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SURVIVAL OF THE FITTERS

The Golf Digest Hot List is the golf industry’s leading annual equipment review—and the people behind it some of the hardest-working, most passionate professionals in the game. Presented by Golf Galaxy.

Hybrids

Today’s best hybrids offer an array of possibilities. Need a driver replacement? We have hybrids that are veritable golfing blunderbusses that reach as low as 15 degrees of loft, even sporting titanium faces and bodies. You say your unhittable irons aren’t limited to the 3 and 4-iron? There are hybrids that handle 8-iron duties. Also, as iron lofts get stronger, hybrids must improve at launching the ball higher for a given loft. Thankfully, the best new hybrids do that through multiple-material construction that replaces steel crowns with carbon composite and flexible new steel alloys that provide extra pop and launch. Some larger hybrids even provide the same off-center-hit performance of a fairway wood but with a shorter shaft that’s easier to control. Still, some hybrids work just like they always have, offering that gentle nudge of performance that make them rock-solid long-iron replacement clubs.