Tech Support
Photo by Ivory Serra
Maybe the most amazing thing about golf-club technology is that even with all the brainpower spent coming up with different designs over the centuries, new things still surprise us. Like iron faces nearly as thin as strands of spaghetti. Or driver shafts that weigh less than a car key. Or clubs made of materials originally developed for rocket parts and artificial bones. Imaginative thinking like this is meant to maximize design features for a specific type of player while keeping the looks as classic as possible. That includes everybody from high-intensity, greyhound-sleek scratch players to still-improving, silver-haired 20-handicappers. TaylorMade's Tomo Bystedt talks about the company's new mini driver this way: “Maybe it isn't for everyone, but for the people that like this kind of club, this is potentially a game-changer.” Here are seven new clubs to change your perspective and your potential.
TOMMY ARMOUR
ATOMIC
The rare, ultra-durable titanium alloy in the face provides pop, and air foils on the crown and aerodynamic ridges on the sole boost swing speed.
$400
XXIO
PRIME
A lighter club can give you the speed you lack, and this club weighs 20-percent less than most drivers, featuring a 36-gram shaft that's lighter than most grips.
$850
TOUR EDGE
EXOTICS CBX 119
Better players asked for a smaller fairway wood for workability—without giving up power. The answer: a titanium face brazed to a spin-reducing steel body.
$300
New things still surprise us. Like driver shafts that weigh less than a car key.
CALLAWAY
SURE OUT 2
The wide sole, with extra heel relief, solves chunks and skulls in the bunker by gliding through the sand. Grooves stretch across the face for extra spin.
$120
TITLEIST
CNCPT CP-01
The hollow body's unsupported face is less than two millimeters thick. Up to half the head's weight is dense tungsten for max forgiveness.
$4,000 (SET OF EIGHT)
TAYLORMADE
ORIGINAL ONE MINI DRIVER
It's supersize compared to a 3-wood, but it's also super-charged: a titanium body and face, sole slot and 50-gram steel bottom plate.
$400
HONMA
TW 747
A unique hosel allows loft-and-lie adjustments without changing the way the shaft's spine is aligned. The goal is more consistent distance and accuracy.
$600