot 5K Three has a curved back flange with extra mass in the heel and toe. It also has a short, curved-flow neck hosel.
The Tri-Hot 5K Double Wide has the same shaping as the Two, but the back flange extends farther out. The Triple Wide is even wider still and features a double-bend shaft to create a face-balanced option for golfers who have a straight-back-straight-through putting stroke.
Odyssey Tri Hot 5K Triple Wide putter (Odyssey)
All five Tri-Hot 5K putters come standard with Odyssey’s steel-and-graphite Stroke Lab shaft.
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Odyssey Eleven putter will be available in three versions.
Gear: Odyssey Eleven putter Price: $299.99 with Stroke Lab shaft (at Carl’s Golfland and Dick’s) Specs: A high-MOI mallet putter with stainless steel, aluminum and thermoplastic polyurethane Available: Feb. 4
The appeal of mallet putters with a high moment of inertia is they can cover up a multitude of stroke woes and help golfers roll the ball more consistently.
Almost any putter can deliver reliable performance when you make a high-quality stroke and strike the ball in the center of the face, but a high-MOI mallet resists twisting on off-center hits more effectively than blade-style putters, so when you hit the ball outside the ideal spot, they can better stay square and deliver more energy to the ball, so it rolls out more and behaves more like a well-struck putt.
Last season, Odyssey’s Ten putter was the company’s flagship high-MOI mallet. For 2022, the Eleven tries to turn things up another notch with a different weight-distribution system.
The Odyssey Eleven putter has an aluminum sole plate and stainless steel weights. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Typically, when putter makers want to increase stability and drive up the moment of inertia, they shift more of the head’s overall weight to the back-heel and back-toe areas. Therefore, many high-MOI mallets tend to have a boxy shape. With the Eleven, however, Odyssey designers used several materials to create the head and concentrate more weight forward, toward the hitting area. The soleplate is made from aluminum, and it covers a thermoplastic polyurethane center piece. A pair of 10-gram steel weights in the back of the head are covered by aluminum caps.
The 260 grams of stainless steel in the front of the head drive the center of gravity forward while maintaining a high moment of inertia. Odyssey’s internal testing showed the company that while the Eleven maintains high stability, its forward center of gravity helps reduce sidespin and curvature, so putts tend to roll more true, which leads to increased consistency and accuracy.
The Odyssey Eleven putter has a White Hot face insert. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
To enhance feel, Odyssey gave the Eleven the White Hot face insert. Having debuted over two decades ago, the White Hot urethane insert is unique because it is firm to the touch, but at impact it feels soft. It also creates a sound that many golfers believe is appropriate, meaning that on short putts it creates a soft, deep sound while on longer putts the insert delivers a higher-pitched clicking sound.
The Eleven comes standard with Odyssey’s Stroke Lab shaft, which has a steel tip section with graphite in the center and handle areas. Odyssey’s studies showed that by removing weight in the middle of the shaft and redistributing it to the head, golfers make more consistent putting strokes and improve their tempo.
The single alignment line over the black top is designed to help golfers aim the Eleven more easily. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The Eleven will be available in three versions, one with a single white alignment line running from the topline to the back of the head, another with a plain matte-black top and a third with Odyssey’s Triple Track blue and red alignment stripes.
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As winners of 2021 PGA Tour events arrive at Kapalua, Titleist’s newest wedges become available for the first time.
With the calendar reading 2022 and the PGA Tour set to resume play this week at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii, several brands will start releasing new gear to Tour players. Typically, the pros are given access to clubs before they are made available at retail, and that’s happening once again.
Titleist announced Monday that pros at the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions will have a chance to use the yet-to-be-released Vokey Design SM9 wedges for the first time in competition.
Titleist has not released a new wedge since the launch of the SM8(from $159.99 at PGA Tour Superstore) in January 2020, so the arrival of the SM9 is not surprising, but Titleist is still tight-lipped with the details on the new model.
The most significant difference between the SM8 and its predecessors, the SM6 and SM7, was the position of the center of gravity. Starting with the SM6, the center of gravity progressively rose as lofts increased to improve distance control and help golfers flight shots lower. In the SM8, Titleist lengthened the hosel and added tungsten to the toe of the sand wedges and lob wedges to move the center of gravity forward, as well. The company said this helps players square the face for more consistency.
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The SM8 wedges were available in chrome, brushed steel and jet black, and in six sole configurations. The wide variety of sole grinds helps fitters and players find the ideal bounce and configuration to match playing conditions and the way a particular player swings. While finishes often vary from year to year, it is hard to imagine that Titleist would offer significantly fewer grinds in the SM9 lineup.
There are 39 players in the field this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, including several Titleist staff players such as Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Cam Smith, Max Homa and 2021 FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, so several new SM9 wedges could wind up in play in Hawaii.
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