Hybrids – Syndication Server

Cleveland Halo XL Fy-woods (2024)

The updated Cleveland Fy-woods are designed to provide more distance and forgiveness than hybrids but be easier to hit than typical fairway woods.

Gear: Cleveland Halo XL Fy-woods
Price: $239.99 each with Aldila Ascent PL 40 graphite shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip
Specs: Cast stainless steel. Available as 3+ (17 degrees) and 4+ (20 degrees)

Who It’s For: Golfers who want an easy-to-hit, distance-oriented alternative to traditional fairway woods and hybrids.

The Skinny: The updated Fy-woods are designed to provide more distance and forgiveness than hybrids but be easier to hit than typical fairway woods, making them an interesting option for moderate and slower-swinging players who want more distance at the top of their bag.

The Deep Dive: In every golfer’s bag, there are a few transitions from one type of club to another, like golfing from your last iron into your first wedge. For many players, the most challenging transition is from your last fairway wood into your longest-hitting iron. You can go with a high-lofted fairway wood like a 7-wood or a 9-wood and then go right into a 5-iron, or go with a hybrid club or even a driving iron. With the release of the updated Halo XL Fy-wood, a group of clubs designed to blend the traits of fairway woods and hybrids, Cleveland is trying to make that transition easier for golfers who typically shoot in the 90s and 100s.

Cleveland Halo XL Hy-Woods — Rails on the sole help the Hy-woods skim over the grass and through the turf. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The Halo XL Fy-woods are bigger than most hybrids and come standard with shafts that are longer than a corresponding hybrid, to help golfers generate more speed, but shorter than a similarly lofted fairway wood, so players should be able to make higher-quality contact more easily. The head sizes are also made to fit between those clubs, with volumes that are larger than hybrids but smaller than fairway woods.

Cleveland dropped a large portion of the crown behind the topline in the Halo XL Fy-woods. This Hi-Bore design has been used for several years to help lower the center of gravity location and encourage higher-flying shots.

Like the Halo XL fairway woods and hybrids, the Fy-wood has been designed with Rebound Frame, which adds a flexible region in the head behind the hitting area. At impact, it allows the whole face to flex back, enlarging the sweet spot and helping golfers get better performance across a larger area.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=1364]

Cobra Darkspeed, Darkspeed One-Length hybrids

The Cobra Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length hybrids are designed to take the place of long irons.

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Gear: Cobra Darkspeed, Darkspeed One-Length hybrids
Price: $279 with KBS PGI 85 shaft and Lamkin Crossline grip
Specs: 17-4 stainless steel body with 475 stainless steel face with adjustable hosel. Variable length in 2H (17 degrees), 3H (19 degrees), 4H (21 degrees), 5H (24 degrees), 6H (28 degrees). One-Length in 3H (19 degrees), 4H (21 degrees), 5H through custom order (24 degrees)
Available: January 11 (pre-sale), January 19 (in-stores)

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more ball speed and distance in a long-iron alternative.

The Skinny: The Cobra Darkspeed and Darkspeed One-Length hybrids are designed to take the place of long irons and make it easier for every golfer to hit higher, longer approach shots.

The Deep Dive: Some golfers who reluctantly hand over their longest iron and buy a hybrid still demand a short blade length and the ability to shape shots. For them, Cobra offers the King TEC hybrid, a control-oriented club that has three moveable weights.

Most recreational golfers, however, ditch their long irons and buy hybrids to make the game easier, to hit the ball farther and get it higher in the air so it stops faster on the green. For these players, Cobra is now offering the Darkspeed hybrids.

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Like the Darkspeed fairway woods, the Darkspeed hybrids feature a 475 stainless steel PWRShell face that wraps under the leading edge to enhance performance on low-struck shots. The inner-facing side of the hitting area has been studied and designed by computers that broke it into 15 regions. The system then modified the thickness of each area so it produces the most possible ball speed.

Inside the Darkspeed hybrids, Cobra added an internal PWR Bridge bar that extends from the heel to the toe area. The bar lowers the center of gravity (CG) location, as does the 12-gram weight in the center of the sole. The result should be higher-flying shots that come down more vertically and stop faster on the green.

In addition to the standard Darkspeed hybrid, Cobra is offering a One-Length version of the club. Each One-Length hybrid comes standard at 37.25 inches in length, like a typical 7-iron.

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PXG Black Ops hybrids

PXG Black Ops hybrids are loaded with the same features found in the company’s fairway woods.

Gear: PXG Black Ops hybrids
Price: $299.99
Specs: Carbon fiber crown with AM335 stainless steel body, proprietary stainless steel face, moveable weights and adjustable hosel. Available as 2-hybrid (17 degrees), 3-hybrid (19 degrees), 4-hybrid (22 degrees), 5-hybrid (25 degrees), 6-hybrid (28 degrees) and 7-hybrid (31 degrees)
Available: NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers looking for more distance and forgiveness off the tee and from the turf.

The Skinny: PXG uses multiple materials, including new stainless steel alloys and moveable weights, to boost forgiveness and let players tweak the launch angle and spin rate of its latest hybrids.

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The Deep Dive: Some hybrids are designed to be long-iron replacements for golfers who prefer irons but know they need more forgiveness, height and distance than their 3-iron or 4-iron can deliver. Other players see them as an extension of their fairway woods, acting like a bridge club to their first iron. With the release of the new PXG Black Ops hybrids, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company has made a club loaded with the same technologies and features found in the Black Ops fairways but in a traditional hybrid shape.

The Black Ops are made with a new high-strength stainless steel alloy in the face that PXG said is stronger than other steels used in hybrids. This allowed designers to make the hitting area thinner and lighter, which in turn helps it to be more flexible at impact.

And like the Black Ops fairway woods, the hybrids feature a compression-molded carbon fiber crown that reduces weight and lowers the center of gravity.

In the sole of the Black Ops hybrids, golfers will see three adjustable screws that can be moved into different locations to modify the club’s performance. Each Black Ops hybrid comes with a 12-gram weight in the back port and 2.5-gram weights in the heel and toe to maximize forgiveness and help create more spin and a higher launch. Moving the heavier weight to the heel will create a draw bias, while adding it to the toe port will encourage a fade.

To help golfers find a club that hits shots to the ideal distance, PXG has made the Black Ops with an adjustable hosel that can increase or decrease the loft by as many as 1.5 degrees and raise or lower the lie angle.

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Below are several images of the Black Ops hybrids:

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids are for golfers who want more distance and height in a fairway wood-style, long-iron replacement

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids
Price: $279.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0 or Mitsubishi Tensei Blue White shafts and Winn Dri-Tac 2.0 grip
Specs: Forged stainless steel face and body with carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW

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Who They’re For: Golfers who want more distance and height in a fairway wood-style, long-iron replacement.

The Skinny: With three models designed to fit golfers with different swing speeds, the A.I. Smoke hybrids are made to be long off the tee and from the turf while being forgiving for players who make inconsistent contact.

The Deep Dive: Todd Hamilton won the 2004 British Open twenty years ago thanks to creatively using a hybrid club from the fairways and around the greens at Royal Troon. He proved that even elite golfers can benefit from the distance, forgiveness and versatility of hybrids.

Today, even in the bags of a top-10 player, hybrid clubs don’t get a second glance. They have become so accepted among recreational golfers that most game-improvement iron sets now start at 4-iron or 5-iron, with manufacturers knowing golfers who shoot in the 80s, 90s and above have no interest in struggling with long irons.

Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids blend forgiving shapes with distance-enhancing faces and multi-material constructions to give players at different swing speeds more choices when it comes to long-iron replacements.

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Hybrids designed for accomplished golfers tend to have compact heads and iron-style hitting areas, but the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids are larger and resemble miniature fairway woods. Their size and shape are meant to reassure mid- and higher-handicap golfers.

Like the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers and fairway woods, the hybrids feature faces designed using artificial intelligence. Supercomputers were tasked with studying thousands of swings made by real golfers of various abilities and then making faces that can improve the performance and consistency of different players. The faces look ordinary on the outside, but the inner-facing side is covered with ridges, valleys and wave-like areas. The computers developed different face patterns for each of the three Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids because they have been made with different player types in mind.

Behind the leading edge in the sole, Callaway designers have added a tungsten weight shaped like a boomerang. The company refers to it as a Speed Cartridge, which helps pull the center of gravity down and forward. That should encourage a higher launch with less spin, which, for most golfers, translates to more distance.

To help players and fitters fine-tune the gaps between the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids and their other clubs, each comes standard with an adjustable, two-cog OptiFit hosel that can increase or decrease the stated loft by as many as 2 degrees. The lie angle also can be adjusted using the hosel.

Golfers who hit their 7-iron 150 yards or farther will likely be happy with the standard Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids, which will be available as a 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-iron replacements.

Players who hit a 7-iron between 135 and 150 yards (and likely swinging a little slower) could be ideally suited for the Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids. The HL stands for high launch, and these hybrids have been made with faces designed to produce more lift and a higher apex. The Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids will be available in 3-iron through 8-iron replacement.

Finally, for golfers who need help generating clubhead speed and who hit their 7-iron less than 135 yards, Callaway is offering the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast hybrids. These clubs will be offered as a 4-iron through 8-iron and come standard with a lighter shaft and grip so golfers can swing them faster.

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Below are images of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids.

Callaway’s Paradym Super Hybrid: Driver-like speed in a hybrid?

The carbon fiber crown, titanium construction and massive tungsten weight help to create more distance and a higher flight.

Gear: Paradym Super hybrid
Price: $399 each with UST Mamiya Recoil Dart graphite shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip
Specs: Titanium body and face with carbon fiber crown, tungsten weight and adjustable hosel. Lofts: 16, 18, 21, 24 and 27 degrees
Available: NOW

Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize distance and create a straight flight with a fairway wood alternative.

The Skinny: This massive hybrid has a carbon fiber crown, titanium body and titanium face to help players generate more ball speed from a club designed to help golfers attain more accuracy.

The Deep Dive: Golf equipment makers often add driver technologies to their fairway woods because in most cases, players use both clubs off the tee and want to maximize distance. But with the Paradym Super hybrid, Callaway has added driver-style materials and technology to a hybrid, and the result is a club made to deliver a major power boost both off the tee and from the fairway.

Callaway Paradym Super Hybrid — The Paradym Super Hybrid has a titanium face and body. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

While most fairway woods and hybrids are made using stainless steel, because it’s strong and durable, the Paradym Super Hybrid has a titanium body, a forged titanium face and a carbon fiber crown. That helps to reduce weight, which in turn allowed Callaway to make the Paradym Super hybrid significantly bigger. For example, the 21-degree Paradym Super 4-hybrid has a volume of 144 cubic centimeters, which is nearly identical to the Paradym 7-wood (145 cubic centimeters).

In the address position, that size is going to be reassuring to mid- and higher-handicap golfers, but the reduced weight and larger size also allowed Callaway’s designers to add a 91-gram tungsten and steel weight to the sole. It pulls the center of gravity (CG) location down, to encourage a higher launch angle.

While all those features should help golfers hit the ball farther, the Paradym Super Hybrid might also help players hit the ball straighter and more solidly than a comparably-lofted fairway wood because it is shorter. The 21-degree Paradym Super Hybrid comes standard at 40.5 inches in length, while a 21-degree Paradym 7-wood is 42.25 inches. As it has been noted, the club are nearly identical in volume, but most golfers will hit the ball in the sweetspot more easily with a club that is 1.75 inches shorter. So, golfers might lose some clubhead speed by going with a Paradym Super Hybrid instead of a fairway wood, they will likely hit the ball straighter and may not lose distance because they make a higher-quality strike.

Players and fitters can use the adjustable hosel mechanism to fine-tune the Paradym Super Hybrid’s flight and the gapping between a player’s clubs.

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Callaway Apex UW (2023)

Callaway’s updated Apex UW is a miniature high-lofted fairway wood.

Gear: Callaway Apex UW (2023)
Price: $299.99 each with Mitsubishi MMT graphite shaft and Golf Pride Z Grip
Specs: Stainless steel face and hosel. 17-, 19- and 21-degree options
Available: August 18 (pre-sale), Sept. 8 (in-stores)

Who It’s For: Accomplished golfers who want the launch and distance of a high-lofted fairway wood in a club that is the size of a compact hybrid.

The Skinny: The Apex UT combines fairway wood technologies for extra distance in a compact shape that is pleasing to the eyes of low-handicap players. With a neutral weight bias, better players should be able to shape shots and gain versatility from it.

The Deep Dive: Over the last three years, there has been a surge in the popularity of high-lofted fairway woods on the PGA Tour and among accomplished golfers. Their low-and-back center of gravity, along with their wide sole and loft, can make them an interesting option for golfers who would rather not carry a hybrid.

Callaway, however, has a unique alternative for players who want fairway wood levels of distance combined with hybrid-style versatility: the Apex UW (utility wood).

Hybrids were designed as long-iron replacements; consider the Apex UW a hybrid replacement. Available in lofts of 17, 19 and 21 degrees, this is the second generation of the UW, and they have the same loft as most 2-irons and 3-irons or their corresponding hybrids. However, the Apex UWs come standard with shafts that are longer than a hybrid’s, for more speed, but shorter than a fairway wood shaft to help players make solid contact more easily.

The Apex UW looks like a scaled-down fairway wood in the address position. It has a high-strength C300 maraging steel face cup designed to flex more efficiently at impact than a flat face, which helps broaden the sweet spot and generate more ball speed. Inside the head, Callaway added its Batwing structure to the heel and toe areas. They connect the sole to the crown and help to stiffen the chassis when the club hits the ball, so more energy is transferred into the shot instead of being lost in the deformation of the head.

The Apex UW will be used by many players off the tee on long par 3s, but most of its shots for better players will be off the ground into long par 4s and par 5s, so turf interaction was a significant concern for Callaway. To help the Apex UW slide through grass and sand more easily, designers gave it a sole with a seam running from the leading edge to the back of the club and a pair of scalloped areas. Callaway calls it a Cutwave Pro Sole, and it should improve turf interaction.

Finally, Callaway designed the Apex UW with a center of gravity that produces a neutral weight bias, so the club is not pre-set to create either a draw or a fade. While many hybrids for mid- and higher-handicap golfers are designed to help reduce the effects of a slice, good players often want to work the ball in different directions and have the skills required to do so. The Apex UW’s weighting lets that happen more easily while allowing good players to hit high-flying approach shots that land softly and stop fast on the green.

There is a screw in the sole that is not adjustable by players, but custom fitters can change it to adjust the club’s swing weight based on its length or a player’s preferences.

2023 PGA Championship: Thick, high rough at Oak Hill Country Club calls for fairway woods and hybrids

As they prepare for the 2023 PGA Championship, several players are testing hybrids and fairway woods to handle the rough.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The consensus among players and caddies at the 2023 PGA Championship is that it’s really a U.S. Open. Oak Hill Country Club has undergone significant changes since Jason Dufner won the 2013 PGA Championship here, with scores of trees having been removed, but with firm fairways, thick rough and fast greens, it has the classic, old-school feel of a U.S. Open

“I look at a golf course like this and I think it’s quite similar to what we faced at Winged Foot in 2020 in terms of a long golf course, long rough and pretty narrow fairways,” said Rory McIlroy on Monday.

A 500-yard par 4 doesn’t quicken the pulse of professional golfers anymore, but a 500-yard par 4 that is surrounded by 4 to 5 inches of snarly grass gets their attention fast.

“You get rewarded for hitting good shots, and if I miss the fairway on one of those holes that’s 500 yards, I’m going to be hacking something out of the rough and probably not going to be able to get to the green in two,” said Scottie Scheffler.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsYuNs1rFpK/?hl=en

Conditions for growing grass in Rochester this spring have been ideal, with cool days and plenty of rain. When golfers arrived at Oak Hill and started playing practice rounds, several immediately realized that handling the rough could require tweaking their equipment setup.

Several notable players now use a 7-wood regularly, including Max Homa, Dustin Johnson and Joaquín Niemann, but many players spoke with PGA Tour reps and requested them to make hybrids and high-lofted fairway woods, like 7-woods and even 9-woods, that could be used this week.

Ping’s Spencer Rothluebber worked with Callum Tarren on Monday after building the 32-year-old a G430 9-wood. “I had him hit the 9-wood and his 4-iron out of here,” Rothluebber said, pointing to a patch of rough behind the manicured turf of the driving range. “The 9-wood flew about 45 yards more and his 4-iron looked like it was really struggling.”

Tarren’s 9-wood has a 24-degree head, but using its adjustable hosel, the playing loft is closer to 22 degrees. Ping also builds its 9-woods for tour players an inch shorter than standard, typically at 40 inches in length, to make it even easier to control shots from rough and awkward lies.

Rothluebber said that 2022 U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick has also been testing a G430 9-wood in preparation for this week’s PGA Championship.

Hybrid clubs and high-lofted fairway woods have wider soles and a lower profile than long irons, which helps them work through thick grass more easily. They also have a center of gravity location that is lower and farther back, away from the face, which encourages a higher launch angle.

JJ Van Wezenbeeck, the director of player promotions for Titleist, said his brand saw an increase in hybrids from players looking to battle the rough.

“There are some demanding shots from the fairways, and long par 3s, and earlier this week the wind was up a little bit, so the hybrid seems to be a really good choice for some of the players,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “A few players have been trying 7-woods and 9-woods, but the hybrid for many players seems to be the sweetspot for moving the ball out of the rough and still giving them some of the other shots that they are going to have this week.”

Van Wezenbeeck said that Jordan Spieth is among the players who have been testing hybrids this week at Oak Hill. In Spieth’s case, a TSR1 hybrid.

If you routinely play courses that have thick rough or struggle to hit high, soft-landing shots on long par 3s, work with a custom fitter who can watch you hit shots using a launch monitor to see if hybrids or a high-lofted fairway wood could be a good option for you. Below are several notable options worth trying.

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Adams Golf relaunches with new woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putters

Adams Golf is back with new woods, irons, wedges and putters that golfers can buy online and that come with a 60-day guarantee.

Fifteen years before the current golf boom started, Adams Golf was on a roll. The Plano, Texas-based company made highly regarded hybrids played by numerous PGA Tour stars off contract, disguising them by covering the clubs with headcovers from brands they were paid to use. Adams also made innovative woods, irons, wedges and putters before it was purchased by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf in 2012 for $70 million.

In the following years, some Adams Golf technologies and ideas made their way into TaylorMade clubs, but the brand faded with time. Until now.

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Adams Golf – which is still owned by TaylorMade – has announced a rebranding of the company, including a new logo, a new line of clubs and a new direct-to-consumer sales approach. Adams’ target market is the large number of new players who have taken up the game over the last three years, younger golfers (27 percent of new golfers are aged 18-34 in 2020) and golfers who have rediscovered the sport. Adams is not making boxed sets for these players or focusing on max-game-improvement clubs. Instead, the goal is to offer well-made equipment that has technologies, features and benefits found in higher-priced clubs but sell those clubs at a lower cost.

People’s buying habits have changed since Adams was a prominent brand in the ’90s and 2000s, so the company is trying to make itself available to younger players and other golfers who are used to buying things online. You won’t find Adams’ new drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges or putters in golf shops. Instead, individual clubs and full sets can be purchased at adamsgolf.com, which all come with a 60-day, money-back guarantee.

Here’s the new Adams Idea lineup for 2023, all of which will be available for right- or left-handed golfers:

Tour Edge Exotics E723, C723 woods, hybrids and irons

The newest Tour Edge woods and irons blend materials such as carbon fiber, tungsten and titanium to deliver more distance and forgiveness.

When Tour Edge releases new equipment in its Exotics family, the brand typically does it in pairs, partnering game-improvement woods and irons with related offerings designed for more accomplished golfers. With the new Exotics 723 Series, the Chicago-based company again has dropped two sets of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons simultaneously, with the new Exotics E723 clubs (Extreme Spec) made for golfers who want more distance plus forgiveness and the Exotics C723 clubs (Competition Spec) for golfers who need lower-spinning gear that allows them to shape shots.

Below are the details on both the new E723 and the C723 woods and irons.

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Titleist TSR1 drivers, fairway woods, hybrids

Titleist made the TSR1 woods and hybrids lighter, more aerodynamic and more powerful to help moderate-swinging golfers gain distance.

Gear: Titleist TSR1 drivers, fairway woods, hybrids

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Who They’re For: Slower-swinging golfers who need more ball speed and height on shots to maximize distance.

The Skinny: Titleist made the TSR1 drivers, fairway woods and hybrids more aerodynamic and designed them as part of a lightweight package that can help players who have slower and moderate clubhead speed generate more distance.

The Deep Dive: As launch monitors became integral to custom fitting over the past few decades, fast-swinging golfers learned to maximize distance by combining a high launch angle with low spin. More and more pros learned to swing up into their tee shots to get the most out of their low-spin clubs and balls, but that combination does not work for everyone. According to the USGA and R&A’s Distance Insights reports, about 30 percent of golfers swing at a “moderate” speed around 75 to 90 mph, instead of 110 or more generated by most pros. These amateur golfers don’t generate enough speed to keep a low-spin shot in the air, so they can be robbed of distance.

Titleist engineers noted this and created the TSi1 drivers, fairway woods and hybrids for them two years ago. In 2023 those clubs are updated to help moderate-speed players swing faster, gain carry distance and achieve more overall distance.

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