GOLF NEWS Equipment & Gear March 2019

MARCH 2019 | WWW.GOLFNEWS.CO.UK/EQUIPMENT

IT’S EPIC &

IT’S FLASHY MEET CALLAWAY’S NEW RANGE-BUSTING BIG STICK

HELLO HONMA! Golf News goes big in Japan to discover how Honma makes its stunning clubs

HITTING THE G SPOT G410: Ping’s hottest ever range of woods & irons

KINGS OF DISTANCE The latest drivers reviewed

APPAREL SHOWCASE Polo or a jacket?

It must be Spring

FRANCESCO MOLINARI On his switch to Callaway Golf

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A MOTOCADDY ELECTRIC TROLLEY WORTH £500

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EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

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NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019

EQUIPMENT & GEAR

THE GEAR EFFECT INSIDES THE BAGS OF RECENT WINNERS ON TOUR KEITH MITCHELL HONDA CLASSIC

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EQUIPMENT NEWS

DRIVER: Mizuno ST190 (9.5 degrees) FAIRWAY WOOD: Titleist 917F2 (16.5 degrees), Titleist TS2, 21 degrees IRONS: Mizuno MP-18 (4-PW) WEDGES: Vokey SM7 (50, 54, 59 degrees) PUTTER: TaylorMade Spider Tour X BALL: Titleist Pro V1

KURT KITAYAMA OMAN OPEN

DRIVER: TaylorMade M5 (9) FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade M2 (16.5) DRIVING IRON: TaylorMade GAPR Mid 3 IRONS: TaylorMade P750 (4), TaylorMade P730 (5-PW) WEDGES: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 56), TaylorMade Hi-Toe (60) PUTTER: Toulon Design Atlanta Stroke Lab BALL: TaylorMade TP5x

DUSTIN JOHNSON

WGC-MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER: TaylorMade M5 (10.5) FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade M5 (15) IRONS: TaylorMade P790 (3-iron), TaylorMade P730 DJ Proto (4-PW) WEDGES: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 60 degrees), TaylorMade Hi-Toe (64 degrees) PUTTER: TaylorMade Spider Tour Black BALL: 2019 TaylorMade TP5x

RYAN FOX

ISPS HANDA WORLD SUPER 6 PERTH DRIVER: Srixon Z 785 (10.5) FAIRWAY WOOD: Callaway Epic Flash (15) DRIVING IRON: Srixon Z U85 (20) IRONS: Srixon Z 785 (4-PW) WEDGES: Cleveland RTX 4 (51º, 54º, 60º) PUTTER: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red BALL: Srixon Z Star XV

JB HOLMES

GENESIS OPEN DRIVER: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (10.5) FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade M2 HL (16.5) IRONS: Srixon Z U85 (3), Srixon Z-785 (4-PW) WEDGES: Cleveland RTX 4 (50, 54, 60 degrees) PUTTER: Scotty Cameron 009M BALL: Srixon Z-Star XV

DAVID LAW

ISPS HANDA VIC OPEN DRIVER: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (10.5˚) FAIRWAY WOODS: Titleist TS3 (15˚, 18˚) UTILITY IRON: Wilson Staff FG Tour V4 (3) IRONS: Wilson Staff C300 (4-6), Wilson Staff FG Tour V6 (7-PW) WEDGES: Wilson Staff PMP RAW (52˚), Titleist Vokey SM7 (58˚) PUTTER: Odyssey Versa 2-Ball Red BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

PHIL MICKELSON

PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM DRIVER: Callaway Rogue Sub Zero (9°) FAIRWAY WOOD: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (13.5°) UTILITY: Callaway X Forged UT (3) IRONS: Callaway Epic Pro (4); Callaway X Forged 18 (5); Callaway Apex MB (6-PW) WEDGES: Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind 19 (54°, 60°, 64°) PUTTER: Odyssey Versa #9 White BALL: Callaway Chrome Soft X

GET A SCOOT ON WITH FINNCYCLE The golf industry is constantly looking at ways to speed up and it seems to have found another fun method to do just that with the launch of the FinnCycle.

Developed by Sun Mountain Motor Sports, the FinnCycle is an electrically-powered single rider scooter that is capable of speeds of up to 15mph. Fitted with a lithium battery

with enough juice for 36 holes, it holds a golf bag between its seat and handlebars to enable easy club access and aid stability.

Front and rear suspension provide a comfortable ride, while a hydraulic disc brake system brings the scooter to a gentle stop. It operates via an app that unlocks the scooter for use and then collects the rental fee.

CALLAWAY BECOMES EUROPEAN TOUR EQUIPMENT PARTNER The European Tour has announced that Callaway has become an official partner for the next five years. As part of the deal, Callaway becomes the official driver, golf ball, shoe and golf bag brand of the European Tour; Odyssey

and OGIO become the official putter and luggage brands respectively; while Callaway Apparel and Travis Mathew, will be the official on-course apparel.

Callaway will also supply its Chrome Soft golf balls to driving ranges at European

The FinnCycle is light enough to not cause any damage to the golf course, and recent testing has seen four-ball groups whizz around 18 holes in just two hours, while a single player has even managed to get round in 60 minutes. The FinnCycle will be on sale from this spring, and will be available to hire at selected golf courses worldwide.

■ CALLAWAY’S NEIL HOWIE (LEFT) PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR CALLAWAY GOLF EMEA WITH KEITH PELLEY CEO OF THE PGA EUROPEAN TOUR

Tour events.

The company will also drive awareness of Odyssey through a ‘putting leaderboard’ on TV broadcasts, which will showcase a new range of performance statistics at each European Tour event.

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EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REAL BALL SPEED This is Callaway’s first Driver ever to be engineered using breakthrough Artificial Intelligence.

Designed by harnessing the power of machine learning, Flash Face incorporates a variable face thickness ripple design that maximizes ball speed across the face.

This is a transformative shift in technology. Born from over 15,000 virtual prototypes, this face design goes beyond the realm of current thinking and is the longest driver from Callaway.

NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

©2019 Callaway Golf Company. Callaway, the Chevron Device, Epic Flash and Flash Face Technology are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Callaway Golf Company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

FLASH

BY NAME, FLASH

BY NATURE How Callaway’s latest driver, the Epic Flash, revolutionised the future of driver design CALLAWAY GOLF’S new Epic Flash driver is already one of the hottest equipment launches of the year, and it’s only March.

With multiple tour wins from both Callaway professionals and non-staff players, its eyecatching green-and-yellow design is hard to miss on TV and in the pro shops.

Callaway has combined the best technologies from previous generations of driver with their latest Flash Face design.

And this driver is dominating professional golf this year, leading the driver usage stats worldwide, and already picking up nine victories – eight by uncontracted players.

WHAT IS FLASH FACE? Callaway engineers have used Variable Face Thickness designs in its drivers for over a decade. They knew that having a thicker centre of the club, with a thinner area around it, helps generate more ball speed across the face, without going over the legal limit.

Every time Callaway designs a new driver it looks to refine this part of the design, and, on average, during the design process, the face will go though around six iterations before a new driver comes to market.

Significant improvements have been found, such as Jailbreak, but Callaway wanted to push the boundaries.

And they weren’t man enough to do it on their own. Using a supercomputer, Callaway engineers fed it the parameters for what they wanted a new driver face to do, which was essentially higher ball speed across the face, without going over the legal limit. Whereas Callaway engineers could put six face designs together, the Artificial Intelligence of the super computer simulated 15,000 different designs before coming up with the Flash Face design.

The face design looks organic, and Callaway engineers have said they don’t totally understand it. One of the engineering team's concerns was that if the design hadn’t worked, they wouldn’t know how to tweak it. But testing with their tour players showed ball speed increases of up to 6mph and distance gains of up to 10 yards.

The AI-designed face extends the ability of the face to flex more efficiently, whilst Jailbreak retains the head stiffness, generating increased ball speeds and further distance gains compared to previous Callaway designs.

Both drivers, and both fairway models, feature different face designs too. Rather than using one design, the super computer designed specific faces for the two driver head shapes, while the fairway woods design differs to increase ball speed on hits low on the face.

WORDS BY GOLF NEWS EQUIPMENT EDITOR DAN OWEN

EQUIPMENT & GEAR NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019

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CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH The Epic Flash is a 46cc driver, but at address it is smaller front to back than last year's Rogue, yet bigger than the original Epic. Designed to fit golfers who need more help with launch, the Epic Flash is still a relatively low spin design.

Both Epic Flash drivers feature a TC2 carbon crown which is lighter to save weight to be redistributed elsewhere in the head. The 16g movable weight track in the rear is used to fine-tune ball flight, while the OptiFit hosel is adjustable for both loft and face angle.

BETTER BY DESIGN Dr Alan Hocknell, head of research and development at Callaway Golf, explains some of the science behind the revolutionary Flash Face design

Lofts: 9°, 10.5° and 12°HT Shafts: Project X EvenFlow, Project X HZRDUS Smoke and Mitsubishi Tensei AV Graphite Shafts.

RRP: £499.

How long would it have taken to discover Flash Face design if A.I. hadn't been used?

We simply don’t know – maybe never? Even if we ran 15,000 iterations over x number of years, we never would have come up with anything close to this design. So, the honest answer is that it is unlikely that we would have ever arrived at this design without AI.

THEY HIT IT, THEY LIKED IT TOUR PLAYER REACTIONS TO THE EPIC FLASH DRIVER

"CALLAWAY CAME TO ME AND SAID, ‘THIS IS GOING TO BE A CLUB YOU’RE REALLY GOING TO LIKE’. AFTER THREE SWINGS I WAS READY TO BELIEVE THEM, AND AFTER 15 I WAS READY TO PUT THE CLUB IN MY BAG.” XANDER SCHAUFFELE

"MORE THAN ANYTHING, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING THE NEW EPIC FLASH DRIVER. THE BALL SPEED GAINS THAT I’M GETTING ARE UNBELIEVABLE.” FRANCESCO MOLINARI

CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH SUB ZERO The Sub Zero has traditionally been the less forgiving design. And while that is true to a degree, the Epic Flash Sub Zero is significantly more forgiving than previous Sub Zero designs. There is a much smaller compromise on forgiveness to achieve that low spin than with previous Sub Zero designs.

At address, with the squat head, and white seam line, this reminds us a lot of the classic and hugely successful FT Tour and FT5. For the first time Callaway have included a weight track design to fine-tune shot shape, rather than adjustable weights for spin. In a fitting process, these weights can be adjusted to put a heavier weight in the front of the head, if an extra reduction in spin is needed.

Lofts: 9°and 10.5°. Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke and Mitsubishi Tensei AV graphite shafts. RRP: £499

What does this super-computer look like?

It is roughly the size of a domestic refrigerator, and is installed in our data centre at Carlsbad in a highly air-conditioned facility with special shielding and an uninterrupted power supply.

You walk into this room and you feel like you have stepped into a spaceship, with bright white lights and fans recirculating the air. It sits in a special cabinet and features a dozen layers of computer, each wired to one another.

So where does AI stop and human design start?

We told the computer that its design space was only the face. Design elements like the shape of the head, where the mass was in the head, the presence of Jailbreak Technology, the use of the OptiFit hosel, and the proximity of these technologies to one another, were all fixed before we let the computer loose on the design of the face. In a future world, we could explore how we use AI to design more than just the face by broadening the design space in which the computer works, but this is hugely complex, we are still learning, and it is definitely further down the road.

Can you see a scenario where AI design completely overtakes traditional product design?

Although we have given high priority to AI initiatives, we are not going to stop our other forms of product development; the huge amount of consumer insights we collect; the decisions we make as a team out on the golf course with ‘grass under our feet’; impact sound testing; understanding golfers’ emotional connections with their equipment, the list goes on. The designs we are creating are hugely challenging to our manufacturing processes, and we have a large team focusing on this area to ensure our computer designs can actually be created without them breaking.

The R&D team will probably grow in the future, because we are undertaking projects that are so much more challenging and time-consuming than ever before.

Is this a genuine ‘breakthrough’ technology for Callaway?

If we can develop this learning into other parts of the driver, or other products, then it truly will be a breakthrough that all golfers are going to enjoy. It is down to us how creative we can be with it, while also staying true to the goals of what people want to achieve with their golf clubs. It has tremendous potential and we are only scratching the surface at the moment.

2019 EQUIPMENT & GEAR [43][8]MARCH EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS

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ECCO BIOM FOOTWEAR Ecco is the only shoe company that produces its own leathers. It uses yak leather because of its strength, soft feel, breathability and fit. Yak leather also boasts excellent abrasion resistance and its strength is at least three times that of standard cowhide, which allows Ecco to cut hides thinner to reduce weight, but also makes them more scuff-resistant. It also uses a technology called Fluidform, which connects the leather to the soles without the need for either stitching or glue.

BUILT TO LAST

BOA The BOA fit system is the perfect lace alternative for golf and is an option for the Biom G3. Crucially, it tightens the shoe evenly around the foot for better stability. As a bonus, the BOA-equipped shoes look better for longer, as they avoid the problem of a loose white lace getting covered in mud on the course.

Ten years after Ecco first launched the Biom brand, the Danish shoemaker has released its most technologically advanced version to date. Meet the Biom G3.

Sam Snead often talked about practising barefoot. “It feels good out there, wiggling your toes,” he said. “When you step up to the ball, you’re connected with the earth and you almost feel the roots go down. Besides, you don’t swing so hard.”

It’s hard to argue with Slammin’ Sam, and the design team at Ecco hasn’t tried to with the Biom G3, their new flagship shoe built on a Biom Natural Movement last.

The Danish company is still owned by the family that started the company back in 1963, and it prides itself on making the finest footwear, golf or otherwise, on the market. The initial philosophy from founder Karl Toosbuy was to produce shoes that were comfortable straight out of the box.

It’s a philosohy that’s still the basis for every pair of shoes that Ecco releases today, and why Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Thomas Bjørn and Lydia Ko are among many leading tour pros who trust them with their footwear.

THE BIOM CONCEPT

GORE-TEX Ecco uses Gore-Tex in nearly all its golf shoes. The best-known waterproofing brand, the Gore-Tex membrane stops water from getting in, but allows moisture to escape. With the shoes being breathable, you’re not going to have sweaty feet at the end of the round, whatever the weather.

Ecco first launched the Biom back in 2009, and it was the first golf shoe that encouraged natural movement for your feet.

While it has evolved, the general principle remains the same.

A glove-like fit for your foot, that keeps your feet closer to the ground, allowing the muscles in your feet to help power the golf swing like they should. Biom models have more room around the forefoot to let the toes move and are more fitted in the heel to keep the foot from sliding inside.

CLEATS The Biom G3 shoes use the latest Champ Zarma Tour cleats. The six legged anti-clogging cleat has been designed for superior traction, while also being green friendly. The Biom G3 also features an Ortholite foam inlay which adds comfort but can also be removed to fine-tune for half sizes.

RRP £210 www.eccogolf.com

NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

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[10] EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

EVERY. SINGLE. HEAD. I N J E C T E D A N D C A L I B R AT E D T O T H E T H R E S H O L D O F T H E S P E E D L I M I T WHILE THE REST OF THE GOLF WORLD WAS CHASING SPEED, WE WERE PERFECTING IT WITH SPEED INJECTED TWIST FACE — A REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS OF STRATEGICALLY INJECTING EACH HEAD TO BRING IT AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE LEGAL LIMIT.

NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019

Not required for approximately 0.3% of heads.

Claim based on combined 2018 driver usage on the PGA, European, Japan Golf, Web.com, Champions and LPGA Tours, as reported by the Darrell Survey Co. and Sports Marketing Surveys, Inc.

© 2019 TaylorMade Golf Company Limited.

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POWAKADDY C2I GPS

EVNROLL ER PUTTERS £309, ER5B £349 WWW.EVNROLL.COM Evnroll is on to something with its sweet face design. The grooves are wider in the middle and narrower towards the edges of the face, the idea being that the same amount of energy is imparted on the ball wherever the putt is struck. Miss-hits go the same distance as perfectly struck putts, which really aids consistency. This year there are four new models. The new ER1TS places the hosel an inch in front of the face to produce an effective MOI of 20,000, and encourage a shoulder-based stroke. ER2.2 is a new plumber-neck version of the ER2 MidBlade. The ER5B is an all-black version of the Hatchback mallet, and the ER8.3 is a heel-shafted mallet for the golfer with a strong arc stroke.

£699 WWW.POWAKADDY.COM Compact electric trolleys are a godsend for the space-afflicted golfer. The C2i folds so small it can fit in a passenger footwell if needed. But just being compact isn’t enough, so PowaKaddy has added a GPS system to its popular compact design. The new full-colour Memory in Pixel screen is fantastically clear, even when the sun is at its brightest, and clearer than most mobile phones. The display shows off front, middle, and back distances, and comes preloaded with 37,000 courses worldwide that can be updated easily through the free PowaKaddy app. And for golfers at hilly courses, there is an optional electronic braking system.

PRO SHOP

YOUR GUIDE TO THE LATEST GEAR TITLEIST PRO V1 £52 WWW.TITLEIST.CO.UK The new Pro V1 and Pro V1X are designed to be the longest tour balls the brand have ever produced. A new cast urethane cover is 17% thinner than previous balls, allowing the Titleist engineers to produce bigger, faster core designs. The Pro V1 is a three-piece design, with a softer feel a lower flight with low driver spin; while the Pro V1X is a four-piece design that flies higher and spins just a fraction more, while feeling firmer. And, for the first time ever, Titleist is offering its tour balls in a yellow option.

BUSHNELL PRO XE £449.99, WWW.BUSHNELLGOLF.COM The most accurate rangefinder Bushnell has ever produced, the Pro XE takes more factors into account than any other laser model on the market. We’re used to Slope, where the range finder accounts for incline and decline. The new ‘Slope with elements’ adds temperature and altitude into its calculations.

Other big benefits are the new visual Jolt design that shows you when you’re locked onto the flagstick, and 7X zoom, which gives accurate measurements over 500 yards away.

Maybe the most useful addition is the time-

saving, extra-strong Bite magnet, which allows the device to be placed on the frame of a trolley or buggy, so you don’t have to put it away after every use.

TAYLORMADE M6 £849/£999 (ST/GR) WWW.TAYLORMADEGOLF.COM The TaylorMade M6 irons are the company’s latest game improvement design. It features an oversized head, a weight-saving fluted hosel design, a 360-degree undercut cavity, and Inverted Cone Technology behind the face for fast ball speed on miss hits. But the big improvement is the new Speed bridge. A beam of steel connects the sole to the top of the iron, and is designed to stabilise the head at impact. Positioned exactly at the point that vibrates most at impact, it works with the Speed Pocket to improve sound and feel, as well as increase ball speed. The design stiffens the face, allowing for more energy transfer at impact. With the extra support of the SpeedBridge, TaylorMade engineers have been able to use the full cut-through slot to create faster ballspeeds, especially from shots struck low on the face.

EQUIPMENT & GEAR MARCH2019 2019 [13] [47] NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

HONMA TW-X GOLF BALLS £26 FOR 12, HONMAGOLFEUROPE.COM Honma Golf, the premium Japanese brand that recently signed Justin Rose to use its clubs, has added a new golf ball to its extensive range. The Honma TW-X is a three-piece urethane distance and spin ball aimed at golfers with swing speeds of around 90mph. The ball features the high initial velocity core, designed to produce greater ball speed, as well as exceptional control. A newly developed high repulsion mid-layer inside the ball ensures low spin off the driver for extra distance off the tee, while a soft urethane cover provides extreme spin on greenside shots. A 326-dimple pattern cover design provides a low, penetrating ball flight, which is ideal for playing in windy conditions.

MOTOCADDY AQUAFLEX HYBRID BAG £199.99 WWW.MOTOCADDY.COM If you use a trolley, but also carry sometimes, it’s a pain switching clubs from one bag to another. Hybrid bags have been released before, but the AquaFlex is the best execution we’ve seen. Lightweight and totally waterproof, one of the standout features is the quick-release carry strap. If the bag is used with a Motocaddy, you can take advantage of the Easilock bag-to-trolley connector, and the rear stand lock that holds the legs in place when on a trolley. Crucially, this bag looks great as a carry bag, as well as when on the trolley, with the charcoal base colours giving them a fresh and modern look.

KBS CT TOUR PUTTER SHAFT WWW.KBSGOLFSHAFTS.COM The CT Tour is designed to be stiffer than a traditional putter shaft, reinforced throughout the length of the shaft to reduce torque. The aim is to stop the shaft twisting on miss hits, increasing the chance of making a putt on a less than perfect stroke. The shaft is available in a variety of options, including a stunning glare resistant matte black and both single and double bend options.

CALLAWAY APEX 19 IRONS £1,299 STEEL, £1,399 GRAPHITE WWW.CALLAWAYGOLF.COM The Apex CF16 was one of the most popular Callaway irons in years, staying in the line three years, which is almost unheard of these days. The formula hasn’t been changed too much with the Apex 2019. A forged carbon steel body is used for a soft feel and allows easy adjustability, while 360 Face Cup features a shallow, flexible rim around the perimeter that flexes at impact to promote fast ball speed on centre and off-centre hits. A urethane microsphere insert absorbs unwanted vibration without slowing down the cup face design. Super easy to hit and great feeling, these could be the best Apex irons yet.

BETTINARDI QUEEN B ADIDAS TOUR360 XT SL £139.95 WWW.ADIDAS.COM The Tour360 is the most popular adidas golf shoe model ever, but this is its first spikeless version. With its full-length Boost midsole, it is ultracomfortable and should leave your fet feeling a little fresher after 18 holes. The shoes are designed to be totally stable due to the X-Torsion design that connects the heel and forefoot. The X-Traxion lug design gives the comfort of a spikeless shoe, with the grip and traction of a high-performance golf shoe.

£329 WWW.BETTINARDI.COM Bettinardi is one of the last family-owned equipment manufacturers, owned and run

by Bob Bettinardi and his son Sam. CNCmilled, these are some of the most beautiful putters on the market, and definitely among the most precisely made. The Queen B range is made from soft carbon steel and feature Bettinardi‘s unique micro-honeycomb face milling for a perfectly flat face and totally distinctive look. We love the wide, high-toed Anser styling of the 6; its the perfect blend of blade and mallet putter that will appeal to a broad selection of golfers.

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BETTER BY DESIGN With new clubs in the bag and a win at Bay Hill Francesco Molinari’s brilliant 2018 season, the highlight of which was a stunning victory at The Open Championship looks like it’s going to continue.

How are you approaching the new season, given all that you achieved last year? What goals have you set?

I’m feeling great. Obviously, it’s different to show up this year as the Race to Dubai champion, and a major champion, but I’ll try to put up a good defense of those titles, and I’m looking forward to the season. I know it’s not going to be easy to repeat, but it’s a long season and I’m glad to finally get started, as I’ve had quite a bit of time off over the winter.

I think the only way to follow up last year is to focus on my own improvements, and try not to get too outcome-focused. We all know in golf there are a lot of good players, and the margins are very small, so I might play as well as last year but not win any tournaments. I need to be aware of that. I need to measure myself not so much on the wins, but on how I feel on the course, how I play, and that’s going to be the goal for the season, to try and improve what I feel like I can still improve and maintain what I was doing well last year.

What do you think were the key factors behind your success last year and your all-round improvement?

There certainly wasn’t any kind of magic wand, that’s for sure. It’s been a lot of hard work over a number of years from myself, and the team around me, and eventually it all came together.

I worked out a long time ago that I needed to play to my strengths to succeed on tour. Although I’m not a short hitter off the tee, I’ve never been that long, so if you can’t be long, you need to be accurate, and have good course management. So I don’t try to hit the ball too hard. It is better for me to be further back in the fairway than further up in the rough, so I work hard on finding the right line from each tee. I try to focus on a really small target. In golf, you need to make the margin of error as wide as you possibly can, and the best way of doing this is to aim for a specific spot, rather than a general area. Other than that, like I said, I’ve worked really hard on all aspect of my game, especially my short game, and that seemed to pay off.

You’ve definitely added some yardage to your long game in recent seasons. How have you achieved that, and how much has that helped you compete on the long courses you face on tour?

It’s been a combination of physical and mental factors really, and it’s certainly not happened overnight. Physically, I’ve been worked really hard with my strength and conditioning coach, Rob Goldup.

There’s not too much science behind it – if you want to hit it longer, you need to be stronger, so I definitely spend a lot more time in the gym than I did ten years ago. It’s about creating clubhead speed and for that you need muscles and you need flexibility. I’ve

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■ MOLINARI FORMED AN UNBEATABLE PARTNERSHIP WITH TOMMY FLEETWOOD AT LAST SEPTEMBER'S RYDER CUP

and more relevant to what I’m trying to do on the course under tournament conditions. Spending hours on the driving range hitting hundreds of golf balls is not the answer. Mentally it’s not very challenging and your brain isn’t really engaged. Dave introduced lots of drills, whether it be for putting, chipping or driving, where I have to complete a certain challenge and stay there until I do it.

Say, for instance, it might involve holing ten consecutive threefoot putts. Some days I might do it in ten putts, some days it might take a lot more, but it adds an element of competition to practice that is vital to stop it from becoming boring.

That takes care of the mechanics, but how do you cope with the pressure? You always look so calm on the golf course.

Even when you were leading at The Open and during the Ryder Cup, you seemed to have this serenity about you.

THE WHOLE 'MOLIWOOD' THING AT THE RYDER CUP WAS SLIGHTLY SURREAL, BUT WE SEEMED TO JUST FEED OFF EACH OTHER AS A PARTNERSHIP WHAT’S IN FRANCESCO’S BAG? DRIVER: CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH SUB ZERO (9) FAIRWAY WOOD: CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH SUB ZERO (13.5) UTILITY: X-FORGED (3) IRONS: CALLAWAY APEX 19 (4), CALLAWAY APEX MB (5-PW) WEDGES: CALLAWAY MACK DADDY 4 (50, 56, 60) PUTTER: ODYSSEY TOULON MADISON BALL: CALLAWAY CHROME SOFT X

gained about 10mph in ball speed in the last couple of seasons, which has given me an extra 20 yards.

It’s also been a mental challenge, as sometimes you tighten up when you're staring down at a narrow fairway with a driver in your hand, and it’s hard for your brain to let go and allow yourself to hit it as hard as you can, rather than just try and place it in the fairway. It’s about trusting your swing and your process.

Your relationship with your swing coach, Denis Pugh, goes back a long way. Can you describe how he has helped you and your game?

Denis is by far the longest-serving member of my team. We started working together in 2003, when I was still only an amateur. He’s been a massive influence over those 15 years, not only on my golf game, but also as a friend. He has helped me in so many different ways. Hopefully we can carry on together until the end of my career and we can both retire happily!

You’ve been working with Dave Aldred, one of the UK’s foremost sports coaches in recent years. Can you describe what the impact of working with him has had on your game?

Dave has been a great addition to the team.

He’s probably a personality and a figure that I was missing, and the whole team was missing. So I think he has pushed us all a little bit more. You can see the results, the difference that he’s made. He’s worked on a lot of things mentally, and on all aspects of my game, especially my practice routine.

Before he came in, I felt my practice lacked a bit of direction, and one of Dave’s main principles is to make practice less repetitive

I think you can learn to cope with these situations if you’re prepared for it. Of course, a weekend hacker probably isn’t going to cope very well if he’s leading The Open, but we, as pros, build through different stages of our career to get there, and, for me, the way to deal with it is to simply focus on my process and the things that I’ve prepared for at home, and not to get sucked into what is going on around you. I had to really do that when I was playing with Tiger at Carnoustie, as there was naturally a lot of excitement around him, and I just had to focus on doing my own thing.

In addition to winning the Race to Dubai, winning back the Ryder Cup in Paris obviously topped off a magical year for you. What was that week like, and what was it like being part of ‘Moliwood’?

It may sound strange, given what else happened in 2018, but winning the Ryder Cup was the highlight of my season, and it was a week that I’ll remember for the rest of my life – along with the other two Ryder Cups I’ve played in. There was an incredible atmosphere in the team room in Paris, and it was amazing to be a part of. Tommy and I had a lot of fun – the whole Moliwood thing was slightly surreal, but we seemed to just feed off each other as a partnership. It was great to get those points on the board for Europe.

You’ve put a whole new set of clubs in the bag for this season, and signed an equipment contract with Callaway. How have you settled into the new clubs?

I joined Callaway because I’ve been so impressed by all of its equipment. The ball speed gains that I’m getting from the Epic Flash driver are unbelievable, while the switch to the Chrome Soft X ball was also a really easy decision to make. The ball speed was up with the driver, while the performance from tee-to-green, especially the improved feel and control, is exactly what I want. Around the greens the Chrome Soft X felt a little bit softer than my previous ball, so it was a bit of a no-brainer for me.

I’ve also got Odyssey’s Toulon Madison putter in the bag, which features a new Stroke Lab shaft. It’s really stable, and I’m getting more consistency in the rhythm and the tempo of my stroke, so hopefully that’s a combination that’s going to help me make a lot of big putts.

You’ve announced plans to focus your schedule playing more on the PGA Tour this season. When will we see you back in Europe again?

If I learnt one thing last season, it is to be a bit flexible with the schedule when playing two tours. I would like to play the British Masters in May, especially with Tommy [Fleetwood] being the host, ■ MOLINARI HAS WORKED WITH SWING COACH DENIS PUGH FOR OVER 15 YEARS

2019 GUIDE EQUIPMENT & |GEAR [42] MARCH [18] EQUIPMENT MARCH 2019 NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

PING GRADIENT POLO

PUMA FUSIONYARN VERDANT POLO

£55, PINGCOLLECTION.CO.UK Ping apparel is designed in the UK, but the Gradient Polo feels like it has come straight from a Californian beach club.

It features a nice change from traditional colour blocking without being OTT. The shirt boasts a concealed buttondown collar and is designed to keep you cool and dry through its quick-dry construction. It also comes with 50+ UPF rating, so you won’t burn under your golf shirt.

£55, COBRAGOLF.CO.UK Availble in blue or grey, this eye-catching polo features a mixture of feathers and flowers for a bold look on the fairways this summer. The Fusionyarn fabric offers four-way stretch and blends the softness and breathability of cotton with the moisture-wicking properties and durability of polyester, delivering a high performance fusion of synthetic and natural fibres that dries fast, looks stylish, and adds comfort.

n o i h s a F &

CALLAWAY GOLF SWING-TECH POLO CALLAWAYAPPAREL.COM Golfers wearing Callaway’s new range of Swing-Tech polos will experience greater flexibility through the shoulders through a combination of a new seam construction and pliable blended materials. Available in gingham, jacquard and fine line colour block styles, the SwingTech polos provide noticeably less restriction and more stretch to maximize your range of motion on every swing.

ADIDAS FUTURE CRAFT MELTAWAY JACKET £109.95, ADIDAS.CO.UK/GOLF Adidas has been doing a great job blending performance products with an off-course appeal. The Future Craft Meltaway Jacket is a perfect example of that, with its modern off-course look, but designed for total performance. Made from a blend of soft nylon and polyester, the jacket features some stretch to allow for a full backswing.

These fashionable pieces feature hi-tech fabrics and innovative construction to help keep you swinging in comfort and style

FUNCTION

GALVIN GREEN ASHTON GORE-TEX SHAKEDRY JACKET

ORIGINAL PENGUIN GOLF PETE ON A TRIP POLO

£280, GALVINGREEN.COM The Ashton ShakeDry tips the scales at just 174g and boasts a new Gore-Tex fabrication used for the first time in golf that features a waterproof membrane on the outside of the jacket, so there is no extra third layer of fabric. Water instantly beads off the surface, so you shouldn’t get the chilling effect that you might find with other waterproofs. The jacket is as thin as a plastic bag and packs up to virtually nothing, which makes it super comfortable to swing in, and easy to store away.

£59.99, ORIGINALPENGUIN.COM/GOLF A big hit with Arnie, Jack and the Rat Pack, the timeless style of Original Penguin polos dominated the fairways of America back in the 60s and 70s. Finally, after years of popularity off the course, the iconic Pete the Penguin logo is coming back to golf. We love the retro style of this Pete on a Trip Polo, with its travel-inspired print making us want to jump on a plane somewhere sunny to test the shirt’s moisture-wicking properties.

NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019

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GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

BORN ELECTRIC Step into the world of electric golf The PowaKaddy Freeway is the world’s best-selling electric trolley. The sleek and strong Powaframe™ folds swiftly with no fuss. There’s a Freeway for everyone in the all-new 2019 range, why not choose the stunning FW7s? - The ultimate in cutting-edge design.

PGA is a registered ® trademark of The Professional Golfers’ Association Limited.

powakaddy.com

All PowaKaddy electric trolleys have been awarded the Quiet Mark by the Noise Abatement Society.

CUTTING-EDGE DESIRE

2019 GUIDE EQUIPMENT & GEAR [44] [20] MARCH EQUIPMENT MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

PING G410

Fast, forgiving and seriously fun to hit – Ping’s new G410 range will have you whistling your way to the first tee

PING ENJOYED HUGE SUCCESS at the tills with its G400 range, so good that the brand was the top-selling club manufacturer when combined across all categories in the UK in 2018. But as good as that range was, G410 sees some significant improvements Ping is known for being an engineering company first and foremost. And any change they make will only because they have managed

to improve performance. There are some additions to this year's equipment that other brands may have been doing a while, but Ping’s counter-argument is that they've only introduced it now when they can improve a product without being detrimental to the overall performance. It’s not hyperbole to say this is Ping’s best range of equipment ever, as it covers the broadest range of golfers.

G410 SFT £450 As well as the standard G410 Plus driver, there is an accompanying G410 SFT. Straight Flight Technology is Ping’s way of helping the slicer. However rather than making it look out of the ordinary, with offset, or unusual shaping, doing most of the work internally.

“When we pioneered Straight Flight Technology several years ago, we wanted to provide a ‘slice-fixing’ driver without adding huge offset or just closing the face. The G410 SFT sits visually square at address and delivers all the performance benefits of the G410 Plus while ensuring a consistently straight ball flight.”A fixed weight in the heel of the club gives a 50% more increase to the draw weighting, and the head is built to a lighter D1 swing weight to help square the clubface at impact. The loft option is 10.5 degrees.

G410 PLUS DRIVER

PING G410 FAIRWAY WOODS

£450

£275

The G410 Plus is Ping's first-ever adjustable weighted driver. This isn't new technology, but Ping have never felt they were able to offer it without it being detrimental to overall performance. A 16-gram weight can be placed in three predetermined positions, to influence the ball flight, heel for a draw, back for a neutral flight, and in the toe to encourage a fade. Ping state there is 20 yards of ball flight adjustability with the design. The MOI on this head is 1% higher than the G400 it replaces, and it manages this by placing the wights as far back as they could possibly be in the head, keeping that centre of gravity low and back.

At 455cc the G410 Plus is 10cc larger than the driver it replaces and keeps the high performance TS9+ thin forged face design that gave the G400 such high ball speeds. And it’s a much cleaner looking driver. The aerodynamic Turbulators at the front of the head remain and are a little more aggressive, but the Dragonfly crown has been moved out of sight to the inside of the head. The rear of the head now features a creased crown that stiffens the head from flexing too much, helping the face retain more energy and ball speed at impact. While not having a dedicated alignment aid, the Turbulators and crease work together to make this very easy to aim at your intended target.

The other major change is with the Trajectory Tuning 2.0 adjustable hosel. Ping has used the same design since 2012, and it only introduced that when it felt it could do it without adding additional weight in the heel of the head. The new hosel adds significantly to the level of adjustability, providing three new flat settings, for eight in total. This is really useful for golfers who tend to hook the ball.

Offered in 9⁰, 10.5⁰ & 12⁰ lofts, the range of no-upcharge shafts include the PING Alta CB, PING Tour 65, 75, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 60, and Project X Evenflow Black 75.

The G400 was one of the easiest to use fairway woods on the market. However, it wasn’t one of the longest, with it being a higher spin design than many of its competitors.

With the G410 Ping have addressed that and this fairway wood is seriously hot. C300 maraging steel used in the face is super strong and flexible – Ping engineers have seen it flex as much as the face is thick, which is huge in golf club terms.

The centre of gravity is slightly forward of the G400, which helps return more energy to the ball at impact. To retain the forgiveness levels, the G410 features a shallower face and a slightly bigger head at address.

The SFT fairways are designed to help square the face at impact and feature a bigger head with more weight in the heel. They also come with 1.5 degrees more loft to make them easy to get in the air. The LST model features a smaller head, with a further forward centre of gravity. The club launches higher than the standard fairway but with significantly less spin. Many high spin and high swing speed players will get more distance and control from this design.

Loft options: t14.5⁰, 17.5⁰,20.5⁰, 23.5⁰, 3 LST 14.5⁰, 3 SFT 16⁰, 5 SFT 19⁰, 7 SFT 22⁰

THE NEW HOSEL ADDS SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE LEVEL OF ADJUSTABILITY AND WILL BE REALLY USEFUL FOR GOLFERS WHO TEND TO HOOK THE BALL

EQUIPMENT & GEAR MARCH 2019 2019 [45] NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH [21] GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

PING G410 IRONS £126/£136 (ST/GR), 4-LW Ping PresidentJohn K Solheim sums up the thinking behind the new G410 iron. “Our engineers challenged the idea that you can’t make an iron smaller and increase the forgiveness at the same time. They’ve developed a clean, highly appealing design with less offset and a significantly higher MOI when compared to the G400 iron.”

We can’t argue with that. These are the best-looking Ping G irons ever when sat behind the ball. Introducing the super forgiving G700 has allowed the engineers to make this iron more refined. From heel to toe the iron is shorter, while there is 10% less offset than the G400 iron. Yet the head has an 8% higher MOI. The face is thinner, and the saved weight has been put out to the heel and toe using high-density tungsten weights.

The face has been made thinner by removing the Custom Tuning Port hat features in most Ping iron designs. Without that structure behind the face it can flex more for faster ball speeds. Combined with the COR-eye variable face thickness design, the deep undercut on the top line, plus Ping’s cascading sole design, these Ping irons are seriously fast right across the face. And the club makers as Gainsborough can still make sure the club has the correct swing weight by adjusting the toe weight port.

One thing the CTP helped with massively was sound and feel. So Ping has used a co-molded aluminium and elastomer badge in the cavity to soften the feel and sound, and reduce unwanted vibrations.

■ TONY FINAU IS ONE OF MANY PING STAFF TOUR PLAYERS TO MAKE THE SWTICH TO THE G410

THE CROSSOVER WILL HELP GOLFERS WHO STRUGGLE WITH HYBRIDS, HIGHER LOFTED FAIRWAY WOODS AND WANT MORE HELP THAN THEIR IRONS

PING G410 HYBRIDS £225 When golf manufacturers release a new range of clubs, hybrids can often be forgotten. They aren’t sexy like drivers and irons, nor are there normally huge performance gains with new models. But we’ve hit these and they are something special.

At address, they look very similar to the G400 hybrids, but they are a fraction larger. Turbulators are used, however, in the smaller heads for a familiar look and to help frame the ball at address. They use the same C300 maraging steel in the face as the fairway woods and Crossover.

Offering slightly lower spin, the biggest improvement has been the addition of an adjustable hosel.

Five standard settings and three flat settings can be set to address any shot shape and dial in the correct distance gap. But it’s the flat settings that will really help. Many better players struggle with hooking hybrids. By flattening the lie, that becomes a much more difficult proposition. From our own testing, we truly think that this is a hybrid that will see significant use by every standard of golfer.

Lofts: 17⁰, 19⁰, 22⁰, 26⁰, 30⁰

PING G410 CROSSOVER £225 The Crossover does exactly what it says, taking design cues from Ping irons and woods to create a club that will benefit golfers who istruggle with hybrids, but also higher-lofted fairway woods, and want more help than their irons.

Taking the C300 face from the fairways and hybrids, they’ve been added to an iron-like head. Shorter heel-to-toe than the comparable G410 iron, and with a narrower sole, they feature a hollow design and internal ribs to give them a powerful feel. A huge 30-gram tungsten weight out on the toe significantly raises the MOI of the design. These are great clubs, but probably better suited to golfers playing the i500 or i210 than players using the G410 irons.

Lofts: 17, 20, 23

[22] EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

WIN A NEW MOTOCADDY S1 ELECTRIC TROLLEY WORTH £499.99 The world’s favourite trolley has received an exciting upgrade for 2019

W

e’ve teamed up with the world’s top-selling trolley brand, Motocaddy, to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a brand new S1 electric trolley with Lithium battery worth almost £500!

The new, easy-to-use S1 model combines modern styling and eye-catching graphics with a stunning new high-resolution, sunlight friendly LCD display. It offers nine-speed settings, plus an advanced battery meter and speed indicator.

Other standout features include a super-lightweight Lithium battery which can be left in the battery tray for charging and transportation, plus the brand’s exclusive super-fast QUIKFOLD mechanism and innovative EASILOCK™ bag-to-trolley connection system - removing the need for a lower bag strap.

The S1 trolley also features a powerful, whisper-quiet 200W motor; soft-touch ergonomic handle and fully-adjustable bag supports.

To be in with a chance of winning this super prize simply answer the following question below correctly and email your name, address, contact number and where you picked up your copy of Golf News or if you read it online, go to info@golfnews.co.uk, using Motocaddy S1 Competition in the subject line. The closing date for entries is April 30 2019. No cash alternative cash prize is offered.

HOW MANY SPEED SETTINGS CAN BE FOUND ON THE NEW HI-RESOLUTION LCD DISPLAY? A – 5 B – 7 C – 9 For more information on Motocaddy trolleys, bags and accessories, visit: www.motocaddy.com or follow @MotocaddyGolf on social.

NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

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2018GUIDE EQUIPMENT & GEAR [50] [24] EQUIPMENT MARCH 2019 | NEWS [50] AUTUMN MARCH 2018 | EQUIPMENT GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

DISTANCE MONSTERS This year’s crop of drivers is genuinely the longest hitting we’ve ever tried. It’s time to make those second shots shorter

PING G410 PLUS £ 450, ping.com

Ping had a tough ask to follow the G400 range of drivers, but its done it with the new G410 Plus. Taking most of the elements from the G400 – turbulators for aerodynamics, forged TS9 face for ball speed, dragonfly crown to save weight (although now hidden under the hood) – it's added a movable weight system. Located on the rear skirt for maximum effect, the adjustable 16g weight can be used in the heel, toe, or back of the clubhead to fine-tune ball flight. Another major change is the hosel adaptor that now enables eight levels of adjustment, including three flat lie angles, which can be useful for straightening out a hook.

Despite all the added adjustability, the G410 Plus has a higher MOI than the G400 driver it replaces.

EQUIPMENT & GEAR NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDEMARCH MARCH2018 2019 [51] [25] GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

PXG 0811X GEN 2

TAYLORMADE M5

COBRA F9 SPEEDBACK

£550 WWW.PXG.COM

£499 WWW.TAYLORMADEGOLF.COM

£349 WWW.COBRAGOLF.CO.UK

PXG offers the meanest looking drivers on the market, but now it also offers one of the best. The head features a Hot Rod carbon crown design. Inspired by American muscle cars, the raised centre section of the crown doubles up, stiffening the head for better energy transfer, but also helping with alignment.

The 0811X Gen 2 features variable face technology to increase ball speed on miss-hits. A lightweight honeycomb TPE insert fine-tunes the sound and feel, but does it without adding too much weight to the clubhead. The 0811X is a low spin design, with a deepface. The X features a weight forward design for low spin and ball speed. There are nine interchangeable weights, so shot shape and trajectory can really be influenced, with weight ports in the front and back of the head, plus towards the heel to add some draw bias if needed.

The TaylorMade M5 is one of the most adjustable drivers on the market, and if you’re looking to control excessive launch and spin, may just be the best option this year. The big technology this season is the Speed Injected Twist Face. The face is built to be faster than the legal limit and is then dialled back right to the limit by filling two pockets behind the face with resin.

A significant benefit of the thinner, faster face design is that it provides the M5 and M6 drivers with faster off-centre COR, effectively increasing forgiveness. The driver features a 66% larger sweet spot than the M5 it replaces, and more than 100% larger than the original M1 from 2015. And we’ve not even talked about the T-Track, with its two weights, the driver is one of the most adjustable out there, front to back to change spin, and left to right to control shot shape.

The Speedback F9 is set to get the pro shop tills ringing in 2019, with lots of testing indicating it is the fastest driver for ball speed on the market this year.

What makes it so quick off the mark? Aerodynamics, carbon fibre, and low centre of gravity is the short answer. Cobra has rounded the face area and raised the body of the driver to make it more aerodynamic, as well as added 360Aero trips which reduce drag.

Carbon fibre wraps around the crown and body of the club, 12% more than in previous models, saving 10g of weight. Then that weight is put as low and as far back as possible to lower the centre of gravity and increase MOI. Withs it CNC-milled face for consistency and ball speed, plus the adjustable weight and hosel, this is one of the longest drivers out there this season if you take the trouble to get custom fit.

LYNX BLACK CAT

WILSON D7

TITLEIST TS2

£329 WWW.LYNXGOLF.CO.UK

£269 WWW.WILSON.COM

£499 WWW.TITLEIST.CO.UK

The Lynx Black Cat driver features the Lynx Spin Control System – a removable and reversible weight bar which repositions weight either further forward, or further back, in the clubhead.

It is clearly marked with HW/LW options, positioning the High Weight (HW) setting closer to the clubface moves the weight forwards, reducing spin and keeping the flight lower, with a more penetrating flight and control; positioning the Low Weight (LW) setting closer to the clubface moves more weight to the rear of club, increasing spin for a higher launch.

The 460cc two-piece titanium driver features a cup-face design with face hardening treatment applied to help generate faster ball speeds and reduced spin, while full adjustability from 9-12 degrees is on offer and includes draw and fade bias settings for those players looking to eliminate slicing or hooking.

The Cortex driver may be the star of Driver Vs Driver show, but it’s the D7 that offers the best combination of performance and value. While it doesn’t offer any level of adjustability, it boasts all the other technology advantages of other drivers on the market. By forgoing an adjustable hosel, and adding a carbon crown, Wilson was able to save 25g that can be used elsewhere in the head. Each loft features a Dynamic Launch Control design, the 9-degree model features weight towards the front of the head for lower launch and spin; the 10.5 features its weight in the middle; while the 13-degree head moves the weight back and in the heel to encourage a draw.

The driver comes as stock with the super lightweight UST Mamiya Helium shaft that weighs just 46g in the regular flex.

Recent drivers from Titleist have not been known for its distance, with a tendency to spin more than their competitors. The TS drivers totally change that as a result of the Titleist Speed Project. Rather than one huge gain, the driver has been improved with lots of small changes. A 20 percent lighter crown allows the weight to be shifted low in the head, while a streamlined aerodynamic head shape reduces drag by 20 percent. A radial variable thickness face is thinner than anything Titleist has produced before, so thin that the grooves have had to be laser etched onto the face. All this combines to make a driver with a 12% higher MOI than the 917 D2 it replaces, but that produces considerably longer drives.

HONMA TOUR WORLD 747 460

CALLAWAY EPIC FLASH

MIZUNO ST190

£499 WWW.CALLAWAYGOLF.COM

£399 GOLF.MIZUNOEUROPE.COM

£559 WWW.HONMAGOLFEUROPE.COM

A first for a golf club, the face on the Epic Flash has been designed using artificial intelligence. The supercomputer designed 15,000 different faces before settling on this as the preferred design, coming up with a design with serious performance that human engineers don’t fully understand. Ball speeds are some of the fastest ever seen from a driver. Elsewhere, the head brings back the adjustable weight last seen on the original Epic and now weighing 16g that can be used to fine-tune shot shape. Jailbreak returns, the two rods connecting the crown and hosel, reducing the amount the flex at impact and allowing the face to return more energy to the ball.

This is the best driver Mizuno has made in years, and might just be the best-looking driver on the market in 2019. No longer blue, the ST190 features a carbon fibre crown that saves 7g of weight compared to previous titanium models from the Japanese brand. The face is made from SP700 titanium, a higher grade material that is stronger, and more elastic, allowing engineers to utilise a new Cortech face design. Unlike many of these changes, it doesn’t only help golfers with high swing speeds, as those who swing 90-100mph are also seeing yardage gains compared to the 6-4 titanium used in many designs.

Justin Rose has made an immediate impact with Honma, winning with the Tour World 747 driver in just his second week after the switch. The 460cc head is one of the most attractive on the market, with its gloss black crown that is totally free of the graphics that adorn so many drivers. Don’t think that it is lacking in tech however. Honma uses arguably the most advanced adjustable hosel in the game as the shaft doesn’t rotate when the hosel is adjusted. The 4 Fang face design puts four metal studs in strategic positions behind the face to help return more energy to the ball at impact, while a lightweight carbon crown saves weight which is used in the two adjustable weights on the sole which can be used for fine tuning spin rates.

[26] EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

EQUIPMENT & GEAR NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 [39] [27] GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

PING PLAYS IT COOL WITH NEW APPAREL RANGE

TIGER’S OLD FLATSTICK SELLS FOR $22,000

Ping’s Spring/Summer men’s apparel range takes its inspiration from the company’s heritage in Arizona, and for the first time features innovative ‘Sensor Cool’ cotton to deliver enhanced comfort and feel.

The polo shirts, including the Karsten III, Raymond, Gradient and Ridge, all feature Sensor Cool technology. The Kartsten and Raymond shirts (£60) are blended with technologically advanced CoolMax fabric to deliver the exceptional softness and comfort expected from a cotton-based polo. CoolMax fibres also move moisture away from the body, keeping the skin temperature low and enabling the wearer to feel cooler.

For players looking to add layers, the Herman pullover (£75) and Fracture midlayer (£65), deliver year-round usability. The Herman is quarter-zip pullover engineered with performance blended fabric and soft-cotton touch, while the Fracture is a yarn-dyed mid-layer with zip-neck opening.

Moisture-moving and stretch qualities make it a perfect lightweight piece for all seasons.

One of Tiger Woods’ old Scotty Cameron putters sold for over $22,000 (£17,250) at an online auction last month.

The Scotty Cameron Newport Xperimental prototype Teryllium was used by Woods in 1996, prior to him switching to a different Teryllium model to win his first major at the 1997 Masters. The putter had been given to Randy Peterson, the current Director of Fitting & Instruction for Callaway in the US

by Woods, back when they were regular playing partners.

CLUBS TO HIRE OFFERS TITLEIST CLUBS Leading golf club rental agency Clubs to Hire is now offering Titleist equipment for the first time.

The Dublin-based company hires sets of clubs in 29 popular golfing regions around the world and is now stocking Titleist’s range of TS woods, 718 AP1 irons, Vokey SM7 wedges and Scotty Cameron putters. The clubs are already available to book, with a full set costing €85 for a week’s rental.

Clubs to Hire co-founder Tony Judge said: “We always strive to offer our clients excellent product and service and the arrival of Titleist product is great news for all concerned. The introduction of Vokey wedges and Scotty Cameron putters is also very exciting.”

Clubs to Hire handles more than 300,000 annual visits to its website and more than 80,000 bookings for rental clubs at 29 locations worldwide, including popular golfing regions in the USA, Thailand, Australia, South Africa and five countries across the Mediterranean.

Clients can also add shoe rental, balls, tees and hats to their order.

Sold by Green Jacket Auctions, the putter could be considered a bargain. Previous back-up putters built for the 14time major champion that he never used on the golf course have sold for $53,146 and $44,401 respectively.

The putter had ‘TIGER’ stamped on the face, and XXX on the rear bumpers. Its Certificate of Authenticity number also spelled out TIger on a phone keypad.

MARCH 2019GUIDE EQUIPMENT & GEAR [48] EQUIPMENT [28] MARCH 2019 | NEWS GOLFNEWS.CO.UK GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

HERE COMES HONMA! REPORT BY NICK BAYLY

■ HONMA HAS ITS OWN R&D TEST FACILITY AT ITS SAKATA HEADQUARTERS IN JAPAN

With its unrivalled reputation for quality craftsmanship, and its recent signing of global star Justin Rose, the future looks bright for premium Japanese equipment brand Honma Golf

M

Y FIRST EXPERIENCE of Honma golf equipment came about 20 years ago, when I was working as an equipment editor for another golf publication and I was asked to review a set of irons that I’d previously only ever heard about in folklore.

The clubs duly arrived, and, as is the norm, I was asked to sign a form to say that I’d received them and that I would return them a few weeks later. My heart skipped a beat when a quick scan of the receipt revealed that the irons in questions were valued at over £20,000, and that if they should be lost, damaged or stolen during my temporary ownership, I’d be the one footing the bill for their replacement.

For these were not just any old irons, they

■ HONMA OFFERS 16 DIFFERENT PAINT FINISHES FOR ITS RANGE OF WOODS

were Honma’s infamous gold-plated, fivestar irons. The Rolls Royce, Bugatti Veyron and Lamborghini Gallardo of irons all rolled into one. Needless to say, I didn’t leave them in the boot of my Ford Escort overnight in a back street in Peckham, but kept them under strict surveillance throughout the time that they remained in my care. Although the irons were fun to test, I was mightily relieved when I finally handed them back, all present and correct, and with the gold plating still intact.

Things have moved on at Honma in the last two decades, and while it is still possible to have your irons gold-plated – Honma is currently embarking on a new phase in its 60-year history, having recently signed world No.1 Justin Rose and unveiled a whole new range of equipment that everyone from the game’s top tour players, to mere mortals like you and I, can afford.

To find out more about the brand, and its global ambitions, I jumped on a plane to Tokyo, and then boarded another to reach the company’s manufacturing headquarters in Sakata, a small provincial town 360 miles north west of Japan’s capital. Here, over the course of 12 hours, I discovered what makes Honma so unique, and what made a player of Rose’s calibre switch brands while at the height of his golfing powers.

Speaking at the beginning of the year, following the announcement of his move from TaylorMade to Honma, Rose said: “Coming off one of my best years professionally, I wanted to make it a point to get better. I believe that Honma

craftsmanship can help make me better.”

And indeed it has. Playing in his second tournament of the season, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, with ten Honma clubs in the bag, including the TWorld 747 driver and a set of prototype TWorld 747 irons and wedges, Rose secured his 10th PGA Tour win, taking down the likes of Adam Scott, Hideki Matusyama and Jon Rahm, and leaving Rory and Tiger well and truly in his wake.

Rose’s 21-under-par wining score not only helped cement his position as world No.1, but also confirmed that the decision to make the switch to Honma had indeed been a good one.

The stats also bore out the improvement in performance, with the new driver adding five yards onto Rose’s average driving distance – up to 308 yards from 303 in 2018 – and his ball speed up from 179mph to 186mph. He also hit 78% of the greens in regulation, highlighting confidence in his new irons and wedges – as well as the accuracy of his driving. “I really felt comfortable with the clubs immediately,” said Rose. “It’s a whole new look for me, but I don’t mind if it’s going to produce golf like that.”

A tour of the 500,000-square metre facility at Sakata, where Honma’s 350 loyal staff, including generations of engineers and master craftsmen, draw upon decades of experience to produce finely-tuned equipment, only served to back up Rose’s hunch that the people at Honma really know what they’re doing when it comes to producing clubs that perform as exquisitely as they look.

EQUIPMENT & GEAR [49] NEWS | EQUIPMENT GUIDE MARCH 2019 [29] GOLFNEWS.CO.UK

We began our tour by perusing the stunning showroom, which is packed with rows upon rows of shiny clubheads belonging to past champions. A household name in the Far East since the 1960s, Honma has racked up 40 worldwide wins in the last three years alone, and is played by LPGA Tour stars Shanshan Feng and So-Yeon Ryu, as well as rising European Tour player Hideto Tanihura, who has 14 wins in Japan to his name.

We then met up with Honma’s Head of R&D, Hiroshi Suwa, the man who personally fitted Rose’s clubs out in the Bahamas, and who oversees the design and creation of every club to come out of the Sakata HQ over the last 40 years.

Suwa guided us into the beating heart of the factory, where experienced craftsmen sat hunched over persimmon moulds, chiselling away at the next generation of wood and iron heads, while others made sparks fly as they ground away at irons and wedges seeking the perfect finish. A dizzying 100 pairs of hands are involved in the making of every Honma club, with up to 156 different processes before the finished product is created.

A highlight of the tour was seeing Honma’s hand-rolled Vizard shafts in production.

A skill that apparently takes eight years to master, Honma’s shafts are unique in that the spine is always placed in exactly the same position – 6 o’clock from the address position – which creates consistent performance with each club and through the set. Honma’s clubs fairway woods were equally powerful, are also assembled by putting the grip on the performing as well from the turf as from shaft first, rather than the head – a point of the tee. difference that allows for more precise weight As a 14-handicapper, the TWorld 747P irons control when the head is added. It’s attention were the ideal set for me, offering that vital to these small, but significant, details than element of forgiveness in what makes Honma stand apart. is still a reasonably compact This was also readily head for a game improvement apparent in the paint shop, model. With the weight placed where craftsmen were HONMA low and deep, it was easy to seen hand-painting driver REALLY KNOW pop the ball up, and distance clubheads in one of Honma’s WHAT THEY’RE was impressive too. The Vx 16 bespoke colour options, DOING WHEN irons boast a more compact while shafts were also handIT COMES TO head and are ideally suited to painted with meticulous care. single-figure handicappers Having seen first hand PRODUCING who demand more shothow the clubs are made, the CLUBS THAT shaping potential. next step was to put them to PERFORM AS It’s easy to get quite cynical the test, and we did this at EXQUISITELY about manufacturer’s claims Honma’s superb R&D facility AS THEY LOOK regarding performance, which is located a close to but Honma is making no the factory. Here, we saw an outrageous promises with ‘Iron Byron’ robot smashing the new TWorld 747 range. In balls into the distance on fact, they were at pains to suggest that this a 400-yard range. Although blessed with a set offers ‘real distance’, unlocking your true slightly less repeatable swing, I was mightily potential as a player, rather than making any impressed with the new TWorld 747 range, superhuman improvement. After all, they’re with the driver being long and straight, with not miracle workers, are they? Justin Rose a nice arcing ball flight offering a balanced might disagree…. combination of carry and roll, while the

REPAYING THE FAITH It took two trips out to the Bahamas, and plenty of tweaks along the way, but JUSTIN ROSE is delighted with his new set of hand-made Honma clubs “It was around about July last year that I knew that I would be moving on from TaylorMade, and needed to find another equipment sponsor. Honma came into the mix, and the more I explored it, and started to test it, and saw what they were capable of, the more I began to see it as a huge opportunity. It was about working with a company that was able to work with me in a bespoke way to create clubs that are pleasing to my eye with a quality of materials that is second to none.

“Honma is able to do that, and. after an extended period of testing over the winter, we made little tweaks to the clubs, including the tiniest

refinements to the shape of the toe, groove length and offset, to create the perfect set of clubs. Japanese steel makes the clubs feel and perform amazingly well, so overall it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience.

“The performance of the TW747 driver has been even more impressive, as that is where I thought it might be hardest to settle into something new. In fact, that’s been a revelation and the increase in ball speed and distance has been a real game changer.

“As a European golfer, it’s also a real honour to have been chosen by Honma to help spearheard the brand’s international growth.

Their market share in Asia is amazing, but they have a huge opportunity to grow in Europe and the US and it’s a huge honour to play a part in that. Honma has put a lot of faith in me and hopefully I can reward them with my performances on the golf course.”

MEET THE TWORLD 747 RANGE DRIVER: Available in two models, the TWorld747 455 and 460 drivers help to create your desired shot shape, improve your ball flight and distance courtesy of the proprietary adjustability system. The crown is made from a lightweight ET40 carbon with a ribbed grooving. Behind the clubface, Honma’s 4 Fang Technology deploys four metal studs that boost ball speeds and distance. The 455cc model uses a weight system to maximise MOI to generate higher ball speeds, while the 460cc is slightly more forgiving and uses interchangeable weights to create the desired shot shape. RRP: £559 FAIRWAY WOODS: The TWorld747 fairway wood is designed to provide a high trajectory and maximum distance. A 9g outer weight combined with an inner 20g weight creates a low and deep centre of gravity that enables you to launch the ball high with low spin for maximum carry.

RRP: £309

■ OVER 100 PAIRS OF HANDS ARE INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF EVERY HONMA CLUB, WITH UP TO 156 DIFFERENT MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

HYBRID: The TWorld747 hybrid features a stable head shape with a well-balanced outline to provide confidence at address. It provides a high-launch and moderate spin rate for consistent shots from all lies.

RRP: £269 IRONS: There are four TWorld747 irons to choose from - the Vx, V P and Rose Proto. The P game improvement irons are made from high-strength stainless steel and feature a 20g tungsten weight on the sole for maximum forgiveness on off-centre strikes. They also feature stronger lofts and deliver high ball speed to offer a powerful trajectory and distance.

The Vx Forged irons provide solid feel as well as explosive distance, while the V irons are a forged cavity/blade with a player preferred profile. The Rose Proto irons are a pure forged blade for ultiimate control and feel. RRP: £969 (six irons).

WHAT’S IN JUSTIN’S BAG DRIVER: HONMA TW747 460 (9.5° ADJUSTED TO 8.5°, VIZARD FD-7X SHAFT) IRONS: HONMA TW-U III (2), TW747 ROSE PROTO IRONS (4-9, KBS C-TAPER 125 SHAFTS) WEDGES: HONMA ‘ROSE PROTO’ (48°, 52°, 56°), KBS HI-REV 2.0 SHAFTS.

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EQUIPMENT NEWS WILSON LAYS DOWN D7 CHALLENGE Wilson Golf has laid down a challenge to golfers to put their own 7-iron up against its new Wilson Staff D7 model to see how much more distance they can achieve.

The D7 Challenge, which will run for the next five months, requires golfers to hit three shots with both their current 7-iron and the Wilson D7 to see which one gains the most yardage. A random draw will take place each month for golfers who gained yardage for a chance to win a year’s supply of Wilson Staff DX2 Soft golf balls.

Recently trialled at the PGA Show in Orlando, more than 97% of the 295 golfers who took up the D7 Challenge gained an

back mallet shape offer players high MOI, forgiveness, and easy alignment.

Boasting a hand-polished platinum finish, it features a single-bend shaft with minimal toe hang. It comes with a 15-inch Deep Etched Cord Grip by Lamkin and a matching headcover.

“The Beauty of the Armlock style of putting is that it takes out any unwanted wrist and hand motion in the putting stroke, and putts an emphasis on the upper body in order to swing it more consistently under pressure when it matters most,” said Sam Bettinardi, vice president of Bettinardi Golf.

EPIC FLASH WINS BATTLE OF THE BIG STICKS

Puma Golf’s new Ignite Proadapt shoes, which are on sale now, were designed in conjunction with the brand’s headline tour ambassador Rickie Fowler, who wore them during his recent victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Boasting Tour-proven stability, unparalleled traction and extreme comfort, the Proadapt shoe has full-grain leather uppers, while the outsole features Dual-Durometer Tornado cleats, which deliver excellent traction, along with torsional stability provided from the full-length TPU outsole.

The Ignite Proadapt comes with a one-year waterproof warranty, and is offered in three colour options – White/Grey Violet, Black/ Dark Shadow and Grey Violet/White – and has an RRP of £150.

Callaway’s new Epic Flash driver won the bragging rights following a driver test held at American Golf stores across the UK last month.

A total of 934 American Golf customers took on the ‘Battle of the Brands’ driver test and found the Epic Flash to be the winner, with on average a 8.3-yard gain over each golfer’s own driver.

The testers' net gain was 26,220 yards of extra distance from all drivers hit. Callaway took top spot, but each of the other drivers on test – TaylorMade M5/ M6, Cobra F9 Speedback and Wilson D7 – showed a significant increase from the testers’ current drivers.

The biggest individual gain was an astonishing 67 yards, using a TaylorMade M6.

“This has to be one of the largest ever sample sizes for a head to head driver test,” explained Conrad Edkins, director of parketing at American Golf. “The results were fantastic too, with virtually every tester making significant distance gains with the fantastic new technology ."

WEBUYANYGOLFCLUB WE ARE THE COUNTRIES LEADING BUYER OF USED GOLF CLUBS We will consider the clubs the other guys will not

you and pay cash ➽ Anywhere else, you can send us your clubs get paid by PayPal ➽ Bring your clubs to RG42 3DH for cash ➽ We can clear pro shop old stock & oddments

Premium putter brand Bettinardi Golf has extended its Studio Stock range to include the new Studio Stock 38 Armlock.

The SS38 Armlock, milled from a solid block of stainless steel, will now offer golfers a high-performing, compact mallet in an Armlock-style putter. It joins the SS28 Slotback as the second Armlock option in the current Studio Stock Series. The SS38 Armlock is made from a single block of stainless steel, which is precision milled to a 400g head with Bettinardi’s patented F.I.T. Face Milling. Its rounded, compact, cavity-

average yardage increase of 15% using the D7 iron.

Dates and venues where the challenge will take place can be found on the D7 Challenge page via Wilson’s website, www.wilson. com. To take part, can text the figure of their average gain to a number provided by a Wilson representative on the day.

FOLLOW IN FOWLER’S FOOTSTEPS WITH PUMA’S PROADAPT

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