Opinion & Analysis
What it’s really like when tour players hit new clubs for the first time
I call them “OMG” golf commercials. A tour player is on the range hitting a new golf club and he can’t believe how far and straight it’s going.
[quote_box_center]“Is this legal?” he might ask. “It’s amazing. It’s going in the bag today!”[/quote_box_center]
Watch enough of these commercials and you’ll probably be convinced, at least once, that your clubs have been your problem all along… Or that every golf equipment company is full of it… Or you’ll fall somewhere in the middle. But how do tour players really react the first time they test new golf clubs? That’s what I always wondered, and for that answer I attended TaylorMade’s 2015 ad shoot.
The shoot took place in September at Reynolds Planation in Lake Oconee, Ga., where Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Camilo Villegas, Ryan Palmer, Boo Weekly, Brendon Todd and Sebastian Cappelen tested the company’s new RSi, R15 and AeroBurner product lines for the first time. At the time of the ad shoot there were only a handful of hittable R15 and AeroBurner products in the world.
TaylorMade’s R15 430 driver
I use the word “hittable” loosely. TaylorMade engineers were still dialing in the look and feel of the metal woods. At any moment, one of the drivers, fairway woods or hybrids might break, the product team explained to me — it was the nature of any first prototype. The clubs stayed intact, but it was surprising to learn that a breakage was a possibility.
I spoke with Jason Day, who was taking a break from golf to rehab the thumb and back injuries he’d suffered during the 2014 season. He’d hit a few shots for the cameras, but that was it, so we talked about the process he goes through before he puts new clubs in the bag.
[quote_box_center]“I test everything on the range on a launch monitor, and the numbers have to be better for me to make the switch,” Day said. “If it’s going straighter and longer, I’ll change right away, but they have to be better.”[/quote_box_center]
One of the first sets of TaylorMade RSi TP irons produced. They were given to Sergio Garcia at the ad shoot.
Day told me that he expected to make the change to TaylorMade’s new RSi TP irons in 2015, but what was really excited about was switching iron shafts. For years he’s used Rifle 7.0 iron shafts, but he’d heard great things about Nippon’s N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 130X iron shafts from other tour players.
[quote_box_center]“Apparently, that shaft is off the charts,” Day said.[/quote_box_center]
Like us, professional golfers like to try what their friends are playing.
Brendon Todd testing an AeroBurner 3 wood with Brian Bazzel (left) and Keith Sbarbaro (center), TaylorMade’s PGA Tour rep.
I spoke to Brendon Todd, who won his first PGA Tour event in May, the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Brian Bazzel, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation for metal woods, guessed before Todd’s fitting that he would likely be a fit for the company’s new R15 driver. He turned out to be a better fit for TaylorMade’s AeroBurner driver.
“He’s definitely an AeroBurner guy,” Bazzel said afterward. “That’s why you never go into a fitting with a closed mind.”
Todd was also a fit for the AeroBurner 3 wood, which he was hitting almost as far as the driver. He was so impressed with the AeroBurner line that he wanted to try an AeroBurner hybrid, which TaylorMade’s product team hadn’t expected. I then watched what I was sure never happened with a tour player. Todd proceeded to test an AeroBurner hybrid with a (gasp) stiff-flex stock shaft, which was entirely too bendy and light for him, but he didn’t seem to mind.
Brendon Todd talks to Brian Bazzel about the AeroBurner hybrid.
[quote_box_center]“Those were some really good clubs,” Todd told me after the fitting. “Once you find something you like, you stick with it. I think [the AeroBurner] 3 wood might be the one.”[/quote_box_center]
Ryan Palmer was the most interesting player to watch get fit for metal woods. He’d held onto TaylorMade’s Burner SuperFast 2.0 driver from 2011 and it hadn’t hurt his game — he had his best year on Tour in 2014, earning nearly $3 million and finished 14th in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
With the Burner SuperFast 2.0, Palmer was averaging a launch angle of 11.5 degrees with a spin rate of 2200 rpm. His ball speed was a brisk 172 mph. With the R15 460, his launch jumped to 13 degrees and his spin rate fell to 2000 rpms. His ball speed also went up, to about 173.5 miles per hour. That gave him 9 yards more carry distance and 6 yards more total distance, but you wouldn’t have known it from his reaction.
When PGA Tour players use a driver that’s several years old, it’s because they really like it. A few extra yards isn’t always enough to get them to change; it often takes better performance and an increased sense of confidence from the new club, and the two things aren’t always synonymous.
I learned from Keith Sbabaro, TaylorMade’s PGA Tour rep, that Palmer doesn’t like to switch clubs. Sbabaro went on to say that Palmer’s 5 wood – a TaylorMade R9 from 2009 – would be the hardest club in his bag to replace.
Sbabaro said those words just as Palmer was testing TaylorMade’s new R15 five wood, which he was carrying about 10 yards farther than his R9 five wood. I saw Palmer uncork a big smile, which got bigger as he found he could replicate all his shots with the new club. The high draw, the low fade, the high fade, the knockdown… he rotated through his repertoire of shots looking for something he didn’t like, but he didn’t find anything.
Palmer was ready to make the switch, but the problem was that the TaylorMade team wasn’t ready to give him the club. Bazzel explained to Palmer that the sole design still needed minor tweaks, and besides, he couldn’t even test the club in public. The R15 line wouldn’t be made public until much later.
[quote_box_center]“If we make him wait, Ryan won’t trust us,” Sbarbaro said. “Everything about this club: the lie angle, the loft … everything is perfect.”[/quote_box_center]
At one point, Sbarbaro suggested that Palmer sign an impromptu contract that would allow him to take the club home and keep it there until he was cleared to take it to the range.
[quote_box_center]“I, Ryan, will not take the club out of the house,” Sbarbaro rehearsed with him.[/quote_box_center]
Bazzel pointed out that the 5 wood had an open hot melt port that gave it a higher-pitched sound than wasn’t ideal, but none of that mattered to Palmer.
“This one is just better,” he said “I don’t care.”
I was watching an “OMG” golf commercial, but it was happening in real time in front of me.
I watched several other fittings — Justin Rose, Boo Weekley and Sergio Garcia — and looked for similarities in the way the players approached their clubs. The one common theme? They had very little in common.
Justin Rose tests TaylorMade’s RSi irons with Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s director of product creation for irons, putters and wedges.
Rose, like Jason Day, was mostly concerned with getting better launch monitor numbers with the new clubs, and he seemed to want to know everything about their design. Boo Weekley was the opposite. He didn’t even notice the slots on the faces of TaylorMade’s RSi irons until they were pointed out to him. He judged new clubs by their feel and ball flight, and showed an uncanny ability to predict what shots with the new clubs were flying slightly farther or spinning more – which the launch monitor always seemed to confirm.
My favorite part of the event came courtesy of Garcia when he was testing R15 drivers. Garcia said he would have played TaylorMade’s SLDR 430 driver last year, but there was something about the way it looked at address that he didn’t like. The SLDR 460, which is larger, looked better to him, so he played that driver in 2014.
Sergio Garcia compares the R15 460 and the R15 430 drivers.
During the fitting, Garcia quickly decided that the R15 430 would be his driver for 2015. I watched him use it to hit drive after drive with similar trajectories. The launch monitor confirmed that each shot was flying about 290 yards in the air and rolling out to 315 yards.
Garcia then took a break to chat with Bazzel, and Rory McIlroy’s name came up.
“Every time, he tees it as high as he can and swings as hard as he can,” Garcia said. “If I hit every drive like [Rory], I’d be scared I’d hit it out of bounds.”
Garcia proceeded to “hit one like Rory,” teeing the ball as high as the tee allowed and swinging a little harder. The result was a higher launch angle, less spin and about 20 yards more distance, which he replicated with several more drives.
That was my “OMG” moment. If Garcia could do that, what else could he do? What else hadn’t I seen?
Thank goodness the PGA Tour is the testing ground for new golf equipment, and thank goodness for the unreasonable standards these players demand from their clubs. It makes the final product that much more precise.
The only downside? Less conviction when I blame bad shots on my clubs.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Will
Nov 25, 2014 at 12:14 pm
I’m currently toying with the idea of investing in the new TM gear in the new year. Currently a Titleist player off 3 so no bias there. Really informative article, especially the points regarding the new Nippon shaft that Day mentioned. I saw Stenson has also put this in his irons. Interesting how the players feel a steel shaft can make such a differerence considering the flex probably isn’t too dissimilar. Also the fact that Garcia preferred the 460cc SLDR last year, shows that pros don’t necessarily go with the longer hitting and more compact 430cc versions but choose more on personal preference.
I would be interested in more information regarding the TP specifications and set ups the pro’s tinker with. I imagine the pro’s are playing substantially more advanced shafts than us lowly amateurs.
Regardless, congrats on the article Zak, the first one that has impelled me to leave a comment.
Teaj
Dec 8, 2014 at 10:10 am
just don’t count out Titleist as their 915 Series of driver woods and hybrids are pretty dame good. I found that they were not as long as BBA and SLDR but their issue with spin on low hits with driver has seemed to lessen quite a bit which im sure due to the slot. I’m waiting for the Vapor Pro, R15 and the word on the street is that there is a Lower Spinning G30 coming down the pipeline. Exciting times at least for me in the new year when all the new gear is out.
Zak Kozuchowski
Dec 12, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Thanks for reading, Will.
mike
Nov 19, 2014 at 5:36 pm
I don’t usually finish long article, but this article is too interesting to read.
Regis
Nov 19, 2014 at 3:21 pm
I’ve been living, breathing and reading about all things golf for almost 50 years. I loved the article. I feel incomplete because I don’t speak Spanish but I do have the requisite intelligence to read a number of reviews before making my own decision then demoing a club and getting fit . And seriously how often does a major manufacturer introduce a driver that’s a real dud? Maybe not for me but…. Right now I’m gaming almost all SLDR products but its not because of what I read in an article.
Jim
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:35 pm
Really interesting article. Well done Zak!
Dan
Nov 19, 2014 at 11:29 am
Without a doubt one of the best articles I’ve read on GolfWRX. Do you haters even pause to consider we see more articles like this about TMAG because they actually grant more access to behind the scenes stuff than any other company?
Mike
Nov 19, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Also could be due to the fact that TMAG has about 3x as many product cycles as any other OEM.
Dan
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:08 pm
No, it isn’t. When did the SLDR come out again? 3 months ago right?
Regis
Nov 19, 2014 at 3:09 pm
July 2013 but don’t let the facts get in the way of your opinion.
the dude
Nov 19, 2014 at 7:38 pm
sarcasm…?
Dan
Nov 21, 2014 at 3:26 pm
So, 18 month product cycle? Way too shoey and killing the business? Sheesh
Desmond
Nov 18, 2014 at 8:33 pm
I’ve found the TMAG premium lineup is for the best players with speed … and that’s not me. But I found the article entertaining.
golfing
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:07 pm
http://youtu.be/rcrtlGqHIrQ
golfing
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:12 pm
he learned the club and won 11 times that year.
James
Nov 17, 2014 at 12:48 pm
So Sergio tees the club higher, which would indeed launch it higher, swings harder, which indeed would make the ball go farther, and it is all due to the club? Please. Maybe the setup he had helped him hit it straighter and not hook it as he feared but if you tee the ball higher, you have to make an adjustment in setup for it, and if you swing harder and hit it solid it should indeed go farther. I would say it had more to do with Sergio than the club.
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 17, 2014 at 12:56 pm
Who said it was the club?
Dave S
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:38 pm
Some guys just like trying to poke holes in everything.
Great article. Love the insight.
Sebastien
Nov 17, 2014 at 8:47 am
I loved the insider look at a product and experience. I think more articles like this are needed on WRX.
Jose Jimenez
Nov 16, 2014 at 10:59 pm
Hay Dios Mio!!!!!!!!! Que porqueria!,,,,,,,,, sorry! This poorly add disguised as a genuine article shocked me so bad I reverted to my native language! This once informative website is turning into nothing more than a online version of Golf Digest. And they wonder why I stopped reading their magazine after more than 20 years,,,,
Alberto
Nov 17, 2014 at 3:45 am
Estas criticando solo por criticar. Your comments don’t provide any constructive feedback. As you have great experience in the game for more than 20 years, tell the editors how to write an article, tu experiencia es valiosa, compártela. Don’t say that this is a porquería, just tell them what you expect from them, what they should include in any review or article, in that way they will improve and you and many others will be please to read these articles.
Or go a step further. This website was hiring editors. You could be one of them.
By the way, I’m just a reader that plays golf since a couple of years ago.
Jose Jimenez
Nov 17, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Dime en que lenguage quivers que respnda a lomque to has dicho, que tal si lo escribo en Español ? Imwill respond to you in English so everyone can read it. Did you notice that this gentleman ONLT answered those that complimented this add? I mean article. I want HONESTY, don’t tell me that this is “actual” reactions when we can tell it is nothing but scripted remarks. Last I read, they were hiring writers for this website, and there is NO WAY some one who says the truth about products tested would be bird since the ones who pay the bills (Taylormade just one of them) would NOT want honest reviews about their products. Since you stated your have been a golfer for just a couple of years, here is something you will NEVER read in articles here, a $50-100 fitting will do MORE for your game than shinny new clubs.
Dave S
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Haters gonna hate. Personas con odio van a odiar.
Jose Jimenez
Nov 18, 2014 at 2:22 am
Perdón? Quisiste decir “Odiosos van a odiar” that is the proper translation of haters gonna hate,,,,, see? Can’t trust Google translator !!
ken
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Please provide an example of a “scripted remark” by one or more of the players interviewed.
ken
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Estoy de acuerdo
I cannot stand it when one finds it necessary to always be contrary.
Truth
Nov 16, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Golf WRX more like Golf TMAG
Dave S
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:43 pm
So by your logic, this article would only be worthy of your eyeballs if the author went around to every manufacturer and compared notes of players’ responses during club testings? TMaG obviously offered to let him stop by, should he turn down the offer? SMH.
Al385
Nov 16, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Although I’m not a TM fan, I have to admit that this is a great article, well written and it also made me feel that I was there witnessing something that would answer all my questions about the hype of new products, especially from TM that every other month offers something new that claims to be longer and better. Good for TM in inviting GolfWRX and good for Zak for such a good article.
Would I buy a TM club after this? probably not but for sure I will read with enthusiasm any other similar article from Zak about the launch of any other products. Hopefully he’ll get invitations from other manufacturers as this is the only way to read about this kind of experiences.
By the way, latest WRXers visit to The Oven (Nike) deserved a to be in the front page, not only inside the forums.
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 17, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Thank you for reading, Al. We’ll continue to find ways to bring our readers closer to the action.
allen
Nov 16, 2014 at 10:40 am
Would all this negative feedback be here if this was with Ping or Mizuno clubs? I dislike TM with a passion and I think it has been years since I have even hit a TM product (although I will not take my V Steel 3 wood out of the bag). I liked the article, it was a good read, and yes a little infomercial sounding, but that is fine, I will not hit any of these clubs anyway.
ken
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Those players are signed to TM. Therefore they would not be testing other brands
eric
Nov 16, 2014 at 12:35 am
Great PR piece. Congrats to Zak and golf wrx for your new job as the marketing dept at Adidas GOLF. Was this a paid placement by TM? Cause if it was not it should be. Hey whatever keeps those TM drivers coming…is the R15 like the 20th TM driver of 2014 so far? Awesome. Nothing like reading PR fluff with my nightly beers.
John Smith
Nov 16, 2014 at 5:43 am
Completely agree. This is just marketing tripe trying to be passed off as an independent article.
rob23
Nov 16, 2014 at 8:55 am
eric… there are always someone like you that hate to hate. Yet you are still here reading. Zak did a great job writing a piece that was less of a promo and more of a behind the scenes and you have to call foul. BORING bro… be right.
Dave S
Nov 17, 2014 at 5:44 pm
THIS ^^
Matthew Carter
Nov 16, 2014 at 10:34 am
Great write up Zack!
Dig insider info especially on the players and their thoughts on new product.
Well done!
Tom
Nov 16, 2014 at 1:44 pm
I agree. This is info I can use when deciding to purchase new gear. I wouldn’t buy a car without doing research on it first. This type of information is helpful.
donnie
Nov 15, 2014 at 9:03 pm
Great article!
J
Nov 15, 2014 at 7:48 pm
Contrived. Sell more AD Space.
Tom
Nov 15, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Thank you to all the positive people here. Those who continue to be negative and bash OEMS are just part of the problem with golf. I for one am excited to see the new changes. Every time a second version has come out with TM it has looked and felt better. i.e. r11 to r11s. RBZ to RBZ 2.
Joker
Nov 16, 2014 at 3:03 am
Can’t take a joke? We’re just ‘aving a laugh
enrique
Nov 16, 2014 at 6:10 pm
I just did a tally. It’s 50/50 in the comments negative vs. positive. If half your readers are turned off by the subject, angle, approach, and have a gross feeling like they were just marketed to, then something is wrong.
enrique
Nov 15, 2014 at 3:41 pm
more and more nausea….
Bogeypro
Nov 15, 2014 at 3:08 pm
why do I feel like I just read a taylor made commercial?
toomuch
Nov 15, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Just more TMag propaganda! They would definitely have to pay me to even touch their clubs.
Rich
Nov 17, 2014 at 3:49 pm
They are a marketing machine but if you’re not playing their clubs purely based on that, you’re missing out. I don’t care what brand it is. If it works, I’ll use it. The new spider blade is an awesome putter. R11 woods were awesome and my spare set of R9 TP irons are nice as well.
Oscar
Nov 15, 2014 at 3:50 am
And the Best Actor Oscar goes to………..
Ben
Nov 15, 2014 at 12:47 am
This was a great article, I’d love to see other pieces in a similar vein. Always fun to see the pros in a different light.
KK
Nov 15, 2014 at 12:15 am
Of course the equipment matters. That’s why you see a handful of very popular unsponsored items on tour: TM drivers, Scotty putters, Vokey wedges and Pro V1s.
Fsubaseball21
Nov 14, 2014 at 8:25 pm
The RSI irons are no joke. 2 consecutive days on the monitor and the mis hits are as good as solid hits on on 3 other major oem sets. The toe hits were almost perfect. I know people are skeptical but these slots absolutely work. No question.
JHM
Nov 14, 2014 at 7:35 pm
very interesting – thanks for the insight
tina
Nov 14, 2014 at 5:36 pm
Bazzel … ohh behave!
Tom Duckworth
Nov 14, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Very good read. It is fun to see what they think of new clubs for the first time. Sounds like most players won’t switch unless the clubs are really better. I also didn’t have to read about their pants….great!
tiger woods
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:53 pm
awesome article! love hearing what the pros are actually thinking.. was really surprised by sergio’s “rory” drives.
Derek
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:19 pm
Ok,I have faith in the GolfWRX journalism again. Great read.
Rich B
Nov 14, 2014 at 2:10 pm
Great article. Something original and different to other recent ones.
Leon
Nov 14, 2014 at 12:34 pm
On the tour level, especially for big players, everything is well built and tweaked for them. There is really no performance difference among different equipment brands. If there were, guess what, the players would certainly like to give up some endorsements but to make more wins instead. Plus, the players hit the ball so good that they don’t need the amount of forgiveness as we do.
The problem is, the off the shelves products we got have noticeable variation of quality and performance. Most of the part came from the shaft quality. And for the average Joe, we need a hack amount of forgiveness to cover the miss. Now, the TM pushes the R15 GC more forward and even lower. Yes, it will give you more distance and less spin on a perfect shot, but guess what, it will make the club much harder to hit and you will lose more balls per round thanks to TM’s innovation.
You won’t blame TM for this because the tour players play them, and because you can occasionally bomb it 10 yards further. You just think it is just your swing that causes the problem. Well, it is. But if you forget this “innovation”, you can simply save a few OB per round. Nobody would trade his hard money for more frustration, will you?
TM
Nov 14, 2014 at 9:31 pm
LOFT UP!
It works. That’ll help you hit it easier too.
totebagger
Nov 14, 2014 at 10:25 am
best article on the site so far. well done gwrx. more of this please!
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 17, 2014 at 12:55 pm
Thank you! More coming!
Anthony
Nov 19, 2014 at 1:01 pm
I happened to really enjoy the article.
Thanks
YB
Nov 14, 2014 at 3:40 am
And the Oscar goes to………………………
mv
Nov 14, 2014 at 3:30 am
I am not TM fan..but I liked this article a lot..well done. I want to try these clubs after thos read:)
You have to be paid by TM for such great stories. 😉
Dufferino
Nov 14, 2014 at 1:10 am
Great Read!
As Cory, i’d really like to see a follow up on how they get the chosen gear adjusted and tweaked before putting it in the bag.
Jeff
Nov 13, 2014 at 10:16 pm
Outstanding story, Zak. You seem to think and ask about a lot of the same things I would, I think it’s why you’re my favorite writer on WRX. What a fascinating experience. Cant wait to see Palmer hit a 5 wood or if Sergio’s driving distance goes up. Great, relevant story.
gunmetal
Nov 16, 2014 at 11:46 am
Sergio’s distance won’t change more than a couple yards in either direction. That’s what it has done over the past ten years. A lot of fellow wrxers get upset when I cite PGA tour driving distance statistics, but the simple truth of the matter is that they don’t lie. Distance has been around the same ever since the pro v1 surfaced and the decisions to limit the trampoline effect came down.
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 17, 2014 at 12:57 pm
We’ll keep you updated on these players’ changes with our tour photos and WITB stories, Jeff. Thanks for reading!
Bubba
Nov 13, 2014 at 10:14 pm
Wow! Shocking positive commments/reactions from guys that are paid to play TM clubs! (sarcasm)
sgniwder99
Nov 13, 2014 at 9:52 pm
And here I assumed that they just went to the WRX classifieds like I do.
Tomar200
Nov 13, 2014 at 9:41 pm
This is the kind of stuff that drew me to Golf WRX to start with! Please keep this kind of content as priority!
Travis
Nov 13, 2014 at 9:38 pm
Best article yet!
Cory
Nov 13, 2014 at 8:07 pm
One of my favourite reads ever on this site. Great to see the first time reactions and how different guys are in getting their new gamers. Would be fascinating to see a follow up once they tried them on the course and if that changed anything for them when forgiveness starts to matter more.
Also amazing to see how much a guy like Sergio is swinging less than his absolute max in order to stay controlled, good advice for most of us. Also maybe why Rory is so freaking good in that he doesn’t and still keeps it under control haha
3golfer3
Nov 13, 2014 at 7:51 pm
I still feel like my Rocketballz 3 wood should be illegal.
Cwolf
Nov 13, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Great article!