Show week: Bomb & Gouge: Golf Digest

Show week

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 Comments

GOUGE: Sixt-one appointments later, Bomb & Gouge are ready to relay what was doing at the annual PGA Merchandise Show. Sixty. One. For those just learning, the Show, as it’s called by the regulars, is the annual gathering of the golf business in an effort to give us winter dwellers all a chance to escape the cold winter and realize how ill-equipped our short games are for playing flop shots out of thinning Bermuda rough. But the mission for equipment writer types like us is to get a gauge of what might be the next big thing. Certainly, with the Hot List, we’ve already seen nearly every club and ball of substance. But for many it was the first time looking at the new stuff. That, of course, meant real-live trial of those four-sided drivers everyone was talking about. Leading the parade were the Nike Sumo2 and the Callaway FT-i. Probably most interested parties are the small players in the golf industry. Said one, “We are rooting hard for the square drivers, because if they take off, it’s an easy two years of predictable sales.” Indeed, we saw at least two more square drivers, the Fury QB from Orlimar and the Simpac and its family of Dynacube square drivers and fairway woods. These clubs may all work fine or they may hurt your eyes and ears, but bottom line, at least for me, they don’t look like golf clubs. I appreciate the technology commitment, but it’s sort of J.Lindeberg golf clothes. I suppose they’re smarter fabrics and more efficient designs. But they just don’t feel like golf.

BOMB: That head cold you had all week is obviously still clouding your mind. Good lord, man, get with it and stop being such an Eeyore. I mean, you should be encouraged by what you saw last week. The rules have club manufacturers boxed in, but last week showed that designers are not throwing their hands in the air and saying, “We give up.” Quite the opposite. There were plenty of good driver stories, both square and otherwise. Shafts aplenty and at least a ball or two that looked intriguing. It’s harder for designers, but it’s not over for them. And innovation clearly isn’t limited to just bats and balls, either. How about those golf bags and travel covers that we were drooling over. But I think what gets lost about the PGA Merchandise Show is something Joe Steranka, CEO of the PGA of America, told me when I asked him why everyday golfers should care that there is a show. He said, “Because what happens here helps the 100 things get done that need to get done for the everyday golfer to enjoy their round.” That makes sense. Clubs, balls, shafts, agronomy, carts, GPS systems, rules, apparel, gadgets, gizmos and everything else was at the show and it all relates to the game of golf—even those Buttheadcovers. But enough of us. Let’s give the folks a list of the 10 coolest things we saw at the show.

GOUGE: I didn’t say it didn’t work. I said I didn’t care for it. So sue me. Technology is hardly dead. It’s alive and pulsing through golf like a freight train on the loose. So over the next 10 days, we’ll share with you our thoughts on the hottest stuff at the Show.
1. High MOI—When you talk to Nike Golf’s chief product wizard Tom Stites, for all intents and purposes the father of the modern high Moment of Inertia driver, the USGA limit of 5,900 is not that far away. “If we wanted to, we could be there tomorrow,” Stites says. Callaway officials have told us that they’ve explained to the USGA how they already can produce prototypes above the limit, and even Mark Adams, research and development czar at minor player Tommy Armour, says they’re having to dumb down future driver designs from current prototypes that are above 6,300. What’s it all mean? Basically, 5,000 MOI is the new standard. Look for the new Cobra Speed LD, the Adams Insight and even (believe it) staid old Titleist with its new 907D1 and 907D2 to be at or above the 5,000 mark, joining leader Nike Sumo2 (5,250 or so) and Callaway FT-i (just above 5,000) in the move into 5K territory. And let’s not forget industry leader TaylorMade. Its new Burner driver measures at 5,100. Of course, you have a thought or two about what MOI really means, and by the way, how are those high MOI drivers doing on tour?

BOMB: You want to know what high MOI really means? Glad you asked. Wrote about that just this past week in Golf World. And as for those high MOI drivers on tour, well, not so fast. At last week’s Buick Invitational the most-used 460cc driver was the Titleist 905R, followed by the Ping Rapture—neither coming close to the 5,000 mark. But then again, those boys don’t miss the center as much or as often as you do, do they my chopper friend?

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Archived Comments (2) Click to expand

What is the difference between MOI and eMOI?

GOUGE: Moment of Inertia is a specific measurement of the characteristic of an object, in our case, a golf club. Specifically, it refers to the resistance to twisting on impacts off center, with respect to a particular center of gravity (or axis of rotation). Thus, a specific measurement is made to illustrate how much the head rotates in response to an off-center hit either heel to toe, crown to sole, or even with respect to the shaft axis. For USGA purposes, there is a limit on the MOI of drivers of 5,900 grams-centimeters squared, in the heel-toe direction.

EMOI is a marketing term being used primarily by TaylorMade. In this case, TaylorMade is using the term to refer to the relative off-center ballspeed effect achieved by combining the moment of inertia number with a ballspeed effect it has determined is the result of its inverted cone face design (which TaylorMade suggests also improves off-center hits). eMOI is not a measurement universally shared by the industry. What can be said for certain is that TaylorMade has an inverted cone face technology that is designed to improve off center hits and it has an MOI number, just as all drivers do. The only number the USGA is attempting to regulate is the scientifically measurable MOI number.

Posted by 3puttbogey February 1, 2007 4:26 PM

Hey Bomb: I read the Golf World article you did in MOI. Very nice. I have a question for you, then a comment. Quoting the article, you say:

"How much farther? Testing by Golf Digest reveals on hits 1/2-inch off-center, today's high MOI drivers only lose about 4.5 yards compared with a falloff of nearly 15 yards with drivers used in the early 1990s at a swing speed of 120 miles per hour."

120 mph swing speed? Early 1990s driver? How about some estimated numbers for the other 99.99975% of golfers? In other words, how would the high MOI drivers compare with, say, a Callaway FT3, for a golfer with a 95 mph swing speed? All other things being equal, of course (length, fitting, etc.) No cheating on your answer, no mumbo jumbo...I know you probably would need to guesstimate, but I understand and won't come after you with a law suit over your answer. Just a ballpark number, please?

Now for my comment. I have been saying for years to people on golf courses that "high tech" clubs help pros more than amateurs. I get some strange looks and a few arguments over this notion, but your article, which so succinctly explains why professionals will get more consistent distance with higher MOI clubs, supports my argument. The same MOI principles must apply to irons as well as woods. Pros all hit it pretty straight. If they can hit it a consistent distance more often, they will be closer to more pins. I suspect a 14 handicap who's missing the sweet spot by 1/2 inch or more 95% of the time, compounded with an open or shut face, isn't going to get nearly the same benefit from the higher MOI club. In other words, 3-4 yards on an approach shot can make a tremendous difference to a tour pro in the context of a professional event, while the same few yards on a slightly open-faced, gouged iron shot of someone like me are usually meaningless. I'm not arguing against modern equipment for high handicappers--I know it helps us in many ways and is far superior to stuff of even 10 years ago. I have a bag full of modern, high tech clubs and balls and love them. I'm just saying that it helps pros as much or more as it helps the rest of us.

Thanks for the great work of the Hot List. And the Editors might want to chip in and get Gouge a gift certificate for a massage. He seems a bit tense.

LD

GOUGE: First, don't think there aren't a lot of golfers still carrying around 1990s drivers in their bags. Check the local muni. Heck, check the local country club. The last part first. Pros don't want high MOI irons because high MOI irons aren't designed to work the ball. (And when I say "high," I mean big, honking wide-soled cavity backed irons). Most cavity backed irons also launch the ball too high and generate too much spin for the highest swing speeds. So they are no good.

Now, to the meat of your question. It's fairly clear that the effects of COR and MOI and shaft length and even steroids are reduced as you reduce speed. A high MOI driver, in and of itself, is not going to increase your swing speed. A longer shaft might, as some of the new High MOI drivers are also coming with longer shafts, but high MOI all by itself won't suddenly add speed to your swing. But the difference between your FT-3 and FT-5 is not going to be solely an MOI difference. We are really talking about differences perhaps within the same iron distance to the green. Probably a couple of yards solely based on MOI difference. But there's also a reduced spin effect and the square drivers might increase the MOI difference by a couple of more yards. But my long-standing argument is why if given the choice, would you opt for worse not better? Economics have nothing to do with physics, as far as I can tell.

Posted by LD February 2, 2007 9:56 AM