Equipment

Latest patents from TMag, Callaway, Ping and Titleist

Published

12 years ago

Apr 22, 2014

It’s been a month since we last looked at what the major OEMs have been up to in the world of patent filings. So it seems like a good time to see what the best and brightest (or at least best paid) in golf’s R&D have been up to.

This month: A sampling of recent filings from Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, and Titleist along with traditional patent drawings, which a comment on a previous edition in this series referred to as “napkin sketches.”

Without further ado, brief descriptions and corresponding napkin drawings.

Callaway/Odyssey putter

Screen shot 2014-04-17 at 2.42.57 PM

On behalf of subsidiary Odyssey, Callaway applied for a putter with a “low head center of gravity and a high MOI.” According to the filing, the putter features both low-density and high-density layers. In addition, the layers appear to be joined by a urethane dampening layer, and the heel and toe of the putter are outfitted with tungsten weights.

It appears that this putter will also include the white/black components the company has been including in their designs in recent years.

Overall, the putter appears similar to the flatsticks in the White Damascus family in terms of design and weighting, but presents elements of the Versa family of putters as well.

View the full patent filing on FreshPatents.

TaylorMade iron

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 10.32.54 AM

TMag has filed a patent “coated golf club head/component,” which features an “outer layer of titanium carbide, typically comprising at least forty percent…carbon content.” One would assume that the outer layer is designed to enhance distance, and indeed the multi-layer structure is engineered toward this end.

The filing indicates that the club will possess multiple layers. Further, it states, the “titanium carbide layer is durable and can provide the golf club component with a desired aesthetic appearance, such as a black color.”

Certainly, this could be a red herring. However, the document seems to suggest that TaylorMade, with its penchant for pushing boundaries, could be working on a (at least partially) black iron.

View the full filing here.

TaylorMade fairway wood

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 10.57.43 AM

California-based TaylorMade has also been granted a patent for a “fairway wood center of gravity projection.” The club will look something like the above, with three weights near the front of the sole of the club.

Not surprisingly, with the design the company is pursuing “club heads for a fairway wood that at least one of a high moment of inertia, a low center-of-gravity, a thin crown and a high coefficient of restitution.”

Yes. That ought to do it.

View the full filing here.

Ping hybrid

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 12.50.03 PM

Here’s a hybrid club Ping is working on referred to as a “club head with deflection mechanism and related methods.” The intention of the mechanism seems to be to make it easier to hit the ball on the center of the club face (reportedly, that’s not a bad place to consistently make contact).

The filing also features sketches of a fairway wood with similar characteristics.

View the full filing here.

Founder Karsten Solheim’s company is also working on an iron that looks like this, which looks to be part of a complete set of clubs with variable constructions.

Screen shot 2014-04-22 at 12.57.39 PM

View the full filing here.

Titleist fairway wood

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Fairhaven, Mass-based Titleist filed a patent for a “golf club head with flexure.” According to the filing, “the flexure provides compliance during an impact between the golf club head and a golf ball, and is tuned to vibrate, immediately after impact, at a predetermined frequency.”

Thus, the design, which looks rather progressive compared the Titleist’s more traditional offerings, seems also to be at the fore of the trend toward enhanced feedback. And it doesn’t take an R&D whiz to realize that the face is likely hotter because of the flexure/increased face flex.

View the full filing here.

Related Topics:Callaway Ping TaylorMade Titleist

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

12 Comments

jc

Apr 23, 2014 at 12:05 pm

taylor made will announce that they are building a solid metal head with no slots and it will come in only black and the sheep will run and buy it because the ad will talk about pure mass being better than flex.

Reply Report comment
- Jim
  
  Apr 25, 2014 at 6:28 pm
  
  Introducing the taylormade SCREW”R” fairway wood its got to be atleast 34 yards longer by now . The titleist and ping club looks like every adams club and the rbzs the slots in the woods and hybrids do help with consistency i feel if nothing else , but if every one is doing it there must be something in it.
  
  Reply Report comment
SA golfer

Apr 23, 2014 at 4:13 am

Whaha titleist rbz 3 wood.

Reply Report comment
markb

Apr 22, 2014 at 11:50 pm

If a “gimmick” introduced by Taylormade (meaning slot technology) is then copied by the arch-conservative Titleist, does it not cease to be a gimmick and become an innovation?

Reply Report comment
- 78Staff
  
  Apr 23, 2014 at 11:51 am
  
  Introduced by Adams, not TaylorMade – at least in recent metalwood history. In reality there have been slots in woods for years, see Hogan, Wilson, etc going way back in the day. :).
  
  Reply Report comment
  - leftright
    
    Apr 23, 2014 at 8:22 pm
    
    Correct, Wilson made an iron in the 70’s called the “Reflex” iron. It was the forerunner to everything made today by Taylor, Callaway, Adams, etc. It was probably crude at that time but it was the first iron with that technology. It was a cast club, not forged and I am not sure what became of it’s legacy.
    
    Reply Report comment
- BlkNGld
  
  Apr 25, 2014 at 8:40 pm
  
  Looks more like a Nike compression channel to me.
  
  Reply Report comment
MHendon

Apr 22, 2014 at 5:26 pm

I hate to see Titleist go down the path of gimmicky crap, but I guess to keep up with their competitors they have to. It’s a shame so many people buy into it. I’ve put my old (by today’s standards) 904f up against many of the newest fairway woods on the market and it still outperforms them all. No adjustability, no moveable weights, no velocity slots, just a nice traditional pear shaped head that’s well balanced and gives me great distance and the perfect trajectory.

Reply Report comment
- enrique
  
  Apr 22, 2014 at 6:44 pm
  
  I don’t care how gimmicky/techie it is as long as I can’t see those bits. And it looks like I can see all that on this Titleist. Boo!
  
  Reply Report comment
BeTheBall

Apr 22, 2014 at 4:04 pm

I am a betting man and I bet that TaylorMade is finally going to bring the technology that they have in the face of the Gloire driver to an iron and bring it to the states sometime in the future.

Reply Report comment
chris k

Apr 22, 2014 at 2:59 pm

The iron from taylormade i believe will be the SLDR irons. More forgiving and a hotter face.

Reply Report comment
- K
  
  Apr 24, 2014 at 11:45 am
  
  Yup, they’re coming out with SLDR and SLDR S next. Irons will be called SLDR
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Putters that never made it: Check out some of the best tour builds that didn’t make the cut

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Arguably, the best perk of being a professional golfer on the PGA Tour is the ability to request or even just be handed pretty much any club you could think of. It happens more often than you think, usually with putters around the practice green from one event to the next. Come Wednesday, the Tour bags lining the edge of the putting surface become resting places for fallen flatsticks that never made the cut.

So let’s take a look at some of the best we’ve seen out on Tour this year that never made it to the competition. (You may notice none of Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Scotty Cameron putters made this list. There are too many.)

Let’s start with this custom Damascus Milled Odyssey Rossie made for Ryo Hisatsune. Featuring a single line and the short-slant hossel, we’ve seen plenty of Number 7 and jailbird heads featuring the Damascus Milled insert, but this is the first and only one we’ve spotted in a Rossie. Hisatsune primarily putts with an Odyssey Black Series iX #9, but we have seen him recently with a TaylorMade TP Collection SOTO, so there could be potential that the Damascus Milled Rossie could end up in the bag.

Everyone wants to be Cameron Young right now. We’ve had Justin Thomas and Tom Hoge both game the Scotty Cameron 9.5R prototype. Well, for the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka nearly joined that list after requesting the same style of putter, with the full-length alignment line. But the Scotty Cameron reps took the request a step further and made one specially for Koepka with a Teryllium insert, similar to one in his previous Newport 2 gamers. The reason why this one didn’t go into play, though? Because it was too heavy.

Harry Hall was the third-best putter on Tour last year, so when Bettinardi made him a custom proto, you know it was going to be good. The custom BB28 blade features VDF face milling, a custom-welded single-bend shaft, and the owner’s initials – HH – on the sole of the putter. Hall, who usually games an Odyssey O-Works #7 W, has dabbled with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X already this year. Maybe there’s a chance this Bettinardi might make his bag.

Honestly, this one doesn’t need a description. It’s Kieth Mitchell’s custom Scotty Cameron Napa. One Scotty Cameron face stamp, two Scotty Dogs, two Scotty Cameron 7-Point Crowns and one Circle T. That is all. Oh, except for the Cashmere Cameron headcover.

Finally, and just for fun, how about we pour one out for this TaylorMade Spider Tour X made for Scottie Scheffler in its new torched finish. It’s unlikely we’ll see a putter change anytime soon from the best golfer in the world. In fact, he hit just two putts with it on the Harbour Town practice before going back to his trusty gamer.

Whats in the Bag

Patrick Reed WITB 2026 (May)

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 130 M.S.I. 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 Tour Rack (52-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-08M), SM11 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Rat 1.5 Tour Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

See more photos of Patrick Reed’s clubs here.

Equipment

Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing their favorite major winning irons used by Tiger Woods. WRXer ‘golferdude54’ kicks off the thread saying:

“Mizuno MP 14/29. Titleist 681T. Nike Forged Blades. TaylorMade P7TW.

Among these irons that helped Tiger win 15 majors, which is your favorite in terms of looks?”

And our members have been naming their favorites and why in response.

Here are a couple of posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

SwingBlade: “I prefer the early blades he played and the more recent TM TW’s especially because after Tiger had his major behavioral setbacks, part of Nikes support payback was making Tiger play a Nike putter and cease using his beloved uniquely customized Scotty putter.”
ProjectX: “This (Nike Forged Blades) and there’s not even a close second.”

Entire Thread: “Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss”