Hot List Criteria: Golf Digest

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Golf Equipment: golfdigest.com

Hot List Criteria: Our judges focus on five keys

February 2008

1. Buzz Factor (10%)

A product must be in demand. We look at a company's or a product's market share, tour use and (in consultation with our panel of golf retailers) the word-of-mouth excitement a new product is generating.

2. Performance/Playability (40%)

Our key criterion. Based on interviews with our player panelists and other sources, the judges assess how the product performs in terms of distance, trajectory, forgiveness and consistency.

3. Technology/Innovation (30%)

From interviews with each company, and by studying technical documents with our scientists, we consider whether the design is innovative and meaningful and how well the company explains its technology.

4. Function (10%)

In a judge's eyes, how well does the product serve its specific audience? How precisely does it meet the requirements of look and feel for its particular category? For example, does a super game-improvement iron meet the needs of its intended buyer?

5. Value (10%)

What benefit does the product deliver in relation to its price and in relation to the prevailing price in this particular category?

Rating System

Scores in the five criteria are on a 100-point scale. The colored squares represent the three grades. A score in the 90s results in an "Outstanding" designation, in the 80s is "Very Good" and in the 70s is "Good." The double plus represents a range of scores at the high end, single plus in the middle and solid square at the low end of each grade.

Products with a women's version or shaft are designated with this symbol.

In Drivers, we robot-tested a 10.5-degree club from each of the 30 finalists. The launch angles and spin rates are designated on these scales. Of the 30 drivers, launch angles ranged from 9.9 to 14.7 degrees, and spin rates ranged from 2,500 to 3,600 revolutions per minute.

AWARDS

Each category was divided into a Gold and a Silver level based on the product's average score across the five Hot List criteria. Gold products earned an overall grade of 96 or higher on our 100-point scale. Silver products earned an overall grade of 92 to 95 on our 100-point scale.