BOMB: OK, it’s not quite a year, but it’s close enough to 12 months since K.J. Choi hauled out the toaster known as the Nike Sumo2 and shocked folks not only by using the square-shaped, ear-splitting club, but winning with it. And then winning with it again this year not once, but twice. And there were more. Callaway’s square FT-i, Cleveland’s scooped-back Hi-Bore XL, Titleist’s triangle-shaped 907 D1 and several other shape-shifters. More recently we’ve seen the Cobra Speed LD and TaylorMade Burner. Not quite as outrageous as the others, but still not conventional in shape by any means. Thankfully my daughter was taking geometry last year or I may have not been able to keep up.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of all this has been that what many believed to be a fad might actually have some staying power. In fact, according to the Golf Datatech numbers from June, more than half of all premium driver sales (not counting closeouts, etc.) were of geometry-based big sticks. Repeat: More. Than. Half. And on the big boys tour, some of the game’s biggest names have given them a whirl, namely Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson with the FT-i and Vijay Singh with the Hi-Bore XL. And the TaylorMade Burner is one of the most popular drivers on tour.
Can a remake of the Power Pod be far behind?
GOUGE: Gag. I’ve always believed these bizarre shapes never should have been allowed, not because they threaten the skill level in the game (that could still come, I suppose) but because they just aren’t golf. Nevertheless, if you’re going to look for ways to maximize performance as measured by USGA limitations on moment of inertia and clubhead size, a different shape may be the key. That doesn’t mean exclusively square, of course. Square drivers clearly have lasted longer than 90 days, despite the predictions of TaylorMade CEO Mark King, but even TaylorMade is going shape driven. See its soon-to-be-revealed r7 CGB Max! And Nike will take the Sumo2 to even greater dimensions in the next few months. Of course, the dirty secret behind many of these shapes is the 46-inch shaft they come with. To me, 46 inches creates more problems than it solves. But my sense is we're clearly in a transition period. The pear shaped driver is on its way out, and in five years, the crop of new drivers will bear as much resemblance to an R580 as the original Big Bertha did to an old MacGregor Eye-O-Matic.
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