16 minute read
Puetz Golf - In The Bag
PRODUCT REVIEWS AND EQUIPMENT NEWS YOU CAN USE
Keep your summer simmering with these great new products
BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
We’re well into the season now and you’re hopefully approaching top form assuming you haven’t reached it already. Barring one week in the middle of June, the weather has been mostly excellent with lots of comfortably warm, blue-sky days giving you plenty of opportunity to get out and fire at some pins.
We hope Rory McIlroy fans weren’t too disappointed with his closing-stretch strife at the U.S. Open, but rather we trust you were inspired by Bryson DeChambeau’s sensational closing par (yes, pars can be sensational) to go and play some winning golf of your own.
By the time this issue hits your inbox or mailbox, the Open Championship at Royal Troon may be underway and the Olympic Games golf competitions at Le Golf National in Paris will be fast approaching. U.S. players Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda will be looking to repeat their performances of four years ago when both players earned a gold medal in Tokyo. Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark will also be going for gold, as will Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang. The men will be hoping to do a lot better than the U.S. Ryder Cup team did at the same venue in 2018 when it lost 17½-10½, though none of the four male Olympians were there so they won’t be harboring any bad memories.
Talking of memories, we hope you’re making plenty this summer by recording some stellar rounds, playing some great courses and, who knows, maybe even notching your first ace. You’ve had plenty of time to get your equipment in order, but you know that if anything needs renewing or upgrading, Puetz Golf will have what you need to keep your 2024 season humming. Something here for instance…
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1 • VESSEL
LUX XV 2.0 Cart Bag
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $454.99
Vessel is a brand that seems to have quickly shot to prominence, but this is no overnight success story. The Carlsbad-based company was founded 10 years ago by Ronnie Shaw whose father, David, had created Taiwan’s first golf bag factory (Zonson) in 1981. While Zonson made bags for large OEMs such as Nike and was primarily about volume, Vessel began (and still is) as a boutique brand offering premium quality and superior customer service and customizing a few bags a week for Tour players. Zonson still operates but, as Vessel’s reputation has grown, the Shaws have focused more of their energy on raising its profile. It now makes a range of top-quality cart and stand bags as well as luxury lifestyle bags and accessories (it also produces tennis bags and backpacks). There are three cart bags in Vessel’s lineup, which includes the superb Lux XV 2.0, whose list of features seems endless. Made with Tour-grade synthetic leather, it has a 15-way, velour-lined, full-length club divider, three grab handles, forward-facing storage, straps that hold it securely to the cart, an anti-microbial-lined personals pocket, an upper magnetic pocket, interior lock pocket, genuine leather touchpoints, and so much more. It is, in short, everything you want from a cart bag and was obviously made by people who understand what cart bag-users need. The same can be said for the company’s excellent stand bags of which the Player IV ($394.99), VLS Lux ($384.99), and VLX 2.0 ($354.99) are perhaps the standouts.
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2 • OGIO
Woode Hybrid Stand Bag
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $279.99
OGIO was founded in 1987 when Michael J. Pratt created a popular sports locker tote bag called the Travel Cube. In keeping with its name, which is an acronym for “Our Gear Is Organized”, OGIO built a reputation for adding features to golf bags that made them significantly more streamlined and easier to use. The company was bought by Callaway Golf for around $75 million seven years ago but has continued to produce a solid range of golf bags and accessories in addition to travel bags, golf travel bags, backpacks, duffels and pickleball bags. Among its highly acclaimed golf bags for 2024 is the Woode Hybrid Stand Bag, made with 300D Double Ripstop Polyester and which features a molded, eight-way club divider designed to always keep your irons and headcovers separate and highly visible. It also benefits from innovative Drop Top Technology, which mounts the legs lower down the bag to assist when using a push/pull trolley/cart. There are nine front-facing pockets which include a Rapid Access Snap Ball Pocket, and a Rapid Access Snap fleece-lined valuables pocket. The space for your water bottle features a drainage port, and the Foam-Molded double shoulder strap has a Fit Disc self-balancing strap system. A “ball silo” gives you instant access to three balls, there’s a Velcro glove patch, towel loop, pen holder, umbrella holder, the rain cover is included, and the ball pocket can be personalized. Available in seven colorways – Grey, Black Sport, Navy Sport, Agave Ahora, Tiger Swirl, Aloha and Graffiti Kaleidoscope.
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3 • XXIO
13 Complete Set & Prime 11 Complete Set
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $3,199.99 and $2,499.99
The Japanese brand (its stablemates are Srixon and Cleveland Golf) is an industry leader for lightweight clubs aimed at moderate swing speed (slower than 90 mph) golfers. The components in the XXIO 13 driver, for instance, allow it to weigh in at just 286 grams. Despite not being terribly cheap, XXIO clubs are popular among seasoned golfers who are gradually losing their swing speed, especially when grouped together in complete sets which saves the consumer a little cash at least. XXIO has a special relationship with Puetz Golf which enables it to offer the women’s, 11-piece XXIO 13 complete set, consisting of an 11.5-degree driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 5-hybrid, 6-iron to PW, AW, and SW, at an attractively-discounted price — $500 off with a bag when compared with buying clubs individually. XXIO 13 was launched at the start of this year and features several technologies that help you hit your drives long and straight including a new airfoil design on the heel side of the crown, which makes the most of aerodynamic forces to generate greater clubhead speed. The Cannon Sole and Step Crown in the fairway woods and hybrids, together with the other technologies found in the driver, help you hit impressive shots of around 200 yards from the fairway, and the four-piece construction irons and progressive variable face thickness help you hit your irons long and high and land them softly, hopefully close to the hole. Puetz Golf also offers the Prime 11 complete set at a very attractive price.
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4 • TAYLORMADE
Spider Tour X L-Neck
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $349.99
The Spider Tour series of putters was announced last September and is made up of the standard Spider Tour, the Spider Tour X, Spider Tour Z, Spider Tour V, and Spider Tour S. Rory McIlroy has had much success with the Spider X shape and now uses the Spider Tour X, as does Scottie Scheffler who switched from a blade to a mallet for the first time at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August 2023. Scheffler’s debut mallet was a prototype, however — the Spider Tour X SS Proto — which lasted until the Tour Championship. There was much he’d liked about it, however, and after a few tweaks (PURE ROLL insert with grooves slanted at 45 degrees for optimal roll, instead of the milled face, and back weights as opposed to front weights), the mallet was back at Bay Hill in March. Scheffler won that tournament by five shots, and has since claimed the Masters, Players Championship, RBC Heritage and Memorial. His putter is the same Spider Tour X that McIlroy uses but, instead of McIlroy’s short slant neck model, Scheffler’s has an L-Neck similar to that on his old blade putter. This hosel gives him a familiar visual and creates 30 degrees of toe-hang (good for strokes with an arc). It has a Moment of Inertia (MOI) of 5,000 making it very stable, and the True Path alignment system which Scheffler says helps him line up easily. The Hybrar Echo Damper is positioned behind the face to help remove unwanted vibrations.
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5 • TAYLORMADE
MG4 Wedge Black finish
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $179.99
TaylorMade’s vaunted Milled Grind series of wedges continues to impress with the fourth generation featuring laser-etched Spin Tread and a raw, unfinished face which is made from 8620 Carbon Steel for a soft feel at impact. It rusts over time, and creates more spin around the greens, particularly in wet conditions with the grooves acting much like a tire tread, redirecting water at impact and generating more friction. The shape of the MG4 is slightly different from previous models, offering more refinement and a slightly different distribution of mass, creating a different feel. TaylorMade’s staff players contributed input on details such as the shape and weight of the hosel, the amount of offset, and the straightness of the leading edge. Though noticeably rounder and smoother looking with a compact appearance, the MG4 has a slightly bigger footprint than the MG3. The new black finish minimizes glare from the sun and blends seamlessly with the raw face to give a sleek and sophisticated look. The black model is available in six different degree options — 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 with between nine and 12 degrees of bounce (less bounce for tight lies and firm, dense sand; more for soft, lush lies and fluffy sand). The MG4 comes fitted with a stiff, 115-gram True Temper Dynamic Gold Wedge Shaft that is designed to launch the ball on a flattish trajectory and prevent it from ballooning. The club’s milled sole maximizes consistency and optimizes club-turf interaction. The grip is the Lamkin Crossline 360 Black/Silver/Green.
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6 • TAYLORMADE
P790 Aged Copper irons
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $1,499.99 4-PW, Limited Edition
This club celebrates TaylorMade’s logo from the 1980s, but it isn’t so much about a logo as it is the gorgeous copper plating that gives it its distinguished look. You almost feel bad for hitting something so gorgeous and think it should be hanging in a museum. Looks aside though, the P790 is today’s best-selling players-distance iron largely because of how it performs. It features TaylorMade’s thick-thin back wall construction which takes weight away from the back wall where it isn’t very important and strategically redistributes it to other areas of the club to enhance performance. Each iron is uniquely designed using Artificial Intelligence, in fact, to position every gram carefully and achieve specific performance goals. The mass removed from the back wall is replaced by carefully-located tungsten weights that alter the position of each club’s Center of Gravity (CG) — lowest in the long irons to help you get the ball in the air and rising as the club gets progressively shorter to help generate a flatter, more controlled trajectory. TaylorMade calls this positioning of the Center of Gravity “FLTD CG.” The 4140 forged high-speed face is just 1.56 millimeters thick at its thinnest location which, combined with a hollow head, allows the face to flex and generate terrific ball speeds. The hollow body, meanwhile, is filled with TaylorMade’s proprietary SpeedFoam to create a soft feel, minimize vibration and enhance the sound of impact. All that tech is nice and all, but who cares about tech when you look this good.
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7 • ECCO
LT1 and BIOM TOUR
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $189.99 - $199.99
Danish shoe and leather goods company ECCO was born in 1963 but didn’t make its first golf shoe until 1996 when founder Karl Toosbuy and son-in-law, former ECCO CEO Dieter Kasprzak, quickly became hooked and decided to expand the company into golf. They hired Denmark’s young, rising star, Thomas Bjorn, as ECCO Golf’s first brand ambassador and sales grew steadily until 2010 when they skyrocketed following that year’s Masters. Fred Couples had become ECCO Golf’s first ambassador in the U.S. and played at Augusta National in the ECCO Golf Street, the game’s first hybrid golf/athletic/street shoe. “ECCO started the hybrid revolution,” says Couples. “At the 2010 Masters, I shot a first round 66 which gave me the lead, but all anyone wanted to talk about was my shoes.” ECCO Golf has since developed dozens of highly-regarded golf shoes including a couple of its current models — the LT1 and BIOM Tour. The exceptionally-comfortable LT1 features an advanced bounce and rebound foam, called ECCO LYTR, which is embedded in the sole using FluidForm technology — ECCO’s way of maintaining the anatomical integrity of the foot. Leather uppers, a waterproof membrane, and Ortholite insole add to the LT1’s appeal. The BIOM Tour is another beautiful, performance shoe aimed at providing comfort, stability and traction. The leather uppers and BIOM Natural Motion Technology, with soft/light PHORENE in the mid-sole, combine to provide the comfort and allow natural, efficient movement of the foot while the Pivix spikes (by SoftSpikes) and molded grooves ensure you remain upright.
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8 • NIKE
Air Pegasus ’89 G, FREE Golf NN & Air Max ’86 OG 8
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $119.99 - $189.99
Like other manufacturers, Nike has been on something of a retro trip recently. The Beaverton, Ore., company says the Air Pegasus ’89 G “melds the vintage vibes of yesteryear with our game-breaking golf technology for an everlasting look on the links.” Synthetic leather overlays combined with stretch skin and mesh keep your feet dry (one-year guarantee) and wet rubber traction is designed to give you “multidirectional bite” on sketchy terrain. There’s two soft, yet supportive, foams in the mid-sole and hidden Zoom Air in the heel adds to the comfort level. Available in seven colorways. The Free Golf NN is a blast from the past, too, and uses some of Nike’s best running-footwear technology. The low-profile shoe also includes design elements from the Tiger Woods ’13 with Brio cables piped into the upper to secure it to the outsole and provide strength and support without adding bulky materials. The Free Golf NN also has a tough plastic clip placed around the heel to improve stability. Available in three colorways. The Air Max 1 ’86 OG is, likewise, modeled on a legendary Nike shoe with design details inspired by the Air Max 1 released in 1986, including the debossed “Nike Air” logo on the heel. It features the four-window design that lets you see the Max Air and optimal cushioning in the mid-sole and comes with an updated traction pattern that gives you good grip in the wet. It comes with a one-year waterproof guarantee and is available in six colorways. With Nike being a Northwest company, these models will fly off the shelf so act fast.
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9 • TRAVIS MATHEW
Ringer 2 & Daily Pro Hybrid
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $139.99 - $179.99
Travis Mathew set out in 2007 to make golf cool, at least cooler than what it was. Based in Huntington Beach, Calif., the company shipped its first orders in 2008 and, the following year, recorded its first PGA Tour victory when Geoff Ogilvy won the Sony Open in Hawaii. In 2012, Bubba Watson won the Masters wearing Travis Mathew and, in 2017, it was purchased by Callaway for $125 million. Jon Rahm then won the 2021 U.S. Open in Travis Mathew and, in 2023, the company’s second Masters. Other PGA Tour winners include Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns and Joel Dahmen. Travis Mathew offered its first golf shoe under its sub-brand Cuater in 2020. There were two models – the Moneymaker and Ringer which not surprisingly were the last word in cool and comfort. Four years on, the brand still offers two models – the Ringer 2 and Daily Pro Hybrid, a spikeless model that is essentially the Moneymaker 2 but with a more sporty, sophisticated name. The waterproof Ringer 2 is the company’s premium model and features what Travis Mathew calls “Sweetspot Cushioning” with multiple layers of soft support. An air-mesh lining keeps it breathable and seven Tour Flex Pro spikes (by SoftSpikes) on each shoe help keep you stable. The Daily Pro Hybrid also features Sweetspot Cushioning and is perfect for summer golf. It’s a shoe you’d be happy wearing on the course or at the bar. A crisscross design of plastic nubs and ridges on the sole provides traction. Travis Mathew just keeps pushing the coolness and tech envelope — we can't wait to see what's next.
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10 • GARMIN
Approach Z30 Rangefinder
PUETZ GOLF PRICE • $399.99
The modern rangefinder is generally so good, it’s tough to make them much better. Garmin seems able to do it every time it releases something new, however, and its new Z30 Rangefinder pushes the envelope that little bit further. An attractively priced unit, it does all the stuff you’d expect from a quality rangefinder but has four new features not previously seen on a Garmin rangefinder. Pair it with a compatible Garmin smartwatch or handheld or the Garmin Golf smartphone app and you’ll see more through the viewfinder, including distance from the pin to the front and back of the green. The PlaysLike Distance feature lets you adjust the yardage for uphill or downhill shots based on the change in elevation from where you’re standing. You get even more with the latest enhancements to PlaysLike Distance when you pair it with a compatible device that includes this feature. This enhanced feature factors in air pressure, temperature, wind and humidity — a combination known as ‘air density’. Lastly, there’s now a magnetic cart mount. Though not as feature-packed as the $600 Z82, released in April, the Z30 still gives you 6x magnification, Tournament Mode with an external indicator light, vibrational feedback, the Find My Garmin feature, and an IPX7 water-resistance rating. The Z30 is accurate to plus or minus one yard up to 400 yards, and the battery should be good for a year. The Z30 weighs 210 grams and comes with: carry case, carabiner clip, hand strap, wipe cloth, and CR2 battery.
