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• Titleist NXT Tour, NXT Tour S and Velocity golf balls

  There, she said it, and I have it on tape. Mary Lou Bohn, Titleist's vice president of golf ball marketing and communications, had just taken the red eye back from the West Coast, but she was awake and alert when she told me, "I think, in a perfect world, in terms of performance, the best golf balls for all golfers are the Pro V1 and Pro V1x."   The Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls are wildly popular among PGA Tour pros (who get them for free) and accomplished amateurs. But price is critical for most of us when it comes to selecting a ball, so at $48 per dozen, they can be tough to afford.   So with the Titleist NXT line, the company tried to keep as many Pro V1-like performance attributes as possible while keeping prices budget-friendly.   For 2012, the company went back to the drawing board and came out with two updated NXT balls. It's also releasing an all-new distance ball, the Velocity. Here is what you need to know about all three. David Dusek Titleist NXT Tour   Titleist NXT Tour, $31.99 per dozen "We asked [engineers] for longer distance on the NXT Tour," Bohn says, "but only do it if you can deliver similar spin control."   To do that, Titleist shrank the inner core of the three-piece NXT Tour by four percent and used a different blend of materials. That allowed the outer core—which is also designed using a new, softer material—to be bigger. The company says it was able to keep spin rates about the same, but this combination creates more ball speed.   The cover of the updated NXT Tour is unchanged, a softened blend of Surlyn, ionomer and other materials that Titleist calls Fusablend. But a new 302 dimple pattern helps the ball reach its highest point farther downrange off the driver.   You can think of this ball as the "Pro V1 Junior." David Dusek Titleist NXT Tour S   Titleist NXT Tour S, $31.99 per dozen This model has the same cover and dimple pattern as the NXT Tour, but it's a two-piece ball with a lower compression. That means it has a lower initial launch angle with a driver than the NXT Tour, but Titleist says it delivers nearly the same distance because it will roll out more.   The real benefit of the lowered compression is more feel. In blind tests, golfers told Titleist the biggest difference between the two balls is that the NXT Tour S simply feels softer, hence the S.   "For some players, especially bigger hitters with the driver, the NXT Tour ball is going to go a little farther," says Bill Morgan, Titleist's senior vice president of golf ball research and development. "Not radically, maybe a couple of yards. If that's important to you, by all means, play the NXT Tour. If feel is important to you, play the NXT Tour S."   Aside from enhanced feel, the NXT Tour S has one other feature that the NXT Tour doesn't—it's available in a highly visible yellow version. It's not the first yellow ball Titleist has made, but the company says it did a lot of research to make sure the color looked appealing in bright sunlight.   "It's a multilayer color that you're seeing," says Michael Mahoney, Titleist's director of golf ball product management. "We developed it layer on top of layer. The color of the core actually contributes to the color that you see."  David Dusek Titleist Velocity   Titleist Velocity, $26.99 per dozen The name Velocity provides more than a subtle hint about what Titleist tried to do with this ball. The first all-new Titleist ball in 10 years, the orange-trimmed Velocity is a two-piece ball that features the fastest core material in the company's arsenal. According to Mahoney, it's even faster than the outer core material used in the Pro V1x.   After researching cover designs tested over the years, Titleist engineers encased that core material with the fastest cover layer they had developed, which turned out to be a 332-dimple pattern.   Unfortunately, the first balls they made exceeded the USGA's initial velocity rules and had to be scrapped. In fact, several more versions of the Velocity were produced that also exceeded the USGA rules, but Titleist says the ball it is bringing to market is absolutely legal.   Interestingly, the Velocity is not a rock; it has the same compression specs as the Pro V1 (although the Pro V1's two additional layers and different cover material make it play quite differently).   Sure, the back of the Velocity's box mentions that the NaZ2 cover emphasizes short game playability, but that's not why someone is going to buy these bullets.   "Look, this is not our Tour ball," Morgan says. "This is a ball that you can play with in all aspects of the game, but really the focus was, 'Make this bad boy long.'"   If you really want to crank up the volume, don't settle for sleeves of balls numbered 1, 2, 3, or 4 ... the Velocity is also available in 00, 11, 22 and 33. Article & Image Information Titleist NXT Tour, NXT Tour S, Velocity Titleist NXT Tour Titleist NXT Tour S Titleist Velocity - 8 days ago

• Clubmakers, instructors and best players on planet will tell you that belly putters are here to stay

  They definitely should be banned. Nerves and the skill of putting are part of the game. Take a tablet if you can’t handle it. —Ernie Els, on long putters, 2004 Golf changed forever in 2011. Not because Bill Murray won a PGA Tour event and Tiger Woods didn’t. (Murray had help.) Or because the rule banning box grooves made a difference on the PGA Tour. (It didn’t.) Or because Rickie Fowler’s wardrobe explored parts of the rainbow where no man had gone before (excluding Jimmy Demaret and Doug ­Sanders). No, golf changed forever because of the invasion of long, thin, ­awkward-looking alien objects. Looking back someday, golf historians will identify that watershed moment as occurring at Atlanta Athletic Club on the evening of Aug. 14, when Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship with a belly putter, which he raised in triumph after the final stroke with no small effort, and became the first player to win a major championship with a putter anchored to his stomach. Yes, anchored to his stomach! Traditional putting hasn’t yet gone the way of the mashie niblick, the stymie or persimmon, but prepare yourself for a brave new world, golfing purists. Seven of 30 players who competed in last year’s Tour Championship did so with a belly or long putter, including the victor, Bill Haas. Five of the winners in the last seven regular-season Tour events went long, as did eight of the 24 competitors in the Presidents Cup. Did you know this phenomenon already has its own designation? “We call it alternative putting,” says Scotty Cameron, the game’s best-known putter designer. Alternative putting? That does sound more dignified, like an automobile seems classier if it’s preowned instead of used. “Every pro who has come to my studio in the last three months has asked to try an alternative putter,” Cameron says. “It’s been ­amazing.” So what’s really up with alternative putting? Is this a game-­changing revolution or a fad? I think it’s simply another step away from a game that’s been played for 300 years. —Geoff Ogilvy, on alternative putters, 2011   The Birth of the Belly The first time a golfer used a belly putter at a PGA Tour event he won by seven shots. Yet the flat stick that Paul Azinger used to win the Sony Open in Hawaii in January 2000 went largely unnoticed. Azinger had won his battle with lymphoma cancer, and he turned the Sony triumph, his first since the 1993 PGA, into an emotional tribute to his pal, Payne Stewart, who had died in a plane crash the previous fall. It’s no wonder that Azinger’s putter was ­overlooked. Here’s the backstory: A few months earlier Azinger was fooling around with someone’s shortish long-shafted putter in the Gator Creek golf shop near his home in Bradenton, Fla. “I put it in my belly button, started hitting every target around the shop, took it out on the putting green and made everything,” Azinger says. “It just fit. It was a fluke.” Azinger never completely found his ’93 best-in-America form, but he climbed back into the top 20 in the World Ranking and onto a Presidents Cup and a Ryder Cup team. In 1999, Azinger finished 111th in putting. After he bellied up in 2000, he ranked fourth behind Brad Faxon, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, only the three best putters of modern times. The belly and the broomstick are definitely superior methods. I don’t see any reason why a guy can’t be phenomenal with those putters. —Johnny Miller, 2011   A Better Mousetrap? The belly putter was already golf’s club du jour by the time Bradley won the PGA with it. When Mickelson, Mr. Ultimate Purist Blade Putter, showed up with one at the Deutsche Bank Championship three weeks later, two things happened. One, “I fainted,” jokes Dave Stockton, the putting wizard who had been working with Phil. Two, alternative putting was no longer seen as a last resort for poor putt­ers. In fact, the success of the belly putter led many to wonder, Is this actually a better way to putt? Quite simply, the belly’s not for everyone. Stockton stopped at TaylorMade head­quarters in Carlsbad, Calif., to pick up a belly putter made to his specs late last summer so he could try one before his first belly-­putting session with Mickelson. The two met at a nearby practice green, where Phil stroked a pair of long putts. Then Stockton took a turn, and on his first try he holed a 50-footer. “I was smart enough to quit after one,” Stockton says. “Phil just shook his head.” Stockton, a Mozart on the greens, could probably hole putts with a pitchfork. He’s not a fan of the belly putter and believes anything anchored to the body should be illegal, but he has seen the results. “I still think your routine is much more important,” he says, “but this club is definitely going to help certain people.” A few years ago Dave Pelz, the renowned short-game scientist, tested students at one of his golf schools for a Golf Magazine story. He had them putt five ways, including with a belly putter, a long putter and crosshanded. The belly putter edged out the long putter as the most effective on short putts. “It’s not a panacea,” Pelz says, “but it eliminates two things amateurs do poorly. It helps them not rotate their forearms during the stroke, and it eliminates hinging their wrists.” The only negative with a belly putter, Pelz says, is that the more controlled arm swing used with a long shaft can affect the touch of a player accustomed to a conventional putter. “Mickelson struggled with that,” Pelz says. “He was immediately better on short putts but not as good on long putts.” Jim Suttie, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, was an advocate of the long putter long before it became fashionable. He was an early believer in the belly putter, too, after Azinger broke his out. “I’ve been telling people to do this for a long time,” says Suttie, who estimates that 40% of his students own some sort of alternative putter. “The ideal way to putt, the purest way, is left-hand-low with a belly. When your right hand is low, your right shoulder is lower, and you push some putts. You want your shoulders level; that creates a real neutral stroke.” Stan Utley, who works with a number of top PGA Tour players, teaches an arc-based stroke. Though Utley, an admitted traditionalist, disagrees with allowing anchored clubs, he sees value in alternatives. “Long putters cause the player to make the exact same stroke that I teach with a conventional putter,” Utley says. “When you anchor the grip end to the body, you can’t manipulate the grip in a way that pulls the top of the handle back during the takeaway or toward the target during the through swing, the biggest mistakes I see.” Steve Flesch, 44, has used a belly putter for nearly a decade. He won three of his four PGA Tour titles with a belly putter. He considers it necessary. “It’s a means to cure the flinches,” Flesch says. “I got the flinches at 21 and have battled them my entire career. I went back to a short putter for a while, but you reach a point over a certain putt that maybe means a lot, and suddenly it’s like having a rattlesnake in your hands.” One convert who jumped off the bandwagon is Jim Furyk. He began experimenting with the belly putter after getting some tips from Bradley at last year’s Canadian Open. Furyk knows unconventional. There’s his swing, for starters, and the crosshanded putting style his dad taught him growing up. Furyk’s putting had always been considered a strength, but last year, at 41, he struggled with his stroke and gave the belly a try, with mixed results. “The part I liked is, it’s anchored,” Furyk says. “It does feel stable and steady. The part I don’t like is, it’s anchored. You have to determine how vertical you hold the club, your posture and your arms, and that affects the putter’s path. If you grip the club so it’s too long, you feel as if you’re going to stub it. Too short, and it feels as if it’s not ­anchored.” Furyk went back to his conventional putter and crosshanded grip for the Presidents Cup, made everything and hasn’t looked back. “People ask me what I learned from using the belly putter,” Furyk says. “My answer is, I learned I had better remember how to putt with the short putter again.” We don’t see this as a big trend. It’s not as if all the junior golfers out there are doing this. No one’s even won a major using one of these things anchored to themselves. So we don’t see this as something that is really detrimental to the game. —Mike Davis, USGA executive director, on Golf Channel in 2011   The Belly Rebellion Alternative putters are coming to a ­retailer—or maybe a golf bag—near you this year. More manufacturers are producing them and in greater numbers, and more stores are stocking them. Look in any golf shop; belly putters are multiplying like rabbits. “We hadn’t gone gung-ho about alternative putters because there ­hadn’t been much of a market before,” says Titleist’s Cameron. “Now there’s a market. I think Adam Scott at the Masters last year [Scott tied for second with a long putter] made this acceptable and cool. Two years ago, when you used one of these putters, you looked defeated.” The forecast for belly putters is decidedly bullish. According to a survey of 750 golfers by the Sports & Leisure Research Group, 17% plan to buy a new putter in 2012, up 8% from a year ago, and the amount each golfer estimates he or she will spend is $158, a 14% increase from 2011. “Clearly, the belly putter has heightened interest, and the higher prices people are willing to spend reflect the innovation in this category,” says Jon Last, Sports & Leisure Research Group’s president. “Everything points to a resurgence in the putter category.” Clubmakers have taken notice. Bettinardi Golf, known for its high-end custom putters, ­didn’t offer a belly model in 2011. Its new putter line does—the BB53, which comes in heel-shafted and ­center-shafted versions. “I was at the PGA when Keegan Bradley won, and that was my eureka moment,” says company founder and designer Bob Bettinardi. “So far, so good. They’re ­selling.” Scotty Cameron Putters is expecting a huge year. Before Scott’s run at the Masters, Cameron says his company would sell 500 to 1,000 alternative putters a year. By the end of ’11 the number was 10,000. Cameron is gearing up to move 15,000 to 20,000 this year. Instead of simply adding length to conventional models, for the first time TaylorMade designed its alternative putters to perform at belly- and long-putter lengths. Last year, according to Michael Fox, a TaylorMade product-marketing manager, the company sold four times as many alternative putters as in 2010, and he expects to double 2011’s sales this year. “We were back-ordered 30 days at one point last year,” says Fox. Ping, riding the crest of Webb Simpson’s success with the Craz-E belly putter, which he has used since college, already had three belly models available and will add a fourth this spring. “We had to readjust our forecasts because our retailers had pretty robust sales during the holidays,” says Ping spokesman Pete Samuels. “I don’t see this as a fad. With so many younger players using it, that suggests it has legs.” The belly putter is like the two-­handed backhand shot in tennis 25 years ago. It was the odd guy who hit a two-handed backhand. Now if you don’t have a two-handed backhand you can barely compete, unless you’re Roger Federer. The belly putter is going to become accepted, and you’ll see more players using it. —Brad Faxon, 2011   Fitting and Proper If you know only one thing about belly putt­ers, let it be this: The fit must be perfect. Todd Sones, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and the owner of Contour Golf Custom Putters, has worked with alternative putters for years. He is adamant about the importance of ­putter-fitting. “Belly putting is a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing,” Sones says. “It either works great, or it ­doesn’t work at all. Your chance of buying a belly putter and setting up properly without professional help is like buying prescription eyeglasses from Sunglass Hut.” Sones says a golfer using a belly putter must be tilted at just the right angle so his hands hang directly under his shoulder line. If the putter is too long, the golfer will stand too upright, forcing his hands outside the shoulder line. If the putter is too short, the club is anchored too low in the midsection, inevitably pushing the putter to the outside on the stroke. The challenge for marketing belly putters is the fitting process. “If Dan Forsman and Steve Jones stood next to each other, they’d be the same height,” Sones says. “But Dan’s belt is, like, five inches higher than Steve’s because he’s all legs. Anyone fitting putters only by height is getting it wrong.” For example, Sones says he recently measured a 5' 7" teenager to a 33-inch conventional putter. He needed to add 91⁄2 inches for his belly putter to fit properly. Then, Sones worked with a 6' 4" man who needed a 36-inch conventional putter, but only six more inches to cover the distance to his belly. A 42-inch belly putter fit the big man, a 421⁄2-inch model fit the teen. “Look, the biggest fundamental mistake even the best players make is that they come out of their putt, their upper body moves, usually up and back, or they peek, which makes them open up,” Sones says. “Because the belly putter is connected to the body, it’s easier to stay down on the putt and your chances of keeping your shoulders square at impact go up. Technically, I can see the reasons why belly putting is a better way to putt—if a player is set up correctly. “Belly putters are technically sound. If they’re done right, they will help a lot of people. If they’re done wrong, they may go away.” Guys can have a laugh at me, that’s fine. I’ve done it to them. As long as it’s legal, I’ll keep cheating like the rest of them. —Ernie Els, on using a belly putter, 2011 Article & Image Information Keegan Bradley, 2011 PGA Champion - 8 days ago

• Course of Style: Keegan Bradley wears Hilfiger but walks Oakley; Graeme McDowell signs new deal

  Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion and rookie of the year switched apparel sponsorship from Oakley to Tommy Hilfiger early this year. But at the Farmers Insurance Open last weekend, Bradley was still wearing Oakley footwear. What gives? Apparently, Oakley lost a heated bidding war for Bradley to Tommy Hilfiger, a golf line licensed to the Fletcher Group of Canada which also makes Sunice. Oakley wanted to keep Bradley, but the rising star commanded as much as five times what Oakley had been paying him to wear its apparel. Executives familiar with the action estimated Bradley's eventual deal to be in the $500,000 range. However, Tommy Hilfiger does not make golf shoes, so Bradley will continue to wear Oakley's advanced Cipher shoes -- with their sandpaper-like soles and ultralight weight -- under a separate contract. G-Mac's eyes were smiling Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who had two incredible shots last weekend -- a hole-in-one and a ricochet birdie -- also signed a new apparel sponsorshipin January, with Dublin-based Kartel. Alan Swan, the chairman of Kartel, said that when he first met McDowell to propose a deal, the two of them were wearing nearly identical cashmere sweaters. That helps. He then made three sample outfits for the Irish pro, who found that they exactly suited his style. Kartel, which dresses Padraig Harrington, too, specializes in mercerized cottons, classic fitted trousers and soft sweaters. This spring the company introduces a new full collection, G-Mac by Kartel, based on the clothes McDowell will be wearing on tour.   Article & Image Information Keegan Bradley - 10 days ago

• Highlights from 2012 PGA Show in Orlando

  ORLANDO, Fla. -- Last week’s PGA Merchandise Show was, once again, an embarrassment of riches. It’s a golden age of equipment, a time when all the big manufacturers -- and even some small ones -- make superior gear.   I’ve already named my 10 favorite items, but those were just the beginning of the most notable things I saw at The Show.   Oakley Golf was this year’s biggest surprise for me. They’d been only marginally in the golf business, to my mind, with sunglasses and efforts to spin off some of their trendy footwear as golf shoes.   So I didn’t expect much when I checked out their gear, but I was stunned. The Oakley Cipher shoe was remarkable, but so was the company's high-tech apparel. Oakley hired some talent away from UnderArmour and adidas, went all-in for technology and signed some prominent names to wear its stuff—Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Ryann O’Toole and Rickey Barnes. My favorite was a windbreaker with removable sleeves. That idea isn’t new, but this jacket had a real innovation: you unzip the sleeve partway up and then neatly fold it, still-attached, into a pouch hidden on the inside of the vest. It’s totally out of the way, and you can't lose the sleeve. Ingenious.   A Swedish outfit I’d never heard of, Cross, also impressed. The kings of raingear are FootJoy, ProQuip and Sun Mountain, but Cross is suddenly in the mix with its FTX Full Stretch rainwear. It’s soft and unusually stretchy and quiet. It reminds me of ProQuip’s Silk Touch raingear from a few years back, as soft as a sweater but impervious to water. Plus, Cross has slick European style. Only a few online outlets carry Cross gear, and keep in mind that it’s cut to European sizes. The large pullover fit me nicely, but if I were going to wear it with a sweater or vest underneath, I’d probably have to go up a size to extra large. I’m pretty sure this is going to be my next rainsuit. The jackets go for $275-$300, the pants for $225.   In addition to the RocketBallz line, I was also impressed by the new TaylorMade ATV wedges. With their beveled leading edges and versatility, the ATVs are a big improvement for TM. I like that Titleist broke out of its traditional mold ever so slightly and painted its new Velocity’s numbers in yellow-orange ink. Also impressive on the ball front was the Callaway Hex, which a fellow hacker in the industry told me was the best ball he’d ever played -- “phenomenal,” in his words. I also played nine holes in an outing with the Innovex V-Motion Tour ball and was impressed. Its playing characteristics were comparable to top-of-the-line balls, but they’re about $29 a dozen.   Nobody ever talks about spikes. Well, I do, but only to complain when I'm trying get them changed. Champ spikes has a new model out -- the Zarma -- with six longer, spidery legs that have a little more bounce, cushion and give.   I never get tired of looking at or trying out new drivers. The Adams Speedline Fast 12 has a more bulging head and a flared fantail, and it felt great when I hit it on Demo Day. I also liked the classic style of the Ping i20 driver and its flat-black paint job. No driver looks better than the Cleveland Classic, which looks like an old persimmon and gets my vote for Prettiest New Driver.   I also got a chance to swing a unique club at Demo Day, the new Exotics 11-degree 3-wood from Tour Edge. It’s got a large, flattish head and is perfect for the golfer who needs a backup driver during his round.   You’d have been hard-pressed to find more than one belly-putter in almost any golf shop a year ago, but golf’s newest trendy club was all over The Show. Everybody has a version. TaylorMade has its Ghost Manta series, a large center-shafted mallet with a white head and alignment markings. The Ping Nome has a similar mallet shape but is more rounded, and it had a really balanced feel that I liked. The Odyssey Metal-X is based on the Sabertooth model that Keegan Bradley used to win the PGA Championship last year, with two prongs behind the face. Bradley’s Tooth was white. The Metal-X is gun-metal black.   How about gadgets? Golf Buddy’s GPS rangefinders now have audio, so you don’t have to constantly check the screen. You can clip one to your belt, maybe even your hat, and it will announce distances as you move around the course. If I jack the volume up, I bet I can annoy my playing partners. I love that idea. Bushnell tweaked its classic laser rangefinder. The new Tour Z6 is more compact and attractive, and the numbers now light up in electric red instead of the usual black. It sounds like a minor change, but it makes the yardages much easier to see. Bushnell says it can hit targets up to 450 yards; from 125 yards and in, it provides distances to a tenth of a yard. It’ll be available in April.   Sky Caddie is the Cadillac of the GPS market, with accurate and up-to-date course information. Sky Golf, which makes Sky Caddie, has also expanded into a new area with Swing Labs, a launch-monitor-based fitting system that aims to help club pros, club-fitters and retailers match golfers with the perfect clubs.   I will go to extreme lengths to distract my opponents. Hence, a new Hello Kitty headcover for my driver. Hello Kitty Golf, as absurd as it seems, is going to sell a lot of accessories. Women, especially, were buzzing around that booth at The Show. They sell women’s and children’s clubs, bags and accessories. In the same vein, I may pull out some Chromax golf balls, which have colorful metallic finishes, kind of like lawn orbs. They come in seven colors, including turquoise, silver, pink and yellow, and they’re much easier to see than a standard white ball. The suggested retail price is $20 for a six-pack.   I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but I was also impressed by the Jacqueline Kennedy Collection.  It’s a line of historically accurate jewelry, sunglasses, hats and accessories that has been approved by Caroline Kennedy. Why was this company at the Show? Because the collection will be sold in golf shops. Prices will vary, but most of the jewelry will be under $100.   More on shoes: adidas has two eye-catching models, the Crossflex and the Puremotion. The Crossflex, which weighs just 10.6 ounces, has molded traction areas on its soles instead of spikes and is modeled after a running shoe. The Puremotion is a mesh shoe based on the shape of the foot, and it’s also spikeless. They’ll be priced somewhere around $100-$120 and will be available in late spring. True Linkswear updated its models from last year and made them more contemporary. The phx model has a striking red stripe on the outside of the shoe and gripping nubs in the sole for traction instead of spikes. The Stealth is a leather model. They’re all very comfortable and light and are continuing the trend away from spikes. Article & Image Information Hello-Kitty.jpg Balls.jpg - 10 days ago

• Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D Driver

  From Golf Magazine ClubTest (March, 2012) Category: Max Game-Improvement Drivers (See complete list) Price: $149 WE TESTED: 9°, 10.5° with Aldila NV 50 graphite shaft KEY TECHNOLOGIES: The aerodynamic, lightweight club has a sloped crown to reduce drag (improve airflow) and boost swing speed. The 9° loft has a square face angle while the 10.5° is 1° closed. Comes standard with 50-gram shaft at 46 inches. OUR TESTERS SAY: Steady yet unspectacular performer provides respectable distance. PROS DISTANCE: Several testers get distance comparable to their own driver; a few guys get up to 10 more yards; off-center hits get out there a good ways. ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Steadyeddie driver forgives and forgets most mediocre swings and mis-hits; by and large, slices are held in check. FEEL: Subtle but perceptible feel on well-struck shots and mis-hits; head is fairly stable through impact. PLAYABILITY: Lower ball flight than most; straight, boring trajectory works well in firm conditions. LOOK: Large, deep face inspires confidence; glossy black finish. CONS Several other models deliver more forgiveness; it’s difficult for some testers to decipher center hits from offcenter ones because of dullish impact sensation; nothing sets it apart visually. Article & Image Information Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max-D Driver - 2 weeks ago

• Cleveland CG Black and CG Black Tour Drivers

  From GOLF Magazine ClubTest 2012 (March, 2012) Cleveland CG Black Category: Max Game-Improvement Drivers (See complete list) Price: $399 WE TESTED: 9°, 10.5°, 12° with Miyazaki C. Kua 39 graphite shaft KEY TECHNOLOGIES: Engineered for moderate swingers, the CG Black has an aerodynamic, teardropshaped profile to reduce drag and increase swing speed. The lightweight, 265-gram club features a Miyazaki 46” shaft. It has a shallower face than the Launcher Ultralite XL270 and generates a higher, more draw-biased trajectory. OUR TESTERS SAY: One of the top-rated drivers in its class. Receives high marks in all categories. PROS DISTANCE: Top-shelf length; many testers gain 10 yards versus their own. ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Among the most forgiving, accurate test clubs; a real fairway finder; shots don’t travel far off-line, which is surprising for a super-lightweight driver built for speed. FEEL: Exceptionally light but stable through impact; nice explosive feel to solid shots; well-balanced club swings easily without applying much effort. PLAYABILITY: High, penetrating, straight ball flight; several testers find they can hit a gentle draw with it. LOOK: Sleek, teardrop-shaped profile, all-black head and shaft; looks like it means business at address. CONS A few testers tend to overswing because of the lighter club—it requires a smooth, even transition at the start of the downswing; a minority of guys lose the lighter head, on occasion, during the swing. Schecter Lee Cleveland CG Black (left), CG Black Tour Cleveland CG Black Tour Category: Tour Drivers (See complete list) Price: $399 WE TESTED: 9°, 10.5° with Miyazaki C. Kua 59 graphite shaft KEY TECHNOLOGIES: The teardrop-shaped “speed crown” reduces air drag during the swing to help you swing faster. A rear weight screw positions the center of gravity (CG) low and deep for improved launch conditions. The clubface (variable thickness) is engineered to bolster ball speed and carry on off-center hits. OUR TESTERS SAY: Among the higher-rated drivers. One of the longest in its class. PROS DISTANCE: In the top tier of drivers tested; a majority of testers consider it to be “above average” to “long”—some guys achieve noteworthy distance gains over their own driver. ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: One of the top models; noticeable sidespin reduction on mis-hits keeps balls in the fairway; provides repeatable shots. FEEL: Crisp, pleasing sound and hot sensation at impact; controllable, light feel through the swing for many testers. PLAYABILITY: Consistent, medium flight; draws and fades are relatively easy to create on solid strikes. LOOK: Sleek, traditional profile; classy black and gold color combo. CONS Lightweight feel is a turnoff for some testers; a few high-swing-speed players could benefit from slightly less spin. From The Shop Blog (October 17, 2011) The ultimate boxer would be as quick as welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao but would hit like heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko. Golf club makers have a similar goal when it comes to making drivers: build something that's light and easy for the average player, but make it pack a wallop. With its new CG Black driver, Cleveland Golf hopes that it has created this combination for players whose swing speed is less 100 mph. The CG Black features a head that is aerodynamically shaped to slip easily through the air, with a crown that slopes down in the back section more sharply than last season's Launcher Ultralight drivers. Cleveland's head of metalwood development, Nate Radcliffe, says that the shape of the crown decreases the club's drag throughout the downswing, which in turn helps players generate more clubhead speed. At the same time, the 460-cc head has one of the lightest and thinnest faces Cleveland Golf has ever designed. Radcliffe says the faceplate is very thin on the perimeter, which not only saves more weight, but also broadens the CG Black's sweetspot.   Add to that mix a new Golf Pride grip that Cleveland says is half the weight of a typical grip and a special edition Miyazaki C. Kua Gold shaft and you've got a driver on Weight Watchers. However, Cleveland put a little bit of that saved weight back into the head, adding a weight screw to the back of the sole plate. By adding weight to this key area, Radcliffe says the CG Black should naturally hit the ball on a higher launch angle to maximize carry distance, which is essential for slower-swinging golfers who want more distance. "The overall package is a club that is designed to generate speed and be really easy to hit," says Radcliffe. That's music to the ears of distance-hungry golfers looking to land a few haymakers on their opponents.   Article & Image Information Cleveland CG Black and CG Black Tour - 2 weeks ago